14005/Burying Hatchets

Burying Hatchets
Date of Scene:	31 January 2023
Location:	The Centinel Hotel - Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Marie seeks Doug out to make amends for past mistreatments. The two take time to properly talk, catch up, and enjoy a dinner of Genoshan fare!
Cast of Characters:	Marie-Ange Colbert, Douglas Ramsey

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Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Douglas. May I come by? I would like to speak with you.

That was the text that Marie sent earlier, and perhaps a surprise; Marie's not exactly the type of person to reach out and contact, well, most people. At least not unless there's something important going on... or a warning that she needs to deliver.

There would be a delivery, this time, but it certainly wasn't a warning. So, the moment finds her standing outside the door to Doug's room, a small box cradled in the crook of her arm, while the other one lifts so that she can knock on the door.

She's dressed fairly casually today, a fuzzy white sweater over black leggings and boots. It seems she's opted to lean into her heritage, today, as she's also wearing a beige beret atop her head.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Sure. I'm working in the city today, I'm staying at the Centinel, meet me there at about eight? Room 804. When Marie knocks on the door, Doug opens it. He's still dressed in the slacks and button-down shirt from the day's work, sleeves rolled up. "Bonsoir." He says. There's a laptop open on the desk behind him, which means he's probably still working.

"Why don't we go down to the restaurant downstairs and have dinner?" He asks. "It's really excellent, and they've managed to recreate a lot of the Genoshan specialties that had been developing... before."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Bonsoir, Douglas!" Marie isn't a difficult girl to convince; generally, there's not a ton that she says no to. Not unless it's particularly harmful to her or those she cares about. This time? "That sounds like a lovely idea. I was never able to visit Genosha before..." well, what happened. "...so it will be most interesting to try their food." In fact, she's about to turn, but stops her movement and extends the box towards Doug with both hands.

"This is for you - I have found that many restaurants do not like it when you bring food from outside. Perhaps a late night snack should work have you up that late, oui?" Inside the box? Is a cherry cheesecake. Definitely bought from a bakery -- Marie couldn't cook something like that to save her life.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug takes the box, and then he opens it - before he says, "...Thank you!" He grins. "I'll probably eat half of it on my cheat day this week - but since I haven't eaten at all yet today, I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat." He offers his arm and leads Marie downstairs, into the hotel restaurant - he pulls Marie's chair out for her, and then seats himself, before he gestures to the waiter. "I'll just have some water. Thank you."

He glances back over at Marie and raises his eyebrows, before he laces his fingers together. "So... what can I do for you, Marie-Ange? I apologize, I'm still fighting off the impulse to call you Tarot. In Genosha, there was this concept going around of abandoning your Sapiens Name, and it's a mode I still fall into sometime."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"De rein, I'm glad it is to your liking!" That said, she'll take the offered arm and allow herself to be led down to the restaurant. "You should take better care of yourself, Monsieur. Not eating can make the brain... how you say, foggy?" There's a touch of concern in her voice; getting enough food is an important subject to her, which might make sense if Doug remembers how underweight she was when she'd first come to the Mansion. She does nod her thanks as he pulls out her seat, settling down into it with a smile. To the waiter? "I'll have a... coke? Or is it pepsi, here? Either is fine!"

With their drink orders placed, the French girl turns her attention back to her companion, waving a hand dismissively at first. "It is no worry, Douglas -- or would you prefer Cypher?" she asks with a little wink. "I will gladly respond to either. We have known one another more than long enough to merit such things, and Tarot is as much my name as Marie-Ange is." Besides. The former was given to her by the family she chose. The latter by the one that rejects her to this day.

"But, ah... I wanted to speak to you because, well. I feel as though I have treated you unfairly." she replies, green eyes focusing on the table in front of her. Making eye contact is going to be hard for her right now. "For years." Pause. "...and I wanted to see if it was not too late to make amends?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug takes his water, "Bien." He says to the waiter, though he doesn't need to, and he furrows his brow as he thinks about that. He puts one finger on the tip of the metal straw in the glass and stirs it slowly, ice and a wedge of lemon clinking in his glass.

"...I... appreciate the offer. But it really isn't necessary. I was in a bad place then - and I still have bad days today. I have issues with depression, and post-traumatic stress, just like so many of us do. I try to do what I have to do to take care of them. But... there are days, or weeks, where I get anxious. I get angry. I say things... and do things that I regret later. What happened was - my lowest point. And it was one of the reasons I chose to leave the country, so I could reflect on the way I felt and the person I needed to be."

"But what I did was wrong. If I knew where Roulette was, I'd apologize to her, with no expectation of being forgiven."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
The waiter's return with drinks is a welcome one, Marie taking her glass with both hands and taking a sip. Letting her eyes focus on the dark liquid while she listens, intently, to the blonde man's response. Her lips curving down into a frown; albeit a sympathetic one.

"If you wish, Monsieur Ramsey. I... will admit that in my youth," Not that she's exactly old now, but years have passed! "I did not give much thought to what you might have been going through. I am sorry that you have had to deal with these struggles, but hope that your friends have been able to provide some support?" she asks, lifting her gaze a bit, now. Not quite making eye contact, but at least looking at Doug again.

"Jenny..." she trails off. "...if you were to apologize, well." She pauses, trying to decide between being honest and kind. Honesty wins. "To be truthful, she would probably say something hurtful." That was Jenny for you, though. "But, there was more to her than what she showed on the outside, n'est-ce pas? I think, though she would never admit to it, she would have accepted it. You would have seen subtle changes in how she acted." Though she can't help but sigh. "I don't know where she has gone, either..." The tone of Marie's voice makes it clear that she misses the blonde; the pair were practically inseperable, so there's no real surprise there.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Forgiveness isn't something you put a price or an expectation on. If it had a price, if it was for sale, it'd be worthless." Doug takes a sip of his water, before he says, "So I can't ask for it. I could only tell her I'm sorry for what I did when I was a stupid kid, because I am."

He sits back, and laces his fingers together, after pushing his drink off to the side.

"But if it helps, I don't blame you for mistrusting me." He tries to offer a winning smile, though his thoughts are still momentarily far away. "I could TRY to locate her for you, if you want; though I understand as well as anyone that sometimes you just need to be alone. I can find almost anyone, as long as they haven't gone completely off the grid."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"That is fair." Marie admits, letting the words sink in while taking another sip. Forgiveness is, in fact, a difficult thing. In the back of her mind, she knew she held resentment towards a number of people that mistreated her in her younger years. While most of them she'll likely never see again, perhaps it's time to be the bigger person, there. "...and I am sure she would be happy to hear it, at least."

His words on her actions, though? They get a shake of her head. "It was not that I mistrusted you." she clarifies. "More that I had put complete trust in her." She closes her eyes, letting herself reminisce. "When I first came to America, I left a place where most everyone who knew of me, hated me. Not for anything I had done to them, just because of who I was." It's a little easier to talk about now that she's out of that situation. "Jenny... I think she was the first friend I ever had. The first person to really care about my existence," Other than her grandmother, but relatives don't entirely count and her memories from /that/ long ago are hazy. "and she would stand up for me when I could not stand up for myself. More times than I can count. If Jenny said it, I believed it. She was the sister I never had... and her word was gospel, as if it had come from my very cards."

The offer, though? "I would like that. If only to know she is well... perhaps an address, or someone who can find her, so that I can send her a gift for her birthday." It was still a few months away, but Marie thinks ahead of time. Now, she looks the rest of the way up, to make eye contact. Silent for a couple moments to steel herself.

"If you can forgive, or at least look past my actions all this time, though..." she extends a hand. "...I would like it if we could try to be friends, oui? I do not wish for there to be this... divide, any longer. I know I will never be Roberto, Illyana, or Samuel, but I do not wish to be your enemy."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug reaches out to grip Marie's hand in a firm, warm handshake. It's the hand that's techno-organic, though right now, disguised as flesh, there'd really be no way to tell. He's become much better about hiding it, though here in Mutant Town he really doesn't have to. Perhaps he's practicing.

"Friends." He agrees. "The others and I - we went through a lot together, but you know that. But you grow. The rivalry between us? That was kid stuff." He says, "It's in the past, and there's no reason to relive it." ...Except for Empath, who if his shadow ever crosses Doug's again, he'll probably open any conversation with Manuel by trying to break his jaw so he can't talk. But you know... that is what it is. He offers what he hopes is a reassuring smile.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie's grip isn't nearly as firm, but she's never been known for her strength. Though, in recent weeks she's been working on that, too. Trying to be more than her powers, even if she's not entirely been going about that the right way. She does, however, let her eyes settle on that hand for a moment. Was she misremembering which was affected? She'll have to pay a bit more attention.

The pronouncement of friendship, though? Putting the past in the past? That brings a smile to the redhead's face, and a nod. "Oui. The present, and our futures are much more important than the things we did as children." Another nod. "Besides. We are on the same team now, it is beyond time that we begin to act like it." A little laugh, there. "So. You are working, yes? I do not believe I ever asked what you do?" There's a lot of catching up to do, after all -- and a lot of learning the truth about who Doug is, rather than just who Jenny says he is.

As for Manuel? Well... that's another one that Marie would have difficulty forgiving, too. Perhaps even moreso now than back then.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug lets out a shrug and he says, "Really... I do all kinds of things. I'm hanging my shingle out as a sort of professional all-purposes contractor for short-term work right now. Coding, digital security, translation, systems analyst; all kinds of things, to be honest. I've been hired for some really odd and hilarious stuff. My favorite week doing this was working for a test kitchen testing flavors of gelato. I couldn't look at ice cream for a month after I was done, but it was a great week."

He flashes a grin. "How about you?"

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"Well, I suppose when you do so many things, you most certainly would never get bored, oui?" Marie asks, stifling a giggle. "Though, gelato tester? My goodness... that is a job I would consider paying to have for a week." she admits, attention briefly seized in the thought of what it must have been like. She does love sweet things!

"Me?" she asks, letting out a soft laugh. "Well. After graduation, both Jennifer and I had enrolled at ESU to pursue a greater degree, but I abandoned that attempt once she..." Left. Disappeared. The details aren't entirely clear. "...and needed to find a way to pay for our apartment on my own. So, I started working for the Hellfire Club, doing readings there." Her role is viewed as entertainment, though some of her patrons have come to see her for what she is. "I still do that, but now I am back in school, at Xavier's, pursuing my degree in music. I am hoping it will go easier this time, having a much larger support system."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Well, as I recall your predictions were always more accurate than most." Aside from the ability to make the images on her cards quasi-real.

Doug considers that, and then he gestures. "That's one thing the school has always done, provided an excellent support system for those who need it." He shifts how he's sitting, and then he picks up the menu. "Why don't we order?" He studies his, and then he mulls over the various choices, before he settles on... "The turkey-burger with a cornbread bun." He shrugs. "I'm not feeling fancy tonight. But I recommend the Hammer Bay Flounder. It's a recipe I gave them that I remembered from my time there."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"It is a gift, and one I try to share with others, when I can." Marie replies... though she has to laugh again. "Although, would you believe that it is the times that I have been /wrong/ which have proven the most delightful?"

Then a nod, "It really does. I walked back through those doors... and it felt as if I had never left. Everyone welcoming me, nobody treating me unkindly even though I... had been less than communicative in those years." Not staying more in touch with people was another thing that she'd felt bad about. She's realized, though, that she beat herself up more for that then her friends probably would've liked. As for food? There's a smile. "The Hammer Bay Flounder it is, then. What better way to expand upon our newly declared friendship than for me to put trust in your tastes, oui?"

Plus, on this particular topic, he was much more of an expert than she was!