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*
The tiles of the floor are polished so much that they act like a muted mirror and vaguely reflect the shapes and forms of the building and people that rest upon them. Only lightly travelled at this time of day, the place is still full of echo, yet no voice is distinct. Maximus the Magnificent is wearing his Attilan clothing…the long trench coat, the boots and silver pants. His hair is wild in short curls. He looks over his shoulder at the sound of added footsteps.
*
Returning to Attilan is a mixed blessing. On one hand, it's home, and it's familiar. On the other, it feels different and strange. There are still people in the city who look at Medusa with an air of expectation, and while she thought she wanted to have people look on her in that light, she's become less certain. "Maximus." It's offered as an acknwledgeent rather than a query as she maintains a stately pace. Her own hair is at rest, save for the occasional undulation.
*
Maximus lets his blue eyes drift up and down her form, perhaps assessing for threat…possibly just assessing. "Me-du-sa…" He flicks a faint smile. "How intriguing to see you in these halls again. I thought you were exploring the brave, new world beyond these borders." he has all the wording of a snake, but there's a gaming quality about it.
*
"I was." Medusa says. She's polite, but there's no denying the underlying tension in her tone. "But I suppose everyone feels like they must come home, even if it's only for a brief time, now and again, if they're determined to make something of their lives elsewhere. There's been some interest in my experience beyond the city, and I hoped to be helpful." She turns her head so she's regarding him more directly. "And you? How did you find the brave new world, as you put it?"
*
"I have found some pleasures in it, and a great many threats. This…exposure of ourselves to the human world is a mistake…and I intend to make certain the people of Attilan are protected. There would be no reason not to support such an agenda, would there?" Maximus weaves his politic words with a couple paces in her direction.
*
"Nature abhors a vaccuum." Medusa responds frankly. "If we remain cut off from the world, we will stagnate. We're taught from a young age that variation breeds strength. The world has much to offer us, and we in turn could offer it a great deal." There's a pause. "Wakanda, for example, might make an excellent ally. They are an incredibly underestimated country."
*
"I never said we would not have allies, just that we need to guard our city. It cannot become a stop on a tourist route. We cannot /trust/…the rest of the world, not with the way they treat their mutant-kind." Maximus counters.
*
"Perhaps you could explain your vision to me, then." Medusa's hair coils around her figure as she gives Maximus her direct attention. Whether or not she believes him, she's giving him the floor, so to speak.
*
"My vision? Oh…do you want to know my vision?" Maximus begins to smile and it keeps growing until its far too wide to be normal. He walks closer to her and tries to reach out and stroke his fingers along her shoulder. "I have in my mind…an Attilan that trains, an Attilan that prepares…a people that grow and watch how the mutants are dealt with, before revealing ourselves. And when we do, it will be to subjugate every person on the entire planet, to build a city the size of a country…and let the rest of the world despair that they are not in it. I would lead our people to a greatness they can only imagine…with allies they already fear."
*
Medusa's hair curls around his fingers, and gently tugs his fingers away from her shoulder. "That may be problematic." she remarks. "There are many more of them than there are of us." She's not down with this agenda, but she's curious as to how he thinks he should go about it.
*
Maximus lets her pull his fingers away and just stares at her for a long moment. His eyes blink slowly. His lips are frozen. Then suddenly, they flick to life and he chuckles, bright and beautiful. And immediately flat again. "There are. Now." Smiiiiiiiiiiiile punctuates the threat.
*
Medusa's locks glide slowly off his fingers as she studies him in silence for a long moment. "Only a limited percentile of the global population carry the necessary gene markers." she says to Maximus. "And they have lived all their lives as human. Are you entirely sure the results would be what you desire? You would not be Maximus the Liberator, you would be Maximus the Monster Maker."
*
Maximus straightens himself and looks at Medusa like she has snakes for hair. Oh. Wait. She does! He lifts his chin. "I have no interest in betraying our traditions of training, mastery, before the terrigenesis. What I mean is…the population of humans is fairly easy to /decrease/…if the need arrose."
*
Medusa lifts her brows at that, her mouth pursing in a tight line. "There must be other ways. There must be better ways." But does she have the answers? No. "I have come to realize," she says after a moment, "How little power I actually have. It has been humbling. What does the rest of the family think of your plan?"
*
"I have no idea. Plans are only plans, and as terrible as some of them are, or seem to be, I like to be prepared. And often, if you /can/ do something, you don't have to." Maximus says sagely. "And that's why I make a good king…and those who are unwilling to see those sorts of solutions…seem weak." Maximus tilts his head. "Have you talked to the Council? You may have some power yet. I have no idea. I'd love to see you flex, though."
*
"I thought the Council was an afterthought in the face of your new regime?" Medusa's hair continues to writhe around her, but stays in her immediate aura. "I do know that plans should be subject to scrutiny. Examining their flaws are what makes them more viable. It's a shame I haven't seen Karnak in some time. I'm sure she'd be happy to provide an analysis." There's a faint twitch upward at the corner of her lip. "We'll see about what happens when I 'flex'."
*
"Are you accepting and supporting me, then? The council holds the reigns of this city currently. Nothing has changed. I just believe they are doing a terrible job of it. We did not see attacks from outsiders while I was king…not until the outcasts brought them home." Maximus juts his head forwards and then smiles, reaching out again to try and touch a writhing bit of hair.
*
"I'm not prepared to commit to anyone." Medusa replies frankly. "The last time I committed to a member of the Boltagon family, politically or otherwise, I was cast aside. And I no longer desire to simply walk blindly on the pather of another person." She regards him levelly. Her locks do not reach for his seeking fingers, but she doesn't lash out like a snake. "I am waiting. And I am watching."
*
Maximus makes a humming sound. "Yes…he /did/ wound you…did he not? You could not have been referring to me…as you are the one that fled from me, rather than the other way around. I noticed, the other day, that the mutant that calls herself Scarlett…acted as though she had all of Black Bolt's skills and powers. One could assume…from that…many things." He shakes his head. "My brother has no taste."
*
Medusa puts up a hand as if to tell him to stop. "It serves no purpose to pursue that line of thinking. Things are what they are, and to linger on might-haves or should-haves is a waste of time, and unfair to your brother. And to me. But I'm not sure what role he has chosen to play in all of," a flick of her hair, "This."