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Lorna stepped inside after the gathering outside had.. well, at least mildly broken up after Kaleb's tale. Doubtlessly there would be more questions. She had them. But she wasn't going to push for them. She squeezed Kaleb's hand as she finally entered, glancing over him. "Hey, I can grab the cookies from the kitchen.. if you feel up for it." She bit her lower lip, pushing her hair back behind an ear.
She was still in her training clothes from earlier. Well, before everything went to chaos with Warren's arrival. At least he was in the medbay now.
Kellan remains at Kaleb's side with one arm around his brother's shoulders, still mulling over what all of the information that hd been revealed might mean. He's dressed in his prep-school attire, complete with blue slacks, white shirt, blue tie, his perpetually somewhat-messy hair in its usual slight state of disarray. As they make their way inside he takes a look around slowly. Then he glances over toward Lorna and says, "Cookies couldn't hurt.." though he glances at Kaleb and isn't sure if he's up for having one or not.
Did someone mention cookies? Because it might be a coincidence or it might just be that he was getting the psychic impressions of cookies, but the Professor is actually in the kitchen. And he's… baking cookies?!? He has his, "Kiss the Chef!" apron on, several racks of cookies cooling off as he's been… baking?!?
Well, the man does have many talents. And some of the long time students know that the Professor does like to engage in culinary experimentation. In this case, cookies!
Kaleb was exhausted, and just relieved that Sophia shared his sentiment of: hunt them all down; put them all down. Their pal just fell from the sky like Rocket Man (who wouldn't get a song for another 8 years), had to relive his demons and Warren's tragedy all over in some visceral detail, and his best (and maybe only other) friend was pissed at him when he was trying to protect him. Kaleb Miller was 18 and bad at this. That happens when you grow up without proper contacts and training. He wasn't even a member of the school formally yet and he was already in trouble with some lady with an office? It was a big day for everyone and he really was terrible at dealing with the few emotions he had to work with.
He stuck with his twin. He was happy to let his brother safeguard him socially while he put his carefully constructed 'indifference' back into place. When Lorna offered cookies and he was referenced for opinion there was an earnest, "Yeah, Lorna, that'd be…great… how's he do that?" He gave her hand a squeeze back as if 'thanks' even though it was apparently taken care of.
Sophie follows Lorna and the brothers inside, remaining quiet as she walks, her mind still processing the events of the past while, and the story Kaleb told of the events overseas, now that she has a moment to not just be responding to the emergency or reacting. Anger, horror, revulsion… Her memories of Warren's, well, /angelic/ masculine beauty versus what's been done to him… The usually sunny and upbeat young woman is troubled, indeed, and it doesn't take a telepath to perceive it.
Julie has trailed along inside, probably with the other girls, out of habit. Just glancing around, for now. Leans against a doorframe. Finishes the last half of a ciggy, there, apparently waiting for further comment. "So, I don't get it," she says, finally. "Why'd they grab up a rich mutant, tear him up, turn him into something a lot more dangerous, then show that off to other rich guys in the first place?"
Lorna smiled faintly at Kaleb, and squeezed his hand before moving off toward the kitchen. Of course that's where Charles was and he could easily read the turmoil, the worry, the confusion and hints of hurt that were in Lorna's emotions. Kaleb had been upset. He had snapped at her. But then again he was upset still and had seen horrible things. And Jean wanted her in the office later as part of the explaination of what had just happened to Warren.. and she had no idea why.
Her mind played it over and over again. Mixed with all kinds of fears and nightmares that Erik and Wanda had fed her about secret government experiments run in Europe. Oh boy was she going to have nightmares again tonight.
Still she came all but jogging up to Charles, "Oh my gosh, yes." She bit her lower lip, and peered into the kitchen by the door frame. "Are they done?"
Kellan follows Lorna toward the kitchen along with Kaleb. He glances over at Julie and says, "Maybe to turn him against other mutants?" It's just a guess, but he can't figure out another one off the top of his head at the moment. He can still feel Kaleb's discomfort as clearly as if it was his own now that he's so close and has opened himself up to it. Seeing Charles in the kitchen making cookies, though, that makes him smile a little lopsided smile. "Hey, Professor."
The Professor nods, "Yes, those two racks are cool enough, Lorna. The others might be a bit hot, so sample at your own risk!" He does, however, lose the cheerful demeanor as the other kids bring up Warren, "Jean informed me about what happened, and… well, we'll do all that we can to help him. But it isn't just Warren that needs support." He smiles kindly to the kids as they come into the kitchen, eyes flickering a bit over at Kaleb and Lorna, then he gestures, "Milk is in the fridge, too."
Kaleb stayed quiet and let Kellan do most of the talking. He was good with people and was demonstrated. He took in the proceedings at the school and working on saving face. Even he had his limits. Now what either he or Lorna saw in the other was a complete mystery to most but there was a genuine appreciation in the small gesture that might have an answer. She swallowed and tried to answer Dizzy as best as he could, "I got theories. Kellan's is one. There's a lot of conflict on the horizon as well and my thought was expendable soldiers maybe? Would… make sense with that werewolf lady and what she said down in Mutant Town. They were using our people as a guinea pig there because the cops don't care as much if it's mutants as opposed to someplace sacred, like a Macey's." he shrugged and even he had enough of his rage for the day and left it at speculation. "Thank you Professor…for taking him in." Warren.
<Oh, thank God.> That's what runs through Sophie's mind, in her native tongue, when she sees the Professor is present in the kitchen. There are precisely four people in this world the might turn to when her mind is under this much unease, and only one of them is appropriate under the circumstances. And he's here, his mere presence already starting to calm the turmoil within her.
Without saying a word, the slender blonde walks over to get herself a cookie.
Julie nods, crushing out her smoke and following along. "Only it ain't like Warren's someone who wouldn't be missed, is he?" She shrugs a bit, waving to the Prof and tossing a little salute, saying, "I got the milk, then." And heads for the fridge, before bringing that back.
Lorna quickly moved about the kitchen, snagging a plate and loading it up with cookies before she moved to grab some glasses down from the cabinet as Julie went for the milk. She figured that Kellan and Kaleb at least, wouldn't know where to find them. She glanced back at Kaleb as he spoke, her expression pinched with worry. "It sounds like Weapon X. Did Warren have a healing factor like Jay?" Her brows furrowed. "The metal on his wings.." She hesitated.
"It's not adamantium.. So maybe it's not the same guys." She fidgeted, grabbing a cookie and nibbling on it.
"And Kaleb said it was in Europe.."
Kellan finds a place to lean against the counter as he watches everyone going about the business of cookie preparation. He doesn't know where anything is and is a little out of his element, so he waits, mostly quietly, just staying near Kaleb for silent support while things get set out. He then grabs a cookie for himself and one for Kaleb, passing it over. He says, "Someone said he did.. that he could heal," he finally says in answer to Lorna and then he looks over at Xavier and says, "I uhm, decided that I'd like to come to the school, after we talked the other day.. and start in the fall. Was just coming by to see it, and folks." And kind of stumbled into all of this. "I was wondering if I could ask you about something.. later, when you know.. things aren't as.."
The Professor gives Kellan a smile, "Crazy? Well, if you want to wait, I'll be available, Kellan." He nods and retrieves the last trays of cookies from the oven, then once they are on the cooling racks, he puts the baking sheets in the sink. Taking off the mitts, he then looks over at Lorna, "I'm not entirely sure who or what would be responsible, but we will find out." And he sounds pretty determined about that. "I might have to do a few… inquiries." He looks a bit out of sorts about what he might have to do, but shrugs slightly.
Kaleb was happy letting Kellan and his 20 questions take point. Hell he was sharing as much real estate in his brother's psyche as he could right now because it made more sense than his own. It was also helpful that Kellan was his outsourced humanity. He ate his cookie and did, in truth, believe that he was going to have to go through and adjust every vest he owned because he was going to gain 10 pounds. Mmmm worth it. The organizations thrown around didn't seem to hit any bells. Looking up to the Professor he shook his head, "You're asking if you're able to crawl in my head and pick through the movie reel? Sure just… I need to eat something first if that's alright?"
In the middle of the crisis outside, Sophie had not bothered to ask just what this stranger — now known to be Kellan — was doing here. Now that she knows, her more usual behavior patterns kick in, if dented somewhat by today's happenings. It's quite possibly more comforting to her than to him as she turns to the boy and says, softly, "Welcome. I'm sorry your first visit had to be while… all this…" She shrugs a bit helplessly.
Julie sets down a couple of milk bottles with a bit of a thunk. Who the milk-truck driver might be at Xavier's, who knows, but she nods. She indicates Kaleb to Kellan discreetly, and says, quietly, "They kinda made him watch." Tries to smile consolingly to Kaleb, "Also they wasn't counting on you or the Prof here, so maybe think of street signs when the time comes. It's details, sometimes." Or so she figures, popping open some milk and starting to fill glasses Lorna brings. Kellan gets a little wave. "What can you do.At least I guess you see how we take care of our own here." She may be wanting to see some of tha herself, just now, but… there's a 'we' there.
Lorna picked up a glass of milk once it was poured, taking a plate along with her to offer to Kaleb with a weak smile. "Here." She glanced back to the Professor, biting her lower lip. "It's not like when people were grabbing homeless mutants or throwing drugs in the sketchy parts of the city. This is Warren, people know him. Like it was said before.. he has people to miss him." She paused, tilting her head to the side.
"And he wasn't out as a mutant either. So whoever grabbed him, wasn't afraid of consequences. And they somehow knew about his mutation." Another pause as she considered details that Kaleb had offered. "And they're business contacts with Kaleb and Kellan's family business. That has to help, right?" Then she was moving to take up her own glass of milk and snagged another cookie to dip into it.
Kellan smiles a little lopsidedly over at Sophie and says, "Oh.. it's okay. I spent most of my life in a shoebox in the closet hiding.. then in the past few weeks it seems like all hell has broken loose and.. the world just got a whole lot bigger all at once." There's a distinct frown in Lorna's direction as he says, "I don't know a lot about what Capstone does, or who my dad might have contacts with. It's never really been an interest of mine, and I don't know what they were doing in Europe either, but maybe we can try and find out.. see if we can figure out names of businesses our folks were meeting with while over there." He glances toward Kaleb then, and then back to Xavier and he smiles a little. "It's about Vic. He .. really really wants to go to school, and he's, not exactly a mutant but.. he's really close, and he really wants to learn, not just about the things he can do but about everything. I was wondering if you would consider talking to him, at least.. maybe give him a chance." He's a little bit tentative about it, but he knows more about that than he does about business.
The Professor smiles, "Well, we have had students that were not mutants before." Well, one, and she was a special case. But the Professor continues, "So, I'll interview him and we'll see if he would be suitable. But I make no promises on the matter." Still, he does sound pretty optimistic, even as he looks over at Kaleb, shaking his head, "No, I don't need to do that. Nor am I asking to do so. I have other things in mind." What that is, he's decidedly vague on.
Kaleb offered a wan, but appreciative smile to Julie, "Yeah that was not-" He paused and shook his head "yeah." But lo there was a glass and they put milk in it and people weren't yelling and his head slowly stopped ringing. It was negligible a gesture to anyone really, but he slipped his hand around Lorna's and at his cookie and drank his milk. Because when you are a too-grown-up 18 year old and then just got emotionally beat like you were 8? Ya know cookies and milk are kinda the ticket back to equilibrium. "Well if you want to for Warren and any others? I'll do it. I can't help but think it had to be someone he knew or" He stopped and winced not for the thought but because he had to be the asshole to say it out loud. "They said something about 'helping our own' meaning people with too much money and not enough common sense I guess, but what if it was his own family thinkin they were helping him out? I don't… know."
"You're right, Warren is far too well-known to be simply 'disappeared' and not expect anyone to notice…," Sophie muses aloud, before listening to what Kaleb has to say — and then another possible light goes on. "No, not his family, but maybe his family's rivals? In business or otherwise? As a weapon against them? Or maybe they learned he was a mutant and couldn't stand for having one of us among them, and wanted to make an example of him? Turn him into an actual monster and just set him loose, to remove him from the picture and destroy his family's reputation at the same time?"
Julie nods, and wrinkles a lip, looking to Kaleb. "I guess 'one of our own' it means different things in different places," she says, soberly, as she sneaks herself a cookie. "He always seemed a good guy, considering where he's from, I guess the bad guys where he's from didn't think he counted, if they found out." It's not like that's not something she hasn't lived with most of her life, after all. Shakes her head to Sophie, though. "I don't think so, he said he was the last of the line, with the name, pretty sure. What would be the point of a big stunt when they could just get rid of him and do their boardroom …things."
Lorna flashed Kaleb a small smile as he reached for her hand. She finished off her cookie, and then used it as an excuse to press her shoulder against his. Her hand giving his own a gentle squeeze. It would seem holding hands was their sole sign of PDA. Parents and siblings the world over rejoice.
As the conversation continued, Lorna's brows furrowed faintly in thought. "He came here after all that. And it looked like he was trying to attack Scarlett. Either because he was disoriented and in pain.. or.." She blinked repeatedly, biting her lower lip. "What if he was sent here on purpose? What if it was all just a way to see where he'd run? I know Kaleb you said that you helped him escape.. I just.. what if it was all a trap? I just.. if a lab goees to the trouble to grab mutants and .. and do that.."
She swallowed a hard lump in her throat. "It's just a thought.. Sorry.."
Kellan looks grateful to Xavier and says, "That'd be really kind of you. Thanks. I know you've already seen some of who he is when you interviewed me. He's a really good guy. I think you'll like him." He smiles a little then, and takes a sip from his milk and a bite of his cookie, clinging a littel bit to something hopeful before Lorna's words give him a bit of a shiver and his eyes widen slightly. "Does that mean that maybe they tracked him back here?" There's a quick look at Xavier and then at the others. "Uhm, so we have a way of knowing if anybody else is following him?"
The Professor hmms, "Well, if they did, they'll find themselves in for a bit of a surprise." He radiates confidence about that, and looks at Lorna, "But I don't think it was a ruse. Though if it was, I'm certain that anyone coming here causing trouble will soon regret it." Because, well, he keeps his abilities pretty low key. Until the appropriate moment, anyway. Then he looks at Kellan, "I know Hank and Jean will be checking him out thoroughly, so we should be fine in that regard."
Kalebactually stiffled a snerk as Kellan started to speak muting the sound off himself so there was nothing but sometimes the sheer warmth off Kellan in contrast to kaleb was an almsot comical contrast. Fianlly after a long quiet of focusing on snacking h e shook his head, "It's been about two weeks. but the crabby lady withthe red hair who said she wanted to talk to us said that he wasn't followed. " Oh he did not just call Jean that did he/ "Who's she anyways and why's she get an office?"
Sophie stares at Lorna, as an imaginary icy finger runs down her spine. "Merde…," she mutters under her breath. Even with the Professor's reassuring confidence, it's still a frightening thought that the school itself might come under attack.
Pushing that thought aside — with some difficulty — she says, "We've come up with some interesting — and horrifying — possibilities here, as to why someone would do this to Warren, but without more solid information, it's all just speculation. Warren himself is probably our best, closest source for learning anything, once he's up to it. And assuming, and I realize how dark this is, that they haven't wrecked his mind as much as his body."
Julie nods at what Kaleb says, having a nibble at a cookie. Nods. "I thought it was the Russkies a minute there, but, yeah, that's what Miss Grey said. If someone had aircraft doing something unusual around here, I think I would have noticed. Unless maybe they was on rockets or something." She seems to count this unlikely. Has more cookie. She notes to Lorna, "I guess they weren't too shy about bringing Kaleb somewhere, though, maybe he could remember." How someone could travel Europe without even knowing what country they're in might be a bit beyond Dizzy's experience. But there's that.
Lorna glanced back to Kaleb. "That's Jean, uhm Ms. Grey as Julie said. She's one of the telepaths here. And I guess she's kind of a teacher now? Secretary? Professor ish? She's the one I told you I roomed with at one point, and how I constantly project and had to be very careful about keeping my side of the room clean." She flashed Kaleb a smile. Oh how Jean and her had fought before Jean had gone off to work on her headspace.
"But yeah.. I guess I forgot that she said she didn't sense anyone. I didn't sense like anything else metal on Warren beside his wings.." She bit her lower lip, thoughtful. "I dunno how those even work. I mean, feathers have to get replaced all the time, right?" She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose.
Kellan settles in to cookie eating and watching, seeming content for now to listen to the speculation about what might be going on and what they might be able to do about it. His gaze shifts from one to another with interest, but he adds nothing further. There's milk and cookies, and he seems to occupy himself with that, and by occasionally leaning his shoulder against his twin's, a quiet reminder that he's still there.
The Professor smiles, "Jean is a teacher here, and my successor if something happens. Don't, call her a secretary." He winks at Lorna, then pauses and tilts his head, "Children, don't eat all the cookies, but I do need to attend some school business." He gives Lorna a wry look as he takes off the apron, revealing his normal shirt and tie and slacks. But at least he wasn't cooking in his suit jacket as he says, "Kellen, we'll talk more later, and I'll be glad to meet with Vic. If you'll excuse me?" With that he gives all the kids a smile, hustling out of the kitchen with a certain degree of haste.
Kellan goes home.
Kaleb made a quiet 'ooooh' expression that suggested perhaps it unwise to call her 'the crabby redhead'. He squeezed Kellan's knee as a thanks or a 'see it roed out'. As people filtered out he elected to remain withthe food and the ladies, and really some might suggest it was the wisest choice. Good company was its own commodity. To the speculation he offered in a blunt, but conversational tone, "Yeah I'm aware the people around Warren and his family's business might be implicated… give those are the same people Kellan and I grew up with and the entire reason I never told anyone I was…" He was allergic to the M word so ahrd, "exceptional unwil Lorna showed up in the living room to visit her family that my brother new a few weeks ago. I'm acutely aware the upper eschelons of society are rife wihth people but no one likes to believe me. Specifically it's why they brought me I guess."
Kaleb thought about it and offered fianlly up to brainstorming, "Jay's right, yeah I mean I pass really really well for one of them. I got this resting jerk face thing down to a tee, but it doens't mean we're exempt. Had they found out? I'm pretty confident Kellan'd be short a brother right now. I mean if they could get their hands on Kellan? I'd be really, really concerned." Lorna's hand got a faint squeeze. Well he was pretty unlikable and abrasive, but he wasn't without concern for the people around him apparently.
"Jean is many things," Sophie says, amusedly, finally starting to relax a little, despite the undercurrent of emotions remaining from all that happened earlier. "And half the school has been in love with her at one point or another. And the other half just won't admit it." She laughs, shaking her head. "But she is also among the most powerful among us, and your best bet if things really go bad." If Sophie sounds a bit in awe of the redhead, well, that would be because she is.
Julie smirks to Sophie, "I'd say 'Give a girl a chance,' but I'm going steady." She's been listening to Kaleb, though, and, perhaps at least just tonight, appreciates a certain directness he has, when he's not being directly saying he's feeling ill-used. She tilts her milk-glass toward him. "Well, either they spotted you out or they didn't. If they did, maybe it's you they tracked and sent Warren after, or maybe he gave up the address anyway when they…" She pauses, there. If there were telepaths present, she'd be thinking of what she'd seen done to Logan however secondhand, "When they was tuning him up, you know?" She shrugs. "Anyway, now you're both here, it ain't so easy, that's what I think." Cause the Professor said, maybe.
Lorna shrugged, "I lived with Jean for a semester when Miss Frost ran her own school. That was more than enough time for me to used to Jean. Ups and downs and everything in betwee. I still can't process the idea of her being in charge." She made a face, and wrinkled her nose. "Seriously strange to me."
Then she shook her head, her hand still captured by Kaleb's and she brushed her thumb over his knuckles. In her other hand, she reached for another cookie. She cheated of course, by bringing the entire sheet of still cooling cookies over to her.
"And like the Professor said, it's all speculation. We'll figure it out eventually. We always do. Sometimes it just takes a bit longer than anyone would prefer." She snatched up a cookie and nibbled at it.
Kaleb nodded in agreement with the perspectives on the table. "Maybe. really I'm happy to welcome Kellan's dupes being dragged apart to the four corners of the map so they can run tests on relay and healing or anyone else being treated like a lab rat." His eyes quint shut and he stared into the crumbs of his cookie considering the telepath. His hand stayed still and this might be the longest running marathon of contact with another human being he's had historically and it hasn't been twenty minutes. It could also be because Kellan just nested in his skull for a solid half hour too that he remembered what it was to have it. Who really knew? "Ya knoooow, let's hope they didn't have a telepath. Still I 'pushed' a lot of people and usually I can't actually/do/ that with telepaths. Their awareness works different. " He looked at the sea of stares and gave the short run down, "I can bend sound to do subliminal suggestion. It's in part how I got people to unlock the doors." He wasn't proud of that fact but hey, it was unethical but they started it.
"With what they were doing to Warren, I have a hard time seeing anything you might have done as 'unethical'," Sophie comments. "My parents fought one kind of human monsters who thought they could do whatever they wanted to those they decided were 'different'. We may be about to do the same, with another kind."
Lorna sighed, tilting her head to rest it against Kaleb's shoulder for a moment. She certainly wasn't complaining about Kaleb willingly holding her hand. "Well, my guess is that they're likely just baselines. I mean, if they're supposed to be part of these like super rich folks running some kind of a secret lab in Northern Europe? I dunno." She ran her free hand through her hair, pulling out her headband and shaking out her green locks.
Her gaze settled on Sophie and she pursed her lips together. "Regardless of what these people are trying to do, Warren is safe here. As safe as he possibly could be. We've got at least three powerful telepaths on campus. We've got a lot of well trained people with extrodinary powers.." For all the good it had done Logan, getting snatched by weird demon things from the cabin out back.
Julie hrms. For some reason a mixer stand has started turning, next to her, with a 'vrr' sound not coming from any discernible mechanism. She tilts her glass toward Sophie, there, her own father-she-never knew having died somewhere over ther doing the same thing. She glances back toward Kaleb again. "Kellan duped a bunch of people?" she asks. "Sounds like you boys done a lot to help already. Thanks, if you helped Warren get out. I wasn't even sure anything was wrong."
Kaleb glanced to Lorna as she found solace in the discussion of terrible things, her family obviously having been there also as projects. He wan't going to dig into that nightmare. not anymore than they already have for the night. "Yeah that's… pretty much what I said. Eh, you were right, Lorna. Can only save one sometimes.>" He lifted his milk to Julie and Sophie in silent solidarity. "Kellan didn't go with me. I try to keep him away from that stuff. I can listen to wealthy jerks talk about the mutant problem. Just means I don't have to consider feeling bad about being an ass to the. Kellan's actually nice though. I don't wanna do that to him it's like… kicking a puppy. but he divides into duplicates of himself. Not like a copy though, like fission. There is no Kellan prime and Kellan copies. There's… Kellans. Lorna thinks the Professor and some of the people around here can help him with the telepathy part though."
"That sounds like a really interesting power. So many possibilities," Sophie comments. "But also possibly very confusing. And if telepathy is involved, then the Professor and Jean and certain others here can almost certainly help, yes. The Professor himself is particularly good at helping people to learn to control their powers, or to use them more effectively. I was not quite 13 years old when my powers first manifested. I am not certain what would have happened to me if I had not wound up here."
Lorna offered Kaleb a strained smile, he understood the reason for her pinched expression and the look she flashed him was all warmth. "The Professor has a better understanding of mutations than most people. Of course he's got like, a million PhD's so I'm sure that helps." Her smile eased and she glanced at the sheets of cookies, contemplating the idea of getting another one or not.
"I'm sure that he can help both you and Kellan."
Julie hrms, to Kaleb, seeming to take a moment to digest that info about Kellan. "I guess we oughtta meet when everything's not suddenly being so crazy, then," she says. "And, hey, some of the upper crust can be all right, …Warren always was, among others. He kind of inherited some cars I been doing some work on so he can drive em. Kept on this old mechanic that can teach me a few things about foreign jobs even, …Warren does all right by people. He don't deserve this, whatever it was. " Just nods to what Lorna says about the Professor's abilities.
Kaleb squeezed Lorna's hand. Yeah yeah yeah he pays attention. There was a shrugged expression in faint suggesting that yes, he got it. Though from his account earlier? Well seeing it first hand certainly qualified him as 'getting it'. To Sophis there was a more energetic nod and of the few things that got his turntable spinning proverbially it was discussing music, mutant rights, not ruining tea by putting sugar in it, and his twin whom he was just proud of. It was one of the positive subjeccts he would go on about.
"Yeha he can split into a few him's and all do all sorts of different things like irritatingly study four subjects at once? I'm clever, but friggen smart as all get out. He can talk to himself in his head too like a bee hive unless the get too far away. Sometimes he can go out of bandwith. He can hop signal to me pretty easy but… well… obvious reasons." Being an identical twin gets your advantages. "It's hard for him to reach out to other people. He can but it's… new."
When Julie brought up Warren there was a small nod, "Yeah Warren always did right by us. I mean we didn't go to school with him at the same time obviously," as there was a 6-7 year age gap there and the MIllers only just graduated. "Warren was one of the seven peopel at those gatherings I could stand for any length of time> But no, this shouldn't have happened to him. It shouldn't have happened to ANY mutant and we'll figure out…something. it's weird ya know, actually meeting other … more like us." still hated the branding of the M word.
"Being around others like us, not having to hide who we are or what we can do… Yes, that's one of the best things about being here. Maybe /the/ best thing," Sophie says, smiling. "And knowing that, whatever else, there are people who have your back."
Lorna nodded, "Yeah.. Warren helped out in Mutant Town. After a good portion of the city got destroyed he had his company donate a lot of supplies. He even came down a few times to make sure that the mutants were getting the supplies he sent." She smiled, "It's how I met him actually." She shrugged, her hand still in Kaleb's grip.
"I'm sure something can be done to help him." She dragged a hand through green hair, her lips twisting in thought.
Julie nods to Sophie's observation, there. Crooks a finger over her glass of milk to indicate 'What she said.' "It's pretty new to meet others, for me, too, really. Actually Warren was one of the first I really talked to. There was this thing where we kind of ended up in Brazil, kind of wild."
The small crew were gathered around a large and rapidly diminishing pile of chocolate chip coolies. One was set aside on the counter because the Professor said don't eat them all. One left could not be all.
RKaleb sat on one of the stools holding Lorna's hand with her head dropped on his shoulder while they were trying to focus on more optimistic topics other than their friend vivisected in the med bay. Cheery that. He reluctantly warmed a faint grin at the idea of just… being. "Yeah it's nice around here I won't lie. We grew up terrified at beign found out. Where I come from 'fixing the problem' is a popular after dinner topic. And they have the brass to make it sound like they're being sympathetic."
A blue streak goes by almost faster than the eye can see. Four cookies are missing and there is a faint trail of blue light fading from the main entrance of the school grounds, into the side entrance by the kitchen past everyone, through the hallways, and up the stairs towards the student's rooms. Then just as everyone has time to realize something just happened and start to wonder what, WHOOSH!! A gust of wind blows in after the blue streak sending any unsecured papers or loose, light weight items flying into the air and a torrent of leaves splatters against the side of the kitchen windows while many of them try to squeeze through the door and slap into everything and everyone inside.
Lorna squeezed Kaleb's hand, smiling at him as he spoke about how nice it was to be around the school. To be able to be who he was without fear or worry. It was something she wished everyone could enjoy. Her head rested on his shoulder, green hair fluttering around her features as she'd removed her headband and shoved it in her pocket sometime ago.
Then of course came the woosh and the expected chaos that followed a Speedster racing through and Lorna sat up abruptly. "Tommy?" A pause, Tommy didn't go to the school. He hated the idea of school. Her lips pursed together. "Pietro?" She ventured cautiously. Oh god, please don't let it be her older brother.
She had desperately hoped that her father would be the first one to meet Kaleb. At least Erik knew she was dating a guy.
At the first passing of the blur, Sophie stops, just as she was about to say something. At the second passing, and the spattering, she looks decidedly less amused as she yells, "PIETRO!" She's guessing, too, of course, but color plus obvious powerset make the blur's identity at least a reasonable bet.
Julie ducks after the first 'whoosh,' pops up just before the second, ducks again, far too late. Reaches for another cookie, which is gone, sighs. "Tommy?" she asks Lorna a bit incredulously. "*Jersey* Tommy? Leave it to that guy to be a supersonic cookie thief…" she says. Glances around. Consensus says 'Pietro,' though, so it may be an academic point at the moment.
Kaleb was actually calmed down after the excitement on the lawn that nearly ended with Echo and Icarus in an old fashioned ground and pound brawl. He was about to eat his cookie when there was wooshing going on at such speeds that he didn't catch any of that until; yeah the cookie dropped and he grabbed his right ear, "Dammit!" There was a high pitched noise coming from his milk glass that very quickly got a hand placed on top to baffle the vibration in it and his mouth clamped shut. "I don't care who it is but if you pop my ear again I'm tying your shoelaces together." note to self: activly tamp down passive amplification when in a house with powered people. Right he smirked at Julie, "No I'm a super sonic, that's super offensive to physics. Wow there is hardy anything of an afterimage. Hey come back here I need to test somethin…" Uh oh he had ideas.
Upstairs the sound of the shower is being used erupts as Pietro turns them on and starts to sing that catchy song from that nifty Elvis movie that came out recently, Viva Las Vegas.
"A little less conversation. A little less conversation, a little more action please! All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me. A little more bite and a little less bark, a little less fight and a little more spark! Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me! Satisfy me baby!" he sings loudly from the showers for anyone who can detect it to hear. Also there is a smell of burning from upstairs. Nothing to worry about I mean, surely he wouldn't run into the house to set it on fire, right…?
Lorna flushed, glancing sharply toward Kaleb in concern as he lets go of her hand to not explode the glass in his. Then her attention shifted back to Julie as she does a similar line of questions as she did. "Tommy is my nephew. He's as bad as my brother." As the singing started she pointed toward the second floor above. "Pietro." She offered, her lips thinning.
"But that is most definitely not Tommy singing. And it would seem my brother can't seem to handle saying hi before stealing cookies and running off like a big jerk." She huffed, crossing her arms.
"Um, something's on fire," Sophie observes, catching the scent. And with a swirl of mist, she takes airy form again, and *whooshes* upstairs to look for the source if it. She may not be as fast as Pietro, but just shy of Mach One isn't slow, either.
Julie hrms, taking in what Lorna says. Then what Sophie says. Considers this a beat. "So, are we on fire again? Cause I think she just said we're on fire again." In the kitchen as they are, she grabs up a big silver fire extinguisher, ..in what seems to be a typical move for Dizzy, she hoofs it along in hopes of containing the damage.
|ROLL| Sophie Rousseau +rolls 1d100 for: 23
Kaleb looked around carefully. There was a LOT of glass in here. Casually to Sophie he said "Yeah not burning down the house is good." Too blue eyes drift back to Lorna and he was still kind of inspired, "I kinda want to see if I can get up to tracking him. Kellan found a book on bats and whales and things. That'd take a ton of focus and fine tuning but hey, goals I guess." Echo looked from Dizzy to Lorna and back "Well she's got an extinguisher and I have no motivation to hunt aguy down in a shower."
Lorna heaved a sigh, dragging her hand over her features as she glanced toward Kaleb. "I am not dealing with my brother. If he set something on fire, then he can explain to Uncle Charlie why the mansion burned down." A pause, as Sophie took off and then Julie.
"Or we can just let them handle it." She murmured, tilting her head to the side. "Besides, he'll be done and back down here before either of them make it upstairs." She bit her lower lip, carefully taking Kaleb's hand again. "He loves pranks. Uhm.. so, be prepared. I guess."
Julie tsks, as she hefts said extinguisher along, it's a bit awkward for someone her size, but she seems used to things like the weight. Which she elects to heft on her shoulder to make better progress. She looks back. "Hey, at least someone else around here still digs Elvis."
As she's headed upstairs, Julie will hear Sophie's voice from up ahead, "Pietro! How do I put this /out/?" And as Julie gets closer, she'll start smelling a sulfur-ish scent layered in with the burning smell.
Kaleb chuckled and could, at it turns out, immitate Elvis voice, Be a honey bear and get the fire on out " Okay Echo was chroniscally dressed like a suit but at least didn't take everything so direly serious. Sulfer? He blinked and then blinked again. He looked down at Lorna's hand having wound up back in his, and moved back to her and his question, "Your room is at the other end that way ish and up right? Cause if that's sulfer?" He paused and said fianlyl, "It might smell like that sewer of exploding rats. I don't think you want that even from a family member." Truer words have not been spoken.
Lorna laughed at Kaleb's imitation, a smile blooming over her features as she shoulder bumped against Kaleb's side. Her smile faded however at the mention of sulfur. Her nose wrinkled as she considered what Kaleb said about her room. "I swear I will disown Pietro if he just left something nasty in my room." She muttered hotly, her cheeks burning.
A pout followed and she buried her features against Kaleb's shoulder. "Can I just spend the night at your place then? I don't want to smell something gross. Heck, I haven't even gotten my shower from after training yet."
A voice yells from under the water in the shower, "The fire will put itself out, once it burns up all the clothing. It's hellfire. That is how it works!" Pietro explains from inside the shower. "Don't get too close. It likes to jump! Trust me! You don't want your head on fire! It would burn you down to your skull. No one wants walking around with their skull on fire!" I mean, really, "How would you ever enjoy hats again!?" he asks as he scrubs.
Kaleb considered the request, blinked, and finally offered, "Yeah if you want it'll be pretty quiet. The odds of Jay coming back tonight are pretty damn slim. I'll grab teh couch as I'll probably be up anyways." He glanced warily upstairs and squint, "I bet that does nothing good for hte wainescoating."
Julie is, meanwhile, running up like she may be expecting the whole hallway to have caught fire, but bumps her extinguisher through the doorway before setting it down heavily. She doesn't seem to have attention to spare for shower curtains, but hrms. Green fire. "Arright, this ain't the usual!" A finger extends deliberately to any locks on window-sashes, to undo them. One of her signature kerchiefs becomes an improvised mask if she needs to actually go open one.
Just in case, airy-Sophie backs off from the lovely bit of hellfire, gesturing to the newly-arriving Julie to do the same. "Didn't recognize it for what it was at first. He's right, can't do anything but let it burn itself out. Which probably won't take long."
Lorna flashed Kaleb a smile, giving his hand a squeeze. "Works for me, how about we get out of here before my brother comes with the inquisition? Because I dunno about you, but I'd prefer to be able to introduce you to my brother when we're both not exhausted from dealing with surprises on the back lawn." She tugged gently at Kaleb's hand.
"And I promise to introduce you two. So you can talk to him about frequencies to your heart's content."
Turning off the water in the shower there is a blur of motion as an arm reaches out and grabs a towel then wraps it around himself. Then he steps out of the shower wet, glistening, sculpted with the most athletically possible body. His bare chest is covered only with a thin growth of light brown hair. He steps out like a model from a catalog, bathed in the sputtering light of the green hellfire and obscured by the steam from the bathroom until he steps out where the ladies upstairs can see him.
He seems ok until they see his arm. One of them has a 4 inch long burn from the top of his wrist, wrapping around his arm to the back of his elbow and his back is also burned on the shoulder. He'll heal, but it looks angry and painful. "Sorry, if I made a mess. I was in a hurry." he explains as he moves to exit the bathroom wearing only the white towel.
Julie hrms, looking up to Pietro, pointing to the sink full of green fire. "Hey. How you doing. That gonna get hot enough to set anything else off?"
Sophie's first reaction is, well, to ogle. Whatever else one might think about him, Pietro is one fine specimen of human male, and as most of her friends know, Sophie is an equal-opportunity admirer of hot people. She catches herself quickly, though, especially upon seeing that nasty burn. "Ow, I can see why," she replies to him. "Are you going to be all right?" She has some inkling of his recuperative powers, but still, that's a kind of scary injury.
The man in the towel smiles and says, "It's only a little burn. I've had worse." which is pretty scary if you aren't in his mental bubble where the horrors of war are normal. Using his good arm to hold the towel as he turns back to look at the fire. "It shouldn't be much longer. It'll be fine." he says like it's no big deal.
Zipping off down the hallway he returns again a moment later wearing clothing from someone's room. Who? It doesn't really matter. The clothes fit so they belong to him now. The people who live here can afford to buy new things. "Give us a call if the plumbing comes alive and tries to eat anyone." he says standing in the same spot he was a moment ago but less nude. He found a wife-beater shirt somewhere. It's short for his torso and a little too big but sleeveless is good till he heals. "I'm going to head down to medical to get some ointment. Be a good girl and clean that up for me when it's done, ok?" he asks but doesn't give time for them to answer. He's already zipping off down stairs to medical, where Warren is… what could possibly go wrong?
Julie hrms, as Pietro blurs away. "What's the hurry, I didn't get a chance to say where he can put this." She wags the hose of the fire extinguisher.