xp_logs | [Marius, Clea] Disclosures

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Marius and Clea chat a little about such small things as mutant powers and demonic parentage.

Backdated to January 16th

Magic was not Marius' favorite phenomena. Even the act of watching Clea as she read something suitably eldritch from a tome was causing a psychosomatic itch in his chest, as if the scar left by Akkaba was trying to crawl onto his back. However, some perverse part of him felt he should know his enemy. It was exposure therapy, wasn't it? Besides, he'd never actually seen Clea's particular style of magic. It may have been a chance encounter, but there was no reason not to avail himself of an opportunity.

So he sat, uncharacteristically quiet as the redhead worked through some manner of practice. He had almost begun to relax when there was a sudden blaze of purple.

"Er," ventured Marius, "is that normal?"

Clea looked up from her study book and shook her head, "No. Well, yes for beginners. Especially when they are coming into their powers and don't have a firm grasp of their limits." Clea sighed as she slowly closed the book softly. "I'll get the hang of it again." The red head looked over at Marius and tilted her head. "You have an interest in the arcane arts?"

Marius beamed. "One could say so, in a way similar to how an epidemiologist might have an interest in, say, an outbreak of the bubonic plague. Bad experience. Were you present for that dust-up in the city? Ah, never mind. Regardless, Topaz broke me of it, and your Stephen gave me a bit of insurance against repeat incidents." He patted the ankle of his crossed leg, and the bracelet looped beneath his pant leg. "Rather wish he'd told me it was irremovable before I put it on, but under the circumstances that seems a bit of a whinge. Yourself? Acquired interest, or family business? The latter seems to often be the case here."

Clea looked down at his ankle and tilted her head. "I wasn't present for it, but I read the reports." Her eyes looked back at him. "Family inheritance. But I do have an acquired interest in it. I study all kinds of religions and cults and the magic associated with it. It was my major of choice in Uni. Sorry for your bad experience." And Clea meant it.

The other man waved a hand, as if one could dismiss a major trauma with effort equal to shooing away a fly. "No worries. When one samples from the buffet of Life to my extent one does, on occasion, contract food poisoning." He tilted his head, looking at her. With his amber eyes the posture was almost reptilian.

"May I ask a personal question?"

Clea tilted her head to the side, "It depends on the question." She was curious to know what had sparked his curiosity of her.

Once again Marius' teeth flashed in a smile, this time apologetic. "Perhaps I should lead with something of a disclosure myself. I can identify most mutant abilities, at least to a degree, at a glance. In my experience, all the other magic-users seem to have some flavour of energy absorption or manipulation. I'm given to understand this is what empowers their magic. As to the source of yours, however, I can discern nothing. Not even the presence of an x-gene."

Clea's eyebrows tipped upward before she turned her entire body towards him and tilted her head off to the side. "You can tell someone has the x-gene? Fascinating." Lifting a finger to her chin before she began talking again. "I don't have an x-gene because I am not from this world. I am from a different dimension. My parentage is a Dark Dimension citizen and a Faltine - a race from one of the Hell Planes." There was still a lot that Clea didn't understand about her own parentage but at least this part she was sure of. Dormuammu made that quite clear when he forced her back and her restored memories of what was stolen from her from the Ancient One. "Of course I grew up here since I was young. I might look human, but I am not Earth Dimension Human. Hope that answers your question, unless you have more."

Marius' face took on the slightly glassy expression of a man trying to decide how concerned he should be about phrases like "Hell Plane".

"A unique parentage, certainly," he said at last, because that comment was at least accurate. Fortunately his mouth was accustomed to operating in the absence of his brain; it did him the favour of assuming a more contemplative tone. "Odd. I do detect . . . something . . . but nothing I can interpret. A bit like Namor, perhaps. His human side is, as far as I am aware, from this dimension, and I am told he is in possession of an x-gene. However, something about his Atlantean heritage renders it functionally unreadable to me. Likewise his presence fails to elicit any manner of physical reaction, as does your own."

The look didn't go unnoticed by Clea as she smiled calmly. "Oh, comparing me to the Ocean King himself? I mean, I am a royal myself." He then said something that made Clea's eyes spark purple for just a moment. One day she would be able to keep the chaos at bay. "'Fails to elicit any manner of physical reaction'? Do I repulse you? Or do I intrigue you?" Of course she was teasing him.

"The latter, surely," Marius replied without missing a beat. "Alas, I refer to another peculiarity of my mutation. My ability to recognise mutants was bundled with certain other factors, amongst them the ability to temporarily take their powers. Alas, the mechanism is rather less elegant than Rogue's; whilst we both wear gloves, mine are to cover what might politely be termed 'extraction points.'" He raised a gloved hand, palm facing the redhead, and wiggled his fingers. "They get a bit itchy in the presence of other mutants. Nothing in the least personal, and certainly not reflective of your considerable beauty. Namor's either, come to that. I fear my own core will never be so well-defined, but not all of us can manage his rigorous pool routine."

"Oh, extraction points?" She always saw Marius wearing gloves but thought it was a style choice. Clea smiled when he complimented her beauty and then let out a laugh as Namor's abs were mentioned. "He does like to show off his assets. He made quite the stir at the party I took him to. But then again, the HFC is known for showing off their assets."

Marius' heavy eyebrows rose at that. His mind clicked onto her earlier mention of royalty. "You're a seated member on the Court? My apologies, but at the risk of questioning a woman about her age, you seem a bit young for Queenhood."

"I am part of the outer court, the Gold Witness. I am trying to take the seat of the Rook. As long as you have the power and wield it no position is out of reach. Just glad my position doesn't put me at odds with Doug. But traveling to Paris every other week is tiresome." Clea said stretched a little bit. "It bloody fucks with the sleep schedule."

That got his interest. "Ah, tu parles français? C'est une langue magnifique. My mother tongue -- or, rather, my mother's tongue. Paris is a bit out of the way, though I suppose the connections would come in useful. I'm sure your membership is quite the tale. Would this be the previously mentioned royal lineage? Such places do love to boast the bluest blood."

"Oui. C'est effectivement une belle langue." Clea said. "I have some relatives that live in France. I remember visiting every year when I was young." Clea shook her head. "No, royal lineage of the different dimension kind. My birth family is complicated. The history I do know is only a small fraction to the entire story. And here I am spilling my life history and only know a few details about you."

"Compared to most here you'll find my life to be blessedly uninteresting, but I suppose I can regale you with the highlights. Born to outrageous wealth and luxurious hair, spent most of my ill-gotten youth in the mansion, then left to establish a foundation for mutants with complex medical needs. You may know me from my most recent endeavor: securing funding for Dr. Grey's new clinic and claiming an inordinate amount of credit for the execution." The litany of deeds fell from Marius' mouth with the crisp patter of sleet bouncing against a pane of glass, giving not the slightest indication there had been more than one event that could have struck with the force of a softball-sized piece of hale. He softened it with another broad smile. "Extra-dimensional royal lineage, eh? Another curious commonality with His Majesty, though I would suspect your own form of diplomacy is somewhat more subtle."

"I did hear about Dr. Grey's new clinic. Glad that it is up and running." Clea said. Her nose wrinkled at the form of diplomacy, "More like non-existent. I don't even know if citizens still live there or if Dormammu wiped them out when he invaded." She tapped her finger on the book. "I am just Clea with a fae cat. She holds more fancy titles than I do." Remembering the long name she had given Cata in her youth and was embarrassed for her younger self.

"Perhaps it is for the best. Whilst I have no doubt you'd rise to the challenge, I imagine being royalty is much easier without the trouble of an actual kingdom to run." Marius rubbed his hands together, still smiling. "So that's us now, properly familiarised. Unless, of course, you still find me sufficiently mysterious that only further interrogation over dinner shall satisfy you."

"Is this how you ask everyone to dinner?" Clea asked with a tilt of her head. "When were you thinking of this interrogation to take place?"

Marius raised his eyebrows in mock-surprise. "At your convenience, of course. If you've a mind to brush up on your French, I know a charming little place in Midtown."

"Je ne refuse jamais de la nourriture." Clea said with a nod. "Most nights I am free."

"Then it shall be a date."