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Kaleb spent last night attending a UN summit with his father in the best suit he had and his father's limo in the company of his dad and…Pendergst? Well he was still his father's right hand man even if he was involved in a kidnapping and blackmailing scheme. The important part of this is somehow he looked more put together than he's ever been and made James Bond look like a chump. Say what you will about Kaleb Miller, but the kid had more style than most and could weaponize that shit.
The UN summit was a business foray for the Millers. Turns out? Martin Miller II, the boys' father was responsible for the design and construction of the Pentagon and other important properties around the globe and New York. It made sense to go. What people didn't plan on was the unaligned nations discussing some alien city called Penglai under the ocean, future tech it holds, and what governments have rights to its salvage and that was BEFORE the Kree showed up. Yeah, tall scary blue aliens entered the stage and told the people of Earth there's shape shifters living among them posing as humans and there was 1 week to bring them to justice. That was… not going well.
Kaleb didn't come home but a call from teh main house called for Kellan per Kaleb's request. It was odd but no doubt a family matter.
That was until Kaleb came home after a report would be relayed back that Kaleb was fine and seems to have 'overdid it'. Kellan was solid for information in that regard. His key came in the door and he entered looking like the finest looking Hell one could be sent to, but his eyes were a terrible bloodshot wall to wall red and he looked tired and annoyed. He wasn't in the door before he said "Jay, Jeb… shit Max isn't here is he?" He was asking?
Jay insisted on listening to the summit. it's not his usual, but since Kaleb was there, it seemed wise. His interest in his roommate and his goings ons, to be fair, seemed a little excessive. He barely paid attention to the summit as he heard it…until the aliens appeared and things got interesting. Once that happened Jay no longer had to defend his decision to listen to it, but he became excessively aggitated. Pacing the room slowly, staring at the radio and the report, feathers prickled and fluffed up to high heaven.
The aggitation didn't calm when Kellan was called away, with the rest of them to cool their heels. Things like this happen a little too frequently for his tastes, and the report that Kaleb 'overdid it' calms him only marginally in one manner of speaking, but rouses a whole different batch of concern and worry. But at least Kellan was with him.
Jay is insufferable to be around that night. Sorry, Jeb. But for whatever reason he doesn't seem especially worried about the alien part. You know, the part he probably should be worried about. No, his concern lands squarely on Kaleb and his state of being, but at least he isn't pulling out feathers about it like he was. If Kellan isn't tearing his fingernails out, then Jay tries to keep SOME kind of cool.
Jay's in the living room when Kaleb comes home. Because that's where he's been since the radio. Hey, that means you don't gotta share the bed, Jeb! Relief strikes him briefly, soon to be replaced by concern as the winged mutant stands up and walks right over to Kaleb, stopping just short to look him over—feathers fwipping around anxiously. "Kale," relief. Then mild concern, shaking his head over Max. "No. No, he ain't here. Are you okay? What happened to you? He said you overdid it?"
Jeb doesn't understand Jay's worry when it doesn't have much to do with aliens existing in the same place as his roommate who was clearly his best friend out here, but more about how Kaleb is doing… mentally. He doesn't understand a lot of what's going on at the summit, but he can tell that Jay is aggitated, very worried. He does his best to be comforting without overbearing or annoying.
Ultimately, he just stays by Jay's side when he stays in the living room. He parks himself right beside his older brother as a smaller rock for Jay to lean on. He wasn't going anywhere.
When Kaleb does come home, Jeb remains still and quiet, allowing the two to talk, he just remains here. Jay responds with worry that Jebediah recognizes, worry that Jay's used whenever any of them got hurt, or when Jebediah came home too late bruised and bloody. When Jay cares for someone, he cares for them hard. So he doesn't need Jeb to speak right now. He needs Kaleb to tell him he's okay.
Kaleb looked to his best bud with wall to wall red eyes that might make the undead jealous. He wasn't bruised, or scratched or shot or bloody or anyhting but it always started with a nosebleed and then the eyes a bit so saying he 'overdid it' might have been right on the nose for an assessment. Kaleb, though, was a hard Mutant to keep down. He wasn't particularly stalwart, he was just a tenacious little shit and that was enough most days. A hand went to jay's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Jeb wasn't wrong in his lifelong observation of his older brother: if Jay cared he went all in even if to his detriment. His voice was quiet but he said, "Yeah I'm okay enough. Effectivly blew out my speaker." There goes the eardrum from feedback. Great, right? He muttered quietly, "I'm on a lotoooot of vicodin right now." He wasn't feelin it. ot yet. The earplugs were still in. He was… irked, but he was burying that to marinate for now instead of unleashing it on his comrades. No, that shit was going to be fuel. "You guys hear?" He left it at that for now focusing less on his health and more on teh big issue. His balance wasn't great right now so while he didn't wobble walking in a direct straight line wasn't a thing.
Jay manages to stop short of touching Kaleb when he comes home, but the hand resting on his shoulder is gratifying. Letting his friend broach that barrier, Jay's mouth curves a little higher, reaching back to touch the elbow of the extended arm. "Ah'm surprised yer standin' upright if yer on vicodin. Come on, let's get you sittin' down. You want somethin' to drink?" Because when in doubt, ply with refreshments. He really is becoming a valet.
Wings fwipping slightly, he glances back toward Jeb, uncertainly, then back to Kaleb. He honestly doesn't know how much of all this Jeb can even understand, and is hesitant to make him excessively worried. Jeb when he worried tends to result in lit dumpsters and someone getting beat. "We were listenin' to it on the radio." Walking beside Kaleb to try to 'pinball' him in a relative straight path. "It all sounds really fishy."
Jeb pulls his legs up on the couch to pull them in tight to his body. He doesn't understand much of it but Jay's worry has been palpable, coming off of him in waves. He's worried Jay is going to lose all his feathers more than he's worried about aliens. He narrows his eyes a little when Kaleb talks about his ear, the plugs, he doesn't know what Kaleb's power is just yet either but it must have something to do with his ears. He struggles with whether or not he should get up to help. He does, after a moment of hesitation and approaches Kaleb gently. "You look awful, buddy. Let me go get you some water. We'll fix you up." He promises, excusing himself easily but letting Kaleb know that he cares.
Kaleb looked from Jay to Jeb and bounced off the counter before stopping there for no real reason other than to preserve dignity. Jeb and Jay said they had it so stopping now was really only polite to not…get in the way. Sure. Let's go with that. Still he was just, fuming. He wasn't pacing because then he'd tip over and then he'd be angry about that too. "Thanks…Jeb… Kaleb. We met when you rented that spot on Jay's floor… Rent's due on the 15th." He was joking right? He sighed, "Sooo aliens right? We knew we knew one but this is different.Oh…and jean's the woman on the radio that volunteered the 'us' to fix it. So…great. That's what he went off to fight the other night that I didn't go to- you are…so welcome Jay… and now? now we're face first in the crotch of this awful mess."
Jay pauses when Kaleb does, walking along side him while Jeb goes to get water. There's still a faint smile when Kaleb re-introduces himself and lets Jeb know when rent is due. For what it's worth, Jay doesn't seem worried so he must be joking. Right?
"Well, we know a couple," Jay murmurs softly in an undertone regarding aliens, which may just drop a clue to Jeb as to why he seemed less immediately worried about that part. He winces faintly over Jean's addition to the whole mess. "Ah'd wondered who run up there like a crazy person. Great. What the heck does she expect us to start doin'? Most folks don't even trust us normally, Ah doubt they're gonna line up so we can give 'em our 'Skrull questionnaire', since that's the only thing Ah can think of offhand." The cynicism is STRONG with Icarus right now.
Jeb scurries into the kitchen after Kaleb reintroduces himself and tells him about the rent, a little spark of anxiety over that does reside in Jeb's chest even if Jay seems to be fine. Jay was Cabbage's friend though, Jeb was just some wayward drunk that Jay dragged in off their doorstep. He fills a cup up with water after it takes him a bit of trial and error to figure out just where the hell they keep the cups in this place before he comes back over to the pair of them. There's the lightest touch of Jeb's hand on Kaleb's wrist as he hands him the glass. "Drink this." He encourages.
Kaleb took the glass of water with a slight upnod. He drank teh water and looked over to his door. His jaw set and his voice was really super quiet, yet still was heard, as if soft spoken people could project, "Jay… where you think Maximus was the other night?" He gave him a long long look. Thaaaaaaat would be why Kaleb was up for forever agitated. "We know of at least one person who knows about them at least. I gota talk to Jean. I'm in intel and surveilance for this so I need… my head back. Can't… do anything with half of it fucking down." He drank more of his water and looked at Jay and Jeb, "Did they think this wouldn't end in a witch hunt? God blessed I am so… pissed at people right now"
|ROLL| Kaleb +rolls 1d20 for: 1
Holding Kaleb's look as it's levied down on him, Jay holds it effortlessly, reading the exhaustion and anger bubbling below the battered and hyper-extended surface. His lips press together for a wobbling moment, brushing against a frown. Kaleb was quiet, and so was Jay, practically whispering. "Ah know. You explained." In broad strokes. "Kaleb, Ah'm worried yer stretchin' yerself too thin." Bluntly to the point, Jay gets around the anger and the enormous earthly hurdle ahead of them, holding onto the long look.
Jeb settles back down on the couch, looking between the pair of them. You could practically feel the emotion rolling off of Kaleb, just waiting to burst, so Jeb stays back, and away, not wanting to catch any of it with a flying table or the like. He still doesn't know what Kaleb does, maybe he explodes into flames when he's angry.
Kaleb was perhaps way too calm. "Stretching myself too thin?" His eyes narrowed though his war was not with Jay, "Aliens form… who-all knows where are trying to break. my. things. Jay." his stuff, his people, his family, his quasi-alien. "We're going to find them…and then this shit is going to end." Oh this wasn't explosive rage this was likely to be one of those fugue fuled fanatic binges where he's going to be planning until his math makes no fucking sense anymore or the walls melt. "Yeah. I am, Jay. We can take it up with them. I just… gotta think…gotta… figure out" why he was getting a nosebleed again? Oh someone was reaching like spynet through the building. His expression turned thoughtful and his eyes narrowed focusing on nothing in particular, "THere is too much damn foam insulation in this building you know that Jay? Too much and somehow? Not enough to keep us from beaking with those elephant children upstairs." This probably didn't make sense to most, and he might not even understand his intent tomorrow but he did warn he was on an inordinate amount of painkillers.
The war wasn't with Jay, but ask anyone: Jay's an easy target. He pokes things he shouldn't when it would be in his own selfish, personal interest to leave them alone. And he never seems to learn.
Kaleb's calm is a brittle thing, and Jeb settles back into the safety of the couch for good reason. The sonic knows how to make waves in the middle of calm nothingness by just willing them into existence. If Jay thought about it hard, he'd have to wonder if that didn't stand to reason for all apects of his life and not just when if came to sound. "Yes, Aliens from who-knows-where are trying to break your things. This week." His brows lift gently in emphasis. "An' we're gonna stop them, or someone will, an' next it'll be inter-dimensional scorpions. Or dream slugs. Or vampires. Or the Russians, or Pendergast—because fer some reason we're all still tryin' to destroy eachother, too." The musician tilts his chin down, gaze still latched on to Kaleb. "Point is that there is always somethin', Kaleb. Always. An' Ah ain't sayin' we don't try, but you just went to a /summit/ an' over-extended yerself. How the hell are you gonna fight if you do this to yerself while sittin' back in a crowd?"
A look of pain flashed over his face, vivid and very real looking as he searches Kaleb's bloodshot eyes, having to cut a look away. He glances toward the couch where his brother sits perched. "Yeah, stuff is happenin', but if nobody else in yer cotton-pickin' life you hold in such high esteem is gonna tell you when yer over doin' it for your own good and watch out for you, then Ah guess that means Ah'm gonna do it whether you want me to or not." Jay disengages, pressing away from the situation. Turning toward the direction of his door. "Because bad stuff is always gonna happen, Kaleb. But yer /my/ 'stuff'. An' Ah ain't got much of that left. With all these other things tryin' to break you, you don't gotta help 'em."
Jay glances over his shoulder at Jeb, his wings set low on his back, primaries dragging on the floor behind him. "Ah'm goin' to go to sleep." Since he didn't do any of that the night before.
"Ah'll go upstairs an' have a talk with the McGuires tomorrow," Jay adds on of the family upstairs.
Jeb sinks back against the couch hard when they start to fuss at each other. He thinks about covering his ears even, like a little kid but instead he just sits back, afraid to breathe too loudly and have that anger and that hurt directed at him. He bites his lower lip hard because he's stupid when it comes to what's going on here, he doesn't know what Jay's been through since he got here, he barely knows what Jay's been through before. He thought that New York was supposed to be better for Jay, that's what their mama had told them. Jay would be happier here, with his own 'kind' like Jay was some kind of rare breed of dog. She meant it with love of course, Lucinda Guthrie never wanted to say a thing against her children, she meant and did everything with love and Jebediah had to believe that when Jay got sent away because Jebediah was a pile of cow manure, had to believe that this place was safer and better for him. He thought that Jay would have a whole band of muties together by now, that he'd be living in an extravagant place like this because he'd be some rich singer, songwriter, guitar player but now Jeb wonders if the friends he has here have only been bringing him pain too, everywhere Jay goes, someone hurts him and it's not right. It's not right at all.
Jeb rises when Jay says he's going to bed, fists clenched and he thinks hard about going over and socking Kaleb for good measure, starting with Jay like that when Jay is only trying to help him, trying to comfort him, trying to tell him that he needs to slow the hell down sometimes that the world isn't on his damn shoulders. Anger tightens in his chest because Jay… Jay doesn't deserve this, Jay hasn't deserved anything he's been dealt and they lied, they lied when they said Jay would be happier here, but Cabbage already looks terrible and he did say he was on painkillers. He does approach Kaleb, makes sure he's in between the pair of them as Jay retreats. "My brother is a good person, Kaleb. My brother here, is the best man ah know. An'… an' he's just looking out for you because he's a good person. And ah know you had a terrible night, and from what it sounds like, you've had a rough time for awhile but my brother is a /good person/ and he… he didn't deserve that." He doesn't hit him, he wants to but he doesn't hit him, instead, he walks into the kitchen, locates the napkins, walks back and hands one to Kaleb. "Your nose is bleedin'. Go to sleep."
Kaleb was really out of his head though somehow refering to things on levels of 'stuff' was good enough for him and still resonated. The reality was Kaleb jsut really wasn't fucking home upstairs right now; not entirely. Jay just going to bed just really made him all that much more tired and he looked to the birb and said "Thanks. You're not wrong" It really took Jeb pointing out his face was bleeding ther he inwardly cursed. Some shit jsut didn't shut off. He grabbed a peper napkin and wandered in a sort of straight ward direction, "Yeah we all have, Jeb. It's why… later today we're going to find a fix. So we can have a week off. When things in this world stop attacking the people I fucking care about we'll let it go. We-" He waivered on hsis feet. Huh, okay he'd far overestimated this one. He blamed the aliens! Stupid razzan frazzin asshole du jour! "got' protect our birbs, Jeb… all of em." Kaleb wandered into the bathroom and shut the door. The issue with this was they shared a bathroom and Kaleb, some how curled up in the tub fully clothed with napkins stuffed in his face. In the morning he'll likely remember near none of this sadly.