xmutanthigh | [OPEN POST] NEW BRO'HOOD

[It's the next morning, after Kevin's arrived back from scouting. John didn't sleep much, just as he predicted, especially after his little rendezvous with Mortis. Sleep alluded him despite his exhaustion; he's wired now and sitting by a small fire next to Kevin's tent, away from the others. He's always liked solitude and it really wasn't a challenge to swipe a few matches from another tent. He's pocketed them for obvious reasons.

He was thinking all night (and is still now thinking) about the next steps. Maybe, maybe he can free Logan today, fucking somehow gets past Longshot and every other mutant staring suspicious daggers at him here.

He looks up and spots Kevin from a distance; it's hard not to, his black clothes standing stark against the bright blue sky and piles of white snow. John looks down at his small fire and pokes at it, listening to Kevin's nearing footsteps, but he doesn't look up, only speaks when Kevin's near enough.]

Beautiful fucking day, isn't it?

[Kevin takes his cue from John.]

Birds singing, cool mountain air - what could be better?

[He even holds his hands out outstretched for emphasis. John's sarcasm always has been a little contagious.]

A fucking lobotomy. [John peers up at Kevin then finally, squinting against the sun. Something in Kevin's expression gives him pause, but he continues on casually, gesturing to the trees.] You and the albino find anything interesting?

Edited 2011-02-23 23:41 (UTC)

A merry-go-round and some cotton candy stands, nothing too unusual.

[Kevin doesn't miss a beat, giving nothing away in his voice, but he starts getting a little nervous. He shouldn't tell John about Ali and Jono, not yet. If John couldn't be trusted, then did that mean that Ali and Jono could be? And if Ali and Jono were turning on him to attack the Brotherhood, then did that mean he should be concerned for John and trying to get him to safety?

Kevin's casual demeanor flickers for a moment while he sighs in frustration, sweeping his bangs from his face. This is so complicated. He can't figure this out quite yet.]

[And John sees that flicker of frustration, clear as day. As proficient as his little protege has become at hiding his emotions, he's not anywhere near the level of expert. There's something on Kevin's mind no doubt - whether it's John's reappearance or something else, the kid is doing the cautious thing and not bringing it up.]

And fuck you for not bringing any back.

[Kevin manages to chuckle a bit at that. He reaches into his jacket pocket and tosses something to John.]

I did bring you something though.

[It's not much. Just a plastic, disposable Bic lighter that Kevin uses for cigarettes. It's certainly not John's old trustworthy Zippo, but Kevin figures it's probably better than nothing.]

[John catches it against his chest, his brow raising and a half-genuine smile turning up his lips. He licks his lips, flips the lighter in his hands, turns it on. It's a lot better than the matches he stole - a lot.]

Aw, you shouldn't have.

[He drawls this, sarcasm dripping from his words, but he means them.]

[Kevin smiles and laughs, scoffing a bit to himself. He can see that John appreciates it, but would never say so seriously. That would be far too touchy-feely for either of them. Obviously.]

Whatever, dude.

[Kevin looks around -- there's not much to see but trees, snow, and more trees. To the north the view is blocked by the mountains. They really are pretty isolated. And even more so now, since Kevin finished up the morning patrol so... abruptly. The rest of the crew are probably still asleep. Kevin doesn't think anyone will hear these next words, but remains cautious anyway.

He leans over to sit next to John by the fire, always remaining careful to keep a small distance between himself and anybody else. Maybe there's a way to detect a few things about what John's doing here. He lowers his voice.]

We did find something, actually. Caliban's gone. Whoever it was that we were tracking must've killed him. [Kevin says this quietly, but intently, making eye contact at certain points to emphasize words, and speaking slowly. He uses his own tell -- bites his lip at certain points the way he used to when playing poker and hadn't been good enough yet to hide the tell.

John would know. He'd pick up what Kevin was alluding to here and hopefully give him some kind of insight on what his mission was.]

[John shifts to face Kevin better; his brows furrow just slightly as his eyes narrow. He's not sure what's more puzzling: Kevin's obvious, clearly purposeful tells or what the hell the kid's trying to say. What he's confessing isn't 100% true, that's definitely for sure.

John stares at Kevin, searches his eyes and expression for a moment after. He's surprised but not much affected by hearing of Caliban's death - just curious. Does the kid mean... what exactly?

A sigh leaves him, one that's impatient as fuck and irritated.]

Aren't you just the bearer of good news.

[Even as he says this John gets up and throws aside the tent flap, settling inside and gesturing for Kevin to join him. He retrieves some book Kevin has stashed inside. John doesn't give a shit enough about literature to think twice about ripping one of the blank pages out in the back.

He reaches for his pack and pulls out a pen, scribbling on it.

tell me what's going on]

[Kevin figures that anything that Ali and Jono told him could still be a lie. Better safe than sorry. So he treads carefully. Taking the pen fro John, his response is:

First tell me who came with you.]

(OOC: yeah this Kev-team-band stuff is still currently being tagged. Hope it's not TOO confusing!)

[John's jaw tightens at that; his eyes harden. He swipes the pen back from Kevin a bit viciously, annoyed by the demand, annoyed that he's leaning over his knee and taking the chance to write an answer. Why? Because at this point, he sees no choice. Kevin didn't want Logan dead; he misses Xavier's. And now he's being vague and mysterious as fuck. If he knows something...

John has to take a chance, go out on a limb. He nearly shudders at the idea of placing faith is this stupid kid.]

my favorite person in the world

[He tosses the paper in Kevin's lap, punctuating it with a tilt of his head. It doesn't take a genius.]

Edited 2011-02-24 04:09 (UTC)

[Great, now Kevin is rolling his eyes during what should be a moment of seriousness. See what John does to him?]

no, I mean your backup - who??

[So Logan came with John. That much was revealed, because clearly Logan is John's favorite person in the world. Was it true, then? Coming here to re-join the Brotherhood was only a guise?

Kevin silently prays that John's next answer is that loudmouth punk on wheels and the tree. Ali and Jono would never betray Xavier's. And if they really are here as John's backup...

Well, Kevin surprises himself just now by how much he wants this to be true. He can hardly believe that he cares this much. His expression now open and sincere (after that bout of sighing and eye-rolling) he pushes the pen and paper back to John.]

[Well now John's just pissed and even more confused and frustrated. Who the fuck was in the woods that Kevin stumbled upon?

He grabs the paper from Kevin, tearing it a little in the process. He merely does a sharp double-take at the look on Kevin's face - the unmistakable hope. It makes him pause, think a moment.

Could it be? Did that loudmouth punk on wheels and the tree find their trail and follow them? Who the hell else would have any clue what John might be up to with Logan? Who else would make Kevin react like that?

John takes the pen more calmly now.]

no backup. it was your dumbass bandmates wasn't it?

Edited 2011-02-24 04:26 (UTC)

[Kevin shrugs, mostly for his own benefit. What else was there to do? John's figured it out, and he's made it very clear that they didn't arrive together. So... then what? What does it mean? He still doesn't know, but he thinks he can trust John... he hopes. He takes a breath and takes that chance. Without bothering to write this time -- if anyone overhears, Kevin doesn't care if they interpret it to mean that he's talking about the Brotherhood -- he keeps the paper in his hands and speaks out loud.]

I am... uncomfortably familiar with how dumb they can be.

[At the sound of Kevin's voice, John bristles and reaches over to smack Kevin's shoulder with a look of incredulity. Stupid fucking kid, he's thinking.]

Not as fucking dumb as you.

[John leans over the paper again, scribbles a reply and holds it up for Kevin to read.]

we came here for you. the idiots must have followed.

[At that, the annoyance on John's face lessens marginally; he studies Kevin's expression for a reaction. As nice as it was for Kevin to bring him a lighter, Madrox still swiped his gauntlets for him last night and they are tucked away beneath his sleeves. The tent is small, but John's ready for it if Kevin doesn't react well to the news.]

Edited 2011-02-24 05:38 (UTC)

[For awhile, Kevin's expression as inscrutable as Jono's on Texas Feed 'Em Night. He takes the paper and stares down at it for a long time, long enough that John's getting impatient.

Kevin is grateful. For the first time since John's arrival, he's gotten some solid answers. And he considers this an answer because he knows he can trust John. He should be more careful and keep his guard up, but wonders if maybe he's getting tired of being so suspicious. He really can trust John. Can't he?

And they came here for him? All this was for him?

Kevin can't help but feel... touched. But, to take a leaf out of his old roommate's book, he doesn't say anything to indicate that anything's touched his heart - or some shit. Yeah. That was the phrase John used to use.

Then he finally picks up the pen.]

you guys were dumb too. no backup? coming to somewhere this dangerous? for what?

[John is getting irritated, but the slight fear he was feeling - yes, fear - that Kevin didn't want to be rescued is slowly fading in his hard eyes. If Kevin doesn't want to stay, if Kevin doesn't want to do with any other Brotherhood pawn would do and reach out and kill him...

John swallows heavily and pushes the paper on Kevin's lap, his eyes slightly wide as he waits for the kid to reply.

When the response comes, John feels a smile tugging at his lips, half-grim and half-amused, but it doesn't show on his stony expression. He'd like to know why he even fucking bothered with doing something this dangerous too. He snatches the paper from him.]

bring your sorry ass back.

[John rolls his eyes, pins Kevin with a look and whispers "fucking moron" under his breath, as if the answer were obvious.]

Edited 2011-02-24 06:10 (UTC)

[As much as Kevin doesn't want to admit it, he's relieved. He doesn't want it to matter to him whose side John is taking, or whatever team he wants to be on, but Kevin's relieved. But... they came to get him? He's not sure he wants anyone telling him where he's supposed to be, and for all he knows at the moment, with what little information he's been given... maybe this is just some administration bullshit about Xavier's School staff wanting to feel good about themselves. Could be some kind of pride issue about losing one of their "own" to the Brotherhood. Yeah, actually -- that'd make a lot of sense.

His spoken response to John's insult is a tempered, "Ah, fuck you, man" before writing another reply on the paper.]

Didn't ask you to.

[The moment John's read the message he's filled with the overwhelming urge to punch the guy yet again. Instead Kevin gets a look - a glowering one as John takes the paper back, scribbling some more into a corner.]

worth a shot

[Then as an afterthought he adds:]

fuck you too ungrateful dick

[Yep, there's that look on John's face. Kevin knows it all too well. It's the one he's gotten from John all the time back when they were rooming together. Kevin returns it with one of his own.

Kevin's not ungrateful -- not really -- but just doesn't really know what to do with this huge jumble of emotions that are churning around inside of him right now. Since he can't figure it out, he's feeling like the best front to put up is a bit of indifference, til he can sit down and have a good think about it all.

He does feel a strange appreciation for what John and Logan -- and yeah, Ali and Jono, too -- are doing right now. Whether or not it's under orders from administration, they were all brave (and stupid) enough to come here for him. He can't ignore that. Not for much longer.]

just saying you could've gotten yourselves killed.

Going to try to keep you guys safe.

[OPEN POST] NEW BRO'HOOD

TO: IRIS, LOVE: CRYSTAL

AWWWWW AWWWW I LOVE YOUUUUU

I LOVE YOU MOOOOOOOOOORE

I LOVE THEIR FACES

I LOVE THEIR FACES FOR SO MANY REASONS

Re: I LOVE THEIR FACES FOR SO MANY REASONS

Re: I LOVE THEIR FACES FOR SO MANY REASONS

one of which is that their faces are ADORABLE

AND SEXY

Infinitely sexy.

FOREVER AND EVER

Re: FOREVER AND EVER

Re: FOREVER AND EVER

sexy bitches forever.

word to your mother.

They're my favorite kind of bitches.

I see what you did there~

Re: I see what you did there~

Re: I see what you did there~

Re: I see what you did there~