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.~{:--------------:}~.
*
After meeting with Erik, Remy was in a good mood. Was it a coincidence that Lensherr told him what he wanted to hear? At every turn? Or did it just have the benefit of being true? Either way, he's reckoning to make a feast from food he got earlier today. Some LeBeau Gumbo is about to happen. Remy throws on his apron and begins to get to work, washing his hands to make sure they're a) clean and b) not smelling like smoke.
*
Lorna entered from the back door. She wore her usual tank-top and shorts for training outside in the summer, her green hair tied back. A sigh pulled from her as she made her way into the kitchen for some water. That's when she noted Remy's presence, her eyebrows climbing upwards. "So, you really weren't kidding about that cooking and all." She teased with a smile, waving her hand for a cabinet to open up as she came around to get herself a glass.
"Sure that us Yankees can handle all that spicy food?"
*
"Bah," Remy says with a grin as he watches her come in. "Figure ahll make a weak sauce batch for d'others. How you doin, lil lady? Y'alright after yestahday?" Lorna seemed really rattled; maybe she didn't have a lot of experience with that sort of bigotry. "You one of dem Yankees, chere? Where you born at anyhow?"
*
A shrug as she poured herself some water and then took up a position leaning against a counter as she sipped at it. "I'm okay. I went out with Cassandra and we ended up accosted by some thugs in the City. I knocked them over and they took off.." She paused, "I dunno, I just.. I'm not used to facing down that hatred for being what I am so openly. You know? My adoptive parents loved me, but they did me no favors by making me dye my hair and hide my powers for most of my life."
She wrinkled her nose and downed the rest of her water. "I was born in Poland, or Germany.. I think. Dunno. No birth certificate."
*
Remy tilts his head at the story about the thugs. "Erryting alright? Ah mean you and Cass can take care of y'selves an all. Glad y'alright." He seems sad that she doesn't know much about herself. No birth certificate. Sounds familiar. "I hear ya dere, chere."
*
A shrug and Lorna waved a chair over to sit off to the side and keep up the conversation without having to leave the room. "Yeah, I mean, they were just a bunch of drunks out looking for easy targets. They figured that Cassie and I were some teenaged girls out and alone and easy targets. Granted, Laura.. my friend, she's another mutant. I think she's homeless. But anyways, she and Cassie kinda sorta threatened them to bug off. But they wouldn't. So I just knocked them over." She smiled.
"Drunks are easy. They weren't targeting us because I was a mutant. Just the usual attempted mugging. So it really didn't shake me up."
Then she paused, and shifted in her chair.
"My father had no idea I existed. And he doesn't remember my mother.. So I'm basically trapped unable to know either of those things. It's why I said I wasn't.. sure when my birthday is. Just roughly how old I am. It's frustrating. Though, it could be worse. At least I have my father.."
*
Remy chuckles a bit as the young woman goes over how her and her friends got the better of a couple of drunks. It seems to lighten his mood. "Sound like dey got what dey deserved, dat fo' sho." He nods a few times, "Ah had somewhat a simila' circumstance as a chil'. Ain't no fun. You know dat ain' have nuttin t'do wit yo worth, right?" He speaks from his own worry he's had. His parents gave him away once he opened his eyes; one of the few mutants whose genes showed right away.
"Speakin' of yo' dear old poppa, I had d'opportunity to get his ear a lil bit dis afternoon. Hopin' dat was alright."
*
Lorna shrugged lightly, "I just wish I knew who my mother was. If she gave me up because of my green hair.. or .. or gosh, what her story was. I know my father's.. and there's just.. Do I look like her? I know I've been compared to my father.. but.. was she a mutant? Was she Jewish? Was she in hiding, or a Germany girl? Did she blush easily, or have freckles? How did she meet my father? What did she think of him?" She bit her lower lip, her brow creasing.
"My father said she couldn't have been in the camps, but that he'd had to have met her after.. So I know she was free at least. I just.. I wish I knew, you know? I already know everyone else on my father's side.. didn't.. didn't make it.. I just wish I knew. I know it doesn't have anything to do with who I am.. but .." She shrugged, and pursed her lips together.
Then her eyebrows lurched upwards, "You saw him? Cool. Glad you could catch a hold of him. I missed him it would seem. And of course it's alright Remy. You wanted to see him."
*
Remy looks sad at Lorna's talk about not knowing about her own history. He wishes he had something he could say that could soothe that pain of not knowing who you are. But he knows enough from the bullcrap spewed by others at times like this that it's always plastic and fake. It'd be a lie. And he hasn't lied to her. Not yet, anyways.
"Ah did want to see him. We talked about you a lil bit. Asked him if dere was a problem wit me spendin' so much time wit you. He say no." Remy's head lolls side to side as he tells more of the whole truth. "Wit conditions."
*
Lorna seemed to take a moment or two to collect her thoughts, it had been the first time she'd ever mentioned the pain and confusion over not knowing who her mother was. The first time she'd said it out loud and admitted it to herself.
"And you talked about me?" A blink, and then a second. "Wait, why would you.." She tilted her head to the side, propping her chin up with her hand as her eyebrows furrowed.
"And what do you mean 'conditions'?" She hooked an eyebrow upwards.
*
"First time we talked you mention dat yo daddy was a scary guy. Dat he dun take too kindly t'boys talkin' t'his girl. Ah told him ah been talkin' t'his girl. He mention he wasn't too thrilled bout dat boy named Julian. But dat about d'end of it," Remy explains while being cagey. "He jus' say, far as condition, dat ah gotta do right by ya."
*
"He can be. Plenty of people here think he's totally scary. Jean for starters, when we were roommates said he was scary straight off. And it's just.. frustrating, I guess. And yeah, he's protective of me, but like I said.. only to the creeps really." She blinked at him as she puzzled over the rest of his comments. An eyebrow hooking upwards.
"And yeah, he liked Julian and was nothing but nice to him.." She bit her lower lip, "And what do you mean, 'do right by me'? We're friends?" She mumbled, her cheeks turning faintly pink as she recrossed her legs.
*
"Jus' friends, ah do believe is what ya said," Remy says with a grin. "What was de deal with Julian anyways? He seem t'a leave a bad taste in yo' daddy's mouth. Dere a story dere or not so much?" The water is now boiling so Remy starts putting in an assorted amount of ingredients.
*
Lorna's flush darkened as she crossed her arms and averted her gaze. "Julian had temper issues. But my father never saw that. So it can't be that.. Wanda didn't like him. She said he was as much a match to oil, or I was a match, or something. I dunno…" She muttered and then toed the floor as Remy turned toward his cooking.
"But…" She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Julian came over for dinner. My father and he got along really well. It.. was also the last time Julian bothered to speak to me. He just.. sorta.. stopped returning my phone calls. I tried to call him a few weeks ago, and his butler told me to stop calling." She bit her lower lip.
"I .. I was pretty upset. And I.." She wrinkled her nose. "I did something stupid. That's all. And my father had a panic over it and .. The Professor had to sorta put me back together again."
*
"Huh. Dat a fact? Y'wanna share dat info? If not, it ain't no ting. Dat toally up to you, chere." Remy says as he adds more of the ingredients. Finally he looks back at her and smiles. "We all dun some stupid tings because of love. When Belladonna and I split I went through a hazy month of stupid decisions. Part of the process."
*
A grimace followed, "I know what I did was stupid, and .. looking back I don't know why I allowed it to happen.." Her brow creased and she pushed her hair back from her face, and then undid her ponytail to redo it. A sigh followed and she bit her lower lip. "It's embarassing." She added after a moment.
Averting her gaze from him, she looked down at her lap, and then her hands, turning them over. "I told you about Miss Crystal, and her cousin, Maximus.. a-a little bit.." She swallowed a lump that formed in her throat and turned her green eyes back toward Remy.
"Her cousin has powers over the mind. Not like Miss Frost or The Professor, or Jean.. It's different. I dunno how exactly. Just that I know it is.." She winced, and looked back at her hands. "He found me right after that phone call. He teased me about it. Telling me that Julian was likely with some other girl and that .. that he could make everything go away for a few days. Give me a break from my misery. That.. that he'd erase my memories but that they'd come back…" She hung her head slightly, guilt crossing her expression and the line of her shoulders.
"My father found my wandering the library not knowing who I was, or where I was.."
*
Remy seems taken aback by her commentary. He's not sure the extent to what happened, but it sounds horrific. "You poor ting," He comes around from the stove and moves toward her, looking like he's about to give her a hug, should she accept it. "You want me t'go and have words wit dat Maximus? Whoe'r he is?"
*
Lorna glanced up as he approached, and blinked, but didn't seem to reject the hug. Quite the contrary, she returned it easily. "I just, I just feel stupid for it. Embarrassed.. Miss Frost was so disapointed in me over being upset over Julian.. and I just, I didn't want to be this crying .. weak.. mess.. And he offered and.. I.. like I said it was stupid. I scared my father witless, and the Professor was livid. He tried to hide it from me, but when you know him.. it kinda stands out." She bit her lower lip, pulling back after a moment or two.
"And my father left. He just got up and left once he knew it was Maximus.. I'm.. I'm pretty sure he already had words.. and likely threw a building at him. I dunno. I have yet to see if Maximus is even whole.." She muttered, and shook her head. "Don't .. don't worry about going after him. It's pretty pointless.."
*
Remy nods, "Ahll do whatever it is you want. Iffen you say it pretty pointless, de Remy won't do nuffin. Still, sound like a raw deal to me." He pulls away and looks down at her. His eyes peer at her a little bit as he gives her a closer look. "You sure y'alright, kid?"
*
"I mean, I think Maximus is one of those guys that if people tell him to leave me alone enough… he'll come looking to make a mess of things out of spite. He's also crazy. They called him the Mad King for a reason.." She mumbled, biting her lower lip.
Then as Remy gave her a closer look, her cheeks turned a faint pink and she leaned back, bumping the counter reflexively. A blink, and her blush deepened. "Y-yeah. Cool." She cleared her throat, "Totally good. Groovy. Fine.." She mumbled.
*
"Come on now, Lorna," Remy says softly with a smile. "You tryin' to con de greatest con man der eva was." He tilts his head, trying to meet her eyes. "You ratha talk bout sometin else?" He does a quick twirl around the island in the kitchen as he goes back to check on his gumbo, as if he just remembered. "Can't ova cook it! Nossir!"
*
A shift in her seat followed as he caught her gaze. She fidgeted in her seat under his gaze until he turned around to handle the cooking. "I'm not trying to con anyone." She offered finally, wrinkling her nose and tucking her hair back behind her as she scooted the chair forward an inch or two from the counter.
"Also, ever was? Wow, so humble." She shot back, her eyebrows shooting upwards. "That's from better than average, for the record. I am keeping tracking." She grinned, and that seemed to have solved that whole 'talk about something else'.
"So, have you asked Josh at least about your hand? Because you totally should. Just saying.."
*
"When did ah eva let you come t'believe ah was humble?" Remy asks with a twinkle in his eye. "Ole Remy a lot o' tings but humble ain't one of dem." He tilts his head to the side and looks at his fingers, "I figure dey look pretty good on dey own. Ah ain't too worried about it. You just grossed out?" It's a reminder to him of the cruelty of the police. Granted, it was retribution, but he seems not to consider that.
*
"Sarcasm is a lost art." She offered, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms as she watched him tend to the food. It was a good thing the men in her life liked to cook, her father, Billy, Uncle Charlie, and now Remy. How lucky.
"I'm not grossed out. I was just worried it must hurt. Or.. be sensitive. I just.. figured if Josh can help, wouldn't it be worth it? I mean," She tapped at her own fingernails.
"I'm just concerned."
*
"Ah appreciate de concern, love. Be dat as it may, ole Remy don't need no conceren. Y'ain't gotta worry your pretty little head one wink." Remy can't help but laugh. "It hurt a lot when it happened, ahll tell ya dat much." He puts the cover on his pot and moves around the island so that he's more side to side with her as he leans against it. "You wunna go down to de burger joint wit me tomorra?"
*
A faint smile reflexively tugged at her lips at his laugh, and she glanced down at her lap again until he walked around the island back toward her side to settle against the counter. She glanced up, arching a brow.
"I dunno, are you gonna explain what you said to the clerk the last time we went out?" She waited, blinking up at him with a focused gaze. There was no judgement in her voice or in her eyes, just honest curiousity. It would seem that Lorna wasn't troubled at the prospect of a threat being aimed at the man who had reached for a gun, but all the same.. She wanted to know.
*
"Well, if dat a pre-requisite, den I suppose I should tell ya." Remy looks away, out the window, and to the rolling hill of the land beyond. "Ah told dat man dat if he eva said anyting like dat to you again I would torture him until he begged me t'kill him." By the time he finishes he gives a shrug of his shoulders. "Ah was a little upset, I declah."
*
Lorna raised her eyebrows, but otherwise looked unphased by his threat aimed at the man. "No wonder he didn't try to come after us on his own. And it's okay, you're allowed to get upset over stuff like that.." She murmured, tilting her head to the side and tapping her chin. "I was thinking that I should've dismantled the gun in all honesty."
"But yeah, I don't mind going out for burgers tomorrow. S'cool with me. We might want to go else where though for clothes if you want them."
*
Remy chuckles, "Actually ah put in an order via de phone wit one of de professas catalogues. If ahm headed anywhere it'll be for fun and not for shoppin. Ah can't stand shoppin." Especially when the expectation is that he has to pay for it, apparently.
*
A shrug followed, "I like shopping, it's not so bad. Well, at least in the city. No one really gives me more than an odd glance there." She murmured, and reached up to toy with her green locks between her fingers.
"But that's still a good idea, here's hoping that they fit." She shrugged lightly, rolling her shoulders back as she watched him. "So, burgers it is."
*
"Dats right, chere. Burgers it is. Unless you prefer sometin different. Spose dey got all sorts of tings to eat. Chicken sandwich. Fish sandwich. French fries." He chuckles, "Plus we can get dat milkshake dat I owe ya." Now that things are set to cook for a while he snags a seat and pulls it over towards her. Close to her. He takes a seat.
*
A shift followed and Lorna shrugged, "Burgers are fine, there's a nice place in town that everyone really goes to. It has a bunch of pretty good options anyways. The Professor likes it, they know him there by name." She grinned and stretched her arms out before her as she sank back against the chair.
When Remy settled beside her, she bit her lower lip, and glanced down at her lap. "So.." She started and stopped, biting her lower lip. "What.. did you mean when you said to my father.. that you'd 'do right by me'? I mean.. that sounds.. kinda.. uhm.."
*
"Well," Remy says as he tilts his head towards her and grins. "Given dat you an' me friends, I'm tinkin dat means ahm gonna be a darn good friend t'ya." He shrugs his shoulders again. "Ahm tinkin' your poppa jus' want de best for ya. He a powerful man, but dun mean he don't have a good heart. Everreh daddy jus want de best for deir kid, right?"
*
A small 'o' followed and Lorna nodded, leaning back in her seat. "Yeah, I mean.. the good ones anyways. That's what fathers are supposed to want." She bit her lower lip and fidgeted in her seat, reaching up again to play with her green hair.
"And he's doing pretty well considering he was just informed her had three adult children and has two grandkids already in the past year. He's not even that old.. so hey, he's had a lot of adjusting to do. And he kinda skipped a lot of the messier things out there.." She shrugged lightly.
But a smile warmed her expression. "I think he's pretty happy to have family though."
*
Remy seems not to react to her rising discomfort. As far as he goes, he seems as cool as a cucumber. Naturally. "Course he does. Lot of us who been asked t'wander would love ta have a family. Ahm sure it invigorates him. Makes him feel normal. Ahm sure he tinks life be better wit a family t'share it with."
*
Lorna continued to be the awkward teenager, her cheeks stained with a faint blush but she didn't scoot away either. "Yeah.. I just felt pretty awkward at the start. I mean.. we weren't sure we were related. We just knew we had the same powers more or less. And he had a girl, Miss Crystal. Who, honestly, I dunno if they'll ever get hitched.. but she's super nice. And if she did become my step-mom that'd be totally groovy." A pause.
"Even if she's only.." She counted on her fingers, her brows furrowing. "A few years older than me.." She mumbled.
*
Remy's eyes go wide and he can't help but laugh, "Oh lady, it seem like you got yo hands full in all sorts a drama." He shakes his head in gentle exasperation. This girl definitely is having a tough run of things. "Soundin' like ya got a couple o' problems wit dat."
*
Lorna squirmed in her seat, crossing her arms as she pouted and glanced side long at Remy. "It's awkward! I mean, I'll be turning nineteen this year, and she's in her early twenties.. it's not weird for my father.. I mean, he's not that old. Ugh, but it is weird that I'm as old as I am. Even weirder is that Wanda and Pietro are like.. twenty-four." A blink as she started dumb founded at her own thought process and made a face immediately afterward.
"My family is so messed up." She groaned, dragging a hand over her features. "I've got two nephews my own age, my sister and brother are more than half my father's age.. gah."
*
And then it hits Remy. It's not conclusive, if there's no birth certificate, that this girl is even 18. Reflexively he backs up a bit, though he tries to play it off. "Well, errybody family pretty mess up, Lorna. Ain't no ting. What matters is y'all happy and dat ya rely on each otha for support."
*
A grumble followed, "It's magic you know? Like actual magic. My nephews are from the future.. and my sister and brother.. well that's even more magic. Like crazy experiments and magic." She wrinkled her nose, a glance follows as he backed up a measure this time. She frowned faintly, "You okay? I.. I didn't freak you out that badly, did I?" She asked, leaning forward, her brows pinched.
"I can tone down the crazy things, promise.."
*
Remy smiles and just tells the truth, "Well, ya got me a bit worried ya might not actually be a full 18 years old." That wouldn't break the deal as far as friendship goes. "Magic made y'family?"
*
A blink, "Oh!" She blushed faintly, and bit her lower lip. "My adoptive parents figured I was at least a year old when they had me. I might've been older.. Not younger. I didn't get over here until after the war ended.. So I have to be around that age. It's mostly just.. I dunno when my birthday actually was. I might be nineteen already or I might be not be till the end of the year."
Then she made a face and wiggled her fingers. "Wanda said magic must've been involved. That and.. uhm less pleasant things. Nazi experiments.. and uhm stuff. It's kinda … really freaky, if I'm being honest. I freaked out a little. Course then there was this .. never mind. That's even more crazy sounding.
*
"Nah, s'okay." Remy leans closer and taps her knee with the back of his knuckles. "G'head. You can say it. Long as we bein' honest, we might as well be fully honest right?" It seems to relieve him a bit that if anything she will be older. "Why Wanda tink magic involved?"
*
A sigh followed, "Wanda has looked into it. And she was old enough during the war to remember. She knows what the Nazis did, or tried to do because she lived through it." She looked down at her knee as he tapped it, and another blush crossed her cheeks and quickly faded.
"And more weird stuff.. I .. erm.. well, I just.. it's something that I really haven't talked about.. At all. To anyone. It's just.." She sighed again and wrinkled her nose, biting her lower lip.
"Hearing Wanda and my father's stories and knowing what happened.. it's just creeped me out a lot to being locked up. And thinking about how people might experiment.. "She closed her eyes briefly and swallowed a lump.
"So.. it wasn't like.. the camps or anything.. but I've lost time and I know someone grabbed my DNA and.. I mean, it wasn't someone. It was.. never mind. It's really complicated and I've like told you way too much."
*
"It wasn't someone?" Remy seems perplexed, but not off-put. It seems clear, though, that Lorna doesn't want to keep going. If she wants to tell him, he reasons, she'll tell him. "Whatevah it be, love, t'wasn't yo' fault. Y'ain't got nothin' t'be shamed of, and, if it sometin nefarious, like you be hintin, ahm sure there be a house full of folks wantin' t'get some retribution on yo' behalf."
*
A weak smile followed, "It sounds crazy, if I hadn't spent three weeks there with my friend, Seth, I'm pretty sure I'd have imagined the whole thing." She exhaled a breath. "It was a monster guy. This thing from another dimension. It's name was Mojo. He started to kidnap mutants and got my friend.. and when I was looking for him, he got me." She winced and looked down at her lap.
"It's why I joined up with Raven for a few weeks. She was looking for the missing mutants.. And I thought maybe my friend had been taken by the people she'd been hunting.. He hadn't.." She trailed off, and glanced toward him, waiting for a reaction.
"Mojo made clones of me and they had my memories and looked like me.. and he.. he killed them.. like.. like that.. and he did it to Julian and Julian blew up a nightclub.. and freaked out. And gosh.."
She closed her eyes and clapped her hands on her features.
"Here I am telling you every little thing that's happened to me.. and like monopolizing everything. I.. Look I should leave you to cooking and not take up all the time talking.." She mumbled, starting to get up.
*
Remy looks to her, confused. "Mojo?" It's not that he doesn't believe her. It's that he doesn't understand. People do all sorts of messed up things to mutants, and while pretty wild, his first thought is not that she's crazy. "Well, y'can go if you wanna, but I like de company, chere."
*
A sigh, and Lorna sat down back onto the chair after a long pause in which she stood there awkwardly. A deflated manner followed a slump of her shoulders and she grimaced faintly. "Sorry. I.. I get flusted and like I said. I ramble. Just.. I feel like I can talk to you Remy. And that you won't freak or go marching off either." She mumbled, her shoulders rising and falling.
"I don't exactly have a lot of people that I can talk to.. I guess. I mean, I do.. but like. It's not the same. Not friends. I have family.. a lot of it. But even with my friends it's.. I don't tell them all the crazy things. Not anymore."
*
"Dey freak out or sometin?" Remy asks. His sigh matches hers. This a lot of information; especially a lot for a kid like her to take. "Whatevah it is, it gun be aiight."
*
Lorna just shrugged, not supplying the answer this time as she leaned her shoulder against his. She fell silent for a long while until it wasn't clear that she was going to say something, "Yeah. A couple times." She mumbled softly.
"Hey, can you teach me how to cook whatever it is you're making?" She asked softly.