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Lorna, as always whenever Julian took her someplace swanky, was overwhelmed in short order. She had made a tame attempt compared to her clone, to dress up prior to going out. Which was, of course, against her sister's advice which she had technically agreed with. She did need time away from boys to reclaim some sense of who she was, but she also wanted to go outside and not stay cooped up inside..
Hence the green haired girl's troubled expression as she stuck close to Julian while they entered the rather dimmed building. Live music played in the background, and there were plenty of fancy looking people dancing. Ladies much better dressed than Lorna skated by on heels and muffled laughter on their way to the powder room.
The smell of cigars drifted in the air above it all, mixing with the smell of truffles and red wine. There were people younger, closer to Julian and her's age in the back, playing darts and being generally loud. But that was of course lost on Lorna, whole was busy trying to smooth out her skirts, feeling wholly under dressed as she was in her rather simple purple dress.
*
There's little doubt that this particular Lorna is the one he's familiar. Not to say he disliked the wild side to the clone, but all in all he has no particular issues with the real deal. He's been trying to hang out with the green-haired mutant as much as she's willing, a mutual distraction most likely given the recent trauma… she had more, to say the least, but it isn't a battle!
Julian's dressed about as suave as possible with money and a keen sense of fashion. As usual he makes no comment on Lorna's own attire, although she looks especially bland beside him outside the hair… well, it's true. "So." he mumbles, standing near the dance floor. "Uh. You always did wanna go dancing. I'll consider this our first time, alright?"
*
"Why…what a sight this is…the golden boy…and the meddler." The voice behind them purrs out like silk and when they turn to view the Inhuman, there is a confusing sight. He's grown back his little wisps of goatee, but his lips are a daring shade of red. His eyes are lined with make-up and his hair is in black ringlets about his face. He is wearing a mandarin-styled suit, in a golden brown, with a giant gold pendant about his neck that seems to be made of gears and…fairy dust, and a weird-looking silvery gem. There's a scarf tied around his neck, too. Steel eyes drift up and down Lorna, thoughtfully, and then he tugs at his neck scarf. "You are a tragedy, my dear. Let me help."
*
A blush crossed Lorna's cheeks as Julian glanced her way and mentioned dancing. "Uhm, we don't have to if you don't want to, it's okay. Really." She forced a shaky smile, but it was clear by the glance over her shoulder that she wanted to dance rather sorely. "We don't have to." She added, biting her lower lip in thought.
Then of course, was Maximus' purring voice and Lorna practically jumped out of her skin, latching onto Julian's arms with both hands and curling close to him. Whether it was a protective attempt, or her being honestly freaked out by the former King of the Inhumans, it was impossible to say. Perhaps a bit of both as she eyed Maximus, her face turning from pink to red rapidly at his comment about her looks.
Green eyebrows lurched upwards as she frowned, "How do you know Julian?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she squared her jaw stubbornly, a glint of her father in that look. But otherwise she said nothing toward the comment on her looks.
*
"…?" Julian turns to look upon Maximus when he talks, but has absolutely no idea who he is. Someone in the upper crust might recognize him as Julian Keller, of a rather high end business family worth nearly a hundred million. That he's a mutant, though, has been carefully suppressed in the media beyond the occasional word of mouth of green explosions and red jaguars being linked together. "Do I know you?" Lorna's reaction causes him to shift in front of her, glaring towards the other man. "Because if we got a problem here, I'll /deal/ with it…!" A few people in the club are starting to take notice of the strangeness.
*
As those people start to take notice of the strangeness, steel eyes dart around for a moment, taking in the surroundings for a moment as he slides the scarf free of his own neck. "I know who you are, though…I don't blame you for not recognizing me from the International Ball. I was with another party." Red lips smile serenely and he does not look at all threatened by the bold, rich man. His eyes turn from Julian to the magnetic mistress "Lorna…come here, let me help you." He runs the scarf through a loose gasp, idly. The people in the club stop noticing them.
*
Lorna eases up on her grip on Julian's arm as the young mutant takes a shift forward to be more so in front of her. A chivalric action to be sure, but it also unsettled Lorna enough to calm her ruffled feather more. They were in public after all, and Julian had an even quicker temper than she did. Wanda's words were a sharp reminder of that, and she straightened slightly as if her older sister were present as she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.
"It's fine Julian." She muttered softly, her cheeks still hot.
"And thank you, Maximus, but I'm … I'm fine." She glanced down at her modestly toed shoes, her borrowed dress and bit the inside of her cheek. Not an ounce of makeup on her. The young woman looked every inch the middle class background she was.
Plain. Save the green hair that was her birthright.
*
"I don't tend to keep watch at parties." Julian murmurs. He can somehow tell that Maximus is the sort from the upper class; he has the air of it about him, like a proverbial odor. He's always personally hated that sort of thing, which is why he would always crash the middle-class clubs and dance halls instead, when familial demands weren't forcing otherwise. "…!!" The demand for her to come forward makes his eyes narrow more. A brief crackle of green goes between pinky and thumb before his fist clenches. "Back off!" he demands, through clenched teeth. This time, he's here. And like hell is he going to let anything happen on HIS watch!
*
Maximus wets his full lips. "Is this a date?" He arches a black brow, his eyes twinkling. "Is this your boyfriend, Lorna? He's /fierce/." There is a momentary seductive quality to his face. "I like him. Young…bold, wealthy. Yes…yes I think you have done very well, my dear. Sir…I am Maximus. Sometimes referred to as…His Majesty, Maximus the Magnificent, sometimes just Max." He flips the scarf over his shoulder as he extends a hand to the younger man.
*
Lorna interposed herself alongside Julian, reaching out with both hands to smooth down his clenched fist. "Shh, hey, no. Julian. It's fine. I'm fine. We're okay." She whispered, her voice soft as she glanced around them, hoping that no one had picked up on the green illuminating Julian's clenched hands. Then she was glancing back to Maximus, pursing her lips together briefly as she stepped back a space, her cheeks turning red again.
"Julian, I told you that my father was going steady with a Princess? This is her cousin, Maximus." She offered up, a swallow sticking to the back of her throat as she released her grip on Julian entirely.
*
Little about Julian seems to be okay at the moment. He's overprotective to say the least, what with recent history. The fact he barely understands what's going on just makes things a lot worse to him. Should he throw him through the roof, or not?! And why is nobody paying attention to this? "…eh?" Oh. So this must be another of those strange familial relations that Lorna's warned him about. A slow bit of relaxation runs through him, lips pursed together. "Alright." After a moment he takes the offered hand, although his grip is awful tight. "Yeah. Julian Keller. Nice to meet you…" He'd love to make Maximus wince before letting go, but… well! He can only try.
*
Maximus definitely looks pained with the squeeze and he fusses about it too. "/Manners/." A cluck of his tongue and he wiggles his fingers once they are free. "You know I was /only/ going to offer you this scarf out of the kindness of my heart." He says to Lorna, then looks between the pair. "Were you two going to dance?"
*
A flush, and Lorna glanced between the two. At least Julian hadn't lost control, that was a positive. Still, Lorna grimaced. "Yes, thank you, Maximus. But I'm fine." She forced a smile, and it was strained. Memories of smashed flasks, and Maximus' horribly cringe worthy puns and pick up lines surfacing to the forefront of her mind made for an awkward posture for the green haired girl.
"And uhm.. we .. uhm, ah.. we were going to think about it. I think." She offered lamely, blinking toward Julian and then toward the dance floor.
"Or food. Food is always good. Yep.."
Awkward.
*
A smirk from Julian at managing to get a reaction from the other man. Definitely self-pleased. And not at all respectful! He is at the very least a prince, if not a king, by what Lorna just said earlier! "Yes, we're going to dance." He pulls Lorna up close against his side, as if to underline his possession of her. A bit much given the brevity of their dating, but still. He's not awkward in the slightest, in comparison. "And eat. Then maybe dance some more."
*
"I actually don't care to know the plan for your entire evening. I'm here with someone. I just came over to say…hello." Maximus smiles in a sassy manner, playing with his scarf again as he gets it back around his neck. He turns to head over towards a Spanish-looking man with slicked hair and a somewhat lost expression on his face. Though Maximus does not trouble them the rest of the evening, a pair of dancers will absolutely plow into them at one point.
*
Lorna squeaked as Julian tugged her close, her cheeks turning red once more with color. Then Maximus was was sauntering off, her eyebrows lifting upwards as the former King went off with another man. Considering all the other oddities about Maximus, this was hardly the point in which she judged him by society's standards. Never mind that Billy already had a boyfriend thing.. so, all in all Lorna ended up rather progressive.
At least he hadn't thrown a flask at her.
A glance was spared toward Julian beside her as she tried to ease his grip around her waist gently. "Sorry. I got a bit surprised to see him. That's.. that's all. Miss Crystal already told him to leave me alone and he has for the most part for a few months so I guess that's about his limit. Or he lost interest in bugging me. I dunno."
*
None of that made much sense to Julian, although he gradually relaxes when it becomes apparent that the strange meeting is over. "Jesus, that guy gives me the heeby-jeeby's." Quickly making to tug Lorna over to the dance floor proper, for a rapid distraction if nothing else. That he was wandering off with a guy hardly seemed to register on the strangeness-o-meter, but certainly doesn't help. "Don't sweat it. Let's enjoy our evening! …no melting, this time!" The current song is a bit energetic, although Julian rather quickly flows into a good rhythm that blends into the others readily. Yep, he knows how to dance!
*
"You have no idea, seriously. I'll tell you later." Lorna went along easily enough, it didn't take much to alter her train of thought. Though every so often as she bumped into people or awkwardly slipped on the floor, she would glance around, looking for the former King. She didn't spill how she knew him, at least not yet. Between the upbeat tunes and her own poor attempts at dancing— she really wasn't that coordinated, she eased up by song three or four.
By song five though she was clearly tired and was favoring her toes, rocking her weight back and forth. "I think I need to sit down for a bit." She laughed, exhilaration high in the color of her cheeks and the breathless manner she spoke in.
*
Each song is a bit different, and Julian adapts to them easily. He doesn't tease the clumsiness of it, just grinning happily as Lorna continues to open up. The fifth song has him a bit tired also, although he wasn't about to admit it, pulling the girl along towards the bar to settle into a stool with a sigh. He flags down the bartender, getting an order of fries and chicken strips. "Whew."
*
Breathing hard, Lorna sat back against the bar, then bent forward, pushing her hair back from her face. "You know as a kid I never really thought that it was that bad a punishment in fairytales to have the bad guy dance to death. Now I see that all those heroes were really horrible people all along." She laughed, and then glanced sidelong at Julian.
"I know, and odd thing to say, but I get it now. Totally get it now. Man, I've never really been dancing before. That was fun, though I think I've got a stitch in my side."
*
"I,it's a full-body workout. One of a couple I know that's fun." Julian states with a slow exhale, brushing his hair backwards into order despite his skin being peppered in sweat. A last slow examination of the interior shows a lack of Maximus, which is definitely to his liking. Freaks. Lorna's family is full of FREAKS. Good thing he hardly considers himself powerless. "You get used to it. I work out pretty regularly. Although… not a lot of cardio…" Wheeze.
*
Another laugh, "That's all that Miss Frost lets me do. Laps. Lots and lots and lots of laps. Still, I totally get why it'd be a work out." She smiled and leaned back against the bar, picking up a water that the bartender set in front of her and guzzling it down in a quick sip from the straw.
Then green eyes flickered around the room and back, also noting the absence of Maximus. Still, better not to chance things. She'd wait.
Ah, and then the food arrived in short order and she picked at a fry, and then another. "Mmm, fries. Love fries. They're just the perfect snack." She wiggled in her bar stool to sit up properly.
*
"Obviously you need more." Julian teases, ignoring the fact he was not really lasting much longer than the green-haired girl, despite a rather better physique. Show muscles, baby. He's nursing at his own water, not offering alcohol or bothering to consume it himself. "Fries are pretty great." he agrees, tucking a few in his mouth before biting into a chicken strip. "What's your favorite food, though…?"
*
A 'hmmm' follows and if Lorna gnaws on a few more french fries quite happily, well, it wasn't just because he said she should have more. A grin follows as she pauses long enough to down more water and nibble at another fry. "Hmm, well, I guess, I really like sweets. I love peanut butter pie, and cookies and milkshakes. Chocolate, of course." She tapped her chin in thought.
"And I guess, well, dinner food? I dunno. That's a tough one. I like pasta. My sister took me out to this rather diner like place, plastic everything. But it had really good pasta. She also told me that I should take a break from boys, but here I am.." She mused, and then glanced back at him.
"What about you? Favorite food?"
*
There seems to be a mental note from Julian at that, taking stock that Lorna likes sweets. "Ohhh?" he states, perking up a little. "Pasta's my favorite, also! Although steak comes second…" Yet then he seems to pause, peering closely towards the green-haired girl. "Break from boys…? You mean me? Or…" On their first date, she claimed she only ever had one failed date before as a normal girl!
*
A flush, a sheepish look, and Lorna reached up to push her hair back. "Well, pasta is just so homey and comforting.. I dunno. Kinda odd now that I think about it. Most would say something like chicken soup, but oh well." A shrug.
"My sister, well, she said that you came looking for me. That uhm, you were a bit vocal. And that she made sure that you didn't cause any damage." A pause as she glanced sidelong at him, her lips pressed together. "But honestly, she suggested I take some time for myself. Since everything.. I went through and all." She blinked down at her lap, holding back a sigh.
"But I don't do well being cooped up so yeah.."
*
"Oh." Julian murmurs, lowering his eyes in a somewhat guilty fashion. "I did… kinda, umm. Flip out about… things. I guess." Maybe he would have preferred some mystery boyfriend to that, after all. "If you wanna break, it's fine, y'know. This is only our third date, right?" He quickly begins chugging down his water after saying that.
*
A guilty look flickered to life on her features and Lorna glance side long at him. "It's not like a break, break, Julian. Just more like, my sister thinks I need time to sort out what happened to me. It's.." Her brow creased, "It's hard to get through the idea that there are spots in my life that .. I don't know exactly what happened. That someone took something of me.. and without my permission made other mes? I dunno. It's crazy and I have a hard time wrapping my head around it." She rubbed at her forehead and heaved a sigh.
"My father and Wanda, and my brother all went through similar things during the war, so they just want me to take things slow. That's all. And I'm really lucky to have family that understands that particular issue because it's not something people really deal with." She winced and glanced down at her lap.
"I dunno. I might talk to Miss Frost about getting someone to talk to or something. Maybe that'll help."
*
"I know how you feel." Julian agrees, with a sigh. "I'm starting to… process things myself, too." He thinks back to Josh, and his own little alliance with the Brotherhood. Definitely going to keep that to himself. "Anyway. No rush, huh? We can just be friends, if you'd like. Although I'm going to flirt with you, either way!" He presses his lips to his hand, giving it a smooch, and leans over to pat it on Lorna's cheek.
*
A smile, one that warmed as he blew a kiss her way. If only Julian knew of Lorna's own ties to the Brotherhood, or her father's ties. The complicated ties that bound up all of them would've been enough to make any telepaths’ head spin to connect the dots. She warmed to a giggle and she pushed her hair back from her face. "I like you Julian and I care about you, and I like spending time with you. Just know some days I .. won't exactly be available. That's all." She reached over to peck his cheek.
"And we can always work together to get better at our control issues. Because my sister is right, you're like gas and I'm a match, and we need to be careful about those things."
*
Well, life is small in New York City. It seems lots of people get connected that might not otherwise. Fate, Julian likes to think. "I get it. Just call me whenever you want. …I'm pretty free at the moment." He gnaws on another chicken strip heartily thereafter, peering at the back of the bar. "Although, excuse me? I'm TOTALLY a match, also. And fire fights fire, right? So we should work great together!"
*
Lorna lightly swats at his arm as he demands to be a match and she rolls her eyes. "Why? So you can brag about how hot you are?" She grinned, leaning back from him and arching a brow.
"And that is soo not how fire works, Julian and you know it." She pops another fry into her mouth, refolding her legs as she considered the room at large and back. Even as she struggled to hide the grin on her lips and keep from laughing out right.
"Honestly, you're terrible. Maybe you're not petrol or a match or whatever she said. Maybe you're a bad pun. I think that's more likely. Yep."
*
"…damn, that's good. I wish I planned to follow up with that." Julian curses to himself. He adds it to his list of crappy one-liner puns for the future. Old habits die hard, after all. "Listen, fire needs fuel, or it just burns out quickly. I get hot, but it don't linger. I bet you're the same! It's called like… being volatile, or something!" Although that means neither is going to ground the other, depending on how different the triggers are. At least mutual understanding is easy. "I just hate… people picking on my friends. And being powerless. Or jerks. Or people who don't know their place. Or…" Okay, the list is longer than he thought, so he stops.
*
A muffled laughter followed and she clapped a hand over her lips to avoid grinning at Julian's expense and she leaned his way, her shoulder bumping up against him. "I heard way too many of them from Maximus, please, save them for someone else." She groaned, propping her chin up with a hand. "His favorite one was something like 'You must be magnetic, because I'm drawn to you." She made a face, a fake gag and rolled her eyes.
"And hey, it's okay. I get upset at everything. So, it's not like I'm one to talk."
*
"…" There's the mild squint of jealousy in Julian's eyes, which probably makes their relationship status a bit more official. Friends don't get that way with friends! "Well, if puns don't work, I'll keep taking you out to fancy dinners to wear you down." After that he goes quiet, nibbling on fries one by one. Although not the awkward kind; the sort of someone comfortable with another's presence, and not feeling any immediate need to fill the air.
*
Another smile at that, "I don't need expensive dinners, Julian." She offered, a pause followed. "Though I do like spending time with you." She pushed back her hair as she kicked her feet out around the bar stool.
"He wasn't serious about flirting with me, Julian. That would be so gross on so many levels." She offered, "His cousin is going steady with my dad and he's like ancient." Another pause as she picked up her glass of water and sipped at it and then glanced around and back. "He's also pretty uhm, crazy."
*
"He's a prince, I thought." Julian harumphs, although playfully. "I'm not even an heir! …rich, though." Gotta take what you can get. "And cute! And funny! And—" He almost says something, before biting his lips hard. "But yeah… I felt the crazy vibe bad." After a few moments. "…And danger. He felt /dangerous./ I coulda swore he wasn't anyone you knew. Or would want to know."
*
A shrug, "I didn't have much of a choice. I was with my father and he showed up looking for Miss Crystal, my father's girl. And then well.." She tilted her head from side to side and heaved a sigh.
"My father sort of dragged me along to displace him as King of this secret uhm, kingdom." She glanced at Julian, "It was on the other side of the planet. A whole group of people that are kinda like mutants but not. They're not born like it, uhm, their powers come from some misty stuff. It's actually really bad for anyone that's not them to get in it. My father helped defeat his army of crazy things, and stuff." She bit her lower lip.
"So he's kind of a Prince right now? Just in exile too. Uhm.. and I don't think he's particularly happy about it either."
*
"…" Okay, that makes Julian squint, as if trying to see if Lorna's attempting to mess with him by continuing to say crazy things in an attempt to find out how much he'll buy. But it becomes apparent that this is another serious thing. "Jeez. Uh. …So he sounds pretty evil? Why's he still a prince or something, and not like. Behind bars? Or under ground?"
*
A shrug at that, at least Julian was able to follow her otherwise crazy tale. "I dunno, some council told him to go away for a while. Miss Crystal's other cousin, his brother I think? Was supposedly gonna try to be King, but I guess they might want to try democracy or something. Who knows? It was weird. Really weird. Also he may have some kind of a mind control thingy.." She bit her lower lip.
"Miss Crystal said he did. Dunno if he's ever tried to use it on like say my father, or me." She scratched the back of her head. "But he seems to listen to Miss Crystal at least."
*
"That is really weird." Julian readily agrees, adding to the end of Lorna's tail. Mind control causes his head to tilt, but he doesn't ask further questions. "That's… pretty bad." he allows, suddenly wondering how suicidal he was to attempt and aggravate Maximus. He certainly has no resistance to psionic control, not a lick of it. Very good to know. "How's it work?"
*
A huff of a breath followed, "I dunno. I just know that it's a thing from Miss Crystal. Though, I think it'd be pretty obvious, you know?" A shrug.
"I know quite a few telepaths, so I think they'd know though. Right?" She tilted her head to the side and wrinkled her nose in thought. Another fry was stolen before she leaned forward to steal a chicken strip.
"Oh, know what I could go for right now? Milkshakes. Do they have them here?"
*
"I've, uh. Met one telepath. …Ms. Frost. …My mind was unclean." He bows his head in shame. He doesn't really know anything about psionics in general, outside that they exist to some degree. He's met a mind-reader, he's a telekinetic, that's pretty much the full spectrum, right? The last strip is nibbled on, then. "No, but there's a place nearby that does. Although after all that dancing, I don't wanna walk again just yet…"
*
"Well I know Professor Xavier, and Jean. She was my previous roommate for a while till Illyana moved in and Jean went to get some alone time." A shrug, "I haven't seen her in months. Gosh, I should check in on her again." She tapped her chin in thought, "I at least know better than to lie to a telepath. There's that." She grinned and popped another fry in her mouth, hooking an eyebrow upwards.
"What, you had 'impure' thoughts about Miss Frost or something Julian? Bet she flayed you over it." She poked him on his side. "It's okay, I forgive you. My father said she wears white like she owns it as a trademark." She glanced around and heaved a sigh.
"Yeah that's totally fair, walking is hard."
*
"Xavier?" Julian states, squinting a bit. "…From the Xavier school? He's a mutant?" He sounds genuinely surprised. Given he was lead to the Frost Institute due to familiar connections in the Hellfire Club, he had no idea there was more than ONE institute in the city. "Huh." Jean gets no comment. Just a name to him. "I-it was before we met!! And she was, like… really attractive! And dressed…" He goes really red. "I don't wanna talk about it." Although he grumbles at that and pushes to his feet. "No, no. If your little gams can take it, we can go get a shake. It's only a few blocks."
*
A laugh, "Yeah, he's my father's closest friend. Actually, my father lives at the Institute, even though he doesn't teach." She flashed a grin, "The Professor is super nice, I really like him. He was there when I met Iron Man. Actually, he's friends with Iron Man." A pause, "Tony Stark thought he was my dad and then stopped hitting on me." She blushed and looked sheepishly toward him as he stumbled over how pretty Miss Frost was.
Another giggle. "It's okay Julian, I forgive you. Still weird, but I forgive you." She winked and glanced toward the door.
"Eh, the times I wish my nephew was around." Which one? The world will never know. "But yeah, sure, I can handle a few blocks."
*
"Huh. …I'll have to check it out." Julian ponders. He's interested in meeting more mutants, to be sure. "Hahah. He's way too old. But he has good taste in girls." A playful elbow is sent Lorna's way at that. Extending an arm to link, he then makes his way out into the chill air, happily small talking about this or that between his regular flirts as the sparsely populated sidewalks are navigated.