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Maximus is getting ready for the trip back to Attilan to refresh his breathing and just touch base, even if he HAS been kicked out, with the rest. He can find his way in. He draws in a deep breath and is holding a pair of modern shoes. "They will not understand these."
Kaleb arched an eyebrow and offered, "Want to borrow my wingtip Oxfords you can. Just… " His lips pressed together and he looked up from the lap desk where he was sketching and watched. "You know I'm mad at them for not letting me go with you." Not that they know Maximus was going. The mutant took a deep breath and shook his head, "I mean I get it, it's just going to be…" The bridge of his nose wrinkled looking for definition. "I don't trust them with you." There. That worked.
Maximus tilts his head. "11 days…two weeks, tops, and then I will be back. If I am not back…/well then/, you have my permission to invade with your army." Max looks up from his suitcase and smiles. "The reason I am packing anything at all, is because I may need to just…stay in places they do not often go. But, lets be honest…I do love making an entrance. Still, I can be subtle when I wish. I was thinking of using the catacombs…I can control those that dwell there so easily. Dangerous to some, but not to me." Another pause. "I wish I could bring you, but…its just a quick trip…and I stand a better chance of being welcomed if I do not bring a guest."
|ROLL| Kaleb +rolls 1d20 for: 19
Kaleb sat very still and whatever was causing him to grind his teeth let go as Max's admission for the theatric. He couldn't help but to laugh at that one letting the grin hang. He admitted, "Well ya do cut a striking figure on a balcony." His eyes darted over him for a moment before pulling up to meet his eyes once more. "Last time we were apart for any great length of time everything got… terrible. Last time we were there…they weren't overly friendly. Some of them." He paused and thought on that. Quietly he agreed, "When the borders are relaxed… I know. I'm not taking it personal."
"Do you think that everything will go terrible this time?" Maximus drops a shirt into the case and then nears to Kaleb and his grinding teeth. He seems amused, and…thrilled about this. "I demand that you not die in the meantime…" He lids his eyes. "I could not bear it, you know, not being there for you. So…that is the rule. Other than that…spend some more nights with your friends?"
Kaleb considered that and was prescribed being… social. Iiiinteresting, but still, the languid grin was there. It was the little things with htem; the fussing, the planning, the threatening the world. Kaleb considered and offered, "Go shopping for me while you're there." That grin went sly a bit. "I know you love seeing me dress local and honestly? I can dig it. But no dying. And if they try to arrest you? I'm finding … whoever, your brother or your cousin, and we are coming to get you." He paused and asked, "Gneiss still there? You should look him up. He was good to us and could continue to help you get support of your people."
Maximus bows his head in agreement. "I will see if he will come and serve. I believe that my cousin, Triton, will begrudgingly help me as well. That is his usual way. He keeps my company when he's forced." Maximus winks. "I will absolutely bring you back some of my own wardrobe. There are not /stores/, exactly. Similar things, but not like here, where there are hundreds of thousands of people to service." He comes close enough to touch Kaleb's hair and reaches out to do it, threading through and messing it up. "Do you still have the outfit you wore while we were there for your hearing?"
Kaleb didn't pull away. He wasn't allergic to contact, but while he was allergic to being mussed terriblyhe never really cared much when Max did this. After all his was the only opinion Kaleb really gave two figs about. The question was a curious one and amusement faded to thoughtfulness trying to see where the trajectory of the question was going to land. "I know, and I do. And from when we went back to assist Attilan for that two weeks. And…" He paused with that expression of Did I want to admit this? and added, "And I still have your shirt. The one that sort of reminds me of a kaftan." He paused and said with that pride that came from being a rightous 'prince' of New York, "You take off from time to time so I was holding it hostage."
Maximus admires Kaleb in his mussed state, then fixes his hair with finger combing, again, back the way it was. All those actions seem totally absent, like he's not even aware of doing it. He then sits down next to the younger man and leans against him. "You stole my shirt so that I would come back for it? Or…do you like to stuff it full of straw and cuddle it at night? Believe me, Kaleb, whatever terrible thing you have done with it, I am certain I have done a similar thing while missing you. So, do you have anything you are soon to be doing? With the friends that get you into so much trouble?"
Kaleb set his jaw, fussed, fixed, admonished, and caught red handed. He shrugged, "Nah, I just wore it. Straw has bugs." And it was entirely understood that bugs were icky and undesirable in one's beg. Max sat and leaned and Kalebslid an arm around his back and held him there thinking about that answer, but pausing. A faint grin crept into the corner of his expression, "Oh do you now? This pleases me. As far as what I might do with …friends?" Friends, right? He actually had them. Yeha. His brain adjusted to that truth still being a bit weird and offered, "Well Noh-Varr is helping us build that Danger Room project. Kree tech. Yes I'll let you play with it at some point. I'm not cheating on you with another man's blueprints." There was a wink not particularly worried about Max getting worked up over that factoid. "But that's been … keeping me kinda busy. I don't even mind teaching since I'm there during those hours anwyas. But I think maybe I'll have to grab Jay and Jeb and go catch the music festival in teh aprk. Draw. " He paused and chortled, "Shit, maybe I'll take the boat out because why not?" He paused amd murmured, "I do really want that boat."
"You deserve the boat. Get it, and we will fix IT with some Kree technology and then we can take it to wherever we like…even that island." Maximus grins overbroadly…but it sobers a moment later, "And that man…Noh-Var…he seems determined to anger me. He needles…you've observed it, I'm sure. He does not do it with you, perhaps, because your kind have no relation to the Kree, but he continually tries to set me below him…and the next time he acts superior, I am going to control him to stick his own head up his ass."
Kaleb lifted a hand and said, "Pause." He shifted and too fingers to the underside of Max's chin. Contact. Focus. "He does that with you, and keeps trying to call my people human. He's treating you lie he treats everyone else and-" He paused and Echo furrowed his brow coming to a new realization, "Ugh, that might be worse. In any case we fix him up a new ship and he will tral la la away." Oh yes, Max has influenced the New Yorker's language. "I love the idea about retro-modding my boat. And tell…whoever is trying to detain you when you are at hme that you have to be here. My birthday is coming up. Super important. Son't… make me go to Monaco."
Maximus drifted in his thoughts some, and shook his head. "I didn't hear a /no/ to sticking his head up his ass though." And a sly smile is cast over to Kaleb.
Kaleb grinned and said, quite officially in that gathered way trying not to laugh, "Who am I to explain your culture to you and how to proceed with Inhuman-Kree relations?" Okay he snickered a bit even if there was no sound, "I'm sorry, I'm picturing it. Just… don't mess up the hair. Sure he's as much of an ass as I am in new and exciting ways, but the man's got beautiful hair. Let's not ruin that." His arm stayed around Max's back, enjoying that closeness that would not be there on imperious demand for a little while. Kaleb was always an amazingly self-sufficient individual… when all of his things are right where he wanted them. Sometimes concessions needed to be made and adjustment could be…challenging. Finally he offered, "Just… let me know you are alright from time to time if it's feasible. I honestly don't care if it's even to complain about how your cousin glued your toothpaste shut or that something happened to that rug you liked or ask me to feed a goldfish you don't have because you need it later to try something… I … really like being a part of that." He was terrible with words butt here seemed to be enough of them there that he felt comfortable leaving it at that. His brow furrowed and finally he summed up what his fear was, "I don't want them to try and keep you. Fourteen days. Fourteen days before I start speaking up."
Maximus nods simply. "His hand then. And…I have created something that might work for communicating, particularly since you can focus the sound. Let me get it." Max gets up and moves into the master bedroom, fumbled around a bit before coming back out with a small box. There are several latches on it and a button. He opens it up recklessly and pulls out an even smaller cube while he leaves an identical one in the box. "I made this set to communicate over a short distance to try to get quicker service from the servants, but I believe that I can amplify it from my end in Attilan. " he pauses then gives the loose one to Kaleb. "It might explode when I try to use it though, so…keep it somewhere a minor explosion wouldn't harm anything."
Kaleb said dryly, "I'll have Noh-Varr hold it when we try to use it. If the man is impervious to reason that we are not projects than he's likely shrapnel proof." And there's that dry wit returning. Still the small marvels always fascinated him. "Man You, Jay, and Forge mesmerize me. I don't know… how it is you just create." His drawings were technical and functional, but nothing groundbreaking of visionary really. Fingers went to Max's forearm and traced it down the back of his hand until fingertip to fingertip and his hand could receive the cube.
Objectively he offered, "Better step up my skills if I'm going to design that house, huh?" He at least bought into Max's vision and seemed to like this plan for them to just find some raw piece of land and then buildhhte hell out of it.
"You are a creator of the logical. If I could give you my madness for a day, I would trade." Max says with a faint air of bittersweet. "Design the house…we deserve it. What can we do to be more complete…build our own world. On the island…outside of New York, doesn't matter."
Kaleb flipped his pencil around to be laced between his fingers so he hand his hand free to put one of many stray curls on Max's head where it should be. He was never one for platitudes. He felt they were empty promises made by the weak to pacify those stupid enough to believe them fact. It was the reason most of his classmates referred to him as hilariously offensive in the common. This was also the reason he thought very, very hard about what he said before he said it, and from his blunt honesty he built trust.
So it was no small gesture when he offered, "Were I able to take that from you for a day… I think I would. Let you have reprieve, understand your difficulties better, to know you. However," He paused and his head wobbled as he ran the math, "We'd still both be struggling, I mean, then you'd be still struggling with it in external capacity instead of internal one… perhaps." He shrugged realizing that the sentiment sort of failed to hold up by conventional standards which only really led to aid the frustrations he already had from Max leaving a while. His back teeth clenched. His head tilted against the side of Max's. Maybe there was telepathy through osmosis. It was what he was used to with Kellan. He hoped it just worked that way. It didn't, so he just trusted Max to understand.
Words without him echoed, "I still love your big beautiful brain. Sharp in spots and all."
Maximus grinned in a subtle manner. He drew in easy breaths and nodded. "I love you too. I should be leaving soon. I begin to think the…madness…is something else. When I return, I will know more." He turned his head and kissed the side of Kaleb's face. "Back soon, Love." Then he rose from all the intimacy and took in a manic breath before moving with sudden rapid urgency about to gather up what he wanted. Like Kaleb, terrible with goodbye.
Echo's hand reached up and caught the texture of Max's jaw wanting to keep his face there ,a nd feeling the heat against his skin and then feeling that departure as he might a hundred times just heading into the other room. His cheek lifted to him with a wry grin, amused more that he was not the only one terrible at this part. He wondered to himself if Jay was right; that some people were fiercely independent because if anyone got close enough it was an impossibility to imagine one's self apart. He didn't like it when Kellan was too far and knowing Max wasn't going to just… be… here…
He blamed legislature, the Genetic Council, the Kree, and also by tangent the current War.
He wasn't going to make it worse. Maximus would be back. He would be bringing a present back. Kaleb would keep himself busy…he hoped. Max would be treated well in Attilan and not be brought up on historic war crimes or something crazy… he hoped. Mostly it was a lot harder falling together than apart and this was just the shit part of being an adult.
Fine.
He squint, proud fierce, and fragile prat that he was and said, "Grab your gloves. It's cold. You'll have more matching pieces for your coat than your brother does." A bizarre parting, but presentation was also armour, and besides, Kaleb gave him those gloves. It was just weirdly… something.
Keep it casual Miller, then it's just like any normal afternoon… to be followed with a night of drinking likely, sleeping in, feeling terrible, and revivifying himself in the morning to get something- anything done. "Call me on your way home. I'll pull dinner reservations." Yup. Casual.
Purposefully he didn't let himself hear the door close and just sat there letting his thumb trace the edges of the communication cube. His other fingers just clenched the comforter and he focused on centering himself.