| To Xavier's to See Sage |
| Summary: | Amanda takes Pete to Xavier's to see Sage so he can straighten out where he stands with her. Amanda tries not to listen in. |
| Date: | 2016-08-01 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
There was a faint haze of smoke from the incense burning in the apartment as Amanda stared into the crystal ball as various rooms at Xavier's flipped by in the crystal.
There was a spring in his step as Wisdom made his way to Amanda's. Knock-knock! Sure, he had free reign, but it paid to be polite when she also tended to have roommates.
Amanda Sefton calls out, "Come in, Pete!" as she keeps her gaze on the crystal. She doesn't want to break the spell by looking away from the images she is manipulating.
Stepping in, Wisdom was carrying iced teas. Since it was hot out and whatnot. He got one for himself, one for her. "Scrying, eh? What's going on?" he asked as he stepped over to rubberneck.
Amanda Sefton smiles wryly, "Looking for Sage. Unfortunately, I don't know Sage and I only have a vague idea what I'm looking for. So it's taking a while. At the moment I have resorted to manually searching through Xavier's. It's a big place."
"That sounds incredibly dangerous," Wisdom frowned. "Who knows who you'd end up scrying in the midst of bedroom activities?" Hopefully not Sage, though Wisdom would just be mostly unhappy if he witnessed it. "I guess I could try giving her a call?"
Amanda Sefton chuckles, "I am staying out of the bedrooms for the moment. I do not need to see that either. It's still a big place." There's a pause in which she has to force herself not to look up from the crystal. "And if you were just going to call her why haven't you already done it? This swirl you left in the crystal is remarkably helpful for keeping my focus in one place by the way."
"Because I'm not sure if the number I have from her is the same." And Wisdom didn't want to bother her. "You know you didn't need to do this, Amanda."
Amanda Sefton nods, "Well of course I didn't need to, Pete. There are few things I actually need to do other than eat, sleep and go to work."
"Well," Wisdom knelt down, and did two things. One, he pecked her on the cheek. "Thanks luv." Then he set the plastic cup of iced, fruity tea, nearby. "You're a peach."
Amanda Sefton has clearly been inside Xavier's before since she seems to know her way around a least a little. Or maybe she's just scried it before. Maybe more than a few times before. "I went out the other day to talk to Kurt."
"That's good. What did you two settle on?" he asked. "That may be a little invasive, but you're my friend." He then sat down nearby, watching the crystal. But to him, right now, it was just a crystal.
Amanda Sefton murmurs, "It was a good conversation. He asked me not to be offended if I noticed him mourning the loss of his Amanda and promised to still be there for me as he would have been for her. I couldn't ask for more really."
"Good, good. That's… actually better than I was expecting." Wisdom smiled. "I was mugged earlier," he added. "Saved by a Spider-Girl. Cute, but not from around here."
Unfortunately, that causes Amanda to look up at Pete in surprise. The scrying spell snaps and the images fade from the crystal ball as she does so. "You got… mugged?"
"Yeah, it was no problem. Aw, you looked away," he said. "Bugger all. Yeah. Five thugs. Almost all of them armed. The only one what made me nervous was the one with the gun. But Spider-Girl saved my arse. I may be a badass, but five against one is still five against one!"
Amanda Sefton takes this opportunity to pick up her tea and take a sip. "I'll just have to find the campus again. It's not as hard now that I've found it twice since getting here. It's starting to feel familiar again."
"That's good. I do not want you to tire yourself out on my account, though," Wisdom said. "After all, you're just looking for Sage. It's not like I'm asking you to find Dracula's remains to make sure he won't come back… again."
Amanda Sefton arches a brow, "Dracula? Is that the kind of thing you're likely to ask me for help with?"
"Absolutely!" Wisdom said. "I certainly don't hope he'll come back. I already did my level best to ensure that no vampire would ever set foot on British soil again. But there's still the rest of the world to contend with. And possible alternate-reality Draculae."
Amanda Sefton wrinkles her nose a little, "Well doesn't that just sound lovely." She takes a vial out of her pocket and uses it to put a drop of something on the crystal ball. "So… have you talked to Sage since the incident that caused things to get so scrambled up here?"
"It was pure chance how we met. But yes. I've tried to keep contact. When we get together though, she'd… she'd been through a lot." He swallowed, cleared his throat. "So after a little discussion, we deviated from business." An awkward pause happened. "Hence why I'd like to figure out where she and I stand. As I like her… quite a bit. And it's been quite some time."
Boy was that a familiar feeling. Amanda clears her throat after a moment then nods, "Understood. I am actually quite familiar with that sort of thing." A clean cloth is produced. She uses that to polish the crystal with the drop of whatever it was that's on the crystal.
"Is it, now?" Wisdom was curious. Sure, leave it to a spy not to divulge details but ask for them in turn. "But yes. I'm sure you can see why I'm so intent on reuniting with her." Another pause. "Regularly."
Amanda Sefton got away with deceiving the man she loved as to her identity for a goodly number of months once upon a time. She's no slouch when it comes to avoidance. "Yes. I hope that will work out for you."
"It won't," Wisdom said. "Something will get in the way. But thank you." How could somebody be so jaded? "But I do want to work with her again. Even if after we have our big talk, that we won't pursue a relationship."
Amanda Sefton pauses in polishing the crystal to give him a flat look. "Well that's not a good way of looking at it."
"I agree, it's not. So I'm going to try… desperately, not to." He gave a sardonic sort of smile. "There are plenty of things you don't know about me, luv, that might well make you cry." He adjusted his tie. "Best you don't know some things."
Amanda Sefton doesn't smile at that. "Well you don't know me either, Pete, but that doesn't mean it's not better to let some things out."
"…You make a good point. Sometimes being so cynical isn't to my advantage," Wisdom admitted. "Sorry for darkening the room."
Amanda Sefton returns to polishing the crystal ball. She murmurs "Apology accepted." She looks back down at the ball and begins to chant softly almost under her breath.
Reaching over to grab his own iced tea, Wisdom sipped, silently, observing. Sure, watch the pretty blonde do her awesome Gypsy thing.
Amanda Sefton makes slow gestures over her crystal ball for a moment then lowers her hand as haze fills the ball. The chant stops as she attempts to bring the crystal into focus. "So other than getting mugged what have you been up to?" Now there's a prying question for someone to ask a spy.
"Documenting what information I've gathered - not you, as I like you and I already know about you, nobody else has to." Wisdom shrugged. "That's been the primary extent of it. A bunch of paperwork." He saw the haze fill the ball, but because he wasn't really magic, perhaps it'd just be a haze, for him?
Slowly the haze in the crystal ball begins to resolve into a road somewhere in Westchester county. Unfortunately it's not Greymalkin Lane. Pete can see the images in the ball as easily as Amanda since she's making no effort to conceal it. A smile touches her lips then. "Thank you for not documenting me. You can't know how much I appreciate that."
Now that he can see, Wisdom gave a little nod. "Better that I know than some others, anyway. Some folks just don't like magic."
Like Pete.
The man looked at the woman, before he took off his sunglasses and had another sip from his iced tea. "What's your opinion on the whole… skintight thing? Silly costumes. Fabric riding up clefts. Masks. That sort of thing?"
Amanda Sefton murmurs, "I was a performer in a circus. I have worn my fair share of skintight costumes. I could demonstrate if you wanted."
"While I would like that," Wisdom teased, "I just meant like, what's your general opinion on super heroes? And their ilk?" But now he couldn't help imagining her in various outfits. And imagining her changing into them.
Damn it, Pete. Think about Sage.
Amanda Sefton chuckles as she focuses on the crystal ball and slowly moves the images back to the vicinity of Xavier's. "I have never given it much thought honestly. I grew up with magic. Superheroes are not much different than any other supernatural thing to me."
"I mean, what do you think about the… culture? A bit arrogant, ennit? Luckily most of us are fairly altruistic. Elsewise we'd have a *shitload* of von Dooms, and that's not counting the bots and whatnot." Wisdom shook his head.
Amanda Sefton nods, "I suppose so. People who use magic are always arrogant, so again, it's not something I give a lot of thought to."
"All of them?" Wisdom asked. "An interesting notion." It made him laugh a little bit. He thought about Merlyn, and what he had to do. Then Wisdom sipped his tea, again. "Find her, yet? I don't mean to rush."
Amanda Sefton shakes her head, "No. I'm sorry. I suppose I could use your impressions of Sage to make the scrying more accurate but that would be incredibly intimate."
"It would. I have no idea if you'd like what you'd see, either." A pause. "I've no idea what you like, and all." Was he… blushing? A little. Yes, just a little.
Fortunately, Amanda is staring at the crystal ball and thus misses seeing Pete blush. "It wouldn't be like that. I wouldn't see anything, but it would still feel like I was rummaging through your whole being. You'd no doubt feel like I'd touched every part of your soul before we were through."
"You might not like what you find," Wisdom said. "I don't want to scare you. But only if you're sure," he told her. "Wouldn't be the first time I've connected with someone in such a way."
Amanda Sefton murmurs, "I don't like to do that to people unless it's necessary. I…" There's a long pause before she just says, "I don't do it often."
"Understandably so. It could well ruin our friendship. It could do nothing. It could bring us much closer than we'd ever wanted to be." Magic was screwy, after all.
Amanda Sefton nods, "It could definitely do the first. I don't know about the rest."
"Then let's not do it just to figure out where my friend is," Wisdom said with a laugh. "It's not like she's missing in another dimension, or the Savage Land, or whathaveyou. Just somewhere at Xavier's!"
"Yes. Another dimension would be a good reason to use it. It would help me to pinpoint the right dimension." Amanda lifts one hand to rub the back of her neck as she tries not to get distracted.
Amanda Sefton finally says, "Got her. I think. Are you ready?"
Pete Wisdom popped out of his reverie. "What? Oh, yes, certainly!"
Amanda Sefton makes a gesture and light surrounds them both.
The sound of a thousand harps fills the air and a moment later pink and gold light fills the air. It drifts away in shimmering glows that fade away revealing Pete Wisdom and Amanda Sefton who has instinctively changed into her costume in the process.
Sage is in one of the hallways on her way back to her room. Dressed casually in jeans and a tank top, glasses are pulled down and she's checking a dozen websites for news reports. A cup of coffee is cradled in both hands, and she pauses a moment before taking a sip.
It's a good thing, because she's not used to surprises.
By a narrow margin, Tessa manages to avoid painting the walls with her coffee when the two suddenly teleport in. "Oh! Hello there."
Teleportation isn't always a fun feeling. Worse when it's so angelic, complete with harps and whatnot. Wisdom felt he might have to spend the evening listening to Miles Davis and trying to avoid prog rock for a while.
Though as he saw Tessa, his mask (that is, the sort of facial blankness that spies tend to cultivate) falls away, and Wisdom smiled a soft, genuine smile.
"Hello, petal. Not seen you in a bit."
Amanda Sefton wasn't holding Pete's hand or anything, but she steps away from his side when she sees Tessa, "Hope you don't mind us dropping in on you like this."
Sage looks from one to the other and offers a small smile. "Hello, there. And no, I don't mind at all. If the security systems didn't go off when you arrived, then you're both good with me." The smile widens a touch and she inclines her head towards Wisdom. "Hi, Pete."
"So, found your way back to Xavier's, eh? Will miss you in the Shangri-La," Pete teased ever-so-lightly. "Acclimating well since your return?" he asked, as he approached her outright. "Missed you," even if it hadn't been that long. "Had a rather important question for you, too, luv." Even if they had an audience, right now.
Amanda Sefton drifts slowly back. Amanda Sefton and Xavier's go way back even though she's not a mutant thanks to Kurt, but she doesn't want to wander off without one of the residents in her company. At the same time she does not want to intrude so she slowly increases the distance and pretends she's not listening. . o O (Don't mind me. I'm just the bus.)
Sage's stance shifts slightly, her smile and hidden gaze more for Amanda. At least for the moment. "Thank you for bringing him." she offers. Now she takes a sip as Pete approaches. "It's good to travel but it's also good to be back, thanks. And what brings you all this way?"
"Not far, really. Been in New York for a while now. Tried to touch base, no luck," Wisdom explained. "But when I see you, I want to…" He looked over at Amanda and how she was pretending not to listen. "I want to routinely and regularly do things to you that would make Star Fox jealous. But… I wanted to know where you and I stood."
Getting serious, Wisdom reached out to try to take one of Tessa's hands. "Tessa. I know you've only been back a little while, and both of us are re-acclimating significantly. But, hey. We had our past, and we've had our very, very recent past. Was curious where we stood on it. Are we together? Just… intimate pals? Are we exclusive? Open?" Better to know, than not to. And good to clear the air. And Pete was fighting many a desire to kiss Tessa, at the least.
Amanda Sefton cannot help thinking how similar that is in tone to the way she was approaching Kurt just the other day. She nods to Tessa but doesn't speak. She leans against the wall.
Sage removes her glasses and her gaze narrows a touch when he mentions Star Fox. "You know that the Diana personna has been purged from me, Pete." she replies, fingers lacing with his when he takes her hand. "Making Star Fox jealous is not required."
She studies his face for a moment, reading his nonverbals and running a few behavioral models in the background. "You are asking me, which indicates that you are either unsure where we stand or you are unsure where *I* stand. Or perhaps you are unsure whether my assessment of our relationship matches yours." Sage pauses for a moment, then she offers directly. "Let us begin by crossing items off the list, then. First, I can say with 98 percent confidence that it would not be good for me to be 'exclusive' with anyone right now."
"I know that. I only mentioned Star Fox because he's a twat," Wisdom said. "And the levels of depravity he can descend to." A moment later and he was listening to Tessa. "Yes. Considering our vocations, being entirely exclusive simply isn't an option for both of us." After all, who knew when one would have to sleep their way into the Hellfire Club? …Again.
"But what about preference? I suppose, if I had to pick, I'd rather spend time with you than any other. Nobody's quite like you, Tessa." It wasn't even laying it on thick, Wisdom was completely sincere in that Sage was unique.
Amanda Sefton closes her eyes and begins to glide her hand in a figure 8 through the air. There's a faint elegant twist of her hand in the process. The resulting illusion is for herself alone. Well herself and the psychic nearby. Amanda's mind fills with the rhythms of the tiganza. This makes her want to dance but she stays perfectly still such that there's no visible sign of it.
Sage replies softly. "I didn't sleep my way into the Hellfire Club." It's not so much an admonition as a statement of fact. Then again, so much of what she says could be construed that way. The smile returns, then. "I would normally consider your comment to be flattery in an attempt to talk me into bed. But that isn't really necessary." She considers his expression once more. "I find your company to be pleasant, Pete, and I wish to continue that association. I cannot help but wonder whether you are prone to jealousy, however."
"Hence my inquiry about preference," Wisdom said. "I'm sure there will be… particulars, to our relationship. I can, at the least, assure you with good confidence that I would put your desires, and my desires for you, above others that I may be involved with." His smile was a little hard. "Jealous? Sure. You're one of the most lovely, intelligent, and frankly badass birds I've ever had the joy of knowing both personally and Biblically. You're not an object, luv. But in a way, I do treasure you."
This would be somehow sweet, if it wasn't a negotiaton over sex privileges.
Jealousy is one of the reasons Amanda has not gotten involved with anyone recently. That and the fact that Kurt will always be her one true love. She keeps the music going in her mind so that she doesn't actually overhear too much of this conversation. Of course the tiganza music starts to make her mind wander to things like dancing it for someone.
Sage smiles a little, nodding to him. "Then yes, I would like for us to continue our 'friends with benefits' relationship, Pete. That will be quite acceptable for now, at least from my standpoint. I know you are probably seeking something with more commitment, but it is natural for males to wish to exert control over breeding stock. Even in higher mammals."
"I do admit, I am looking for a little more commitment. But exclusivity is not good for either of us. Just preference, if you understand me?" He tried to think of a hypothetical. "Say you're about to go to bed with Wolverine. First, don't, he's been everywhere, and even his healing factor doesn't prevent everything. Bad example."
Another moment and Pete rubs his chin. "Well. At least this is something. Protection, yeah? And would you like to go on a bona fide date, sometime?" Sure they've wined and dined. How else do people date?
Okay even the tiganza cannot keep Amanda from bursting out laughing at that comment about Wolverine. Oh well. So much for not hearing the conversation. She straightens up and drops the figure 8 motion and the illusion in her head.
Sage actually wrinkles her nose at the mention of sleeping with Wolverine and she shakes her head. "First, I will not criticize your choice of bedmates if you do not criticize mine. You know that I take time to warm up to people, Pete. I have never been one to engage in casual sex. It takes some time for me to get to know someone well enough for me to sleep with them."
Then Amanda laughs and she turns her head, brows lifting. "But yes, I would like to experience a real date with you. Perhaps dinner, then a movie, then sex?"
"I try to be the same way, Tessa," Wisdom said. "And by all means, criticize. Though I do like to think I've got good taste." Kitty. Maureen. Tessa. Then there's Sari St. Hubbins and Scicluna. Welp, not everyone has a perfect record.
"A real date would be *marvelous*. Dinner, movie, sex. We could even go somewhere." He's visibly brightened at this prospect.
He was very good at ignoring Amanda's laugh. Seriously though. Wolverine is gross.
Amanda Sefton clears her throat and falls silent again as she considers the possibility of just catching a cab back to the city and leaving Pete here to fend for himself.
Sage actually smiles at that, nodding. Stepping up closer, she kisses him on the cheek. It's close to the corner of his mouth, casual yet intimate. "I'd like that. I'll wear a dress, and something sexy under it." It's more a declaration than wandering thoughts, unless she is simply voicing her thoughts.
Turning to Amanda, then, she offers. "Thank you again for bringing Pete over."