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Spring shows its face as frequently as the Queen of the United Kingdom, which is to say about once a year, through bars or a heavy pane of glass. Those benighted mortals entitled to enjoy the view at a distance might imagine the glimmer of green buds on branches or perking up of flattened grass to be a hopeful proof that the season finally banishes the long wet spell ending winter with a sputter. In other words, cabin fever afflicts the redheaded Messiah of a damnable future, and she refuses to take no for an answer. Or a ferry, though she deeply dislikes the prospect about having to cross open water on something less than her own feet. Thus they end up on Governors Island, far away from the Triskelion, closer to the fort on the end where the jail is still in use by the military. Probably less so now with SHIELD nearby.
"I am sick of sitting around. The Brotherhood basically went quiet for now, and no one wants to stir anything up. So yes, I'm bored," murmurs Hope, and she flings her arms out. "When does this spring thing show up? Will there be rabbits and flowers? Do people go crazy and start doing things in the street?"
*
"We could always go on that world tour I've talked about, I mean… seeing places in… well, a mostly non-post-apocalyptic form should be pretty cool." Tommy suggests, finding himself the edge of a nearby trashcan to sit on. "Nico dropped by with food the other day, by the way — that's where the Chinese I brought in came from." She said to make sure Hope got some. He did! Even with his appetite. "Other than threatening Billy and the others while we were napping, Mojo's been quiet, there hasn't been a lot of big, world-saving-needed crimes going around or even a lot of small injustices. I think the bad guys might've finally wussed out on us." he offers, eyes twinkling with a bit of amusement to them.
"I think Spring's /technically/ starting. Should be a bunch of flowers around. Rabbits… well, when Easter shows up they /do/ go on a march and hide brightly colored eggs all over the planet for children to find."
Note to self: Hide eggs for Hope.
"…but usually you don't /see/ them doing it. Sorta like Santa Claus and Christmas."
*
"Then we should do that. Are your brother and his boyfriend going to worry about us? Is the world going to implode if we're over there with no way for them to reach us? I mean, Nathan could if we needed him to, but I'd rather not let him think he needs to keep tabs on me all the time. Greymalkin is already bad enough and I'm sure he has a scan going to check where I am every ten minutes." Her eyes roll at the notion, and Hope sighs. "I am glad they do not have a global network of satellites and the monitoring halo up yet. You know how weird it is to look up into the sky and still see stars? And then think they are stars, not defunct bits of metal swirling around and around, waiting to phone home and never able to because their languages and receivers are all booked up? " Her mouth twists a little, dismal memory of an abbreviated future timeline no cause for belabouring the point. She's already vaporized that horse, beating it enough. "Did she? And I missed Nico? Darn. I like her, for all she dresses like a present and keeps a stick up her arm. That doesn't seem to be a trick I can do, though I haven't exactly been eager to absorb objects into my body. I am sure if I tried, I could."
Cue a wrinkle of her nose, and then a struggle to hold back a laugh. "… Most objects. I can put away a lot of chocolate bars." No thanks to Tommy, who earns himself a poke.
She spins around with her arms open, and prances up to a cement block, leaping onto it easily. She barely wobbles from side to side, gaining her balance on an admittedly wide beam, and she walks along it, kipping into a jump. Knees tuck towards her chest as she goes straight up, arms out, and she stares straight forward at a passing barge tugging along a rusty scow. Feet land, and she barely hits a crouch, pirouetting without falling over. It's an Easter Miracle. Because falling would probably entail tripping into the Hudson River, which in this day and age, is bad. "I think the bad guys are lame and wussed out."
*
"Billy might. He seems the worrying type. The rest of the family seems to… trust me to handle things on my own unless I ask for help." Which is a surprise to him. A pleasant one. It does wonders for his self-worth! Not to mention increasing the value of these people. Trust is earned, and this is one way of doing so. "But, you know. Considering that the Doc is, well, the Big Boss of Magic and Wanda isn't far behind?" If she is behind at all — maybe it's a 1963 gender roles thing. He's not sure. "I'm pretty sure if they needed to get ahold of us, they could." The concept of Cable brings an amused look. "Does your Dad know about us yet? Back at Disney, I felt like he was trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes at me." So he's thinking probably. Of course, it could just be that Tommy oozes masculinity and was therefore the penultimate threat to Hope's innocence available to glare at!
Then a nod, "It was one of those days you weren't feeling so hot after being awesome. We hung out for a bit while you were nappin'." Then an amused snicker. "Can you believe she's never had alcohol? Apparantly she was a total daddy's girl before her folks turned out to be evil." Pause. "…and I think she wants to rent out our couch. She doesn't dig her roomie much."
Then those green eyes twinkle and he rocks back and forth on the can a bit, "I'm /sure/ you're at least as good as she is at absorbing objects into your body." Balance is nearly lost at the poke and arms flail around a bit before he rocks back town to his feet to follow her in motion. "…it's funny that you mention seeing stars. We should go out to like… Kansas, or Zimbabwe, or something. /There/ you can see stars. Not nearly as much light pollution at night. I've glimpsed things while I run that…" Tommy makes a 'whoosh'ing sound and makes the brain exploding motion with his fingers. "…blow your mind. Back when I came from, you didn't have that either. Not like this. It's… really somethin' else. Makes you realize how big the universe is." Tommy opines, watching his girl prove to be superior to him in terms of balance — he's still working at it, but learning doesn't always come quickly. "Pretty sure you're right. Can't really blame 'em, though, with folks like /us/ out there." Cue the smug grin. "So, you want to let folks know where we're going and see if they wanna come, or should we make our trip a party for two?"
*
Hope still shakes her head at mention of magic. In her world, it's dead, or so much integrated with science no one can consider magic to be magic. No one calls themselves Sorcerer Supreme. No one wanders around in a hideous red and black striped coat. The world moved on, or the world broke. "It's nice to have normal parents. I mean, parents that do… parental… stuff. Have you for dinner and make sure you get your lease paid. Um, speaking of." She raises her fingers. "We need to shift something to make some cash if we're going to make this month. I only have so much cash stored up, because Mojo totally knocked me off my game. And it's not like I can just walk into the Institute and be all 'So you guys owe me a living' or something. Because that was kinda Dad's game plan." She ruffles her hair with her hand, and glances askance. "Um. No. Dad was way too messed up with Auntie D to really pay attention and it may surprise you, but he hates surprises. He's sort of a soldier that way. First response is to shoot it." As witnessed by Laura, hers is identical. Except she has less of a kill switch engaged.
Her tongue flicks along her lower lip and she twists around, sighing. "She wants to rent our couch? I could live with…" Okay, she can't, but she has to try. "A second bedroom. That might be tricky. Um, or the flat under us. But I assume that costs money. Maybe she can use the stick to make money happen somehow that doesn't make her be a total… Wait!" Her fingers point at him. "I could be called a daddy's girl because I don't have a mom. Like, I did once, but she wasn't really my mom, just took care of me and… Are you saying I'm a daddy's girl? What the hell does that even mean?"
Ooh, she's got a mouth on her, after all. His amusement at her plight is a dangerous thing as she frowns and takes four running steps forward to nearly the end of the cement divider, punching forward and completing a full aerial revolution with her hands gripping the end. Her dismount is a thing of forceful precision rather than precise grace, a difference noted in the stuck landing on the ground. Then she cartwheels away and breaks into a jog, slow as hell for them. "Kansas is a wasteland. Seriously, it's flat and there is nothing there. I've seen enough of that in my life. Give me mountains."
*
"My folks like you, you know." Not quite 'Mom and Dad', but closer! "Hell. My entire family does." Although she hasn't met Erik. Though /he/ has barely met Erik himself, for that matter. That should change at some point. "So… any time that you want to hang out and pretend that we're normal for a while… let me know. I mean, who knows?" he pauses, reaching out to give /her/ a poke, now. "We keep sticking together like we have been, and you might /have/ to get used to it someday, you know?" There's a brief look given in her direction at that comment; appraising for a moment. "—and gotcha. Keep things on the down low around your dad until we tell him." …with any luck, that information won't be revealed via an (even more) awkward encounter that will almost certainly have guns blazing.
"…before we go world tour, then, it sounds like a case of the Robin Hood is in order." A nod to that — they could use the cash reserves. "Maybe try and do a little extra, so we can take it easy next month." They deserve it! "I mean, I know the family'd help if we /needed/ it…" he trails for a moment, considering. "…but I don't really wanna ask, you know? I /like/ us being independant. Being able to take care of ourselves." Even if it's not always legal.
"Note, she didn't /say/ she wanted to couch-surf, but… she's over a lot, you know? Not that I mind, 'cause she's good people and anyone who can fill our place up with bunnies is pure win in my book, but. I figured it was worth a mention to see if we wanted to extend the offer." …then that point of accusation comes and he's left laughing and laughing. Give him a moment! "Yeah, you'd qualify. A girl who kinda looks up to and takes after her dad. Which in your case, makes you a bad-ass. In Nico's case, it puts her in competition with Billy for a pair of goody two shoes." Maybe if his not-parents were further evil, he would've been a well-behaved boy too? …there's a shudder at /that/ thought.
Of course, then she's off! Tommy's not one to miss a beat, though, and starts jogging right after her. "Colorado, then. Maybe Mount Everest? Kinda hard to breathe up there, I hear, but might not be too bad if we don't stay too long. But 'nothing there' helps the stars be seen, flat or not."
*
"Dad is going to panic no matter what, so probably a good idea that we tell him somewhere we can run away really fast from. I can keep him from lifting you off the ground or anything like that. I mean, you already saw what I did to the slug." This is why she misses Cable. They make a deadly team because her fear factor is only increased by having access to his talents. Would that she could do something worthwhile with it, though. Her eyes narrow fractionally and she gives a lazy sigh, scampering past a bench and jumping over it because she can, feet kicked to the side. "That's assuming he even cares. He might not! I don't know, maybe he wants someone else to pawn me off on. I mean, it could happen. So could Bishop showing up right now."
No twinkling lights in the sky. No weird surge. No gunfire bisecting the island. They might just be safe. Everyone knows trouble won't show until it's least expected, anyways, so she does a helpful handstand that drops into a roll, her coat absorbing the dampness on the ground that might remain.
"Yeah. Figure out the particulars and we can make it happen. Or, I don't know, maybe there is real work. How do they make it happen? I mean, Lorna has to pay for school somehow and we know where your brother gets money from." Working for the enemy, evil and wrong! It doesn't even make sense for pizza. "I can't work legally, you got that, right? I mean, still no ID. You get me something under the table or I get it myself, I can do it. M-Town kinda has this weird economy because so many people there can't get normal jobs either." Hard with scales and a red face or the like. Her shoulders rise and fall at this notion. "She can hang with us. It's not like she causes us any headaches and if people are after, better we get her out of trouble fast. She did good with Sluggy McSlugface, so let's give her the benefit of the doubt."
*
"So, not a super-crowded area. Maybe if we get together out in the country to work on target practice or something." Guns don't much scare him, and he'd be legitimately surprised if Cable /wasn't/ packing at any given moment — much like Hope herself, again, as Laura found out first hand. Tommy continues to follow - right up to jumping over the bench, though his is more jumping onto and then off of the bench than cleanly over. "Hey, I'm pretty sure he cares. I can /tell/ when a girl's dad is being a girl's dad." First-hand experience, go! "…bt, I wouldn't say no if he wanted to pawn you off. /I/ like you lots." Grin. The 'B' word makes that falter and makes him spin a couple times in a circle like a Tasmanian Devil, before he's satisfied that the man with the guns and the hair isn't going to show up out of nowhere.
"I don't think Lorna pays for school, I think her school pays for it 'cause she's a girl and a mutant or something. Decent place, I hear." Though he's not really the collegiate type. Fraternity type, /maybe./ "…and yeah, I got that. The Doc's still looking into it, though so far we haven't come up with anything better than a run to Vegas with a guy who looks a lot like Elvis, and, uh, you made your opinion crystal on that." …of course, she might not have realized what he meant; or her thoughts might've changed. Either way, he's still keeping eyes open for Option B. "Yeah, kinda my thoughts too. She can escape pretty well herself, but… takes time to cut yourself. A lot more than it takes us to zoom. I'll let her know the offer's open next time I see her, or you can, whichever." he tells her, reaching up to tousle her hair a bit before recoiling as if preparing for a counterattack. "Y'know, things might be boring lately… but with you around? I can handle a bit of boring every now and then." …besides. She tends to help make it unboring.