xavier_institute_logs | HEAVY IS THE HEAD: Part One, SINISTER LEGACY Fallout

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?

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Reki was there of course, but seemingly going through the motions. She was looking at the grey, overcast sky as she ladled out soup. Yet she didn't have the circles around her eyes indicating she'd pulled a nighter on a project.

Her wings were uncovered, shivering in the cold. The tips of each feather were darker...

Uncovered, but not for long. A blanket quickly found its way over them, already warmed, and they were pat gently to try and put some circulation back into them.

"Goodness, what sense is there in working this line if you can't even care for yourself..." the voice was as warm as the blanket, in spite of its chiding.

Reki practically jumped. The tense couple months had rubbed off on her. But when she saw who it was, her expression softened.

"Ran..."

"I suppose I should say 'surprise' or something like that, hmm?" Ran's tails swished about, wrapping up along Reki as Ran took position beside her, also helping spoon out some food with a smile that never seemed to fade, in spite of the dreary world around them.

Reki tried not to look too pleased. Ran's leaving had stung her even if it wasn't her own fault. But her wings subconsciously twitched with happiness. She felt a little warmer.

"Maybe...It is a little early for a surprise this good."

She looked immediately back to her soup. That had been way too corny for the aloof yet amused image she projected.

Ran giggled, batting at Reki with one of her tails.

"It took quite a bit to get Yukari to agree to taking care of Chen for awhile..." which meant she was there alone. No distractions. But it also ran rather completely contrary to Yukari's policy of neutrality...

She refrained from asking how long she was there. It was enough that she was for that moment. Besides...

Well, anyway, she could reach to surreptitiously pet her tails.

"I can't imagine."

Yukari was wild. A good parent, but probably not a good single one.

"Even so, I'll be here for as long as needed... so don't worry, okay?" A conclusion to a conversation unspoken between them. She wouldn't just up and leave this time.

Reki didn't entirely believe her. One way or another, she thought, one of them was leaving. For now though...

Well, when they were done with their shift and it was time to warm themselves up with that same soup and some yecchy coffee, she'd find a rickety old table with one chair free. She wasn't going to follow her, but if Ran wanted to sit with her, it would be fine.

It didn't really need to be discussed. Ran took her seat, moving it to be beside Reki so she could continue warming her with her tails. She didn't get herself any food, apparently not hungry.

"I'm...glad you're here."

This was a bit of an admission for her. She was good at projecting a kind of cynical friendliness but not at admitting she actually wanted people around her.

"I..."

Missed you.

"You don't need to say it... I missed you, too, Reki," Ran leaned against her, just slightly... It had been too long. So much had happened in the last six years. She couldn't help the guilt that racked her, of being unable to be close to her in those times of need.

And that was enough, for now. The future would happen soon enough. She let her lean against her, pretending it was no big deal.

Tenma comes up with a fresh pot of soup, noticing Reki's wings right away. He bites his lip. It was hard not to let his emotional sensory go into autopilot and pry into her emotional state. He sets the pot down at her station.

"Is something bothering you Reki?" He asks quietly in Japanese. It was less likely someone would eavesdrop this way.

The change is immediate. Reki visibly snaps back to reality.

"No, just chilly I guess..."

The smile's a little weak. Reki's never minded the cold before.

Tenma gives her a look. He didn't need his mutant powers to tell something was off. He took a deep inhale, mustering his courage to ask the uncomfortable questions.

"Wouldn't your wings be warmer under your coat?"

He didn't break his gaze, using his telekinesis to switch out the pots as soon as he heard the ladle scrape the bottom of the old pot.

She glanced back. Christ. Tenma couldn't see her slipping like that.

"...Heh, guess I forgot."

She immediately went to work on the next pot as soon as it hit the table.

"So I heard you got a visitor."

Tenma gave her a look, half worried and half annoyed. He might be naive and dense, but that was an obvious change of topic. But if she was that quick to change it, maybe he shouldn't pry as much as he was itching to use his emotion reading abilities.

"Yeah, Kirino-senpai and Charlie came back to help out."

He paused as he took the empty pot without disturbing Reki's soup pouring action.

"They're super lovey-dovey."

HEAVY IS THE HEAD: Part One, SINISTER LEGACY Fallout

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