Owner	Pose
Mystique	It was a beautiful Saturday evening in Bushwick. The day had been a comfortable warm, perfect for swimming, or in the case of most kids in Bushwick, opening a hydrant and playing in the spray. Some had used the water to fill old kiddie pools out on the sidewalk to lounge in, other took advantage of the water by filling buckets and hauling them off. Raven had spent the day with a small digital video camera in hand, walking through the entirety of Bushwick in a search for mutants willing to express their opinions regarding the so called 'cure'. By the time the sun was setting she had managed to record over fifty messages from mutant individuals expressing their thoughts. The only time her voice was heard was when she asked the questions. At the end of the day, she headed to Hope House as the final location of her trip for the day. Her goal was first to ensure the deliveries to the house had made it, second to ensure the work on the air conditioning was complete and third, to see if anyone there would be interested in having their opinion added to her collection.
Evan Sabahnur	Checking on the deliveries, she would come across Evan unloading the truck as usual. The now muscular young man is cheating more than a bit at this point, because he doesn't normally have that many arms. It certainly does speed up the unloading, however. As he's carrying four pallets into the kitchen, he spots Raven and calls out a cheery "Hi Raven, how are things?"     Setting the pallets down with the others that some of the other Hope House personnel are opening and putting in their proper spots, then restores himself to the more standard two arms and heads over to where he can talk with Raven normally. "Lots of supplies coming in, not just from you guys. Seems we have a bunch of people interested in helping mutants out. Hopefully it's the sign that we're becoming a little more accepted."
Mystique	Finding Evan unloading the deliveries, a smile spreads across Raven's blue features. She had noticed how many hours the young mutant was spending at Hope House while on summer break, she had also taken notice of the changes to his personality and body. He was more confident about himself and being a mutant, not hesitant to use his abilities to make things easier. Oddly, she found herself proud of the young man and didn't really understand why. "Evening Evan, things are well enough given current events in the world," she replied as she crossed the loading dock to the large truck he was moving boxes from. "I see you are still 'cheating' in moving things around. I would love to be able to do that, but alas... no extra limbs for me." Leaning herself against the side of the trailer, ensuring she was out of his way, she folded her arms across her chest with the small camera in plain sight, but not recording... the light was in fact red. "I would like to believe that many humans are beginning to see the truth regarding mutants," she began smoothly, calmly, but there was this teeny-tiny something in the tone that leaned toward disgust. "Even though we are in fact far better than humans in every way, I would truly love to see the day that mutants were considered equals to them." She cleared her throat a little as she offered a broad grin. "Forgive my bluntness, I'm old and some of my beliefs are still in transition."
Evan Sabahnur	Evan moves over to sit on the edge of the loading dock and shakes his head, "See, there's the problem. It's hard to accept someone as an equal when they keep saying they're better than you. That tends to put people on edge right from the start. And I know, some of that stuff is just built into you from all you've seen and been through. But you have to keep working on it. And as for extra limbs, maybe you can't, but then I can't instantly turn into anyone I see well enough to fool their own parents. Different people, different gifts." He leans back against one side of the doorway, relaxing for a minute while they talk.     "But yeah, we need to push for equality, and in a way that doesn't piss people off. It's happening, a little at a time maybe, but I see it when I'm here. More people offering help, more supplies from human owned businesses and groups, fewer visits from the haters." He shrugs. "There will always be people who hate us, just like there are still people who hate African Americans, or Christians, well any religion really. Religion sure makes for a lot of hate when they all preach forgiveness and brotherhood."
Mystique	"I am still fighting with the belief of equals," Raven states bluntly. Perhaps it wasn't something she should discuss with a child, as the world saw him, but she had always preferred to be blunt and honest with anyone she spoke to when speaking from the heart. "I have finally seen humans who actually care, who believe in that equality, who don't hate us," she continued. "For over a hundred years I couldn't see them, to me they simply did not exist. I grouped them all into the same category just as they did with us. It took love to make me see the truth, and now... without that love," she paused a moment, letting out a slow breath to keep her calm and not let the pain show. "I am fighting to continue to /see/ that truth." Glancing over to him with her yellow eyes focusing on his face she offers a smile. "All that said, all of it the truth, I will continue to fight for equality instead of supremacy over humans. Right now that means revealing the truths of mutants out there who are both for and against this so called "cure"." She holds up the camera. "Which is what I have been doing today, recording the lost voices of the masses in Bushwick to determine if there is an over all interest. Some want to be heard, others are happy to let others do the talking, but I intend to offer every mutant in Bushwick and Genosha the chance to record their opinion on this topic."
Evan Sabahnur	"Now _that_ is a good way to handle it. For too many people out there mutants are the monster in the closet. They don't see anything about us unless something makes the news, and let's face it, the things that make the news never seem to show us in a good light. To be honest, it's not like the news goes out of it's way to show much positive about humans either, just the school shooters and Karens, that kind of thing."     "But something that just shows mutants as regular people, with their own hopes and fears, that could do more for us than anything else. It won't change the hardcore anti-mutant types, but that pretty much applies to any racist. They'll keep hating even when they're shown proof that they're wrong, it's apparently just human nature. It'd be nice to change it, but I'm not holding out much hope on that score."
Mystique	Raven snorts, "I gave up hoping for that a long time ago. But I still have to try anyway. The world has gotten too small to be able to hide us all somewhere safe, so I have to do what I can to create somewhere safe." The cobolt mutant shakes her head and chuckles ruefully, "I should probably be taking lessons from your book, you're a nicer person than I am by far. Some days I think you should be the face of mutantkind. How you keep so positive while working here is beyond me, you constantly see the most helpless and homeless of our kind."
Evan Sabahnur	Looking over at her, Evan replies "Yes, I do. And I get to help them, give them a place to sleep, food and whatever else we can afford. Now if I had to interact with them without the ability to help them, then yeah, it would be a soul-crushing job. As it is, I've got a lot of success stories. A lot of them start with fear and hatred, but I can give the story a way better ending."     It's fairly obvious why the opinion of most mutants in Bushwick is 'everyone loves Evan'. He seems to almost shine with positive energy when he talks about helping people. Which would be quite a surprise if anyone actually knew his donor. So far however, he hasn't come face to face with anyone who was involved in the last time Apocalypse was active.     "Um, on that note, I kind of need to ask you something that is a little uncomfortable for me."
Mystique	Raven nods, "I suppose I can understand that. It's kind of like when I rescue a mutant from haters, or scientists or whatever, but with less violence. But I do feel good having helped one of our people.: She just smiles slightly, recognizing something in Evan that she lost long ago - innocence and faith in the world. Hopefully, he won't be stripped of those things anytime soon. "Don't worry about it Evan, just ask. I doubt that you of all people could seriously offend me."
Evan Sabahnur	He nods, saying "Ok, well... I was wondering if the Brotherhood could manage to help finance Hope House. You can see all the stuff coming in, it all has to b paid for, and donations are running a bit low these days. I hate to ask for money, but I've got a lot of mutants to feed and provide with basic necessities."     He's not looking directly at her, and though it's hard to tell given his grey skin and facial markings, he may in fact be blushing.     "I know you provide a lot up on the asteroid, which probably costs a ton but if you can spare anything, the people here could really use it."
Mystique	Raven smiles, reaching one hand out to turn his head gently to look at her. "Of course we can Evan, don't worry about that. And you should never feel bad about asking for help here, you're providing something our people need badly. Not every mutant wants to live in space or in Genosha, and we need to make sure that the ones who want to stay in New York are taken care of." She considers for a moment, then says "Probably the best way to see what you need is to take a look at the ledgers. I assume someone is writing down money in and money out. Or at least I hope they are." She offers a hand to pull him to his feet while saying "Let's go take a look at the books, then I'll talk to Erik about funding. Lead on to the office, we'll get things rolling."
Evan Sabahnur	"I know I shouldn't, but it just feels kind of bad to have to ask for money. Just something I'm not used to doing, I guess." He takes the offered hand, continuing to talk even as he stands up.     "Yeah, we've got a couple of bookkeepers who do all the financial stuff. The office is this way, and I'm pretty sure at least Molly should be in. She'd be able to tell you where we're falling short a lot quicker than if you have to go through the books yourself." The pair of mutants head into Hope House as the now empty truck drives away.