15919/Spiral's suspicious stalking

Spiral's suspicious stalking
Date of Scene:	23 September 2023
Location:	Spiral's Body Shop
Synopsis:	Spiral stalks Lorna, finding her in NYC and propositioning her for services muchly required. She's patient enough to allow Lorna to finish her meal before whisking her offer without further ado. While the particulars are lacking a few important details, something very important is afoot.
Cast of Characters:	Spiral, Lorna Dane

---

Spiral has posed:
Evening in the Big Apple. A riot of colours if you're in the right areas. Noisy, busy, pulsing with life and opportunities. Times Square is always flooded with electricity, and the city itself draws hungrily upon multiple means to fuel its bottomless desire. But tonight there's something out of the ordinary without the major city.

If New York is the Big Apple, there's some ~bruises~, there's some worms, and seeds. Now, tonight, something is messing with the flesh of that core. To someone highly attuned to the electromagnetic, to geomantic forces and their tethers helping to grace the planet like a magical net, the longer the night goes on, the more it is as if a fly has struck one of these ley lines.

Someone is strumming one of those lines. A worm blindly burrowing towards those untapped seeds? An intruder that does not belong. A persistent oddity.

Strum strum strum.

Not the cold rhythm of some machine or industry of the mortals who try to harness powers through technology.

Lorna Dane has posed:
    It's been a tough few days, with mutant kind still struggling even though the latest bill to put them under the boot of humanity in America didn't go through, Lorna still has a sense of guilt and dread hanging over her as she continues to try and find the path she can take that will help her citizens and lead the world into its new age.

    Slipping away from most of her guards in order to make a simple enough run to an oldie but goldie sort of Chinese place for the best dumplings she's been craving for weeks now. Seated outside, and with chopsticks in one hand she taps them together as she savors the crispy treat, her free hand resting on her pregnant belly and she coos. "Oh, that's the stuff." She whispers to no one and slumps her posture slightly.

Spiral has posed:
This phenomena carries a flavour of the alien. There's probably plenty of odd things going on in a city of this size. Things that can be quantified through exposure. Mutants, magicians and monsters aplenty. There must be a lot of noise of this sort of thing.

The pulse comes again, like a dump truck rattling down a residential avenue. It rattles windows of the Chinese restaurant, following along one of those convenient and strange Leylines with geomantic force.

~POP POP POP~

A trio of street lamps simply burst within their enclosures in a line. Further along that line, down the street, a cross-walk signal is disrupted. A crackling energy makes the lights glow-up, and for the briefest moment, pixelated eyes appear vertically, blinking and reorientating. Searching. A fluttering and spasming and the eyes stare down the street towards Lorna who's just trying to get a bit of comfort food in her.

Car alarms start touching off as the energy crawls back up the street towards her place just the Chinese place.

Lorna Dane has posed:
    The lights pop, and the electro-magnetic fields loosely tied into the geomantic ley lines riplple softly, Lorna's head rising up from oggling her own plate with a soft sigh as she bemoans aloud to herself. "You just had to sit outside. Didn't you." She grumbles and dares to act like things are normal and reaches down for another dumpling. The mindset that 'if something's going to happen, I'm going to enjoy as much of this food as I can' plainly visible.

    Or she's simply comfortable with her abilities and herself. And the one guard she knows Raven has placed upon her at all times.

    The ferromagnakinetic takes a deep breath, smelling her next bite as much as adjusting her mind for possibilities and chances. As best as an X-man can.

Spiral has posed:
The energy is impish in a way. Annoying as a fly is annoying, which fits well as someone is just trying to eat and relax. Whatever the phenomena is, it doesn't get a rise out of its subject. The energy bumbles on up and flares, and then...fizzles. The smell of ozone saturates the area, tainting it like burnt out power station.

Electricity returns to a more normal flow in the area. E-scooters scoot and lights flutter back to a more static glow, nearby radios and streaming devices do their thing. Except of course, there's a glitch. Like a lag in a piece of media, where one syllable will be drawn out, clipped, repeated, put through the wringer. This new and annoying auditory effect lasts a few seconds and it too ceases before smearing back into normalcy.

The sounds of heels clip-clopping, jingle-jangling along the sidewalk punctuate the night. There's probably quite a bit of foot traffic, but it manages to find some uniqueness amongst the others. A woman with a silvery-white mane, sways towards the Chinese restaurant. Just another patron perhaps. Her leather jacket looks new and fashionable, leggings and boots (fur-trim, what an odd choice), and apparently a fan of bangles and jewelry. Wisps of mist trail from her clothes like she just stepped out of train depot, directed by a Director keen on dramatic scenes. It disipates, and she doesn't head to place and order, rather, she walks up to Lorna's table. It's the being known as Spiral, though it seems some mystical hijinx are in order as she's only sporting a muggle's amount of limbs. "Ms. Dane. How's the starch?"

Lorna Dane has posed:
    Lorna sighs softly as the world seems to slowly rest back to normal after a time, but there's that hiccup, that lingering sensation of 'offness' that the queen is noticing, but the baby-cravings for dumplings certainly overpowers it in the Queen. So she indulges in her dinner before Spiral shows and moves to stand next to the rather small table Lorna is seated at.

    A figure in the dark tenses, his charge is approached by a known unknown factor. He's not interacting or interfering, yet.

    Lorna looks up with a mouthful and she simply smiles and motions with her chopsticks for Spiral to take a seat. Obviously she's not bothered by the sudden appearance, but she's also taking a moment to chew. Afterwards, "Wonderful, I'd offer to share, but you don't seem the type to indulge in anything remotely fatty." Lorna notes before continuing, "What can I do for you?" The queen asks.

Spiral has posed:
"Thank you, your highness." Spiral intones with a wry quirk to her lips, and eyes the chair indicated. Her lips pucker and after a pregnant pause, pulls the seat out and sits herself upon it. Sitting is so very bad for fluid movement, but she's going to be all gracious and stuff.

"You'd be surprised. I've done a lot of things for...fatty things. Some voluntary, some not."

Spiral leans forward, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin demurely on her hands as she watches Lorna make those chopsticks do their thing. She seems to approve of the dexterity or familiarity required to handle them properly. Or maybe she likes some people consume that aren't monstrous. "I have a small problem that I think could benefit from a qualified touch. Your touch to be exact." Spiral licks her lips. "I'm not inclined to ask your father. And if bringing up him in conversation is vexing, that's not my intention. Besides..." Spiral makes a non-commital gesture. "I'm not inclined to ask...anyone. But from what I know of you, I think you'd be perfect. And I'd be grateful. A favour for favours. Nothing too taxing to one in your...condition? There's things worming their way through the city that I can sense, but not perceive easily. Annoying...near my place of business, The Body Shoppe. My name is, was, Rita, but you can call me Spiral."

Lorna Dane has posed:
    "Well met Sprial and you do a good job of speaking in non-commital circles." Lorna says with a smirk as she uses the chopsticks to pinch a dumpling in half and extends one out towards the witch. "I feel like I should be honored with you coming to me instead of my father, but it does mean you need my powers more than me, but that's nothing I should feel lesser about." Lorna says taking her half of the dumpling and devouring it.

    "Before I say yes, Lorna leans back on the plastic chair and smirks, hand still on her belly, "What exactly is it you need done? And what favor do you think I'd ask for?" The queen asks, curious, and also curious about the witch, whom she can't take her eyes off of.

Spiral has posed:
Spiral offers a wide smile. The kind of expression that is harnessed before it can get to Laughing-gas-Gotham levels. Her lips glisten, her eyes sparkle, and her head tilts just ever so slightly to allow hair to spill across her left shoulder. Her caboose shifts in turn as if to counter-balance upon her seat.

"Let me put a few cards on the table. After all the times I've had to work with, or under, some slob, it's all gone wrong or worse than it should have." She uses one hand to make a lazy circle that slowly narrows down to pointing at Lorna. "I admire your vibe. You're royalty, you're grace, and not just a pretty face. I need someone that won't blunder in through a geomantic bubble like a bull in a China shop. Some lunk head, invulnerable, try-hard that doesn't understand delicacy and tact."

Spiral takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly and leans back in her chair, one leg resting over one knee. "I've chased these...ghosts, to and fro, things in the ether, poltergeist like things that seem to use wires like freeways and batteries like cherry bombs. I suspect they're leaking through my shop. A parting gift from an old acquaintance, or some tech-head device. I can't have clients getting new arms, legs, eyes or...wings being interferred with by these little intangible gremlins. It's more than a one woman job. Surely two women would solve the equation. ~Balance~ things out."

Spiral steeples her fingers. "I'd be pretty grateful if you can lend a hand or two. Whatever is in my power to offer as compensation for your finesse, I wouldn't hesitate to provide of course. Because...hey..." That big grin again. "Gals gotta stick together, what with all the crap we have to put up with, and the dumpster fire of history we have to lug around, being who we are."

Lorna Dane has posed:
    Lorna doesn't restate what's already been stated, instead she takes another bite off another dumpling and her eyes flutter as she thinks about this, but more from the wash of flavors across her tongue really hitting that craving. "Oh god." She whimpers softly before returning to the present.

    "I do have two hands, and... you have two hands, but I figured you'd need eight for this?" Lorna says, a little bit of a joke. Seems she's not turning down the idea right away, she does have a knack for working with the 'villainous' types, her resume having Mystique as one of her best friends, and her father is Magnus. For what that's worth. "I assume the sooner the better?" Lorna asks with a green tinted eyebrow raising up as she looks to Spiral with a soft smirk.

Spiral has posed:
Spiral nods a number of times. "Yeah, I'm afraid it's a pressing matter. I'd not want you to waste those tasty bits though, not with you appearing to enjoy them that much." Her smile quirks and her heel bounces, needing a little movement to happen while in such a static position. The joke has Spiral giggle. "You finish your plate, lick your fingers clean. I'm one of those that hates to waste."

A finger comes up to stroke at her own neck, like she was helping to coax a mouthful of faux food down her own throat. "You really do make me want to try those. There was a time I couldn't stand to hear chewing, or sighs of pleasure over meal. Turns out it's more about the person across from you. I'm lucky the phobia didn't last after I parted ways with Mojo. Such a difference. I will try and make compensation more gratifying than your present meal."

"I'll handle transportation."

Lorna Dane has posed:
    "You're certainly free to try one." Lorna explains, motioning to the plate where the last dumpling sits and Lorna leans back, putting her chop sticks down first. Lacing her fingers and resting them on her belly, the Queen smiles invitingly and then as soon as Spiral picks it up, she begins to stand. "That'd be a hell of a thing if you could make me feel better than I do now." Lorna says as if she's inviting Spiral to show off.

    A deep breath is taken, and Lorna softly moves with a hint of a waddle over to stand near Spiral, "If you'll handle transportation and most everything, I feel like I'm not carrying my weight on this quest, but I'm going to trust you..." Lorna says openly, a hand moving to rest on Spiral's shoulder, a kind soft, maternal sort of smile.

Spiral has posed:
Spiral rises and dips her chin. Her hair creates a kind of artful shade in the ambient light, would be positively useful if it were sunny out. A natural little brim. "You can put your trust in me." she murmers as the hand is on her shoulder. "Your safety is paramount, VIP, golden ticket."

The guise for the normies drops as Spiral's body subtly moves in micro manuevers. While not wishing to dislodge the warmth and pressure of Lorna's hand, her extra appendages appear as if from a pocket dimension from within her jacket.

"I'm very hands on when it is something so close to home, so to speak. You and yours are in my care now. Nothing will touch you when you're in my presence, not without our leave or wish."

A build up of mystical energies. Spiral dispensing with discretion, summoning the globe-trotting, dimension-hopping energies. "I have such delights to show you." Show off to you most likely, according to her bragging, somewhat...fevent tone?

Lorna Dane has posed:
    "Then shall we depart." Lorna asks, leaving her hand on Spiral's shoulder before the extra arms are visible and Lorna allows her hand to drop to take one of the witch's left hands with a kind squeeze. "I'm excited and I could use a little fun in my life." Lorna notes, taking a deep breath and giving a wave with her free hand to the chinese restaurant, as well as in the direction of the Queen's guard who was beginning to stand up and move to join the queen, but it was too late.--