6738/Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
Date of Scene:	28 June 2021
Location:	Lorna's Balcony Room
Synopsis:	Tea, and cake, and tales of trauma and recovery! Huzzah.
Cast of Characters:	Clarice Ferguson, Lorna Dane

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Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    It's about 9:30 or so - maybe even pushing 10pm - before there's a knock at Lorna's door. Well - not quite a knock. It's the 'thud thud' of Clarice lightly kicking the door with her foot, because she holds a tray with two plates of cake, and a pot of hot tea, and some cups. If Lorna's not actually there - well. She's not entirely sure what she'll do with her tray other than bring it all the way back to the kitchen, but she waits hopefully, a smile ready on her features.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane was there of course, and not expecting visitors. The thud earns an arch of one eyebrow uncertainly at the very nature of the knock. Still, no alarms had gone off or anything similar that might warn of unexpected guests. Plus they rarely knocked at all even in such a crude fashion. With a shrug she places a bookmark in between the pages of the book she'd been indulging in to set it aside. It only takes a little lift of her hand to cause the metal of the hinges to shift just right, and the lock to unlatch, so that the doors open in a spooky fashion. "Enter. ... God, I sound like my father when I do that."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "And that's really //so// awful?" Clarice asks - as she does indeed enter - moving her tray towards a convenient little table to set it down. "There was cake in the kitchen - Ororo showed me - so I fixed up a tray. Am I interrupting?" she asks - glancing towards Lorna - before turning her attention to pouring herself a cup of tea.
    There are two plates on the tray - and each have two slices of cake. One is a white cake with a custard cream and fresh raspberries. The other is german chocolate cake. Clarice couldn't decide between the two - and honestly, why should they?

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane smiles warmly at the sight of Clarice as well as her response to such a statement. "We may be family but I don't deny that we have issues in some regards. Still, I'd rather sound like myself than someone else in the first place," she points out with a chuckle as she gestures for her friend to come in further. "I guess a penchant for the dramatic does run in the family though. And that looks lovely. You're not interrupting at all I was just taking a bit to relax. How have you been?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Well - you sound like enough like yourself," Clarice assures her friend - as she pours a second cup of tea for Lorna, automatically fixing it up as her friend prefers. Without waiting for further invitation, she drops into a seat on one of the chairs near the little table - picking up her own glass of tea to blow on the surface, before taking a sip. Not bad.
    "I've been alright," she remarks. Was that a hint of tightness to her smile? "Keeping busy like always. Though... you might see a little bit more of me around here these days."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane reaches to accept the cup once made with a slight incline of her head in silent thanks. It's raised to her lips for a sip as she regards Clarice thoughtfully. A bemused grin tugs at her lips. "Oh? Are you enrolling as a student?" She inquires knowing that was a touchy subject. "Or is there perhaps..." Ah ha. Now it was her turn to actually tease her friend. "Someone caught your eye?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice hands over the tea - though the question clearly catches her off guard. "What? NO!" she protests without hesitation.
    "I, umm. Actually, I'm trying to get a student enrolled," she explains. "You remember what happened... on the island?" she asks. She doesn't think she really needs to clarify //which// island that is. It was a recent and traumatizing enough experience.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane gives a silent nod, and gestures with a clear request of 'go on.' She settles back into her chair to listen far more seriously than before while lifting her tea cup to take another sip of the warm beverage. Her attention was quite fully riveted on Clarice though. This was apparently serious and merited all of her attention.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Well. Mystique somehow managed to get some intel on a group of those enslaved mutants - that were being used in an attack. I went in - got a couple of them out. One of them- She's //fifteen//, Lorna," Clarice confides. "And they were using her to... murder." She doesn't bother to hide the pain that flashes across her features - not from Lorna.
    "And I can't send her home - she wouldn't be safe. I won't let //anything else// happen to this girl." The pain on her features is quickly replaced by determination as she looks up towards Lorna again. "Anything. She'd be safe here - and she could go to school... She deserves to go to school."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane leans forward out of her seat to reach out and place a hand over Clarice's. A firm squeeze is given in reassurance. "Of course she deserves that. She deserves so much more, but I am very proud of you for helping her to get what she needs, Clarice. If you or she need any help, please, I'll do what I can within my power." Which wasn't anything to sneeze at to say the least. She could see the pain in Clarice at mention of what this girl was being put through--It was very similar to what Clarice herself had been through. "What's her name?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Dyani," Clarice supplies, sitting still under Lorna's touch. "Dyani Zitkala. She goes by Stinger sometimes, though." She lets out a sigh before adding, "Her parents need to agree to enroll her, of course. But... I think they will. Their school back home was refusing to teach her, and she wouldn't be safe there. Where else can she go but //here//? It's the best place for her." She takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly, before taking a sip of her tea.
    "Anyways. I kind of see her as my responsibility. So... I want to be there for her. She's been through a lot."

Lorna Dane has posed:
"And that... That is the goal of this school to begin with. I'm glad it's being put to use and that those who need it are finding their way here," Lorna adds with a soft smile. Her touch retreats but only so she can sit up straight again. "Not everyone path leads here, but it is here for everyone. That was the Professor's ideal originally, or close to it. She's lucky she met someone like you willing to help her."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I'm just glad I was there - and that I was able to free her. I wish I could have- We didn't save the ones on the island," Clarice remarks - the pain returning to her features for a moment. "I, uhh, didn't bring that up with her, though. Don't think she really needs to know how badly things could have gone. How close she came to- to being killed." Hell, possibly even to dying at Clarice's hands. "I'm glad things didn't go that way.
    "Anyways. If you could just keep an eye on her for me - when I'm not here. If she needs me - at all - I'll come."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna Dane nods simply in agreement. "Of course, I'd be glad to. And yes, she doesn't need to know that. Though it's possible she may already suspect. Just give her time to settle in, and a chance to recover from her ordeal to begin with. Let her be a kid again for awhile," she offers with another grin. "It'll work out I'm sure."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "That's my plan. She should have a chance to just be a kid. And she has a better chance of doing that here." The conversation shifts to lighter topics - as the two friends enjoy their tea and cake - before Clarice eventually makes her way home.