1043/Spa Night

Spa Night
Date of Scene:	07 April 2020
Location:	The Epitome Spa, NYC
Synopsis:	Some X-Ladies have a spa night. There is mud baths and gossip.
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Lorna Dane, Gabby Kinney, Marie-Ange Colbert

---

Emma Frost has posed:
The Epitome Spa is one of those places the normal folks of New York never see the inside of. There's a valet, a doorman, security, and that's before you even get into the check-in area for the spa itself.

The check in area of the spa, on the first floor of the building, is hidden behind the spacious and secure main lobby. Check in is all white marble with gold highlights from the floor to the desk; the walls painted in some lovely extremely light blue custom color. An elevator within the check in area whisks the clients out of sight and up to the various treatment areas on the upper levels.

The first level Emma and her companions are whisked to is the fourth floor, which is a large, airy changing room with places to divest and store personal clothing and items. Warm, freshly laundered plush robes hang at each changing station, which consists of a small black oak wood armoire, which has hangers and a drawer for clothes and a second made just for shoes, and said plush robe already hanging inside. There is a floor to ceiling mirror beside each armoire, and a plush, antique style stool of black oak wood and beautiful white and gold upholstery.

"I've rented out the whole spa for the evening," Emma says as she selects her changing station, already stepping out of her heels. "A full evening of work-up: mud bath, massage, manicure, pedicure, hair and facials." She flashes a quick grin at the other ladies. "Something everyone should get to do when the need strikes. I'm so glad you all were willing to come down from Westchester."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean Grey smiles at Emma, "Are you kidding? I don't think a year of my salary could handle one night in this place." She laughs a bit, looking over at Emma Frost as she takes a station next to Emma's. She changes out of her clothing in seclusion, emerging with a crimson terrycloth robe on, a satisifed look on her face. "Maybe I should take Wanda up on her idea of storming Vegas."

Because, yeah, a probability manipulator and a telekinetic in Vegas. That would solve any funding issues between the Avengers and the X-Men, for certain!

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna exited the changing room, tying the belt about her waist as she did so, and glanced around the wide open floor plan and curiously studied the decore about them. "I don't think I've had a manicure since..." She broke off and cleared her throat. "It's been over a month at least. I used to get one done every few weeks. Pedicures. Blow outs for my hair. Public appearances and everything. There was no other way to keep my hair in that humidity behaving. Otherwise I'd have frizz for days." She mused, smiling faintly as she traced her fingers over the gilt molding of a doorway.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
This was no place for someon as unrefined as Gabby Kinney. Which is why it's Penelope Alura Westminster, love child of a deposed Duke that had fled to the US to raise his daughter in secret after her mother was murdered by the jilted Duchess, that walks in alongside Emma, Jean, Lorna and Marie-Ange. Head held high, eyes half-lidded as if this were somewhere she could just barely tolerate to be, she sniffs the air lightly before nodding with apparent acceptance of the state of the room "Yes, this will do nicely," she declares in a Southern Belle-ish accent likely pulled right off of Gone with the Wind. She fingers the fluffy bathrobe before her persona slips with a little mumble of, "Ooh soft!"

That's all it takes for her to kick off her shoes, and peel her shirt off overhead. Private room? What? She doesn't even seem to notice that others are there while stripping down without an ounce of modesty. The clothes are shoved into the drawers without folding. FFt who folded clothes they take off? At least they make it into the armoire. No sooner is she nude than she wriggles into the bathrobe that's likely too big for her. "So waaarm this is great!"

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie-Ange Colbert. Born into wealth that was never really within her reach. Survivor of a childhood that found her lacking. Witness to the future.

Not even she saw this coming.

"I... it is my honor to have been invited, Madame." is offered to Emma first, the timid French girl dropping down into a polite curtsey. Then it's with wide green eyes that she surveys the spa, just... astounded by everything she sees. "...mon Dieu..." she mumbles, utterly overwhelmed by what she's seeing. "Are... are you certain that we allowed to be here, Madame Grey, Madame Dane? It seems so much!" It takes her a few moments to remember that she's /living/ this rather than just watching it on a television screen, but once she does, and is given that affirmative, she modestly moves into one of the changing areas herself, returning in a maroon robe herself. Arms wrapped around the robe that engulfs her, the little pouch that contains her tarot deck hanging from her wrist. Even in what feels very much like a dream, she would never go anywhere without it. "It is truly magnifique!" she agrees with Gab-err... Penelope!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma chuckles at Gabby's enthusiasm, and grins at Jean. "That would be cheating," she mock-tsks. Lorna gets a grin as Emma steps out, tying her light blue bathroom shut. "Well, you have appearances to maintain." Marie-Ange gets a warm nod as well.

An attendant waits at the door of the changing area, and once everyone is robed she gestures to the spacious elevator they rode up on. "Please, ladies, if you would, we'll be heading to the baths." She waits until everyone is in the elevator, then presses a button for the requisite floor.

Emma hmms as the elevator opens, revealing a marble-and-tile Roman bath... that's all a delightful pale blue moderately thin mud that smells of jasmine and amber. A wave of hot, damp sauna air hits the group as the door is opened. "Ahh, I love the smell. So relaxing." She steps off the elevator and towards one of the benches beside the large, waist-deep bath. She hangs her robe on one of the golden hooks on the wall behind the bench (there are six such benches around the mud baths, each with four hooks behind them) and steps in on one of the stairs into the baths (there is one on either side). Slogging a bit through the mud, she finds a spot on a nearby undermud tile bench against the wall of the bath and leans back, relaxing.

"It's perfectly safe," she assures those who may not have ever been in such before. "A bit difficult to traverse, but you really don't move much once you're comfortable."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean hmms, and hangs the robe up next to Emma's. Then she slowly steps into the bath, feeling the mud and hmming a bit. That's a lot of stress she's been under the past few weeks, and well... she sinks down onto the bench, leaning against the wall and leaning back. Though when she hears an errant thought, she doesn't react, she just sends a quick mental message to Gabby.

<<A month of dishwashing duty if you do it.>> Not a threat. More of a guarantee.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna glanced around once as the attendant brought the group of women to the elevator and down to the spa area. She inhaled, and exhaled slowly, already vaguely aware of how big the building was through her electromagnetic senses.. Even as she tried to not store that information away and tried to just //relax//. She followed Emma's lead, finding a hook to hang her robe off and to find a section of mud as she shivered faintly and slipped in.

"A bit cooler than I'm used to." She mumbled, taking care as she settled in. Genosha had had spas.. Once.

"I assume we'll have to shower off in the next room?" She drawled, and wiggled her toes deep into the mud bath.

"Thanks Emma, for all of this."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney skips on into the elevator hoisting up the ends of her lavender bathrobe in the process, and she continues to regard the rest of the spa with an open wonder. At least until they get to the mud baths. Her eyes light up with a thought that apparently Jean overhears well enough--Someone reeeally ought to teach this poor gal how to mentally shield at some point. Still, she responds by lifting a hand to her chest with a mock indignant sniff. "Why, Penelope Alura Westminster would *never* do such a sandalous thing!" She declares openly. Which might just be very, very confusing to everyone not aware of the other side of the conversation.

The robe is hung up before she turns to inch her way into the mud at least up to her knees. Then, she looks around... and turns around... To fall with arms open wide onto her back into the mud. "I'm just gonna make sure this isn't quicksand." Would it work? Probably not. She sinks down into it with a blurple-blup of displaced air from her backward flop. At least it wasn't a full running belly flop or cannonball so much as just laying down like she were doing a snow angel.

"Nope, not quicksand," she declares as she sinks further. "This is awesome, Emma." Maybe she might want to stop herself from sinking further. She tries backstroking which goes nowhere, so she rolls over onto her stomach and sort of tip-toe crawls to one of the seats.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right?

Marie isn't the type to say no to things, and -- having been surrounded by the upper crust in her youth, even if she was typically on the outside looking in? -- she's /heard/ of a mud bath before. She's just never gotten the opportunity to do so.

Of course, there's also the other thing. But, the others aren't hesitating in the slightest, so the peer pressure gets to her. With cheeks flushed, robe is removed and hung up, and the -- visibly scrawny -- seer makes her way to the bath, setting her little pouch down just outside of it. She'd take them /into/ the bath, but within easy reach seems a fair compromise for the girl who's never seen without them.

However, following Gabby's lead just isn't her style. Instead, it's a careful toe that's inserted first, testing for just how difficult it is to move in the mud, before the rest of her foot, the other, and finally the rest of her body enters the mud.

"Oui, merci beaucoup, Madame Emma!" she adds to the chorus of praise being heaped upon the woman, moving until she finds a comfortable spot... and then just settling there and enjoying herself.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma nods, lazily gesturing towards a marble-arched door at the back of the room with the mud baths. "Showers are through there," she says with the air of someone who has been here a time or two. Or three. "Once we're done here, that is." She sinks further into the mud, allowing the viscous liquid to come up almost to her shoulders. "And don't mention it, Lorna. You've looked like you could use a girls night. You too Jean-- I owe you for helping me with Alex. I was worried we might lose him for a bit there."

Gabby's backflop and wriggling garners an amused look from her, and she offers Marie-Ange a comforting look. "Not so bad once you get used to it, madamoiselle, is it?"

The attendant moves towards the side of the baths. "Drinks, ladies? Just let me know what anyone would like, and I will bring it up straightaway."

Emma hmms. "Let me go with a French 45-- with the Armand de Brignac, please." She gestures towards the others.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean smiles slightly at Emma, "Of course, you don't owe me for that... but I'll gladly take more spa visits when you feel like you need to bring someone along." She chuckles very softly, and glances in Gabby's direction, "I'm quite certain she never would do any such thing, of course." With that, she sighs deeply, and just sinks further into the mud, relaxing even more as she just lets all her worries and cares melt away into the mud.

"Oh, I think I'll be ready to come out... in a few days, I think. They have food service here, right?" She mmms, savoring the novel sensations as she clearly hasn't done anything quite like this before.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna shifted to the side of the bath, letting her arms hang over the edge as she kept her hands free to push her hair back. They weren't muddied yet. She huffed a breath, "Think I could get a headband please?" She asked the attendant as the woman entered, her hair too often fell into her face and it was annoying.

"Also, I'd like a martini of some kind. I dunno, do you all have a signature one?" A beat as the woman answered and she nodded, "Please. That sound good. Thank you." She shifted around, and settled more firmly into the mud as she leaned back. She glanced to Emma, and then to Jean. The two women who were both closer in age to the greenette.

"How is Alex adjusting to everything Emma? Honestly?" Who better to ask than the telepathic girlfriend to get the truth? She shifted around in the mud, picking up the headband one of the attendants had entered with and using it to push her hair back from her face.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney grins over at Marie as she joins in the mud bath with far more grace than she had. Then again she was having a blast. This *was* relaxing, and smelled nice, and it was warm and squishing between her toes. Though with the height she was and the level of the ledges in the bath so sit she's pretty much up to her neck in the mud to begin with. "This feels so weird. But nice!" Then they ask about drinks.

She can already hear the chorus of 'Gabby, no!' that happens so often so she thinks. "Can I have a Sprite but in a wine glass?" Or whatever glass was needed for a bubbly drink. It's not like she really knew the difference between a wine glass and a champagne flute.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Non, not harmful at all... in fact, it is quite lovely. I had always heard, but..." Until you /have/ a mud bath, it's hard to imagine just how comfortable a mud bath can actually /be./ It /feels/ exquisite on the skin, it's aromatic on the nostrils, and the consistency is almost like a hug.

Then, it's time for drinks. Peer pressure -- and a lack of knowledge of how America's laws differ from France's -- wins out again as far as her own request. "If it is not too much trouble..." she starts out, always polite about everything. "...I would like a glass of Chateau Margaux, any vintage would be perfectly fine. I am not... what is the word..." she furrows her brows a bit. "...a picker?" No, Marie, it's 'picky'. She was close, though.

Emma Frost has posed:
If there is any problem with the requested drinks, the attendant doesn't even seem to notice. "Of course, ladies. I will be back in a few moments." She departs to the elevator, leaving the relaxing women alone for the moment.

Emma looks to Lorna and Jean seriously. "He's doing fine, I think." She frowns a bit. That's not entirely true. "As well as one can expect, given what memory he unlocked," she corrects herself circumspectly, given that the kids are here and listening. "I think he fears that happening to someone else, even if deserved." She gives the other women her age a bit of a grin. "I've been distracting him from those worries though. At least until a couple of days ago. I've been leaving him be so he can finish his dissertation... without... distractions."

"How have you been, Jean? Not strangling your students yet, I hope?" she teases. She knows how stressed Lorna's been-- but there's a massage and a facial coming up that should help some with that. A little.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods a bit, "Yes, definitely. It was truthfully traumatic, there's no doubt about it. And I've been rather good, as far as classes are concerned. The students have been doing pretty well."

She then grins crookedly, "And I haven't had a future descendant show up in the past two weeks. I think that's a new record." Because hey, if you can't joke about it, the alternative would be just to scream in frustration. "Though, Emma, we should probably talk about a few things later. Lorna, you too. There's just some... things, that have recently developed. Not related to Genosha. At least, I don't believe so." But clearly Jean doesn't want to discuss it right here.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna tilted her head, a sympathetic look crossing her features as she settled lower into the mud bath. "Having memories unlocked isn't fun by any means. They're typically locked up for a reason." She sighed, and sank lower still up to her neck. Just letting her chin linger above the mud bath. Her own memory issues had been unlocked a few years ago... the whole of the airplane crash, her mother's death.. and her father's role in it all.

It hadn't been fun then for her either.

"Poor Alex." She sighed and glanced toward Jean as she mentioned having to speak with them later. "Doesn't have to deal with our most recent visitor does it? Because I'm getting increasingly concerned about all these possible scenarios looking so grim." She made a face, and shifted in the warm mud. Wiggling her fingers up between it and squinting as she toyed with the magnetic variants within the mud. Refined as it was, there were little bits that were slightly more magnetic than others and she drew them to her with a few more wiggles of her fingers, playing with the separated bits.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"What happened to Alex?" Joking aside, when Gabby hears questions about him being okay she just frowns in concern. She liked him. He was fun, and listened to her, and was generally a cool person. At least she's able to piece together what the others are talking about by listening to it. Some kind of memory issue. A nod of agreement is given as the others talk about it being bad, and she hums thoughtfully.

"I should tell him how my science project went, next time I see him, too. He does the geology stuff." Which is what she'd based hers on if only for the sole reason that she got to make an explosion by over-doing the whole 'volcano' project using Diet Coke and Mentos. With all these thoughts it takes a minute to realie Marie had asked for wine too. "Wait, what, I could have ordered booze!? Dangit."

"You guys can talk about stuff. I *can* keep a secret you know. ... Just let me know it's a secret first," she points out with a shrug that barely causes the mud to ripple. Her attention is on Lorna playing with the magnetic stuff though. That was way more interesting to watch than regular mud. Abruptly she flashes a grin at Marie who was at least closer to her age than the others.

"So Marie, anyone at school you like? There's this Senior I think likes me but I don't know for sure. Guys are weird."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Emma gets a wide-eyed, slightly panicked look. Then it's shot to Jean. "You-- American schools do not allow the murder of students, do they?" There's some legitimate fear there. Not a /lot,/ as Xavier's has been more or less a godsend to her, but what's that they say about things being too good to be true? While she waits for /that/ answer, she's noticably sinking further and further into the mud.

Once that particular fear is put to rest she adds, "Would you like to know of your future descendants, Madame Grey? I could do a reading..." Marie offers. "...when conditions allow, that is. Right now..." she pulls a hand out of the mud, clumps of it falling from her fingers as she wiggles them. "...they do not. The same goes for you, Madame Dane. I would gladly share my gift."

Especially because since leaving her home country, people have been a lot more believing of her prescience.

Cue another one she didn't see coming; and perhaps more amusingly, one she doesn't entirely understand. "Oh, I like everyone at school, Mademoiselle Gabby! None have treated me poorly, and I am feeling very... 'at home', here." A fond smile. "I am certain that he likes you as well. You have... much spirit! What is there not to like?"

She won't comment on secrets -- fate can either make her the best keeper of secrets, or the worst. It's really up to a simple turn of the cards, in that regard.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma snorts, just in enough time for the attandant to reappear with a tray of drinks. She takes hers with a polite smile. "Thank you. Might we have some privacy, please?"

"Certainly." She finishes handing out the drinks, and brings what looks like a bell-- but actually has a small button on the top, placing it within Emma's reach outside the bath. High tech disguised as lowtech. How charming. "Ring this when you require assistance again, ladies." She departs through the elevator again.

She lets Jean reassure the student, but looks to Lorna and Jean. "What visitor? I'm nosy." She takes a sip of her drink. "And I can't imagine how much you want to scream, Jean. If I had someone come and tell me they were mine from the future? Especially fathered by someone I haven't even--" she pauses, glancing at the kids. Little pitchers, big ears. "Well, I'd probably stay in state of perpetual drunk haze for a few weeks. You're holding up remarkably well." She muses. "Though, perhaps you //should// date him. Might loosen him up a bit. He seems wound." She watches Lorna's play with the metal bits with amusement.

She glances to Gabby. "He's fine. He just... remembered something that scared him, is all. Nothing to worry about, Gabby. I'm sure he'd love to hear about your science project." She pauses, looking a little queasy for a moment as a thought occurs to her, and she quickly drains her glass, putting the empty to the side. Nope. Not going down //that// road.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean grins at Marie, "No, not at all... well, as long as you don't try to read my fortunes about my descendants. Considering all the timelines that seem to be cropping up around here, I don't really need a tarot card reading for that, though if you want to read something else I'd be game later." Trying to let the student down a bit gently there.

Jean glances at Lorna, then looks at Emma, "A man from the future, named Bishop. I screened him earlier today, he's from... well, the bright side is that he's not related to me in any way." She smirks a bit, "The downside, is that he's hunting a fugitive from his timeline that's taken refuge here. Trevor Fitzroy. I'm not familiar with him, so I wanted to ask you if you knew anything Emma. You run in... slightly different circles than we do, after all." She has no judgment in her voice, just a simple acknowledgement of fact.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna shifted to stretch out lazily in her mud bath, sipping at her martini from time to time and twirling the magnetized fillaments of mud about in the air around her as she noticed Gabby amused by it. She smirked, and floated the small floating particles into different shapes and let them drift about on her magnetic fields in an idle manner.

At the mention of a fortune reading she set her glass aside, amusement flickering to life in her gaze as Emma and Jean both waved it off. "Yeah, sure, why not? My father was always complaining that I'd never find a good boy and give him grandkids." Magneto didn't say it so many words, but comments about heirs and having a royal line did come up from time to time. Magneto was nothing if not a planner, and he'd also chosen his youngest daughter as his heir... with the twins as spares.

The commentary about Bishop earned a nod. "When I spoke to him, he sounded lost timewise. I don't think this is where he was trying to go. He also said he only knew Anthony Stark. So I'm betting here and now, Lex isn't winning that election come November." She teased lightly.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Wait what murder? What?" All joking aside, THAT gets Gabby's attention more than anything. Standing up from the mud she looks between them all for confirmation or denial or just an explanation. It might be impressive if she were tall. She's not. Standing up barely does anything. Darnit. She sits back down after a moment though wearing a frown as she nods in agreement with the other stuff.

"Well yeah I'm totally likeable," She agrees with a grin. "He keeps asking me to go places alone with him. And he's soooo boring. I've bailed several times. I mean he's cute, but bleh. He just whines the whole time about his ex girlfriends." Like she cares!

"But, yeah, fortune telling? That'd be awesome."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"A man who comes /from/ the future?" Marie pales a bit -- it's about all she /can/ pale given her complexion. There's something that's just... unsettling about that, for reasons that she can't place. Something that puts her ill at ease. Something that makes her drink the wine. Not sip, no, she /drinks./ A testament to her distraction at the moment.

At least it was good wine.

As for the readings? She bobs her head first to Jean, then Lorna, and then to Gabby, "I would be more than happy to do readings for you all. Some would prefer me not to use my gift," Jenny, notably. "...but how selfish would I be if only I benefitted from it?" ...and that's one thing Marie isn't.

It takes a moment, but Gabby re-takes the seer's attention. The discussion of murders going right above her head. "If he is boring, as you say, perhaps it is your duty to..." she pauses again. What would Jenny say? "...'bring the party to him'?" Because that can't lead to trouble. Nope. Not at all.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma frowns a bit. "No one I know," she replies to Jean. "But I can ask around." She settles back, relaxing. She gives Lorna a half-smirk. "I've always been told the future is what we make it to be," she says in regards to the fortune telling.

Emma eyes Gabby. "Well, my advice is to either ignore him entirely-- boys don't tend to improve with attention, sadly-- or duct tape his mouth any time you're having to spend time with him." She shrugs languidly. "Most of them have very little of value to say, anyway." She's mostly... maybe...? joking.

The ladies chat and gossip further into the evening, enjoying the rest of the mud bath, followed by an hour with them each under the firm hands of a skilled masseuse, then manicures, pedicures, a facial (and all the requisite that goes with), finally with time in the salon chairs with their hair getting done however they each desire; from simple trims and blowouts to even more complex stuff like Emma's own touchup to her dark roots. By the time they all depart much later in the evening, they all look and feel fabulous... and far more relaxed.