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Crystal has been busy lately. This arrangement with Asgard takes careful tending and attention, which means that she's usually either working on that, or frantically trying to keep up with her responsibilities at the school. It might have been smarter to resign her position here, but she's not much for quitting, and she cares too much about the people here to give up. So after a few days of adventure and the like with the Asgardians, she's in the kitchen at the Institute, taking inventory of the supplies before the weekly shopping trip.
It's late, with the children in bed and most of the staff settling in as well. Only a few lights are on in the kitchen, and she's taking notes on a notepad about what needs to be ordered in greater quantity and what isn't needed just yet. She's wearing a robe over her pajamas, not worried about appearances for once.
*
Medusa makes her way down to the kitchen, finding herself in need of something to eat. She aids in repaying their debt to Xavier by teaching French, and otherwise spends far too much time in the city; it's starting to show in the pinched manner of her expression. Whatever she's up to, surely it's an important use of her time.
"Crystal," she greets softly, "You're still up? Good. I met a woman in the city just the other day; you'll never guess who."
*
Crystal glances up from her notes, smile flickering. Her time in Asgard was good for her; for all the time she's spent in the city since, she looks relatively fresh still. "Well, I've been spending so much time with the Asgardians lately, and I don't want to let my responsibilities here suffer, so. I'm burning a bit of the midnight oil. Who did you meet?" she asks, pausing in her inventory to pull a foil-wrapped packet from the refrigerator and start heating the oven.
*
"The Queen of Wakanda." Medusa says with a little grin. "I was in a little boutique on the Upper West Side, and the salesman was being terribly rude to her. I wound up acquiring an invitation to an embassy soiree. Shall you be my escort?" She doesn't bother walking to the fridge, rather sending out a few locks of hair to do it for her, until she spots something to pull out and bring over to the counter.
*
Crystal's brows rise, surprise crossing her features. "That's quite the coincidence. Seeing her, at least. The rudeness is unfortunately common," she grimaces. "People are so frightened of anything different, especially here in America. It's why Charles is so protective of the school here, not wanting visitors. These are children. They don't deserve to see that in people's eyes yet." She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, making another note. "I'd be happy to go to the embassy of course, though."
*
"Good. It's to be an evening of traditional Wakandan music. I find myself curious." Back to the fridge, this time to collect herself some juice and bring it back to the counter in much the same way. Settled in now, Medusa watches Crystal thoughtfully. "How goes it with your prince?"
*
"It goes…well." Crystal sounds almost surprised by it, catching the inside of her cheek between her teeth as she works. "I think. I told him that if we were going to do this, then I needed him to see me for who I am, not just as a princess who could be a queen. So we've been trying to spend more time together when things aren't…ceremonial. I took him to look into whatever is happening in Hell's Kitchen. We came up against a creature, I used my powers. But I haven't really had a chance to see how he feels about that. He's seen them before, of course. But he's seen the small things. A gentle breeze here, a snowfall. He hadn't seen me lift thirty feet of pavement into the air."
*
"He deserves to know you aren't some gentle milkmaid." Medusa says with the faintest of smiles. "If anything, it proves your worth to be his queen. Even if you don't, he'll know he's not dealing with mere humans." That satisfies her. Then, more gently, "How is your paramour?"
*
"Occupied, it seems," Crystal says quietly, pensive. "I haven't seen him since the night I came back from Asgard. He seemed all right then, but…" Trailing off, she shakes her head. "He has his own goals and motives, answers he seeks. I don't hod it against him. It's one of the things I love about him, that he's his own person. But right now, it's a bit uncomfortable, not being able to speak with him about things."
*
"I imagine so, yes." Medusa takes a sip of her drink, pushing the refridgerator door shut while her hair contracts. She adds, "With the Asgardians and the X-Men on our side, I can't imagine we will be unable to retake our home. I suppose the question remains as to whether we should try to find Black Bolt." She looks down at her plate, lips thinning.
*
"What do you mean, question?" Crystal looks up with a small frown. "Of course we should find him. Honestly, he's probably going to be angry that we didn't find him sooner once we knew you were well. He's going to be so glad you're back with us." For years, she's maintained that Black Bolt was only trying to find Medusa, only putting off retaking their kingdom out of missing her. Whether or not that belief had any basis in the truth.
*
Medusa lets out a sigh, leaning a hand against the table. "Crystal - " she looks away briefly, "There's something you need to know. And I've hoped you would never have occasion to need to, but I see that it may need to be said."
*
Crystal makes a last note on her list, starting to pack things up in the fridge again. "What is it?" she asks, giving her sister a brief, concerned look. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it, Medusa."
*
The hand on the counter balls into a fist. "He ran away." she confesses bitterly. "Like a coward. Boltagon decided that he couldn't - that he didn't want to be king and that we'd all be better off without him. He left us, without so much as a second thought."
*
"That's…" Impossible. Nonsense. "Maybe you misunderstood," Crystal suggests instead. After all, he's not much of a talker. "And besides, things have been difficult. The task of taking back our kingdom is not small one, it wouldn't be any surprise if he needed a little bit of time to figure out how he felt about it. But you're back now, and we have allies. Surely once he sees it all he'll realize it's safe to hope again."
*
"You think I misunderstood him?" Medusa gives Crystal a look which can best be described as oh, please. She shakes her head, then lets it hang. "Even if we do find him, he won't want any part of this. At least that's what he told me before he left. But if you need to see him for yourself…I suppose we could find him." She lifts her gaze. "But Crystal - if we find him and it's as I've said, we move forward anyway. Without him. Agreed?"
*
"Not agreed at all," Crystal shakes her head, jaw setting stubbornly. "We do this together, Medusa. We're family. That's what Maximus never understood. That is was never about one of us. Never about being the king. That everything was meant to be about all of us, where we fit, how we help each other. And that includes Blackagar. If Thor can learn how to step up and do what he's meant to do, then so can he."
*
Medusa's brows lift. "You think we can make Black Bolt do something he doesn't want to do?" She leans back a moment. There's an opening of her mouth, and then she abuptly shuts it. Her hair quivers, a certain sign that would-be queen is thinking.
*
"We can't make him do something that he doesn't want to do. But we can remind him that this is something he needs to do. If we're lucky, then maybe we can even convince him it's something he wants. But Medusa, you're…" Crystal sighs, leaning against the counter. "You can't give up on him, all right? You can't give up on him, and you can't give up on us. We just finally got you back."
*
"On us? Never, little sister." Medusa's tone is certain of that. "We'll find him. I think the others who are exiled will begin to make themselves known, especially with Lockjaw to show them the way. Surely one of them will have a lead."
*
"I'm sure Lockjaw could find him. I'm sure of it." Crystal lets out a breath, moving to the pantry to retrieve a plate for her sister's food, now that the oven is warm. "When he sees we're all here, when he sees what the possibilities are, then I'm sure he'll be with us. He has to be with us."
*