18691/You Know, Somewhere Classy, Like A Museum

You Know, Somewhere Classy, Like A Museum
Date of Scene:	28 July 2024
Location:	Cloisters - Metropolitan Museum of Art
Synopsis:	A trip to a museum. A most surprising visitor, and an ancient manuscript.
Cast of Characters:	Vanessa Carlysle, Victor Von Doom

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Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
The Cloisters is having a slow Saturday evening, with the majority of the crowds having already visited and departed by the time that two young women make their way in. Hands freshly stamped with an ultraviolet stamp that will allow reentry, they make their way through the halls, passing into an area that includes a number of religious items ranging from altarpieces, to religious artworks, and hand-crafted manuscripts in argon filled display cases.

"You see?" one of the women says in the kind of thick New York accent portrayed by Marissa Tomei in 'My Cousin Vinny'. Except her voice is a little higher pitched, which combined with her smacking on gum while she talks, creates a certain impression of a simpler sort of person. "What'd I tell you? Good day to get out of New Lots somewhere else. You know, somewhere classy-"

"Like a museum," Vanessa Carlysle says, finishing the quote, if in a voice sounding more midwestern than native New Yorker. "That you did, Beth. Have you been in any of the museums here before?" she asks.

Beth gives a shake of her head, blowing a little bubble with her gum and popping it. "Nah. Not since those field trips back in school. Spent one of them hiding in a broom closet making out with Bobby Riggins. Ah hah hah hah!" Beth replies, her laughter with a sound to it that might make one of two minds as to whether it is charming or grating.

Vanessa gives a little nod of her head as they move further into the exhibit hall. "I've been to a few, but not this one before. I think I like this more than the ones just full of paintings and sculptures," she comments.

Beth leans forward to peer at one of the manuscripts in its case. "I don't know, paintings take something special to make. These are just books. You'd think they'd have digitized them by now, wouldn't you?" Beth asks, completely serious.

Vanessa seems to bite down on her lower lip surreptitiously to try to suppress a grin. "That's an interesting idea, maybe we can suggest it to someone before we go," she says. Vanessa stops to look at a tapestry that seems to have something to do with the Crusades. Or at least that's her best guess. Clearly Christians fighting someone else. Beth, meanwhile, says, "Oh, I think that's leather, going to go take a look," she says, leaving Vanessa and wandering off towards what seem to be restraints used during the Inquisition.

Victor Von Doom has posed:
Stamps? Doom suffers no stamps. Which is precisely why it takes some time for the Latverian monarch to make entry into the Cloisters. His refusal to suffer the ultraviolet stamp, citing reasons of personal security as a foreign politician and the risks that it could impose through the actions of nefarious Western agents surely generates some buzz at the entrance. Never mind the fact that the man is wrapped in the titanium plates that constitutes his royal regalia. There's no need for such imbeciles and plebs to understand the true extent of Doctor Victor von Doom's armor and its capabilities. In time he is permitted entry, along with two members of the Latveria Secret Service and one of the Latverian's royal aides. They are ceremonial at best. Doom does not require security or aides, for such would acknowledge some sort of inadequacy. Yet, appearances must be maintained. Even if they are as inefficient as organic lifeforms.

The footfalls of Doctor Doom are surprisingly quiet as he approaches a set of manuscripts while his cloak of Latverian green shifts and sways behind him. The European leader passes one woman, though he acknowledges her with barely a glance as she wanders in the opposite direction while chomping and snapping her bubblegum. The ingrate is beneath the true notice of Doom, thus he carries on with nothing more than his simple sidelong glance.

Soon Doom moves to stand near one of the manuscripts. Despite there being many present, it seems to be that lone stack of archaic paper. It is that lone manuscript from the allegedly illuminated mind of a thirteenth century religieuse - or French nun - which had written of prophetic visions delivered from God regarding the Crusades of the High Middle Ages.

Doom does not reach out for the manuscript, but instead considers it from behind glass and distance. The presence of another earns a heavy look from the Latverian, whose concealed countenance only offers a stern-eyed glance and an implacable mask. Vanessa is given a moment of consideration before the Latverian monarch speaks, gesturing a heavy gauntlet toward the manuscript, "She was a remarkable woman. Are you familiar with her work?"

The question is left to hang in the air. Whether it goes answered or not is in the realm of Vanessa's own control.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
As Beth is passed, she does a 180 to a backwards walk, eying Doom's armor. She lets out one of her nasally laughs. "Lord that's great! Saw someone with an Iron Man cosplay once, but that one really takes the cake!" The sound of her bubblegum popping comes then as Beth turns back to go press her face up to the glass of the restraint's display.

Vanessa has her arms crossed as she's looking at the tapestry. She's wearing a short black leather skirt and a nice white blouse that are suitable enough for a museum. "Hmm," she murmurs to herself as she spots the placard explaining the origins of the tapestry. Vanessa's head slowly rotates a bit to look at a horse that has been downed in the fighting. "Did horses back then look different than they do today?" she quips softly to herself about the slightly unlifelike depiction.

The footfalls are missed, but the casting of a shadow causes her to glance up as Doctor Doom is still approaching his manuscript of choice. Her eyes sweep over the green cloak and the severe looking metal armor. The slight widening of her eyes signal both recognition, and that she doesn't fall prey to Beth's assumption it is a cosplayer.

But the young brunette woman didn't expect to be addressed. Her mouth drops open but for just a brief moment. "I don't think I am. Unless Father Theo gave a sermon related to her that I'm not recalling," Vanessa replies. "A fan of her work then I gather?" she asks the Latverian monarch, while still boggling that this is happening at all.

Victor Von Doom has posed:
The commentary regarding Doctor Doom's armor being a cosplay of Iron Man's own does result in a brief glance from Doctor Doom. The accompanying aide receives that glance and swiftly reacts. The young royal aide slips away to approach Beth, no doubt striking up a little conversation of his own in order to address the slight in polite and even friendly manner. Explaining, no doubt, the significance of the royal regalia of Doctor Victor von Doom and the publicly available explanation regarding that same wardrobe. It's a far better alternative than the Latverian monarch himself addressing the slight and a potential diplomatic incident resulting from such a scolding.

The presence of the nearby brunette, Vanessa, results in Doctor Doom's attention turning back to the sheaf of ancient paper. He considers it and the question presented for a time. The truth would break the average simpleton's mind. No doubt Vanessa herself is far from a simpleton, but compared to Doctor Doom: all are simple.

"It's unlikely that your Father Theo gave a sermon on her works. Or her. She is an inconsequential figure in the greater history of mankind and civilization," Doom explains in his typical grandiloquent fashion. A light sweep of his arm accompanies his words and only serves to increase the gravitas of them. When Doom's gauntlet lowers again to his side and brushes his cloak back and behind him, the Latverian king's mask shifts back to regard the manuscript before he continues, "She claimed to have received a vision and in it heard Kol. Which is truly fascinating," Doom's voice takes on an edge of intermingled delight and curiosity, "given that she was a nun of the Christian faith and Kol is the voice of God in the Hebrew Bible."

Doom's attention shifts then from the manuscript itself and again toward Vanessa as his mask shifts, his chin beneath it declining in order to slant his gaze slightly downward. While his armor offers him greater height, Vanessa is already tall herself and thus the lowering of his chin to consider her isn't nearly as extreme compared to some others, "Her vision turned to prophecy and spoke of a king that would some day become a god."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle keeps her arms crossed as she's pivoted slightly to face more towards Doctor Doom. She listens attentively to the explanation. "Ah, and I didn't take 'ascending deity' in this week's Apocalypse Pool," she says in a rueful tone. "I'll have to keep my fingers crossed for Mole People Invasion until the next one."

Despite the lighthearted comment, Vanessa peers over at the manuscript in an interested way. "And was there something to back up her claims, make them more than predictions without particular credibility?" she ask in a tone of curiosity.

Beth is talking to the aide, who likely doesn't find it easy to get through to her. Though the simple young woman does at least offer him an apology if any offense was taken.

Victor Von Doom has posed:
"One shouldn't discount the virtues of every deity that ascends," Doom remarks solemnly as his attention shifts to Vanessa with the comment, but gradually turns back to regard the manuscript. "In a world driven insane by vile decadence and selfish hedonism, there must be a counterbalance to such proclivities. The common man has sought to forge themselves into gods themselves, without the strength to support it. They have sought to kill their gods by proclaiming themselves the masters of their fates". Doom's mask shifts back to Vanessa and in that moment the strength of his voice and the way that he stands seems to make the Latverian monarch seem taller and more formidable. Yet a moment later and his Latverian accented english softens and returns to something more conversational in tone, without the imposing oration to be expected out of Doctor Doom.

"There was nothing of her credibility, no. Which is precisely why she became a figure of obscurity, who your Father Theo would not consider teaching you. Despite that, faith often can't be proven," Doom offers as a reminder to Vanessa as he gestures toward the manuscript and only then does Doom's tone turn to something encroaching upon amusement, "How often are lies and falsehoods spun on social media among the debased and corrupt in this country? Whether politicians or the average citizen: they spin small falsehoods into greater lies to make themselves feel better about an otherwise bleak existence. Yet the youth of this country will take these tales and consume them as unassailable truth. Why then would her tale be any less believable?"

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
At the end of Victor von Doom's commentary, Vanessa's eyes go back to the hand-created manuscript. "A lit more difficult to get your tweet out back in those days," she says, before leaning a little closer to get a better look at the placard that provides information about the book's origins, and some information on the nun herself.

"Would you say this is the most interesting item in their collection then?" Vanessa asks. "My first time to the Cloisters. I admit I find these sorts of items more appealing than just paintings and artwork. The historical connections are intriguing. Though I could have walked past this and had no idea of its significance, but for you," she says.

Victor Von Doom has posed:
"In those days the voices of visionaries were often silenced. Not unlike today," Doom remarks loftily, "but it was an incredibly easier feat to accomplish in those days. As said though, she was a remarkable woman," he concludes with a solemn nod. The question of the being the most interesting in the collection earns another firm nod from Doctor Doom and his mask shifts to regard Vanessa anew, "Doom would label it the most interesting and potentially the most significant in this question. Were the prediction to come true, then it may be among the most significant documents of that New World".

Then Doom shifts and his Latverian green cloak sways around him with the movement. He takes a step away, slow and purposeful. He pauses in order to glance aside and toward Vanessa in order to offer her an additional insight, "Many of the other items present in this mockery of a museum are of little significance. The high-minded attempting to coax others into seeing their intellectual or even moral superiority. They do not fool Doom."

"Doom has seen all that is necessary," he offers in parting. There are no farewells or goodbyes. Only the declaration that nothing else may entertain the intellectual pursuits of Doctor Doom. He begins to move away then with his cloak trailing lightly after him. Soon the aide slips away from Beth, looking all the more exhausted for it. The two organic Latverian Secret Servicemen begin to move ahead and behind Doom as they escort their king from within the Cloisters.