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Since she convinced the Fantastic Four to let Maximus stay in the Baxter Building, and ACT-F requires at least some of her attention, Crystal is in the city on a regular basis to check in with one or the other. She's just leaving the Baxter Building now, fastening her wool capelet over her shoulders as she steps outside and looks up to check the weather. Granted, with her there's always a little something more involved in checking the weather, but people prefer to see the normal behaviors.
*
Lorna was in the process of making her way back from Mutant Town with Raven back to Greenwich and the Sanctum where her father had stashed her for the past few weeks. She had her winter coat slung over her otherwise bulky armor and borrowed (with no intention of returning) leather suit from Jean on beneath it. Of course, there were her own modifications to her father's armor, color for starters; but that was hidden beneath wool and layers of mittens and knitted hats.
Still, it was a long walk back, and since Lorna didn't have cash on her, a taxi was out, as was the bus.
So when the younger girl spotted Crystal up ahead, her first instinct was to search for her father. A magnetic tug of everything around her occurred, a small pulse that she used to try to sense him.. and found nothing.
A sigh of relief pulled at her expression and before long she was crossing the blonde's path. A sheepish smile pulled at her lips, unsure what the woman knew. "Hi Miss Crystal.."
*
It's actually the pulse of magnetic energy that draws Crystal's attention before anything else. She pauses, half turning, with her gaze directed a good bit higher than Lorna's eyes and a warm smile on her lips. Not finding Erik, though, she instead catches sight of Lorna, smile twisting self-consciously. "Lorna," she greets, sounding a bit surprised. "I'm sorry, I should have thought of you first. You're still going to school in the city here, aren't you?"
Either Erik hasn't gotten around to telling her what's going on with Lorna lately or she's forgotten. But she seems to be taking her arrival as something ordinary. That is until other senses suggest there's more than just clothing under Lorna's coat. Brow arching, she gives the girl a closer look. "Is everything alright?"
*
A pause, and Lorna wraps her arms over her waist, her teeth biting her lower lip briefly. "Yeah.. Kinda." She mumbled, her cheeks flushing slightly as she glanced down at her feet. "I mean, still doing my school work and all so yeah?" She made a face, her brows furrowing.
Then Crystal's question registered and she squirmed beneath the older woman's gaze, booted feet rocking backwards to creak on the salt and ice of the sidewalk. "Yeah.. I guess. Well enough. I.. uhm.. I was just.. heading back to the Sanctum.." Her brows pinched, as she glanced back toward Crystal. Hesitant to reveal or remind the woman exactly what being going.
*
Crystal is quiet for a moment, giving the girl a long, curious look before she steps over to link arms with her. "Well, in that case," she smiles faintly. "Perhaps I might walk along with you. I haven't had a chance to speak with the doctor much lately, and I do still owe him a favor. And," she continues, "You can tell me what's been going on with you."
*
If Lorna could have sank through the street to escape Crystal's cheerful arm link, she would have. Alas, she did not have such a power set. Thus, the young mutant cringed slightly, but did little else. "Er.. well, I dunno if he's home at all. I mean, he might be? But he's been really busy and all. I hardly see him. There's this wolf girl, I guess she's Asgardian? She had to borrow a shower. Also she tried to eat me. And Wanda has been working with me in regards to my powers. And Merlin is teaching me Polish." She smiled at that, even as she was babbling nonsense.
"And Tommy has been really nice and all. Turns out he's my nephew. Who knew? There's time travel involved and magic, and I reaaally don't understand it.."
*
That is quite a lot of information. Crystal keeps walking along, smile faint, until Lorna trails off enough to let her get a word in edgewise. And she does it by tapping lightly at the armor underneath the rest of it all. "Not that I'm one to judge," she says quietly, amusement in her voice, "But is your father aware of your extracurricular activities here?"
*
A wince followed as Crystal prodded at the armor beneath her coat, and she glanced away. "No." She mumbled, "He wanted me to stay inside the Sanctum. I did. I have. For way longer than anyone expected. And it's not his fault. I get that he wants me to be safe and all.." She exhaled a huff of a breath.
"I understand that's what everyone wants. For me to be safe. But.. I just.." She glanced up at Crystal, dragging a gloved hand over her features as she stifled a groan.
"I can't sit by and do nothing when there are mutants being kidnapped and my friend is missing and Friends of Humanity are slaughtering people in Mutant Town. It's not right."
*
"Mmmhmm." Crystal continues to walk, but the faint smile that plays at her lips suggests she isn't going to lecture. She might even be amused just a little bit. "I am obligated to tell you that you should tell him," she notes. "But…your father doesn't always think through what he does. He acts on passion and instinct, which isn't always the easiest thing to deal with. So I understand not wanting to tell him."
She walks a few more steps in silence, head tilting as she looks back over. "I also want to make sure that you don't get hurt, Lorna. For your sake and for your father's, because if you were hurt…he would find himself in a very dark place."
*
A grimace at that and Lorna hangs her head. "I.." She seemed to struggle for a long moment. "That's why he's had me at the Sanctum, Miss Crystal. Cause someone sent this guy after me, and he .. he took me by surprise and he hurt me and tata… he said he'd handle it. I.." She heaved a sigh, dragging her hand over her head and pulling off her knitted hat to ruffle her hair back from her face.
"Professor Xavier told me to tell him before.. I just.. Raven won't let me be involved if my tata got involved. She doesn't.. I just.. I just want to help save my friend. That's all." Her expression crumbled. "We argued before he went missing and .. I-I.." She bit her lower lip. Hard. Then finally fell silent.
*
"Raven," Crystal echoes, frowning slightly. "Charles and Erik's…old friend. You've certainly managed to entangle yourself, haven't you?" she teases gently, though there's a certain sadness to the humor. "Who is your friend that's gone missing?" she asks quietly. Lorna likely doesn't know, but Crystal spent the better part of a decade searching for her missing sister. When it comes to finding missing people, she has a great deal of experience in looking.
*
A grimace and Lorna nodded, "I didn't mean to.. I ran into her when I was looking for Seth. He.. he's a homeless mutant. She.. she was trying to get these guys that she thought might've been related to the vigor ring and the mutants being kidnapped.. But they were Friends of Humanity instead.." She winced, biting her lower lip and tugging her hat back on.
"And gosh, it's so complicated. Apparently its her son that's in charge there, but he's completely human. And .. and those guys she took, they didn't know anything at all about the kidnapped mutants." Her expression crumbled.
"It's been weeks and Tommy brought me pictures from the morgues so he's not dead.. I.." exhaled a heavy sigh.
*
"I know," Crystal says softly. "It can be disheartening. Looking for someone you care about, finding nothing." She looks over, offering a faint smile in encouragement. "My sister was missing for ten years. We spent so long looking for her, sometimes it felt like…like we were looking for ourselves more than out of any belief we might actually find her. But we did eventually. We were very lucky."
She reaches a hand for Lorna's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Looking for your friend is a good thing. But be careful, Lorna. Think about the person your friend wants to find them. Think about if they'll recognize the person you've become while you were looking for them."
*
Lorna paused in her steps as Crystal reached to gently squeeze her shoulder. Her head lowered and she swallowed a lump in her throat. "I just want to make sure everyone is safe. I got into an argument with Seth. Because.. because.." She grimaced again, lips pursed together.
"That time, when Jean and I were out looking for Gabriel's box, and you yelled at her? And I ran off? I got lost, and these guys tried to.. they chased me. Seth tried to help me and I-I.. there was a mutant there and he wouldn't leave us alone.. I brought a building down on top of them Miss Crystal. I killed them." She whispered.
"Seth said that it was better, that it was for self defense. That they wanted to kill us.. that they were bad people and had already killed others.." She kept her gaze low.
"But it felt wrong. And Professor Xavier and I talked about it.. I .. Seth and I were arguing over it. And I left and now he's gone.."
*
As Lorna makes her confession, Crystal carefully moves them both to the side of the sidewalk, out of the flow of foot traffic, to wrap her arms around her shoulders and pull her in for a hug. "I'm sorry that you had to make that choice, Lorna," she murmurs, offering quiet support before anything else.
*
A sniffle, and Lorna wraps her arms around Crystal. "I didn't tell my tata, and now it's been months and I'm scared he'll be angry and it's just gotten so complicated." Her voice climbed in pitch slightly, warbling.
"I don't know what to do Miss Crystal. I-I just keep trying to fix things and it gets worse and worse. And I'm trying to be strong enough to handle it all because if I get upset or keep running to people for help, then they'll just keep treating me like I can't handle anything at all!"
Her throat tightened as her eyes watered and she fought back the urge to cry. But only just.
Another sniffle.
"I dunno what to do anymore.."
*
"Lorna, sweetheart." Crystal tightens her arms around her girl, offering quiet support for another moment. "Lorna, sometimes knowing when to ask for help is a greater sign of maturity than handling something all by yourself." She leans back a bit to look her in the eye, even as she smooths a hand over her hair. "In Attilan, we believe that every gift that someone has, they have because it's something that's needed by the whole. For the whole. No one exists in a vacuum, Lorna. No one has to be able to carry all the weight by themselves."
*
Lorna rubbed at her eyes, even as she stubbornly kept her tears in check. Even if her features turned pink despite her best attempts to not cry in public. She sniffled again, her lower lip shaking ever so slightly as she listened to Crystal's words.
"But it feels like that's all I ever do. Is run to someone else. I-I can't seem to do anything right. And I'm just so sick of sitting there doing nothing when everyone else is doing so much. A-and I'm just.. I.." She trailed off again, swallowing hard as her jaw tightened against the threat of tears. She was very much her father's daughter, stubborn and headstrong to a fault.
"Everyone keeps telling me that I'm not.. not strong enough to .. to be there. Tommy tried to get me to run away while he handled things. Tata wants to handle the Absorbing Man. Wanda and Doctor Strange keep me away from everything… and I'm just sick of it.."
*
"There is a better way to go about that, Lorna," Crystal smiles ruefully, reaching into her purse to retrieve a handkerchief. Of course she has a handkerchief. "Being an adult means being prepared. And that means knowing yourself. Knowing your limits. Which means if you don't want to be left behind, then your next step isn't to run off on your own, but to ask how to be ready to be a part of what's happening."
*
A flush crosses Lorna's cheeks and she folds her arms over her middle at that particular advice. Her gaze lowered to the side walk between her toes as her lips thin away from an outright pout. "I've been training." She mumbled, "It's all I did 'sides school work at the Sanctum for the past however long. It feels like it has been weeks." She toed the ground while Crystal fished out a handkerchief.
Another sigh, as she rubbed at her eyes again. A sniffle. "What else am I supposed to do?"
*
"Think about what you would want from someone you would work with," Crystal suggests as she hands over the handkerchief, keeping an eye on the girl. "If you were a leader, if you were someone who was going to make the choices about what happened and how things were handled, what would you want from your team?"
*
Lorna took the offered handkerchief, dabbing at her eyes, then blowing her nose. Her gaze flickering sheepishly back to Crystal. "Uhm.. trust.." Her gaze sank and she bit her lower lip, immediately looking guilty for how much she'd kept from her father.
"Between everyone and uh.. to trust in everyone's abilities." She glanced back at Crystal, her expression pinched.
"I .. guess I haven't really been doing so well that way.."
*
Crystal smiles faintly, reaching a hand for Lorna's shoulder once more. "And for that, no one can blame you. We all have to learn, Lorna, none of us are born knowing how to be perfect at everything. But I have found that thinking about what I would want if I was someone else is usually a good way to at least double-check whatever I'm thinking on my own. You have to be careful, though," she smiles ruefully. "Just because something is what you'd want doesn't necessarily mean it's what someone else would want, either."
*
A nod, and Lorna twisted the handkerchief in her grip. "I'm pretty sure Tata isn't going to be pleased at all.. is he.. I know I have to tell him.." She mumbled, as she glanced down. She heaved another sighed, her breath ghosting in the winter air like a cloud.
A grimace pulled at her lips again, and she glanced back up to Crystal. "About everything. With Seth, and the Brotherhood and .. and just everything." Her expression creased.
"I just didn't want to worry him or.. or have him disappointed in me.. and Raven said that she didn't want him involved.. She, ugh I dunno why I listened to her so much. The Professor was right.. I just.. she sounded right when I was there.."
*
"You father constantly surprises me, Lorna." Crystal moves to link arms with the girl again, ready to start moving down the sidewalk. "And if he's angry with anyone, I sincerely doubt it will be you. I've found that there is very little he values more than the people he sees as his. For all his passion, for all the anger he keeps inside himself, whenever I think he might direct it unwisely around someone he cares about, instead he does…exactly what I would want him to do. Or better."
The warmth in her voice is unmistakeable, as is the smile she can't quite hold back. "Those are the times he makes my heart swell. And I quite believe that when it comes to you, he is inspired to be even better than his best."
*
Lorna walks along side Crystal as the other woman tugs her along, her expression still pinched with doubt. "Miss Crystal, he tracked me down in Mutant Town 'cause I'd skipped training at the Mansion once to do volunteer work.. and that was before the attacks on Mutant Town or anything else had happened with me. I think my tata might just be a tad over protective." She mumbled, biting her lower lip again, and kicking a chunk of ice that crunch beneath her snow boots.
"I just.. I feel like when I tell him everything.. he'll be upset or disappointed in me and I mean.. he has a right to be. I wanted to save Seth and handle everything and then tell him. So he wouldn't worry. But I mean.. it is the second time I've snuck out.. Granted the first time was with Tommy.. but I mean.."
*
"What do you think will upset him more?" Crystal asks pragmatically. "That you've done something - anything? Or that you didn't trust him enough to tell him? That something might have happened to you and he wouldn't know where you were or how to help you?"
*
That earned a sharp grimace from the young mutant and she nodded, "Alright, that's .. that's fair." She stil didn't know who had sent the Absorbing Man after her. If someone was still trying to kill her or not. While she'd had a buffer almost, around Raven and the Brotherhood, they weren't exactly trustworthy to have her back. At least not as far as she was concerned. Never mind that people had been targeting mutants anyways…
"I.. I'll trying to not go running off again. On my own. And—" She lifted her eyes back toward Crystal.
"Try to trust that he won't freak out or something. Though I am getting sick of staying inside all the time."
*
"Have you mentioned that to any of your wardens?" Crystal, at least, seems to empathize with being stuck inside. Given her own talents, it's no wonder. She's always been happier with the world around her. "And when I say that, I mean…constructively. Because yes, whining about how tired you are of being inside it unlikely to go over well. But something more balanced might be better-received. Something like…I feel like this is partly my fault, and staying inside and away from everything feels like hiding from the consequences of my actions. What can I do to help?"
*
A small head shake in the negative. "I hadn't .. mostly 'cause Wanda and the Doctor have been kinda sorta.. uhm. Well if tata is over protective, then I dunno what to say. I mean, they lectured Tommy and me when we hadn't done anything at all about not drinking. I mean, I don't drink. It's gross. But like, Wanda is supposedly my older sister but she acts more like my mom, I swear." A pout.
"But I'll try it like you suggest. I'm likely gonna be in trouble anyways for sneaking out for a few hours. Even though nothing happened."
*
Crystal laughs softly, shaking her head. "I think when it comes to your family, Lorna, it's best not to think too hard about any of the details. All the same, I'm quite certain you're capable of handling all of this. Be confident. Be brave. Do what you know in your heart is right. And in the end, I believe everything will work out."