Xaviers!

A slightly bleary-eyed Katarina sat in the cafeteria, scrolling through things on her food while distractedly eating breakfast.

((open))

"Avoiding the obnoxious princeling must be exhausting," Drake said as he sat across from her.

"You have said a mouthful, Mr. Martin," Katarina said, carefully.

"Is that a lack of trust I sense? I certainly hope it is only because you hardly know me."

"Is there a reason I shouldn't trust you, Mr. Martin?"

"I imagine that my appearance and my nationality could lend themselves to distrust. Other than that, no," he said smoothly.

"Oh, no, no, I would not judge you by your appearance, and I apologize if that is the perception you got. Do not worry about that; you are fine."

"Excellent!" he smiled, as charming as a lizard face can smile, "And may I apologize for leading that irritating individual straight to you."

"Yes, well, you couldn't be sure what would have happened, could you?" Katarina said, eyeing Drake carefully.

"No. And relax, I'm not going to drag you off to a cave somewhere."

"Unless you want me to," he smirked.

"You are brass, Mr. Martin, especially with my bodyguard lurking who knows where."

"It was but a joke, princess. Nothing more. I mean, you are made of gold."

"Which makes me all the more valuable, yes?" she said, looking at Drake down the bridge of her nose.

"Which makes you twice the stereotypical dragon acquisition. But, while I do like shiny things, I have no interest in causing international incidents."

"Well, you are definitely having a bad day then, I am afraid."

"No worse than any other, " he said dismissively. "And your day?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. Going through some reports; evaluating data and coming up with suggestions."

"This gentleman bothering you, ma'am?" Nika asks with a perfectly flat voice honed by years of military training. Even during official functions she's never been this detached with Katarina.

Placing her own food tray down she looks at Drake out of the corner of her eye.

"I do not believe he is at the moment, Nika, but remain vigilant."

"Yes, because I might get hungry," he joked dryly.

"Please do not make threats towards Her Highness, even jokingly." she tells Drake before turning her attention to her food.

"Noted," he said, "My apologies, your... Miss Karkov."

"It is alright, Mr. Martin; Nika. No harm has been done. Today."

"And no harm shall be done," he said, shifting to his more vulnerable human form to hopefully show he meant it.

"Well, who can tell what the future will hold? Fixing problems before they become big is more easily said than done."

"Then perhaps I should say I intend no harm."

"I shall keep that in mind, Mr. Martin."

"Perhaps because you already have?" Nika narrows her eyes at Drake. She's... a little less subtle than Katarina.

Drake blinked. "Come again?" he asked, insulted by the accusation.

"You're the one who lead Prince Alexander to Her Highness in the first place. Who knows what other information you might have fed him. Genosha's a young country, in dire need of political influence."

He laughed, "You think I'm a spy? That I came here to do a favor for that waste of flesh? That's rich."

"You'd be far from my first choice, but who knows how Genosha operates." Nika says flatly. No point in getting agitated, right?

His usual good spirits grew an edge as he said, "I understand that it's your job to be paranoid, but surely you can see that a mutant nation would choose to align itself with the house with the prominent mutant and thus most likely to share it's concerns."

"Because mutants have never acted against their own kind. Especially not Genosha's founder."

"Let me be clear then," he said with cold fire, standing and shifting just his eyes to dragon to stare into Nika's eyes, "If I were an agent of the Genoshan government, my mission certainly wouldn't involve a nation of... questionable relevance."

Nika's eyes turn cold and she takes a moment to take a deep breath through clenched teeth.

"Why don't you tell that to Victor von Doom."

"Questionable relevance, except to Lord Doom, of course," Katarina said, picking at her food. "Allying with a country with a strong robotic industry; a world superpower and a major player on the international stage would place Genosha in a highly advantageous position. Aiding him in repatriating Southern Latveria, as he would say, could lead to a grateful alliance between the two; an important exercise of power for a Mutant-led country in a Mutant-hating world.

Of course, we're all just idly speculating at the moment, are we not?" she said, with a well-practiced smile.

"Indeed," Drake said, eyes returning to a human state as his draconic indignation faded.

"But, for the record, I can't see my country allying with a power hungry narcissist like Doom. Not if we wish to have any hope of the world overlooking our founder's... less than noble actions."

"Would you be referring to Lord Magneto, who has held the world hostage on multiple occasions? Or Dr. Moreau, the Genegineer who forcibly stripped mutants of their powers? Or perhaps you are speaking of the British, French or Dutch, all of whom used your island as a trading waypoint and base for pirate activity?

Symkaria may be small, Mr. Martin, but our land gives us strength. We have lived in the shadow of dictators and retained our independence throughout. Remember that, before you question our relevance," she said, with the same practiced smile.

"I apologize for things said in ire and ignorance. I was taught better than that," he said.