driftfleet | May Mingle (Caprine)

[ Raven knows it must be strange for someone that knows 'her' to see her the way that she is - she isn't blue and standing tall, she's pale and strange and different, all blonde hair and a smile of false bravado. It comes because it has to and she has to hold her head high; she has to keep herself secret and hidden because it's too dangerous to even consider what it might mean to let herself be caught, considering what she knows. The others might think it's safe here but she hasn't decided that for herself yet.

She doesn't envy Kitty in the way that she might have, once, but there is certainly an edge of jealousy and frustration that comes from meeting anyone that has a mutation that they can 'hide'. They shouldn't have to, of course, and Raven believes that with all that she has - no one ought to hide - but it is something that still rubs at the raw wounds she tries very hard to shove away to the depths of her mind. Even now she feels as though she's ashamed of herself, that she's hiding, and the idea that people know and expect things from her make her uncomfortable and frustrated, time and time again.

At least Kitty is trying to be nice, and Raven can accept that. She moves forward to watch the other woman with interest, always curious about mutants and what they can do, the kinds of powers that they have and what makes them who they are. People are shaped by their mutations sometimes, after all, and it says a lot about someone when you get to see their gifts in person. ]

I see. [ How considerate of him. Raven wrinkles her nose, the idea of Erik making weapons for anyone a little awkward for her with their history still raw and bitter between them. Instead she focusses on the mutant power, her eyes widening before she brightens, a smile forming. ] That's incredible.

[Kitty smiles back.] Thanks. [She retracts her hand from the equipment.]

Um... Do you want to try it? [The hesitation comes from the fact that sharing her power is a lot like a trust exercise. She has to trust she's not going to be rejected by the person she's offering it to. How many screamed in terror as she saved their lives? And they have to trust that she's not going to leave them inside something which is a bigger leap of faith to make and one she can understand someone not wanting. It just tends to hurt.]

Phasing?

[ There's a moment of pause there if only because it reminds her of someone that she doesn't want to think about - a kind of movement, a kind of teleportation, and she has to shove the memories aside and focus on the woman in front of her. It doesn't take her long to make her choice - Raven's delight in other people's mutations is joined up with her pride in them, and if she can experience something then she will, without hesitation. ]

I'd love to.

[She offers her hand to the other woman.] It only works through touch. Just make sure not to let go. You'll be able to pass through anything. Just be careful with anything electronic if you want it to keep working.

I've never really had much use for electronics. [ There's no need for them when a) your brother is a telepath and then b) all your friends are dead. She takes Kitty's hand, stepping forward. ] Lead the way.

[She knows a lot about B and nothing about A from personal experience.]

No? I've always had a thing for them. Computers mostly. Kind of ironic. [She steps forward, avoiding the treadmill because she doesn't need to be frying the Caprine's stuff and leads her through the weight bench instead. There's not much to feel with phasing. Sometimes the mind invents something just to make the thing they are experiencing make more sense. She's heard about a static-like feeling before from people walking with her.]

Edited 2016-05-19 23:22 (UTC)

Charles is a telepath. We didn't really need any other way to stay in contact. [ At least until she left with Erik, then there was no contact whatsoever until Paris. She might have kept tabs on him, but it wasn't the same and both of them knew it - just as she knew that Charles must have checked on her a few times, must have made sure she was safe until it all went to hell.

For now she focusses on Kitty, on the awe she feels when they phase through the weight bench. Raven's hand grips her a little tighter until she turns her head, eyes widening and smile bright. ] That was incredible.

They do a lot more than communication. The computing power alone... And you don't care about that. [Excuse her while she remembers not to nerd at the unwilling. Clearly too much time spent around Winn, Vision, and even Hank and Cisco. But she does care about her powers and that's kind of fun.]

If you liked that, try taking a step up. [She demonstrates, by taking a step up as if onto a concrete block, but instead it's absolutely nothing. Well, air molecules, but it looks like nothing.]

I never had a reason to care. [ It's not like she had any other family or any kind of friends other than Charles, and she certainly didn't have a boyfriend or any chance at having one - not until they had literally stumbled across Hank. It was the first time she had met someone she thought she understood and who understood her.

At least Raven can appreciate nerdiness.

Kitty moves up and Raven blinks, careful for a moment before she shifts and takes a step. When she's in the air she looks down, delight almost exploding across her face. ] Oh my god.

[Kitty smiles too—even if someone doesn't care about computers. It's pretty nice to get an awe reaction instead of one with fear. It's not completely uncommon anymore, but it still feels good.] Right? It's not exactly flight, but I can reach all the high shelves.

[ Raven understands how it feels to want to be seen as incredible rather than dangerous, and she holds on to Kitty before she turns her head, beaming. ] I've only ever teleported before. This - this is amazing.

[Does she look a little momentarily flustered? Because she is. She may have come here right away, but she is going to give Hank time to tell her about her son...sons?] Yeah? When was that?

[ Raven watches, raising an eyebrow before she shakes her head. ] A friend of mine was a teleporter. That was one of his mutations - the other was being red. [ Before he died - was murdered. ]

["A friend."] I don't think I knew him. I've worked with teleporters before though. It's pretty cool. Blink can open large ones and bring all sorts of things with her. [Yep, yep, just talking about Blink who isn't related to anyone. Well, anyone in this room.] She's purple.

[ F R I E N D. ] That's - so many mutants I've never heard of, and they all sound incredible. [ She keeps repeating the word, but it's the only one that fits. ] And there's thousands more we haven't met yet.

[Still no name though. But the description should be enough if she knew someone who fit it and she doesn't. Maybe Kurt would though? He did live longer than her both before and after her time.] Yeah, I've known a lot. On my side and then less on my side. But then Laura I only know from places like this. Ah, there's a girl named Laura in the Fleet whose a mutant too.

Really. [ Raven isn't, exactly, going to go and scout out all the mutants - that would be a little much, even for her - but knowing there's more here... There's something soothing about it, something that relaxes some of the tension in her shoulders and calms her a little. It makes things easier, knowing you're not alone. ] Maybe I'll get to meet her one day.

Could be. Though you both seem to keep to yourselves. [Part of why she brought her up. She figures they could both use more connections.] So, want to stand on the boring old ground again? I mean unless you're into holding my hand. [She smiles, teasing.]

Can you blame us? [ Raven glances at their hands, though, and she fights back her smile. ] We can go back down, yeah. I don't mind holding your hand, but...

I do have excellent hand holding skills. [She laughs softly as she steps back down.]

And no, I don't blame you. I was a defensive, suspicious, aggressive mess when I showed up at my first multidimensional prison. And humans who were totally fine with me having powers? I really, really didn't know what to do with that. I definitely didn't trust it.

[She continues after a pause.] I used to show them off more by shoving a hand in someone's chest or harmlessly stabbing them, because I expected fear and I guess I wanted them to prove me right. Not my prouder moments.

Consider me overwhelmed by them.

[ It's easy to tease, at least, before Raven is forced to breathe out and come face to face with things she didn't really want to talk about. Lifting her head, she glanced over at Kitty before she shakes her head. ]

I had Charles. Until I was a teenager no one else knew that I was a mutant apart from him, and he kept me safe. It's not the same here - I don't know anyone and things are different. I don't care what anyone else says. If I don't think it's safe then I'm going to take precautions.

Mine didn't show up at all until I was already a teenager. [It's a long time to spend thinking you're a normal human. Well, a genius so not entirely normal. And Jewish so not entirely liked, but...] I'm glad you had each other at least.

And I get the precautions. I don't think I could have skipped any of what I went through on someone's say so. I don't expect you to believe everything I say or follow my lead. Actually, following my lead might be terrible. Not the best role model. Also, it would be weird to be your role model since I'm used to a version of you being a lot older than me.

...Unless you are since it would be hard to tell.

I was trying to steal from his fridge. I don't think he really had a choice, to be honest.

[ But at least there's humour in it now, and Raven shakes her head. She turns herself to look over at Kitty before she huffs a noise, fighting the urge to actually laugh. ]

Hank told me I would look like a teenager even when I was in my forties. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not.

Absolutely. You have to adopt anyone who raids your fridge. It's the rule. [She smiles.]

I guess you can always look older if you want to. [She knows it's not exactly the same, but the flexibility is there at least?] How old are you now? I'm twenty for the record.

I think that's some kind of unspoken Xavier law. [ Considering the school and all...

Raising an eyebrow, she fights her smile. ] Don't you know you're not meant to ask a lady her age? [ All the same - ] I'm older than you are.

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