6578/Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

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Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
Date of Scene: 15 June 2021
Location: Central Nexus
Synopsis: Clarice and Nicolai have an awkward conversation about Mystique and Brotherhood over a sadly victimized piece of chocolate cake.
Cast of Characters: Nicolai Codona, Clarice Ferguson




Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Some days find Nicolai just doing free running through Bushwick and other parts of New York, others find him battling it out with either foes he's programmed into the training room's systems or ones he's allowed the system to create for him based on his desired diffulty levels.
    ...today is the latter and he must have set the thing on Extreme Hard You WILL DIE because he's currently engaged in an all out street battle royal with a fifteen or so foot Cyclops looking creature that's shooting a laser from its one eye and half a dozen ... what'er those? Dark elf looking things that each seem to have a unique power of their own.
    Four of the six of those Elf things are down though and the giant thing is injured. Buildings are damaged, streets are cracked and crumbling, cars are crushed. It's total choas.
    ...and Clarice walks in right in time to see Nicolai's death by laser beam straight to the chest as he was executing a perfect backflip to get out of the way of a crushing fist.
    .... "DAMNIT," he barks when the program ends, leaving him panting and maybe a little bruised and sore. There is at least one SMALL gash on his cheek that's leaking ectoblood.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice responds with a slow-clap - an amused smile on her features as the images fade from view. There's something calmer - more relaxed about her posture and her features than she had been a day or so ago - when she'd still been reeling from the glimpse of her mother, and then been hit by Nicolai threatening to leave almost immediately. "You ever won that fight?" she asks. "Or was that your only attempt?"

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "Once," he breathes out as he bends over, hands on his knees to try and catch his breath. "But I don't think I lived after the fact." In other words, he knows the injuries he would have suffered by the end if it was real would have been much worse than the training room would have allowed.
    He looks up, sweaty curls plastered to his face. "You were with me. You died first..." Disturbing that.
    Nicolai stands back up and paces the floor a little, shaking his hands at his sides, just walking off the kinks and the 'ouchies'.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Ah, well, the thing must be programmed wrong," Clarice quips lightly, leaning back against the wall of the training roo - casually crossing her arms over her chest. "...how's the scratch healing up?" she asks - concern showing through for a moment. She still felt bad he'd been injured helping her.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    He lifts the 'wife-beater' he's wearing to show his chest all taped rather than just bandaged. "It's fine, I make sure it's well protected before..." Trying to defeat impossible enemies in the training room? "I'm betting the stitches can come out in a day or two tops."
    Nicolai wanders to a bag he has in the room and pulls out a towel to wipe his forehead. "I think I found a building I wanna buy." There's still something a little different about him, in his tone mostly. He's not so... enthusiastic as he was before.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Oh yeah?" Clarice asks. "Tell me about it?" she asks - pushing off the wall to move closer, though she pretty much just takes up the same posture leaning up against the wall as she'd had a moment before. Her bright green eyes flick over his form - taking in the healing wound, and his posture and expression. Some things take time to heal.
    Some things once broken - can't be fixed.
    She really hopes the former applies.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "It's in Bushwick, better part of town." Not that any part of Bushwich is perfect, yet. "Ten apartments in the building. It needs a lot of work though."
    For what it's worth, his 'form' is pretty fine... in that purely athletic way that just about anyone could find an admiration for. He shoves the towel back in the bag and snatches it up to toss it over his shoulder.
    "I'm thinking about doing a benefit at Betsy's club. I have money, but just throwing money at it doesn't bring awareness." At least he still seems to be on board with the Bushwick cause?

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Hadn't thought of it that way," Clarice muses. "But it makes sense. What can I do to help?" she asks curiously.
    If she were telling the truth - 'event planning' is not one of Clarice's skills. She's more of a woman of action - but she at least seems perfectly willing to help.
    "...what sorts of things go into a 'benefit'?"
    Oh dear.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "There's not a whole lot to it really. Drinking, dancing, maybe a speech or two, a silent auction," Nicolai explains. "Live entertainment. The difference is that proceeds go to the cause, not the bar. I'm sure Betsy'll be all over it."
    He heads for the door, explaining, "I need food, or at least fluids," along the way.
    "You could help me think of things for the auction. I'll provide the funding for those. I thought a week in a Transylvanian castle might be worth a listing."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I guess I could eat something," Clarice agrees - pushing off the wall to follow Nicolai, as she tries to turn the idea over in her head. "I don't know her that well - but I imagine she will be." The Xavier's crowd love a good cause. She falls into step next to him, a thoughtful look on her features as she tries to think of things people would enjoy. "...A trip to the top of Mount Everest?" she asks - snapping her fingers, to show just how instantaneously such a thing could be achieved. What else...? "What about Alison Blaire?" She asks. "Famous mutant singer. Maybe we could auction of a lunch with her or something? If she'd be willing."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "I'm not sure how many people would be interested in a trip to the top of Mt. Everest, unless it was a flight," Nicolai points out. "That's a tough trek. But maybe."
    It's weird, the way he's not really looking at Clarice when he speaks. It's so out of character for him. But... he continues. "Maybe, if she's on board with the cause. Or maybe we could get her to perform at the benefit." A beat and he adds, "Think ... luxury. Like a boat, or... a home remodel by some fancy designer. Things people dream of having or doing and never do because they don't want to waste the money?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Planes are too slow," Clarice counters. "Who wants to deal with that? Portals are better."
    She glances aside at Nicolai, then forward again as they walk - amusement creeping into her voice. "You think //I'm// the person to think of luxurious things people don't want to waste money on? I floundered when Mystique ordered me to take a day off every week." She winces as soon as she says it. Maybe bringing up Mystique wasn't the //best// idea.
    "What about- ummm... I don't know. I've got my island, but I don't really want to share it."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    No, it wasn't the best idea. Nicolai bristles? No, not the right word? Something in him changes even further at the mention of Mystique. "Yeah, I guess a portal trip to the top of Mt. Everest would work," he replies quietly... and a little flatly.
    Something's definitely eating at him and it might not *just* be his personal confrontation with Mystique.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Yeah, good, rather take them to Everest," Clarice replies in an equally soft voice, her gaze dropping down to the floor for a moment as they enter the cafeteria.
    She isn't terribly hungry - so she gravitates towards the baked goods, securing a piece of chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries, and a cup of coffee to go with it, while she lets Nicolai choose whatever he is after - lapsing into silence for the moment.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    For his part, Nicolai really only wants hydration, so he snags some sort of sports drink from a cooler and heads for a table. He kicks the chair out by hooking one foot in front of its leg and settles down.
    For the first time since Clarice met the man, he seems a little disinterested in keeping a conversation going.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    The awkward silence grows, with Clarice picking at her cake without eatting much of it. It's just slowly turning into a crumbly mess on her plate. Finally she speaks, with her gaze still directed down at her plate. "Do you want me to go?" she asks uncomfortably - seeming strangely vulnerable and almost childish for the moment, rather than her usual confident self.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "No," Nicolai begins. There's a long pause before he adds, "...but I'm still not so sure I shouldn't." His words are soft and gentle, more like the Nicolai that she knows... hesitant, like he doesn't want to hurt her with them. "What was all that about the other day? With that Remy dude and his girl?"
    ...ah, there it is, the added *something* that has Nicolai doubting his choice to stay.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Honestly?" Clarice asks - looking up towards Nicolai for a moment, then back down to the cake she continues to slowly mangle. As if it deserves such a fate. "I really don't know, entirely. I mean - Mystique took Rogue in, sort of adopted her. She was part of the Brotherhood, but the Brotherhood was different then," it's not like it was that long ago, really, but she studiously ignores that fact, "More militant, violent, and aggressive. Resorting to terrorism, assassinations... That sort of thing. Mystique was behind a lot of it. She got Rogue to attack someone named Carol Danvers. Rogue stole her powers, left her in a coma for a while... Eventually, Rogue felt she was just being manipulated, and left the Brotherhood. There's a lot of bad blood between her and Mystique. I mean, when you think someone you loved had basically betrayed you..." She gives a helpless shrug of her shoulders.
    "And Rogue and Remy as a thing, so of course he hates Mystique, too."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Nicolai listens to the explanation without interrupting and chews on it a few moments. He covers the moment with a long drink from his bottle, emptying it about half.
    "Did Mystique betray her? Her own daughter?" he asks. The idea seems unfathomable to him, harming your own *child*.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice lets out a quiet sigh - stabbing one of the strawberries as if she intends to eat it.
    She doesn't.
    "Betray her? No. Not really. But use her, sure. To Mystique... the cause is everything. Securing a safe world for mutants - at any cost. I mean, that's how it was, anyways. But... Well. If you want to know what I think, I think it was losing Rogue that changed her. That- that made her realize that some costs may be too high. That her people aren't just tools to use and manipulate however she wants. She's more careful with her people now. It's why she //cares// to know if someone is hurt, or..." She gives a shrug of her shoulders, her eyes still locked fixedly on her ruined slice of cake. "Anyways. It's complicated, and there's at least two sides to any story. Mystique made some mistakes, and it cost her, and she's trying to learn and change."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Once again, Nicolai listens quietly and takes a moment to process it all. His brow furrows a little as he considers his reply. Finally he lets out a sigh of a breath before he speaks. "Clarice, do you see *anything* wrong with *any* of what you just said?" It's a gentle question. ...but it's obvious there's something in that explanation that he's seeing as wrong.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    You know that feeling - when someone puts you on the spot and your brain just shuts down? Clarice was already feeling awkward enough but when Nicolai asks that question - she just sort of freezes, no longer picking at her cake, but still staring fixedly down at it. "...no?" she replies uncertainly after a pause - and it's definitely a question.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Nicolai studies Clarice for a moment or two before he answers. There's a sort of sadness in those odd eyes of his. She should know, she should get it. Or at least he feels she should. "...People aren't *hers*, Clarice. They're not property. To believe so makes a person no better than the things she claims she's fighting against, fighting for."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Her gaze finally looks up towards Nicolai for a moment, surprise reflected in her eyes. Clarice doesn't hold his gaze for long, however, before it drops back down to the cake. "Of //course// not," she says with a hint of anger. "And I never said that we are. She's not- She's not like the //Magistrates//." The venom is dripping from her tone with that one word. "If you thought- that's certainly not what I meant, and certainly not how she thinks."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "But she used to use and manipulate 'her people' to her own ends?" Nicolai isn't getting the disconnect, not at all. In his mind, well... "I just dunno, Clarice. I care about you. I'm still here *because* of you, but it don't feel right." He polishes off the contents of his bottle before continuing. "Maybe I'm just not 'militant' minded enough for all of this..." He waves a hand to kind of indicate 'all of this'. "I believe in the cause, I do. I don't believe that violence against mutants by humans should go unpunished or even lightly punished... but I dunno..."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "She and Magneto run the organization. Of course they're //her// people. But they're also //my// people," Clarice shoots back, her gaze once again finding Nicolai's for a moment, before dropping to her plate again. "It's not about //owning//, it's about //belonging//," she explains, before letting out a sigh and continuing more quietly. "And like I said, the way she used to think, and act... It's been changing."
    She continues to stab unhappily at her cake, stirring around some of the crumbs. "I... shouldn't have asked you to stay," she adds, her voice little more than a whisper. "If you don't think you belong... I don't know. There's always - well, there's the X-Men. They're good people. Honestly, they're probably better people."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Nicolai shakes his head a little, "Nah, if I leave here, I'm thinking I'm better as a solo act." So, he hasn't decided just yet it seems. The rest of it, he doesn't address, it might be an 'agree to disagree' situation. "Anyway, I might be planet-side for a few days, get things right in my head, see what needs to be done with that building if my offer gets accepted."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice nods her understanding - lifting her head again and trying to hold Nicolai's gaze this time. She even manages to force a smile. "Sure," she agrees. "You should. You should take all the time you need. Do you need a lift down?" she asks - setting down her fork and finally managing a sip of her coffee.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "Yeah. I need to shower first though." His sweaty mop of curls has dried into stiff little ringlets and there's still that smear of green goo on his cheek from that cut. One thing's for certain, Nicolai will miss the training room if he leaves! ... but not more than he'll miss Clarice. "Meet me here in an hour?" It's offered as he pushes himself to his feet. Surely the man doesn't need an hour to shower? Safe bet it's fifteen minutes tops for the shower and forty-five engrossed in some form of music therapy or another.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Sure. In an hour," Clarice agrees - flashing Nicolai another smile that is almost entirely forced. She remains seated where she is as if she intends to finish the cake.
    It's unlikely. She's probably going to hurl it against the wall and leave it for someone else to clean up.