2019-07-14 - The Princess and the Spider

Summary:

Lena meets MJ and Spider-Man while window shopping.

Log Info:

Storyteller: {$storyteller}
Date: July 14th, 2019
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Related Logs

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Theme Song

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peter-parkermary-janelena-snart

For art lovers, there were fewer places of grandure than the Metro. Of course, more local flavors of style could be had scattered out across the city, but it was the Metro that was a stable of sophistication and beauty, housing original, priceless works from artists eons back to the present time. This was a wonderful place to be, often cluttered with tourists more so than regulars, but once in awhile it offers a safe haven to those wishing for a touch of enlightenment. Or, in this case, a cool place to relax given the blistering heat outside. Today's cost to enter was also discounted due to a number of schools making their way through on Summer Camp trips.

One such lover of things both cold and pretty is Lena Snart. Healed up with just a brush of a scar on her face from her last visit to a gallery, the dark haired youth in goth-punk attire calmly strides her way down a section of the towering white building. She pauses, here and there, taking in the words on display, seeming to skip most 'modern' examples of expression and keeping to classical areas. At this time, she finds herself wandering into the Impressionist section aiming to go deeper back in time.

Getting out of the hospital a few days later was a bit of a shell shock. With Flash resting at home, Eddie once again taken away from his duties, MJ sought to call a friend for a very good and social outing ath the Museum of Art. One of her assignments from her mentor was to find something beautiful after all of this, and write about it. Where else can anyone find beauty if it isn't in the Museum's of New York! Inside the throngs of -everything-, MJ was still amazed.

"Thank you for coming with me, Peter." Mary Jane says, tilting her fedora back so that she could actually see. The bruises and gash on her head were slowly healing, and her bandaged arm was stuck in a sling just in case, since she does most of her own stunts. "I needed this. Not only for Julliard but.. man." She gestures at the kids who were mesmerized by a statue. The group of them move to the left, and move to the right. Their teacher exclaimed that some say.. if you stare long enough? The statue comes alive and follows you with it's eyes! "Those kids are so dang cute!"

Peter smiled wryly to MJ. He was wearing the usual—baggy shirt, baggy jeans, tennis shoes. He also had his digital camera, the one he used for the Spider-Man pics. And, of course, the suit underneath.
"No sweat, MJ…especially in here. Whoo, didn't think it could get that hot out there."
Hot town, summer in the city, back of my neck feeling dirty and gritty…yeah, that was perfect for today.
"Remember that story I read to you when we were younger? Uhm…FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER? Thought about how nice it would be to live here?"

Lena Snart continues to weave her way about the masses, shifting and allowing kids and their matching outfits, shirts, and bucket-hats, to move around her without delay. She even passes the couple of red-head and Parker, casting a quick glance in their direction before moving toward her objects of desire. Whatever she was looking for, it seems she has a target in mind. All that glimmers here was actually gold, but it seems Snart was after something specific.

A coupld of kids giggle before running up toward Peter and MJ. "Hey!" One bubbles out, wide-eyed and grinning, missing a few teeth that causes their speech to whistle. "Are you dating?"

"Shut up, Cindy!"

"No! You dared me so I'm doing it!" The girl waves back at another girl with a head full of curls, frizzed out and floofy. The darker skinned girl blushes wildy as she watches her friend, Cindy, question to couple.

"Well, you probably shouldn't have worn pants." MJ comments to Peter. Though, says her. She's wearing some weird art-deco suspender pants, so she's one to talk. At least the fabric was thin enough to catch a breeze!

But as they walk, she stops and gives a shake of her head. "As children? Yes. But now?" She lifts her shoulders. "I don't mean to be too forward Peter but I'm a lady, and ladies require certain things.

As the giggling kids approach the couple, MJ puts on that famous face; a bright smile that has her laughing, one hand clapping against her thigh as she bends over with a touch of animation to regard the cute little kids. "No! We're not dating! We are best friends forever!" Yes, MJ over-sold it, but that's what you do with little kids! They were a distraction of course, MJ really didn't notice Lena.. in fact, MJ has no danger sense or any sort of sense what so ever, unless it called for fashion! And, those kids were just too darn cute to ignore!

Peter smiled sheepishly. "Yep Friends since we were your…"
He paused as Alice sent a sudden chill along his arm, and he stole a covert glance at the watch connected to the Spider-Comm system. A tickertape message scrolled along the face of it.

LENA SMART. AKA CAPTAIN COLD. A quick display of her mugshot.
"…age. Uhm…MJ, I might need to make a run for the bathroom. I don't think that hot dog agreed with me too much…" He sounded a litle queasy, but he only sounded like it. His eyes were alert, aware, and flickering from face to face. "Uhmm…excuse me? Gotta find a bathroom."
A few months ago, this would have been a reminder of how flaky Pete had been the few times they had dated.
But, as the title of another book they read when they were kids explained…THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW.

"Aww, why not?" Cindy asks, watching after Peter runs off with his complaint about a hotdog. "Oh…I get it." The girl leans forward, covering her mouth so that her secret can only be for MJ, regardless of her stage whisper. "He's flakey, isn't he?"

The floofy haired girl shuffles foward, reaching out and grabbing her friend by the arm. "Com'on! We're moving!"

"Girls! Stay with the group, please. Buddy-System." A teacher sing-songs their way, causing the girl to pull at her friend once more.

Snart keeps moving toward another section on display for the day - a study into the celebration of fire. Here, here she seems to find something she might be looking for. Sighing, she smiles, now studying the works of art in earnestly. "Alright…lets see here…" She murmurs to herself.

Peter's addition to her answer grants a smile, but as his voice trails off with that suspicious look.. one would think that something was afoot! But not MJ! It wasn't that she had forgotten their conversation, it was just that.. she trusted him. If his stomach was hurting then by golly, get that man to the porcelean gods! As Peter runs off, she gives him a worried glance then looks back down to little Cindy. With a crouch, she balances herself evenly as she answers the question. "He's actually dating a famous girl! She's like a princess!"

But, her little secret gets her to laughing, her head nodding just a little. "You'll soon understand how easily boys are distracted by something. Whether their tummies or shiny things." She reaches up to pinch Cindy's cheek, grinning. As Cindy is pulled away, Mary Jane stands and looks around, her sling-riddled arm tugged and itched a bit as she moves on, strolling to look at art that would lead her to Snart's area..

Peter started with following the path ALICE advised, and that little bristle at the nape of his neck—not an alarm, but a slow, small buzz, which signaled potential danger from a confirmed source.

The problem was…as soon as someone saw Spider-Man, the jig was up.
He slid his hands into the gloves, but kept them in his pocket.. The tennis shoes were no big deal, he could simply shuck them off and the boots of the suit were under them. Keep the woman under watch. If something happened, he could be suited up in seconds.

At least she lingers here. She's stopped moving, searching - this area seems to do well by her. It's not a very popular place, it seems, seeing as it only shares a scattering of viewers, five to six at most with MJ and Lena making up two of those numbers. There's a pause given by the dark haired goth. She blinks, turns and looks over her shoulders. That feeling of something, someone perhaps, following after her, causes her paranoia to spark. When she notices the red-head coming her way, she eases somewhat.

Considering MJ, she shrugs and then walks in her direction. "Who busted your arm?" She asks calmly, "And your face? Someone still alive? They shouldn't be."

MJ skids to a stop at one of the exhibits. It was a warped thing, one that causes her to tilt her head to the side, and then to the other, all the while holding onto her hat. She even steps forward, then back again, then forward again to lean in close to study at least the lines of the paint, attempting and failing at discovering the motion of the stroke and the thoughts (possibly direction) the artist was thinking.

"Huh.." She says to herself, catching the movement of Lena out the corner of her eye. The question had taken her aback, and with a little nervous laugh, she lets go of her hat. "Oh.. some guy.." She says with a wave of her hand. "I think they're still alive. They weren't caught I don't think." She shrugs it off as it was no big deal. "Really, it's just bruised and sore, I'll be in tip top shape in a matter of weeks." -THAT-, she seemed happy about. "Here looking for inspiration too?"

Peter holds back, slipping behind a pillar. He looks around as he listens.
He's seen MJ act before. But he's never seen her improv. He pauses, then verifies he is unseen before swiftly jumping up to the ceiling, divesting himself of his clothing and webbing it into the joint where pillar meets ceiling. He slides the mask on, then crawls along the ceiling.

It's awfully nice that few people look UP ina museum?

"Yeah? Shame. Guys shouldn't mess up girls. Trash like that should be put on ice." She smiles gently, seeming to mean the threat very seriously. Turning to view the piece MJ was before, she cants her head and then moves it to the other side. "Inspiration? In a way, yes. I'm shopping, I suppose. Someone dear to me loves fire." A pause, she smiles and looks back to MJ. The expression is almost kind, but there's a hint of something else behind it. "Tell me, if you could have any piece in this room, which would it be? Why? Which one speaks to you, Miss…?"

"No." Mary Jane says earnestly. "They shouldn't. It.." She felt a little uncomfortable, but she did say it. It was all over the news after all. "..it was a stalker." There, that liittle confession out, she was a bit bothered by the memory but quickly pushes it down. Mary Jane slowly turns to look around, seeing no one suspicious there, and it was back to the exhibit again. "Shopping? Oh, that's interesting!" And Mary Jane really meant it, taking a step back with room for Lena to breathe.

"Okay.. okay.. this.." She turns to look across the museum, gesturing towards the glass case with the large green diamond attached to white diamonds to hold the necklace together. In fact, she had gotten so excited, because Mary Jane loves dreams and wishes, and motioned Lena over with a tippity-tap dance step towards the exhibit. "This!" Oh.. how she brightened.

"It'll match my eyes.. and.. I don't know. Ever since I was a little girl, I just felt that.. one day I'll be a princess and I'll be able to afford something like this. I know they say that accessories or jewelry doesn't make the person.. but I do want to feel beautiful." She pauses. "Oh right. I'm Mary. Mary Jane Watson. You are?" She holds out her good hand for a shake. It was good to do some girl talk!

Peter blinked behind the mask. Wow. She was playing it to the bone. *Be careful, MJ. Don't upset the applecart,* he thought, readying himself to web the Captain to the floor. but he didn't act yet…because MJ's act was not yet over.

She doesn't press it forward, noticing the girl's reaction to the memory of her stalker. There's one thing she offers, though, moving closer and following after MJ. "If you have a name, I'll make sure he doesn't do that to anyone else ever again." She was honest, genuine in her offer, her expression blunt, stoic. Then goes the dance about of a girl in a candy store. Dark lips curl, pressing a dimple into her cheek.

"Mmm, gems are nice, but not really his style. He's pretty enough as it is." She does study the choices made, nodding with approval, a glance to MJ, and then back. "It would suit you very well. If you want to be a princess, you are already. Titles don't mean shit in this city, it's what you make yourself to be." A hand out, she accepts MJs and gives it a tender, yet firm, greeting. "Lena Snart. Nice to meet you, Princess." A turn, she looks around toward the other objects on display, twisted, blazing bright with a pure spirit if flame and heat. "What about these? Say…you were buying for a man you loved?"

"No. No name. I don't even think they got a good look at the guys face. And.. I can't remember much. I hit my head." MJ has a need to touch her banged, bruised up scar, but she doesn't.

Instead, her gaze was upon the diamonds, the glass clearly stating that 'Do Not Touch', even though she really wants to. But she was always an obeyer of the rules. So with a step back, she turns to Lena.. who accepts her hand in greeting. Did MJ just make a new friend?!

This was exciting, and a bit worrying. Peter wasn't back from the bathroom just yet; and it hadn't clicked that maybe something wrong was going on. She really thinks that he had an upset stomach!

"Oh.. so you're searching for a man.." She says, inquisitively.. now sticking close to Lena, not ignoring the princess remarks, but hey. The blushed cheeks certainly have her there. For her to be an actress and a model, she surely doesn't deal with compliments well, in any fashion.

"I don't know.." She says quietly. "..If I were buying for the man I loved, it wouldn't be here.. but.." She slowly moves away from Lena, hoping that at least the woman would continue to follow. "..it would have to sing to me. When you look at him, doesn't your heart sing?" She asks, looking towards Lena. "When I find my love, I want to buy him something that sings to me as he does." She almost reaches out to touch something, but pulls her hand back. "So here. Be still. Not still still, but listen. When you look at this painting.." One that appeared to be engulfed in the fires of apocalypse.. "..how do you feel?"

Damn, She's GOOD. Peter himself is momentarily captivated, but he shakes himself out of the momentary reverie. She's handling it so far. Time to give her a little more webline, see how she handles it. But the moment she's in danger, he's going to jump in. Literally.

Lena Snart swallows and reaches up, unconciously touching around her somewhat hidden throat. Something was there, but the brush is brief. "It does something alright. I wouldn't say sing, but I never thought of it that way." There's a turn, a look, and a listen as that's suggested to her by MJ. Closing her eyes, she takes a breath and only then looks at the painting shown to her. To it, she smiles. The look is so soft, gentle, adoring. "This…is perfect. You have a good eye, Mary-Jane." A step closer, she gives the vibrant strokes of paint across canvas a closer study. "The world's suppose to end in fire and ice. Funny how those things are told to be opposites. They're often closer than one thinks." A stand back, she looks to MJ, the jewels, then back to her. "Tell me. Do you want those?" She offers, pointing to the necklace.

"Sing is a gentle word!" MJ exclaims. You will never see anyone talk about the things she does like her. Always excited and happy to please, and happy to make a friend. "It could scream, it could yell. It could snarl and growl.." She presents the painting as if she were Vanna White, all in her one armed glory. "..if you've ever watched Star Trek and learned the Klingnon mating rituals of the lady screaming and throwing stuff while the men told poetry, it would be that!" She giggles, then puts her arm down. "I just think the world will end in fire.. I don't know about ice. We're going to burn." Grim Mary.

But in that air of silence, MJ watches Lena, seeing the process work, and smiling in silent glee at the results. Painting, sold.. wait..

"Do I?" MJ turns to glance at her own song, the diamond written for her by her. She clutches her strap against her shoulder hard, imagining herself wearing the diamond.. "Ah.. no. It's just a childish dream of mine."

Here we go. But until Cold does something, this is all conjecture, and conjecture is not against the law. Just keep breathing deeply. MJ has this under control, but if she loses it, well, he's here.

Lena Snart chuckles, it's even a giggle at the idea of her man in question being like a Klingon. "You're…not half wrong about that." Another glance at the painting, she nods and finds MJ's face. "You're in the fire group? Pity, I need to get more fans." She muses, smirking to herself more so than toward MJ.

"A dream? Sure, we all have those, but that's not what I asked. You helped me pick out a beautiful work that he'll appreciate greatly. I'm a girl that gives thanks for a good eye. I respect it. You'd be perfect for my line of work." Another motion toward the glass and gems, she asks again. "Do you want those?"

She was at least hoping for a laugh and a bigger smile out of the 'mating' references; she relaxes even more as she stares at the diamond. "Look at my hair!" MJ laughs out, but she gets a serious tone. The more she thinks about it.. "I can see fire and ice being even. But like, if there was no one left in the world, who would be there to feel the heat and the cold?" She shrugs her shoulders at that, but then looks back at the diamond.

While her face speaks to her wanting the diamond, the earlier mention of her already beinga princess stuck out in her mind. "No, I don't need it. You're right, I don't need this to define me." She sighs happily, then shrugs. "Do you know the way to the bathroom? My friend is here and he didn't come back yet.." She was worried about Peter, not realizing he was -right- above them!

Then the voice comes from overhead, sudden and relaxed and a little wry.
"Let me stop you right there, Cappy-Cold."
A look upward and yep…Spider-Man, new suit and all.
"So…what are the odds you'll just expense the price of a ticket and leave without any ten-fingered discounts…or are we going to get very VERY creative?"

A look over the side of Lena gives MJ the sign! The bathroom sign, that is.

"Oh! Nevermind, I see it! I'll be right back!" MJ holds onto her hat and marches her way to the bathroom. She was slightly fearful that she'd have to call Aunt May to get Peter.

"Peter, are you decent? I'm coming in!" And disappears into the bathroom she goes!

"The ones who brought the end, of course. Though, I get your meaning." Lingering and waiting for the response of the gems, she chuckles and nods. "As you wish." As the girl wanders away toward the bathroom, Snart turns to face the painting once more. The voice causes her eyes to roll upward. Chuckling, she shakes her head. "Look who's hanging around, at random, in a museum. Haven't filled your 'do-gooder' quota for the month?" A glance around, she notices the lack of people and then shifts in stance.

"Buzz off, bug. I'm just window shopping."

Spider-Man smiled wryly. "Yeah, but I think your eyes are writing checks your budget can't cash, Chilly Lilly. And I overheard your convo with the redhead, and I found it VERY suggestive. So…I think you should consider yourself watched as long as you're here. Sorry about that, but you have to accept a certain level of suspicion with your pedigree."

"I call it a good reputation." She answers in kind. "You can't be here forever, Bug. Bigger things happening in this city than just me trying to make someone happy." A look around, her gaze linging on the gems, the painting of fire and chaos, the girl's frosty eyes move back up toward Spider-Man. "Cool off, bug. I don't even have my gun with me. So, you can take me in for doing absolutely nothing, or…we can have a stare off until the joint closes. I promise you, I'll win."

Spidey gives her a long look. "How about option number 3?" A pause, then he sub-vocalized, "ALICE, alert security."
There is a soft ping. "Security has been notified."
Spidey raises his voice again for Lena to hear. "I do have to bail. But I wouldn't be a proper gentleman if I left you all alone."

Two security personnel appear at the archway to the Baroque period, looking sternly at Lena.
"These gents should be able to provide proper company." Spidey waved.

"Fucking coward." Lena mutters under her breath as she turns to face the two men now looking her way. Staring, unflenching, she digs in her pocket and flicks up the stub of her ticket. "Piss off. I'm allowed to be here." She tells them with a defiant growl. "Spider-Man alerts security to a paying visitor at a museum. Bugle'll love that…"

Spidey chuckles. "Add that to the stack of beefs JJJ has against me. And these gents will make sure you aren't bothered further."
He drops to the floor, then waves to the trio, Lena and her new entourage. "TTFN, ta ta for now." He turns, whistling "Ode to Joy" as he strolls out, making a note to grab his civvies on the way out.

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