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Shining blue skies roof the city at large, but they do nothing for the shining barrier enfold in the Natural History museum. An icon and cultural jewel in the crown of New York, it nevertheless remains off limits, which is incredibly inconvenient for the redheaded Columbia student in need of those resources. She hasn't been much in evidence, lost to the travails of her work and esoteric searching that one cannot easily render in normal places. Given no improvement over the last two days, the strobing energy field is something worth examining. Her worried expression measures the building from across the street, a police cordon doing a fine job to prevent anyone from getting too close. It doesn't stop the press trying to use long lenses or hang from trees, nor a few protesters from complaining about a lack of access or activity.
"Lovely," she murmurs in French, sardonic as they come. "Peace flees this city as soon as we invite her in, and here's someone else with a grudge to take out on the public, no?"
*
While Marie herself isn't particularly in /need/ of the museum's resources, it was one of those cases where the needs of one and the wants of the other met in perfect harmony. She hangs around near her friend, eyes watching the giant bubble with a certain curiousity. Lips set into a solid frown.
"Yes," she agrees, easily joining the other redhead in speaking her native tongue. "At times I wonder if I came to the right city, if my destiny was truly meant to bring me here, in the midst of all this… constant chaos."
But at the same time, part of her wonders if the chaos wasn't /exactly/ why the cards brought her here.
*
What madness and mayhem descend upon New York on the threshold of Valentine's Day, the clusters of traffic around the museum and the flashing lights of a police car add a little entertainment. Still across the street, the bohemian moves towards one of the rare wooden benches not occupied by a pile of pedestrians waiting for a highly delayed bus. Nothing like a meaningful look and a sunny smile to displace a few of those souls if they are already present, on the standing she and Marie are two young ladies thick as thieves, and clearly foreigners what with the accent.
"You came where you were needed most, of course." Cheerfulness matches the light nudge of her shoulder against Marie's, not enough to dislodge the shorter flame-tressed Francaise. "The more I consider circumstances, the gladder I am for your support and presence. Considering everything else feels like it dissolved into tatters…" Trailing off, her soft soprano mellows out into a golden hum as another hopeful tries to rush up to the doors of the museum, only to bounce off. A buddy helps him to his feet while a patrolling cop hurries over, moving up to a jog.
Sighing, she pinches her brow with her fingers, a mild gesture of consternation for the state of affairs, rather than proof for deeper concerns. "While it heartens me to observe the very prospect of heroism at its finest, so too I perceive this brings out many who could be hurt by their attempts to prove themselves, no? What do you make of it all?"
*
Marie's moving in lockstep with her friend — in a strange situation like this, well, moving to stay close to the one constant that the girl has in her life is the natural thing to do. It gives her a bit of strength in a moment of uncertainty, even as she settles down ontot h e aforementioned bench in order to get comfortable, and people-and-field watch.
"I…" she trails off for a moment, cheeks already starting to redden a bit from the kind words, and instead decides to hide by leaning in to give her friend a quick hug. Because she can. "…you are too kind, Scarlett, but I have always appreciated your kindness."
As for the situation at hand? She's quiet for a few moments, pursing her lips together and allowing herself to observe. "There will be pain, yes; but… it seems the kind of hostility that will galvanize the people rather than serve to demoralize." she decides, nodding once. "Compared to some of the… horrors that we have seen over time, this does not target uniquely," Unlike the Friends of Humanity, "Nor does it seem overcomable odds," Unlike the Frost Giant Attack, the Demons… "even if we've yet to overcome it."
*
To think of Scarlett as someone constant, Polaris to the navigator, might surprise and bemuse the tall skald. Crossing her arms lightly over her chest secures the strap of her book bag, and the survey over the natural history museum pauses. "At least we can be grateful there are no animated dinosaur bones or horrors of the earlier epochs showing up."
This she limns in a kind smile barbed by a thorn or two of actual mirth, tilted auroral eyes flashing bright in the warm sunlight. The hug doesn't entirely take her by surprise, though she adjusts to the position rather carefully, opening her arm to allow for a hug. Such harrowing experiences as offered by the diminutive seer hardly constitute a real threat. Terribly fierce, Marie-Ange might as well be a Hulk class warrior.
"Demoralisation is a danger, and I worry for the children raised in such an environment. What impact could this be having upon them, learning about so many threats and experiencing them? It must be like a war, in some ways, stripping their security. Though watching adults coming together purposefully has its values too. I dislike sitting on the sidelines like this, and allowing others to steer the narrative about what happens and why. But the last time I tried to get involved, I met the president with a contingent at my back." Her gaze flows off to the horizon. "I fear for them. The Prince. His chosen. I just don't know, Marie, except we do the best we can for ourselves."
*
"As you said… we go where we are needed most." Marie offers softly, letting her eyes rest on the museum, keeping them there as if trying to puzzle out how to get around it — unlike the braver folks out there, the Lyonnaise chooses to run these tests in her head… perhaps less effective in producing results, but hopefully more likely to produce a /proper/ result rather than the kind where one simply bounces off the field of energy.
Powers? There's temptation, but between the police keeping people away and the constant threat of the Friends to come in the night? The little redhead's certainly on the timid side when it comes to the idea of putting her powers to work, at least when it comes to the flashier version of it.
"I think they will be better prepared for such things than we are." Marie muses, letting out a soft sigh. "Where I grew up, so much… so /very/ much was hidden from us, the sisters pretended that such things simply did not exist and hoped we would believe. When I came to see the world as it is…" she trails off for a moment, before patting her pocket; the one that holds her cards. "…were it not for my gifts, it surely would have devoured me whole. Even now, there is so much I do not know… but I try, because I must." It's what the cards say, afterall. Though she shakes her head a little at the end, "No, we do not do what we can for ourselves — this is not the way either of us are meant to be, and certainly not the way you wish to be. We must do what is best for the whole, putting personal wants behind us… and find the path that leads in that direction."
*
"Maybe. There are a good many possibilities their futures could become. We have a responsibility to assure they aren't hunted into the ground for being different, if they are, or treated poorly because some are fortunate and some are not. Such has always been the case, though the reality anchors firmly for me when we watch the treatment of others decline on the basis of genetics, as much as race or sex. There must always be some scapegoat, I swear." Her lips purse and the dismissal of a happy mood could follow, except the bohemian resolutely denies the opportunity to sink into a mired sorrow. "I doubt we can hope to gain very much by standing here, and unless you want to venture up and see whether the barrier allows you to pass, we might as well move on. I do not know what I hoped to learn, but it's not here that we will find it."
With that said, she gives a courteous dip of her head to a passing pedestrian and stands, attaining her feet after a moment. "Come. You pick the next destination."
*
Marie-Ange draws 1 Magician.
*
Marie-Ange draws Six Pentacles.
*
Marie extends a hand towards the field, indicating where the man had already tried to breach the thing. "Far stronger than I have tried," Although stronger than /Scarlett?/ That part is debatable. She makes not decisions, though — for herself or for others. "And unless it requires a… meeker approach to pass, the time is not right for me to attempt to cross." Of course, then the bohemian speaks of moving on and making her choose where… and what does Marie do? The same thing she always does when she has to choose. She lets the cards choose /for/ her. Hand dips into pocket and pulls out a single card, the Magician. A card that's studied for a moment, before another glance is given towards the museum.
It tells of making better use of one's power, even if it isn't meant to be read for the genetically gifted in particular. To make a difference in life and in the world as a whole. Ironically, the very sorts of things that they were just talking about. Standing up, "It seems my path begins with attempting to make the world a better place through the use of my abilities." she pauses, and considers for a moment. "I believe… they are telling me to visit your Professor once again," Since he did say they try to gain a better understanding of abilities, and while she's fairly confident in hers… well, the cards never lie to her. Even if some things don't come to pass as quickly as she might expect, or in the way she might. A second card is drawn after anothhher thought strikes, and she flashes the tiniest of smiles. "…but they do not tell me to go /immediately,/ so perhaps something to eat, first."
*
"I didn't imagine you found any appeal in rebounding off a shield, though it could be that your presence allows you through. Whomever designed it, how can we feasibly know their mind? Sometimes they leave unexpected keys for an otherwise impassable lock." Brushing her fingers over her hair, the bohemian flashes a look over her shoulder towards the protesters waving their signs and speaking of unhappiness with the current state of affairs in the city, or at least around the Natural History Museum. Mutters chase them, 'crazies' and 'troublemakin' longhairs with no jobs' among those peppery murmurs. Best not to invite further attention from those sorts, not that they have reason to wonder until Marie draws a card. Clearly the Lyonnaise is no gambler, making her some other kind of weirdo.
"Encouragement such as it exists follows a slight smile, and the deepening pitch bequeaths kindness rather than dismay. "And here I thought to buy some flowers for my hair. You wish to see the professor? We may certainly do that, though I will always stand by you for the choices you make. It would hardly upset me if you chose to join the Institute. It would be nice to have another student older than eighteen! I feel worse than a spinster there."
*
"Power is perhaps the key, the Magician would tell us; but if it is my power it seeks, the time is simply not right for it." The cards didn't stress any kind of urgency to her moves, leaving some of the jurisdiction in that regard to the seer herself. So the less eyes that might be upon her when she chooses to act — or perhaps the more shadows to hide within while her cards work their wonders for her? The better, by far.
"There is no great /hurry,/ I must admit." Marie replies, smiling over to her friend as she walks along, arms now moving behind her back and hands clasping at the small of it. "…but it seems the likeliest place where I can follow my chosen path," Well, the one the cards chose for her, not one she chooses for herself — the latter just doesn't happen. "and I would not oppose if we made some stops before arriving there." Marie, however, won't remind the taller woman that it's still a few months before /she/ turns nineteen.
*
"Power is always a key, though knowledge follows that. For he is not temporal power, that one, rather the semblance of a deeper one. What is more powerful than knowledge, more worthy than insight? So the man leads us." Testing her own lore of the cards, the young woman's smile curves deeper, mirroring the bow of the sun emerging at dawn across the Atlantic. "Good. Hurry would imply some unrest, and I rather like the notion we might go have a sandwich."
Forget the business of the world, lunch will need to have a higher priority up the rung. Trusting in Marie's own judgment on the cards, her shoulders rise and tilt back. "The pleasant thing about the status of an adult student, you are not obligated to live there or do any particular thing."
*
"Precisely why your Professor's way seems the best. He spoke of /understanding/ power, rather than blindly wielding it like a rampaging bear. Gifts we have, but we are called to use them for the betterment of the world." Marie agrees, before seeking out her friend's hand — she's taken to wearing gloves herself, given her usual company, but the warmth remains in the gentle squeeze one gives another. "Each one of us is, and each one of us can."
Because while Scarlett may see her own abilities less as gifts than as nightmares, Marie disagrees with that notion entirely. "Very little unrest, despite…" There's a motioning back towards the bubbled museum. "… it suggests that such… smaller things may be the norm." A brief pause. "Although curiously, my readings have suggested that there may be a balancing coming to the world. Whether that means this fair city is to return to the calm enjoyed by it's neighbour nations, or if others will join it in chaos… it is hard to say. Either way, we will remain ready, and react accordingly."
Then comes a nod, and a brighter smile. "A sandwich sounds wonderful — and your tidings are good. I rather enjoy living where I do, with whom I do, and will remain there until it is no longer an option." Whether the cards, her roommate, or their landlords should serve as that particular force.
*