Marvel, Rebirth:

IC: Lynae

"Who knows... He has many bad memories of that place that could easily be triggered by an old student.. Maybe we shouldn't talk about it?"

IC (Romulus)

"Rest assured, I shan't bring it up if he doesn't. I respect the man a bit too much for that."

IC: Lynae

The vampire smiled and nodded a bit. "Yes... He is troubled enough as it is."

IC:

Ric owned so many jackets.

He had scheduled a dinner appointment with Romulus tonight, and intended to dress as such; Lacey, his pretty, brunette secretary, had selected a baker's dozen worth of articles that paired well with any number of the shirts Alaric wanted to wear. He would forsake dress shoes for some of his more well-made boots, and going around the Manor in a t-shirt was one thing, but a dinner appointment without a black dress shirt and jacket would simply not do. Trying on a less tight fitting coat, he examined it in the mirror before shrugging it off into Lacey's hands. "I definitely prefer the tighter fit," he told her, and she dutifully hooked four jackets onto the lip of his full body mirror. He was barely surprised when he looked up; a black-haired girl, no older than Ashlynn, stood in the mirror, gazing wistfully at his reflection. When he blinked, a fireball of a girl, orange eyes and orange hair and arrogant white smirk stood in her place, and with every step she took she flickered into a different phantom. Humble, then prideful; insecure, then arrogant; dark and light, then light and dark. Ghosts in the mirror. Ghosts can't hurt you unless you let them. They pass right through you if you keep your wits about you.

IC (Romulus)

"I do believe you mentioned your skill at combat earlier Ms. Rosewood." Romulus smiled. "As there is some time remaining before dinner....and as we have established that Alaric would prefer not having his past dragged out before him, that rather cancels the need to inform him of our doings. Or at least means it's best put off until dinner itself. A friendly duel betwixt friends wouldn't be much of a security risk, doubly so if it is taking place in the manor itself."

OOC: Just gonna say this.

Tyler, you need to write a book. Along with some other people whose posts I've been reading.

IC: Lynae

"Here we are... Home sweet home." She said as she got out, tossing the keys to the valet. "I'll catch up with you at dinner." And with that, she disappeared inside to Ric's room.

A few moments later...."You know... Your hair isn't that bad messy." A provocative voice said from the doorway of Alaric's room.

IC (Romulus)

Romulus smiled, more out of habit then anything else. It didn't take Sun Tzu to determine where Lynae was rushing off too. She never seemed to miss a chance to flirt with the Black King. Ah well. He did have some paperwork to get through, an interrogation to oversee, a few election funds to increase...an Emperor's work was never done.

IC:

"It didn't look too bad short, either," he remarked. "How all of you let me go so long without at least a cursory trim is beyond me."

He stepped away from the mirror with a belt hanging from each hand, coiled like serpents; one was fine white leather and the other black, each rising above the other towards chest level and falling as he thought it over. Finally he slipped on his boots and tried the white leather belt on through the loops of his black pants. His waist level adornment and all below it went handsomely with the black dress shirt and blazer arranged neatly on his bed, and with the black undershirt he was currently sporting. As he stretched, the small slits over his shoulder blades (designed for his wings, if he saw fit to stretch them) stretched too, revealing a small peek at the pale, flawless skin of Carlisle's back.

"Seems like the white would be a bit of an attention grabber against all this black," he noted to himself. "What do you think?"

"Hmmm.." She seemed to purr as she walked toward him, inspecting him much like a lioness would her prey. "You look very handsome." She decided.

IC: Lynae

She gazed at him in silence for a moment before smiling. "They are very beautiful." She said as she sat on the foot of his bed.

IC:

I sudden thought came to me, gripping my heart with anxiety. What if some of the people here were in the library? Would they recognize me somehow?

IC:

"Why? They're just belts."

"I meant the wings," Lynae said, eyes rolling, and Alaric turned his level gaze back to the mirror again to look at them. They were large, white and beautiful like Lynae said; when Ric was a kid his father had used to let him touch his own, gently, let him feel every feather and understand how they work. He'd wanted a pair of his own so badly, wouldn't care that they might make him look like a freak, or that maybe they'd turn out to be a bit more hassle than he wanted if he didn't have a way to hold them down or will them away. He didn't think about what a pair of wings might mean, all he thought about was flying, being free, ruling the skies with his father. The first time he'd met Ashlynn, he'd loved her wings. He'd told her as much. He had been trying to grow a pair in the courtyard. He'd wanted to impress her, or maybe Hank, or maybe even Warren. He'd wanted to be a real Worthington.

The memory was a spark, a ghost. Ashlynn, Taralynn, Bekah, Brooklyn, John, Matt, the kids from the Institute, Hank's new X-Men, Hank, Warren himself. They sucked at his energy and lent it to their own spectres, drank in his blood and his hate and his love and his loss, and grew stronger by the day while he wasted away to a shade. The list of things to live for ran out with each phantom; tomorrow, perhaps a steak dinner would be waiting in his mirror. I have to let it go. Home was the taste of bourbon on his tongue after he'd finished his shot. Home was when he dreamed of Ashlynn, or maybe Tara, or maybe even his sister Brooklyn, cuddling with her and reading a story when she had a nightmare about Weapon-X, and woke up with just a pillow in his arms. Home was a white belt in a black wardrobe, and it had no place there.

"I wish I could cut them out," he said hoarsely, and his wings slid into his back with such a sudden shock that his chest jolted, like he'd been smacked with a defibrillator.

Home was gone as soon as it had come, and he slipped into his dress shirt and blazer effortlessly to turn to her, watching him in silence.

"The reservation kicks in in about an hour and a half. Got an outfit?"

The black belt sat alone on the chair as they flicked the light off and departed the room, and it drank in the darkness Alaric left behind.

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

She gently wrapped her arms around him, concerned a bit as she saw how he reacted when his wings slid in.

"I was hoping you'd help me there." She said as they walked to her part of the mansion, the only noise after she spoke was her black heels on the cold floor.

Once they reached her room, Lynae threw open the door to her walk in closet and sighed. "So many things to choose from.." She paused in front of a light blue dress, one that matched her eyes. Her fingers gently caressed its gentle fabric and she sighed.

"Tell me Ric, do you know what Lynae means?"

IC:

"Not particularly. I slept through all my foreign language classes."

"It means little blue flower.. And now all I wear is black like I'm in eternal mourning."

IC: Lynae

The woman nodded, taking his hand as he lead her away. "Shouldn't we get Romulus?"

IC:

"Wouldn't hurt to carpool. Environment and all."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

The vampire sighed as she held his hand tightly, tugging him toward Romulus' office.

IC:

"You deal with the secretary. Lacey's one thing, but this woman goes for the throat. I've seen her in action."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

Lynae scoffed at the name Lacey, what dumb name was that anyway? She slowly walked up to the secretary, smiling.

"Good evening Miss. We are here to retrieve the White King for dinner."

IC: Lynae

The Black Queen rolled her eyes as she returned to Alaric's side. "Yes yes... Come along Rom, my dear. We have a reservation to keep."

IC: Lynae

"When we return tell Thistledown that if she even thinks of trying to deface my property in anyway, she'll be missing a cat." Lynae hissed to Romulus.

Betsy fiddled with his hair for a second, mussing it, then started fixing it. "Maybe you should get a job at a salon," he suggested; Warren's continued tongue-in-cheek employment suggestions had become a subject of verbal duels over the months. "You're a natural."

"Go then. Just leave me here by myself. I'm sure I'll find something to do."

"Elizabeth Braddock, there are times when I'm not sure whether I hate every move you make, or whether I love you more than I've ever loved anything in the world."

IC (Romulus)

"My dear Ms. Rosewood, if you pick a fight with her cats, I cannot be held responsible for what happens to you. That woman lives in one of the worst parts of town. She has for years. The only possible reason I can up with is that she's still alive because the local gangs are scared of her." Romulus smiled, though it still wasn't clear if he was joking or not. "But I see no reason to let this spoil a lovely dinner."

IC:

"I think her eyes turned golden at me," Ric said, looking over his shoulder every couple seconds. "Like Palpatine in his duel with Yoda."

-Tyler

IC: Lynae

The vampire crossed her arms, rather displeased at the moment. Yet, she remained silent, letting the men lead her.

OOC: To move thing along-seems like we were stalling. If anyone had a simply massive post planned, I’ll gladly edit this into a post about Thistledown throwing a brick through a window.

I

C (Romulus)

Romulus would say this for New York, the attack had, at the very least, thinned out the traffic as the less jaded inhabitants got out of town as quickly as they could. It brought to mind a certain piece saying he’d heard once. ‘Beware of seemingly gentle people, the meek here left long ago.’ Time would tell if it held accurate, but as it stood, they were pulling into the parking lot and his stomach was starting hint darkly at a future revolt if it wasn’t fed soon.

IC:

"Hmm?" Tera asked, glancing down and to her left, craning her neck as she withdrew the silverware needed for the meal. "I'm sorry, dear. I haven't been trying to ignore you, I'm just trying to keep track of everything."

"What can I do for you?"

OOC: First off, Thistledown is the best secretary of all time.

Second, kinda lackluster post, but I just finished debating for twelve hours solid, and it's late. My other characters will get a better reintroduction/post soon, soon defined, most likely, as "tomorrow".

IC: 'Jess'

By the time Gabriel was done redressing Jess was already passed out, sleeping peacefully.

IC: Gabriel

"Bzzz," snored Gabe.

Ic:

"What's all the stuff that is not numbers?" Trinity asked, holding up the dictionary.

IC:

We were in a wooded area now, so I slid the bag I had tied around my front leg and flipped it open to reveal my clothes inside. This was just my way of asking Ashley to please get off so that I could change.

IC: Katherine "Kitty" Pryde

Kitty lead the way toward Warren's office yet again, since the headmaster never seemed to come out of there in the first place, it was logically the only place he could be.

They stopped at a door that was clearly the entrance to the office and Kitty gave the door a good rap. If that didn't work, Kitty could always phase her head through the door like last time.

IC: Ashley

"Ohhhh you don't want to be a wolf anymore?" She almost sounded like she was disappointed. "Okay!" She slid off Sierra from the side, giggling a bit as she did so.

"You can go find some place to change, will wait for you here!"

IC: Lilliana

"Are there many positions open here?" Lilliana asked Kitty as they waited outside of the Headmaster's office.

IC: Mikhail

"Letters," explained Mikhail mid-way through putting another pancake on a plate. "They are arranged together to form words phonetically."

IC: Mimic

Christine looked at Dallas once he'd been dropped off. "Glad to have yah back Dallas. So did Nicole really capture you?"

IC:

I disappeared into the woods to change and get dressed. A few seconds later I returned to the group, carrying an empty bag.

"Much better."

IC: Gabriel

Gabriel slowly rolled over onto Jeff.

Ic:

"Oh! How do they work? Can you show me?!"