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Kaleb called Lorna. Then again, the odds of him wanting something were likely high, but who really knew? At the very least he was offering lunch on his dime so he wasn't completely devoid of manners when he wanted to be. The place was Italian and had outdoor seating where one might hear the music in the park. If you sat at the same table at Kaleb? Well that was pretty much a certainty.
*
Lorna used to be much more easily impressed with all the frills and flashiness of wealth a year ago. Now? Now she was living in a mansion in Westchester, her biological father was more than a little well off, and she'd dated Julian Keller. Julian had driven her around in a new car, just as easily as he wrecked it on an almost monthly basis.
So when Kaleb mentioned an Italian eatery, she shrugged and agreed. He'd had to send the car to the bus station where she'd parked her own. Unwilling to have him pick her up from the school. Security reasons and all that mess.
Her green hair was much the same it was always. A careful bob with a white headband. She wore a loose fitting sundress, that was belted around her waist. She glanced around at the restaurant as she got out of the car and spotted Kaleb. "Hey!" She waved and smiled making her way over.
"I haven't been here before, it looks cute."
*
Kaleb would have told her not to be there as he didn't trust his driver to that extent. Oh yeah, he lived incognito. Aside from that this was just how he was and his 'normal' and seemed to be making zero effort to try to impress anyone. He was what he was. He was the frills and ruffles. He was a man who enjoyed every moment of his privilege.
When she showed his pencil dropped to the small sketchbook before standing a moment while seatings happened, and then he picked up where he left off to finish jotting the frieze above the shop window oppose the street from them. There done. He spared a faint smile up to her and nodded, "Their coffee can't be beat until you hit Queens. Makes it on a stove or something. Went to school with his Nephew. Not that it matters, but the gnocchi is pretty good."
*
Lorna glanced around as she made to take a seat, glancing down the the corner and around them and back to his sketchbook. "I'll take your word for it. I'm not much of a coffee drinker. Mostly a tea person." She grinned and propped her chin up.
"May I see your sketches so far? I'm curious what you've gotten done while you waited for me." She tilted her head to the side as she spoke. Honest interest in her tone and body posture.
*
Kaleb sat up and and dropped a ribbon where he was working in the moleskine journal and handed it to her. He watched her studiously thumbing through the journal where in the back cover was a small 5" ruler that was only a half inch wide tucked into the cover.
The inside of the book was filled with drawings from all over the places he traveled. Some places in London, Paris, Venice, Versailles, and even somehting that looked distinctly Inhuman in nature with statues and temples roughed in with some having more detail than others. There were tons of sketches of New York and the surrounding Boroughs. There was a current fascination with stone carvings in edifice as well as integrated ironwork.
*
Lorna whistled softly as she flipped through the journal. "Oh wow." She studied each with care and with a critical eye. Then handed them back to Kaleb after several long moments.
"You must have gone all over for those. They're lovely. Thank you for sharing with me, Kaleb." She smiled and then turned her attention back to the menu. "You're really talented. I hope you get into a school for it." Her voice soft as her gaze lifted back to consider the boy opposite of her. "So, what would you recommend here besides coffee?"
*
Kaleb took the book chewing casually on his bottom lip a bit until the book came back to his possession without scorn. His head tilted, neutral but pleasant enough expression returning. "Thanks. Yeah I um… have been considering options. Not…settled on anything yet. Some stuff the other night got me thinking a bit." He shrugged and looked to her with less bullshit than he usually leaves around him like a fortress of attitude. "Again, thanks. Ummm, honestly it's all pasta stuffed or unstuffed with meat and cheese. It's all good, you can pick a configuration or we can just tell Marcello what we like and he'll figure it out." He glanced around with a thoughtful squint and admitted, "I really wanted to hire a cook. Killin me that I can't. Cause… ya know." It's really hard to find someone that'll keep up with Vic's demands for calories, not get judgemental on Vic and Kellan's relationship, oh and not lose their faculties that there's someone with an obvious mutation living there aaaand also can put up with Kaleb's frosty demeanor. Yeah that was a tall order. At least he was taking the safety of the others into regard.
*
Lorna's lips twitched faintly as she considered the menu and shrugged lightly, "I'll just get a little plate of the house special. I'm sure it'll be good." She sighed lightly, leaning back in her chair as she glanced around the restaurant and seemed lost for the moment in memories. Then she shook herself lightly and sat up.
"You could always try your hand a cooking, I know, it sounds laughable.. but hear me out. Cooking is science. It's chemistry a lot of the time. And if you consider it like that, you can master it quite easily. It's why my father is a good cook." She smiled.
*
Kaleb did listen to her but seemed to get lost. He was with her up to the end and boggled, "Like do it myself? Now to be fair? I could probably make a mean gingerbread house." manual labour? He pondered what one would even wear for that that might be acceptable to be seen in. He looked at her dubiously. "Maybe." Maybe. The orders were taken and he went with a ravioli because it was good and people should have what they want. He did observe curiously, "You seem to get on well enough with him. That's cool. How's things at the school going for you anyways?"
*
Lorna's lips twitched, "It was only a thought, I'm not a big cook. But I make good chocolate chip cookies." She grabbed her glass of water that a waiter set down and sipped at it for a long moment in consideration.
"Yeah, I get along well enough with him when he's home. It's just he's always gone now a days. I can't blame him, but it's just a bit frustrating." She sighed and glanced back to Kaleb after a moment's pause. "Well, things are going well. I've been doing what I usually do, language lessons among many other things. My German is still the best. I hate French it makes no sense to me." She huffed.
*
Kaleb was thinking on this and leaned over the table with a bit of curiosity and a tone of wonder. taking the extra precaution of making sure no sound was leaving the table with a bit of focus he said, "I wonder if I could boil water by yelling at it. Could build up friction. I… I dunno." Okay cooking might have gotten interesting again. For science. Say what one will about his attitude of apparent disinterest in the world he did listen when he applied himself. His brow furrowed with a od. That he could understand. "Yeah, well, it's what they do. Conquer the world so their children have someplace nice to live I guess." It was faint but the expression could commiserate. Then a smile curled the corner of his mouth and he grinned. "If you want help with French you can ask you know my French is good. My Latin's alright, but my French is good. Hell I just got back from there. Could have Billy take us over and get a quick immersion course in conversation and business. Because I'm not going that far and not going shopping. You should too."
*
Lorna flashed a grin, "My father would likely approve of your thoughts on that." She murmured, "And as far as boiling water? Maybe? It's worth a try." She shrugged and leaned in as he spoke of teaching her French.
"Oh yes please! That sounds like a great idea. My father had Billy take us to Rome before, and then started on about how many more languages I needed to learn. It's because he's European and believes I need to speak as many languages as possible on my own. Because I know my adoptive parents never asked that of me."
*
Kaleb blinked and looked interested in that. It was a curious concept but one that bit him. "He would?" Huh. That was new. Huh. he paused and tilted his head "DIdn't know you were adopted. They didn't just have a nanny?" Which to him made sense: Busy parents constantly out of the country? Have someone else raise your kids. That's how it was done right? He was more curious than critical, and interested in the answer. Other people's families were odd to him, but mutant family dynamics a mystery entirely.
At the enthusiasm to accept the assist in French he might have preened slightly. There were certain things he bothered to take pride in. "It'd be a fun trip. Besides be nice to have someone to practice with other than Kellan, Kellan, and Kellan. I can't win a 1:3 discussion in those conditions. One on one? Sure, but he cheats worse than I do."
*
Lorna laughed and nodded, "Yeah. I'm adopted. Actually, my father didn't know my siblings or I existed in all honesty." Her smile faded and she looked down at her lap. "It's all very complicated when you think about it." She sighed, running her fingers through her green hair.
"My father is Jewish. He grew up in Poland.." She stopped and started again, reaching for her glass of water. "He was the only one to escape the camps from our family. So family records are.. scant at best." She grimaced and glanced toward Kaleb.
"My adoptive parents took me in as a baby from Poland after the war. Green hair and all, though they made me dye it when I was old enough. Home school and stuff. My father found me when our powers resonated and nearly brought down the National Museum of Science."
*
Kaleb sat very still and listened acutely. The coffee wasn't touched and the pencil remained atop his book. Finally he said quietly, and without his usual indifference, "So you really do know better than most about trying to keep our people out of labs and government control." He took a deep breath and reasoned, "Maaaaan if they weren't going to get him for being Jewish they'd get him for being a Mutant. That's… That's some shit right there." He shook his head and leaned over the table as if a gesture of conspiracy as he could put sound when, where and at the volume he wanted. "Maybe you can help me explain to Jay why this can never. happen. again. But for what it is worth? I'm glad you didn't kill that werewolf." That he meant. He lacked a history of patronizing people, but for whatever reason he had with his own motives he treated that one like he had money riding on it. Who really knows. "Can't let them decide who we are for us. They don't get to make that choice. I don't care if it lives or dies but if they want to hunt it they can get their own hands dirty, not ours. Don't let them choose for you who you need to be, Lorna."
*
Lorna glanced up at Kaleb, her brows crinkling slightly, "His powers awoke there, actually, Kaleb. They knew." She swallowed hard and glanced back at the water glass, dragging her finger down and scraping off the condensation. "My sister and brother grew up there, as experiments. I was just the lucky one to be born after he was already out." She bit her lower lip and swallowed a hard lump in the back of her throat.
"It's why my family really doesn't really trust the government or anything." She smiled weakly, "It's also why my father, and sister are very protective over me." She smiled weakly, "And yeah. It just.. it sucks. I have nightmares about it. That someone will start calling for pogroms against Mutants and start rounding us up."
*
Kaleb did something he near never did and that was reach across the table and give her forearm a brief squeeze that was not sympathetic. He didn't understand things like pity or empathy really. He could make a promise thought and did so assuring, "Lorna, that day comes? I'll be the first one to sign up and stand right there with you to tell them that thaaaaaat is in no way getting tolerated without a fight they cannot hope to win. We are not going to be anyone's labrat. They don't get to exterminate us. But I promise you, I will not stand by and let that happen." He sat back in her chair taking a deep breath not looking at her admitting, "I've seen people talk about it. Makes dinner parties kinda scary, I'll admit." He shook his head and looked back to her. "Your school sounds pretty safe though?"
*
Lorna flashed Kaleb a smile, and it looked relieved. "Thank you." She sighed and reached for her water as he leaned back in his chair. She took a sip, and then glanced around once and back to him. "Yeah. The school is safe. If you think Kellan is impossible because of what he can do, then you should think about having an Uncle that knows literally everything that happens in his school. Plus is girl, who was my teacher originally. She has much the same strength. I got caught once trying to not tell her the whole truth and that did not go over well at all." She smiled.
"But it's really, really nice to have a place that is safe. Even if I get stir crazy staying out in the country." She exhaled a breath, seeming to relax again. "I wonder where the food is.." She murmured.
*
Kaleb relaxed in his chair as much as Kaleb ever relaxes. He really did go from ambivalent to enraged but one might imagine relaxed fit somewhere in there. He chuckled faintly and offered, "They make everything from scratch. We can have them bring bread out. SHouldn't be too long. I think… I may like to meet them. That's really creepy. People rifling through one's thoughts. Not that Kellan doesn't do that to me on occasion. I wonder if thats why he hits me. Huh" Yes. Yes Kaleb it is.
*
A laugh followed, "Well I can ask my Uncle Charlie, he's actually Professor there.. but he's been there for me since my father's been absent. He's helped train me and everything." She smiled and glanced down at her lap, "And he's really super smart too, like he's got a lot of degrees and everything. He doesn't go into your head without permission either. I just have a bad habit of projecting really badly." She looked sheepish.
"I'm trying to get better, but it's kinda hard to not think about stuff, right?"
*
Kaleb held up a finger and was about to begin, but lo, food arrived. It did not stop Kaleb from asking for the garlic bread anyways, yes another tea for her, absolutely another coffee for him and thank you. Apparently he knew what manners were but electively used them if he bothered to. The ravioli got cut as to not burn his mouth, which was a shame because he was hungry now. Sadly one cannot yell at food to demand it cool faster.
Echo was reluctant but did admit, "It's pretty cool though that your family knows. My brain can't even wrap around that as a concept. But hey we practice we get better. When I started learning new skills? " He laughed with what was a genuine amusement shaking his head with a gring,. Maybe it was Kellan in disguise. "I broke so much shit. Mom didn't even notice. I think someone got fired and my brother and I were sent to go see the Kingsmen in concert."
*
Lorna tucked into the pasta with gusto, and made a delighted 'mmm' as she practically inhaled it, hot or not. She was hungry. She paused for a moment, once the waiter was gone and glanced back to Kaleb. "Everyone in my blood relations is powered I guess. My brother and one of my nephews are speedsters. My sister Wanda is like Billy, only a hundred times more.. I guess. And my father and I are the same." She shrugged. "It's nice in that I have someone that understands."
She smiled and then tilted her head to the side in thought. "He's harder on me though as a result. He knows what my powers will be like, because they're the same. My polarity is just the opposite. He has a more northerly polarity and mine is southerly, I guess is how I know how to explain it." She shrugged and flashed him a grin at his story.
"It must have been nice to grow up with a sibling."
*
Kaleb said with all deadpan humor, "I'm assuming someone's tried to ask you to be more positive about it. But yeah having anywhere between one and four brothers? It's pretty groovy. He passed statistics for me. I took Geometry for him. It worked out." He was utterly shameless about that. He considered also admitting, "I mean you want to know what it's like to have siblings? Jay might be able to tell you better than me. I think he';s got like 47 siblings or something."
*
A laugh followed and she nodded, "Yeah, I mean. I never grew up with my siblings, they only came into my life in the last year. So it's been interesting to go from being an only child to suddenly having an older brother and sister." She murmured, twirling her fork around in the bowl of pasta.
"In all honesty my nephews have been more like siblings than my actual siblings, but that's only because we're closer in age. Wanda act more like a mom to me." She lowered her voice, "She lectures like nobody's business." She whispered, and grinned.
"So, Kaleb, why'd you invite me out anyways? I mean, I get the feeling that you're not the smarmy kinda guy that asks girls out to Italian eateries on the regular."
*
Kaleb had to give her that one. That was a fantastic question. "Ya know one? You're not wrong. Generally I avoid that sort of thing. It's just… bad for everyone involved generally." He was at one with his anti-social zen. At least the pretense didn't extend as far as deluding himself. "I was curious of a few things and see how you were after all… that… happened." He shook his head and ate his ravioli. "Marcello really outdid himself. I could ask you why you showed."
*
A faint dusting of pink colored Lorna's cheeks as she considered her pasta and twirled the fork about between her fingers. His words brought her gaze back up and she bit her lower lip. "You've met Billy, and Vic, and well.. You haven't run screaming from my weird family dynamics, so I figured it was worth my time to get to know you more." She laughed weakly and shook her head.
"I have terrible luck with guys meeting anyone in my family and not have them disappear on me." She cracked a smile and glanced back toward him. "I mean, even as a friend? That means a lot to me. I don't exactly have a whole lot of them. They kinda go off on adventures without me, or get annoyed or leave or something." She grimaced weakly.
"My life is sorta crazy."
*
Kaleb smirked and shook his head, "C'mon if I ran screaming in any condition we'd have a lot of people in the hospital." He drank his coffee and considered her reasons. Hey, they were fair reasons. Objectively he offered, "Eh, I tend not to either. Three reasons. Three? I tend to avoid having any because most people are insipid and just want something. Then there's a very drawn out dance of pleasantries that's just… tiring at best. Honestly there's generally something better I can do with that time. Two? Just damn tiring being their version of me and listen to the damn rhetoric and evolved beings slander. And the number one reason? " He chortled and glanced to her, "It may have escaped you, but I promise I am an asshole. But…" He shrugged and cut another ravioli in half. "You're pretty cool. I almost never get to hang out with our own, and it was shitty what happened to you with the werewolf thing. You kept me and Kellan from getting eaten and " He paused not terrifically good with this part and searched for it. He finally decided on, "It was appreciated."
*
Lorna flushed a pretty pink that spread over her fair cheeks and into her hair line. She bit her lower lip, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she listened carefully. She seemed to fall silent for a long moment, considering her own thoughts with care. A soft exhale followed as she set her fork down and lifted those green eyes back toward Kaleb.
"So you're pretty sick of people just pretending to be something they're not to get something from you." She murmured, "And you're sick of pretending to agree with their anti-mutant agenda and policies." She nodded once and offered him a smile.
"You're not that much of .. uhm.. a jerk. Really. I mean, there are people that think my father is one too, and he's the nicest." More than a few students were afraid of Magneto's stern glance and demeanor just on sight alone.
"And of course I would help you guys," She murmured softly, "I've had more than a little experience with crazy situations that make most people freeze up on. I've never had trouble reacting per say." She glanced down at her plate and pushed the pasta around with her fork carefully, twirling it between her fingers.
"And thank you.." She added after a moment.
*
Kaleb poked at his ravioli. He shrugged a bit. Stoically he nodded with some thought.He bit his bottom lip in thought about that until he finally concluded to her, "You're welcome." Why that took so much thought who really knew. "My father… once told me, 'Kellan, in business you can either be liked or you can get done what you need to get done. Rarely both'. Now, he had the wrong son, granted, but it seems your father is willing to sacrifice the sanctimonious BS in favour of seeing his people, us,. succeed in spite of those that would keep us down and endangered. I respect that, Lorna. I can't… tell you why people run away from that and you by proxy but maybe they are doing you a favour. I dunno. All I can say is there's a lot of people who don't want the truth to be reality. Someday humans'll start to play their hand and there will be a wake up call. On that day? Watch them change the tune they sing about him. You worry about you and him. Other people's opinions? They don't matter. They shouldn't matter any more to you than people telling em about the gays. I know who my brother is and I wouldn't trade him for a single one of them." He took a deep breath and looked skyward with a sigh, "God other people annoy me." He shook his head. Back to the coffee.
*
A sigh escaped her soft and considering as Lorna took another bite of her pasta. She held her silence again for a long time, as she was wont to do when she was thinking. "My father values few things in this world. Family, and mutants are the two that come to mind." She murmured softly, "He tries his hardest to be understanding when he can afford to be. Especially with the other students. It's just.. he's .. well, understandably, he's a bit stern sometimes. And he is pretty intimidating to some of the more care free and goofier kids.." She shook her head.
"But regardless of what happens in the future," And she had heard a lot of that from several people from the future. Hope mostly, who was gone with Tommy.. Her lips pursed together in thought. "I'm rambling a bit, sorry. I kind of do that. A lot."
*
Kaleb made a circle with his fork in the air, "Vic still holds the record. You're fine." He concluded and smirked a bit arching an eyebrow, "You know I can literally tune you out if it's a problem right?" Which would explain why on the roof for a while no sires or screaming or mayhem was heard for a while after the werewolf was down. "Like seriously people that talk constantly are sometimes great. They go on, I tune them out, nod occasionally, other people leave me alone, drawing gets done. Questions are tricky because then they just stare." The fork was held up to punctuate. More thoughtfully he said "I dunno about the future. Now counts. We don't figure out now tomorrow won't make any difference. And now may demand we hit the record store after this. speaking of rebellion Sam Cooke has a new album he's touring on. Lou Rawls too. Capitol Records has been kinda on a roll lately. You game for a field trip, Ms. I'm studying gravitational theory but I'm still fighting with French?"
*
Lorna lightly scraped the bottom of her plate, finishing off the pasta and snagging a piece of garlic bread. She blushed faintly again as Kaleb waved off her ability to ramble in comparison to Vic and she smiled. "Oh, right. I keep forgetting all the ways that sound manipulation can be useful. I'll have to look at how they can work in conjunction with magnetism." She tilted her head in thought, green eyebrows furrowing. The offer of the record store had her smile brightening.
"Oh, yes! That sounds groovy. I love the record store. I rarely get over there, but I have a little recorder player in my room. It's a life saver when I don't want to hear the students."
His last comment had her turning crimson and she sat up. "Hey! I'll have you know, science makes sense when you can see the magnetic poles of the world around you. I can't see French." She muttered.