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This was going to be a major snore.
Lorraine had no problem supporting her father, the Democratic Senator of New York, which was not an easy thing. But some of the people she had to meet—dignitaries from other countries, celebrities, sponsors, lobbyists…it could grind on you after awhile.
She tugged at the Grecian-styled gown and sighed. "Good cause. Mutant rights is a good cause." It was worth the smiling and the dealing with the fakes.
She straightened, looked herself in the mirror, then nods.
"Let's do this."
Tessa Valentine has a lot of skills. Her mutation also helps in this regard; she can keep her attention on a lot of things at once and remember it all. So of course, she is the ideal person to send to this sort of event. Well, in part. Because she knows all the names of the parties involved. And she can be diplomatic. Always good. No gown or dress for her, though. She's back into a suit styled after the ones she wore while working as the personal assistant to a certain businessman in London.
Senator Reilly smiled as he saw his daughter step out of the bathroom. "Lorraine! Come on over. I want you to meet someone."
Lorraine smiled and glided over, walking well in the high heels. "Hello, Dad."
"Lorraine, I'd like you to meet Mr. Hoover."
The Director of the FBI smiled thinly. "Miz Reilly? Nice to meet you. I understand you might be seeking work as a public defender when the time comes."
Lorraine smiled, almost simpered. "Well, I do want to follow in my father's footsteps."
"Hrm." He didn't sound convinced. "Lorraine, I have to speak with Mr. Hoover for a little bit."
"Right. Sure. I'll just head over to get some punch." Lorraine waved, then fled the two men. Hoover unsettled her for some reason, but he didn't seem like a bad guy. Lorraine headed for the punch bowl, hoping someone spiked it.
It's easy enough to be social and sidestep the issue of who she represents and why she's here. Secrets need to say secret after all. Her eyes scan the crowd a for a moment she fixates on Lorraine. She murmurs something - interesting perhaps - but it's enough of a word to get the attention of someone that was yammering at her. "Oh, simply…" And she excuses the reaction. It's believable.
Lorraine stops at the punch bowl, picking up a plastic cup from the table, pouring herself some iced punch and looks around the place. Politician. Celebrity. Lobbyist. Politician. And… She pauses as she spots Terri. She has an air of…competence. The suit is a bit of a surprise, but then she figures it out. Personal assistant…or bodyguard. She has that look. Lorraine raises the glass to Terri, giving her a sympathetic smile. Geez, that woman is going to yak that woman's ear off. She wanders over, a wry smile on her face. "Diana? Diana, is that you? Wow, I didn't expect to see you here…" she says as she approaches Terri and the motormouth.
Tessa tilts her head slightly and raises the glass in her hand in return. It's hard to tell if she was looking, or just spotted the gesture from the corner of her eye. Still, she returned it. Lorraine's arrival gives her a perfect chance to turn away from the chatterbox at her ear. "Good evening," she offers simply.
Chatterbox looks at Lorraine. "LORRAINE! You REALLY must tell your father…"
"Yes, Miss Thatcher, I will. However, I need to catch up with Di, I haven't seen her in AGES." Lorraine gave her the Go Away smile.
The chatterbox seemed to become aware, and says, "Oh, of course. Have a good…JANET!" she calls out as she spots another person, in a high call that seems to resonate in Lorraine's fillings. And with that, off the woman goes, leaving Terri and Lorraine alone.
"You looked like you needed a break, there," Lorraine said, the smile more pleasant and less Why Are You Still Here?
She shrugs slightly. "I have dealt with worse, I promise," she says. There's no smile to her words, though she doesn't come off as cold. "He just saw a new face and was being friendly." Which is really preferrable to seeing a new face and demanding she leave. She extends a hand. "Tessa Valentine," she introduces herself.
Lorraine smiled. "Lorraine Reilly. Pleased to meet you, Miss Valentine." She takes the hand in her own. "So, what brings you to this shindig?" She looks around. "My father said this was a very important cause, so I said I'd support him." She points out the elderly man glad-handing Steve McQueen.
Sage gestures about. "Twofold reasons. One, mutant rights is an important topic. And two…" she looks around, noting the crowd. A hand lifts and points at random for Lorraine to follow. "It's always good to see who is supporting the topic. It pays to know who your allies are."
Lorraine blinks. It is useful to keep in mind that she was given two ears and one mouth for a reason. *Your allies? Does that mean she's a mutant? One of them? Oh, Lorraine, don't say stupid stuff like that. Dad's here because there can't be an Us and Them mentality. Sure, she might be able to do something you can't…but maybe you can do something she can't. So don't be daft, treat her like everyone else, and don't jump to conclusions.*
Tessa was taught well, and doesn't use her telepathy willy-nilly. Xavier would be disappointed with her if she did. So anything Lorraine thinks just sort of goes unheard. Well, unless Lorraine's a little 'loud' with her thoughts. The DNA, though. She sees that without really trying. "I'm here on my own," she says simply. Which isn't entirely inaccurate either.
Lorraine nods. "Well, my father's heart is in the right place. Besides, this sort of legal support is long overdue. Like civil rights, itself." She looks around, then says, "Listen, if you want to talk to my father directly, let me know. I happen to know he's going to take a break in the east room in about 10 minutes or so."
Sage tilts her head, moving her gaze to the man himself. "Your father, is he?" She said that already, yes? "Hm. I can't imagine what I'd have to say to him at the moment. I know his position… so unless he is deciding to surprise us tonight, Miss Reilly…"
Lorraine chuckled. "My dad isn't a flip-flop kind of guy." She siips her nearly-forgotten punch. "But it's your biz. Although I do want to pick your brain a little, if you don't mind. There's a lot I don't know, and I think I'm better off finding out. Maybe we can find someplace quiet to chat?"
Sage arches an eyebrow. It would be Vulcan-esque, if the show was on the air. With a hand she gestures onwards. "I'll follow your lead, then."
Lorraine smiles, then crooks a finger. "Follow me, Miss Valentine." She giggles, then strides towards the east side of the large pavilion, avoiding distraction by looking as if she is going to talk to someone. A necessary skill for parties. She opens a door into a small suite, one set aside for dignitaries needing some solitude. She beckons Tessa in furtively, that wry smile still on her face.
There's that eyebrow again. Still, Tessa's curiosity is piqued and she follows Lorraine inside once she's sure that nobody has even noticed they walked out.
Lorraine closed the door behind Tessa, taking a deep breath. "Okay, Miss Valentine. I just realized I don't know a lot about the issues facing mutants. There's what I read…but that's more of a Reader's Digest version of the truth." She sits down on one of the two beds, facing the other bed. "So…I'm ignorant, but I don't want to be. If I asked you general questions, you can answer whatever questions you want. You can even ask me questions, if you like. To be fair."
"…And you feel this needed to be in private?" Eyebrow again. Then Tessa shrugs and nods. "Well, ask your questions. I'll do what I can to give you an answer."
Lorraine smiles sadly. "The truth is, I'm worried about making a fool of myself and getting something splashed in my face. At least in here, I can change into clean clothes without someone putting me on the front page of the TIMES." She winks. "Okay…I hear the term mutant. Is that an accepted term, or is there another that is preferred?"
"Like anything else, I suspect the answer is complicated. The mutants I know don't mind the term. But no doubt there will be someone who is what we would call 'mutant' but finds the term offensive." Off hand, Tessa can't imagine what term someone like that would prefer, but… "Though I should say I've never known someone to be offended by the label."
Lorraine nods. "Right…okay, good." She pauses. "Okay. I'm not going to ask you to show me what you can do. I can assume you can do something, but I really don't want you to think you have to put on a performance. Let's get that 800-pound gorilla out of the room now."
"And what makes you assume I'm a mutant? My presence at an event like this?" She could point out how the logic of this assumption falls apart. But she doesn't. Instead Tessa nods her head slightly. "Simply put, I have an eidetic memory." She goes with what she values more, because her powerset is… weird.
Lorraine smiles. "I was guessing. When you spoke about 'your allies' after I mentioned mutant rights, I kinda twigged onto it. If you used 'like-minded,' it might have been easy to explain away. But 'allies' sounded more like a bunker mentality."
"I could have meant others who thought the same as I did," Tessa notes. "But that was a good deduction." Okay, she had not thought of that. Ah well.
Lorraine grins. "I'm a big John D. MacDonald fan. Travis McGee is a very cool guy." She looks around. "Eidetic memory? Wow. I've herd of people with total recall, but that's kind of amazing, really." She takes a deep breath. "What do you think is the biggest threat facing mutants?"
"It's been a blessing more than anything," Tessa agrees. There's a downside, but that's neither here nor there. "I think it's a host of things," she answers. "Fear from the general populance. And then you have those who use their abilities to lash out due to their experiences. Or desires."
Lorraine nods. "Gotcha. Like regular humanity, just with these special powers. And people being afraid of those powers because they don't get it. They don't understand, and people hate what they fear." She sighs. "It sounds like an education issue…"
"It is. Just like many other problems we face today." Of course not everything is that simple. The issue is more complicated and Tessa knows it. Education, though, is a good first step.
Lorraine nods slowly. "The more we know. Education. Communication. Those are the big words, I think. A good foundation. Maybe, if we can TALK to each other…" She sighs. "It sounds too simple, but we gotta start with the simple concepts." She smiles to Tessa. "All right…this is good. We're connecting at a level where human and mutant don't matter."
"They shouldn't matter, just like nationality or religious status shouldn't matter. But people are scared of differences - or rather, some people are scared. And they are often the loudest." She knows all too well what scared people do. It's why she's all the way here, instead of somewhere in Eastern Europe. Why she sounds English, though, is another story.
There is a light knock at the door. "Miss Reilly? Your father wants to have you at the podium when he speaks." Lorraine sighed. "Okay…be right out." She looked to Tessa as she stands. "Welp, time to smile and look pretty for the camera. Dad's going to blow a greedhead named Henry Hewitt right out of the water…"
Sage puts a hand on the handle of the door and gestures. "After you, then. I hope you don't mind the company."
Lorraine smiles. "'Keep good company, and you'll be counted as one of them.' Let's do this."