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As the holidays approach, this part of town gets busier and busier, even with concerns about aliens all over the television and the radio. Sure, there are strange things out there. But people need to get to work, shop for Thanksgiving dinner, and even start thinking about Christmas.
Crystal has other things on her mind. Not that she hasn't prepared for Thanksgiving at Xavier's, but there's a larger game afoot. And if she doesn't want to get left behind, then she needs to move forward. The problem is, she doesn't have a number for the people she'd like to talk to first. Which is why she's standing outside the Baxter Building in a plain wool coat, looking up and debating her options with herself.
*
Lorna had been wandering around up and down the various streets, struggling to find gifts with the meager sum she'd saved up from working at the diner over the summer. She now had one more person to think about: her birth father. It was a daunting thing to consider, when she hardly /knew/ him. What he'd like, dislike, what he might find useful. She hadn't realized how much the thought would truly stump her.
Even though they'd spoken a good amount that night.
A sigh pulled from the young woman's lips as she wandered along the side-walk. Along the crush of humanity that walked along the paved paths of the city. When her gaze fell on Crystal's figure outside the Baxter building. Lorna turned from her intended path of shops, moving toward Crystal with a hesitant smile on her features. "Hello?" She bit her lower lip, coming up beside the woman.
*
Crystal looks down from the building at the greeting, a small smile flickering across her features when she recognizes the girl. "Lorna," she says, surprised. "It's good to see you again. And you're looking well," she adds, glancing over her shoulder to see if there's someone else with the girl. "What brings you out to this part of town?"
*
The hesitant smile blooms into a grin and she sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "I'm out looking for gifts for Christmas for my—" She paused, and her eyes rounded as she realized something.
"Oh wait," She bit her lower lip. "He's Jewish, does that mean I don't get him a Christmas gift? Oh.." She hung her head, some her excitement dying and a sigh dragged from her lips as she hung her head.
"I don't even know what he'd like.." She paused and glanced back to Crystal. "You've uhm.. heard? Err.. Sorry. I'm babbling a bit." She winced and shifted her weight on her toes back onto her heels.
*
Crystal hasn't been told yet, as a matter of fact. But the prospect was discussed, and if there's one thing that the Inhuman knows, it's genetics. It isn't entirely a surprise, but even if it were, she's too polite to let it show. "No, he wouldn't celebrate Christmas," she agrees with a small, rueful smile. "But I don't think that's any reason to be disappointed." She hesitates for a moment, considering seriously. "I think the thing he'd like the most would be a chance to show you his traditions, actually. Maybe you could do a little research, come prepared to learn?"
*
Lorna bit her lower lip, and reached for a string that was tucked under her shirt into a necklace. From the bottom hung a little Star of David.
"He made it for me, I don't have that kind of control yet. And he was telling me about… everything.." She looked down at it, a small smile pulling at her lips. "I just.. I dunno, it hasn't really sunk in that he's my birth-father. But like.." She exhaled through her nose, letting the necklace fall back.
"I'm really happy that it's him. Is that silly of me? Like, I didn't think it was exactly possible, but after finding out I was adopted.." She shrugged and glanced up at Crystal, her brows furrowing.
"Do you think the library will have things on traditions?"
*
"He's a good man," Crystal says quietly. Yet though her voice is quiet, there's deep emotion beneath the words. More than just affection in her eyes when she looks away. "I can certainly see being glad to find that he was your father. There are much worse options in the world."
Her smile deepens a bit when she sees the necklace, chin dipping. "I'm sure the library would have information about Judaism, yes. Although in truth, I think if you were to show up and ask him to show you how he celebrates, it would make him happier than…just about anything I can imagine."
*
Lorna's green eyes lift upwards to Crystal again, as if inspecting the woman before her. Then she grinned, "Yeah, it could be worse.. And I mean.. I still don't know who my mom is.. or was.. I dunno. He didn't exactly have those answers.. But I could be left without knowing at all. That would drive me crazy…" She exhaled a gusty sigh, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'll ask him, but should I wait till it's closer to the holidays? I mean he said I should ask my mom and dad if it's okay if he can come to Thanksgiving.." A pause and she trailed off, her head tilting to the side.
"So, you're seeing him, right? You guys were together in the museum and all.." Her brows shot upwards and she shifted on her toes. Her cheeks painted with a faint blush of pink.
*
"Ah. Yes," Crystal admits, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear with a small smile. "For several months now." It's strange to admit it, as much as she's tried to keep it quiet. But it doesn't seem right to keep it from the girl he's just discovered is his daughter.
"But I usually trust his instincts about these sorts of things. He's certainly right about speaking with your parents before bringing him to Thanksgiving. It's an amazing thing for the two of you, but your parents might feel threatened. Remember, to them you're their daughter. You've always been their daughter," she points out. "But I'm sure they've had their own fears about your needs and their ability to fulfill them."
*
At Crystal's news that they'd been going steady for months, she grins reflexively. "Good, then I can trust that you're suggestions for a gift are going to be spot on." She folded her hands behind her back, "Cause we haven't had a chance to really /know/ each other. We talked about the big things, and he said he's planning to stick around. Which is really a bit of a relief 'cause I was a scared at first that he might not want me.." She wrinkled her nose, glancing way.
"And yeah, I have my adoptive parents, they're still my parents. They love me and all.. but they did kind of lie to me about being adopted, I mean it wasn't outright but.." She pursed her lips and pushed her hair back from her face with both hands.
"Sorry, I tend to ramble a lot when I talk."
*
Crystal quirks a brow. "Don't take it out on your parents, Lorna," she shakes her head. "They love you. I don't know them, I don't know much about them. But I know that you're a bright, happy, well-adjusted young woman, and I know that isn't an easy thing to achieve. Especially with gifted children like yourself. They clearly love you. If they didn't tell you about being adopted, I'm entirely certain it was because they thought it was best for you. You just said yourself, not knowing who your mother is will gall. Can you imagine having spent your entire life wondering about your mother and your father?"
*
Lorna tucks her hands into the pockets of her jacket a small 'yeaaah..' escaping her as Crystal defends her adoptive parents and she nods, shifting her weight on her toes. "I know. I've called and talked to them a few times since finding out. I know they love me.. It's just, I know they did it for all the right reasons. And I love them too. But it's.. it's a shock that I'm still trying to wrap my brain around. It's hard."
A shrug follows as she toes the ground. "I dunno. There's not exactly a guide book or anything that I can research on what to do. 'Wish there was.." She glanced back to Crystal.
*
"I don't have those answers," Crystal shakes her head with a soft laugh when the girl looks back to her. "I can only tell you that family is valuable, and family can be more than just blood. Be glad, be grateful that you have more. Don't regret the past and what wasn't there."
She reaches a hand for Lorna's shoulder, reassuring. "I know that Erik is glad to have you. He…doesn't talk much about his past. He's lost so much. And I know that his family is a very large part of that pain. I hope that finding you can help him, too."
*
The young woman inhaled and slowly exhaled, and she dragged a hand over her face. "Yeah.. I'm just thinking how /awkward/ Thanksgiving dinner will be. That'll be interesting, if they say it's okay. Which they will, 'cause they're nice like that, and will likely want to meet him.. They're likely worried what kind of a man showed up. They're good people." She bit her lower lip, "My grandparents and Uncle and his wife will be a headache, but that's family.. I guess.." She shrugged, glancing down briefly at her feet as Crystal settled a hand on her shoulder.
"I know. He told me." She grimaced faintly, "I'm still processing /that/.. I mean I learned about what happened in Europe in school, but to have family that were directly impacted is another thing entirely. Like my Uncle fought in the war, but it's different, you know? He was a guy that helped fly a plane, American.. not.." She gestured to herself. "Is that weird that it's been days and I still can't really figure it all out? How I feel?"
*
"Not weird at all," Crystal shakes her head. "It's a lot to take in. It's a whole different culture, a different place to have come from. Even if Erik is a good man, even if he were the best man in the world, he's different from what you've known your whole life, and yet he's half of you." Her smile slips crooked, hand slipping from her shoulder. "It's a lot to adjust to. And I wouldn't feel pressured to bring him to Thanksgiving, either. I think he'd understand if it's a little early for something like that."
*
Another smile from Lorna and the young woman glances around and back. "Well, I'd like him to come. It's really not gonna change things by just not inviting him. He wants to be in my life and my adoptive parents are still my parents too, and that's not gonna change. I guess that's why Miss Moira just came out and said it. Kinda like a bandaid or a shot." She bit her lower lip again, chewing the skin there.
"What are you doing out this way, Miss Crystal? Also, I'm really sorry to have talked your ear off." A sheepish look was offered as she folded her hands behind her back.
*
"Oh, there's nothing to apologize for," Crystal waves a hand, smile faint. "I was- Well. There are some thing I need to work out with some people, and I was just trying to decide how to go about it. The world has been an especially strange place of late, after all."
*
Lorna offered an empathetic nod. "And I thought it was crazy before!" She shakes her head, as if that was all anyone could say.
"I saw the broadcast, /that/ was really weird. And then there's like a new crazy thing happening in the city every day, if the headlines are to be believed…" She shrugged again.
"Well, thank you Miss Crystal for the advice. I think I'll follow it." She beamed.
*
"Well, I hope it all works out well for you," Crystal smiles warmly back. "I know Erik is glad to have found you." She doesn't, really, but it's the right thing to say. And she thinks he would be, at least. Talk to the Fantastic Four. Talk to SHIELD. Warn her family about their mad king looking for them. Somewhere in there she should find the time to speak with Erik.