After The Fall

Technically, there was no need for Wanda to accompany them that far. She could have easily teleported them without being there herself, but she'd used the few extra seconds allowed by the trip as an opportunity to be briefed on the situation and to assure them that she would remain on the island in their stead. Nodding, she informed them, "We are approximately two blocks north of the location given."

"Good luck." She nodded again, knowing that she needn't remind them to be careful or to keep everyone updated. Both were things that they knew, and without another word, she disappeared in a dim flicker of light.

( Cut for length )

The knowledge that Josh could actually fix people if he fucked up badly enough to actually touch someone had given Kevin at least a little more peace of mind. Not enough that he was comfortable enough to intentionally be around people, but at least enough that he was willing to risk the possibility that he might run into them. Which was why he was sitting cross-legged on a bench in the garden, actually in sight of the palace, and looking out across the ocean. It was mid-morning, and people were likely going to be around and about, but he was fairly comfortable in the belief that none of them would come near him. Not any of the ones that he couldn't be safe around, anyway.

"I found some more movies for you guys," Julian said as he sat on a stool in the small kitchen. He'd found Kevin there after knocking on his bedroom door and getting no answer. "When you want to watch them. No rush or anything," he added, watching Kevin carefully. Something was wrong, he could tell. Not that he was a Kevin expert or anything but it was pretty obvious.

"Kev?" Julian began hesitantly. "Is everything okay?"

"Hey, you," Rogue cooed, leaning down and giving Matti a kiss on the nose and then pulling back to stick her tongue out at him. After a second, he copied the action and she grinned again, leaning in to let him know, "You are too fucking cute. Don't tell daddy that I said fuck. Twice."

She fully intended to stop cursing around them, and she was doing a pretty good job, considering just how often she usually swore. She'd managed to cut out about 85% of it, which was definitely an improvement, but sometimes it just slipped out anyway. She turned her head as Katie started making noises and she scooted closer on the bed, making a face as she came into Katie's line of sight. Thankfully, it wasn't the kind of noise that signaled the start of a tantrum and she gave her a kiss as well.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're the one I'm gonna have to be extra careful around?" Katie already "talked" a lot more than Matti did. Even though she looked a lot more like Kurt, Rogue was pretty sure she was starting to take after her in terms of attitude. Katie gurgled and flailed a little bit, bopping Rogue in the face in the process. Laughing, Rogue took hold of Katie's hand and kissed it, then nodded. "See? That's what I'm talking about."

Kevin was laying on the edge of Julian's bed, one arm dangling down towards the floor where his collar had fallen. He was quietly listening to Julian finish another song - he'd been listening for hours now and growing steadily more relaxed, until he'd finally assumed this prone position. Mot that it mattered, Julian was pretty much lost in the music, and, when Kevin closed his eyes, so was he. Three or four songs could go by without having to open them, just listening to the lyrics and interpretting them as best he could in a stream of conscious way.

He liked the overall color of the catalogue, but he kept still because Kevin wasn't sure if Julian would be insulted if his work was misunderstood. Even when this song ended, he didn't say anything at first, but then something about Julian's hands caught his eye. He picked himself up on his elbows, leaned forward a bit and squinted. He couldn't tell if there was actually something wrong or if his powers were flaring. "Do your hands hurt?"

Rogue unfolded and refolded the piece of paper as she waited for the elevator to go from her floor to the lobby. It was going to be fine. Just the hardware store, and even though he was going to be there, it'd be okay. Everyone had said that it was fine if she just told him that she wasn't interested, and that's all she'd do. It would be okay. She patted her pocket, making sure she had her car keys. In a flash of panic, she reached to make sure that she had her room key as well, pulling it out of the pocket twice just to make sure. It was dumb, but she had to do it. When the elevator finally opened, she nodded to herself and stepped out, heading toward the door. Hardware store. Okay. Good. Yep.

Julian had been siting outside Kevin's door since shortly after he'd gotten the reply that "everything" was wrong. Through a couple more exchanges and numerous objects thrown at the walls he'd sat, pretending a calm he most certainly did not feel. It wasn't fair. Kevin didn't deserve this.

But even his vigilance had it's limits, especially when worn down by worry and anger. In short, Julian was tired. And since it was so late at night he was sure no one would mind if he took a nap right here in the hall. Just a little nap.

In less than a minute Julian was snoring softly, his head tilted back against the wall, mouth open.

Josh awoke to a strange pattering sound. A sound that slowly got louder and faster the longer he listened to it. Crawling out from under the bed - and mindful of not waking Kevin - Josh wandered over to the window and looked out. And was surprised to find it raining.

He didn't remember much about rain. Just the smell, and a phantom feel of it against his skin.

After checking to see if Kevin was still asleep, he then turned toward the door and pulled the key out from under his shirt. He slowly unlocked and opened the door, peering out into the barely lit hallway. The sun smothered behind clouds high above them, and what little light reaching in the early morning seeping along the walls. It didn't bother him though. It was comforting really. In the oddest of ways.

Relocking the door, Josh wandered out and peeked through the back door. Rain dropped unto his head and he turned to look up, blinking as it landed across his nose, cheeks and brow. The smallest of smiles brushed his lips and he stepped out, closing the door behind him quietly. Trotting down the back steps, he wandered out into the garden.

The rain felt nice as it soaked through his clothes and hair. Chilling his skin slightly, before warming and spilling down his body. He looked around and leaned back in his stance. Head craning back until his face was upturned and rain splashed against it. His arms spread at his sides, palms up and eyes closed as he lost himself in the feeling.

He was getting frustrated with the poor quality of the clay he and Neal had managed to dig up. It was really only suited for ceramics, not sculpture, and he didn't have the wire armatures he needed to manage more attenuated shapes even if it had been higher quality. He'd needed a break, and that meant wandering down to what he'd been told was the study to see if there were any books worth reading on the shelves. He'd been sidetracked by the piano, though, and he sat there idly tapping at the keys, listening to the not quite music that resulted. That was the thing about pianos, even when you didn't have a clue what you were doing they sounded decent. Mostly.

Julian liked New York, he really did. He liked having coffee shops and book stores and new clothes at his fingertips. Or, if not exactly at his fingertips, then not to far away. But there was something about the island air that made him think home.

Given that he only had about a month to soak in all he could get of that air, it could have been seen as odd, him heading inside almost as soon as he got back to Genosha. A couple minutes to drop off his duffel in his room and he was off to see Kevin, shopping back full of presents in one hand as he almost skipped down the hall, whistling.

"Yoo hoo," Julian called as he knocked on Kevin's door. He made an effort to be on te quiet side, unsure if the new Josh was still staying in Kevin's room. "Kev? You home?"

She tilted her head and watched the lemurs on a nearby tree. They were big ones. It was an Indri, she'd decided, because of a)hugeness and b)complete lack of tail. Kitty wasn't anything even close to a lemur expert, but they were still interesting. She glanced over at Julian. "Did you know that that kind of lemur is monogamous?"

The club was a little different from the last one they'd gone to. But then, that one had been in New York City, and this one was somewhere in between Salem and the city. It seemed to make it both tamer and a little wilder all at once. But it wasn't over crowded, which was the goal. There was room too move, and enough space that bodies brushed mostly with intent, and rarely in passing.

Julian had spearheaded the event, after somehow getting them all to agree, then simply handing over outfits with a look that booked no argument. There had been many assurances of hotness, and no leeway for escape. And before they knew it, they were being let in by a bouncer with roving eyes, after bypassing a good section of line.

The outside of the club had seemed to promise industrial as a theme. The interior didn't disappoint. Though industrial seemed to have shifted meaning a little in the last few centuries. There was more of an artistic feel to the metallic infrastructure. The club's lighting was less florescent, more theatrical. And the seating and booths had a very vintage feel.

The bar took up most of the center, slightly raised, and branching out into a mezzanine of dark corners and cool air. The lower area was the designation for the main dance floor, with a few off sets for the shyer and less flashy individuals.

The music didn't boom, so much as thrum through the entire place. Less painful on the ears, and more seducing on the body.

All in all, it was a relatively ideal spot for a spontaneous outing.

Julian stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the collar of his shirt and glaring at his hair. Stupid New York winter making it all dry and, and weird. He poked at it, ran his fingers through it, then pulled some of the strands in different directions. Okay, better.

It wasn't like he was obsessed with the way he looked, but if they were going to be going into town, he wanted to look, well, nice. Kevin had nothing to do with it. Nope. Julian hmphed and shook his head, grinning at his own stupidity. His eyes fell on the very messy bed and he wondered if he had time to make it before Kevi-

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and Julian smiled again as he went to the door and opened it.

"Hey, Kevin. Did you sleep good?" he asked, stepping back to let the other man enter the room.

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go," Julian sang as he watched the ceiling drywall slowly peeling away from the beams. TK totally rocked. Still, it payed to be careful, so he wasn't just ripping off the drywall randomly or with too much force.

Julian began to whistle as he reached up to grab the drywall panel, tossing it out the window and into the dumpster below. And if it had a little help making it into there, well, who would know?

Anna kicked the car door closed behind her and headed toward the front door of the mansion, cardboard drink carrier in hand. It was strange but nice to be driving again, and she turned to lock the car with the remote, smiling at the beeping noise the action made. That done, she looked up at the front of the building, grinning as she caught movement up on the second floor. She headed inside and up the stairs, stepping carefully.

"Guten Morgen," she greeted as she entered the room, holding the carrier up. "I brought coffee." Setting the carrier on the windowsill, she pulled out her cup and stepped closer to Julian. "So. Ready for some new and exciting adventures in drywall removal?"

"And on this farm he had a hippopotomus. Eee-i-ee-i-OH!" Julain sang as he danced around the kitchen, grabbing the loaf of bread and a knife before dancing back to the chicken he'd already taken out of the fridge. "With a BLOORG, BLOORG here and a BLOORG, BLOORG there. Here a BLOORG, there a BLOORG. Everywhere a BLOORG BLOORG."

Julian was whistling and sweeping. Yup, sweeping. Most people never knew he was a bit of a neat freak. And, okay, so he didn't have a bunch of stuff to clutter his room, but there was still dirt and leaves and stuff. So he was sweeping. And whistling. Aerosmith. Who knew you could whistle Aerosmith?

Kurt was a bit worried about how Anna...AnnIE...was going to deal with meeting him, especially since she was apparently expecting to meet her brother and he definitely wasn't anything like the brother she was going to remember. Still, he definitely wanted to see her, make sure she was all right...Gott, they had to figure out how to reverse this. The twins were bad enough: much as he missed his nephews back home he didn't want these ones reduced to toddlers...and he didn't want to deal with the look on his alt's face whenever he looked at Billy when he thought no one was watching. But more than that, he wanted his sister back the way she was supposed to be.

He looked around the room one more time, though he'd already cleared up everything suggestive or...incriminating...when he'd brought the twins back and set up the extra bed. Still, he remembered Anna at five, and if it was findable she'd find it. There wasn't anything, though, and he settled on the edge of the bed to wait, tail twitching restlessly.

It had started out with just him and the boys. And how weird was that? Weirder still was how nice it felt. Having a bunch of littles to look after, holding their hands, wiping their noses even. It was nice. Home-y. It made him miss the farm something terrible.

He didn't have time to miss it for long though because there was Warren and his Kurt coming around the corner. A wee little Kurt and damn if that wasn't just the cutest thing ever. So of course they both got invited to go swimming too.

As far as Jay was concerned that was just about perfect.

Then Julian showed up. Or rather, the pack ambushed him at the the gentle bend in the river. Not real surprising since it was the best place for swimming. And Jay would have been more than happy to have the guy leave but little Bobby had latched onto him immediately so he stuck around. Which was okay, Jay guessed. Better than making Bobby cry for sure. He just wasn't sure if Sammy would think so.

"Okay, boys. Clothes and shoes piled here." Jay pointed to one corner of the blanket he'd brought. "Don't go in any deeper than here." He indicated a spot just above his waist with the other hand. "If we see you going in too far, you'll have to come out and sit here. All bored and having no fun, got it?"