Owner	Pose
Felicia Hardy	Mortification is a perfect cat-o'-nail-tails in the case of Felicia's hurried retreat from the Sanctum. That, alongside guilt and perceived utter failure, convinces her to pack her proverbial bags (only one in her haste) and hail up an uber. She leaves a bread crumb's trail in her wake on the floor of the stately, spooky brownstone. Dried, dead vines at least as big around as a baseball cat lie like discarded clippings. Nearby, a hand-and-a-half sword rests on the carpet, having been dropped and left in place since her sobbing retreat to her room. The well-worn flooring is nicked where its preternaturally sharp edge broke it. A few hours later, Felicia is curled into the two-seater sofa in the living room of her house. It's a family retreat left to her years ago by her deceased father. Its view upon the curling waves of the Atlantic is spectacular and unappreciated by the platinum-blonde. She's still curled around a sleeping pillow in her pajama pants and an old t-shirt, her eyes red from weeping. Her arms hug it close to herself and she sniffles, her gaze downcast to one side. Her phone sits on the nearby coffee table, ignored for now.
Doctor Strange	The phone has been silent for a couple hours lately. Though after her initial text, Stephen has not only texted at least thrice, he's called nearly half as many times. Which for the doctor is amazing. Whether or not Felicia knows or even considered that is unknown, but Stephen is not the kind of man someone ghosts. Nor does he do that in turn. There may be gaps in his commuincae, but he never just abandons someone and disappears off the face of the earth without so much as a post it note. At least not consciously.     Felicia's phone buzzes once more, a vibrate that might feel a bit untimely or unusual as it has been several hours since the last one. Though should she look, next to the phone, absolutely NOT where she left it, is a certain sword, in a scabard Felicia might or might not recognize but the hilt and pomel could possibly jog the woman's memories.
Felicia Hardy	Sniffling again, Felicia runs the back of her hand across her cheek and mopes softly to herself, "What do you want...?" towards the phone. She means the prover to see the swordbial 'you', not having looked to see what all she's missed since arriving at the beach house. Upon glancing over to see the sword, however, she does inhale sharply enough to hiccup in turn. Clutching the pillow tightly to herself, the Cat then looks around the room. Very quietly...very pitifully...she asks out into the house as a whole, "...Copperfield?"
Doctor Strange	On cue the door suddenly rasps quite sharpley once. Twice. Then a third knock sounds almost ... remorseful. Then a voice, muffled by the thick door, says one word. "Felicia?" There's a sorrow in the tone she can feel.
Felicia Hardy	The pillow is clutched more tightly to herself upon hearing his voice. Felicia swallows hard. "How do I know it's you? How do I know you're not that...fucking bastard?" Her tear-strained voice breaks in pure anger, snapping under its weight. "I'm not inviting you in until you prove it!" She rises to her feet regardless and reaches into the couch to pull out a handgun stashed solely for self-defense. She's not in her catsuit, after all.
Doctor Strange	"How do I prove I'm not a trickster god..." Stephen says from the other side of the door and then lifts his hand to rest against the wood as he lowers his head. He takes a deep breath and recalls a piece of history between them that only they would know about. "I have such fond memories of you with those ... ears... Felicia." Stephen says softly, and slightly cryptic, just in case ANYONE else was listening to the conversation.
Felicia Hardy	Even as he was thinking, Felicia was slinking towards the door. The pillow, still clutched to herself like a shield, and the gun with its safety unlocked -- both are discarded when she hears him answer his own question. The handgun ends up hurriedly safetied and tossed aside on the nearby hallway table. She kicks the pillow aside on the ground in her hurry to open the front door with hands that shake so badly, the knob can be heard to rattle. Flinging it open, she throws herself at Stephen, already sobbing again. "I'm sorreeee-hee-hee-hee...!!!!"
Doctor Strange	Stephen has the wind knocked out of him by Felicia and he coughs once as his arms wrap around her partly to hold the woman he loves and partly due to the physics of her powerful embrace causing his arms to lift and wrap around her. "I understand you're sorry. But I don't know what you're sorry for?" Stephen says, holding Felicia and holding her tightly to himself, he can feel her sorrow and fear. He wants to aswage it but he has to know why she's done all this first.
Felicia Hardy	"I didn't mean to-hoo-hoo," the platinum-blonde keeps up as she continues weeping. "He -- he said he somethi-hing-hing to to show m-me and we went to Spain and there was an -- an Orb there." She buries her face into the warm familiar strength of his chest, absolutely messing up his lapels if they're present. "J-Jeremy showed me. You were there, b-but it WASN't you and I -- I -- I -- " The hiccups get too difficult to speak through and she has to work through them. Body shaking with the force of her sobbing, she continues clinging to Stephen. "I'm sorree-hee-hee...! He has the Orb n-now-how-how and -- and -- he looked like you-hoo-hoo-hoo. He did all this -- this -- " Ripping herself away almost like velcro, Felicia gestures before herself in frantic mimicry of the magical gestures known to the Sorcerer Supreme. " -- against these stupid fucking PLANTS growing everywhere and I -- I -- " She breaks down into tears again, this time silently, as she clutches up the front of her own t-shirt and tucks her chin.
Doctor Strange	Hetephen's eyes squint sharply and then he looks over his shoulder towards the horizon with the slightest bit of rage crossing his face like a shadow, a cloud before the sun that passes in a hurry. Stephen turns his attention back to Felicia, his button up shirt and tie, looking very basic compared to his usual attire.     Stephen doesn't speak but he steps closer to Felicia, his hands lifting up to grab her biceps and then one hand lifts up to her hair to brush the loose strands behind her ear and then Stephen steps that last step to wrap his arms around the lithe woman and he holds her to himself as if she was the only thing he needed in his life.
Felicia Hardy	For a time, while she's being held, Felicia offers no further words or information. It's all silent, body-jolting sobs and full-body lean of weight against the Sorcerer. Behind them, the shush of the surf breaking on the beach continues on. A small flock of seagulls flies overhead, crying out, on their way to a more populated area. The wind off the water smells of warmth and salt. Once it seems as if the immediate wave of emotions has left her, the thief sniffles and wipes at her face as quickly as she can. No need to look any more of a mess than she currently does, she must feel. "He has both Orbs now. Spring and Autumn. He tricked me." Her voice is flat and she still can't meet Stephen's eyes. "I fucked up. I'm sorry."
Doctor Strange	"Felicia, he's a god. Not just a god either, a god of trickery." The wizard replies. "We're both out of our league, you didn't do as bad as you think you did." Stephen says, brushing her hair again and closing his eyes as he holds onto Felicia. He doesn't want her to go.     A thought crosses his mind and falls out into the air without much hesitation from the doctor. "Not even a letter or a text or anything though?"
Felicia Hardy	The pass of his scarred palm over her hair relaxes her visibly by at least some extent. His words aid in this as well. His question, however, is perfectly valid even if dropped like a lead balloon at their feet. Felicia makes a small rusty sound as she shrugs, apparently content to remain in the safety of his arms. "I..." Her sigh is heavy and followed by another sniffle. "...I panicked, okay?" Hiccup. "I didn't know if there w-would be...consequences. And I mean, //come on,//" and she slaps at the empty air in reflexive anger before curling into Stephen again. "...I should've known better. He tricked me."
Doctor Strange	"What do you think I would do? Loki being a tricking a-hole isn't a surprise, I'm surprised you think I would do something awful to you..." Stephen releases the hug as Felicia makes her wide gesture but then she comes back in for another embrace and he puts his hands on her shoulders and holds the thief to his chest. "I didn't think we needed to work on our trust, but this Loki thing seems to have revealed a few things to both of us..." Stephen says in a whisper before he pushes Felicia softly to hold her at arm's length.     He takes a breath and gives her a truth. "Jeremy IS Loki."
Felicia Hardy	"Well -- no, c'mon, Stephen, I..." Felicia's murmurs die away about as quickly as they start, given she's coming to the same conclusion and it's a different kind of bruise than having the wool pulled over her eyes by a trickster god. She sniffles again as she's disconnected from her immediate hold in his arms and finally looks up at Stephen's face. Her eyes are red-rimmed and somehow make her natural eye color all the brighter in their glossing of tears. Her face drains a touch of color at his news. "...Jeremy is... He -- He can't..." Even as she whispers it, her mind is correcting her. Oh yes, sunshine, he can be Loki. Then comes the next realization. "...you knew...?"
Doctor Strange	"For a time. Yes." Stephen says, still keeping his hands on her incredible muscles and looking deeply into her hurt and fear ringed eyes. "I did tell you to trust no one Felicia." Stephen reminds her with a squeeze of her arms, not strong but about as strong as he can be. "Now, will you come back home with me Felicia? I need you more than ever. Please?"
Felicia Hardy	"Ooooh...!" Felicia shakes his grip free of her arms in a sudden upswing of anger and points a finger dead in his face. "YOU -- you KNEW and you DIDN'T TELL ME! You don't get to tell ME who to trust at this point, BUDDY!" Her eyes glitter again with unshed tears. "Look, you...you...//WIZARD//." She shudders out a hard sigh and dashes at her face again, trying desperately to compose herself. "I don't want to be here. I want to be back there in that stupid spooky house with that stupid STUPID kitten the rat-bastard gave me because that's MY KITTEN. Shammy is MINE, do you hear me?" Another point in Stephen's face. "He's NOT taking Shammy away from me. His ass is grass! NO -- his ass is MINE! He thinks he's safe behind his tricks and bullshit, but you know what? YOU KNOW WHAT?!" The Black Cat quivers again in her anger. "Hell hath no fury like ME. He hasn't met anyone like ME."
Doctor Strange	Stephen lowers his hands after a moment when she breaks out of them to storm and bluster. Stephen even lets her for a moment before he finally steps forward and puts his hands on her once again, trying to calm her with a show of emotion. "Felicia. We're not doing that. We're not doing ANY of that." The 'wizard' says, a firm recommendation. "He trusts you but... he does have all four... SHIT." Stephen says with a deep frown before his lips curl in a snarl a show of his own rage. Loki's won already. There's no need to hide secrets any more but he's got to pause and plan, Stephen doesn't just go off on a rage fueled conquest...
Felicia Hardy	Even in her anger, Felicia recognizes the hands upon her own. Not once does she jounce or shake them, very aware of how much pain Stephen might be causing himself in order to share this touch with her. She sniffles again and glowers, entirely empathetic to his stormy expression. "Yeah, we have to go plan. It's a new plan, and it's called 'kick his ass'." A deep inhale and sigh is the Cat composing herself, even with tear streaks down her face. "Let me get my stuff. I want to go home." It's a raw little sentiment laid bare at Stephen's feet of how much she hates being separated from him. She goes back inside to get her bag, though not without taking a moment to first very gently kiss the back of one of the Sorcerer's hands. No doubt it's as easy as a glittering oculus upon reality to get them both back to the Sanctum, Sorcerer and Thief alike, and now...? The planning begins again in earnest.