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Loose Lips Gossip - Marathon Edition

Something Super Hidden Is In The Air
A Few More Pecks Than Usual

My my, my darlings. We have a lot of things to get through today. It seems society and the superheroes have been stocking up on the juicy tidbits. And I, my dear ones, have just found their hidden cache. And hidden may be the word for this particular column. I've got some grand information, speculation, and down right gossip for you, my precious cupcakes.

First in our bag of discoveries, I was looking through some listings of upcoming shows, and I stumbled in a most grand manner, with a mimosa in hand, across a hidden gem in reality TV land. Now, I tend to shy away from reality TV shows and the wannabes that vie for celebrity, but this new show has some promise. Mostly because a hidden heir to Winston Frost will be gracing the tubes. Now we all know about the glorious Emma Frost and her more... lesser siblings, but no one knew about Christina Frost. A granddaughter. Hiding under our noses with a name like that. For shame! I don't know about you, my dear juleps, but I plan on watching this show while sipping a spritzer to see what kind of decadence this new generation of money can get up to.

But the prominent hidden children don't just stop there, my pumpkin spiced lattes! We've got prominent family members from across the pond skulking around in our fair cities. The Braddock name is fairly important in Shakespeare's land. So no wonder the daughter of Betsy Braddock (who took the Vapor's "Turning Japanese" way too seriously, darlings) was seen carousing around in New Orleans. Now, that in itself isn't unusual. But carousing around with her girlfriend was of note. The short, slightly mousy girl must be one lucky little lady to have netted herself a Braddock!

If you look carefully, you might see them.

Another prominent family we just love here at Loose Lips, the Shaws. Though Alistaire has been mysteriously well-behaved lately. So nothing on that foppish front. Though his dear aunt is raising some eyebrows. Stephanie Shaw fresh off of coming clean as a mutant to the public (though my readers knew this already, didn't you, darlings? I mean how obvious can it get with naked flaming angels at a gala?) whisked her Brazilian Bronco off to Las Vegas for a weekend. It may have been a tactical maneuver to elope with one Marcelo Alencar da Silva in the city of sin while a prominent billboard in Times Square got covered with his half-naked ex. You see, dearhearts, I've done a little bilingual digging, and the man who was New York's Second Most Eligible Bachelor seems to have a Brazilian supermodel for an ex. So what better way for possibly-former Miss Shaw to keep that super-ex at a distance than tying him down?

If you think the recent warm temperatures have been a tad bit chilly in Manhattan, that could be the chill coming off two of our most prominent citizens. You see, my fluffy macadamia nuts, it seems there is a wintery chill between the very handsome Tony Stark and his daughter Alexa. This may or may not have been going on for some time. The point of contention could be her means of keeping the hottest Atlantean prince tied to her. Or he possibly did not buy her enough ponies when she was a wee Stark. I'd bet on the former more than the latter as it's very obvious to what lengths she'll go to keep Our Prince hers and her alone. I, for one, can't wait for the fabulous lazer show that comes from the both of them if this chill heats up.

Though some of the less safe parts of town have been hotter. Or in some cases, in heat. You know as well as I do, my dears, that I do love a good old fashioned superhero hook-up. It seems we have a new one to show you. If you'll look below, you'll see the photographic evidence. It seems a little Hellkitten has latched onto a bat. A tall, manly bat called Vesper according to my sources in the crime beat. So, keep your eyes peeled to the night sky in case you can catch some mid-air canoodling before and after these heroes go on patrol.

Superheroes in looooooooooove

And finally, we here at Loose Lips would like to offer our sartorial congratulations to the red hot Alexander Aaron's AA Designs. Lots of the other rags have been naming the numbers worn by Sugar Kane to her last batch of music awards as the best dressed. She has never looked so well dressed. Which considering how little she wore on her album covers, is quite the achievement.

And that's the marathon I've been running lately, darlings. Let's be back on Wednesday with even more to talk about.
Mwah!

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Tony groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand while the other flung the gossip page across his office to land in a pile. He picked up his long-cold coffee and chugged it, wishing it was something much stronger. As if things weren't difficult enough with Alexa, now they were all over the entertainment section thanks to this Cosmo swilling gossip monger.

"God, I hate that woman."

Hana flipped through the paper and winced a little at the bit about the Starks. Poor Tony and Alexa. She hoped they worked out their troubles, soon. Hana really liked them both and the boys adored them.

Then her gaze skimmed over Vesper's picture canoodling with the redhead. "Ooh, good for him!" She smiled and then blinked, backed up, and re-read an earlier part of the article.

"Uh oh... that's not good..."

Whelp. Kayla Emily Connors, you've made the tabloids. And fuck you, miss Report, I am not mousy. She liked to think of herself as more akin to a honey badger.

But this also raised another problem, the fact that Brianna hadn't told her parents- which was understandable enough, they hadn't been dating for super-long, but it also meant they were gonna probably find out through Miss Report. And that was going to be less than an ideal thing to happen.

Betsy had seen the article. She despised the gossip report's outing of her daughter. Perhaps Brianna was confused, or experimenting or maybe this truly was what she wanted; whatever the case, it wasn't the place of a gossip columnist to broadcast Brianna's choices to the world. It made Betsy so angry that she could barely see straight but she calmed herself and considered the rest of the equation.

There was another young woman who might need some support right now and she hadn't been able to find Brianna.

Betsy looked at the clock. Brianna was in the middle of her training with Remy this morning. She'd seemed to come alive when her father showed up and Betsy was both relieved and slightly saddened. Her little girl was drifting further form her and she didn't know how to stop it...but maybe there was a way.

Betsy knocked on Kayla's door and waited for her daughter's girlfriend--she needed to get used to that--to answer.

Neither Kayla nor Brianna had experienced any real difficulty in their social milieu with their relationship, past a few snarky comments from Rose, so it took a bit for Kayla to realize that it was a bigger deal, especially for Brianna herself. Nobody cared that some random mutant girl happened to be attracted to other women, but for a scion of the Braddock line? Potentially a big deal, as sad and pathetic as it could be.

When she heared the door knock, she assumed Brianna was done a bit early and maybe was going to stop off before going off with her parents for lunch something. Or god, maybe she'd come along. Because of the thing, with the thing. And the outtting. And she'd have the big thing with the parents. She'd met them of course, in passing, but this would be different.

And ... it was just her mom.

"Oh hello, Ms ... Braddock?" Oh god, she hoped she didn't just offend Betsy there. "I think Bri's still in the Danger Room." Because of course she was looking for her daughter. Either that or she was intending to confront Kayla with something or measure her up and oh god, I'm wearing a Rush T-shirt and playing Vs. kinda loud on the stereo.

Hardly great first impression stuff, really.

Betsy smiled at Kayla as she stood on the other side of the door. She noted the Rush T-shirt and the loud music. When Brianna was first injured, she'd noted how Kayla stayed near Brianna's side as often as she could. Betsy had considered it the caring of a friend but now, as she looked on Kayla with new eyes, she wondered if there had been something there then that she hadn't picked up on.

Just my blood luck to be a telepath and still be the last person to know what's going on in my little girl's life.

Betsy was admittedly much harder on Brianna than Remy was. Remy had always been the "fun" parent, the one Brianna shared her secrets with. He showed her how to live her life without rules and how to play the game when it all broke down. Betsy's primary goal had always been to prepare her daughter for her station in life.

"Let's put aside the formalities, if we can. Please call me Betsy, Kayla. I know that Brianna's in the Danger Room. That's why I'm here. I wanted to talk to /you/." she said, offering a smile.

"Do you have some time?" Betsy asked in the very same accent that colored Brianna's words, despite her outward appearance.

To be fair, it was a weekend and it wasn't exactly a visit she was expecting. Kayla would've probably dressed up a bit and turned the music down had she known that Brianna's mother was coming around. Especially her mother. Dad was a "cool dad" who probably would've just smirked at it. But Betsy ... Betsy had this aura of class and danger that made Kayla feel underdressed and underprepared. She was a millionaire socialite ninja telepath after all.

As for the accent, it didn't surprise her any, she'd heard about Betsy's bodyswap and well, it wasn't incongruous that an Asian person would speak with a British accent. Britain was a multiethnic country, much like Canada.

"Yeah, I've got some time. Come in, I guess. You want some water or something from the mini-fridge? I got this freshmade iced tea in there too. And Dr. Pepper. You have your choice of mini-couch, bean bag chair or either beds."

The room was actually pretty clean, Kayla was sometimes cluttery but could not abide actual filth. It was fairly easy to tell the decor apart, Kayla's rock band and nerd culture posters contrasting with the slightly more classically feminine appointments Brianna preferred, though there seemed to be blurring. Also notable were a large number of books, with serious history tomes placed next to Batman graphic novels.

Though both beds had been made, there was a vague sense that the bed on Brianna's "side" hadn't been used much, if Betsy was being particularly observant.

Betsy had the vague idea that Kayla might be as nervous about this as she was. She hoped that Brianna wouldn't walk in anytime soon because she could imagine her daughter's surprise at the two of them talking. That would be followed with suspicion on why her mother was there and such could lead to issues if they weren't careful.

"Thank you, I'm fine." Betsy said to the offer of a drink, sitting on the edge of Brianna's bed and noting how neat it looked. Brianna never made her bed at home. It drove Betsy to distraction but, here, it seemed that she'd taken to it. Did she have Kayla to thank for that?

She faced Kayla and took a deep breath, centering herself for what she planned to say next.

"I saw that article. Are you all right? I can't imagine that it was easy to see your personal life spilled on a page in that way. These paparazzi and other malcontents are bloody hard to shake, even when you're trying to remain inconspicuous." Betsy said.

"Did you and Brianna have a good time in New Orleans?" she asked.

It wouldn't have crossed her mind that Betsy Braddock- in other words, Psylocke would actually be nervous about anything. Though she'd probably agree with Betsy about the Brianna thing, just because Brianna was probably a bit hard on her mom, all things considered. Maybe it was partly the fact that Kayla didn't get to have a mom at all that made her tend to give parents who obviously cared the benefit of the doubt.

Betsy wouldn't cast Brianna out for anything, she was willing to bet, let alone something as inherent and natural as genetic mutation- or for that matter, sexual orientation.

"Me? Yeah. Nobody in the wider public cares about who I am, except as some kind of abstraction. I don't like being paraded about by Ms. Report, obviously, but what's that going to say about me, really? I like girls and I'm lucky enough to be dating a really awesome one. All things considered, I can live with that.

But I know it's not quite the same thing when your name actually counts for something. Reputation and connections matter more than they should, and I guess my biggest fear is that somehow I could make things harder for Bri that way."

Kayla wasn't all that good at being guarded, she pretty much said what she thought. Anyways, she was a telepath and lying to a telepath just seemed to be stupid.

"New Orleans was awesome. I want to go back sometime."

Betsy smiled. "I'm glad you two had a good time. She's always wanted to go back since she was little but I forbid it due to the people her father used to associate with." she said.

"If anyone's made Brianna's life hard, for any reason, it would be her father, her uncle and I, most of all. We've made enemies over the years who would stoop to hurting Brianna to get to us. I have tried to shield her from all of my mistakes despite knowing that I can't but she sees me as controlling and overbearing. She gets along better with her father. Remy is good at giving her space whereas I...am not. I'm sure she's probably mentioned that a time or two. I wanted her life to be more simple than ours. It's what I fought for as an X-Man but that desire became even more real to me when she came into the world." Betsy said.

She paused for a moment.

"I am glad that you've been here for Brianna since she came back to the school. I see that you care for her. When she was hurt, I was told that you and Rose were there first and foremost but you were there as often as you could be. I did not properly thank you for that and I wanted to do so now. Thank you, Kayla." Betsy said.

"I admit that the article gave me pause because the news was so...sudden. Brianna does not speak to me about her personal life and, while that saddens me, I understand it. She holds resentment toward me for parts of her upbringing and so we're not as close as we could be. But it seems to me that she truly cares about you. I've heard from a few people around the school that she's happier in your presence and I want that. Dr. McCoy believes your a big part of her recovery. So I want to thank you for that, too.

The Braddock family name is important to me but it is not the most important thing. Brianna's happiness is my primary concern. You make her happy and that is what matters most so don't let any tabloid article make you question that. I'm bloody certain she won't." Betsy said with a chuckle and she shifted gently to face Kayla.

"I would like to ask your intentions toward Brianna, if you don't mind. It's just that I'm her mother and I want to see her happy. And you as well."

Edited 2013-08-24 01:24 (UTC)

"I can understand that, wanting things to be safer and simpler. But I don't know if that's ever been an option for any of us. Being mutants, not to mention all the other things you mentioned." She knew that Brianna held a lot of anger over that, anger that had a horrible way of being justified and maintained by events. It was an anger she recognized in herself. "At least she has parents who know what it's like. To have superpowers, to be hated and feared because of it. I'm a little jealous, to be honest." She offered a small smile.

"I do care about her, a lot. I think she's happier around me. I certainly know I'm happier with her. Though she'll probably be listening to music you hate." Kayla smirked a little bit and then her expression changed to one more neutral and thoughtful.

"You know, when you talk about that, her being awesomely stubborn and determined, it's true. But you know, you could pretty much be describing me. I mean, the people here mean the world to me. They are the world to me. Brianna's a huge part of that.

And hey, Miss Report won't care about us for long. There's no hunky, rich manly men for her to drool over in this story and you can only out someone once. And increasingly, thankfully, the response to that these days is trending fast towards a collective shrug."

And then the parent bomb happened. The intention question.

"I care about your daughter a lot, we make each other happy, we have a lot of fun when we're together. I guess I'd just say my intention is to be with her and see where that goes." Kayla was probably the least capable emotional manipulator on Earth, she wore her heart on her sleeve, said what she thought and felt and hoped other people did the same.

Edited 2013-08-24 02:03 (UTC)

Betsy was happy to hear about how Kayla felt toward Brianna. She could only imagine that her little girl felt the same and the idea warmed her heart. Brianna's happiness mattered most to her and the rest would fall into place. She could only imagine that Remy would be just as happy for their little girl. In fact, he was probably talking to her about between drills in the Danger Room.

"For both your sakes, I hope you're right about this blowing over. Heaven know you've both been through enough. Logan told me about what happened to your boss at the coffeeshop. I'm sorry, darling. No one deserves to be hurt for standing up for mutants." Betsy said.

"How are you holding up?"

"He wasn't hurt." Kayla closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't want to be reminded of it, even though she knew Betsy's intent was good. It took her a second to collect her thoughts. "He was murdered. For treating me like I was a human being. And his killer is still out there.

I do okay, except when I actually think about it. And then I get desperately sad and angry at the same time. Sad because he was ... he really treated me more like I was his niece or something than just an employee. And angry, because he's still out there. He hasn't been punished one bit. Not after what he did to Miss Shaw or Bob. And I'm not ... I'm not a big believer in karma, but the lack of justice in the universe is really hard to take sometimes."

"I apologize, Kayla. I misspoke. No one deserves to die that way. The one responsible for this will be found." Betsy told her.

Kayla's words about the lack of justice in the universe cut Betsy deeply. She understood the sentiment and hoped that this young woman wouldn't have to know more pain and upset so early in her life. She didn't like to see anyone suffer.

"I'm sorry that I upset you. I'll be going now but will you let Brianna know I was here and that I'd like to speak to her? I would greatly appreciate it." Betsy said, rising from her seat.

Stephanie had taken to reading all of her press, even the seemingly inconsequential pieces. It was important, to get an idea of what her image was like. Right now, though, she was interested in something else. And by interested, she meant, "was angrily expecting an answer".

"Marcelo, who the fuck is Hellkitten and why are you embracing her in this picture?" She wasn't shouting, her voice was low and icy. She expected a good explanation, or there would be a very special sort of hell to pay. Of course, she was pretty sure there was one- but she wanted to hear it now.

Marcelo was just getting settled back in after their trip to Vegas. He raised an eyebrow at the tone and question coming out of nowhere.

"She's a superhero, and what picture?"

Stephanie held up the picture.

"This one. You're looking awfully close. Context would be good." She raised an eyebrow, waiting to get it. Context would indeed be good. Good for Marcelo.

He squinted at the picture. That was definitely not the demon invasion. It took him a moment to place.

"Oh! That was the night when I ran into Helena." He hoped she remembered him mentioning Vesper running into his ex. "I ran into Hellkitten on a quiet night. I had to pick her up to carry her to find some crime to fight together. I can't tell if that's the first or second time I picked her up..."

"So will this be a regular thing? You fighting crime with Hellkitten?" Why couldn't Marcelo find a nice bro to fight crime with? That would make things so much easier. Particularly as she had no doubts about his sexuality whatsoever. "Hopefully she is as clear as you are that all this is strictly professional?"

Or did she have to get Hellkitten spayed?

"It... could be? Vesper had me get her a gear upgrade on the stipulation she use it to help fight gang crime." He scratched the back of his neck. This was not the complication he had imagined happening from being Vesper.

"Stephanie, I try not to carry anyone by their armpits. That's painful. So, I have to grab them in a hold that looks like a hug. Nothing going on with her outside of being a hero. Just like that Spider-Man guy."

"... Fine." Stephanie looked almost annoyed to accept his logic, because sometimes it was slightly deflating to have a good fit of jealousy popped. But the truth was that she trusted Marcelo and his judgement. "I seem to remember you carrying me in a similar way a few times, before I knew Vesper was you."

"As long as she understands that you're spoken for, as is Vesper." Because if she didn't, Hellkitten was getting spayed.

He quirked an eyebrow at the annoyed deflating. "Yes, and just like when I carried you, I kept my hands where I could hold and not grope."

He scratched his chin. "Well, she knows her supplier is happily engaged. Vesper is not interested in anything other than fighting crime. And occasionally talking with a bad French accent."

Sometimes, experimenting with his voice modulator left the results with a lot to be desired.

"I told you that you need to do all that testing at home. You sounded like those French guys on the wall in that stupid Holy Grail movie." Stephanie smirked at him. "Next thing you know, you'll be saying that her father was a hamster or something."

"You're bad. I'm supposed to be all jealous and angry and you keep being logical." Stephanie poked him a few times to prove her point. "I'm sorry. Shouldn't get jealous at all, but it just happens sometimes."

"Well, I had been going to bring it home, but cars started attacking people..." He trailed off and squinted at her. "And your mother smells of elderberries. That was not a stupid movie. It's a masterpiece of absurdity!"

He chuckled at the poking. "At least your jealousy can be calmed by logic. Though, you have nothing to be jealous of."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm entirely yours."

"That movie was incredibly stupid! I enjoyed it, but it was stupid!" Stephanie poked him again.

"I'm pretty bad at being jealous, so it's a good thing there's nothing to be jealous about." She kissed him. "Yes, you are. All mine. Not that you really seem to mind."

He tried to keep a serious face, but Steph poked him again. He may have, just a tiny bit, giggled like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

"I'm a man, querida," he said with mock-exasperation. "We don't complain when the sexiest woman we know says she wants us. Or if we do, we're gay."

He paused. "That sounds almost right."

That little giggle was incredibly satisfying. Granted, not the most satisfying sound he could make, but it was certainly fun. It certainly didn't help her not poke him again.

"I think I have had pretty definitive proof that that's not an issue." She smirked and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Close enough." Then she kissed him.

"Hey!" He giggled again at the poke. "It's like you know where I'm ticklish!"

Not that he had many ticklish spots, but with Stephanie having been all over his body, she knew all the places to poke.

"Very not gay," he agreed before kissing her back.

"Well behaved?" Alisa smirked a little, sipping her tea as she read more of the Gossip column. "Well, at least I am not mentioned this time. no news is good news an' all dat."

Alexander grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

Sugar Kane had come to him after seeing Norman Osborn's suit at a party and wondered if the young, untested designer could make her a wardrobe that would catch eyes for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones. Alexander was only too happy to take up the challenge.

He clipped news article from the paper and posted it on the refrigerator. He knew that Roxanne would see when she saw it and that Joe would promptly ignore it like the neanderthal he was and...then he had an idea.

He promptly when to find his sister's lover.

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Loose Lips Gossip - Marathon Edition

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