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It was just after there was a riot in the UN where Kaleb went with his father and the Kree announced their presence to the world. Night one Kaleb stayed in Manhattan having 'overdone it a bit' and presently was resting up at home waiting for Jay to hear back from Josh or Vitale. Did Kaleb leave like 14 messages with the front deck for Max? No he left 17 and that was today. It was just 'Mr. Miller wishes for you to drop by when you have a moment.' because subtly was a thing.
Right now he was on the couch actually taking it easy and doing his best not to give Jay more reasons to fret and molt. Apparently passing out in a bathtub in a suit and a blanket teaches a guy a few things about 'maybe it's time to dial it back and the Birb is right'.
Jay had called Vitale, naturally. Because if he had to stomach another casual conversation about how he was an idiot from the guy who uses his codename in casual conversations like an enormous tool, he was going to as Kaleb to deafen him. But one of the downsides to having your healer also working for the mob was that Vitale was busy working on some of his dad's men after a raid and wouldn't be by for a couple hours. You take the lesser of two evils.
Though, where do you think Kaleb got the blanket from? Their conversation may have ended poorly, but one trip to their shared bathroom to discover Kaleb in there, Jay dropped one of his quilts on the guy. And then pulled the shower curtain so he could piss.
Jay? Jay's shoved Jeb out of the house with a list of things to do in order to make himself a productive member of the household. Mostly just to get him out from underfoot and give Jay a little time to unwind on his own. Dropping onto the other side of the couch, he didn't redirect his attention over toward Kaleb as he folded his feet up under himself for warmth, reading a book. "So," a thread of tension veering toward normalcy. "When Vitale gets here, do you wanna listen to the record Doug brought me?" Important shit.
He has a key. Probably. Someone probably gave him one. They can hope. Or he's invented some sort of skeleton key that deals with these primitive non-electrical locks on the doors around here. Regardless, Max just comes right in. There's something grim about his face, a hollowed out sort of look about him, with sunken eyes and the cheeks of a man who hasn't eaten much for a good while. That's the trouble with 'crazy'. Sometimes…crazy loses itself in a mire of invention. Steel eyes dart to Jay, then Kaleb, appraising both. He swings the door shut with a flick of his hand and then cocks his head before prefacing the conversation start with, "There were a lot of overly polite messages downstairs."
|ROLL| Maximus +rolls 1d20 for: 11
Kaleb has focus, and at least got rest as much as he ever really did. His left ear was down in that pillow. It was one of those rare, rare days where he was completely dressed down in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms and mostly blanket. No tie even. Jay got a bewildered look, "You haven't brought this up before? Yeah you know I do, Jay. Doug's… Dougs is a really good guy I think." Someone was still cruisin on the good ship lollypop there, aka the Vicodin train. When Max came in (yes Kale gave him a key because it was more symbolic than necessary), there was a look of relief, "Oh good. No one took you." There was a wince and he pushed himself to sit holding his ear a bit, though he had an earplug in just the right one. With one hand on the back of the couch he stood, with blanket, wobbled and took a few steps with all of the circuitousness of a bee to get to the end of the couch and wait for Max to come there. Sonic's balance was shot but he was working with it in moderation.
"Yeah, Ah like him. He wants mah brothers an' me to go work for him," Jay mentions in general agreement, shrugging a shoulder at Kaleb. "We were busy arguin' over why you're a stubborn ass, before." Factual and rather harmless in the way he states it. In a water under the bridge sort of way. That's the kind of communication you get when an emotionally stunted and hyperactive person bond closely.
The door opens and Max steps in, Jay's worn old book is something he's probably gone over a dozen times and gets closed on his lap, dog-earing the page like an animal. Jay seems fine. He always seems fine. The power of one's body not allowing them to look too much like shit. The only difference is that the serene smile normally curved placidly across his lips is absent, leaving the pale man simply wide eyed and quiet. Kaleb tries to sit himself up on the couch and Jay immediately reaches to help steady and pull him upright, then to his feet while the winged young man remains seated. He worries a little, but doesn't interfere while Kaleb tries to manuever his shot sense of balance and tempts equilibrium. The musician takes a steeling breath and redirects his attention back down at his book.
Maximus races forwards, suddenly, the moment he notices that Kaleb isn't at his best. His chin dips and his black curls sway against the side of his face as he reaches out for the other man with a surprising amount of strength. "No one will ever take me, Kaleb. No one knows I exist that would bother." He supports him upright for a moment, inspecting the clearly infirm man, before basically trying to guide him back to where he was when he came in. "Idiot. You can't fool me by standing up. What happened? Are you going to be all right?" He stares at Kaleb for a moment, /thinking/, then he turns his sharp gaze on Jay and asks HIM, perhaps thinking the answer from Kaleb won't be honest enough. "Will he be all right?" The words have a strange tone to them, unable to shake the undercurrent of mixed, violent reaction to someone having harmed the mutant, but mixed with concern and panic, with the emotional salad dressing of 'why is my person broked'!!!
Kaleb was about to- he was nearly picked up with near no effort. Sometimes he completely forgot how physically adept Inhumans were. "I-" He squint. Medicated, yes but he knew when he was being outvoted. He was torn between outrage and taking refuge in people that actually gave more than a damn and finally relented to the latter and realized while his brain that was moving at the speed of very excited pudding to think a whole thought Max already planted him gently back on the couch. Hell he didn't even realize that happened. He was going to answer but the opportunity was shot by. His jay tightened, but his fingers curled around Max's trusting Jay to be frank and accurate. "I'm not dying." He wasn't alright, but there was nothing mission critical that was happening and wanted to de-escalate that as fast as he could. Echo's head tilted to the side wanting to catch the conversation with the least amount of effort. Max's hand was drawn over his left ear as if giving him the quiet tip off while Jay added what he would. The rest could wait, but the biggest worry was abated: All persons were accounted for.
Jay doesn't look up while the two have their reunion, or even as Max turns his sharpened attention on him. Wings cocked out to either side and pressed against the couch back, the red-head's chin remains down as he responds. "Ah called a guy who can heal him, but he did it to himself." Jay responds helpfully, though his voice carries with it a deadened din, hollowly echoing the distance that he's putting between himself and his own emotional reaction he grips close against his chest. "Decided he didn't need to play it cool while sittin' in the crowd at the summit, an' had to spend the night at the den of wolves in recovery." There's a glance sidelong at Kaleb as he's set back down on the couch next to him. "Yer /not dying/," exasperation slips into Jay's voice as he repeats those words. As if Kaleb is going to very dearly regret setting that standard. Fine. Not dying. The musician tips his head back to his book, bright hair falling forward to frame his face. "He's drugged up pretty hard, to deal with the pain, the broken vessels, the sound an' light sensitivity, the screwed equilibrium an' whatever aneurism he's tryin' to give himself."
Maximus listens to Kaleb and is juuuust about to be placated by the not-dying, when Jay more poetically weaves a tale of confusing facts, dangerous brashness and unfortunate circumstances. "He said that because the last time I saw him injured, he /was/ dying." He cups his hand around Kaleb's ear when its drawn there, helping to block out the sound as much as his meat and bones can do. "This description of events…den of wolves, the summit…the summit of what?"
Kaleb squint to Jay and repeated again, "I just said I wasn't- Guys enough with the dying part." Then again he came close once or …twice this..year. Yeaaaah. He jsut wanted coffee, sunnovabitch! A shiver went through his spine and he was angry all over again but it was enough fuel to get him woken up and battling that stupor. His head tilted down and his words were slurred but coherrent enough to point that he was thinking lucid, "Im deaf on m'left side until Jay's guy fixes it." On the upshot the sleep really helped a lot of the bloodshot in his eyes. Soooo much sonic feedback. "My father, Pendergast, and I and a few others went to the UN Summit on Capstone bizzz'nes. They started talking about Penglai on camera to th'world and arguing over salvage rights. SO… much yelling. I had th' ear plugs and that went alright til some guy named Ronin and some blue Kree woman with em showed up. and there was almost a riot. I had t'keep the Kree from hearin the crowd because it was getting ugly and we didn' need them to change their minds on being like… cool and shit at th' moment…" He kept his hand over Max's and looked from he to Jay and back. "Max you didn't tell me…" That they were terrifying? "That Kree were reeeeeeeally tall" Oh Kaleb.
"He been doin' that a lot since he started hangin' around you, has he?" Jay asks of Max with all the pleasant passive aggressiveness of someone born south of the Mason-Dixon. He's not pleased with the way any of this has been working out lately, but even he feels the hard spike of guilt right after the words leave his mouth. Letting Kaleb explain the rest.
Maximus gets a serious look on his face when he hears what the summit ended up being about, and how it progressed so…shockingly, from there, to the Kree. "Well…I shall /certainly/ talk to my agent underwater and see that there is /nothing left/ to salvage, if that's how they'd like it. The Kree may be big and scary in their own way, but…I'd rather destroy it than see that city fall into anyone's hands. And /deaf/? You pushed your power so much that you deafened yourself?" He frowns, an anguish there that Jay's passive-aggressive comment enhances. Max turns to look at the winged man and then he asks, "What would you have me do? He lives his life in giving so much for other people. There is no way to make him selfish."
Kaleb flinched as soon as the words left Jay's face. He wasn't angry though. he didn't even know if he hurt. He was something, and offered with a squint, "Two of the three times were because of Her. Other time technically Max was the one in danger because someone else lost their mind. Coulda happen t'anyone." And then he was being lovingly chastized. He said in his defense, "It was really loud in there. My father got me out…still doesn't know. We're," He paused and looked for words that'd sate both parties, "we're okay on that front. The room technically did this. It's a small fixable price t'pay. It was that or watch Earth get super rude to armed alien warriors." He was listing to the left again. "They said the Night King failed and Lyndon B Johnson did too. He was our president, but I dunno the other name but I can guess." Finally he turned his head and that made him course correct or fall to the side. "Jay, I know you worry. Really isn't his fault. So now we have a project frmom these Kree and I've been drafted on the research team. Max, I'll need your help. Jay… you if you're up for it. Mutants got volunteered to try to track Skrull in a week. I don't know we know what to do if we find one is the problem."
Max turns to look at him and Jay lifts his attention to meet the man without flinching. Sure, he felt a little guilty for saying the words, but he doesn't look like he has a lot of guilt in his eyes as they fix on him. Kaleb speaks up, gaining the flier's ear with a slight tilt of his head in his direction. "Ah can tell ya a bunch of reasons that's wrong, but not really the point right now." His eyes cut away from Max swiftly, leaning back on the couch, closing the book again on his thumb while Kale explains the more immediate problem.
"This ain't his fault, you did it to yerself before you're a numbnut, Kaleb. You know you always got me if ya need me." Who knows what the hell he could help with, but he's always willing. "They weren't exactly clear on that whole part."
Maximus clenches his fist, briefly, then pulls his hand away from Kaleb's deaf ear and instead makes a rather affectionate sort of caress down his right arm. "The Kree are making demands upon mutant-kind now, to find Skrulls? It was tricky to find /one/ of them, but we have one. We could potentially get the information on others' location from this one we caught." The former king offers it casually.
Kaleb set his jaw and looked up and there were almost angry words but they stilled before signal left station. THey formed without him without rancor, "It wasn't like this before Pendergast screwed with my DNA, alright? I don't have a power to turn on, Jay. I haffa' fight to crank it down. Can't do that when there's several hundred people calling for the heads of aliens and mutants in a giant conference hall and try to not let the situation escalate. Issn't like I'm… like I'm careless. Didn't drop a lab on me. Wore earplugs didn't help enough. I'm trying" The water in his eyes stung and it wasn't even that the words formed aorund him in anger, but in frustrated apology almost. He took a deep breathand slouched back, into the couch and the fingers that somehow let him know no onw in the room hated him for all of this. "Jean thinks she might be able to figure a thing out, but I wanted to talk to you guys for help. Jay can brawl and heal from damn near anything. You have experince. I… just… network. When my head's all five by five maybe I can look for some sound signature or something. Thinking later. I'm glad you're okay, Max. No one mentioned your people by name. Medusa was there. Aninimity…in tact… Jay… I'm tryin buddy. I swear."
"Well…one of us volunteered us for the job," Jay mentions that little detail quietly to Max just to be fair, leaning back into the couch. "So now Ah'm sure if she can't pull it together, then we're first on the choppin' block." Quiet while the rest of it's all spilled out, Jay and Kaleb's argument from earlier seemingly having a part two, now in front of company and everything. The red-head's eyes lower and lips purse together while Kaleb defends himself. One of his cheeks hollow while he bites on it in lieu of his tongue.
Kaleb looked up jsut tired and unable to find a way to salvage a win out of the previous evening, "Jay, I get it, there's always something. I know. I know. It was ugly, but maybe in the end it's an opportunity to put Mutants in a good light in the media provided things are… still things. You listened to the radio and she bought us time; much needed time. not a lot of it but it's better than outsiders doing things. She made the right call. She asked for help from me- others. I'm asking from help from you guys. No one can do this alone. That's insane….Vitale's gonna be here soon right becuase …because." He didn't like having his bell rung and he wanted to be able to DO something productive other than wait. His hand squeezed Max's and he shook his head and just pulled hte blanket around himself. Getting his ire up over humans being stupid like herd animals only sought to bring his lunch up too. While pancakes he wasn't have any of that. Deep breaths. He would get back on his feet and find out what needed doing. His eyes squeezed shut. "Because I was finally happy and now… People harshin our happy man. It won't stand. it will nap though."
"Ah ain't arguing that, Kaleb," Jay argues about not arguing. "Pointing out that it wasn't like they just plucked us outa nowhere and assigned it to us. We were volunteered. The difference matters. An' yeah. It's always somethin'." He sighs, laying his head back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "Vitale'll be here once he's done with these other guys and he's healed from it, he said. He's comin'. Ah promise." Blindly reaching over to pat his friend on the arm in an attempt to reassure.
