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Lorna had seen a few clips of what her clone had been up to while she'd been locked away in Mojo's VIP room. The unfortunate case of melting? It had been played over and over again in a sort of mocking manner intended to incite her to action. She hadn't thanks to Seth's presence, but it had messed with her head some. After recovering and checking in with her sister, and of course getting her hair returned to her natural green hue, she struck out to touch base and make amends.
A phone call from her sister's home had followed and she stood awkwardly out front of Strange and Wanda's home/ the Sanctum, worriedly playing with a lock of green hair. A few passer-bys gave her odd looks for its bright color, some muttering about 'kids these days' but there was no recognition of who she was or the fact that she was a mutant.
The young woman knocked back on her flats, glancing around and biting her lower lip as she anxiously waited to see if Julian would appear.
*
It's been quite rough for Julian, to say the least. It took Dr. Strange himself intercepting him and stopping time for it not to end in disaster, either through returning to the club he exploded or crashing his vehicle. When he got another call from Lorna asking to meet, he was understandably suspicious of things. The fact she got 'rescued' and whatnot doesn't mean it still isn't a cruel prank. Yet he entered his vehicle once more all the same, although he doesn't drive with haste… almost a restrained manner, as if afraid of getting there and finding out it's a lie. The thrum of his vehicle is heard well before it comes into view, coming to a stop before the estate and allowing it to idle…
*
Lorna knew the make of his car and the color enough to know it was Julian that idled outside of Strange's home, but she was hesitant herself of approaching. Having dealt with a melting clone herself, she knew the feeling of questioning what was real or not. So she tried to give Julian time, well as much as she could stomach before her anxiety gave out and she was running over to the car.
She awkwardly stopped few feet away, waiting for him to get out or do something. A faint dusting of pink colored her cheeks as she stood there, and ducked her head, green hair fluttering about her face in the crisp spring breeze.
*
Nothing immediately happens, beyond him looking and seeing Lorna. Her hair is green… he knows she mentioned that her sister hexed it to be a mundane color. Does that mean this one isn't real, too? The car door pops open and he slips out slowly, looking at Lorna with seeking eyes, as if he might be able to discern whether this was real or not. Dr. Strange… he'd know, right? But he didn't say she was here, Lorna did… "H,hello?" he asks stupidly, not yet closing the door of his vehicle.
*
An awkward smile and she takes a few steps forward and then pauses, "Hey." A wince, and she bites her lower lip and glanced around and back.
"I'm the real thing. I swear. I know what happened with her melting and all that. Mojo played it over and over again." She grimaced, glancing away sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head.
"I'm sorry you got all tangled up in it. I totally get if you don't believe me or want to hang out or anything anymore. I wouldn't want to. I get it." She paused again, green eyes the same color of her hair searching over him.
"I mean, I just got a whole lecture from my sister about everything and I'm really sorry about that too. Wanda can be intimidating.."
*
"…" Julian looks somewhat lost at the name 'Mojo', having not yet been clued into what all is even happening. He heard something about a show from the fake Lorna, but immediately forgot it in the aftermath. Keeping him in the loop as been nobody's concern, and only the Sorcerer Supreme even had 'live or die' on his mind. "What?" he states, suddenly. "I—Wh,why would you think that'd change anything between us?" He makes a face at the name Wanda, though. He WAS warned about her, but had hoped the first meeting would be with him somewhat closer to composed…
*
Lorna hung her head, her cheeks on fire as she fidgets, rocking her weight back and forth. "I dunno. I guess I just.. I know it wasn't what you signed up for. And it was messy and horrible and I just.. I totally get why you'd not want to be involved with me cause of it. I mean.. I just.." She turned wide eyes up toward him, biting her lower lip.
"I'm so sorry Julian! I didn't know that he'd send a clone of me after you. I'm just so sorry." She sniffled, rubbing at at the corners of her eyes.
*
"You had to watch that?" Julian murmurs, rubbing the side of his face. His reaction to it was… not good. Falling apart and blowing things up and hurting people. She knows just how volatile he can be, now… "I never signed up for anything." he points out, abruptly. "We're…" He seems to search the word, before just shaking his head. "Life's fucked up. I knew that my whole life… I'm worried about YOU." Murmured out. "You… saw how I was… if you're sane, /I'm/ the one you'd wanna avoid…" Awkward headscratch. His engine continues to idle behind him, not yet turned off.
*
A grimace and Lorna steps up closer to him to awkwardly. "Um.." She winced, chewing her lower lip. "Yes.." She mumbled, pushing her hair back from her face. "I.. I watched it." A blink and then another followed and she heaved a sigh.
"I almost destroyed a stadium full of people when my friend's clone melted.. So.." She shot him a look.
"I guess.. I mean.. we're kinda on the same page I guess, I mean to say.." She finally mumbled out, ducking her head and glancing at her feet. "If Tommy hadn't been there to speed me away…"
*
"…" Okay, so Julian didn't know about that. He did somewhat less, all things considered. A few people were hurt, a couple seriously, but all in all the destruction was of a lesser scale. Leaning back with a sigh, he thumps into his vehicle and tilts his head back, arms crossing. "I couldn't do anything." he murmurs. "That's what I hated. Feeling so… helpless. You've got all these strong friends… that Doctor person, your sister… all I could do was rage at nothing. …I'm glad you're okay now. I'm just… yeah. …I like your hair." The latter is more of a mutter.
*
Lorna made to give him a hug as he turned away to thump at the car and cross his arms. It was awkward and if he showed even a hint of tensing she'd pull away just as quickly. "I know. I'm sorry. They kept me locked up in a room without metal at all. Like it was crazy. And there was no magnetic fields or anything. I was just.. it was really weird. But it's over." For now remained unsaid. She didn't share that Mojo had threatened them all via the TV and it would be a long, long time before she could stomach to watch anything.. but that was her concern.
"Do you still want to be friends at least?"
*
There's no look of tension. Rather, Julian looks mad at himself for not noticing it earlier. For a moment he starts to lean forward as if to return it, but then settles back against with a frustrated expression. His eyes fall to his feet, toes wriggling through his shoes. "Friends?" he repeats, with a curious tone. "…yeah. I'd like that."
*
Lorna leans back only after a short while, her cheeks hot as she considered him, biting her lower lip and tucking her hair back behind an ear. "I figured since.. well, I mean.. I .. uhm.." She smiled weakly, sheepish almost.
"And I can introduce you to my nephews properly this time. And everyone else." A pause, "Maybe not my father. I mean, he's uhm.. there's a reason Wanda didn't tell him I was missing. The last time someone threatened me.. well.. uhm.. yeah. My father loves me and just wants the best for me but uh.. yeah.." She exhaled a breath. The less said on that matter the better.
*
A flush of redness goes over Julian as well when she stammers a bit, but he doesn't attempt to interject anything. Still not able to raise his eyes to meet her, at the very least. "Uh huh. You've said many times you have a weird family. And I've said every time I don't care. …If I still don't care after this, what more can you throw at me?"
*
A gust of an exhale followed, "Uhm my nephews are from the future? They haven't been born yet. My older brother, Wanda's twin, was turned into a vampire at one point last Halloween and bit me. Uh he got better. And Billy, my other nephew can portal anywhere in the world. And do other things. I don't get it really. Uhm Wanda's boyfriend and or husband kinda sorta? Doctor Strange? He's like a super wizard or something. I don't get it. Uhm the woman my father is going steady with is a princess from a hidden kingdom?" She inhaled a deep breath and then slowly exhaled it, looking up at him.
"I think that most of the big ones that I know about? I mean, there's kinda a weird thing with how Wanda and Pietro are even my brother and sister, but it's better not to look too closely at it." She blushed, and looked down at her feet.
*
There's a sort of unblinking stare given towards Lorna as she explains all this without the reaction of someone who considers half of any singular sentence patently absurd. "That's pretty weird. …I have an older human brother, a mom, and a dad. …I used to get close with the help. Servants and stuff. But whenever my family found out they got fired, so… new ones stopped talking to me…" That seems to be it, for him. "Uh. Yeah. It's… less exciting, I suppose…"
*
A blink and Lorna offered him a shy smile as he doesn't run screaming or cry out that none of what she said made sense. "Okay. So.." She bit her lower lip again. "We try this together.. slowly.. yeah?" She held out a hand toward him in offer.
"We can go for a walk. How does that sound? That's normal right? We talk about normal things. You can help me get caught up on what I missed from the Frost Institute and we can get a milkshake or something." A pause, "And you can turn off your car too.."
*
"Umm." Julian mumbles, arms still crossed. His eyes finally creep upwards, before he gives a bit of a nod. As if shouldering everything that happened into the back, instead of dealing with it. Such is still there, but trauma's best handled by ignoring it. Or so he's decided, for someone with a life almost entirely lacking in it until very, very recently. "Why walk? Don't trust my driving?" He pats the hood of the vehicle after.
*
A burst of a giggle escaped her, her eyebrows lurching upwards. "Because going for walks is nice? We can talk and enjoy the spring weather." She smiled warmly at him then, glancing toward the car. "Don't get me wrong, I love cars and car rides, but I kind of just want take the time to go out and enjoy things. You know? I've been locked up in a room for weeks. It's a bit unsettling and I just really want to see the sun right now. Plus it's easier to talk when you're not driving."
*
Julian lets out a bit of a sigh, but leans in to turn off the car. Pulling out the keys, he thumps the door shut, although makes no move to lock it. He's been through two or three already, what's another being stolen? "Fine, fine. Don't gotta twist my arm." He looks around, before heading in a rather random direction, hands settling into his pockets. "You ever been on a horse before?" he wonders, idly.
*
A blink but as he turns off the car, Lorna beams and hurries over to capture his arm and link it with her own. A grin on her features warm and bright as she walks alongside him with a bounce in her step. "Nope, why? I mean, I never really had a chacne to I guess.. I mean there were people in my home town that had them. Like the neighbors across the street had a farm.. but like I only pet them on the way home from school as a kid."
She flushed, bit her lower lip and shrugged.
*
There's a slight jump of surprise when arms are linked, but Julian doesn't seem to mind at all. He relaxes a bit more, in fact. "We could ride horses sometimes." he offers, matter of factly. "My family owns a few in a shared stable in the state. It's not too far a drive. Just offering." He continues on quietly after that, letting Lorna ask the next question, if she's a mind to.