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Tweak says, "mispellings hurt me >:("

Lorna Dane (geek_magnet) wrote in devolve,
@ 2011-01-26 21:40:00

Entry tags:

alisa_tager, bobby_drake, guthriespawn, jean-paul_beaubier, jimmy_proudstar, kitty_pryde, kurt_wagner, lorna_dane, ororo_munroe, paige_guthrie, sam_guthrie, sharon_smith

Open to Everybody
Who: Everybody watching the fireworks outside
What: Watching the fireworks outside
Where: Outside
When: Evening
Rating: PG?
Status: Complete

Lorna was settled on the roof with a mug of cocoa in her hands waiting for Jubilee to do her thing. She'd set one of the cameras trained on the area, so anybody who didn't want to brave the snow and cold could watch from the camera room.

"Okay, they need to hurry the hell up," she said, even the slight green glow around her and Jubilee got brighter, along with the heat she was emanating. "I cannot keep this up forever."

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blue_bitch
2011-01-27 09:51 am UTC (link)

"Often," she agreed, nodding. It had been her experience that being alone was generally better and safer, both physically and emotionally. She watched as Betsy pulled her coat tighter, casting her eyes skyward at the question.

"Fireworks have never particularly impressed me." She watched as shapes took form in the sky, tilting her head slightly. Fireworks were, to her, a great waste of resources. Explosions that failed to actually blow anything up were completely useless. "Though I suppose there is something to be said for the fact that these aren't traditional fireworks."

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comeonbetsy
2011-01-27 10:11 pm UTC (link)

"They're pretty, sure. Very... eye catching," Betsy said, alluding to her concerns about the show earning them too much attention without actually saying so directly. She knew just what it felt like to be descended on by a horde of infected in the night, and perhaps she was stretching to think that would happen now, but regardless, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

She felt restless, but there wasn't anything more she could really do. She wasn't about to insist that they stop the display, stop the lights, just stop, and go inside, and be quiet. Betsy knew they wouldn't appreciate it, and part of her agreed that they couldn't just stop living because of the way things were. Some things just seemed like they weren't worth the risk, and fireworks were one of them.

Betsy just looked towards the perimeter wall as though looking for some sign of danger beyond it.

"Do you think it's safe? I mean. It's making us very... visible," Betsy finally asked.

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blue_bitch
2011-01-28 12:19 am UTC (link)

"Hm," Raven nodded in agreement. Eye catching certainly was an applicable term. She caught an edge of worry in Betsy's voice and glanced sideways at the girl, watching her as she turned her attention away from the fireworks and toward the perimeter wall. She knew exactly what the question would be before it was even asked, and when it finally was, she smiled.

"It's definitely making us very visible," she agreed. "By the time enough of them figure out where it's coming from and get close, it will probably be over." Hopefully. It was being controlled by a sixteen year old, so the chances of it going on for an extended period of time were slim.

"There will probably be some perimeter clean-up in the morning, but I doubt that there are enough in the immediate area to get here and do any real damage." Most of the local herd had been thinned. Even with more constantly coming in, there weren't enough to create the kind of force necessary for them to break past the perimeter wall.

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comeonbetsy
2011-01-28 05:20 am UTC (link)

Betsy forced herself to nod even though now she was even more ill at ease. She definitely wouldn't be sleeping tonight. She knew it was perhaps cowardly, but she hadn't lived through what she'd lived through by assuming anything was safe.

Of course, she wasn't quite sure why Raven was smiling at her. The thought of bringing any more of the infected here than there already were certainly wasn't something that would ever make her smile. So, she asked.

"Why did you smile?" she queried, eyes serious as she focussed on the other woman. She was trying to be respectful and not pushy, but it was clear she was curious. The other woman just seemed... so in control. Poised and purposeful. The smile had to be a direct result of soemthing.

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blue_bitch
2011-01-28 05:40 am UTC (link)

The question made Raven smile slightly again, and she looked at the girl, raising an eyebrow.

"You're perceptive," she nodded, glancing at the others gathered elsewhere. Some on the roof of the main building, some elsewhere in the yard. Her eyes settled finally on the roof of one of the barracks, where Kurt and JP were cuddling. "Of all the people here, you seem to be the only one concerned about that."

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comeonbetsy
2011-01-28 05:54 am UTC (link)

Betsy followed Raven's gaze, around at all of the casual, unconcerned bystanders. Betsy wasn't sure if she was being chastised or something, or if Mystique just thought she was ridiculous to be concerned. For some reason, the only thing coming to mind was a memorable phrase from a book she'd read in childhood, a book it seemed most of the world, or at least most of Britain, had read.

"Constant vigilance," Betsy said with a casual shrug of one shoulder. If Mystique thought she was ridiculous to be so wary, so be it. Betsy didn't see the point of inviting trouble for a few pretty lights.

"Do you think I'm being ridiculous? Is that why you smiled?" Betsy asked then, slightly more boldly, though still a far cry from confrontational. Her voice was still simply curious, musing almost. Thoughtful. "Is it so safe here, are we so untouchable now that there's no reason to worry?"

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blue_bitch
2011-01-28 06:23 am UTC (link)

"Not at all." She turned to face Betsy as she shook her head and gestured toward the wall. "We're not untouchable. None of us, even with that."

"It merely amused me that of all the people here, it's one of the newer ones who stopped to think that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to send flares into the sky." Almost as much as it amused her that her smiling was cause for concern.

"Once we get start genuinely thinking that we're safe, we're screwed." She shrugged and turned back to the fireworks.

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comeonbetsy
2011-01-28 07:14 am UTC (link)

Betsy was relieved to hear her fears echoed. Or, since Mystique didn't seem scared, at least justified. She considered the woman's words carefully.

"So if it isn't safe, why has no one mentioned the risks?" Betsy asked.

She'd contemplated saying something herself, but she couldn't imagine that they hadn't weighed the risks, or that they'd care to hear her concerns on the subject. She would have still, perhaps, since she wasn't really friends with these people yet, at least not many. What did it matter if they thought her suspicious? Too jumpy?

But she hadn't. Now she wished she had. The possibility of having to go through another attack in the night, of losing all the progress they'd made here for, what, the fun of so-called flares being shot up into the sky?

The more she thought of it, the more Betsy wished they'd stop.

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blue_bitch
2011-01-28 11:39 am UTC (link)

"Because sometimes, once you've made the decision to take a risk to provide yourself with the illusion of normalcy, it's best to never mention that risk out loud." Raven was assuming, and perhaps she was giving the X-Men far too much credit, that at least some of them were fully aware of the fact that the enemy could see and hear large explosions in the sky. That they would undoubtedly be drawn to what appeared to be human activity.

"And Americans love their fireworks," she added, slightly amused. It was one of a long line of things that belonged to another culture that America had claimed for itself. Raven began walking slowly, assuming that Betsy would follow. The girl had, after all, been strolling along and just happened upon her. "So, is that why you're out here instead of up on a roof like everyone else?"

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comeonbetsy
2011-01-29 02:07 am UTC (link)

"In part. I also didn't want to... intrude on anyone's happy moments. I'm still pretty new here. I don't have the history many of the others do," Betsy admitted, but it was casually, not from a place of self-pity or negative emotions. It was the truth. She was a downer when things reminded her of the past, anyway, and she didn't want to ruin this experience for anyone else.

Like Raven had said, they'd weighed the risks and chosen to enjoy it, and it wasn't her place to get in the way of that. It just made it difficult for her to enjoy, that was all. Impossible to enjoy.

Perhaps it had been over a year since she'd seen him, but with all that time spent searching and hoping she'd see him again, she hadn't really accepted he was gone. She still hadn't, because she still held out hope he'd be found.

"Besides. I'm not an American," Betsy said with a forced smile. "Can I ask why you aren't... joining in the festivities?"

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blue_bitch
2011-01-29 06:30 am UTC (link)

Raven nodded. Being new in a large group could be quite overwhelming, even though they didn't seem to have any qualms about welcoming Betsy into the fold. She'd been part of their little drinking game, and it had seemed as though nobody even registered that she was some sort of outsider. Of course, given the way that particular bit of history had panned out, Raven couldn't blame her in the least for wanting to sit out another event.

"I haven't seen a fireworks show in... over a decade," she replied, shaking her head. "There's no point in it. My history with them isn't the type that lends itself to curling up on the roof and marveling at the pretty lights. No reason for me to 'join in the festivities.'"

She was smiling slightly again as she mimicked Betsy's voice on the last part of her response. Glancing over at the girl, she continued to use the accent and added, "Besides, I'm not an American either."

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