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Kale came out of the apartment composed, but for those blue eyes bloodshot and eyelashes damp. For the life of him he looked ready otherwise to address the board to discuss acquisitions of property. He smoothed the front of his jacket and uncharacteristically his hand casually reached for the side of Max's head and took it a moment; fingers feeling his hair, palm registering the texture and heat from his cheek. Familiar. Home. Something utterly and astoundingly safe for him.
He rallied. In hat pause he fell together and offered what casual question, "The car's coming around I take it. You've chosen a place?"
Max tilted his head towards the touch, then leaned in to whisper, "I got us in at the wharf." Instead of the usual slightly maniacal tone, there is a proud one. He managed to do this by normal means, apparently! Of course, that STILL involved a 'doyou know who I am' and such, but no mind control! "I thought the sealife would be less distracting than a lot of talking."
Kaleb paused going back to very old conversation, not because it was a point of denial, but because it was a place of something scary, and good and the beginning of them. "You're still not bringing home an otter." His hand let go but a faint smile remained and agreement came with a n efficient nod. "Good choice. I like the wharf and you're not… wrong. " Words of simple agreement, but he knew they had potential to carry more in agreement and approval to someone that grew up with contention and a environment that treated his every idea with suspicion and question. It was something Kaleb needed to give him right now and he was aware of this and how very odd that impulse might be, but hey, he went with it. Care and feeding of one's politician was important. He did have feelings.
"So, you seem rather out of sorts. That /boy/…the so-called wizard, is a handful, is he not?" Maximus chuckles. "As if I would take over and tell him how, so he could stop me, personally. Obviously, not. No amount of whispering into the air would stop a world-encompassing gas distribution anyway. Its almost like he's never heard of atmospheric dispersion. So, did he bother you? The dimensional Kree seemed….fine."
Kaleb could always entirely be relied on to keep a conversation from being overhead and as such, took their liberties to speak freely even in the stairwell as he sighed agreement. "You won't like what I have to say, but Billy isn't… bad and he's far from stupid. He doesn't know when to shut his mouth but he does know when not to tamper with reality. He's got a fair grasp of action and consequence eeeeven if it doesn't extend to speaking but, who am I to judge?" Kaleb paused and countered with a frank casualness reserved for truths and those closes t to him, "I mean I will judge anyways, but I don't really have firm ground to stand on to do this." He was at least self-aware. Arrogant, yes. Hypocrite? Rarely. "Noh-varr seems interesting and I thought, knowing you, you'd love to get your hands dirty in some Kree tech, this reality or not. Having a non-hostile Kree I thought might also be something you wanted to explore there."
He walked and once sat int eh car confessed letting his hands rub at his face to finish cleaning himself up a bit. "When Billy has craziness coming out of his face that suddenly makes me understand the original intent of the Genetic Council? You know it's a weird conversation." He sighed and looked to Max, just… tired and the day just began. "I love you. Feed me." Demands. Praise. definiately demand though. His hand reached for Max's not addressing the bigger chunk of the issue that he just wanted to run away from, throw rocks at, or both.
Maximus listened and in a way, couched his own poor opinion, rather than bothering to argue about it. He has some sort of beef with Strange that lingers yet. He slides into the car and his brows twitch together. "Craziness coming out of his face? So…it /was/ him that upset you?" He pieces it together and pats Kaleb's knee. "yes yes…food is coming."
Kaleb took a deep breatha and just sat…still. "Not relaly Billy. Things he doesn't get. Something he said thta…" The mutant's brow furrowed belaying his attempt of neutral expression. He didn't have it in him . "I'm… not past what Pendergast did to me." The words carefully picked. His fingers curling in on themselves slowly. He wouldn't bring his wrath to bear against Max though, or the car it seemed. "Human political congress is working on trying to make a list that classifies…my people. To know how to find us, control us… use us…"His jaw tightened and his eyes drift back to Max's wet and glassy, "We're not going back. I'm… not…going back. And I don't know I'll ever not hear Warren screaming." His knuckles blanched trying not to let fear grip the quiet spots in his head like a stearing wheel.
"Not going back to what? Not going back to the school?" Maximus looks at Kaleb with concern at that revelation. "Or you mean…you aren't going back to a life where you feel like YOU have to be the one registered, for being special? First, and something that in this case, is convenient, you are at least lucky that your differences are not obvious on the surface. Not that I would mind if later, you changed, physically. I was raised to rather appreciate such things…so I do. But," Here, Max frowns a little and reaches out to squeeze Kaleb's leg. "Obviously, your people shouldn't concede to such a ridiculous expression of primitive panic and jealousy. If its /their/ problem, then they can do their own list. What sort of idiots do they think you are? "
Kaleb was working to keep himself neatly compiled and together and he was just holding onto too much and couldn't just bully the thing that was trying to hurt him. Rapid breathing stilled at teh gesture and bloodshot eyes confessed to Maximus, "I don't… want to go back to not beign able to do anything. I don't want to be taken… apart. I dont' want anyone to be taken apart." His hand unclinched and rest on Max's on his knee. "You … remember when you and the guys had to get me from Saratoga Springs? There's a lot… of Saratoga SPrings out there that aren't nearly as nice. Imagine governments picking apart your people like they've been dissecting Penglai and that you had to watch and couldn't do anything but make it stop. But you sleep and you just keeps… hearing it."
Maximus listens, and, in many ways he can absolutely sympathize, though those atrocities were in his people's /past/, mostly. "You find them…and I'll help you break them. Between you and I, we need not become murderers. We can lock them down, free who needs to be free, and destroy the facilities. If doing something…will help." Maximus offers, wetting his lips. "Some will still suffer. You are just one man. But perhaps you can inspire others to tend to the places like that in their back yards."
|ROLL| Kaleb +rolls 1d20 for: 8
Kaleb sat quietly and held Max's hand that held his leg. There was little that Kaleb let get to him. IN some cases like this he wasn't given much of a choice. For certain Maximus has seen his at his worst when he woke up from surgery and that absolute abject terror that he railed against and he was so much trying not to go back to that. Ever. Good luck fif he ever needs a doctor. Good thing there are mutant healers to jsut keep on payroll. Good grief.
Maximus's words brought the comfort that was needed. He easn't alone. He wasn't crazy. and lastly he wasn't going to need to be alone either. Also, Max would help him and not jsut wave it off. He sighed and nodded accepting the offer and the view as fact. He murmured, but the sound carried so that Max knew, and he did, in fact, already know, but sometimes Kaleb was not beyond pointing out what people should already know. "I love you, Max Boltagon. And… perhaps. That means I have to work on that… people… skill thing." He sighed and though he would never share teh utterance out loud in deference to Max he supposed even Magneto (greatest hero to mutantkind ever) had to suck up talking to others and do the diplomacy thing. "Thank you."
Maximus clears his throat a little and turns his hand over to give Kaleb's a squeeze. "Kaleb? I want you to try something. Close your eyes…imagine yourself rescuing someone trapped. Now…imagine yourself in a suit, lobbying for rights. Which one…do you want to be? Do you want to force things to be right, or do you want to make things right using the system itself? Because, in the end, you cannot do both. You could for a while, but, one would undermine the other, eventually." He brushed his mind against Kaleb's, trying to take over with a slow press, until he has him for a moment, then lets him go again right away. It would have the effect of disengaging the anxiety for a moment, making it have to start over again.
"I love you, too, Kaleb Miller."