10627/A Fool's Birthday for a Fool

A Fool's Birthday for a Fool
Date of Scene:	02 April 2022
Location:	The Wick
Synopsis:	Wade, Inez, Domino, and Clarice celebrate three out of four birthdays in one night while discussing the formation of a morally gray mutant super group without stigma or gender bias.
Cast of Characters:	Wade Wilson, Inez Temple, Clarice Ferguson, Neena Thurman

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Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade has had his eyes set on The Wick for a while. There is a great deal to be said for his particular level of mischief and one wouldn't be entirely wrong in thinking the Merc with a Mouth hadn't thought about toppling both towers on more than one occasion. But that particular level of historical defilement would have to be done a different day.

    Today was for celebrating the birth of two of his favorite people. (It was also his own birthday but that wasn't too important.)

    He's rented the place out and dropped -far- too much money on the bartender to close up shop for anyone but his own particular list of friends, enemies, or occasional acquaintances. He's sits -on- the bar in his usual suit (sans mask because there is drinking to be had) with a cloyingly sweet smelling drink in vibrant bubblegum pink in a tall glass in one hand. A twirly straw is used to siphon the thick substance from the glass to the Merc's, all to often running, mouth.

    "So there I was with a number of the Avengers," he continues, going on about one of his most recent fantastical adventures. Often with these tales the validity is sketchy, but this one might actually be true given the detail involved, "facing off against... get this... the Avengers. Dopplegangers, really. But they show up and I'm not represented. So I come out to protest. I was playing nice and the Nazi magicians didn't do any homework to make a body double of me. Well... that was the only opening the Not-Scarlet Witch needed to blast a giant hole in my chest." He snaps his fingers. "Dropped me right on the spot." He slaps his hand on the bartop. "Dead as a doornail. For all of 10 seconds or so. Not my finest moment."

Inez Temple has posed:
Inez is there because of course Inez wouldn't miss celebrating birthdays with her best friend and husband! She's in a chair, tilted back onto its hind legs, grinning from under the brim of her hat as she enjoys her drink. Boots up, she has her legs crossed and is lounging, just enjoying the good company and good liquor. The stories range between the old and new on all parts, but always fun!

At the moment, Wade's got the floor (or bar) with his Dupli-vengers story, and she's enjoying listening to it. "Not th' first time ya've gotten a big hole in yer chest, darlin'. So what happened? Did ya save the day?" She turns a grin towards Domino, "How're ya holdin' up, Dom? Need a refill?" Taking another slug of her own drink, she rocks forward and sets her feet to the floor, pushing up to go get another round. People are greeted here and there as she passes by them, offering smiles and nods towards the ones she recognizes or knows.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice seems to have no compunctions against sitting on the bar herself - dressed casually in jean, with a green blouse, and a bit of silver and diamond sparkling at her throat, and along her pointed, elfin ears. She has a cognac in her hand, as that's become her drink of choice after various shenanigans involving Emma Frost some time back.
    "I mean. Which would you rather: the chest, or the junk? Because I seem to remember you being very affronted about missing out on some planned shenanigans with your girlfriend after a particular journey to the DRC," she comments with a mischievous grin, before taking another sip of her drink.

Neena Thurman has posed:
    Domino's been drinking shots, lined up neatly on the bar where she's sitting on a /stool/, thank you. But she downs the last one and says, "Mmm, probably, yeah. Maybe I'll try one of the fruity things Wade's drinking." She's wearing jeans herself, and a black t-shirt, looking fairly casual.

    "He always whines about getting shot in the junk," she says with a roll of her eyes. "I'm starting to think this 'girlfriend' doesn't exist given that none of us have /met/ her, though."

Wade Wilson has posed:
    "I don't know about 'saved the day'" Wade responds. "I got revenge on Not Scarlet Witch... brutally murdered her in the end." He pauses and looks at Clarice. "You don't think Quicksilver will come after me for killing the duplicate of his sister do you?" he asks. "I'd hate to get on his... or his family's bad side. The things Magneto's done to Logan are bad enough, I don't want to be turned into a pretzel... even if only for a few hours."

    He considers her question. "Chest is much better. Junk is such an inconvinience. At least with the hole in the chest it's quick and over with after a few minutes of healing." He returns to his story. "I think the Avenger's saved the day in the end. They're the heros after all. We managed to kidnap some of the Thule's soldiers. Maybe more will come of it. We'll have to see."

    He turns to the bartender. "Get the girl a bubblegun daquiri" he says, gesturing to Domino. The bartender nods and gets to making her drink with efficient and practiced processes.

Inez Temple has posed:
Looking back to Domino, Inez flashes a grin, "S'funny, cause he was always beggin' me t'STOP an' let 'im rest fer awhile." She shrugs and gets herself another shot and a beer, taking the shot immediately before carrying the beer back to her seat. Getting herself comfortable again, she tips her hat forward and considers it. "I mighta met her briefly? Mebbe? Can't remember..." This in response to Wade's supposed girlfriend.

She tips her bottle back for a swallow before smiling towards Clarice, "He's a guy, course he's gonna be upset over losin' time wit' his girl. Specially when it's planned, cause then he's expectin' it an' if it don't happen? It's like takin' a toy from a puppy."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Oh, I met her," Clarice remarks dismissively. "When I was helping with some of that angel stuff. Or at least - well. We were in the same fight together. It's not like we sat around and chatted. So- hrm. Could just be a one-sided fantasy, and I wouldn't really know, would I?" she muses thoughtfully, giving Wade an impish smile.
    She finishes off her cognac, and sets her glass on the bar for a refill before answering Wade's question. "I don't think His Majesty will give you a hard time. But seeing as you can't be killed, supposedly - if he does get upset, I think I'll just have to leave him to it. My loyalty is with the Royal Family, after all. In addition to the Brotherhood, of course."

Neena Thurman has posed:
    "I don't think it's 'kidnapping' when you're in a battle, Wade," Domino notes. "'Taken prisoner' is the term." She takes the bubblegum daiquiri and sips it, raises her eyebrows, then shrugs and takes another sip. "Glad you took down some bad guys, though. I expect His Majesty might be mad that Nazis were impersonating /his/ daughter, of all people." She smirks. "Maybe he'll give you a medal."

    She glances at Wade. "One-sided fantasy... /that/ I believe, but he's never claimed to actually be /dating/ any of the people he's obsessed with. So maaaaybe it's real?"

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade rolls his eyes. "Sara is real and she is -aware- of our relationship." He glances at Inez. "I don't know that you've met her. If you did I wasn't there..." He pauses. "And she didn't know you are who you are."

    He chuckles. "Small favors, I suppose. This past week, I've been paralyzed from the neck down for about three hours--anvil caved in my spine while a building was coming down around me. Go figure that an evil lab would have an anvil just sitting around." He glances at Domino, "I blame you" he says with mock acid, before going back to his tale

    "And she's been focused on this Thule business with them trying to..." he stops and claps a hand over his mouth. "Not mine to say. Right. Nevermind that most of the Avengers are known figures. She wants to keep it secret, that's on her."

Inez Temple has posed:
"Hey, I love ya Wade, but I ain't yer keeper. It ain't fer me t'tell ya who ya c'n date," Inez smiles towards Wade and lifts her beer, tipping it back for a drink. She winks at him, "If'n ya wanna make that marriage license a bit more'n what it is now, that's somethin' we'll cross when it comes up, yeah?" She tips the bottle back again for another swallow.

Inez glances from Wade to Neena and smiles, "Pretty sure it's real. I came at him wit' a marriage license, pictures, an' people that were present... he still made sure t'tell me that he was in a relationship wit' someone. Ain't like 'im t'lie bout somethin' like that when it ain't doin' nothin' for 'im." Then its back to Wade, "I said mebbe! Wasn't sure if it was her or not, but no ya wouldn't've been there. Wouldn't mind meetin' her though, she sounds interestin'."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "...honestly, yeah. I'd hate to see what Magneto would do to these folks for impersonating his daughter," Clarice agrees - her voice sounding almost awed. "That would be... impressive." And terrible. There is a good reason so many are afraid of him.
    "And honestly Wade - there's not much I'd put past you. I don't think anyone can really claim to understand how your mind works," she points out.
    "An anvil though? Shit, that's awful luck. I'm just glad I can teleport away from stuff like that when I see it incoming..."

Neena Thurman has posed:
    Domino regards Wade coolly. "You blame me, for the anvil that fell on you? If you wanted me along you could've /asked/." She rolls her eyes.

    Then she nods to Inez. "Yeah, I figure, but I like giving him shit. Gotta keep him on his toes. He's getting /old/, after all." She smirks, briefly, then takes another sip of her drink.

    "Which reminds me--I'm /30/ now. Can you believe that? The big three-oh. I thought I'd celebrate alone, but I wound up at a /karaoke/ bar of all places. And /just/ when I'd actually decided to get up and sing, some jackass shot up the street outside." Another roll of the eyes. "Just my luck, right?"

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade eyes Domino. "You can't sing?" he asks. "Huh. Go figure. I suppose there's a blind spot for everyone?" He was obviously guessing that the shoot up was in Neena's favor, because almost everything that happens to her is, and it was a move to save her from embarassing herself.

    The man pauses an glances at Inez for a moment before looking at the other two women. "I'd be a bit outnumbered but..." musing to himself (or his audience, it's all the same thing for observers.) He shrugs. "Nate really should be here but since he's time skipping right now might as well kick things off without him."

    "I am getting old" he says, agreeing with Domino's assessment. "And I've been thinking. I sort of want to leave something of myself behind. Not that age is likely to take me... not sure it can anymore than my heart being melted. But even so... everyone's gotta have a legacy and that includes me. So I was thinking of maybe putting something together, a sort of group of my own."

    He sips more of his daquiri. "I mean, the X-men are fine, but they're also sexist and too tame for my liking. The Brotherhood is good for promoting mutant rights but again there's stigma and almost too much politics involved there. What about a group of people who were somewhere in the middle? Mutants who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty but fight the good fight. Mutants that will do what the X-Men refuse to do. Mutants who're there to cross the line into morally gray areas of the fight."

    He pauses and lets them consider it. "I'm thinking of starting something like that. I mean, we start small. Five or six to start, but maybe in time... we expand out. Go a little further. Make a real name for ourselves. I mean, X-Force--that'd be the name, because fuck gender bias--might be something that strikes fear into people's hearts eventually."

Inez Temple has posed:
"Don't look at me, Dom... I turn 30 in a few days an' I got NO clue what I'm gonna do fer it... if I do anythin' really. Birthdays were never like... super awesome in th' Temple household." Inez ponders that for a moment, looking into her beer bottle, then shrugging and flashing a grin, "Here's t'bein' thirty an' lookin' twenty!"

"Well Hell, girl, don't let me stop ya from givin' Wade shit! He's earned ev'ry bit o' it an' then some!" She laughs and lifts her beer towards Domino in a toast, "Super old. So old. Amazed he ain't on VIagra he's so old..." There's a brief grin and wink sent to Wade before she takes another swallow.

His plan for an X-Force has her chuckling lightly, "Y'know I did th' whole 'super group' thing b'fore... an' ya saw personally how that turned out. Might put me in an awkward spot wit' Jimmy but... ya c'n count me in Wade." Inez flashes that easy-going grin and thumbs the brim of her hat back a bit, "Been too long since I been able t'work wit' proper vigilantes."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Have you been through his medicine cabinet? Do you really know he's //not// on it?" Clarice counters cheerfully - flashing Inez a broad smile. "I mean, after the number of time he's junk's been shot off - maybe it needs a little help, now and a then. We shouldn't judge him for such things."
    She takes another drink of her cognax before remarking, "You mean, mutants who aren't afraid to shoot terrorist assholes in the face and remind them that little girls have just as much right to freedom and education as little boys? Because - hell. You know I'm into that sort of thing already," she points out.
    "...could Mister Creed come along, sometimes? If he doesn't get the chance to tear people apart on the regular, he finds his own trouble, and he's not as discriminating about his targets."

Neena Thurman has posed:
    Neena rolls her eyes again. "I can sing just fine, Wade. Sometimes even /I/ have bad luck, okay?"

    But then she sips on her drink while she listens to Wade, and nods. "Well, you know I'm in. Even if it's just a PR thing... there's stuff the Brotherhood just can't /do/ because people will get up in arms because of their past. Not openly at least."

    She hesitates, swirling the liquid around in her glass, and then says, "Got any ideas on where to start, besides recruiting people?"

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade smiles at the trio. "Thanks... except for the viagra comments... Christ... I'm just as spry now as I was ten years ago on account of super healing and super cancer." He winks at Clarice to show he's mostly joking and slips up the rest of his daquiri before setting the glass down. "Beer me" he says to bartender, who tosses a bottle at him.

    He opens it and takes a sip. "I have an idea. Might be nothing, might be something... I've got to do a bit more digging, but there's something big happening in the warehouse district. I -hope- it's independent, but if it's not... we might have a case."

    He sips again. "I've got a few names I want to look into and you know Nate--Cable--will want in if he ever decides to stop timeskipping and being the protector that Mutant Jesus sister of his. Warpath is another who I've bumped elbows with. He might be more our style than the White hats of the X-Men." He nods to Clarice. "As long as Vic doen't mind taking orders from a young upstart like me, I don't mind having Sabretooth around. As long as he doesn't kill anyone I love this time..." He frowns. "Maybe that wasn't here..." he shakes his head. "Anyway, rule still stands."

Inez Temple has posed:
Laughing richly at Wade's expense, Inez grins at him, "Ya sure I didn't do ya no permanent damage on that honeymoon ya can't quite remember? I remember visitin' more'n one ER over that trip..." Teasing him in good fun, she lifts her bottle for another drink, then smiles to CLarice, "I know... I know m'husband, even if he don't remember me."

She chuckles, then nods to Neena, "Exactly. Places th' X-Men shouldn't be an' th' Brotherhood can't be seen... that's where we c'n step in." Looking back to Wade, she lifts a brow, "Need help with th' gatherin' information? Or should we sit back all Charlie's Angels an' let ya do th' heavy liftin', Bos?" Yes, she totally went there.

"I'm openin' up an apartment buildin' t' offer young mutants affordable rentals... pendin' on their leanin's, might be able t' get a few recruits from there too. Wouldn't suggest doin' an academy. That shit's jes' creepy. An' I say that as someone who went through one, an' taught at one. It's creepy." Inez nods to Wade before falling quiet at the Sabretooth talk, musing to herself.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "If it's places the Brotherhood can't be seen - not sure how wise it'd be to have me along. I have a rather recognizeable face, and I'm a prominent member of the Brotherhood," Clarice remaks with a faint frown. "So I suppose I might only be able to join you on certain jobs." Which is a shame.
    Her attention shifts back to Wade as she asks in a dry voice, "Care to draft a list of all the people I should try not to let Mister Creed kill? May or may not do you any good, though. He picks his own targets."

Neena Thurman has posed:
    Domino grins at Clarice. "Ahh, but... if someone asks you can just say 'I was with /X-Force/, not the Brotherhood!' and all blame can be dumped on Wade here instead of anyone up on the asteroid. I mean, I'm sure we might get some contracts from Mystique... but nobody needs to know who's giving us the contracts, y'know?" She winks at the purple-skinned mutant.

Wade Wilson has posed:
    Wade takes another swig of the beer and smirks at Inez. "Taking a page from my book, huh?" he asks, tipping the bottle to her. "Might be a good pool to look for talents if they've the stomach, but I'd rather not get too many young bloods dirty if they don't have a past of it. Ony reason I'm okay with Gabs joining is because I know her past. I don't want anyone green diving head first into red if they don't have to."

    He gives a look to Clarice and says, "If Vic wants to let off some steam tell him to go talk to Jugs. I've seen him up on the asteroid enough times, I'm sure they can be best of friends. One refuses to die and the other can't be hurt... aside from the occasional work arounds." He scruitinizes the violet skinned mutant for a moment longer. "As for you and your involvement. Two options, one, you get yourself one of these" he reaches at his hip and produces his mask, "or two, you use that gift I got you for your birthday to great effect." As long as Wade avoids the head trauma, his memory is sharper than some of his blades.

    He finger guns to Dom. "That is also another option. Let me handle the scrutiny and the spotlight and you work for X-Force, not the Brotherhood where I'm concerned." Another swig and he smiles at the pale woman. "There's a karaoke machine right over there if you want to try your hand at it again. Pretty sure if someone tries to shoot up this place with the three of us, Buck, Wease, and a number of my other friends... they'd be asking for a deathwish considering the firepower we're all sporting."

    He hops off the bar and tugs on Neena's arm. "So... go on, give us some tunes. Maybe I'll bust out some Wham! for you ladies if the mood takes me. But I need an opening act to follow. Do it for me, as a gift if nothing else." The grin he gives to Inez and Clarice is enough to show he's not as much of a sap as he's putting on, but the pair of them know him well enough to know that he actually -is- deep down.