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Kaleb came back from his room where his sleep was still shit. Pants and a bathrobe were all the rage to those summoned from sleep by the smell of coffee, and thank you for that whoever's fault that was. His collar was a little red like he'd been itching at it and his hair had seen better days and was close to needing a trim. Shuffleshuffleshuffle over. "Kell, am I gettin you coffee?" He was being nice. Did Kaleb have clones now?
It certainly wasn't Kellan's fault that there was coffee. The only reason he really drinks it is when others are dirnking it. Left to his own devices, he will grab a cold drink out of the fridge. However, when offered, he says, "Sure, coffee's good," from inside his own room. He comes shuffling out in a pair of pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt, looking more disheveled than usual. He and Vic must have had a good night. It's funny, with Kaleb's hair needing a trim they look remarkably even more similar than usual.
Kaleb looked up and warmed a lopsided smirk to himself seeing his brother. This was good. Kellan was happy. Everyone was where he put them. The world was mostly in its right order. He took a deep breath and slid one cup across the counter to him and he paused and he asked, "Are you up and still in bed or are you up?" Which was a fair quesiton to ask before any number of plans were made if he was half half-asleep.
Kellan makes his way over toward the counter and takes the mug and pours some cream into it before settling down into a seat at the kitchen table, slumping into it bonelessly and lifting the mug to his lips to blow on it. He chuckles and says, "Just woke up not too long ago. I did actually sleep last night," which is sometimes a rarity, but Vic can exhaust him with his power, or otherwise, and that helps him to sleep. "What're you up to?"
Kaleb chortled and mused, "You got sleep in? You and Vic are slacking." It wasn't genuine critisizm because he was smiling and also because Kellan could beat his ass like brothers do. Who else can outnumber someone one to one? "Hey, later today or… whenever I got some stuff to tell you that might freak ya out but you should know. It's not, bad bad or nothin. Everything's pretty fine and all so whenever." He sipped his coffee and pointed to his nicer self, "Foundout weirly obliquely identical our skill sets are though if you want to talk about some of those ideas."
Kellan wraps his fingers around his mug and takes a sip, smirking a little bit, "Vic and I are doing just fine, thanks." There's a grin there that blooms across his expression afterward. He then lifts both eyebrows and says, "Well, may as well hit it with me now while we're here, eh?" He takes a sip from the mug and then waves it a bit in Kaleb's direction, as though indicating that he should continue. There's a small nod about their abilities, but it seems he wants the freak out news first.
Kaleb took a deep breath and shook his head glancing over the rim of his mug trying oto phrase it. He didn't do phrasing good or otherwise. Right blunt with a sledgehammer it was, "Max's family is still missing and he's been politically holding down the fort and leading repairs to save the city. A political unrest rose up and someone tried to assassinate him" He didn't do phrasing and this caring thing was way out of his ballywick. To say it bugged him was underselling it but as he was maintaining calm and sanity it was entirely in subtext that Maximus was fine.
Kellan can only assume that the tried meant that it was not successful and both brows raised upward at the telling of the story. "Wow, so that trip to Attilan wasn't just all honeymoon, eh?" He, to his credit, does not in fact, freak out. "So.. his family is missing, and he's trying to keep the city together, and repair things, and someone tried to kill him…" He then studies Kaleb, squinting a little at him. "Are YOU okay?" Because he's pretty sure Kaleb would have elborated if Max were injured.
Kaleb shook his head. Nah, not all honeymoon. At hte direct question if HE was okay he had a rare but distinct guilty flinch. A slow nod followed. Casual ship of his coffee he looked back to Kellan, "We left Max's place in a hurry and I had nothing packed so I raided his closet while we were there and-" And they thought HE was Max. He sighed and just eye rolled looking back to Kellan. "I got shot twice. THey have crazy alien tech that rivals Elixir. I'm fine. I'm okay. It was scary as hell but… I'm okay. He's actually… way freaked out by it butwe got it sorted." He was still scared but really more for Kellan who had to deal with this bullshit for the third time this summer and twice from him. Not onay to do to Kellan. "So…" the coffee mug was gestured in a circle, "Yeah"
Kellan sees the flinch and immediately there is suspicion. He eyes Kaleb and looks him over, and as the story unravels he looks at first a bit ashen as he realizes what is coming — and it's not that Kaleb has taken to enjoying slinky black dresses and heels — but that the assassins went after him. He's silent for several long moments, fingers wrapped tightly around his cup enough that his knuckles go a bit white, but when Kaleb was once again saved by alien healing tech of some sort, he lets out his breath slowly and sighs. He doesn't even answer, doesn't say anything, he just slumps in his chair and looks into his coffee. He still doesn't freak out, but it's clear he's upset.
Wrong outfits! Also those shoes look imposible to wear. Kaleb sat very still and very silent for a long time. It was scary being shot and almost 'killed to death', but it was scarier knowing kellan would have that pit in his stomach. After a long silence he said, "Apparently withthe dark hair, in his long coat? Same height and build? Easy mistake to make." He took a deep breath and set his jaw and murmured the rare and elusive Kaleb Miller apology. "Yeah I know. I'm not okay that you have to go through this again either. Kinda fucked Max up. He's doin pretty god though I give him that." He looked ofer to Kellan offering some optimism, "I was four months healed in two days. That was the insane part." He skipped over the horrible inbetween.
Kellan takes in a deep breath and he lets it out again quietly. "You guys are always away from me when you almost die. There's nothing I can do. One of these times.. you're going to really die, and I'm not even going to know.. until.." It's really not something he likes to think about and he frowns and sighs, and then he puts his mug down and walks over and hugs Kaleb tightly, fiercely, and says, "You need to stop almost dying on me. I'm glad they healed you. I'm glad you're okay now. But the thought of you nearly dying, being in all that pain… I don't want that to happen to you anymore. NO more than I want it to happen to Vic, even though he can come back. I want you both to be okay."
Kaleb hugged Kellan back. Kellan was always the exception to everything; to all things. Kellan was there before Kaleb ever built his wall of personality. He hugged him fiercly back and was shaking just a bit. He was silent but the shoulder of Kellan's t-shirt was a bit wet. "Yeah… let's jsut do this, um, your way." Deep breaths. Deep breaths. His fingers dug into thehug a bit before he just let his head rest on Kellan's shoulder. "Bro, I aw scared shitless. Like holy shit, I'm in a political coup I might not get to see you guys again? It was… It was bullshit." He swallowed okay. Okay better. "Kellan I'm sorry. I was just trying to get coffee. You coulda lost a brother, we coulda lost Max. I want to find this asshole so bad and just…slap them"
The hug was tight, and fierce, and solid. Kellan wasn't any bigger than Kaleb or any stronger really, but he was very, very concerned. He rests his head on Kaleb's shoulder and just squeezes him for a while. "Is Max okay? Is he still there? How did you get out if there's still a coup going on? Is he still fixing things? Are you staying here? Are you going back?" There's a pause. "Tell me you're not going back.." That scares him. "I think you need to cut back on the coffee."
Kaleb was silent and just took great solace in the wave of questions. He considered then and shook his head no. "Max ain't alright. I eman he's … great but this really fucked with him. City's mostly fixed, it's back to quiet. His brother's missing and being held hostage by some dudes so he's in charge and trying to get his brother back." He let that one sink in and took a deep breath. "They have some members of the resistance under arrest and we've been getting some answers. I dunno that they won't try to hunt him down again and right now I'm the only one that got a good sense of waht they look like. I have my own guard at the palace. He was pretty cool. Rock guy, has a kid. Max offered him a job and the Inhuman equivilent of sending the kid through college." He just took a deep breath. "If I told you teh rest you'd put me in a nuthouse. Needless to say there's crazy powered people causing the destruction of those cities in the news. Max is trying to work with his cousins to figure out what the heck is going on with that and makeing it stop. I'm just… trying… to make sure he's okay Kellan. We got our feet back under us but… there's a lot going on. I dunno i fit's as simple as staying home but maybe we might be able to help." He paused and lookes confused, "I saw Scarlett from school there. Turns out she knows his brother"
Kaleb didn't let go yet and looked down at his coffee, "Can I cut back on the coffee tomorrow? And I didn't get to the part wher eyou might be a super anti-telepath in disguise"
"Is there anything that we can do to help him get his brother back?" Kellan asks, because Max was there when he needed help getting Kaleb back. Damned if he isn't going to offer the same to Maximus in return. He listens to the rest and nods slowly. He then chuckles and says, "I don't think, after all that we've seen, that there is much you could say that would make me put you in a nut house." He takes a deep breath and says, "Okay.. coffee today.. and after coffee.. you can tell me more about this theory you have about my powers."
Kaleb took a few deep breaths and relaxed. Okay his hair was screwed up and his face was damp and he felt a bit five years old, but it was okay because he couldn't be humiliated in front of his twin. He didn't have to be strong, brave, angry, distant, cunning, crabby, all-knowing, or in control. Kaleb's only responsibly to Kellan was to BE Kaleb. The side of his fingers efficiently dried his cheeks and he composed his happy ass. "I, um, I dunno. So aliens called the Kree are causing machines to attack Iraq and South America right now and have his brother hostage on their ship. SO I don't know but it's actually quite possible we can help him out. He's trying so… hard to be and do all the things right now. Then these other assholes are having protests saying 'it's not good enough' and decided all of this is his fault when it wasn't. I mean the guy's doing the best he can to protect his city through better engineering, make some hard decisions, and just make sure his bro's okay and be an adult through this?! Shit I had to command him to sleep." He looked from his coffee to Kellan. he hurt. He had feelings and they hurt for Kellan and Max and Jay. This was uncomfortable. Feelings were inconvenient but it appeared that hole was dug down to find them.
Taking a deep breath he said"When Max comes by later we can ask him what we can do to help him. Until then? Yeah Aliens and… I think you might be able to shut down other telepathss I just dunno how."
Kellan gives Kaleb another squeeze, and when he moves to wipe the tears away, he gives him a little space to do that, before settling back down into his chair and listening to the story of aliens. He nods slowly and says, "So… wow. So, there's nothing we can do about an alien ship that I can think of, but maybe there's stuff in the city we can help him with that might at least let him focus on a couple less things?" He nods then when Kaleb says that when Max comes over, they can ask him. "Okay, then I guess we can wait and ask him when he gets here."
Kaleb sighed and ran his fingers through his hair and nodded slowly sipping his coffee. "You know you're the best brother ever right?" He took a deep breath and crossed into satire, "Aside from me of course." Waiting to get sluged in the arm for that one. "So…Max asked me," He pulled out his drawing pad and flipped back a few pages. There. There was the chart graphing when he got his abilities when and graphing out roughly how he could best paraphrase Kellan's. "Max said if we were Inhuman like them you and I would be as indistinguishable as you and your copies. Like just like that. But we're not and I said well maybe cause we're mirror identical like righty v. lefty and all. So I started making a map and really a lot of what I do with sound waves exterior you kiiiinda obliquely do interior. You copy you, I sound copy me. You extend your range for interior bran waves up to a block, I do it by manipulating exterior sound waves. So I started really developing this sensoryof other sounds in teh area, maybe not unlike you can note where maybe minds are to maybe try to connect to? I dunno. But I started to pull up some mad practice with echolocation and sound dapening which, maybe that's because my DNA got hyper surged, buuuuut that means maybe you can start doing some overlord reaching out to other minds to see what an area looks like like you're standing in teh room from collective combo of input ooooor maybe insted of me redirecting exterior waves and burying them you might be able to bury telepathy around you."
Kellan takes a swallow from his coffe and does not in fact slug Kaleb for the comment though he does roll his eyes just a little. He listens in silence for a while and then nods his head, "I suppose that's possible, that I could quiet thoughts and telepathy internally the way that you quiet sound externally. Maybe. I mean, right now all I can do is pick up surface thoughts and communicate with one person at a time per copy, though I can link them together through the internal network once I do. Actually dampening other people's telepathy.. not sure how to even begin to see if that's possible."
Kaleb warmed a lopsided grin to his twin, "Yeah I was jazzed when you were able to link me to you to you to Max. THa twas way far out. But I dunno. I think I found a way for you to see hwat I do like we might need Jean though to get you in the engine room of my brain to feel how things do when I sense and bury things like people who can't stir their coffee without banging the mug with thier spoon 83 times in rapid succession." Got that made him antsy. "I figured out what I think I need to do though. Goal wise. but really? I dunno even though there was a scary part I'm glad I went. It was a good trip and I had to find some way to be useful but I did it. I helps them rebuild a thing and not just ruin glass. It was kinda, I dunno, inspiring.
Kellan is quiet as he listens to Kaleb talk about getting Jean involved. He nods just a little bit and says, "I need to train some more, and see what I can do, if there's more than I can do." He shrugs his shoulders, "I mean I could try dampening things. I don't know as that's something that I'd want to do. I mean, I guess if there was a telepath we didn't want being able to tap in — that could be useful." He seems willing enough to give it a shot, at any rate. Then he nods slowly and says, "I'm glad that you got to do something that was useful, adn that you were proud of. Doesn't change the fact that I'm still taking half your damn classes." He grins a little lopsidedly then.
Kaleb grinned, soundly admonished. The smirk hung and he gave his coffee a swish. "Yeaaaah I owe you. You know I DO actually miss going to class. So you know I took my homework with me and have been doing it. But ummm…Kell… you htink I'm okay? Like," he gestured to his head confused, "still me? I mean you know me."
Kellan looks at Kaleb as though that were the singular most bizarre question he'd been asked in a long time. "Of course you're you. Who else would you be?" he asks, not making heads nor tails of why the question was being asked.
Kaleb boggled at Kellan with a squint. He blinked and brust out, "Not like that! I meantlike a year ago all of this happens and my first inclination would be to ask 'Kellan, why are these people still talking and why are they bothering me?'" Truth. He excelled at being exceptionally rude with great aplomb. "I'm sitll trying to figure out if all of this is symptomatic. The healer down in mutant town assured me there's nothing wrong with me, which I should have in writing, but jsut… I dunno everything's different and confusing. I thought I might have a stroke or something."
"Kaleb," Kellan says, looking at his brother very seriously, "You used to eat paste." He grins then and says, "What I'm trying to say here is that, you know, shit is changing. We're growing up. Our world just got a whole lot bigger, not just outside of New York, not just outside of being what we are, now all the way into space. There's gonna be changes, and there's gonna be confusion, anad hell if I know what's going on half the time — but we've got each other and we're going to figure that shit out."
Kaleb defended, "I was three and I thought it was butter for toast okay must we go back to that." He sighed. "Man that was hard to chew." He sighed and nodded slowly faintly amused, okay very amused that Kellan hung onto that memory. "It's really why we have people to do this. It's just for the best. I mean I'd ask if you think that's true but you don't lie to me even when I ask you to and you generally are anyways so, huh. I'll say this much? This whole having feelings bullshit? It's scary as hell." New and terrifying. Quietly he chewed on the inside of his sheek and confessed to Kellan only, "I might have told MAx… even if he had to start a war to achieve peace. Didn't realize it until after… but, it's weird. I don't regret it." He sighed and looked to his brother for some sort of balance and nodded. "I'm a mote."
There are a lot of memories that Kellan hangs onto. He remembers many things, things that perhaps others wish that he didn't. "You were five," he points out with a grin, "Because I was five." Then he pulls himself up again and walks around Kaleb, hanging over his shoulder to wrap his arms around him and give him a hug from behind. "Feelings are kind of scary, but they're pretty much what makes things worth doing. And I'm glad that you have Max. He seems to be good for you, and you for him, and I like him." He ruffles his brother's hair and then grins and says, "You are a mote. It's okay, motes are pretty awesome. I happen to be very much in love with mine."
Kaleb grinned as Kellan doubled down on picking on him in good nature with facts.He thunked his head back into him and tilted a look up taking great comfort in the assurance. Kaleb fearless brother. Kellan? wiser brother. He laughed because he had no way to process anything else. "I love a man political resistance wants to assassinate. A year ago I would have put none of those words together." A hand came up to squeeze Kell's arm around his neck and relented, "Yeah we did pretty good, all in all. SO the question is what are we going to do for our parents return, Thanksgiving, and the holidays?" He paused and added in, "Oh, aaaand Veronica Honecker won't be Honecker much longer. We are going to be held at sword point and made to attend her stupid wedding because Mitchell Abernathy has decided to endure her until death do they part." He ex- was getting married. He sighed, "On one hand she'll leave me alone, and on the other? This'll be ineteresting."
Kellan can't help but laugh at that and says, "Yeah, I can't honestly say that I'd ever imagine those words coming out of your mouth either." Then his grin broadens. "But I'm glad they did." He then nods, "I think we did pretty good." Then when Kaleb mentions their parents he takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I don't even want to think about them coming back let alone the holidays," he admits. "That's going to be.. interesting." He ponders. "I mean, I suppose I can start with the fact that I'm homosexual, and then if they don't detonate at that point.. we can go from there?" He lifts both brows and then smiles faintly. Then he sighs, "Why would we even go to her wedding? She's your ex. I thought exes were exempt from weddings?"
Kaleb pointed from Kellan to himself. He. They. "Well to be fair right now you're not allone in that. Mom will have a stroke if she realizes as it stands she has zero chance for grand children. But yeah, it's okay I got ya man. As for Veronica? Eeeeh ex's are exempt to a point we're doing the smiley happy bullshit dance where she's inviting me to show off how happy she thinks she is and try to amke me feel ba- try to make me feel anyhting about it and I have to go because fuck her. Also Her father and ours are working on a business thing so…let the bullshit waltz commence. I juet have to figure out how I'm going to pull that off without having a stroke or threatening to sink Manhattan. I might ask cousin Larure. I dunno. She'll gloat and lord over me that she was right and I messed it up but she doesn't like her so we can artfully complain through backhanded compliments? That's fun. Sadly short of malaria we may both be expected to go. So… heavy drinking night. It's a couple months out yet."
"You are doing the smiley happy bullshit dance," Kellan pointts out with a little shake of his head. "I'm already attending double classes and trying to hold things down here. I'm not going to this wedding on top of it, too. You can go and send my regards. Tell them I've got the plague and decided not to share it with future generations by showing up." He smirks and says, "You come back and start going to your classes and I'll think about going to this diaster with you."
Kaleb took a DEEP breatha nd squint his eyes shut. He made that whining noise and sighed. "Tehnically you don't have to. I was with a teacher the whole time and I HAVE my homeowrk to - fine. I'll get what I need before I go again. Just… don't make me go to this frosted dumpster fire alone. I also dunno what I'm gonna tell Max. He almost had a brain meltdown when Hajime took my hand to hand me something. That's gonna be a fun conversation." BIG Blue eyes that Kellan was innoculated against looked to Kellan. "Pleasepleaseplease don't make me do this alone. I'll let you go be super bitchy while smiling with me. Iiiiit's a lot of fuuuuun."
"I'm not super bitchy," Kellan says, "And I don't get the enjoyment out of it that you do," he points out. This is not a selling factor for Kellan. Then he arches an eyebrow when Kaleb mentions Maximus losing his shit over Hajime taking Kaleb's hand. "Well, on the one side — you know that he really likes you? On the other hand.. he's going to have to dial it back a little bit and have a little faith in you, too." He then chuckles and says, "Should just take Max. That might actually make that whole disaster more acceptable."
Kaleb squint to his twin and blinked, "Sometimes I think you're the one that jut wants to watch the world burn. In what world do you see that plan going well at all? We haven't even told mom and dad yet, and I don't want to use Max a a political weapon like that. The world would be gone by the time I got home. THey play for pride, he plays to win." The smile turned back up. That was, in Kaleb's go for the jugular and be done with it world, a plus. Still things were on a different topic but it didn't erae the past 12 minuttes either. "Kell… you okay? I mean, you're tain everything as well as a guy can but… you ok?"
Kellan grins and shrugs his shoulders, "What? I can imagine giving the world a big fuck you, can't I?" Then he shrugs his shoulders and says, "I'm fine. I go to school. I try to study everything I can. I have Vic. We're happy. I miss you when you're not around, but I get that you've got stuff to do. We weren't going to be able to be inseparable forever, you know? It's just something that I've gotta get used to. But yeah, I'm fine."
Kaleb looked up to Kellan and squint defiantly, "Can to. It's why I moved into your apartment." Well at least he admits he seiged it. Finally. "I mean why can't we be? Motes are portable and we own realestate all over the damn place. Besides, we're better like" he drew a line between them with his finger, "Like this."
Kellan and Kaleb are seated in the kitchen, with coffee, talking. Kellan's in a pair of pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt with his hair looking even more disheveled than usual. Kaleb, with his hair growing out actually looks more like Kellan than usual. He grins a little lopsidedly and says, "At least you admit that you laid seige to my place, and invited a bird to move in without asking." He chuckles, "Not that I would have said no to either of you."
There comes a knock at the door, but…it is followed up by Maximus just turning the knob and trying to come in anyway, if its unlocked. If its locked, he waits.
Kaleb sipped his coffee and said with all his imperious dignity, "Well, it's my bird… and it was the right thing to do by him." He paused just before he sipped the bitter brew, "And I saw that balcony and had to have it. I wasn't about to live at home without you. I'd be bored out of my head." He finished off the cup and turned to get a refill from the pot but heard the footsteps before they got here, then the knob. An eyebrow went up and the cup was set down. "Max has the most uncanny timing I swear." Fingers tried to shove his hair back for the improve gesture of 'presentibility' when he pulled the door open to let him in. "I swear you must have been hanging around me long enough because your hearing is uncanny. We were just discussing you."
"Just discussing me? Oh how intriguing." As Kaleb parts the door, he can see Maximus has slicked his hair back, and he has on a very high quality black, mandarin collared suit, instead of his Attilan attire. He's also holding a single, red rose, with some wraps around the bottom to keep it fresh. There is no color anywhere else on him, excepting his eyes, so the deep red of the rose stands out immediately. Awwwwwww. He smiles, slyly, like its a trap.
"Hey Max," Kellan calls out from the kitchen where he remains at the table with his coffee so that the two can exchange their hellos and sly little smiles in private while he nurses his lukewarm coffee for a bit. He then goes to fill it up with some hot coffee before adding a bit more cream and flopping back in his chair.
Kaleb tilted his head waiting to see if this is the peace offering for 'I need something', 'I did something', or 'I just like you'. The door closed and he took it blinking at it grinning and taking Max's hand. He paused though turning the singular flower in his fingers and he glanced to Kellan and back to Max, "You look…damn good. Please don't tell me this is to say you're leaving in five minutes and we're all staying here. One, I'm not letting you out that easily, and two… something. There are reasons." He looked over Max and gave him a kiss which is more than he's willing to do for his own mother without prompting and tugged a hand towards the kitchen. Back to Kaleb mode while he found a - well he didn't think they owned a vase so a water glass he liked was getting filled with water. To put on his windowsill next to his drafting table so he could stare at it for the next three days. Don't judge. He was secretly that guy. Max gave him a thing and that made him happier than a house elf with a sock.
The madman followed Kaleb to the kitchen and gladly returned the kiss, though…short and respectfully, not to be gross in front of Kellan. "Ahhh, Good evening, Kellan…he who is spoken of so often. No, I am not leaving in the next five minutes. I had work yet to do in New York before I need to begin the trek back to Attilan. Some of my people are…trapped here, in a way. I am trying to learn all that I can of that. Kellan…how have you been? No troubles, I hope, with Kaleb gone."
Kellan doesn't seem concerned one way or another. He certainly isn't shy about kissing Vic in front of people.. well.. as long as those people are roommates or contingency who know, at any rate. "Evening, Maximus," he says with a little grin as he lifts his coffee mug in a silent salute. He glances over at the rose and that grin only grows a little bit broader. Then his brow knits a little and he says, "Your people are trapped here in New York?" He glances over at Kaleb, then back to Max. But to the question, he says, "I am okay, you know, school, the usual." He glances over at his brother and says, "I like it better when he's here. But I'm okay when he's gone." He doesn't suffer anything particularly debilitating anyway.
Kaleb was completely absorbed in taking care of his little rose. There was a faint smile that just hung subtly in his expression. He trimmed the bottom of the stem and the bottom two leaves that would fall below the waterline and carefully put it in there. It got a tiny nod. Perfect. Kaleb spoke stuff. If he spent time on its care it was important. He refilled his cup and got a second cup out and filled it bringing the flower in glass in one hand and both cups of coffee in the other. He was seving coffee now? He was in a very good mood. He set the cup down and pessed a kiss to Max's forehead murmuring, "Thank you." And he sat. The flower went in front of him (turned a quarter turn so it sat right) and he drank his coffee. "We want to help you with your family, Max. You helped us keep ours together." He looked to Kellan and pointed. That. What's happening with new York?
"Trapped…in that they are being watched, so…that means they cannot come home, without leading the enemy directly to home. And apparently, though they are technically an enemy, they are not the ones causing the trouble in Attilan. That's something else. There are two groups of the Kree…apparently. That's the enemy. Oh, I can hardly understand it all. But, regardless, I need to be careful not to be followed by the Kree, and I need to make sure that my people are…able to escape if they need to, from their watchers. My own brother is still being held aboard a Kree ship." He sits down at the table as he explains in a way that may or may not be helpful.
Kellan nods his head and seems to actually follow all that, to his credit. He did get a primer from Kaleb ahead of time though, so there is that. He settles back with his hands around his mug and says, "I told Kaleb I want to help. We want to help, with whatever we can do. I mean, I know we can't take off and storm space ships. We can't even fly or anything like that. But if there's something that we can do on the ground to help, take care of something for you so that you can focus on things, like how you took care of that guard for us so we could get Kaleb out… I want to do that."
Kaleb looked to Maximus with a lopsided, smug smile and drak his coffee. Sorry, Max, you have support. This is what it is like to do right by a couple of mutant twins yo. "So they got a tail? Can these Kree dudes be killed? Will more people care that they are if they are? They know where Attilan is? You want milk or sugar for the coffee?"
"If the shadows are killed, then we may also lose my brother, who is still on their ship. I am disgusted by all of the…playing nice that is happening. If I were there, this conversation would be /over/. I want to go there…to the ship…andget my brother back. But, it seems that is impossible at the moment." Max sighs. He looks at Kellan curiously, but also smiles, "You may very well be able to help, particularly in the manner of…getting information to my people trapped here at the present. If you come to Attilan, you would be less useful, but still welcome." Maximus explains and nods. "Sugar…its a delicacy we do not have much of."
Kellan looks to Maximus curiously and then he nods, "I can help here if you want me to help get information to your people. Let me know what I can do, and I'll help." He looks very seriously at Maximus then and says, "You're my brother, sortof, too, now. I will help you get yours back. Even if it's right here in New York getting information to people." He says, "It's better if I'm here than in Attilan. If I can help here, I will. That will also let me continue classes and I don't want to leave Vic, either."
Kaleb looked to Kellan. He really did have the best brother ever. He said drily, "Yeah if you were in Attilan it'd be like that movie 'Amigos! Amigos! Amigos!' Yeah, I don't think giving that sniper more things to shoot at is a great idea." He got up and brought the entire sugar bowl back. "And I told you. You're mine so you are going to have a Kellan fussing. It's a hell of a fucking thing. Oh, some far less important things came up, but, for this we'll figure it out. I just have to grab my class projects and turn in what I have before heading… back…"
"The better question to ask though, is…will I be allowed to take Kaleb back with me? Or…do you need to stay here, for those…classes?" Its then that Max frowns, like he's reminded that, oh yeah, Kaleb is young and still in some form of schooling.
Kellan looks between Maximus and Kaleb and then he says to Max, "He's taking his school stuff with him. He'll be okay." Then he smiles a little and says, "Just bring him back to me in one piece every once in a while, okay? I'm not used to him being away for long. We've kinda not been separated before.. not like this." It's not a plea not to take Kaleb, just a request for understanding that he misses his brother.
Kaleb chewed on teh inside of his cheeks watching his time be negotiated and bartered. It was a pretty special thing really. Ever the consummate planner he siad, "I'm taking my work with me. We know what's at stake. It's why we want to try to help you out so you come out of this okay too. I am I think, agreed, required to live and not come out missing limbs. When we're done securing Attilan I would like for us to spend some solid time in New York for a while." He pointed to the various rooms. "I have a brother, and a bird, and a mote here. Time to time gotta look after them too. Oh, shit and this winter there's a …thing I'm fucking required to go to." He sighed. Not looking forward to that thing. His hand dropped over Max, patted it and gave it a squeeze. "But yeah, I'm heading back with you. Shit, Kellan if you had one copy go to Attilan… you could get all the info out we need couldn't you?" He didn't mean to blurt that out but he did. "I gotta think that'd be kinda exhaustin though."
Maximus sips the hot liquid and then nods like he understands, though, there's a soberness that overcomes him for a moment. He leans back in his chair and steel eyes drift from Kaleb to Kellan, "I am curious what you mean…by…sending one of him with us. Is that…possible at so great a distance? Is the double able to be teleported and…so on? Is it like a /real/ you?" All of that sounds amazing, to him, and its possible that its just not a skill he's ever heard of among the Inhumans.
There's a momentary pause where Kellan looks surprised, and then he says "Why didn't I think of that?" Probably because he doesn't just multiple himself around all the time. He then says, "Yeah, I mean, the Reflection is me. It's a whole complete clone that shares a consciousness that can be split multiple ways. Distance doesn't matter for them. I'm always aware of them wherever they are. And it's not exhausting. I can maintain 3 copies all doing different things with relative ease. I can actually make more, I just don't because it's really hard after a while to maintain — that's exhausting." He nods to Max then and says, "It's a real me. Anyhing can be done to it that can be done to me."
"Ok, but…when you fall asleep…does it disappear? How do you collect it back? Could it just…could you actually /live two lives/, if you wanted to?" That idea fascinates Maximus even more than the idea of it helping him out for communication." He drums his fingers on the table and then eyes Kaleb. "You lied when you said your brother was taken, all those months ago. He could absolutely have made another of himself." Here he smiiiiiiiles.
Kaleb was a little proud of himself. Apparently he thought a lot about his brother's potential. He attested to this, "Yeah I've pissed off the copy and it slugged me too. They're completely him-functional. Like if you take a ball of clay and break it into two piles one is no less only…" He considerd that lowering his hand, "Only he doesn't get shorter everytime he makes a copy. He stays me sized." It was an almost perfect analogy. he looked to the two of them and siad, "Kellan could get any info you want all the way around the globe. no one would detect a thing. We would just need to meet who you need us to meet to give that info to."
Kaleb squint at Maximus like really? Really you're going to go there with me? "They're all himself is dating Vic, Max."
Speaking of Vic, he comes home just then, his book bag slung over his shoulder. "Hello?" he calls as he steps into the foyer. Then he peeks in the living room and grins. "Hey guys." He dumps the bag by the door and heads into the kitchen. There, he rummages in the fridge for a bottle of beer. "What's up?" he asks as he pokes around. Beer and a sandwich, that'll do.
Kellan apparently didn't have class and "slept in" because he's still in pajama pants and a white t-shirt, looking mussed and rumpled, and with Kaleb's hair on the longish side, they look even more identical than usual. He has coffee, coffee which he is nursing slowly. To Max, he says, "No, they don't go away when I sleep. But I can dissipate them instantly, just, will them into being and will them away. But feasibly I could maintain one or two without having to dissipate them. The problem," he admits, "Is that we're all bound together — one life force. So if one of me falls in the harbor and drowns, the other mes wherever they are would die as well. So having a lot of me around makes multiple targets. So I usually only use them when I need them, or when it's safe." He then grins as Vic comes home and he chuckles at Max, "Yeah, Vic is dating the whole ball of silly putty. Hey. We're just talking."
Maximus reaches out his foot to bump into Kaleb's foot. "I think having a you in Attilan would be safe. I could assign him a room and tuck him away in there with room service and some games. Then you would not really be without your brother, and…you could pass along information to a man named Triton. And Nick. Nick has an art gallery here in town. I can give you the address. As for Triton, we'll have to tell him the situation so that he knows who to contact. But, that does seem like it would be the safest and most secure method to get word to them."
Kaleb had his mind in a rut. He was stubborn, proud, and also particular. he let them talk theory and directive. Kaleb watched the singular rose arranged in the water glass in front of him; the bump pulling him out of his silent grousing. His eyes trailed up to Vic and he greeted, "Hey, motemallow. Just tlaking about saving the world without distressing the shit out of everyone." He considered this though and looked to Kellan and Max and nodded, "Having my family would make it easier. By. A lot." Easier for him to focus at the very least. His foot bumped Max's foot back. Okay. they were good. He sighed and said, "Wow we can make this happen. Now we just have to sort out the wedding bullshit and it's a banner day."
Vic wanders in, sandwich in one hand, beer in the other. He comes over to where Kellan is and gives him a kiss. "I'm done studying for the day." Kaleb gets a grin when he calls Vic motemallow. "I hope you save the world; that's where I keep my stuff." He settles beside Kellan. "What can I do to help?" Maximus gets a warm smile, too. "Hey there."
Kellan nods to Maximus and to Kaleb and says, "I could send a copy, and I can communicate back and forth that way." Then he smirks at Kaleb and says, "I am not going to that wedding." Period. End of story. Though when Vic comes in and leans in to give him a kiss, he returns it and some of that glower that had come over his features melts away. "Hi," he says to him with a grin and leans over against Vic's shoulder once he sits down.
"Wedding?" Maximus arches his brows at that word. "Who…is getting married?" Then he flicks his steel gaze to Vic when he is greeted. "I like the idea of the copy. Good evening. Is it someone terrible getting married? I could arrange an explosion." He offers helpfully.
Kaleb looked to his twin and groaned in the unhappy way of whyyyyyy are you leaving me to suffer alone, brother! He narroed his eyes and headdesked. "Yes, Maximus, someone dreadful that I have to play nicey with for bullshit political reasons is getting married. Remember my ex that I offered to boggart that cook from so you can stop eating like a human being and start eating like a real person?" OH let his classist flag fly there! He was not enthused about this, "Ms. Veronica Honecker is marrying Alexander Drake II and I have to go because her father and our father have some business thing in Argentina pending." One might be telling him he has to donate a kidney to the head of mutant investigations or some such. He picked up his head from his theatrics sponsored by teh Morton Salt Co. and explained to Maximus, "I know… how you feel. That makes this incredibly annoying because I have to go with someone as to uphold family respectibility or some horse shit. It's just how it's done. So I might have to call and bribe my cousin Lauren. She doesn't like me but we cna be crabby throughout. We're alright when we have a common enemy to fake nice to." he was really not thrilled about this and honestly, it pained him to tell Max who was fanatically jealous protective of his things.
Vic leans against Kellan in turn and offers him half his sandwich. Now that is love. That steely gaze of Maximus' is met with the oft-disarming smile of a man with shameless dimples. Then he listens to Kaleb explain the pending wedding, and he wrinkles his nose. "That doesn't sound fun. How long will it take? Do you need someone to call in the middle with some fake emergency so you can leave without anyone suspecting anything?"
When offered half of Vic's sandwich, Kellan grinsat him and then shakes his head, "All you." He seems comfortable enough just to lean against him. "I still don't get how, in all those hundreds of society snobs, they're going to even notice if we're not there." But he knows that they will and someone will take it as a snub. He's just irritated because he thought going to college would get him away from all that.
Maximus lifts his chin and makes a dangerous, considering sound, and then asks ever-so-non-challantly, "Oh? When is it?" Definitely not totally manipulating the line of questioning so that he gets what he wants.
Kaleb eeeeeeeyed Maximus carefully. "December. 3 or 8 or some number that's round twice on one side. I'll have to un-throw the invitation from across the room and look." He looked from Max to Kellan and- Vic had food and was not instigating this Vic was being aterrific motemallow. He rubbed his face with his hands and murmured, "Let's not ruin a chunk of hte city to deter me from having to go, and Vic, it's a few hours and if you hold out long enough the cake is sadly really good."
Vic pauses, sandwich to lips. Then he takes a bite, chews, washes it down with beer, and says, "There's cake? Can you, I mean is it possible to maybe, you know, bring some home? I mean if you're going anyway." He's not proud. Everyone knows wedding cake is the best cake. He glances to Kellan to gauge his reaction to all this. Kellan's even more important than the wedding cake.
Kellan glances between Kaleb and Maximus as the date is brought up and doesn't offer any information. He's leaving this to Kaleb, it seems. He finishes off his coffee and then pushes the mug away, settling back in his chair and folding his arms in front of him. Though when Vic asks if cake can be brought home, he can't maintain that glower and his shoulers shake a ltitle as he chuckles. Leaning over, he rests his head on Vic's shouler. "If I end up having to go to that horrible thing, I will bring you back cake. In fact, I might make it a mission to steal a big chunk of cake just to justify having to be there." That's all it took — doing something to make Vic happy, and he's considering going.
"Assuming that Attilan is not in ruins…I will go with you." Maximus' eyes /sparkle/ and he looks at Kaleb with a mirth in his eyes. "Worry not…I can pass when I want to. Just ask Dr. Strange…and Tony Stark." He smiles overbroadly in a flash, then drops it down to normal levels of smile.
Kaleb sighed and blinked, "Do what now?" Kaleb looked a faint shade of slate and blinked to Maximus and tried to wrap his head around the most important part of that statement, "Did you hit on Vic's dad?" Waaaaaaay to focus on the important part there. He took a deep breath and looked to Maximus, and then let his eyes fall to the flower in the glass and his jaw set. He looked back to Max and said, "As much as I'd love for this to be one of those party crashing let the world burn affairs, it's social chess, and there's a lot at risk. And yes she'll know I'm not there because she'll make a point to waggle the rock at me and gloat about the poor bastard that has agreed to put up with her for the next six or sixty years." he paused and wobbled his head, "And… I don't hate her. She was alright. She's a dipshit, but she was less deplorable tha- fine." He stopped mulling it over and looked to Max with that look of pleasepleasepleaseplease don't catfight with the bride while she's trying to walk down the aisle in overpriced shoes. "You can come but I can't promise the shit they say won't be hurtful. Just… be prepared. I don't like seeing that shit happen to you. I'm… used to it." he looked to his brother withthe promise of if he didn't go he'd get no juicy details. "Vic I'm not above commanding the kitchen staff to load half a sheet cake into the car for you to eat, roll around in, or keep as a pet. But I want a piece of it because it will taste like spite, win, and victory."
Vic grins at Kellan and murmurs, "You treat me so well." That's good for another kiss, soft and sweet, in front of company and everything. Then his attention turns to Maximus, particularly at Kaleb's pertinent question. "But he's so old," he says. Still, there's sheet cake getting mentioned, and he tells Kaleb, practically dewey-eyed, "I knew there's a reason you're so important to me." That Kaleb can incorporate Vic's love of cake into meaningful family time is so touching.
Max is going to go? Kaleb is going to bring Max? Oh, this, Kellan has to see. So, cake for Vic and Max at Victoria? Veronica? Whoeverthe fuck's wedding? It seems that the other Miller twin is in. "Alright, but only because we need to bring home cake for Vic and because honestly I'll admit I'm curious about seeing how fantastic Max is going to look." There's a pause. "But I'm not bringing a date. I draw the line there. I never faked it with a date before and I'm not doing it this time either." There are LINES.
"Oh…no. I did not hit on his father. I did far more than that. So did he!" Max looks like he is ready to dine on Vic's discomfort and Kaleb's jealousy and shock for /lunch/. "But, not to worry, he did soundly reject me in the end." Pause. Smile. "I didn't know he had a kid at the time. That man broke my heart. So /curious/ though. Definitely…a tease." Another beat passes and he just keeps talking! "All for the best, though. I am over it and I have Kaleb." Vic just learning all kinds of things about his dad today.
Kaleb sighed to Kellan, "Well you cna grab Cousin Lauren this way you don't have to fake anything." Family was an option. He blinked and just…blinked. Habitually Kaleb Miller was never jealous because he never got played. He'd drop everything like a hot rock and move on. THis was also before he cared and his habit was to cut to the jugular with a bazooka , win, leave the stadium in ruins so it couldn't be used against him aaaaand he was a jerk. That was the end of it. But a curious smile came to him and he chuckled. He won. This guy. This one right here. And he trusted Maximus, crazy as that sounded. He leaned over and kissed Max's temple and said, "Yeah. You have me." And he went to refil his coffee. "So the question is in 2 months with defending against a possible seige… when are you going to have time to get something made? I got a lady here who is amazing. She's this tiny amazing woman from India who has people make her fabric for her, or you can have something made in Attilan between fixing the core and saving the city." he sipped his coffee and took a deep breath. This…was happening.
Vic finishes his sandwich and takes Kellan's hand. "I'm sorry I don't look good in a dress," he says. Then he looks at Maximus and his features do funny things. Like. How can someone so affable and bright look so dismayed? Grossed out, even. That's his dad, dude. "I… uh… um…" So uncomfortable. His dad isn't capable of being a sexual being. Doesn't everyone know that? His mother and father have a respectful friendship and nothing else. Because gross. "The important thing is you have Kaleb," Vic says while, inwardly, he writhes in soul pain. He drinks his beer and curses not being able to get drunk.
Finally, Kellan actually gets angry and he says to Kaleb, "I am not going with cousin Lauren," a dark flash in those blue eyes. "Fuck this wedding bullshit." There may be more going on underneath the surface, and it is boiling over. But it's Vic that pulls him back and he says, "If I go to this thing with anyone, it will be with you, or with no one at all." He does reach over and give Vic's hand a gentle squeeze as talk turns to Max and Strange, bcause he can see that dismay coloring Vic's expression. He clears his throat finally and says, "So, now that that's .. uh.. sorted."
"Thank you, Kaleb. I do have a selection. I'll have to show you and let you pick. And Vic, you could look fine in a dress, but…there's…a confidence…a walk." Max squints his eyes. "You could /try/. We could see. It might work. And then it would be a double date." Maximus smiles broadly at that and runs his hand through his dark hair. He glances over to Kaleb, as if to say 'isn't this a fab idea', then back to the other couple.
Kaleb calmly, very very calmly, looked to Kellan and blinked once. "Done. I'm not carrying that cake alone." It was true, he had people for that. He didn't do lifting especially if that thing had frosting. This may be their worst idea ever like letting a kid with matches run around a gas station, or it might be a hell of a good time in spite of the bride being there. He looked back to Kellan and relented one look that said right, too far, and I owe you less shit for having been shot. He seemed he was aware of it at least. "Yeah, double date under a microscope. Great time. We got just over a month though. And if we are being attacked I'll send her a…thing and tell her I couldn't make her first wedding, I had dinner with a world leader that night." He stopped and winced, "Awwww why didn't we lead with that idea?!" That would get them all out of going. He looked to max and he looked… too enthused. "It's fine. We'll do this. cake. I cannot promise I will be entirely nice to people but I'll try…ish."
Vic's brows lift. He glances down at himself. "Uh, if you want to try to make me look okay in a dress, okay." OldVic would have lost his shit, but OldVic is dead. Long live NewVic. He sets his beer bottle down and puts both arms around Kellan, murmuring wordless comfort into his hair before planting a kiss there. "Baby, whatever you want to do, I'm on board. Dress or no dress." He gives Kellan a nuzzle and another kiss, right there in front of everyone. It's okay because he's in looove.