901/Speak Easy in the Speakeasy

Speak Easy in the Speakeasy
Date of Scene:	31 March 2020
Location:	Lily Anne's Lounge - Hellfire Club
Synopsis:	Drinks and conversation turns to Lorna working out her frustration on some muggers.
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Lorna Dane, Alex Summers

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Emma Frost has posed:
The lights are always low at Lily Ann's, the singer delightfully sultry, the cocktails heavy mixed and the ambiance the kind of cool that has been lost since early in the previouis century. At one of the small, intimate tables between the tiffany-lamp lit bar and the small stage where a jazz singer sways and sings 'I Put A Spell On You'; Emma Frost sits, nursing a French 75, wearing an outfit that isn't remotely out of place in this place: a short white sheath dress trimmed with beaded fringe at the bottom, heels, and a lightweight white shawl, with her excellent company for the evening.

The trumpeter behind the singer begins his muted solo as one of the waitstaff comes by to see if anyone needs another drink or has any other needs, and will tend to those straightaway. Other than the threesome at the table, the speakeasy is only moderately populated: a couple of other tables with guests and a few folks at the bar. It hasn't gotten too late yet, and Lily Anns doesn't attract the rowdier kind of clientele some of the other bars on the premises tend to do.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna had taken some convincing to even agree to go out. She had been spending more and more time either locked in her room, or tied up with Genoshan matters. Slowly, as her grief had been pushed aside, her anger had risen and so had her drive to be productive. She had begun to lose herself in political matters, and it had taken quite a bit of prodding and poking to get her to agree to another night out. Much less a night out with the newly formed couple.

Even then, Lorna was not in the best of spirits, even if she was looking more polished than she had been in a long while, in no small part thanks to Emma and Emma's tailor. The Queen of Genosha actually looked well put together. Her green hair had been carefully combed and curled, so it was no longer a mess of tangles. Her make up trim and with a simple cat's eye edged in gold. Gold hair pins kept her hair back from her face rather than a headpiece, and she wore a back, backless dress that flared out at her knees and was slit up the side. A gold chain link belt nipped in at her waist, and matching, simple accessories dotted her wrists, neck, and ears.

A sigh pulled from the green haired woman's lips as she sipped at her drink and stared off at some random point in the bar, having since given up trying to work via her phone. A good conversationalist Lorna was not when she was in a mood.

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex is....well, he's dressier, at least. Black jeans, boots, dark blue shirt, and a sports coat worn over the top, so he at least looks a bit less....well, Alex. Hair is still a bit mussed here and there where it brushes his collar, but he at least looks presentable.

    He tried!

    "That's like the third time you've sighed since we've gotten here." he says bemusedly to Lorna, raising a brow at her as he slips from his beer. "You're a thousand miles awya today."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma gives Lorna a sympathetic look. "You know, you're not supposed to be thinking about all the work you're not doing-- and no, I didn't scan you," she says mildly. "It's obvious. You need to let yourself have some time to relax. If you break down, how can you lead your nation?" She sips her drink, musing at the green-haired mutant. "Maybe we should consider finding you a date for the gala." She is teasing. Mostly. Maybe not entirely. "Alex, your brother is single, isn't he?"

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna shot Alex a look, her eyebrow lofting upwards, "What, you're counting?" She muttered, and took another sip of her martini. She glanced back the pair of blonde back to the room at large and pursed her lips together. "A few more than a thousand miles. I shouldn't be spending time here." She muttered, and as Emma spoke, her green eyed gaze swung back to her.

"Har har, I am hardly at the point of breaking down. But I can't just sit here and do nothing anymore. Not while my people sit in tents." She pursed her lips, amusement thin as Emma spoke of Scott.

"I am not bringing anyone to the gala. Much less subject Scott to my level of crazy. I don't have time to date anyone." Her gaze flickered toward Alex, and if Emma detected a hint of jealousy, it was there and gone all too soon. Her morose mood settling once again over her. She huffed a breath through her nose, and took another sip of her drink. Her other hand reaching out with a twitch of her fingertips to summon a fork from the other side of the table to twist with her powers. Almost like a fidget.

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Haven't lived around Scott, I can safely say he already lives around a superior level of crazy." Alex notes dryly, tilting his head. "And Emma is right...you need to take a moment and breath. You have people under you making sure things get done, you can take a little time for yourself to get balanced out a bit. Everyone needs it."

    He takes another swig from his beer bottle, before setting it on thet able. "Honestly I'd sooner suggest Jean than Scott though. She seems a lot more...uh...calm about things."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Jean is great, yes," Emma agrees. "She wouldn't be bad to bring with even if not as a date." She taps the side of her glass, signalling for another, and considers. "You are getting things done. You've got assistance on the way for your people, or already arrived." She ticks off with a finger. "You have some of the finest investigators in the world looking into the attack." Another tick. "And you can think of dating as pre-emptively keeping your brother from being next in line for the throne."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna arched a brow, the metal fork twisting and bending to the point that the metal no longer even held a hint that it had once been flatware before. She twirled her fingers this way and that and the metal slowly curled in on itself, crumbled into a ball. With her other hand she sipped at her drink, listening, even as her lips twisted ever more sharply into a scowl.

"My people don't get to have this, why should I? They sleep in tents and I'm busy sleeping in a damned Mansion, sitting here sipping drinks." She huffed a breath, shaking her head.

"I'm not bringing anyone to the gala, and that's final. My brother //is// next in line, coheirs with Wanda. As if the two of them would ever be separated."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "It's rough on them, yeah. But you have all that and you're responsible for all of them, and for finding out what happened, and for figuring out how to rebuild...all of that. You've got a lot more stress on top of everything. I don't think anyone is going to begrudge you a few hours of downtime before you dive back into it." He taps his head. "Otherwise, you'll just get overstressed and be more likely to make worse decisions than you would if you were rested and had your head clear, right?"

    He hmmms. "Well. I don't know the rules for the gala. I suppose you could arrive with your brother or sister as your +1, but I haven't seen them doing stuff with Genosha yet?" he admits.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma tsks at Alex. "They are Avengers, and I am pretty sure that the Avengers have been poking around Genosha as much as SHIELD has." She looks to Lorna. "Oh. Did the drones work out all right?" she asks. "They aren't as high-tech as something from Stark or Richards, I'll grant, but I just hope they can help with the security of Hammer Bay. It's simply ghoulish, what's been happening." She shudders a bit. "As for sleeping in a bed and getting fed and occasional... entertainment. Lorna. What would it accomplish for your people if you were in a tent hovel, muddy and sleepless? How could you serve them to your best abilities? Leadership does have perks, and while sometimes those are taken to an extreme... many of them do serve purpose."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna averted her gaze from the pair of blondes to sip at her martini, she listened, or at least vaguely registered their words. But whether or not those words actually sank in was a different story. Particularly as she kept idly twisting the crumpled up former fork in her magnetic grip. "Pietro and Wanda said they'd already come. Or at least Pietro said they'd be there. It's not like they're not used to being in the public eye. And no the Avengers haven't made an appearance in Genosha. Pietro scouted things out, and Wanda visited the refugee camp in Wakanda. That's about it." T'Challa had been paying and taking care of the refugees, but to an extent of any formal Avengers appearances.. the answer was zippo.

Tony Stark had a presidential campaign after all.

"The X-men will be spending a team though officially, to scout and help keep a presence in Hammer Bay around the survivors. We'll take care of our own." She pursed her lips, and took another sip of her drink.

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Alex grunts. "Yeah. I'll be going with that. Long as I can avoid some people." he mutters, taking another sip of his beer. "Hopefully it'll help...I mean, blowing things up probably doesn't, but I can life and carry like anyone if they need help with that." He tilts his head thoughfully. "...why don't you ask T'challa?" he says curiously. "Wakanda has done a lot for Genosha, it might be a good political thing to acknowledge that. I mean, he's probably already going too, but still...."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Or not. It's up to you, Lorna." Emma gives her a brief smile. "After all, you are the guest of honor." She takes her new drink as it arrives with a murmured thank you, before returning her attention to the table. "What about medical personnel?" She has given up on not talking shop, as it were. Lorna just doesn't seem to be in the headspace for anything else, but perhaps she'll at least feel better if there's something being done. "People living in those conditions... illness can spread rapidly. Even with the water purifiers, it may not be enough. I know mant of the wounded are in Wakanda and I'm sure recieving treatment, but what about in Hammer Bay? Are there enough supplies and personnel on the ground to keep things at least from getting worse?"

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna's tension at least unwound a little as Alex spoke of going to Genosha to help with security along with the team, and as Emma switched from talk of the gala and dates to something more concrete. It might be work related, but it did seem to help loosen the building knot of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Though mentioning asking T'Challa to the gala earned a glower.

"He's a human. No matter how kind and how helpful he is to Genosha I cannot take him as a plus one. I might have had humans on the island once, but there are none that survived. My people are mutants now, and only. We're not going to get human refugees interested in moving back, and frankly at this point... I don't think it's wise. We suffered at the hands of humans, whether directly or indirectly. I cannot and I will not associate in any public way with them beyond political necessity." She frowned, and looked down at her drink, letting the mangled fork fall to the table with a plunk.

A glance was spared toward Emma as the blonde spoke of supplies. "We frankly have more supplies on Genosha than we have people. People were donating things to us with the hope of more of our population surviving.."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Fine, fine..." Alex says, dropping it. "Wasn't thinking it in terms of dates." He frowns a bit. "Well, then...where are you set for rebuilding enought that more of your people can come home? I mean...I'll happily help build houses or whatever to help with that." he says with a faint frown.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma glances away, sipping her drink. Not like she has any ability to do any of the things that need doing-- she's not exactly built for it, and her powers aren't exactly... the physical type. Absently, the hand not holding her drink slides into Alex's free hand and squeezes it lightly. She'll miss him, but she can definitely see where he might be of more use than she would.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna snorted and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling at Alex's dropping of her inviting T'Challa to the gala, and she shook her head. Another tip of her martini followed, more of the gloomy mood settling back onto Lorna's shoulders as she fell silent for a long moment in contemplation.

"We're going to stick to Hammer Bay. Carrion Cove is a lost cause for us. We don't have the numbers to populate both. Clean up and rebuilding efforts can only be focused there for now. Maybe in a a few years we can get Carrion Cove in order. But realistically, I doubt that would happen any sooner. The planning board was toying with Doom's engineer's suggestions of tunneling into the mountain, but I dislike the idea of our people hiding on our own soil. It wouldn't have done much to stop a Sentinel anyways.."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex squeezes Emma's hand back as he considers. "Huh, go fig, Doom wanting to build you a spooky mountain fortress." He hmms. "That makes sense though. Can do fishing and stuff from the bay, easier to keep your people fed until they get farms up and working again. And you can get shipping in and out. And an airfield wouldn't be too hard to do, a small one." He frowns a bit. "I mean...you've got all these super powered people helping out, they should be able to help build stuff up really quick, right?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma nods. "Hopefully faster than with just normal humans," she agrees. "And maybe after Hammer Bay is back to where it should be, tackling Carrion Cove won't be such a daunting task."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna shrugged once, "He's not wrong if it was just simple defensive tactics. But the Sentinels that hit Genosha were so massive I doubt burrowing into the side of the mountain and underground would just jack." She glanced down at her drink again, reaching out to fidget with the destroyed fork. She twisted the metal with her powers, pulling it apart and twirling it in the air about her hand.

"I can and have started work on gathering the metal in the ruins and reformatting it to use for building materials. The rest just needs to be cleared out and dealt with. I need to talk to Wanda if she has any ideas for helping with the farming. The mutants we had that ran the farms..." She pursed her lips and shook her head again.

"The problem is there isn't a single thing stopping this from happening again. Nothing. We can be slaughtered all over again at any point. Just boom. Dead. Gone." She gritted her teeth. "Genosha needs something to keep people from attacking us. And I can't figure out for the life of me how to accomplish that. Threats like my father didn't work."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex sighs a bit and nods. "Not sure what I can help there. No one thought Sentinels even still existed, much less that they'd be sent off to storm an entire country." He finishes his beer, setting the empty container on the bar. "Usually you need a bigger club or an impenetrable shield...not sure where you can get that." He looks between the two, noticing the moroseness starting to settle over Lorna again. Hmm. "Hey, y'know...it's tropey, I know, but...ice cream cheers me up. Maybe some sweets? There's a good place down the way, a couple blocks over, that makes great custard as you like it. Feel like something like that?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma grins. "Custard sounds great, Alex." She waves down a waiter and signs off on the check. "Shall we?" She stands. "We may be a bit overdressed, but isn't that half the fun?"

Lorna Dane has posed:
The mood was dead, and perhaps that was partially due to Lorna, but to be fair.. that wasn't new or different than how she had been for the past few weeks. Sometimes she'd have lighter days, and something... well sometimes she didn't. She eyed the two and she shrugged once, downing the rest of her martini and rising as she let the mangled fork fall once more.

"My father was a bigger club, he could take out the world's nuclear arsenals with ease. They have Magneto protocols, you know, if he ever decided he wanted to take out a country. I overheard it at a meeting between some UN ambassadors." She pursed her lips together, crossing her arms.

"That didn't do much for us. We need soft power of some kind. Trade. Alliances. Something. Being completely isolationists didn't help." She shrugged in regards to getting sweets.

"Yeah and watch you two make eyes at each other over ice cream instead of drinks.." She teased, but there was little laughter in it, and her voice fell flat and dry.

Alex Summers has posed:
    "We'll restrain ourselves." Alex says bemusedly, standing up and offering both women a hand up on either side. "C'mon, little chocolate won't hurt. And less gloomy, more brightly lit probably doesn't hurt either, right?" Alex doesn't really have much to offer on the politics side of things, or the alliances thing...not wanting to work with any humans really limits possibilities there, he can't help but feel, but he doesn't feel it's a good moment to discuss that without getting her more upset.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma laughs. "I'd like to think we're not all over each other," she teases back towards both of them as they make their way out of the bar. "And I prefer vanilla." Of course she does. "As for soft power... that might be something worth looking into more intently. And that might be something we can help you with. That's all the club is, after all: soft power, and finding new ways to connect with others."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna accepted Alex's attempts to cheer the mood up with offers of chocolate and brighter lights. The darklit interior was certainly classy and fancy, but a mood booster, it was not. She shrugged once, as she sighed and glanced about once again. Her hands shoved into the pockets of her dress.

"Chocolate won't hurt, true." She murmured, her voice softening ever so slightly.

But her expression didn't particularly warm either.

"It's not as if I can offer power and threats like my father did. It wouldn't work for me. No one would believe it. And we certainly do not have the people to make a show of force either. Which only leave soft power at the end the day.."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex helps both up, then walks out with the two women as he mms. "Which is alliances. Maybe stop thinking about it for a little bit, might shake something loose?" he suggests. "Sometimes your thoughts just keep circling the same points if you get too focused on an question, and stopping for a bit and coming back to it might give your brain time to pop up some other options."

Emma Frost has posed:
The elevator ride is swift, and it's not hard to push through the mostly-empty lobby into the streets of the city. Emma glances down the sidewalk. "Where did you say it was? This way, right?" she asks, and when getting confirmation they start heading in that direction. Her heels click-clock on the sidewalk, beaded fringe jangling. "Is this one of the places that you put things on top of the ice cream?" she questions, looking entirely too serious.

Lorna Dane has posed:
It must have rained while the trio were inside, the ground was damp and it was cooler out than before. Lorna shivered, crossing her arms as they stepped out of the building and into the open air and the city sidewalks. "I should've brought a coat." She muttered, grumbling. "I'm always cold in New York." Being acclimated to Genosha's tropical heat had been nice ... when she'd lived there. Since her move back to New York however, she had only ever been cold.

"Tell me they have hot fudge or hot chocolate where ever it is we're going."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Hey, can you guys spare a few bucks?" a voice comes from the alley.

"Or just your whole wallet, actually."

A small pack of young men appear from the alley, moving to surround the three of them. "Look, brother, you don't want us to kick your ass in front of your girlfriends here. So hand over your wallet, and ladies, you look so pretty you don't need the jewelry." The 'leader' among them grins. "So take it off. If you want to take off more... I certainly won't complain."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "...man are you guys fucked." Alex says after a moment as they come out to confront trio, stopping at them, as he tilts his head. "You really don't wanna do this guys. Trust me." And that's all the warning he's really gonna give them, because they totally deserve what they get.

Lorna Dane has posed:
It took Lorna beat to realize that the small gaggle of humans that came up from the alleyway between the tall buildings were in fact trying to mug them. After all, she was so used to people coming up to her because she was a public figure. It was almost embarrassing that it took her brain a moment to process what these humans wanted and threatened to do.

The fact that any one of them were perfectly able to defend themselves was an understatement.. But Lorna by far was the twitchiest of the three and the one struggling with anger issues.

She stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as her lips pulled into a sneer. "Oh, you want this?" She drawled, pulling off her bracelets, and reaching up to undo the clasp on her earrings.

"Sure.. you can have it. You can have all of it." She held out her hands before her, and the gold plated metal jewelry flew from her hands to zing through the air. Under Lorna's control the rings, bracelets, and earrings she'd been wearing turned into sharpened metal projectiles, that either zipped through the would be attacker's ankles, cutting tendons, or wrapping around their necks and tightening to cut off their air supply.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma just... steps slightly aside. She doesn't even let her own powers kick in, though she could easily turn all of them to mental mush with ease, or make them forget they even tried mugging them. No, no.

She's actually amused at what might be coming next for them, given that the daughter of Magento seems to be spoiling for something to release some stress on.

Emma does glance towards Alex. She's not sure what she can do if his temper gets the better of his control, but while she knows Lorna can handle things without it coming to vaporizing anyone... well... Alex maybe not.

Emma Frost has posed:
The goons all yell, trying to get away. "MUTIE! OH GOD! FUCKIN MUTIE!" as three of them fall to the ground, trying to crawl away, one gets the wrap around the throat, and the last starts to run. One of the guys on the ground pulls a handgun from inside his jacket, aiming it at Lorna. "Fuckin' mutie scum!" he cries in pain and rage.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna might have been trained as an X-man... and as a member of that team which meant to limit harmful use of her powers and the alike... But she had also been trained by her father, and her mental state was... fragile to say the least. The would be mugger's screams and curses did nothing to stop or quench her anger, rather it merely set it ablaze.

She stepped forward, her hands outstretched at her side. Her fingers shifting here and there as she directed the metallic accessories to continue their damage.

As one of them pulled a handgun from his pocket she tsk'ed, shaking her head. "A gun? Really?" She sighed, and with nothing more than a look, and a wave of her hand, directed the gun to fly up and smack the man repeatedly in the face.

"You chose to mug the wrong people tonight."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Yeah, Alex is just...letting the two women deal with it. He figures they have some frustrations to work out.

    And he doesn't want to accidentally vaporize someone, that's....still a touchy point with him.

    If someone does come at him, mind, he'll deck them!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma mms, watching the damage and soothing the minds of onlookers... by soothing... pretty much making them just not see what they are seeing. It's easier that way, really. She steps up beside Alex and slips her hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. <<I advise we stay out of it, hon.>> she sends to him quietly. <<I'll step in if it starts going too far.>>

Too far? There are more screams and yells from the wounded would-be attackers as they are sliced and injured by Lorna's relentless jewelry attack. They continue hurling slurs, as if they think that my summon others to their cause. But no one sees or hears them screaming.

Emma is taking care of that.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna didn't get //excessive// persay. And none were truly in danger of death.. at least in her mind. Nor were they going to be a threat to anyone else. She let her attacks fall away the various bits and pieces of jewelry flying back to her, and she let her hand fall away along with the gun which fell to the pavement in disassembled chunks.

A glance up at the buildings around her followed, and she squinted, sensing and destroying whatever security cameras were in place that might have caught her show. A direct, focused electromagnetic pulse hit those systems, and fried them with ease and she glanced back to Emma and Alex, her hands glowing green.

"Well, chocolate? Yeah? Security cameras won't be an issue." She offered, wiggling her fingers which were still a highlighted green color. Perhaps the ease in which she'd acted to cover her technical crime, and her disarmament of the human muggers would be worrying to some.

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex hmms, nodding slightly to Emma. <<Yeah, really don't see the point of me stepping in.>> he thinks dryly, watching as Lorna drubs the hell out of the would be muggers as he watches, arms folded over his chest. "Feel better?" he asks once she's done, tilting his head. After all...here was a target Lorna could deal with. Could stop. Could punish. And he feels like a lot of what she's going through is an inability to do that to the perpetrators of the attack on Genosha.

Emma Frost has posed:
If the destruction of the security cameras bothers her, Emma gives no sign of it. "Ice cream does sound good." She walks //through// the writhing pile of would-be muggers, her high heels dropping to the concrete //just// aside of stepping on any of them. Her expression is bored, almost as if she's as unseeing of them as the onlookers around them are, and will remain for a few minutes more yet. "Ice cream does sound good," she agrees with Lorna. "I wonder if they have sweet cream ice cream? I think that would be the best." She gestures slightly for Alex to join her and Lorna in heading for the ice cream shop.