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Lorna hefted a box and carried it down the steps of the Institute with care. She had been up and seemed fine for all intents and purposes for the past week or so. Her hair however, had been dyed so dark a brown it appeared black, and green hints peaked through at the roots where the shampoo had already washed parts of it away and in silvers that hadn't taken to the dye so well.
She wore a pair of high waisted jean shorts and a lavender colored T-shirt. Flip-flops smacking against the stairs as she descended and quietly made to try to avoid the bulk of returning students.
"Heading out back into the 'real world'?" asked a voice from above, as Warren slowly descends from the heavens slightly to the left and behind Lorna. "Looks like you're moving out. Box of stuff, and dyed hair a 'normal' color, seem a likely conclusion."
Warren's feet touch the ground with a soft crunch of gravel and his wings start to recede into his back, "Here, let me give you a hand with that." he says as he reaches out to take the box.
Lorna grimaced, "That obvious?" She muttered, but passed the box to him as he asked for it. She sighed, scratching the back of her head. "I'm moving into my father's brownstone in the city." She paused, "I .. I need some time to get my mind off things. I figured volunteering down in Mutant Town more often and moving for for a .. a while might be a good idea."
A sigh pulled from her lips as she made toward the door, holding it open with a wave of her hand. "I still want to help out here, but I just.. I think the city might give me more to do. That's all."
"Obvious enough, Lorna." says Warren with a shrug of his shoulder. "I mean, no real reason to try to look 'normal' unless you were planning on being around them constantly."
Warren takes the box and hoists it up to carry it, "Time away isn't a bad thing, and you aren't going to hear any shit from me." He pauses, "Not this time, anyway. I'm not so pissed off today." He manages a weak smile, shrugging his shoulder again. "I'll likely be heading back to the city full time myself soon, but I have an easier method of transportation."
Lorna came up to her car and the doors were already open. Pillows and blankets already packed away inside. "I plan to spend a good amount of time in Mutant Town volunteering. I feel like I can do something more useful there than I can here. I dunno. I just.." She grimaced and shook her head.
"I feel like I'm disconnected from the world here. My father said he'd be fine with my moving in and that we could spend more time together. I'm not getting out of training or school work, but I can get some place quieter for a while.."
Warren sets the box down into the car, shaking his head slightly. "I kind of know how you feel. I am not used to being so…isolated. Ever since I got back I haven't been able to really go and do the things I am so used to doing. Something even as simple as just going out to dinner. I can't let anyone see me, how messed up is that? At least you can dye your hair."
He combs his fingers through his hair, "Mutant town can always use help. I do what I can with donations, but even then…just always seems that there needs to be more."
Lorna reached up to touch her hair self conciously, pursing her lips as she looked down at her feet and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I can pass if I keep up the hair dye or use my sister's charm. I just couldn't find where I put it." She bit her lower lip and looked over Warren. "Hey, that's something! I could ask my sister if she could make you a charm. So you can go out and everything." She grinned.
"I mean it's not like I can offer it to everyone that has a mutation that can't be hidden.. but, I bet if I ask her Warren, she can help you out. Her or Illyana maybe." She shrugged and exhaled a breath. "It's not ideal, but it's something."
Warren leans against the car, folding his arms over his chest, "Yeah? That would be great. I could show my face in the boardroom again and not have to do business over the phone. I think the board is starting to wonder why I won't take a face to face meeting with them since I have been back. I'm running out of excuses."
He smiles, "I appreciate the thought. If it works out, i'll owe you one."
Lorna leaned back against her car, folding her arms in thought. "I bet she could do it. It's just a question on whether or not I can convince her to do so." She grinned faintly, "My sister isn't exactly what most people would consider uhm.. warm by most definitions." She shrugged and considered.
"But please, you wouldn't owe me anything Warren. It's fine." She murmured and then sighed heavily, looking back up at the mansion again.
"I do like spending time here. And I do love everyone that has been so supportive of me here.."
Warren lets out a little chuckle. "Yeah. I've met her. It was brief, but it was memorable."
He looks past her to the mansion, "You speak as though you will never come back, or that as soon as you step foot away from this place it ceases to exist. I can promise you, it doesn't. This isn't Brigadoon. It will be here when you want to come back, even if it is just for a visit. The people here will still accept you. After all, look at me. They haven't kicked me out yet."
Lorna laughed softly at the mention of her sister being 'memorable'. It was certainly true. But as he spoke about the school she sighed and shook her head slowly. "Kaleb and Kellan and Vic are enrolling this semester." She whispered and pursed her lips, "And as of right now, things aren't so good between us. He needs the help with his powers more than I do. And he needs space.. It's just better for everyone involved if I move in with my father."
She grimaced, and dragged a hand through her hair. "It's not like my father can't keep up with my training and lessons."
Warren nods quietly for a moment before saying "I'm just saying that this place or the people in it aren't going to be going anywhere. When you wish to come back, the doors will be here open."
He glances down at Lorna, "As for personal issues with people, those heal. You don't think that I didn't have my fair share of beefs with people at the school? Bridges, even burned ones, can always be rebuilt as long as someone decides to pick up a hammer. Sometimes it just takes time."
Lorna shot Warren a brief look, an eyebrow lurching upwards. "I know." She murmured and slowly shook her head as she glanced back to the mansion. "I might stop in from time to time. It's not like I'll have a strict schedule anymore. I mean, basically I'll be home schooled." She hooked a smile upwards, "For college and training." She laughed softly.
Then her expression soured as she considered Warren's words. "That's why I'm giving him time. And space." She murmured softly, shrugging as she tucked her hair back behind an ear. "Kaleb deserves to get his stuff back and he deserves an apology.. I just.. it's been nearly two weeks and I've .. I haven't been in a good place."
Warren nods quietly, "I know. I don't think any of us have, Lorna. What happened to us was traumatic, nobody came out without scars." Reaches out to place a hand on her shoulder if she allows, "Send him his stuff if you can't face him now. Hell, i'll bring it to him if you prefer. Maybe start with a letter? I don't know, I don't have all the answers. Hell, I don't even have half of them."
Lorna flashed Warren a small smile as he settled a hand on her shoulder. She didn't brush it off. "Thanks Warren." She murmured, "I can't just leave him a letter or have someone else bring him his stuff. I.. he deserves that much from me. I might not have been myself, but I flipped the medbay with him in it and blamed him for.. things." She exhaled a thing.
"And he deserves at least an apology in person from me. I just have to suck it up and do it."
Warren nods again, quietly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Very adult of you, Lorna. I likely would have cut and run, letting you take my stuff." He smiles, giving her a bit of a wink. "I'm sure he will appreciate you being adult about things at the very least, and no matter what happens, at least you know you did that." He pauses again, "So, where in the city are you headed? Maybe I will see you around. It's not like Manhattan is all that huge."
A faint smile pulled at her lips and Lorna shrugged, "I don't feel like an adult. I feel like I'm an unstable kid running around pretending to be an adult and hating how everyone treats me like a kid still." She muttered dryly. "There's a lot of hurt and a lot of anger that I've tried very, very hard to not control me." She grimaced, "And I know it's not going to end well, but I still want to apologize myself."
A sigh dragged from her lips and she shrugged slightly as he mentioned stopping in. She gave some vague directions to how to find Erik's house. "I've only ever been there a handful of times. So I usually get turned around finding it. It's weird to be moving in with my father after having moved out to go to school. Though, technically, living here was sort of like moving in with family already." She murmured.
"And to be fair he's rarely around, though he promised he would be around more often.. we'll see.."
"Well, if you ever need to find me, just look up. You can't really miss Worthington Industries since it is one of the tallest buildings in the city." says Warren with a slight chuckle. "If I am home, i'll be at the penthouse. I'll make sure the doorman has you on the standing invitation list."
He shrugs again, "How do you think I felt the other day? I wasn't very adult like myself, and I older than you are. I should know better. We all do fucked up things sometimes, Lorna. We just have to accept we do them, and try our best to remedy them after the fact." He pauses, "I probably shouldn't say adult words like that, your impressionable young ears and all." It's hard to tell if he is kidding or not.
Lorna smiled faintly at Warren's words, "I know where your building is Warren, thanks. It's like you said, it's kinda hard to miss." She laughed faintly as he mentioned his foul language and she clapped her hands on her ears.
"Oh no, my ears! They're burning. So impressionable. Whatever will I do." She teased and grinned, leaning back against her car and letting her hands drop back to her sides.
"Also, just throwing it out there, Warren. But usually when I mess up," She said the word pointedly instead of 'fuck up' because Lorna herself never actually swore, "I have a bad tendancy of bringing down buildings. That whole emotions tied to my powers bit kinda makes it harder to say 'gee, sorry I crushed a building on your head cause I had a panic attack.'
Warren nods. "Speaking as someone who has recently developed anger issues, and whose wings seem to act of their own accord during those times I am really angry, I can say I understand. So far I have managed not to decapitate or dismember anyone, so that is good. I just hope it stays that way, or you might end up seeing me on the news. 'This just in. Warren Worthington murders entire board, film at 11.'
A twitch of her lips follows his possible would be news report and she crosses her arms as she reclined against her car. "I upended most of the sewers, several cars, and lamp posts in Central Park when I had a panic attack over seeing a guy that looked like a vampire." She muttered dryly. "I'm shocked that no one figured it was a mutant. They claimed it was a sewer explosion." She shrugged.
"Still, I hope you manage to keep your wings in check." She paused, and bit her lower lip as she glanced side long at him. "Though I honestly think they're beautiful. I can sense every aspect of them." She halted abruptly and blushed furiously. "That sounds really creepy. Sorry."
Warren chuckles and shakes his head. "Nah, didn't sounds creepy. At least someone can appreciate them." He shrugs, pushing away from the car and taking a step or two away before letting them unfurl from his back and spread out. "I just have to get used to the fact that this is the new me. I'm no longer everybody's angel."
Lorna stepped away from the car as he did, watching him and giving him space to unfurl his wings properly. Her expression turned thoughtful and she reached out a hand toward them. There was a gentle pressure, a caress of magnetic energy around his wings, like a buffet of air or a sliding of a hand against them. "I know how much iron alloy was used to create them, well I can sense it. Putting it all into words is kinda hard. It's difficult to explain sometimes what I sense I guess. It's not like I can see it, but I know what's there."
Green eyes lifted toward Warren and Lorna hitched an eyebrow upwards, "May I uhm.. touch them?"
Warren nods. "Sure. Just be careful, they are razor sharp on the edges…and there is some coating on them at times which I am still trying to get analyzed. Not sure what it does yet, but odds are it doesn't give you happy go lucky feelings."
Lorna nodded, stepping forward carefully as she reached out a slow and tenative hand toward his wings. She glanced his way before she actually touched them, "I'll keep my magnetic fields going, it should keep me safe enough from actually getting cut." She murmured, and gently traced her fingers along the ridges of his wings. She looked them over with care, her head tilting to the side. Every so often, he'd feel the magnetic field shifting around her lazily as it bumped up against the metal of his wings. Like a cat brushing up against a person's leg.
"I wonder if they used a casting of your old wings, or if they made these before. Hmm.." She murmured, talking mostly to herself. "Do they grow back?" She asked him finally.
The wing's feathers ruffle at her touch, the blades that make up the wings acting as feathers would fluffing out and shifting as they align and realign. "I would assume they have to." says Warren, "Since I can fire them out like little flechette feathers. If they didn't grow back, I wouldn't have wings anymore," he says with a shrug, "As far as my old wings, I don't think so. These are in no way or shape what my old wings were like, other than they are on my back. My old wings were more 'Angelic'. These are..not so much."
Lorna tilted her head to the side, "So your body is making a living steel now." She murmured, continuing to run her hands over his wings with care. She edged a finger against one before stepping back. "That must be something tied into your mutation that already existed. Bodies don't just start making metal after all.." She murmured softly. She smiled at Warren and she exhaled a breath.
"I should get going. Thank you, Warren."
"I don't know. I have never manifested steal before, so it's all new to me. Who knows what they did to me while i was 'away'. Must have altered my genetic makeup in some way, after all I have blue skin now as well." He shrugs, "Alright, Lorna. You know how to get a hold of me, let me know what your sister says. And good luck with Kaleb."
He pushes off lightly from the ground and starts to rise, the wings on his back moving slightly but not actually flapping like one would expect. "I'll see you around."