HEAVY IS THE HEAD: Part One, SINISTER LEGACY Fallout

[astonishing_xmods]

WHO: The Students and Faculty of the Xavier Institute
WHAT: Charity work in District X, but things are getting bad again
WHERE: District X
WHEN: Thanksgiving Weekend
WARNING(S): Violence, language, etc

So this was Christmas, and War was Not Over. The soup lines, this time, were alongside official Vaccine Centers, cures to the Legacy Virus being handed out alongside plates of hot food for the needy. Once more, winter was bleak in the world of mutants living in forced squalor. Attitudes were not particularly bright. People were no longer dying in the streets from illness, but were conditions really any better? War with Genosha was imminent. The National Guard was already standing post around the community, enforcing curfews, treating the area now more than ever like an internment community. Xavier's students were allowed to move around freely, but only with special ID badges that marked them as such. It was the same all over the country.

This wasn't Mutant Registration... it somehow felt worse. And it didn't help that the Mutant Liberation Front was still very active in the area, and many of them entirely blamed the X-Men for Renko's apparent 'death'. There were antagonistic forces around them, and desperate faces looking at them for some kind of hope. And if they couldn't get it there...

There were whispers, a lot of them, about fleeing to Genosha. About joining the MLF and working alongside Genosha for 'true' mutant liberation. About kickstarting this war on local soil. And really...

... was there anything the X-Men could do to stop it? Should they stop it?

Comments

[droppedbucket]

Some people didn't have the skills to do much. Kisume was one of them, being often underfoot due to how she moved and with her still being so small. She kept going back and forth, looking for things to do but for now had settled outside, keeping her attention on the boxes. Just in case something smelled weird..

But at one point she'll approach, a worried whine escaping her.

"...You okay? Quiet...Keep busy?"

[long_live_the_queen]

Kaede looked back over her shoulder, though she didn't need to; she'd know that spot of green thoughts anywhere. And she sighed this time, instead of muttering. She'd probably scared her.

"I'm fine." Just cranky, and sullen, and irritable, and shoving all of the latest negative feelings into a bottle. Kaede was not fine.

The horned mutant sat down on the edge of the truck; she supposed she could stop for a little. There was plenty of room for Kisume to sit, with almost a third of the truck clear.

[droppedbucket]

For a moment, Kisume kept still, trying to figure out if it was best to leave well enough alone. It takes a moment before she stands and climbs up beside Kaede and dangling her legs off the side. It was a unusual way of her sitting but for now...

"Not seem okay. Sure? Not want be upset."

With everything going, even with her spending more time with the people from home Kisume still worried about those she was attached to. At the same time, she would respect Kaede's wishes if she didn't want to say anything.

"...Can go if not want to talk."

[long_live_the_queen]

Kaede put her hand on Kisume's shoulder, as if the child was some flighty bird to be held onto.

"...I don't want you to leave. I just...don't want to talk. To other people. Most people."

She sighed.

"People are going to be...very noisy today. For me."

It wasn't as bad as the concert, but. It was hard to top that one.

[droppedbucket]

...She really didn't think about that to be honest. There were many things that she didn't understand until it was pointed out to her..Oops.

"Oh...I sorry. I forgot."

Kisume kicks her feet a little bit, a worried look on her face. There is a moment where her feet are the center of her attention, thinking hard on the situation before looking up with a slight smile.

"Not need talk...just worried about Kaede. I stay quiet, promise! Want help."

[long_live_the_queen]

Worry. Worry about her. It was strange, and if it had come from almost anyone else she might well have laughed in their face.

...but, no. That wasn't fair. Kisume was honest. She meant what she said, even if Kaede was too stubborn or slow to pick up on it right away. She felt a pang of something she couldn't place, when Kisume looked at her feet. Sadness? Guilt?

Kaede squeezed the hand on Kisume's shoulder--and then she reached to pull Kisume into a brief hug against her side. With a vector first, and if she didn't wiggle away, with Kaede's physical arm next.

"...it's okay." Whether she meant the silence, accepting Kisume's presence, or both at once. Probably both. But it was...better to be around Kisume, right now. Kisume was easier to talk to, was the nearest identifiable mutant, and...she didn't want to hurt her, as far as Kaede could tell.