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[Today is a good day for serious business, apparently. There's a certain something he's been putting off for a while, and after one-too-many dreams interrupting his sleep, he's had enough: this morning when Billy wakes up, the first thing he does is jot out a note in the journal-]
[Private to Ben Grimm]
Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?
[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.
After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]
[Open to All]
I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.
There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.
[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.
In the end he just leaves it be.]
...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?
[Private to Ben Grimm]
Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?
[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.
After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]
[Open to All]
I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.
There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.
[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.
In the end he just leaves it be.]
...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?
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K-Kurt! You could've warned me!
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Sorry, Billy! I wasn't thinking. I saw your message, and I just... thought I should see you as soon as I could.
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It's okay. People here seem to know a lot about mutants already... or nothing at all, depending on who you ask. [It's all so very disorienting and confusing.] But first, can you tell me... [He looks towards Billy in concern.] Did anything specific happen to make you ask this now?
[Action]
[That's one question he'd been more or less expecting.
Explaining it still feels like it would be kind of long and convoluted- moreso for Kurt than most, because he hasn't really told him much. Tricky, tricky.]
...Back home, something happened to a lot of the mutants, and no one knew why. Not the government, or the supers, or even most of the mutants themselves. But I just found out, and... now I kind of wish I hadn't.
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Is it something that I'd... want to know?
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[Like the Vision, the Avengers... him.
Yet, is the ever-present whisper, and it bugs him. He's not taking blame for it since he was a baby at the time - no, even less than that, a lost soul - but the awareness of his own involvement is niggling at him.]
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I see. I'm not going to press you for it. But, for whatever it is you are willing to talk about... I'm here for you, Billy.
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[He's not sure how to even begin to explain the mutant situation without getting into details about M-Day right now.]
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I guess with things like that... I can't blame you. Wherever you're safest is best. [He's not sure if he has much of a right to judge, anyways. Right there on his wrist is his ultimate hiding place.]
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I mean, no offense to the students or the X-Men. You guys are really cool. It's just that I've already got a place where I belong.
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I think I see where you're coming from. I mean... my foster parents accepted me, but life there was so limited to me. And I think me being there was doing more harm than good. I didn't have this nifty watch yet, after all.
And the Institute wound up being where I belong, where I could connect with people like me. And protect them when I can. If you found something like that elsewhere... then that's good. After all, I don't think the Professor's goal is to just gather us all in the mansion. It's so that we can find the acceptance we have there... anywhere.
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Thanks, Kurt. It means a lot to hear that.
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[Even if technically here and now - in Luceti, that is - is the only place their paths can cross... well, he's glad it happened.]
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[He hesitates before going on.]
Does it ever feel weird? It should feel good, right? To live somewhere where people like us... we don't have to be persecuted. No one's after us. There's people who will... accept us for who we are. And... is it bad that this makes me feel weird?
[Action]
[Funny- how he'd described this very situation with the same word to a few people in this place already. It's one of the biggest reasons why he could never blame Kurt for taking advantage of his holo-watch.]
I think it's mostly... jarring. I mean, when you're used to getting harassed for just being yourself - even if it's not something you actually chose to be - then you automatically expect it from strangers, right? So every time you're not persecuted for it, it's a surprise. Even if it's not a bad surprise, it can be weird.
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