7056/Time For A Brotherhood Talk...

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Time For A Brotherhood Talk...
Date of Scene: 24 July 2021
Location: Asteroid M Conference Room
Synopsis: A brief meeting between the members of the Brotherhood who were present at the Bushwick and Mystique.
Cast of Characters: Raven Darkholme, Clarice Ferguson, Lydia Dietrich




Raven Darkholme has posed:
The conference room is not a grand affair really, nothing more than a large table with comfortable chairs around it, and a large chair at the head of the table. There are no windows in this space, so one wall is comprised of a large screen that offered a 'view' of a garden with a babbling brook which actually looks quite realistic. White noise generators and the thickness of the walls ensure that once the door to the room is closed, no one outside of it can hear anything that happens inside, including gun shots, screaming and an explosion.

Mystique sits at the head of the table, a single tablet and a cup of cofee resting on the surface in front of her. Three carafes rest on the table, two marked coffee, one marked tea, and several plastic mugs surround them. There is also a plate of the Asteroid M's famous apple fritters, as well as fritters that look sort of purple, most likely blueberry or blackberry.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice strides through the door just before the appointed hour - flashing Mystique a small, brief smile before helping herself to a cup of the coffee, strong and black. She settles into one of the chair, lifting the coffee to her lips for sip. Then she claims a napkin, and daringly takes one of the purple-colored fritters and places it in front of her - both so she can have a treat to eat, and something to stragically pick at during the meeting.
    What? At least she knows her own foibles.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia is a little nervous about going to a debriefing. She's never been to one before so she isn't sure what she should expect. Heck, she's never been in a situation that needed a debriefing in the first place. Still, she supposes, now that she's a member of the Brotherhood, and her girlfriend is their leader, she should expect to be in more of these meetings.

She arrives fresh and early, sporting a plate with a donut, and a cup of tea. "Oh!" she says when she sees that there's already a carafe there. Well, at least she won't have to nurse the tea and make it last. She can guzzle as much as she wants.

"Good morning, Mystique," she says, finding a chair that's next to the woman, and setting her tea and donut down, getting ready for the meeting. She nods at grins at Clarice, giving her a brief wave in greeting.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
A nod is offered to Clarice as she enters, another to Lydia, but Mystique appears to be in pure business mode and that mask she wears so well has slipped into place on her face. Sitting there in her white body suit and thigh high boots, her hands rest in her lap as she waits for the others to arrive.

Directly involved with the confrontation in Bushwisk were only three other members of the Brotherhood. Talia was one of them, but her membership is still a probationary thing due to the nature of her even being in this reality. The other two wander in, collecting coffee and a donut, and finally Ritz walks in and closes the door behind her. Instead of sitting, she leans against the door.

"Good morning," Mystique offers once everyone is sitting down. "Normally a debriefing isnt' required, but I felt given how things went in Bushwick, that one was needed."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice also has her business face on - aside from the brief smile she gives each person that enters, her expression quickly resumes more serious lines as she waits for the meeting to start in full. For the moment, she holds her cup of coffee in both of her hands, taking another sip after murmuring a simple, "Morning."
    She has her own opinion of how things went in Bushwick - and she'd shared most of those thoughts already. She'd screwed up, and it was only by virtue of Lydia's creation that she was still there at all.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods, and picks at her donut as people filter in for the meeting, recognizing them as the ones who were present for the firefight in Bushwick. She remains silent, her own features set in a businesslike expression, and listens to Mystique attentively.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Picking up the tablet, Mystique swipes the screen to look at the video that was running on the news. "As you know, we were video recorded, and many of those videos made it into the hands of the news. Apparently we have at least one news co-anchor on the side of mutants, most likely a mutant in hiding himself, but he kept the information accurate."

She slides the tablet down the table to allow others to look over the videos, as there are numerous others that are more violent that never made it on the news but are all over the internet.

"Over all reaction times were on the spot, we got the call and we arrived with in five minutes, thank you all for your quick response." She takes a sip of her coffee before sitting forward. "Your skills kept you alive and unharmed, with the aid of each other and the other mutants present, as well as the golem itself. However, there is one thing that went wrong."

Her amber eyes move around the table as she speaks, pausing on each face for a moment before moving to the next. Her tone had remained smooth and calm, as if listing off things in her head that needed to be mentioned but now it changes, it get firm and the authority of her position and years comes through.

"When I say get out, you get out. You don't ignore me, you do not question me, and you most certainly DO NOT DISOBEY me."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    There it is. Clarice meets Mystique's gaze, giving a nod of understanding. Whatever fight she may have had? Had been well and truly frightened out of her by staring down the barrel of that machine gun. "Yes ma'am," she answers softly, before looking back down at her coffee, and taking another sip of it.
    Sure - there was one thing still bothering her. But she wasn't about to bring it up with this many people still in the room.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia has the good graces to look chagrined. She'll apologize personally later, but for now she just picks at her donut, tearing it to pieces without actually eating it.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
One of the other members looks from Mystique to Clarice, then back again as he rants, "Blink didn't leave, she's a lieutenant, we weren't gonna leave her!"

The second sits there nodding and gesturing his agreement to the first, even tapping him in the arm a few times like, 'see, see, he's speaking what I was thinking'.

Laying her hands on the table and scooting forward, Mystique nods, "You're right, Blink didn't leave... and our natural instinct is to protect one another, I get it, but here's the thing. Blink isn't the one in command, I am. So your excuse of staying because she did, doesn't hold. Next time, I say leave, you leave. You two are now dismissed."

Both men nod a few times, they had to try of course, perhaps the excuse was enough to get by, but reality is they knew better. Collecting coffee and donuts, they both stand and head out of the room. Ritz once again closes the door behind them.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice lets out a quiet sigh as her own insubordination is used to excuse that of others - and she shoots Mystique a second, apologetic look. "I made a mistake. I can't blame anyone for that," she says simply, and calmly. "I don't intend to repeat it."
    Not while in combat, anyways. There's very little space to disobey orders during a fight and there are good reasons for that.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks between Clarice and the other two mutants, as a frown pulls at the corner of her lips. She knows how they felt, and probably would have done the same. When they're dismissed she turns her attention back to Mystique.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique performs the age old 'come here' gesture with her hand to Ritz. The woman finally steps away from the door and walks over to the table.

"You and I spoke last night," Mystique says to Ritz. "Go a head and repeat what you says to me, to these two."

Ritz smirks slightly, not liking being put on the spot but she'd said it so she'll repeat it. "I almost teleported you both out against your will, and next time you fail to follow orders, I will. The other two heard me talking about it last night, so they already know what happens if they don't listen again."

Sitting back in her chair, Mystique nods again, "Thank you Ritz, you're free to go. Say hello to your brother for me."

Ritz nods, offers a mock salute then leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Understood," Clarice agrees. There's a brief hesitation before she adds, "Honestly, I was half expecting to be teleported out at any moment, anyways." She flashes Mystique a brief - almost amused smile with that admission, but leaves it at that, before she finally reaches forward to tear off a small piece of her fritter, and nibble at it.
    While she does, her gaze flicks towards Lydia for a moment, then back to Mystique - and finally back down to her coffee, to take another sip.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods when Ritz relays the information. "That makes sense," she remarks. When Ritz turns to go, she offers a little wave to her, and then looks back at Mystique with a little bit of dread. So far she's the only one who hasn't been dressed down, and she knows it's her turn.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
There is a method to Mystique's madness, and a reason that Lydia is last with everyone else out of the room. She's the newest member of the Brotherhood, all of this is new and they know it, and this sort of things wasn't covered in the welcome packet.

Taking a drink of her coffee, Mystique finally reaches to take one of the purple fritters as she says, "Being new allows you some lee-way Lydia, and the fact that this was your first ever sort of combat experience. Unlike the others," she eyes Clarice as she says that. "You don't know there's a reason for everything I do, even in a combat situation. Neither of you know much about Waspette, honestly I don't know all that much about her, but what I do know is that she doesn't kill. She wouldn't have shot me so long as I didn't act against her, and I needed her to see that I'm not the same person she thinks I am. That is the one and only time I will explain what I do and why I do it."

Now she looks more fully at Clarice, "You get it now, but I always know the big picture. I know the abilities of everyone called in to fight. Lydia should have been the only wild card, and she wasn't. You're a lieutenant Clarice, act like it."

That's it, that's all she needed to say now they could respond as will and she would address their chosen topics in order.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    There's a visible wince from Clarice on those last words from Mystique - not that she hadn't earned them. They stung nonetheless. "Yes ma'am," she agrees quietly.
    For the moment, though, she seems willing to yield the floor to Lydia - as she simply sips at her coffee. She //is// a Lieutenant - and Lydia is a member of the Brotherhood now. And it wasn't right for her to question or challenge Mystique in front of witnesses. She was supposed to keep that shit behind closed doors.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
By now her donut has been reduced to a pile of picked apart crumbs, which Lydia is staring at. It takes her a while to respond but when she does, she sounds miserable. "I know. But I... I panicked. When I saw Waspette point her weapons at you and then there was the police coming, I just thought, I just got you and I couldn't lose you. Not so soon." She looks up to meet Mystique's eyes. "And Waspette is practically an Avenger. It just... all came at me at once."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Finally a smile lights on Mystique's face, "I realize that's what happened Lydia. The minute you snagged me out of no where, my brain screamed 'You're girlfriend just panicked and stole you.' Honestly, I'm not mad at you. It was new and terrifying and I get it, you freaked. That's something we need to work on, and we will."

She eyes Lydia's fritter, such a waste, then she glances back to Lydia's eyes. "One of the things that will hardest for you is that when we're out there in a fight, I stop being your girlfriend and become your boss. It won't happen over night, but it needs to happen in time or we won't be able to work on the same teams."

She could see Clarice out of the corner of her eye, she knew the woman wanted to say more and was waiting. "I want you both to understand all is forgiven, but I don't forget. I can't do what needs to be done if I'm overly worrying about the others on my team. Now, I know Clarice has something she wants to talk about, but I think, if I get the signals right, it's something for a more private setting. For now though, do either of you have anything else, and Lydia, eat your donut."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "No," Clarice answers. She takes a deep breath in, and lets it out in a sigh. "I don't disagree, I told you as much the night of. I just- I don't know. Perhaps I let my situation rattle me more than I'd realized. There's no place for disobedience in the field. I guess I'm just used to being able to offer you more cover and options from a distance. It made me hesitant to pull back, and I am sorry. I don't intend to do it again."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks relieved that Mystique seems to understand where she's coming from. "I had been thinking about it and came to much the same conclusion. I need some combat training," she says. "If I'm going to be your girlfriend, getting into fights is going to be part of that, and I need to learn how to not panic when that kind of thing comes up."

She starts to obediently takes the pieces of donut from off her plate and starts nibbling on them. "I think that I should also have a fair amount of training from you, so I can get used to you giving me orders and obeying them."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Reaching over to take one of Clarice's hand, if she let's her, Mystique offers the purple mutant a smile.

"And /that/ is exactly what I thought was happening. You'll have your powers back soon enough and it will all be in the past, but I get it. You're used to just blinking us away from danger." She gives Clarice's hand a light squeeze. "We're good. Don't beat yourself up any more than you have to, because now you train and I need your mind in the present, not the past."

Thinking about what Lydia said both make Mystique chuckle and slightly frown with a soft shake of her head. "Being my girlfriend means fighting," she repeats quietly. "Christ I wish that wasn't true. I wish I had some smart come back or a witty return, but I don't. It's the truth, and I hate that. The only thing I can do is train you and hope, but I'm not joking about Ritz. I will have her take you both out of a fight if I have to, to protect you. Hell, I'll have her take /me/ out of a fight if possible."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice gives Mystique's hand a squeeze in return. "You don't have to. //I'll// get us clear," she asserts firmly. "It's about time to try going off the medication - and see if things are back to normal." Of if she opens a portal to the bottom of the sea by accident. "Hopefully we get my powers back before we go after those kids," she adds in a fiercely determined tone.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia lets out a sigh, and sips her tea, after nibbling on a few more donut bits. "When I decided to confess my feelings and get involved with you, I knew what I was walking into. I'd also thought that I'd have more time to prepare, which I guess was naïve of me." She grins and looks up at her girlfriend, "I want to be somebody you can depend on, and I don't want to be a princess in constant need of rescue." A sly smile spreads on her lips, "Though you have full permission to treat me as a princess otherwise."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "We've been over this," Clarice interjects immediately. "You're not Royalty. I thought you'd agreed on that?" she teases.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique released Clarice's hand, after one more quick squeeze, then with a kick off rolls her chair over to Lydia and places a firm kiss on her cheek, then one on her lips the second being a sneak in kiss.

"Clarice, I'm pretty sure she is a Jewish Princess, thank you very much. That is not the same kind of royalty as Lorna or Erik, but still a princess and as such, I fully intend to spoil the ever loving shit out of her between moments of combat and having to tell her what to do!" There is a huge grin on her face, it's hard to tell if she is being serious about all this or joking, but she slips her arm around Lydia pulls her in a little closer.

"Your powers are going to come back," she comments to Clarice still. "Doc Emily said your last MRI was perfectly clear, so now it's just a matter of letting your body catch up with the healing. As for you, my Jewish Princess..." she wiggles her brows. "I know you can, for the most part, take care of yourself enough to know when to leave for your own protection."

"I will readily admit," she continues, pausing only for a moment to sip her coffee. "That in the past I was not a reliable or dependable person outside of very certain things. That's changed, slowly, but it changed. Everyone out there in this world hears my name or sees my cobalt form and they only know the past, I've got a long road a head of me to show the world I've changed, while avoiding ending up in jail but if I do, Clarice get me out."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I think I'm going to stick with the 'not a princess' arguement," Clarice insists - though with good humor as she picks at some of her fritter. She seems unbothered by the flirting as she nibbles at her treat, looking back up as her name is spoken - and abruptly, some lingering tension in her form seems to ease out of her back and shoulders as she responds with a nod of confirmation. "Of course," she agrees. "There isn't a prison that could keep me out."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia closes her eyes at the first kiss which means that she gets surprised by the second! "Oh!" She declares when it's over. She flushes a little at being called a Jewish Princess, but can't deny that it's true. She is, in fact, Jewish and she did, in fact, grow up wealthy with her parents spoiling her since she was an only child. Still, she thinks she came out the other end pretty well.

Lydia lifts her feet off the ground when Mystique reaches out to her to let her pull the chair closer, and she similarly wraps her arm around Mystique. She giggles at the brow waggle but gets serious for a bit. "That's good news," she says about Clarice's powers. "I know how tough this has been for you."

She nods, and looks up adoringly at her partner. "If I only saw your past, I wouldn't be with you. The more I talked to you the more I realized that you meant what you said about making amends, and I knew that you were better than your past."

She nods. "You know, that night I forgot that we had teleporters that could have just gotten you out if you had been captured." She sighs and leans her head against Mystique. "I should have known better."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique doesn't have the heart to tell Clarice just how wrong she is. The prison at the Triskelion could keep her out, and keep Mystique in. It was designed for holding super powered people inside with a technology that Mystique would kill to get her hands on. Thankfully the Triskelion was presently under some sort of lock down, no one in or out, which meant if she was arrested, she wouldn't end up there.

"There's still a few people out there I need to fully convince," she admits with a soft sigh. "Not that I expect one ever will believe, no matter what I do. So far I think Scott has seen the truth, though he likely still expects some sort of turn around, because I've done that in the past in regards to other things. Really, I'm a bitch."

She bites into the blackberry fritter, deciding it was time to find out if it was a winner. It had the same texture and the donut was fried correctly, the blackberry was on point, but it just wasn't the mouth expected so it was a touch jarring. Still good though.

"You two should try this, I think it's a win once you get past the initial 'what is this?!' that your mouth gets."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "It is good," Clarice agrees - since that is what she's been picking at idly throughout the conversation, and now that Mystique has somehow managed to assuage whatever had been eating at her, she takes a larger piece off to pop into her mouth.
    "It's hard to convince them," Clarice adds with quiet frustration. "I tend to get warned multiple times a week that I'm being played and that the Brotherhood is up to no good, and I'd better get clear. I wish more people could acknowledge that I might have my own reasons for my loyalty. That I might believe in what I'm doing here. And there's no point in me explaining that I'm trying to change the way things are done from the inside. They just take that as further proof of my naivite."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia holds up a hand and shakes her head. "Can't eat blackberries," she says. "But I'll take your word for it. Or I could..." she gets a wicked gleam in her eye and reaches around to plant a kiss on Mystiques mouth with a little bit of tongue to pick up crumbs to get a taste. "Yup," she concludes. "Delicious."

She turns serious for a bit. "I've kept my employment to the Brotherhood a secret in my personal life. Not for much longer, mind you. I plan on telling my friends about it soon. They all know that I've been on the Watch for a while, and they seem to be supportive." She gets a worried look, "I doubt my parents will be quite so forgiving, but they've got to know." She looks back up to Mystique, "I'm going to tell them the same day I have them meet you. Might as well get it all out in the open."

She sighs, "They've already given me an earful when they learned about the Golem. Mom yelled at me for fifteen minutes straight." Shaking her head she says, "My Rabbi was just disappointed in me. I don't know which was worse."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Very carefully picking around the actual blackberries, so that it's merely blackberry flavored dough and nothing else, Mystique offers the piece to Lydia, "Does that count? No actual berries?" She nods to Clarice about the donuts, because honestly they are worth the sweet, sweet, fattiness. "Who knew blackberries were evil? Broccoli I get, but still can't wrap my head around evil blackberries."

Whether Lydia tries the piece minus the berries or not, Mystique goes back nibbling her donut. "Want to know a truth? I've only ever done the 'meet the parents' thing once, and it was just his father, who was a complete and total ass. I may or may not have had to um..." she stops there, realizing that was heading in a way bad place. "Let's just say things happened, and clearly I'm not with his son any more."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I don't imagine I'll be 'meeting the parents' anytime soon," Clarice replies with dry amusement. "But that's fine."
    She goes from pulling pieces off her fritter to eat - to picking at it a bit uneasily as she adds, "Though I did, umm, go see that girl that'd kissed me. So we could talk," she confides abruptly, with her gaze locked onto the pastry. "Which really was just about as awkward as it could be. Turns out neither of us have dated before, and neither of us has the first notion what we really want, so..." Who knows what if anything will come of it?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia considers whether or not a blackberryless blackberry fritter is considered kosher or not. She decides that if she has to question it this much, God will forgive her for having a taste. "I think technically since it still has blackberry juice in it no? But I'm going to have a taste anyway." She takes the offered chunk and pops it into her mouth, chewing slowly. "I think I liked the stuff off your lips better."

She scowls a bit when Mystique is about to reveal something nasty about her past, but she doesn't pry. That was part of the terms of their relationship after all. When Mystique is ready to talk, she'll talk.

She turns to Mystique and beams, "Really? It's great, but for the love of God don't read my books as a how to for relationship advice. They're meant to be messy for drama's sake." She reaches out and takes a chunk of her own donut and pops it in her mouth. "The best advice I can give is be honest with each other. Tell her how you feel. Even the bad stuff. Especially the bad stuff when it comes around. Then you two can work out why that came about and how to avoid it in the future. Communication is the key."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Oh gods, the blind leading the blind, if they're lucky Clarice and this mystery girl who remains unnamed for some reason, will accidently fall in bed together. More likely they will be like two ships passing in the sea, when it's pitch black, with no lights on, and they'll never know the other was actually there. Mystique could simply not understand this level of shy and nervousness, this inability to just talk about things, ask questions, to learn what was needed to actually advance a relationship rather than stabbing around blindly in the dark and hoping someone got a clue. She wasn't even going to bother asking who it was. Clearly Clarice wanted to keep that a secret and even though that annoyed her, because this person could be using Clarice to get an inside track on the Brotherhood and what Clarice was doing, Mystique was going to let it go for now.

Picking up her donut she deliberately smears the blackberry all over her lips then kisses Lydia. Not a tongue dancing kiss of passion, but a lingering one of affection that would allow the blackberry to smear onto the woman's lips. When that is over she licks her lips and looks back to Clarice like nothing happened.

"If you want advice, I'm willing to share, other wise I intend to try and keep my mouth shut," she states. "Key words there, I'll try. I can't promise that I'll succeed. I worry about you getting hurt, so naturally I want to ask questions and poke my large nose in." Even as she says that her nose grows about an inch and she pokes it at Clarice before it returns to normal again.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "And if I'm not even sure how I feel, what then?" Clarice counters. "But - anyways. I guess she didn't take horrible offense to me shoving her off me like that, so... That's start enough, I guess. For now." She tears a few more pieces off her fritter - a flash of amusement showing for a moment as Mystique's nose grows, before she nibbles on another piece of the fritter. "And honestly, right now, I wouldn't even know what to ask. I don't think either of us plans on hurting the other - which isn't to say that won't eventually happen but- I don't know. I guess we'll see."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia giggles at the kiss, playfully batting at her. "Stop that," she says, licking her lips. "You know I'm not supposed to have any." She makes a show of pouting and turns towards Clarice. "We're here if you ever need anybody to talk to. I know it's scary going into something like this." She glances over at Mystique, "God only know, I'm scared about this because this is my first real relationship and I kind of dived off the deep end for it."

"Like I said. Be honest with her. Tell her that you're still figuring your feelings out. If you want to figure things out with her, and take things slow, tell her that." She shakes her head, "Nobody starts out planning to hurt another. People grow, and people change, and people get frightened."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique wiggles her brows at Lydia, then looks back to Clarice.

"You also have to be honest with Robert," she says softly, attempting to sound more like advice than an order, but it's Mystique... she fails. "It's not fair to him to date this mystery girl behind his back, or for her to now know about you dating him. You may not know what you want, but it's not fair to either of them to play the field like that without them knowing."

She picks up the donut and makes it look like she's going to try and force Lydia to take a bite, but sails it to her own mouth instead. "I know, but you said you like it on my lips better... had to be done."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I, uhh - she knows," Clarice admits. "About Robert." But the reverse, quite obviously, isn't true quite yet. "And I will tell him, because I agree, it isn't quite fair." Or at all fair. "And we pretty much already covered all that. That neither of us have any idea what we want, and that we're trying to figure things out and- I don't know, we'll see."
    Her gaze goes to Mystique as she adds, "And don't you dare mention any of this to Mister Creed, he got enough amusement at my discomfort when you were drunk that night, I don't- I don't need to hear it from him about this, too."
    Look. There's some things your 'dad' doesn't need to know. This would definitely qualify.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods with Mystique. "Yeah, there is that. I mean, it's okay to want to have two relationships, but they've got to buy into it as well." She sighs and says, "It's still something I'm figuring out as well, though dating Mystique is going to be hard for that since she could be anybody I would ever desire."

She laughs lightly when Clarice mentions Mister Creed. "Sooner or later you should tell him though. It's only fair."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Apparently she lied to herself because Mystique just can't stand it any more, "Why haven't you said her name? Are you hiding her from us, afraid we'll say something about who it is?" She tried, she really did, but it's been at least a week and they were talking about this person and she loathed having to use her, she, that female all the time.

"It's not my business to tell Victor anything, but you should, he'll be happy for you, even if his way of showing it is to tease. Who cares? He'll want to know what's going on in your life."

As she turns her head to look at Lydia, her body shifts into the face Lydia and she have chosen as the person who will be introduced to the parents, Ayaan Nnadi. "So many choices for Lydia to make," she teases, leaning closer and letting a wave of a thousand micro-braids fall over her shoulder. "It's likely going to be me who wants another, a male, but I don't know that and I'm not looking. By the way Lydia, dating a shifter like me puts a whole new meaning behind 'strap on." She grins wickedly, which looks trily wicked on her African American face.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    There's a moment of silence as Clarice considers her pastry. Well - far more accurately, she tries to figure why she //hasn't// given a name yet. She plucks another piece off her fritter, and then shreds it before she offers simply, "Rahne. It's Rahne.
    "And I will tell him. Just- not yet. I still don't know what any of this is, so what would I even say, anyways?" she asks. "I'd rather be a little more.... certain."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia's blush blooms from her cheeks to her chest. "Oh my!" Flustered she shifts in her seat and looks over at Clarice to distract her from suddenly very intrusive thoughts. "Of course. Take your time."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique huhs. That's not what she expected, though honestly she didn't know what she had been expecting. So long as she didn't hear some X-Men's name, she supposed she was good.

"Rahne, from Xavier's right?" She takes a sip of her coffee, clearly not upset or questioning or really anything. She's relaxed against Lydia, getting comfortable with the face she will be wearing for a while. The thing that might be considered most impressive, she even has a slight South African accent when she speaks. "If I remember correctly, from my secret visits to Xavier's, she's the Scottish girl. She's adorable."

Most likely the term adorable is not what you want to hear about a possible girlfriend, but to Mystique, that's what Rahne was and the way she saw it, Clarice didn't know what she was to her anyway. Looking back, she couldn't remember a time that she didn't just know what she wanted. At first it was freedom, then it was to live, and after that she wanted justice and revenge. When it came to relationships, she just knew... this is a one night stand, this is a 'see where it goes', this is a good time friends with benefits, this one could be something. She'd been wrong of course, clearly, as she was one hundred and forty-three years old, and just stopped being single.

Lydia's reaction makes this particular shift worth it, she wiggles her brows, flips a few braids at her then kisses her cheek.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I thought I mentioned it was one of Xavier's folk - yeah," Clarice confirms - giving a shrug of her shoulders. "She's actually left the school, though. Said she wanted to... figure things out. She's just sort of wandering upstate New York right now. I'm not sure what her plan really is - I don't think //she// knows what her plan really is - she just wanted to get away from- well. From the fight for a while. Figure out what it is she wants, and how she feels about some things."
    She lets out a sigh as she adds, "I don't much like the thought of anyone being out there on their own without anyone at their back. But that's what she wants right now."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia probably would have been wishy washy on the whole thing if it wasn't for the fact that she got terribly drunk and tried to kiss Mystique. That kind of put everything into perspective for her. "Rain," she repeats, slightly mispronouncing it. "What a pretty name! She sounds adorable."

She scowls when it's mentioned that Rhane is out and about on herself. "Well. You'll get your powers back soon, so if she needs somebody you can be there instantly for her."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique flips the braids back over her shoulder, offering a lovely few of her chest and neck, but that's not why she did it. The braids were getting in her way, it was something she would adjust to.

"She's trying to escape the fight?" She says with a slow shake her head. "Clearly she doesn't get it. You can't escape it, you can only hide from it and pretend it's not there, or fight it. So what she's really doing is hiding from it, and that's fine if that's what makes her happy. Complete waste if you ask me, but then... I've had a lot of time to debate the matter, she hasn't."

Reaching to grab one of the coffee carafes, she adds more coffee to her cup, then just a smidge of sugar goes in and it's stirred. "You said she doesn't like the idea of hurting people, or something like that, it was part of the conversation before she kissed you and you blinked her away. She doesn't have to fight to be a part of the war, but I guess she'll have to figure that out."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I'll feel a little better about it when I have my powers back, yeah," Clarice admits. "But if she doesn't get to her phone, or if her phone's run out of charge..." Then she won't know to help. She lets out a frustrated huff of air, before picking up her coffee another drink.
    "Yeah, that seems to be what's troubling her. And she knows I don't feel the same way as she does. She care about the Cause, of course. She's just trying to figure out her place in it, and taking a break to sort out her head while she does."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks up at Mystique and sighs. "She's young. Sometimes you need space to figure things out." She shakes her head. "I never really had the luxury of that. It's what happens when you have a visible mutation. You're kind of thrust into it head first when you're a teenager when you're still trying to figure out all other sorts of things."

She's silent for a moment as she reaches out across the table to retrieve her cup of tea to sip it and put it within easy reach. "I was lucky to have evaded violence for as long as I did. I knew that one day it was going to happen, especially if I was going to be into activism. I'm still not comfortable with it, but I've made peace with the fact that it's going to be part of my life."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
As Lydia talks about being a teenager and thrust into being a mutant, Mystique's golden brown eyes glass over for a moment. Her mind races back to that day when she woke up cobalt at the age of twelve. A violent shake of her head clears that right the hell out of her head and she blinks a few times, looking between the two then takes the last drink of her coffee.

"I need to go check a program I have running, it's going through millions of files in sections of a thousand, and it might need the next set of parameters added. Three days straight, the list is slowly shrinking."

Giving Lydia a kiss on the cheek, she stands up but pauses to say, "No one wants this war, no one wants to be the center of attention constantly, but thanks to Clarice here, at least being at the center of that attention is no longer a purely negative thing for me. I do think however, that we may all need to start thinking about some sort of national advertisement for parents to see and realize that their mutant child has a place to go and learn, and I don't mean Xavier's... that's for later though."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Millions? What are you searching for?" Clarice asks curiously. With the focus of the conversation off her and Rahne - and Robert - she quickly begins to relax and eat her fritter - rather than merely pick at it.
    She follows her first question up with, "National? So something US based? Are we starting a Brotherhood school for mutants? Or do you mean that Happy Harbor school that came out as accepting meta-humans?" she asks with curiosity.
    Looking to Lydia she adds teasingly, "Maybe that's what they hired you on. So you could help us get a school off the ground."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia leans into the kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later," she says. And then Mystique mentions something about a school and her eyes light up. "I want to hear more about that when you get back. You know I have my degree in teaching and English. I'd love to start a school with you."

Her eyes glitter at Clarice. "I would /love/ to get a school going, but I think that's a discussion for later." She stands and grabs her cup. "As for me, I've got some writing to do back home. I'll see you around!"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique walks to the door, her form shifting back to the cobalt mutant as she goes. "The Brotherhood doesn't do schools, we'd be accused of attempting to raise an army, but we need to think of something, somewhere. Perhaps a school in Bushwick, or that Happy Harbor place." She considers a moment, then hmms softly. "Maybe it's time to get a school started in Bushwick, under the Head Mistress Lydia Dietrich... it's something we'll have to examine in detail a little later."

Pulling open the door, she moves to step through and throws over her shoulder, "I'm searching for a someone Clarice, and I'll find her, one way or another."