13263/=Sugar and spice, and everything nice

=Sugar and spice, and everything nice
Date of Scene:	03 November 2022
Location:	Stark Tower: Penthouse
Synopsis:	The girls are visited by Clea, who is beginning to find a way to overcome another sorcerer's magicks. Not easy!
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Felicia Hardy, Cecily Winters, Clea

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Pepper Potts has posed:
When the sun sets in the city like New York, it may be a little difficult to tell as all the lights come on, truly earning the designation 'The City that Never Sleeps'. For those at street level, the view when one looks up is a whole lot different than for those that live 90+ stories in the air, such as the case for Stark Tower's Penthouse level. From here, both the stars in the sky and the lights of the city (including the close Empire State Building) are in full display.

Dinner has been cleared away, and the bowls of ice cream with chocolate fudge, or caramel or any bit of topping one could want are set as desserts at the kitchenette table. (NO eating in the sunken living space!)

Pepper has coloring books scattered around, as well as a well over a hundred-count of colored pencils poured out across the coffee table, all jumbled and rolling about.

"Happy, can we watch Disney tonight?" rises as a perfectly reasonable request by a footie-pajama'd Ginny.. Pepper Potts. Her hair is up in a ponytail, though it's still pretty obvious that a chop job had been done to it. By whose hand?

Huh..

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia has her white hair down past her shoulders, nearing her bottom in length and it's fairly straight, but on one side, static electricty has caused it to not sit straight and is looking almost like straw. But this doesn't bother Felicia. She sits at the table, with a sticker book instead of coloring and has two already put on her face. One on her left cheek and the other on her forehead. The goggles Tony made for her, or the ones he HAD made for her sit on her eyes and ears, purple and wonderfully cool.

    She looks up and reaches over to the ice cream bowl and pulls it closer with one hand. Gripping the spoon awkwardly she tries to scoop the sugar and then reaches it up to her face, getting some of it in her hair. Explaining why only half her hair is really messed up. Turning quickly and smiling but speaking softly, "Yeah. Disney pleaaaaase?"

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "Treasure Planet?" chimes in a third voice. It's Cecily, coming in still in her more professional attire. "...adulting is haaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrd...." the extra-fluffy fox mutters, leaving her shoes at the door shedding clothing in a trail across the floor until she's managed to burrow into a blanket, her tails poking out behind her. That's all there is to see of the fox. But mutterances are audible. "...I didn't miss out on the ice cream did I?" she asks, her face finally poking out from the other end of the blanket.

    "...I hope I didn't..." she pouts.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The form and figure of Stark Industry's long suffering Head of Security/Chief bodyguard/Chauffeur and all around saint of a man is back in the trenches. Dinner was ordered from chef, brought up, and eaten; the dinner plates had been gathered and set into the dishwasher by another stalwart and always available figure- DUM-E. The single-robotic armed, well, robot that moves about on his treads is present but out of the way. He's already suffered the indignity of a couple of stickers plastered upon free, flat sides of him.

"Okay, okay," he begins, the sound of fatigue lining his tones. "Then, after this, bedtime. Alright?" With a wave of his hand to bring Cecily into the fold, he catches the request and checks with the other two. "Treasure Planet?"

Pepper's got pencil in hand and 'expertly' filling in the lines to one of those 'mandala' grown-up coloring books (the thought being that it'd take more time!). Looking up and tucking her tongue of concentration back into her mouth, green eyes alight first again on Happy as he agrees, though with terms, and nods her support with Felicia's pleading. Cecily's entrance has the young girl setting her pencil down and rising from her spot on the floor. "That'd be fine," she begins, though her expression shifts, "Adulting? What?" She won't linger, however, before she twists around and points at the kitchenette, "You didn't miss it. And Treasure Planet sounds great."

Clea has posed:
Who called upon the Queen of the Dark Dimension? Who invited her here and what does she want? She is aware that the children, who weren't children a few days ago, are being held prisoner in the Tower of Stark, but is she known enough by the owner to be permitted access? Would she cheat and use magic... what sort of defenses are there against that.

Figuring that it would cause more alarm than jubilation, she opts for using the front desk. Even announcing herself to the receptions with and easy smile that looks out of place on her too white skin with too white hair. "I am Clea." She introduces and her name is given to Happy who doesn't know her from a sack of warm grapes. "An ally to the Avengers."

Still nothing?

"I've been sent to babysit."

The elevators immediately open.

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    "Why has it got to be bed time?" Felicia asks not petulantly, but as she's starting to build up to an argument. "It's not like we have school in the morning." She finishes her argument and then jumps out of her chair to shuffle over towards Cecily shyly and gives the fox-girl a hug. "I love your tails and yeah, you can have half my ice cream. I wont eat it all." She says kindly still holding the spoon in her hand before she shuffles back over to the table.

    "Miss Cale!" Felicia says mis-remembering Clea's name almost entirely as she's sitting down and turning a page of her sticker book like it's a news paper or riveting novel.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "Adulting! The stuff... with the fighting and the shooting and the... I still.. have to earn a paycheck... so I can buy guns and toys and mochi.." Cecily pouts. It seems like she's been having a real power struggle in her mind with the mixture of her actual responsibilities that she's so very proud of and firmly stuck in... to the total opposite. The youthfulness that makes her just want to. Not. Not do anything. Of course, she's still got a proper head on her shoulders, but that doesn't mean she isn't getting a kick out of firing a gun! Or several.

    But it's such a drain on her energy. Being her 'normal' self isn't ... *working* as well. The fox peeks out some more as Felicia comes closer, and the fox's tails wave. They curl around Felciia and she leans into the hug, closing her eyes. "Thank you... Big sis made me lunch and the Ryker guys were nice enough to get me dinner but I still missed ice cream time.." she pouts. Still wrapped up in the blanket, she shuffles over towards the table. "...hello miss...!" she states, not really remembering Clea's name, or remembering if she'd actually met her properly outside of the other night.

    "Bedtime doesn't sound bad.. I still have... stuff... to do... tomorrow.." she groans and hauls herself up into a chair to get ice cream. She fixes her violet eyes on Happy and gives him a polite smile, "...thank you."

Pepper Potts has posed:
The further away from the 'event', the further away from the day to day requirements of being an adult. Pepper has an international corporation that she is partially responsible for, but there is nothing in that 10 yr old mind that hints that she has any modicum of ability in that regard. She is... 10. She does, however, know and understand that this is home, though it doesn't mean that she hasn't brought up her mom at least a few times since the event.

Clea's appearance in the Penthouse, well.. it's greeted by a rather appreciative Happy Hogan, a slightly heavyset man in his late 30s, early 40s. The Penthouse itself is decorated with very expensive paintings on the wall, the furniture set in gallery-display fashion even though it is comfortable, and the 'wall' that faces out to the city is floor to ceiling glass. The balcony beyond is also huge as it doubles as a living area AND Tony's landing spot. Beyond, of course, is the helipad.

To hear of the stuff that Cecily is going through has Ginny canting her head before she wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. She doesn't quite understand, but that has nothing to do with the fact that ice cream has to be had. And, well, Treasure Planet.

She's on her feet to greet Clea, a slightly tired smile creases her face. "Welcome."

She is ever so practical, however, and looks to Felicia, her voice lowering. "As long as we're in our rooms, they probably won't mind." It's to give those adults a break, no doubt. And, to be fair, she doesn't mind the chance to wind down.

Clea has posed:
There's something off about Clea, which is even more apparent to the minds of children. It's not a frightening thing, at least nothing that she's doing to intentionally be frightful, but it is absolutely obvious that wherever she comes from, it is not a normal place people should be. An malignancy that drags along behind her. It had been absent when she was rendered a child, but as an adult, it grows increasingly more prevelant.

She nods to Felicia, smiling in an easy enough manner, likewise greeting both of Cecily and Pepper, "It's good to see you are all well." She had beneath her arm a small wooden box covered in carved runes which she sits down on a table before taking a seat. "Thank you." To Pepper's welcoming, she motions her over with a wave of her hand. "Come here, I wish to show you something."

Whatever alarm bells Happy might have raising, she sooths with a raised hand. "It wont hurt."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia turns to see Pepper standing up for Clea and decides that's a good kind thing to do as well. As Felicia stands to her feet, she has to reach up to adjust her goggles and brush her hair behind her ear awkwardly. Felicia walks up to stand behind Pepper near Clea and notes oddly but matter of factly, "You smell funny." To the fellow white haired woman. It must be that 'off' feature registering within Felicia.

    "Cecily, come quick. Look." Felicia is shy, but excitable and wants to share with those she feels comfortable with. And she does feel comfortable with Clea as the woman did help her the night of the curse, so that's built into the Black Kitten.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily is very polite with her ice cream serving. She only takes two scoops and adds some chocolate and sprinkles to it. Her tails wag happily and the blanket slips. She's wrapped up in a tank top and some tights with shorts, a perfect combination to wear under her other clothes--which are still in a trail from door to former blanket space. She's about to take that first bite of delicious frozen treat when her ears perk up and swivel, her name called by Felicia. Her new hug friend.

    "But I just got my ice cream..." she pouts, wrinkling her nose a little at everything. She's had a hard day! Especially for a 10 year old! Her eyes narrow at Clea, too, something in the more feral instincts of the fox DNA that's spliced into her catching the 'off-ness' of her. But, she's called. And. She's polite. "'kay..."

    There's a dramatic sigh and she abandons the ice cream--for the moment. Surely it won't take long to get back to it, right? And she pulls the blanket up over her head and shuffles over to Clea, Pepper, and Felicia, looking more like a jawa than anything else, her eyes faintly glowing as she peeks out from under the hood. "..hi."

Pepper Potts has posed:
If there's something too 'off' about Clea, Pep- Ginny doesn't really notice it. She's got nothing save for her child instincts, and if Clea is in the Penthouse, with Vision downstairs and Happy, and HOMER.. and all the other little gadgets that she knows is littered around the place, then it's absolutely //FINE//, right? The onsie-wearing strawberry blonde takes a couple of steps towards the table now, curiosity in the green eyes. "Is that ..?" she begins, but stops herself. Didn't appear to be Norse runes, right?

Looking to her sides for the gal-squad, she gives them a supportive smile. Ginny //knows// she'll be okay because this is home. "We can ask Happy to get you some more," and without missing a beat, "Right, Happy?" Of course. With that problem solved, then, she holds her hand out for Felicia.

"What do you have?"

Clea has posed:
They are not Norse runes, though some of them are fairly close. Clea waves to the blanketed Cecily with a curl of her fingers and peeks up at her from under the hood of her brow. Her smile, while genuine, is mirthless. "Very astute of you to notice." She says to Felicia about her scent, "It's a kind of incense that is found only where I am from. It was necessary to burn it while I was working, helps clear the mind and focus."

Then she reaches out and gentle opens the lid of the carved wooden box, inside is a small opaque vile with an amber liquid inside. A small stopper is set into the top when she very carefully removes it. "This took me a very long time to make. Almost one hundred years, to be precise." It's balanced between her thumb, index & ring middle fingers like a tripod.

"Mostly because the plants ^necessary to make it only grow on bloom once a century.. and then only one ever bloons at a time... See, it's what they call a memory vine." She uncorks the stopper and covers the open lip with her finger, turning it over to coat her pale digit with the sweet smelling substance.

"Seers in my dimension to tell the future of Rulers or to warn the past. It's very complicated, but I believe that it is exactly what we need." She curls that finger for Pepper to step closer and, should she do so, she traces a symbol on her forehead with it. "I certainly hope this works. I would hate to start over after all this time."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia is looking into the box very VERY intently, that nature of thievery and wanting to possess many shiney things is visible within her eyes even through the large goggles she wears. She barely hears a word Clea says as she's so enamored with the box, and then enamored with the vial. And THEN enamored with the liquid being smeared across Pepper's face.

    "Oooo.. Me me nex- no." Felicia pauses and looks to the much lower to the ground Cecily. "Do her next. She had a bad day." Felicia says, smiling down to her new friend, and then back up to her new friend. "I can go last." She's the tallest, and therefore the oldest, and so she's got to be brave and make sure everyone else is taken care of. FIRST.

    "Wh-what's it do?" Felicia asks finally, after she volunteers Pepper and Cecily to go first with the mystery substance that's older than any of them. Adult or otherwise.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    "'kay..." Cecily responds kind of dumbly. She'll get her ice cream one way or another. Still, she squints at Clea and then... plops down on the floor. The blanketed lump of fox girl peers up at Pepper and Felicia and of course, the sorceress. "...why me next?" she asks, not out of any sort of protest. More just basic curiosity. She isn't so much enamored with anything. Not the vial, not the box, not the stuff in it. She sniffs at it, though, finding the sweetness beckoning her.

    Then Felicia's inquiry brings her back to reality and she shakes her head, ears pinning back a little under her blanket-hood. "...what *does* it do?" she copies, frowning thoughtfully. "...does it taste good? It sound expensive... hundred years is a really long time for magic juice..." she muses aloud, nodding slowly. She isn't sure if she wants it!

Pepper Potts has posed:
Suddenly, Pepper's become a little tentative. No, more afraid than tentative. Perhaps its the Hansel and Gretel witch vibe, or the runic box, or perhaps even the fact that an elixir held delicately in fingers due to its absolute rarity is what's doing it to her. She looks back in the direction of a door that leads downstairs, at least Felicia would know that it's where it led, and her gaze lingers for a long moment before looking back at those gathered.

With a deep breath, the little girl stands firm, the wisps of strawberry-blonde chopped hair falling around her face and into her eyes. The figure is traced in a pattern, a symbol that hearkens back to the century that created it, and for a long moment, Ginny stands there.

Hands rise to her face; the tracing feels warm on her skin as it is pulled through; man and magic combining to form something new yet not. Her expression shifts from that child-like bravery in the face of 'who knows what' to confusion, and her eyes dart around the room, looking here and there, and down to Felicia and Cecily, and back to Clea. She backs away with a step, then another, green eyes wide as perhaps some newfound knowledge has been attained. Hands rise again, small, delicate, 10 yr old hands, and a single utterance comes from a woman who is wholly unused to the 'hero-ing' thing, as well as magical traces.

"No!" Then, in heartbeats as things begin to crash in, another word comes to her lips as she whips around again, green eyes turning to that door that leads downstairs, "Tony!"

Clea has posed:
"In small doses, it can give a tired mind clarity." Clea explains as she traces the symbol on Pepper's forehead, "It was used in a Jesuit church in Asia to ward off the aging process on the brain.. Though the grew to convet it's properties so much that my Uncle bargained the memory vines for their willing hand in his schemes here on Earth."

She replaces the stopper in the bottle and gently sets it back down in the small box from which she withdrew it. The lid is closed just as delicately as she opened it, now watching Pepper as the magic of the elixir works. There's a wisping smell in the air, sweet and fragrant elixir mixed with burning. Though it's obvious nothing actually is on fire, as the fog of youth falls away, literally burnt from Pepper's young mind for a brief period.

Just long enough.

"It's alright." She says to the startled woman in a childs body. "We don't have long. I'll fix this." She smiles then and nods, "Just another few hundred more years." Whatever happened, whatever she'd seen, Clea appears to be pleased by it.

For what that's worth as the magic begins to fade.

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia blinks over to Pepper as she starts calling for Tony, sounding more, almost adult in her words and mannerisms, but, Felicia doesn't quite understand what just happened. Then looking back to Cecily and Clea, who she knows she can trust, but that doubt does creep into her wee-mind. And then being the tall one again, Felicia puts herself between Cecily and Clea. "It doesn't seem alright. You're supposed to keep us safe..." She says trying to sound as stern as she can, but tears are beginning to well and her voice isn't strong as it wavers with a hint of fear and the need to cry. "Ginny doesn't seem happy, and I wont let you hurt Ceci." Felicia says, not balling her fists, but bringing them up to her face to protect herself.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    There's a little bit of sparkling awe in Cecily's eyes as she watches Pepper stand so brave, so resolute. The same sight when the girl had been bashing a Green Arrow simulacrum with a baseball bat. Not that she had time to really appreciate it, what with the noise and the rage happening at that moment. But then she hears Clea's words, and watches her friend break down and shout. The fox shrinks herself down a little more, as much as she can while still sitting up. Almost like she's good to bolt--or pounce.

    "..too much full awareness.. still.. bouncing between.." she clenches her eyes shut and sighs. "...hard to think about it. Don't want to work, want to rest. Have to work. Have to rest *for* work." She's done the mental gynmastics many times already, kid body and kid mind fighting with sense of duty and adult desire to maintain, well, everything she normally maintains.

    Then Felicia's shadow is filling her vision and she looks up at the girl shielding her. "...it's okay..." she says softly, scooting closer, curling up a little around Felicia's feet, tails coiling around her legs. Just a blanketed lump with white fluff. "...can't... stay like this forever... growing up sucks."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Of course there's no response from downstairs; Tony probably is doing his Tony-things under the firm and watchful eye of Vision so as not to get hurt and/or make anything that the world might regret later on down the road. For a long heartbeat, she simply looks at the door before lips press together as she takes a deep breath through her nose, and then out again to try and calm her racing heart. Little discoveries of the reality of her situation right now are a little unsettling.

Even as she begins to find that calmness, she turns around again slowly, catching Clea's words. "How?" It's an absolutely lucid question, and if it weren't a little squeaky from a 10 yr old's lungs, it'd be an absolutely valid question from the grown woman. "We don't have a-a-a-a.." few hundred years?

Ideas begin to lose their cohesiveness, and concepts that can be followed by an adult mind are as puffs of smoke to a child. As the seconds tick by, there's a softening of the still roundish visage of the juvenile Ginny, though those green eyes hold on to the last bit, cling to it before it's gone, leaving behind an unshed tear.

"That felt funny."

Clea has posed:
Felicia's defensive posture draws Clea's attention for the briefest of moments, "She's fine." There's a commanding tone that isn't as obvious as sounding stern. It is both reassuring and used to cower the dark beings over whom she rules, but it is not at all melicious... nor does it offer much room for negotiations. She means what she said and wont discuss it further.

Because her eyes are shifting between Cecily and Pepper.

Cecily gets a smile and a clipped nod. "Unfortunate, but true." Everyone has to grow up eventually. "You are not children." This, too, is not up for debate. "You're adults who have been afflicted with dark magic and while I can fully appreciate the desire to grasp hold of what appears to be real?" She motions betwixt them, "This isn't. It's temporary. Either time or magic will reverse it.. the only choice at all is which one."

With that said she lays her hand on the box. "I've made the decisions for you because, while you are /not/ children, I /am/ the adult. And the world needs you." Like she needs to answer Pepper.

"Amora. She was after Thor. She did not get him." But the magic is fading and so she smiles faintly watching what little of adult Pepper remained slip back into the young person who has taken her place. "Ah, right. Time." She scoffs and flicks her wrist dismissively, "What is time but a measurement for something people don't even understand. I have all the time I need. Nothing worth doing is ever done quickly, but..." She lifts one long pale finger, "In this case, it should only take a few more days."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia takes a step back, almost stepping on Cecily as she hears Clea's words and that feeling of trust she feels towards all three women here, is almost reinforced. She knows she can trust them. She WANTS to trust them.

    "I-uh..." Felicia stumbles on her words. "Can we still watch Treasure Planet?" Felicia asks, still sounding scared and nearing crying still. She wants to hug the scary woman because she knows adults should be safe and it sounds like she wants what's best for them, but, something just isn't right. And it's her. But she doesn't KNOW that.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Slowly, Cecily rises to her feet. She sort of... climbs Felicia to do so, carefully tugging on her leg, her arm, and then hugs the other girl while staring up at Clea. Still a pair of glowing purple eyes under a hood, though. "...I know what I am... and the struggle is real..." she says quietly. "I've been here before but different," she references being ten, being on the edge of teen years and the rapid spiral upwards to adulthood. The same. But different. No tails then. "...it's fun to entertain.. doing it all again.." she gives Felicia a squeeze then slowly turns away, her tails brushing over Pepper in a reassuring manner.

    "C'mon, let's enjoy it while we can," she speaks with mixed hints of lucidity. Like she's been fighting the slow descent into full-blown child-ness kicking and screaming. With varying degrees of success. "...I wanna eat ice cream and watch cartoons... big sis was going to take me out for pancakes tomorrow and show me her new music, too."

    She begins to drag her blanket back towards the table, her tails fluffing out some more and brushing over Pepper and Felicia. "...stupid dumb boy..." she mutters, "...told him magic was above my pay grade..."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper listens first, then Ginny. First, through adult understanding that fades as the sands through an hourglass, and then with the ears and understanding of a child. Somewhere in there, the redhead will understand. One day.

But, what she's left with is the tacit understanding that all will, eventually, be well. It's like that warm-blanketed feeling that she recalls when Tony would say that he's 'fine', or that everything would be okay. Of course, it's nothing that she could ever put a finger on, but feelings and emotions are like that; seated in reality but ultimately unable to be explained.

The young child seems mature in those moments of both post-discovery and loss, but it's the juvenile Ginny. Children are either born with that innate need to be strong in the face of adversity, or they are not. This little one does indeed fall apart, but in the next moments, is able to pull herself together, her first thought usually of another.

Ginny nods in response to Clea, and there could be a question as to who it is inside that responds; the woman or the child. Either way? She does repeat the words, "A few more days."

Green eyes linger upon the woman before she turns to look at Felicia, and giving her best smile, she bobs her head up and down, the ponytail bouncing in the gesture, "Yes. We'll get a blanket fort together with pillows and make some popcorn. Won't that be great?"

Cecily is given an odd look, however; she doesn't understand the fox, even though she wipes at her nose at the tickle of the tail. "Clint makes the best pancakes," comes in response. "You need to stay and try his."

Clea has posed:
All this talk of blanket forts, pillows, and ice cream.

Clea expression is a haunted smile.

She taps the box with an extended index finger, then stands up from the couch to collect it back beneath her arm. Much to Happy's chagrin, she had not come here to baby sit because she does enough of that in her own dimension. Besides, by her own word, these are not children. They don't need a nurse maid, they need a cure..

She's the cure.

And she can't do that here while they eat ice cream and watch cartoons.

In parting, to his sad pleading eyes, she offers only a shrug and a few mouthed words of magic to bolster his resolve in the face of such adversity as a group of adults living out their Neverland fantasies curtesy of Amora. Who, though she doesn't know it yet...

Clea is going to fuck directly up.

She has no idea the hellstorm that's coming once she's fixed her friends.

She will though.