|
   |
Lorna walked through the gym of a local school where refugees had been holed up. She was lucky enough to have parents and a home in Upstate that remained largely untouched in the small town to the north. No strange portals or giants there. After waiting for things to die down, she'd gone out, seeking to deliver fresh blankets and food and little gifts of candies to the kids who'd been displaced.
Per her adopted mother's request. More over, she was also volunteering to help out as she could. After all, a mutant she was yes, but not fully trained. Unlike her father—who she'd watched on the television take out /giant/ ice monster, what a shocker that was!
So volunteer work is what she offered and what she could give for the season. She was bundled up against the chill in the air, her hair green once more, after all when the world was under attack what was the point in dying her hair brown?
*
Seth should be dead. It was no surprise to the boy huddled in the corner of the gymnasium that he was not, but he could tell from the haunted gaze of those around him that others were partly dead from seeing so much destruction. The boy was a survivor. It could be seen in the way he held his head, not buried between his hands, but chin lifted, opportunistic gaze sliding over the other refugees of New York. He had come here with nothing, and would leave here with clean clothes and a full belly if the United States government did their job.
The pelting ice and freezing temperatures during the attacks of the giants had left his cheeks burned to a permanent red, his fingers blackened at the edges from frostbite. He picked idly at the dead skin now, shivering from time to time because of the cold in the cavernous hall. A flash of green caught his focus, the hair color out of place even among such chaos. A smile quirked his lips, and he stood without the aching pain of many that surrounded him, sliding through the crowd in a way only vagrants accustomed to being invisible muster.
"Loooooorna?"
He drew out her name with a smile, for once carrying no cigarette between his lips. He had long ago killed the last pack he had while waiting in lines upon lines upon lines.
*
The green haired girl turned on her toes, blinking wide eyes of a matching hue as she took a minute to spot Seth amongst the crowd. Once she'd spotted him, she excused herself from unpacking a load of donated coats and rushed over to him. Her hands were thrown wide as she embraced him without pause.
"Seth! Oh. My. God! I'm so glad to see you made it out alright! I was so worried! I know you were near where the attacks were the worst and I was so scared. I couldn't get my car through to you and it was so chaotic. Did you see my Tata on TV? He speared one of those monsters! It was so cool!" She chirped onwards without so much as a breath between one beat and the next.
A breathless sort of smile crossing her lips as she leaned back to inspect him.
*
Seth staggers back a pace as her weight collides into him before bracing both of them, returning her embrace despite the momentary surprise that traced his features. In fact, it seemed as if it was his turn to be grateful for human contact. A tilt of his head absorbed her tittering, a creasing of his brow underneath the mop of greasy blond hair as he put together the details and then took on a shocked consideration of her story.
"That's your dad?"
While she looked over his weather beaten but otherwise unharmed features, he considered her with equally balanced regard. Of course it made sense, given what he knew about her abilities, but still- Clearing his throat, he released her as soon as she leaned back and shrugged.
"I'm hard to kill, darlin'. Kind of like a cockroach. Maybe that can be my superhero name, or whatever. Give that Spider guy a run for his money, yeah?"
*
A slight frown followed her inspection of him and a distracted, blink at his question was her first response. Then she was glancing up at him and biting her lower lip. "Yeah.." A sheepish blush spread over her cheeks as she rubbed the back of her head. "He's kind of.. really good with what he can do." It had been a fuzzy image of him flying over the ruins of the city and throwing metal around at the frost giants, but Lorna had known him straight away. After all, how many could manipulate metal on /that/ scale with such distinct armor?
"Also I might have some kind of other relations but it's not really clear? There's magic, yeah that's apparently real, Oh and vampires are too.. who knows what else is. I mean geeze, Norse gods, aliens and what else?" She rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder gently.
"I wouldn't call you cockroach. You aren't gross for starters."
*
As she continues on, his eyebrows arch impossibly higher. Perhaps he would have seemed incredulous or disbelieving in other company, but given what he knew about her as well as his own abilities, why were the other things she mentioned such a stretch? His lips pursed and he finally found a point to counter her on.
"I think I recall you finding me quite repugnant when we first met. Book and covers and all that. However the saying goes."
He waved it off with a hand, certain he was probably butchering it as he had never read a book in his life. It was just something people who did enjoyed saying, and she seemed the sort. Why did he care what she thought? The passing consideration flustered him almost as much as her realization that her Tata bordered upon godly powers to the average individual. Fortunately his burned cheeks obscured the blush.
"So they aren't mad at you? 'Bout the building or anything?"
Maybe they had both gotten lucky and the magnitude of the current situation had dwarfed any concern over an accidental triple homicide.
*
/That/ earned a fresh blush to her cheeks that looked brilliant against her pale skin. "Yes, well, I judged you before I knew you. Sorry.." She mumbled, and bit her lower lip again.
"And yeaaah…? Miss Frost wasn't cross. She said it was self defense that while I should learn from what mistakes I made that.. well, it wasn't like dwelling on it would help. But Professor Xavier said that .. well, if I felt responsible and that I knew I could do better next time.. then I'm already better than those that tried to do me harm… So while I feel guilty.. and what I did was wrong, there was a lot to take from it too." She smiled weakly up at him, and tapped him on the arm.
"C'mon I got new jackets I'm handing out, and hats and things. You should get some. Also, I insist that you come with me for the holidays and not on the streets."
*
Seth chuckles as he follows along at a more casual pace, willingly sliding in front of anyone else who was in line for a coat to accept one for himself. The jacket on his shoulders was so threadbare and full of holes, it was a wonder it kept in any heat at all. As she piled other effects onto the pile of cold-weather gear, he nodded in agreement to her words, tracing the names through his mind and committing them to memory.
"Told you much the same, didn't I?"
There was a teasing edge to his tone that bordered upon gloating, though the arrogance quickly shifted into dismay at her suggestion.
"I uh-don't celebrate the holidays. And technically, there aren't really any streets left."
*
Lorna smacked him lightly on the arm, as he teased her. "Hey! I was emotionally distraught and unable to think. Not my fault." She murmured, her nose wrinkling up as she eyed him and folded her arms over her middle.
"And uhh, yeah, duh. You'll have to come with me to my tata's. He has .. okay, not him. But his friend is kind of in charge of a school. There are lots of .." She dropped her voice, leaning closer to him as she glanced around.
"Mutants. Well it's a school for people like us. My tata is training them and helping with their powers." A pause, "You should go. Come celebrate and decide if its for you."
*
Seth could obviously take far more injury than an idle thwack from Lorna, and so begrudgingly suffered her playful fuss with a smirk. Stepping away from the general crowd, he set about peeling off his woolen layers while she spoke, his head still shaking in disagreement with every fresh defense she mustered for this plan.
"Not really much of one for schools. And what is there to train me to do? I take a beating. It's what I'm good for. Not much else."
The fingerless gloves were peeled off, revealing hands caked in dirt that had worn into the callouses of his skin. The patchwork jacket followed them into the trash, a few moldering sweaters shed as well even as he shivered between layers. Like skin lost, he became progressively thinner with every loss until he stood in only a t-shirt, gaunt in appearance and shivering before a new sweater was pulled on. It had a reindeer on it, complete with red button nose. Seth pulled the hem tight to consider it before rolling his eyes at the absurdity of the attire.
*
Lorna giggled, smothering her hands over her lips as she smiled at him. "You're coming with me back to the Professor's alright? No butts about it. You can't be alone and on the streets this year 'cause they're ruins! Or I'll just drag you along with me to my adoptive parent's house. Don't make me use metal on you cause you know that I'll win." She smirked, eyes twinkling with mirth.
"So that's that. Christmas with my parents or the school."
*
Seth grumbles under his breath as he pulls on another sweater and then a jacket. New gloves were tucked into a pocket as was a new hat, leaving his unwashed locks to plaster flat against his head. He looked to be in no shape for meeting adoptive parents or prospective educators, and perhaps this was cause for his sullen demeanor. Clearing his throat, he shook his head and weakly protested in earnest.
"Lorna, they ain't going to like me. I mean, why can't we just keep knowing each other like we're doing? Maybe without all the buildings collapsing and near death, but you know, normal and simple like?"
*
Lorna immediately clapped both hands around an arm of his as she closed in on his personal space. "No one should be alone for the holidays. Not you, or anyone else. So you're coming with me one way or another Seth, and you'll get food and a roof over your head. I dragged you into trouble and I'm going to see you taken care of." A determined glint twinkled in those green eyes and she tilted her head back as if daring him to reject her again.
"My adoptive parents took in a green haired baby from Poland. They'll take to you like a fish in water."
*
Seth sighs and steps back, not to dissuade her from touching him but to create more space between them and the crowd at the donations table. As he turned to guide them between large boxes, he sought some little part of the refugee center that was less trafficked. It was found between bottled water towers, his voice low as he turned to face her.
"Lorna, I've done this before. Folks are always feeling like they should do something nice because it's the Holidays. They take you in, get you a few things, put you back on your feet as well as they figure they know how to. Then when you don't suddenly do somethin' incredible, they get all disappointed. Then they get resentful. Then I'm usually back where I started."
Exhaling slowly, he looked away from her and scratched at what was likely some form of louse in his hair with a snarl still on his lips, an old wound burning as sharply as the frostbite on his cheeks.
"I don't need anyone to take care of me. I've done an alright job myself for this long. Don'tcha think?"
*
Lorna pouted, her lower lip sticking out faintly. "Hey, listen." She slung a hand onto her hip, the other reaching out to poke him in the chest. "Professor Xavier doesn't just put people up for fun. Okay? He /helps/ people. For real. Okay? So does my Tata. It's a /school/. You can learn stuff that you need for getting a job and maybe even get a job or a roof over your head for it. Alright? It's a good thing and not just for the Holidays. I'm serious, Seth." She dropped her voice and glanced around and back.
"It's a school for people like us. And the with everything going on, don't you think it's better to be with others? To not be alone on the streets?"
*
Lord have mercy, she was pushy. A different broad may have provoked his ire with such insistence, such certainty that she knew what was right for him. Although his blue eyes flickered with that indignant anger, he chewed back the first words that came to mind and stewed in silence for a long moment. What he wouldn't give for a cigarette.
"Listen."
A lengthy pause as he seemed to waver for a moment, readying to tell her something that he instead held back as his head shook and he finally murmured,
"Fine."
While the fight seemed to go out of him, he had decided to simply give her the slip when it suited him. Sometimes avoidance was easier than asking someone to understand where he was coming from.
*
A grin pulled at her lips and her whole face lit up with happiness as he deflated and offered a muttered 'fine'. His plans to ditch were the furthest possible outcome from her mind and she practically bounced for joy on her toes as she threw her arms around him again in a quick hug.
"You'll really like it Seth! Professor Xavier is super nice and smart and kind and uhm.." A pause, and a head tilt. "Well he's really cool. He's good to talk to. He helped me through stuff. Also you'll get to see Jean, she was my former roommate but she moved out, but we're still friends. She's really cool. And her boyfriend, Gabriel. He's interesting.. Oh and Mister Logan and Miss Moira!" She chirped, rocking back onto her heels as she looked up at him.
"Also, hold on.." She flitted around behind him to check the tags on the jacket he had picked up.
*
Seth tolerates her sudden boundless enthusiasm as a dog does a toddler, with a sullen but agreeable expression that lacked amusement. A little 'uff' was uttered as she once again gathered him in a hug, the new attire an improvement on his scent though there was still the sour tang of unwashed sweat and dirt underneath donated layers. With an awkward unease, he patted her back and nodded as if he would remember all of these names and apply them later. While perhaps he would, it was not under the circumstances she had planned.
A head ducked as she slipped behind him, obediently letting her flit with the tag at the back of his neck as he moved the hair to one side. It was thick and matted in places, a comb having been run through it a few days past but neglected since the chaos of the giants invasion. It hadn't been washed since the end of summer, something he realized now with a self-conscious swallow.
"Sounds great."
He offered up half-heartedly, his voice thick with whatever trepidation bubbled in his chest and constricted.
*
A mental note was made of his size before she bounced on her toes back to his front, a smile still on her features as she pushed back green locks from her face in breathless delight. "The school is actually at this mansion. Seth it's soo totally cool. You'll love it. Honest! And the kitchen is always stocked. I might have raided it the last time I was there wit Jean, but to be fair she was feeding her boyfriend. Who by the way, woke up in a box. That's why I was in Hell's Kitchen before. 'Cause we got in a fight. She wanted me to go home." A pause, "I told you that already." She blushed and grinned.
"Sorry, sorry, I know. I'm rambling again."
*
Small. Unsurprising given the rest of him but he waited for her to buzz back in front of him before following the trajectory of her words. A mansion school. Literally, this couldn't get any worse unless there was a pool and regular parties within said pool. For all his distaste of the idea, a weak smile remained on his lips and he nodded slowly while she finished her diatribe.
"I'm assuming he's out of the box now? And doing better?"
Despite her embarrassment at repetition, the boy seemed to be content to let her continue talking about herself as he filched a bottle of water out of the stack he leaned on and popped it open.
*
A shrug, and Lorna leaned against the opposite stack of water bottles and cans of food that they'd taken to. Yes there was a pool somewhere, but it was winter and it wasn't like Lorna /knew/ about said aquatic entertainments there. "Well yeah, duh. But .. well, I dunno. It's not my place to say. Who knows? Anyways, I bet you'd get along." She shrugged.
"If you want to come back with me, you can. I drove down here from Upstate. I wanted to come help out."
*
Seth blinks at the suggestion, looking quietly for an excuse as he sucked down a few gulps of water. The drinking action bought him some time, and so he kept on going until the bottle was finished. Setting it aside while the cold sloshed against his empty gut, he waved off the offer and lied easily.
"Nah, I told someone I would meet them here. They haven't turned up yet so I don't wanna bail or they'll think I'm dead."
*
Lorna fidgeted, a faint pout tugging at her lower lip though she didn't say anything else in regards to his turning her down to go back 'home' with her. "Oh. Okay." She glanced down at her toes briefly, disappointment clear on her features.
Then she heaved a sigh and glanced around and back. "You know, I am going to get you some new stuff right? As a present? You deserve something nice at least. I did take down your building after all.."
*
Everything about this situation was foreign to Seth. That anyone wanted to spend time around him was odd enough, as he endeavored to be as distasteful as possible upon first meeting. Lorna's kindness took it a step farther though, forcing him into an uncomfortable position of being treated as a human being. It was not something he was accustomed to, and he shifted with equal discomfort at her intention to lavish him with gifts as she did at his dismissal of her offer to return home in her car.
"Uh, I mean, I was just squatting there. It wasn't my building."
It was a lame excuse to dissuade her offer, but one he still took. It seemed to bolster his courage and he continued with a bit more resolve,
"I mean, I don't deserve anything except maybe a swift kick in the face. That's only if you ask Tommy though, over in Brooklyn. I kind of cheated him out of some cash."
A goofy grin took over his features, something about the promise of violence familiar enough to restore his confidence.
*
It wasn't terribly difficult to find Lorna whenever she is in close proximity; the young woman puts off a unique magnetic disturbance that only Magneto is capable of locating. And locate her he does; he's dressed for the bitter cold, but beneath the oversized peacoat, he's 'packing', in a manner of speaking… his X-Men uniform has been imbued with a number of rare metals, forming an armor of sorts that is nearly impervious. All hidden beneath that oversized coat.
Into the gymnasium he comes, keen eyes searching amongst the crowds for his daughter.
*
Lorna was in her winter clothes as well, but oddly enough her hair was back to its natural green. Funny how New York being in ruins puts a hold on hair dye. She giggled faintly at Seth's words and shrugged. "Hey it was where you slept, and I pulled down the whole building! Even if it wasn't your's.." She sighed, and toed the floor.
"And I just want to make sure that you're safe and don't freeze to death or get eaten by monsters, is that so much…" She trailed off, feeling the disruption that led her father to her just as much as he used it. She stilled and then perked up, rocking her weight forward on her toes as she looked around to find him.
A grin burst out on her lips and she waved her hands excitedly. "Tata!" She called, and then glanced back at Seth, making to grab him by the arm. "C'mon!"
*
Suddenly the solitude of the water bottle stacks and miscellaneous supplies was shattered with one word. Tata. There was a moment as the vagrant blinked in surprise, trying to gauge just what had caused her to call out as if her father was present. Then it dawned on him , as her fingers wrapped around a wrist and dragged him out of their alcove. It was because her dad WAS here. That's when Seth slammed his heels into the ground and looked a bit like a dog fighting with a leash for the first time, not truly struggling but certainly attempting to find an excuse as he stammered.
"I uh-think I see-over there-the place-person-thing-"
It was all in vain, and the most unimpressive wretch that was Seth Wynn was deposited in front of Magneto by his daughter. The youth was thin, a hollowing of his cheek bones that made the skin look stretched instead of slender. His eyes darted back and forth with a nervous practice that suggested he was accustomed to desperation. As his tongue drew across his chapped and weather-beaten lips, he quickly avoided the eyes of the much larger man and muttered something that approximated 'hello' but fell woefully short. A hand reached up, but not in offering of a greeting, but to scratch again at a flea burrowed into his thick, greased hair.
*
The left corner of Erik's mouth pulls up into a partial grin, but there was that look in his eyes; duty, determination, urgency, somehow commingled with an unnerving sense of calm and purpose. He stops short of Lorna and turns to look at the waif-like fellow she's deposited in front of him, and his eyebrow turns upward. "Hello," he says, having heard the young man's meek introduction full well.
Erik's eyes turn from Seth to Lorna, then back to Seth, then back to Lorna once more. "You're here, helping the survivors?" he asks, after which his smile draws itself into something more even. "Good." He then turns back to Seth, studying the man inquisitively. "I'm Lorna's father. Erik." A hand is offered, stubbornly hanging in the air, fleas be damned.
*
Lorna promptly latched herself to her father's other side that wasn't busy holding out at hand to Seth in greeting. A beaming smile was offered to Erik as she bobbed her head in a sharp nod. "Yep! I've been helping out all day. Not much else I can do, I mean, finals were cancelled and the Institute was already getting shut down for Winter Break. So I was gonna be home in Upstate anyways, but I wanted to do what I could." She glanced toward Seth, and arched a brow briefly.
"Tata, this is Seth." A pause, and she bit her lower lip.
"Remember, when I sort of.. uhm.. did a stupid thing and ran off when I was angry? Uhhh I kinda sort .. er.. well.. Seth helped me.." She fidgeted, her cheeks turning hot. She hadn't actually told her father before chaos had taken over everything. "I sort of.. uhh got into trouble.."
*
Seth weakly extended his hand, the same one that had been searching for a flea earlier. The edges of his fingers were frost bitten, his palm calloused but slick with a nervous sweat as he quailed underneath the regal demeanor of a man he had watched kill a giant on television. There were two kinds of mutants, and Seth was most certainly the less useful sort. The grip of his fingers was whisper soft and he retracted it as soon as the pleasantry was observed. In the midst of muttering something about needing to go and look in on someone, Lorna cut in and he fell silent.
This wasn't going well. As she framed it, he could very well be the reason she got in trouble. Tucking his hands under his arms, he hugged his chest and cleared his throat uncomfortably, glancing up at the two of them and then back to the ground.
"It'was nothin'." His speech was common, and had a jaunt of it earned only on street corners and in dark alleys.
*
Once more, Erik looks between the two. There is a small part of him that is interested in knowing what Lorna did, but given current events… 'back burner' wouldn't hardly even come close to describing that concern's position in things.
"Never mind that," he tells Lorna, releasing Seth's hand the moment he makes to pull it away. "I came to find you, because I need your help."
However, before he moves into that subject, he takes a step back and folds his arms across his chest; there is a sound there, the sound of metal scraping against itself, suggesting that he's either armed or armored beneath that peacoat. His attention then turns toward Seth, a closer inspection taken. A moment to absorb what he can about the person… not a waif. A street urchin, but something about him doesn't quite fit the bill of 'starving'. "Are you a mutant, young man?" he asks, voice strong but quiet, reserved only for the three of them.
*
Seth fades easily into the background, not quite departing as that would demand attention be drawn back to him, simply wavering as the conversation turned away from him. He fidgeted with the hem of his new jacket, gifted out of the donation pile, and looked occasionally over his shoulder for an excuse. When none was provided, he let the gears turn over in his head to collect one. A process interrupted by the sudden question posed.
For a moment, he looked to Lorna, his bottom lip chewed in a similar fashion to her own when nerves were persistent. The chapped skin gave impossibly under the abuse, instead of breaking it simply continued to stretch. He nodded once and then found his voice.
"Aye. I suppose so."
There really wasn't a test for this sort of thing, but he figured that was the cause of his resilience. As he glanced up at Magneto, he began to wonder if maybe there was a membership card he should be carrying to prove it. The knife he usually used when feeling dramatic had been lost in the building collapse.
*
Lorna falls silent only for the few moments that her father and Seth speak and she glances between the two with eyes that match the same shade of green that colored her hair. She could sense the metal that covered her father's body and her brows furrow as he waves off her mention of trouble to state that he /needed/ her help. Her brows furrow and she tilts her head to the side, blinking up at him in confusion. "Sure, what do you need?" Another glance was spared for Seth and then back to Erik.
"Yeah, he's a mutant. Seth can heal himself I guess..?" She shrugged, looking to the young blonde briefly in question.
"I was trying to convince him to come home with me till I could ask the Professor if he might come over. He doesn't have a home.."
*
"You can heal yourself?" asks Erik. He smiles then, a smile that is more than pleasant; it is impressed. "Young man, that is a mighty gift. I know another man who can heal himself." His brow then furrows, and he leans forward, fixing Seth with an earnest, icy stare. "Gifts like this are not made to be squandered in homelessness. You would be wise to take up her offer."
Now that he's said his peace, Erik turns to face Lorna. His intense expression softens, and he seems, for a moment, sad. "Yes. I'm afraid that I've become… somewhat… 'caught up' in this whole mess," he admits, gesturing about to indicate the icy siege that has not only gripped New York, but the rest of the world. "There is a creature from another realm that wishes to prove my mortality. I intend, rather, to prove hers."
*
Seth considers correcting either of them. Pointing out that he didn't so much heal himself as never take the damage to begin with. That he struggled to feel much of anything outside of numbing homeostasis, save what was ingested or inhaled when it shouldn't be. He went so far as to open and close his mouth, considering the argument that someone who could suffer no damage belonged on the streets more than a person with no such gift. Instead, the conversation drifted to more important things. He closed his mouth and resumed his silence.
"I'll let'cha talk this one out. Seems kind of important."
Seth excused himself weakly, and took a few steps back before making to disappear into the crowd. 'Squandered' rolled over in his head with an unuttered growl.
*
Lorna's eyes went wide as she stared up at her father, lips falling open momentarily. "Wow." She breathed, before she blinked and rocked back onto her heels. "Uhm.. that's.." Her brows furrow and she gestured to herself. "You need me, Tata?" Her head canted to the side, green hair spilling over her features and she glanced back to Seth as he made to depart.
"Seth?" She called, brows pinching as she lost track of him in the press of people that was the chaotic gymnasim floor. There were simply too many people for her to keep track, too much metal for her to pinpoint anything on him. Especially when her father was nearby and encased in his own metal and magnetic fields.
Her gaze returned to her father and she seemed to deflate significantly. "Did I say something wrong?"
*
"No, my dear," answers Erik. "I believe it was something that I said." He turns back to her then, and reaches to put an arm around Lorna's shoulder. "Come. Walk with me. I'll tell you of what I've planned…"