Agnes loved her life. She didn’t always. Abusive parents, a fanatic cult, living as a homeless teenager, it painted a pretty bleak picture for the rest of her life. There were times where she was curled up in the gutter where she didn’t know if she would be able to make it another day, let alone another year. Truly it was the worst of times for the young woman whose only companions had been insects. But that changed. The world changed and Agnes found herself in a warm home, surrounded by people just like her. It was the first step in what would lead the once sweet and shy young woman into the terrifying temptress she had become.

She didn’t care to remember anything about who she was. That Agnes was weak and this Agnes, well, she was the epitome of strength. Moving through the doors of the Diamond Lounge, a Syndicate owned operation within the new Sapphire Hotel, she carried with her an air of confidence and absolute control. And it was a sense of being that she truly reveled in.

The Diamond Lounge was certainly a tantalyzing place. The expensive furniture, the dark atmosphere, and the pounding music was enjoy to through anyone for a turn. Passing by a wall, she cause her reflection in several chipped pieces of mirror that were embedded into the surface, casting rainbow-like dots of light across her cheeks. She smirked as she caught sight of her piercing blue eyes. But she wouldn’t observe for long. Instead she carried on towards the back where the bar was situated.

It was early evening so there wasn’t a lot of activity yet. There were people milling around, mainly workers performing daily tasks or training other new people. This was exactly what Agnes wanted to see when she came here -- and with good reason, she was the manager. The position had been assigned to her when she joined the Syndicate. She needed to pull her weight after all, and given her background in music and her utter tempting nature, it was a natural fit.

Today Agnes was dressed in a simply pantsuit of the darkest black, and a scarlet shirt underneath. Her heels matched the blood-red color, a hue that could be seen with the occasional flutter of her iridescent fly wings that jutted out of her back. Still, for as “professional” as she was dressed, the young woman still managed to carry an air of allure that was all but impossible to deny. Her outfit still managed to hug her hourglass figure, and her lips were painted with a candy apple red. With every step, the scent of honeysuckle wafted off of her hair, making her a treat for all the sense.

Arriving at the bar, Agnes flagged down the waitress and smiled sweetly as the woman with the deer legs trotted over.

”Somya, right?” she asked the employee. ”How’s your first day, sweetie?”


The shy mutant waitress with the black, button-up blouse nodded her head. “Oh...g-good,” she replied. “I...I can’t thank you enough. This job...I...I really needed it.” She ran her fingers through her ebony hair.

Agnes smiled, reaching over, and tenderly stroking the woman’s arm. ”Please...don’t think anything of it.” She purred as her sapphire eyes briefly looked the woman up and down. She then remembered her business and opened the little leather clipboard she was carrying. ”One thing. I’m here because I still need your social security number.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh my god...I...I totally forgot.”

”Oh don’t worry. It isn’t a big deal. Just go fetch it so I can make a photocopy for the records, okay hon?” The woman nodded and trotted off, her hooves clipping and clopping on the smooth floor. Agnes bit her lip a little as she watched her and then smirked as she turned back to her clipboard. She vaguely recognized another step up to the bar but she didn’t turn to face them. Rather she just hummed to herself as she looked over the mutant’s employment form again, making sure that everything was correct.

Aura had been back a short time having gone deep into the Amazon with her sister. The hunting trip had been fun for them both and despite Amber deciding to stay behind, both due to the darkness and becuse Amber had always felt more inclined toward nature. Aura felt refreshed and had flown into Japan, through a Yakuza contact she had from her last visit where she had a new Katana forged for her. Aura had been so impressed she had told the forge master that despite being Human Aura would protect him unless he harmed a mutant. Aura had decided however the blade was prolbely not the most appropriate thing for the lounge.

The Diamond lounge was not the kind of place Aura enjoyed. Despite having joined before the rip closed, Aura had been away for quite some time and this was her first time spending any real time in the Lounge. It was to loud with it's pounding music but Aura liked the dark atmosphere and as she walked in she compared it to sanctuary, many mutants gathered here and as such Aura figured she could find people to help here. Much like how she had waited at sanctuary's foyer for the very same reasons.

Aura had on a cheap white silk shirt and a black skirt that fell a few inches above her knee. Her long sky blue hair fell in gentle waves behind her as her eyes scanned the room a few feet from the door. Satisfied she moved directly into the lounge and moved toward the bar taking a seat. She wore no make up and though her nails were long they varied a bit in length. She glanced at a hooved waitress and a woman in a pant suit. as she had caught a glanced of the woman in the pant suit's wings. Aura had always loved visible mutation's and decided she would need to talk with her. Their were always other reasons to like such places to and pretty woman were among the best. Other woman may have tried to be subtle but Aura had grown up in a forest and had no instinct to hide her wondering eye.

With a quick movement aura lifted a menu off the bar so she could grab it easier, and quickly glanced thorugh it. Aura considered her next question. "If i acquire some exotic meat, say Giraffe or koala, can i bring it hear to be cooked, i mean i would of course gut, skin and clean the animal myself" Aura asked having only hesitated due to the the hooved woman's mutation. "I can cook but mostly by campfire but then it lacks the spices and other cook stuff that makes the meat truly wondrous. " she said blissfully unaware that more then one person at the bar and nearby tables had glanced over at her do her strange request, or the bartender's rather stunned expression.

It was only a fleeting glance. Agnes caught movement out of the corner of her eyes as a patron took her seat in front of the bar. She would have stopped for a longer look but instead kept her eyes focused on the clipboard and notepad in front of her. Her elegant silver pen slid across the paper without resistance, jotting down notes and other important business matters. As much as the young woman loved to play, she also knew when to buckle down and get to work. Right now, this was work time, but she would make sure to appease the needs of her wandering eye later on.

At least that was her intention. As she started to scribble another note on her pad, the sound of the new patron next to her drew her attention. Her voice was sweet sounding, just enough to pull her gaze up to catch an eyeful. Yes, she was a pretty one. A little older than her but not by much. She kept in shape and the tinge of blue that clung to her hair was more than alluring. Agnes smiled, watching the woman as she carried on with a rather odd conversation with the waitress.

>>"If i acquire some exotic meat, say Giraffe or koala, can i bring it hear to be cooked, i mean i would of course gut, skin and clean the animal myself...I can cook but mostly by campfire but then it lacks the spices and other cook stuff that makes the meat truly wondrous. "

Somya gulped as she twisted her lips in confusion. Agnes wasn’t surprised. There were are a lot of things you needed to be prepared for as a waitress but a question like that was certainly out of left field. But she didn’t say anything. Instead she just observed, watching as Somya tried very, very hard to not look in her direction for any kind of assistance. If she wanted to be a waitress here then she needed to think on her feet. There were no two ways about that.

“Um...I’ll...I’ll ask the cook in the back.” Somya replied before she turned and hoofed it (heh) towards the kitchens.

Agnes smirked as she watched Somya walk away. Her eyes then returned to the comely woman with the colorful hair and the odd questions. She turned towards her, legs crossed, her eyes shining with interest as she twirled a pen between her fingers. The woman was familiar...somewhat. She didn’t know where the feeling was coming from but she understood that she may have seen this person’s face before. There was no choice other than to press on with the investigation by engaging in some conversation.

”Don’t worry about it, hon,” Agnes said sweetly. ”Whatever you can provide, the cooks can handle it. We only hire the best, after all.” Another grin. ”But I’ll admit, I haven’t heard that question before.” Quietly she eyed her, no shame in her gazing. ”Are you a…hunter of sorts?”

Aura turned looking at the woman who had addressed her and quickly realizing it was the woman talking to the waitress when she walked in. She was happy to hear the reply and smiled though she decided to leave out her most common prey item. She did not want to scare the lady away and most human or mutant looked down on either killing humans and/or eating them. The latter Aura had not done in awhile, humans tasted awful.

She ran her fingers through her hair. "Yea, hunting was ingrained into me shortly after i discovered my power. went with my sister deep into the amazon. It was amazing but way to much snake meat. My sister decided to live there when i decided to come back to the city" she explained wishing Amber had come back with her but she understood her sisters actions. The dence growth meant she was more hidden from the sunlight.

"I made it a goal of mine some years back to eat at least one of every creature on earth. Fresh is best, but last time i shipped live animals into the city we only ever found one of the Kodiak bears i let go in central park to fight" she said recalling the other two had been rounded up but not before causing some collateral damage. She had decided then it might be better to just have it shipped in.

Aura recalled the woman's wings"Your wing's are lovely, I am quite curious as to the full range of your powers" she said, her interest genuine. Aura was a fan of open power displays if nothing more then as a show of pride in what they were, The inheritors of earth. "But where are my manors my new friend, My Name is Aura" she said with a playful grin and then her eyes turned translucent pink which began to flow from her eyes like water quickly enveloping her head and then racing down the contours of her body to her feet. Last the tips of her hair took on the same aura which then flowed up her hair to join the rest of the protective mass.

She had been showing off a bit, it was far easier and much less work to simply will her aura into existence. Still she had always found the effort more then worth it for a pretty lady and she always hoped to see the same. Sometimes it did, sometimes not. Still this place was starting to feel like home already and the view was quite lovely. No one hear was hiding their mutant status, least of all the waitress or the lady who seemed the manager type. She also however made sure to note the woman's reaction, even with many mutants Aura was seen as an extremist.

Agnes was always amazed to hear from other people. That was an interest that carried on with her in this new life. Her mind stewed as she sought to learn anything and everything about another person. Before it was just so that she could honestly say she knew something about that person. But these days it was more just back-up in case she wanted to use them in the future. Not that that was what was happening right now. Perish the thought, she couldn’t think of finding a reason to use the gorgeous woman next to her, rather she really was just interested. After all, not everyone asks about rules concerning cooking meat.

>>"Yea, hunting was ingrained into me shortly after i discovered my power. went with my sister deep into the amazon. It was amazing but way to much snake meat. My sister decided to live there when i decided to come back to the city"

Her eyes widened with interest. ”The Amazon. That sounds absolutely adventurous.” She beamed.

So this woman was a traveler, it seemed. Agnes could respect that. If you had the means and the will to do it, then do it. It was an exciting prospect.

>>"I made it a goal of mine some years back to eat at least one of every creature on earth. Fresh is best, but last time i shipped live animals into the city we only ever found one of the Kodiak bears i let go in central park to fight"

A playful grin appeared on her lips. Was this woman kidding? Kodiak bears? Part of her wondered if maybe the other was making up fantasies but it would have been rude of her to ask. Instead she just chuckled, still swirling the silver pen between her fingers.

There was a small pause as Agnes took another appraising glance at the woman. She was beautiful, but again she just looked so damn familiar. Why did she look familiar?

>>"Your wing's are lovely, I am quite curious as to the full range of your powers...But where are my manors my new friend, My Name is Aura"

Agnes watched as a coat of energy began to sweep over the woman’s form, covering seemingly every square inch of. The compliment was not lost upon her but this was far more interesting to behold. It was simply breathtaking -- especially when she remembered why the woman looked familiar. Aura. She knew that she had recognized her. When she was in the X-Mansion, she remembered hearing tales of this woman’s wickedness. The sheer bloodshed that she caused was only rivaled by another femme fatale that Agnes had the pleasure of meeting; Isabel. So this was Aura. A year ago Agnes would have run from the sight, but now…

Her hand slipped into Aura’s, giving her a soft shake and a flirty gaze. ”Oooh, Aura,” she purred. ”I do recall you now. You are…” A not so subtle look up and down. ”...most impressive.”

At the comment about her wings, they had fluttered. It was one of those things that Agnes still had trouble controlling, the flutter of her wings with her emotions. Anticipation was building in her and the only way to expel that nervous energy was flutter. But she kept cool as she looked down at herself, raise her arms. So she wanted a better example of her own abilities.

”Oh sweetie...you wanna know what I can do?” she teased. Slowly she began to roll back her sleeve. Palm up, she exposed her forearm as there was a writhing just beneath the surface.

A seam in her bare forearm split and from the folds of flesh a came a long, segmented body with nearly a hundred legs skittering across her flesh. The massive Amazonian centipede, largest of its kind, crawled out, circling around Agnes’ arm protectively. The creature clicked it’s mandibles at Aura before curling back around Agnes’ hand and back into her forearm. To further bring the point home, Agnes’s smile stretched wider and from behind her teeth came an ominous buzzing. She pursed and kissed her lips to Aura, causing a several wasps fly out between her lips, hovering around the room before returning to her.

”I’m a pestilence…” she finally teased.

Adventurous described it well though Aura thought some of the natives might have disagreed. It had reminded Aura of when she had lived in the forest in canada, but much warmer. She needed that feeling of home sometimes and her first real memories were of the woods. The woman seemed interested as well which gave Aura more hope, If the woman did not run at her name that was. Only Allison had not and Aura had no idea if she was even alive.

Aura had not been expecting handshake and the continued eye contact. Aura hit on a lot of woman but few of her attempts ever returned. Her aura rippled briefly at the compliment taking a step closer. [colorf700c5]"Thank you, I don't think i got your name though"[/color] she said giving a returning full body gaze.

Aura watched fascinated at the writhing motion under the woman's arm. Aura loved seeing new mutations nature had granted it's chosen children. She had never bothered to learn the name of the bug but she recognized it well from her trip. The kiss was an unexpected and her aura dissopeared like a wind blown candle. It took her a moment to recognize the buzzing as the wasps, her eyes following them untill they landed back with their master.

"A very attractive pestilence" Aura replied with a bright smile. She had always found mutations to be beautiful. "I am a monster" she said having both been labeled as such in the media and by her own words but for different reasons. The media simply looked at the body count, Aura felt she was a monster because those deaths had long since stopped making her feel for the departed.

SHe reached out to the other woman to run her fingers through her hair. "Have you worked here long?" she asked curiously trying to make small talk that was not marred by the blood trail behind her. Few found the battlefield as romantic as Aura did. She was also unsure of bringing up the Syndicate openly here though she assumed the staff were apart.

"Is the entire staff mutant's?" she asked. The few she seen certainly were but Aura always felt better when humans were not around. Her Aura flickerd in a few thin wisp like bursts around her before Aura asserted her will over her power and marshaled her nerves to bear.

>>"A very attractive pestilence...I am a monster"

Oh her reputation preceded her. Agnes knew enough about Aura to know that she was supposed to be a danger. A powerful mutant, and a supremacist at that, she was a bane to all human existence. The woman was credited with a number of kills that would boggle the mind. It was no wonder that the Syndicate rolled out the red carpet for her -- and that she took the role. After all, the Syndicate was seemingly everything that someone like Aura would want. And, truth be told, it was everything that Agnes wanted too.

She had never been the violent type in her old life, not even after the torture that her parents put her through. But these days things were obviously different. Whether it was her murder at the hands of her parents’ cult, or it was her merging with the Insect Queen psyche, Agnes’ view on life had drastically changed. She didn’t care for humans. Watching them die no longer turned her stomach but so long as they served a use to her, she didn’t mean draining said use dry.

>>"Have you worked here long?"

Agnes tilted her gaze back to Aura, giving her a brilliant smile. ”A few months now,” she said sweetly. ”The Sapphire is a great hotel but I only manage this small section of it. The real boss manages the rest of the...operations.” Agnes was subtly dropping that she was well aware of the Syndicate and that she was a member as well.

Of course Agnes wasn’t going to spend too much time going over such things with Aura. Not when there were other, more interesting avenues of their discussion. The sweet smile and the obvious looks she was getting from the blue-haired beauty was enough to make the curvaceous insect queen purr with anticipation. One leg crossed over the other, she placed an elbow on the bartop, grinning from ear-to-ear as she matched Aura’s gaze move for move.

>>"Is the entire staff mutant's?

”Oh yes…” she said, reaching up and idly playing with the gold necklace with the honeycomb pattern and amber stone in the center. ”...we actually only hire mutants.” She said brightly. She tilted her head and nodded to the waitress who was in the back, talking with the cook. She was still working on Aura’s question so she wasn’t paying attention when Agnes pointed her out to her new friend. ”Somya there. Truly a tragic story,” Leaning in closer, she spoke in a more intimate voice so only the two of them could hear. ”She hails from a reservation in the Dakotas. Parents gave her up. She was taken in by a bullsh*t shaman who used her as an attractive for his charms and ‘magical elixirs’. She ran away here, to New York. Things still weren’t easy for her...that is until she found this place. Here she has a home and gets to have a fair shot at a life.” Her sapphire eyes drifted and locked onto Aura’s ”Something we all have been denied for far too long...correct?”

It was then Aura realized this was the more public section of the Hotel. More importantly it suggested much of the vixen before her. Aura could only seem to like this woman more as they spoke. She would have to ask about that sometime but their would be plenty of time for such things.

The knowledge the hotel only hired mutants meant a lot to Aura. To many humans would likely to see her dead and she had a feeling killing her would not exactly net anyone jail time as much as a parade.

As Agenes leaned in Aura would reach her hand over and run her fingers through her hair. Far to many of their people shared a sad story like the one Agnes described. She felt for the woman and was glad she was in a better place now. Perhaps Aura would ask about the shamen another night with the woman. If the shamen was a threat to mutant kind he would have to die unless the Syndicate had handled that.

"It is why I do what I do. So our people have those chances and can be unafraid" she said. "When my powers first emerged i was abducted into a mutant supremacist cult, trained in combat and had my memories altered. When i found New york city I did not know humanity and mutants were not an open warfare. By the time i knew the bodies were stacked far to high but the Order found me and gave me a second chance." she said missing the organization quite a bit. Lori had been more organized but she liked Syn's methods better.

Then the order fell and Aura had been lost. She had briefly tried to bring it back to flame, but the truth was Aura was no leader and most of her methods involved aggressive violence. Aura could manage a battlefield but not the finer points of actual leadership.

She leaned closer to run her fingers down the side of Agnes's face. She liked what she knew of the woman so far. She seemed brave, well in tuned with her powers and the body was nice as well. "So what do you like to do outside of work?" she asked curiously having never been much in small talk and her imagination had never worked well out of combat. Still it seemed liked a good place to start.

Agnes could feel the thrill coursing through out her body. She had heard of Aura, sure, almost everyone in New York did. Both mutants and humans feared her, the latter more so, but it was a name that was synonymous with death and supremacy. The old Agnes would have been disgusted by the apparent rumors concerning the blue-haired woman, and frequently was. But this Agnes, the new and improved siren with the tantalizing eyes and the honeysuckle lips, she was more intrigued than anything else.

Besides, they had some common ground. Strange how a healthy dose of dying horribly can change one’s perspective. She no longer fought for a world of equality, but instead shared the vixen’s view that some species just deserved to be at the top of the food chain.

Feeling the hand slip through her hair, a inadvertent purr slipped from between her lips. Oh she was enjoying this interaction very well.

>>"It is why I do what I do. So our people have those chances and can be unafraid...When my powers first emerged i was abducted into a mutant supremacist cult, trained in combat and had my memories altered. When i found New york city I did not know humanity and mutants were not an open warfare. By the time i knew the bodies were stacked far to high but the Order found me and gave me a second chance."

Agnes smiled as she sat watching the woman. She never really new her backstory, aside from what news reports would say. Now that she knew a bit more, she had to admit that she was a bit taken by the woman. Really she never had a chance to decide what she wanted to be and, instead, had it foisted upon her -- something Agnes knew all too well. But this was no time to become maudeline. There was a beautiful woman to converse with, a distraction that Agnes was always eager to engage in.

>>"So what do you like to do outside of work?"

Agnes grinned as a lascivious gleam colored her icy blue eyes. She was all for chatting about extracurricular activities, especially to someone with such a lovely face. ”Oh, a bit of this and that…” she said. Her eyes held no shame as she looked Aura over. ”Pretty much I enjoy spending time with whomever catches my eye. Whether that be dancing, listening to music, or...any other kind of activity.” She offered a small shrug. ”Yourself?”