18276/Surprise, surprise!

Surprise, surprise!
Date of Scene:	11 June 2024
Location:	145 Central Park Penthouse
Synopsis:	Marie invites Doug over to let him know Roulette's back in town, Doug brings out a long-lost friend of his own in Warlock! Bad luck discs go flying! It's chaos, pandemonium!
Cast of Characters:	Marie-Ange Colbert, Douglas Ramsey, Warlock, Jennifer Stavros

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Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Most of her life, Marie-Ange Colbert has been chewed up, beaten down, and otherwise spit out by life. It's just been her lot, though upon leaving Europe for America at the warm invitation of one Charles Francis Xavier, things started to turn around. She made friends. More than that, really, she made /family./ It hasn't always been smooth sailing, with fate throwing her a roller coaster of a ride here and there... but of late?

Marie-Ange Colbert is as happy as she's ever been. Everything's coming up Milhouse, whatever a Milhouse is. Probably some kind of... fancy colonial estate or something, if one were to ask the French girl who, despite being better at English than when she first moved to the country... still struggles with her second language's sayings and pop-culture references.

They say misery loves company, but the truth was joy did, too. Which is why she could think of no better person to reach out and share her news with than one Douglas Ramsey. A text was sent, along with a reminder of her new address in the city just in case, and after all the preliminary work was done to align schedules? She waited eagerly. Just sitting on the arm of her sofa in a yellow sundress, hair pulled back into a ponytail with a white scrunchie, and feet bare and dangling freely, eyes trained on the door as if that would make her guest appear faster.

...and quietly praying that he'd arrive before somebody /else./

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug has brought someone with him; though he wouldn't be so brash as to demand his guest take any specific form. Either way he's casually talking to him as he makes his way up the steps. "Anyway, Marie-Ange and I get along fine now, though given how everyone's got their own lives and has been fragmented off, I'm surprised she called me and asked to meet. I wonder what this big news she's got is?" He stops on the front steps, halfway to reaching out to the doorknob, as a thought comes to him.

"...I mean, she was really enthusiastic. So it can't have anything to do with Miguel. Nobody would be enthusiastic about that." He seems to be at a loss for what it could be. "Well, let's find out." He rings the bell and waits to be admitted.

Warlock has posed:
Warlock was in his Humansona again, as he often was when they were outside in the city. Soulfriend never demanded it, but it was easier to navigate populated areas like this, and people were a bit quicker to ignore some of his quirks. "Heard Seeingfriend has girlfriend now? Have you met?" Gossip at Xavier's was surprisingly accurate. And quick. He leans against Doug, part nerves, mostly because he feels like it. It's been a long time since he's seen Marie-Ange.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
When that doorbell rings, Marie's practically racing across the floor to pull the door open. Not ask who it is -- her reading this morning didn't show any dangers coming today, so there was no need for caution. Her cards were rarely ever wrong, and when they were...

...well, the person who tended to be involved was always a welcome presence.

As the door swings open, green eyes are bright, lips are smiling wide. She looks every bit as happy as she sounded on the phone. "Douglas!" she enthusiastically exclaims, looking like she's about to attack with the power of hugs... when she notices that he's not alone. There's a blink, and she doesn't move for a moment. "Oh, hello...?" she starts. Given that said stranger is /leaning/ on Doug, he must be a friend /of/ Doug, and if he's a friend of Doug's, he's okay in her book. So, she moves out of the door, waving her arm wide. "Please, come in, come in, oui? I am Marie-Ange Colbert! It is a pleasure to meet..." she deliberately leaves the moment open for the 'stranger'.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug raises an eyebrow. "No, I hadn't heard that. Who HAVE you been talking to buddy?" Doug asks Warlock, before the door swings open, and then - he gestures. "Marie-Ange! Hi!" He steps inside, and then proffers a box. "I didn't want to show up empty-handed, so I brought you a black tea cheesecake from Gong Gan." he looks around, and says, "Beautiful home. I love what you've done with the place."

Then he gestures to the lanky stranger with his thumb. "You've met before, he's just experimenting with being nondescript. Go ahead, you can take your coat off. I always wonder if it gets uncomfortable, but he never complains..." He rocks backward on his heels.

Warlock has posed:
Warlock stops leaning on Soulfriend as they enter, the shift from human to Self rippling down his body in his excitement and internal amusement at Marie-Ange's curiosity. "Seeingfriend! It has been a very long time." He stays close to Doug, however, hovering just beside the man. "You are surprised? Self is good human passer! Still working on human name, cannot be user DouglasAaronRamseyCypher with Soulfriend alive and known again."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
The box is taken from Doug with a renewed bright smile, "Merci beaucoup Douglas! You need never feel required to bring a gift to visit..." she trails off, looking down at the box with a little sparkle in her eyes. "...but I will never turn down sweets, and you are most sweet to bring one." Marie replies earnestly, shifting the box to one hand so that she can attempt to hug Doug with the freed arm.

...and then when her other guest speaks... she freezes. Eyes widen. Could it be... "Warlock?" her tone is surprised, but a happy surprise to say the least. She really didn't know how life could get better, but having yet another old friend re-enter her life? Yup, the bar has been raised a notch or two further. Cloud 9 is on its way to Cloud 11, and Warlock, too, will get a hug if he allows it.

"It is so good to see you again -- both of you, really! Moving to the city has made some scheduling tricky, but I definitely do not wish to lose touch with any of the people so important to me." Then, Doug's compliment about her home gets a light blush. "You flatter me, but Mary chose most of the furniture." Perhaps the rumored girlfriend? "If you like, once I put this in the fridge I would be happy to give you both the tour, oui?"

She was going to put a sock over the doorknob on the outside of the penthouse to warn Jennifer not to come in without texting when she'd eventually arrive. Granted, it wasn't for the purpose originally meant, but it would still buy her some time if the blonde /didn't/ stay out all night. But, the shock of Warlock's return knocked /that/ particular thought right out of her head. Whoopsie!

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Back at curbside, an Uber pulls out. Jen nearly falls out of the car, holding her knee-length boots in her hand and trying to straighten up her very silver, very spangly, very backless and very _short_ dress. She'd already flashed the driver accidentally at least once and she was what her mother would have referred to as a Giant Snit.

The doormen let her by and she threw open the front door like it'd personally offendsd her. Then she stopped dead, boots hitting the floor with a thump, as she spots Marie-Ange, Douglas Fucking Ramsey, and Black Gumby.

Just _great_.

She took a deep breath, which did interesting things to the neckline of her dress, and was about to ask all and sundry, and possibly the All-Mighty, what in the ever-living _fuck_ Cypher and fucking Warlock were doing in her place.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
IF this were an Anime, Douglas would pull one of those Wild Take faces where his eyes get real small and his face briefly turns really tense and flat - you know the one. It'd be accompanied by a funny noise.

"Roulette! Aha-ha-ha! Hi Jenny!" He stands there like a bit of an idiot. "...I brought a cheesecake?" He gestures to the box Marie-Ange is holding. "...It's good to see you! Really! How *are* you?"

Warlock has posed:
Warlock steps away from Doug and twirls. "Self is the gift of not-cake, surprise!" His grin is wide and happy as he steps back to Soulfriend post-twirl, hooking his chin over the man's shoulder. "Self has been back a short time. Still meeting and finding people, getting used to changes." Getting used to having Soulfriend alive and being near people again. Sometimes it's a little overwhelming, and he spends the day being a vase of flowers in the window.

Self starts to speak again, but is distracted by Meanluckgirl's appearance. Her dress is very shiny, and he likes her boots. He does not like Soulfriend's distress, and steps just in front of him, reaching backwards to curve an arm around the blond. "Luckgirl is wearing a nice dress. Very shiny and light catching."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie's cards didn't promise danger or trouble today, but Marie's cards were never good at predicting the walking agent of chaos that is Jennifer Stavros. Honestly, Marie was better at making guesses herself about what Roulette might do...

...but the look on her face goes from Good Surprise to 'Oh No What Have I Done?' in about two seconds flat. Disaster averting mode engaged! She very quickly forces a smile and squeaks out a, "...surprise...!' before moving very quickly to insert herself between her roommate and her two male visitors. Because if anyone's getting bad luck'd today, it's going to be Marie, if her BFF can bring herself to do it. Keeping that same forced smile on, "Jennifer! You are home early! Did the night not go as planned? I, ah, we have guests! There is cheesecake! We have more drinks!"

Marie had a plan in her head for how this was all going to go down. She'd tell-slash-warn Doug of Jennifer's return. Then she'd talk to Jennifer about Douglas Not Being Such A Bad Guy Afterall. Then she'd find a neutral ground. ...instead, well. This!

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Jen's hands curled into claws. But yelling at Warlock was like kicking a puppy, so she forced herself to be nice. Nicer.

"Greetings, selfacquaintance Warlock." she said, managing not to hiss things out between clenched teeth. It was close, though. To Doug, she just snarled. Then, finally, to Marie, she narrowly managed to avoid sinking her painted nails into her bestie and roomate's tender flesh. "Marie. We should ... talk. Right. Now." she hissed, then bent down to grab her boots.

"I am not in the mood for this shit." she said, and in a rare demonstration of a loss of control, black discs appeared floating above her clenched fists.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug stands there, looking momentarily helpless. He searches through his internal mental database for something to say, and he finally settles on, "...You look nice. I'm glad to see you." And he means it. He really does! He puts his hand on Warlock's shoulder - there's no need to protect him, he's fine.

He smiles, brightly, and then says, "Marie-Ange is just so thrilled that you're here." He says, cheerfully, "She could barely contain her excitement." He lets his hands drop to his sides. "...How've you been?" He asks, openly.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie dares to take a breath. Jen's not going off the rails. Not yet. There was a chance that this could still turn out alright. She was nice to Warlock, and hasn't tried to attack Doug yet!

This is progress!

Of course, then she wants to talk. Now. Despite being the taller of the pair by a half a foot, the redhead shrinks in on herself. There had always been a pecking order with these two, and /that/, at least, hasn't changed.

"Of... of course, Jennifer. Your room? Douglas, Warlock, please. Make yourselves comfortable." Or has it? Maybe the burned in need to be a Good Hostess is going to war with the habit of being the Loyal Follower. It's hard to say.
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Warlock has posed:
Warlock knows he doesn't need to protect Soulfriend, but they did just reconnect. He doesn't move from his spot slightly blocking Doug. He remembers the not-good days of BadLuckRudeWords and doesn't want a repeat sucking the joy from Seeingfriend's eyes. Her greeting isn't terrible. "Query: Is Seeingfriend certain? Self and Soulfriend can depart, allow time for anger to cool." His smile has shrunk, but he is still happy to see her. Oddly enough, he is happy that Luckgirl is alive as well. It's good. Painful reminders, but good to see them whole.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug gives Warlock a look - he appreciates the support, he really does. He glances back to Marie-Ange, and then slips off the light windbreaker he was wearing, before he drapes it over his arm. "Well. I suppose we could stay for a little bit of cheesecake and a cup of coffee." He smiles, brightly. "Warlock has some great stories of the places he's been over the past few years. Wait'll he tells you about that run-in he had where he almost got arrested by the Green Lanterns..."

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Jen glared at everyone present and her normally pale-ish skintone was rapidly heading up into the scarlet zone. The bad-luck discs went flying off in all directions - one skipped into the box containing the cheesecake, one narrowly missed Doug to smack into Warlock, and the third soaked into Jen's bedroom door.

Which became really irritating when Jen shoved her roomie through the door and then tried to slam it closed behind them.

The door, stubbornly, refused to engage and bounced back open. Which caused an incoherent scream of rage from Jennifer as she slammed the door again. Which, once again, refused to close cleanly and, for good measure, bounced back into Jen's face. The door wasn't even supposed to go that far.

She was lucky most of the bad look had been spent or she would have broken her nose on the door. Third try was the charm and then the door obediently closed and went click.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
It's a precarious balancing act for Marie. On one hand? She never disliked Warlock, and Doug has proven himself a good person regardless of what the past held. On the other hand? For a good chunk of their lives at Xavier's, Marie was one of very few 'real' friends that Jen had. That would stick by the blonde no matter what trouble she got into, or what she said or did., and Marie /just/ got the other girl back into her life. She doesn't want to wreck that.

Warlock gets an apologetic look at first -- apologetic and thankful. Offering to skedaddle really was the 'easy' way out and it meant a lot to her that it would be offered... but that kindness also makes it harder to want to /accept/ the offer.

Couldn't they all just get along?

Doug continues to do a remarkably good job at handling himself despite Jen's antagonism, and he, too, gets a thankful look. "Yes, that all sounds--"

...and then those black discs are set loose. Marie's eyes briefly go wide again, but she doesn't have time to react as she's shoved past Jen's bedroom door, the /attempt/ at slamming the door so startling to the poor redhead that she jumps. It's just the right angle that the latch on the cheesecake box disengages... and the delightful treat flies right into the French girl's face.

Fortunately, cheesecake doesn't splat as messily as some dessert offerings, like creme pies favored by circus clowns. Unfortunately... this was not the kind of stuffing of her face that Marie-Ange had intended. So as Jennifer finishes her war with the door (hey, that rhymed!), Marie is carefully trying to scoop the dessert off her face and back into the box. And watching Jennifer. Her bestie wanted to talk, the very least she can do is listen -- and /then/ try and calm her down.

Warlock has posed:
Self was... droopy, which made it hard to protect Soulfriend. BadLuckGirl was sharing in the meanness she had delivered, and Self thought this was maybe that karma thing in action. He leaned against Doug, body strangely 2-D. "Self feels very foldable, Soulfriend." He attempts to shift into something more manageable and ends up dangling off Doug's shoulder like a very flat scarf. "Fold Self and escape?" His eyes blink at Soulfriend, mouth flat.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug watches Warlock go all... gooey. Egh. Yikes. He probably would've accidentally stepped on his glasses or his smartwatch or something if the disc had hit him!

He tries to gather Warlock up, and begins to look exasperated as Warlock sort of flows through his arms. It's like trying to hold oobleck. "Come on Buddy, pull yourself together... I'll call an Uber. Uh, here." He takes his hat off. "Crawl in here, this should hold you."

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
Jen turned to Marie, ready to give her a piece of her mind - but she couldn't help it. She just _lost it_ at the betrayed look Marie had through the cheesecake splattered across her face. "Cheesecake-kake?" she said with a smirk, then, feeling mischevious, leaned forward and up to her taller friend and used her tongue to lick away some of the dessert splattered across her face. Then, she took pity on the poor woman and got her a towel. And while M-A was toweling her face. Jen reached around behind her and, with a smidge of good luck, managed to catch the zipper to her dress.

Within moments, it was puddled around her ankles and Jen stood before M-A wearing naught but a pair of very tiny underwear.

But sadly for Marie's hormones Jen went and found herself a pair of shorts to pull on, then went digging for a T-shirt to wear. She found an oversized Xavier Institute swearshirt and pulled it on over her head.

"OK, what the fuck?" Jen asked Marie, jerking her thumb at the door. "You invite those two assclowns or did they just show up at our door?" she asked. Then, finally winding down from her anger spike, she sighed. "Let's go talk to Gumby and the idiot." she said, moving over to open her bedroom door - and keeping a wary eye on it.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie, meanwhile, is bracing herself for whatever might come next...

...but could /not/ see what happened coming no matter how good her precognition is. Even if she would've had her cards with her. So instead, Marie stares, dumbstruck for several moments, not even entirely realizing what the towel is for at first before it clicks in her head and she uses it to wipe the remaining bits away from her face. Though, there's probably a piece or two in her hair, given that she wasn't using a mirror.

"...cheesecake-kake?" asks a bewildered-sounding Marie, before her brain catches up to the more pertinent question. At which point she replies, "I invited them." It's not apologetic. She meant to do that. "Well, Douglas. Warlock was an unexpected but not unwelcome surprise." There's a pause when Jennifer starts to move, and the redhead quickly puts the cheesecake box down, and uses her hands to grab for her friend's shoulders instead. There's not a lot of /force/ there and Jennifer could pull away if she wanted, but an attempt is made.

"Jennie. Please. For me." Marie pleads softly, eyes widening in a look that might make a puppy jealous. "...keep an open mind?" That said, she'll turn to follow the blonde back into the living room... and let out a startled gasp at the State of Warlock.

"Oh no!"

Warlock has posed:
Warlock gloops into Doug's hat with a sulky frown. It isn't aimed at Soulfriend, just at the situation in general. Upset Soulfriend, upset Seeingfriend, a round of BadLuckMeanGirl. Self sloshes in something like a sigh, and doesn't bother attempting words. Instead he jiggles around in Doug's hat, slowly solidifying into a more malleable consistency. An Uber sounds good. If he could change right now, Soulfriend would be getting a first class ticket on a magic carpet ride, Warlock-style.

The door opens to Marie's very upset voice. Warlock burbles an upset agreement, and manages to reach out to Soulfriend's arm.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug looks down at his hat full of frowning Warlock, and then he says, "He'll be fine, he's just lost his cohesion for a minute. I'll take him home, he'll plug into his EV outlet, and in a couple of hours he'll be just fine." He looks down at Warlock touching his arm, and then he says, "This used to happen all the time, he'd get a fright and then... all over the floor."

He offers a wan smile, and then says, "But ah -" He clears his throat, "We may not be able to stay for a slice of that cheesecake. I'm really sorry."

Jennifer Stavros has posed:
"Spare you the trip." Jen said in her Xsviers sweatshirt and a white-disc appeared above her pointer finger and jetted off to land at Warlock. "Even alien physiology has to give way to chance." she commented, waiting for a moment for the good-luck to cancel out the bad-luck she'd apparently hit him with. "Anyway. Hi, Douggie." she told the human male with a wan smile.