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| First Breath After Coma; Mercury | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 29 2011, 08:02 PM (251 Views) | |
| Sean Cassidy | Sep 29 2011, 08:02 PM Post #1 |
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September 8, 11:00am Caffé Bianco The Big Apple. A great capital city, no doubt, but it had always seemed considerably smaller to Sean since 9/11/01; and now, since 9/01/11, it somehow seemed even smaller. As if the part that made it truly grand, its very core, had been ripped out. At least, that was how it felt for Sean. That Xavier's School now ceased to exist was something that Banshee was still struggling to come to terms with. All that he knew now was that it made him a vagrant, a man without a home, a man who belonged nowhere in particular. He had left Ireland as a young man and had spent years jumping from place to place as an officer of Interpol, basing himself in New York but spending less than a quarter of the year there. It was how he had wanted it, until his mutation was discovered, and he was kicked out of the force; at this point, he arrived at the doorstep of Xavier's, his first real home in over a decade, and hadn't looked back since. Until now, of course. Sean looked over the rim of his mug as he sipped the strong black coffee with relish; he hadn't slept well, so a strong filter was just what he needed. The barista had been intent on putting milk/soya/syrup in it, but black was the only way for Sean - an old cop habit he never lost. He looked down at the classifieds, dispassionately trying to search for something other than his only available option, trying to shrug off the undeniable urge to go back to something he had long since walked away from. His daughter was the most important thing to him now - that was clear, and that would never change, but could he truly follow her to the Savage Land - or Utopia, as Cyclops was calling it? That place could never be his home, even with his own flesh and blood there, Sean knew. He checked his new cell (his iPhone had died in the rubble of Xavier's, and he didn't have the flexible income to purchase a new one, so he'd gone for a cheaper model). The battery was low, so he hoped there were no complications with Cessily reaching the café. He wondered, absently, what her plans were: most seemed to be toeing the party line and following Scott to his Utopian fantasy, but Sean was aware of Jeb Guthrie's defection to Sanctuary. Personally, he thought the boy was making a mistake, delivering himself to a pit of vipers on selfish grounds; but he couldn't, or wouldn't, judge. Sean was having a hard time seeing Cyclops' haven as anything other than just a less stable version of Magneto's; if forced to choose, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't opt for the latter. Sean almost didn't register Cessily, doing a classic double-take as this fair-skinned, red-headed bombshell with a smattering of cute freckles and a thin smile approached him. In the end, it was those slightly mischievous eyes of hers that gave it all away. Immediately upon recognizing her Sean stood to attention, having been taught good old-fashioned Irish manners by his grandmother as a child. He stepped out from behind the table and moved to hug her with one arm. "It's great to see ye, lass." And it truly was. Too many people had been lost on that awful day: friends, co-workers, students. Cessily was all three; or, in the case of the latter, had been. "Sit down. What'll ye have?" he asked her, before making off to place her order. He returned, having been assured the baristas would bring it over. "Ye've gotta love Italian coffee houses," he said, casually. "If I wasn't Irish, I'd consider applyin' here..." |
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| Cessily Kincaid | Sep 29 2011, 08:32 PM Post #2 |
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Before her mutation had erupted, Cessily had always been the outgoing social butterfly, the obviously Irish-descended life of the party. She could appreciate the beauty of the urban jungle, skyscrapers, sunlight reflecting off the metal and glass structures lining the streets. Even in her youth, there had always been places to go to hang out with her friends, coffee shops that knew her name and order. Baristas, who called her nicknames, usually based on her hair or fiery personality, willing to joke around with her in that friendly manner than was always so appealing. But now…Now, there was no friendly banter, with Mutant Town under lockdown, there was no place she could go to feel accepted. The destruction of the school had left Cessily in more of a pickle than she’d ever thought to be in. There was no other place for her to go, no family to call. It was only the lucky salvage of an image inducer from the basement of Xavier’s that let her appear in public at all. The anti-mutant sentiments were so high, the tension rising to dangerous levels – and Cessily had spent a full five minutes this morning, wrist chafing beneath the watch-like device, as she stared at herself. One button, and there it was – how she had always thought she would look. Pale, Irish skin, a few freckles here and there; vibrant red hair, long and wavy, and bright green eyes. For the first time since she had mutated, she felt no enjoyment out of this guise, out of hiding what she was. A few months ago, she would have enjoyed the sight, the game of pretend. But since this was the only way she’d be able to make it through the city without getting railroaded, she’d put up with it. Jean shorts and a t-shirt, cheap clothes to replace those that had been lost, and she was walking through the city towards the shop where she was to meet Sean. She hadn’t gotten to make sure he was okay after the attack, and he had been just as busy, it seemed. Finally reaching the café, she spotted him quickly when he stood, a smile playing at her lips. The hug was returned tightly, if briefly, nodding in agreement. “It’s great to see you, too, Sean.” She was relieved to know he was alright, and her voice gave that away, sitting down with a smile. “Ah, a pumpkin spice latte would make my day.” Grinning as he went to order it, she raked a hand through her hair, tugging it away from her face. Glancing at the classifieds as he sat back down, she shook her head at him, amused. “The job market’s that bad, huh?” Her tone was only half teasing, and as her coffee was brought over, she thanked the woman with a smile, wrapping her hands around the cup as if to warm them. “So you’re not going to Utopia, then?” Small-talk had escaped Cessily, with so many important things weighing on her mind. Absently, one of her hands went to the device on her wrist, a finger sliding under the band as if irritated by it, before she forced herself to stop touching it. Instead, she lifted her cup, sipping the hot coffee thoughtfully. |
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| Sean Cassidy | Sep 29 2011, 09:17 PM Post #3 |
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Unregistered
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Something felt different. Even when she'd graduated from student to night security - and it was a long time since he had taught her - it was difficult for Sean to see Cessily as anything other than a peer of his daughter's. But the School's sudden decimation was a game changer, for sure, and something had shifted; there were no divisions now. He saw her, finally, for what she had been all along: a fellow mutant in a world that feared and hated all of them. And the inducer, of course, added an extra dimension: "God, ye remind me o' someone I used to know back home," Sean said, omitting to mention that the young lady in question had been his girlfriend before Maeve. He sipped his coffee, barely holding in a chuckle, pretending not to have noticed how uncomfortable she was with the bracelet on. With a sincere look in his eyes, he said: "I prefer ye without the inducer. Havin' to hide, just to integrate... Jesus, it's wrong. A pretty girl like you, forced to wear a mask and cover up what makes her unique..." He sighed before pursing his lips in one of those 'c'est la vie' half-smiles: "Nothin' to do about it, I guess. Except to move somewhere that ye can be yerself." Truthfully, Sean didn't want to think through the full implications of what that might mean. Not now. The female barista arrived with her pumpkin spice latte, eliciting a nod of thanks from Sean before his eyes returned to Cessily. "Well, yeh," he said, nodding at her comment about the job market, "Remember back when the recession was preoccupied everybody, humans and mutants alike? Heh, no, me neither." The subject matter turned immediately more serious, inspired by the darkness of their present circumstances, but truthfully there never had been much of a barrier between them in terms of subject matter. "Straight to the point as always, Cess," he said, trying one last time (in vain) to keep the subject matter light; but the inevitable conversation had come already. He looked up at her and sighed: "Truthfully, I don't know what to do. Terry tells me she's sticking with Scott and the others, but I... this 'Utopia' he's preaching, I don't quite buy it, and... well, it's not home. It'll never be." He took a mouthful of coffee, as if to replenish whatever energy had just been drained from him by those words. His pale blue eyes rose to meet hers, and found a kindred confusion, the kind of uncertainty that seemed a contagion amongst all the X-Men in the aftermath of the explosion. "I shouldn't talk so frankly with ye," Sean said then, pulling his gaze away out of guilt. "Sometimes I forget ye're not much older than my daughter, and... well, I wouldn't say those things to her. Not in such candid terms, at least." He folded the newspaper, as if it would help to put to bed the talk about his future; he was trying to avoid having to tell her about the offer from SHIELD. "Looks to me as if the cogs are already turnin' in yer head. I hope that wherever ye're thinkin' of goin'... won't be too far." A small frown of concern played on his features, realizing that his own qualms about Utopia were probably shared by many more in the quiet confines of their hearts and minds. He hoped he hadn't ignited hers, or made them any worse. She was a young woman still, and perhaps people like Scott and Ororo were the right people for her to follow; though he somehow wished that he had an alternative to offer her. |
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| Cessily Kincaid | Sep 29 2011, 09:54 PM Post #4 |
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In certain cases, the transition of someone going from teacher to friend was easier than in others. Scott, she was pretty sure she would always see him as a teacher. But there was a friendly quality to Sean that made it easier for her to reconcile her view of him from ‘teacher’ to ‘friend’ – it helped, of course, that she had gotten along with him well when he was her teacher. She’d even gotten used to calling him Sean a lot faster than she thought she would. It hadn’t even occurred to her, when she first walked in, that he may not recognize her with the inducer image laid over her true appearance. It was only after a few moments, finding him looking at her, that she realized it. Instantly, a blush she never would have been able to show on her normal silver skin darkened her falsely pink cheeks. “It’s strange – you know, wearing the inducer never bothered me, up until recently.” She glanced at her wrist with a scowl, the blush still on her face from his compliment, thoughtful. Maybe she was finally getting more comfortable in her own skin, finally learning to be truly proud of what she was – a little less afraid that she might be that monster her parents had insisted she was. A single shoulder lifted and fell in a shrug at his mention of a place to be herself, smile fading. “Not many places like that left, it seems…” A sobering thought, one she didn’t like to think about. Taking another sip of her drink, she let out a snort of amusement at the joke about the job market, and a real grin crossed her face as he called her on her to-the-point manner. A small laugh escaped her, eyes sparkling. “Well, I don’t follow sports, the weather sucks lately, and I doubt you’d care to hear about my shopping escapades over the past few days…So I figured it’d just be easier to skip the gossip section of the conversation.” The light, teasing tone was amused, grinning at him until he spoke again, picking up on the more serious vein. The smile faded, and she let him talk, sipping her coffee. Cess couldn’t deny anything he was saying, because it was the truth, and she agreed with him. Oh, Utopia would be safe, sure…But despite Scott saying they weren’t running, that’s what it felt like. And then Sean looked away, seemingly guilt ridden over sharing his opinion, and Cessily’s eyebrows arched a bit in surprise. She glanced at her hands, staring for a moment at the illusion that was so real, she could see the seemingly-real cuticles on each of her fingers. After a moment, she flashed him a crooked smile. “If it’d make you more comfortable, I can dial up the age on my inducer for you.” The redhead quipped, before leaning back in her chair with a sigh, more serious. “Trust me, Sean, I appreciate the frankness. I’m sick of skirting the issues, and honestly…You’re right. This Utopia base, it’s not home – and I don’t think anyone wants it to be. It’s just…A replacement.” She frowned, hands wrapping around her cup once more. “I mean…I have nowhere else to go.” It was hard to say that, the words nearly sticking in her throat, “But I don’t want to go to some…Jungle retreat, and try and act like this didn’t happen.” |
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| Sean Cassidy | Sep 29 2011, 10:44 PM Post #5 |
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The blush was real, but somehow everything else that he saw wasn't; not quite, at least. This woman was beautiful, sure, but she wasn't the Cessily that Sean knew. All of which only served to exacerbate his feelings on their present situation. But she couldn't simply run away. Surely mutants could still find a way to live normal lives in the City, free from shackles and masks. They just needed to not go alone. Solidarity and strength in numbers... that had to be the answer. He smirked at her apt assessment of all potential topics of small talk, which tore him from his own serious thoughts. He nodded and smiled: "Yeh... I guess there's no point talkin' around it, right? Gotta play the hand ye're dealt." Like it or not, they were stuck with a world that would persecute them 'til kingdom come. Humanity would never give up, Sean knew, now that they had first-hand experience of powerful mutants like Apocalypse and 'Onslaught': the only answer was to protect humankind from mutants... and, conversely, protect mutants from humankind. "I don't think that's necessary," Sean said, smirking slightly at her quip, "You're plenty old for yer years. You've seen more than anybody your age should, Cess... So much has happened, and ye've grown so much, I almost forget that I was teachin' ye History not long ago... but we've all changed, I guess." He stared out the window at the hurried denizens of New York as they lived out their city lives, never stopping to consider that tragedy might befall them with any step, or that their loved ones might not see out the day... Sean, for his part, had lost too many loved ones in his years to ever forget the bitter feeling that it left behind. And Cessily was speaking sense - the move to the Savage Land was a retreat, and not even a tactical one. Humanity had declared war, and instead of staying to protect the world as they had vowed to do, the X-Men were running. Sean sighed and nodded. "I know what you mean. I thought maybe you'd be happy enough with the rest of Scott's bunch, but I think ye're right, ultimately..." he replied, turning his eyes back to her. He was a silent for a long time as he digested her words and considered her options. It wasn't looking good. It effected Sean to see her frown; to hear her words almost sticking in her throat. He wanted to help; and not just as a former teacher might. "Look... God, this is gonna sound weird, maybe. I don't know how else to put it except to say that ye should stay with me. Even just 'til ye find yer feet, or whatever. I've rented this little place down in Park Slope; it's not much but it's clean, and there's a spare room. We're friends, so... I'm not just sayin' this because I feel I'm obliged to." He looked down at his coffee again, fearing the worst, but hoping otherwise. "When ye say ye have nowhere else to go, I know... I know what that implies. I'm askin' ye to reconsider, even for a little bit. A stay o' execution. I respect ye, and I think ye're more than old enough to make yer own choices, and God knows you have to be. I just want want to say this - that havin' nowhere to go doesn't mean havin' nobody to go to." He met her green eyes and imagined her real face as he said: "I can't tell ye what to do. But I don't want ye to disappear, y'know? Everybody's disappearin'." |
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| Cessily Kincaid | Sep 29 2011, 11:31 PM Post #6 |
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Silver skin, a lack of blood, Cessily wasn’t used to her blushes actually being seen. But the inducer reacted to the slight heat rising in her metal cheeks – normally, no color would be seen, despite her giving off the physical motions of embarrassment; with the inducer, it showed exactly what a normal person would look like while blushing. The logical part of her mind understood the reason behind the retreat to Utopia. There were kids, non-combat personnel, those who needed to be protected from anything like that explosion happening again. Protection that simply couldn’t be guaranteed to them while living in the city. A small, resigned smile barely lifted the corner of her mouth when he mentioned playing their hand, growing a bit more real as he mentioned her age. “And yet, I look exactly the same as when I first mutated. How’s that for skill?” She jokingly blew across her nails, polishing them on her blouse in a mockery of pride. Hiding the fact that she was a bit insecure about such a thing. Her appearance, other than a few small things, had barely changed since she’d mutated at age sixteen – thankfully, she’d looked older than she was back then, so she at least looked her true age now. Beneath her smile, she could admit that he was right…She’d been through a lot more than most nineteen year olds. Things she didn’t want to think about. Following his gaze out the window for a moment, she leaned her chin on her hand, elbow resting on the table. “Yeah…Everybody changes.” The redhead’s voice was soft, sad, and she raked her hand through her hair once more, tucking the locks behind her ear. His mention of following Scott got a shrug, gaze turning to stare into her coffee cup for a moment, still frowning. “You’d think I would…I’m pretty limited, in the city now. With Mutant Town cut off, there aren’t a whole lotta places to go – can’t risk a malfunction in this watch.” Her voice was quiet enough that it was almost like she was talking to herself, before her gaze flew up to him as he spoke, thoroughly startled. The offer caused her eyes to widen, staring at him. “What?” It actually took her moment to process what he had said, and finally, she broke into a smile, a genuine one. “That’s sweet, but Warren is actually putting up those of us who stayed behind…But I appreciate the offer. And I’ll keep it in mind, I promise.” Her smile vanished at the mention of what she was implying – he’d probably heard about the offer from Magneto, to let some of them stay in Sanctuary. She hadn’t needed to mention that to him, he seemed to have understood. Shifting awkwardly in her chair, she looked away from him, because that wasn’t what she had been saying. “I, uh…I wasn’t referring to Sanctuary, actually…” In a low tone, she refused to look at him, staring into her coffee cup as if the swirling liquid were telling her about the future. “I…You remember my little ‘vacation’ a while back? I left for around six months…” This hurt, but she needed to tell someone. No one knew the reason for her absence, and she took a deep breath, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “I went home…For the court proceedings.” Her eyes closed, “I was legally emancipated from my parents, so they no longer had to…have any responsibility for me.” She didn’t elaborate, she didn’t tell him that they hadn’t wanted her because she was a mutant. But she left it open for him to ask. |
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| Sean Cassidy | Sep 30 2011, 08:40 PM Post #7 |
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The talk about her being exactly as she was when she first mutated was a little disturbing, in truth. That would make her... well, stuck in time, and younger than his own daughter. Sean made a face when she said it and then laughed. "Ye probably shouldn't stay, then." He smirked then and concluded: "Only jokin'. Door's open." It was then that Sean noticed somebody staring at the two of them from across the empty adjacent table; a kid of maybe eighteen, sitting with three friends. Sean's mind immediately returned to that day he had brought Theresa, Noriko and Rho on a class trip to the Met Museum. Trouble had flared when three bigoted trust funders took exception to the presence of mutants. It had been the start of something that Sean could not possibly have foreseen, even knowing that it was just the tip of the iceberg; he had simply had no idea just how big the iceberg could be. Lowering his voice, he said: "I think we've got trouble." He immediately berated himself for not keeping their conversation in hushed tones; he was comfortable with his friend Cessily, and that made him careless with his words. They had probably overheard their conversation. The boy sauntered over and cleared his throat above them. Sean turned his gaze upwards and cocked a brow, feigning confidence: "Can we help ye?" The kid looked sort of nervous, which made him frown. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. "Yeah, um... look, this is kind of a stupid thing, but one of my douchebags friends dared me to do this, so... uh... my name's Aaron, and here's my number," he said, and slipped a piece of paper in front of Cessily. Sean was dumbfounded; it got all the more awkward when the kid said: "You don't have to call me or nothin'... s'just... I sorta got all cocky and said I'd come over and say hi and then they dared me to do this so I couldn't back out... I'm sorry to disrespect your daughter, sir." And with that, he walked away. Sean was speechless; too surprised to say anything in retort, or to Cessily. For a prolonged moment, he just stared into space. "Okay, did that just happen? Christ, lass, now I feel old." He finally laughed, and took a glance over at the boys' table, where much high-fiving and vindication was occurring. At least young Aaron had gained something from it. Sean smiled across at Cessily and nodded, replying quietly: "I didn't actually know about Warren's offer. He is quite the rich playboy. I do forget just how many resources the X-Men have." He sounded almost disappointed, as if he was worried for Cessily's safety if she wasn't around somebody who was specifically looking out for her. He couldn't quite explain it. "Well, the offer stands," he said, "Though I'm sure whatever Warren is offering is more attractive. The deluxe version of my spare room, probably. But do keep it in mind. It's there should you need it." Cessily divulged the reason for her surprise 'vacation', and truth be told, Sean wasn't overly surprised. Something had changed in the girl after she had returned; and he didn't need to ask why her parents no longer wanted the responsibility of family ties. He sighed long and hard and then leaned across the table. "Look. There are some really fucked up and cruel people in this world. Unfortunately sometimes they turn out to be our kin, or people we care about. Ye know my past. Ye know that I know what I'm talkin' about." He cleared his throat and lowered his voice when he said: "What makes you different is what makes you Cessily Kincaid. Without it, ye'd be someone else entirely, and ye should be proud of the person you are. Anybody who isn't... they can go to hell. Ye don't need 'em. And they certainly wouldn't have been much help to you now, anyway." He leaned back and took another mouthful of his coffee, almost finished. It was a little cooler than he would have liked. "Despite the violence I've seen against our kind," he began, quietly still, "I've never had cause to question whether I'm a person, or some kind of monster. I know in one sense I don't have to worry about that, because my mutation isn't outwardly noticeable... but it's still a part of me; I wouldn't be me without it. For one thing, the name Banshee would seem even sillier than it does." |
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| Cessily Kincaid | Sep 30 2011, 09:14 PM Post #8 |
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For the most part, people had never really noticed that Cessily happened to look the same age she always did. She liked it that way. She’d always looked older than her age, and there were of course minute changes to her – a year or two back, she’d caused her hair to get longer. While Cessily knew she could probably make herself age more, she’d never truly bothered to. Her human shape was an automatic one, the only form other than ‘puddle’ that she didn’t have to consciously manipulate. Sure, her facial expressions changed, but she neither gained weight, nor got taller, and she certainly would never get wrinkles. Every woman’s dream. Laughing at the face Sean made, she rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah yeah; hey, I was a very mature looking sixteen year old, so at least for now I look my real age.” Grinning at him, she didn’t really register being watched, lifting her cup to take another sip. A single eyebrow arched at the mention of trouble, and she followed his gaze, her expression a bit guarded when she noticed the teenagers. The redhead’s smile faded, stiffening a bit as the one boy came over, the hand with the inducer sliding into her lap, as if afraid the watch would suddenly fail. It barely occurred to her that these kids shouldn’t be able to tell she was a mutant, and she stared at the boy, suddenly confused by his awkward tones. Then a piece of paper was slipped in front of her, and her gaze glanced at the numbers in disbelief, finally looking back up at the boy, shocked. Registering what he was saying, the redhead’s eyes widened, and the inducer did its job too well – she turned red, all the way to the tips of her ears. The girl barely managed to stutter out a “Uhm…Hi?” when he made the assumption that Sean was her father – she lifted a hand, tucking her hair behind one ear in embarrassment. Before he walked away, she managed to speak through her utter mortification. “Uh, my name’s Cessily.” She even managed a smile, before looking back at Sean. Even more shocked than he was, she lifted the piece of paper, staring at it for a moment as if it were about to bite her finger off. And then Sean spoke, and he laughed, and she tugged her hair over one side of her face to hide behind, awkwardly moving to tuck the paper into her purse. Withdrawing her hand as if it were on fire, she turned to Sean with an embarrassed look. “God, I haven’t had a guy do something like that…Since before I mutated. How embarrassing,” Hiding behind her hands for a moment, because the stupid inducer was still showing her extremely noticeable pink blush, she shook her head at him. “Yeah, I’m there for now…I may take you up on that, though. It’s a bit…Lonely; a lot of the stragglers left yesterday for Utopia.” Sure, some of them had stayed behind, but still, it was quiet. Glancing at him, finally removing her hands from their shielding position, a single corner of her mouth lifted in a sad smile as he spoke. She frowned at the mention of the word monster, looking down at the table momentarily. “You know…It took me a year, after coming to the school, for me to stop viewing my mutation as a curse.” False green eyes stared down at her falsely pale hands, resting on the table. “Even now, sometimes, I question myself. Am I a monster? If my own parents can’t love me, maybe there really is something wrong with me.” Her voice was practically silent, but there were no tears – she was cried out. |
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7:34 PM Jul 11