Room 509, Sunday night

[trigons_child]

Raven was still reeling from learning about Rook and how she had been born and her life with her Raven and Karla and Warren and then finding Elizabeth with "Uncle Max," trying to learn how to fight. Parenthood was already giving her anxiety attacks and headaches.

She also wanted to know more about Elizabeth's parents -- BLUE WTF? -- and she suspected Jono would, too, so she left a message for him to come up to her room when he was free.

"Elizabeth," she scolded gently. "The people here on the island are not the same as the ones you know. You may trust your Aunts Karla and Sookie -- and Warren and Bobby -- but not everyone is the same."

Elizabeth just sighed. "Yes, Mommy," she said.


[For the non-blue boyfriend!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono, who was absolutely not blue thank you very much, made his way up to Raven's room pretty much the moment that he got her message.

... He didn't check his voicemail often. Why should he? It wasn't like people tended to phone him.

//Knock knock?//

Considering he had daughters running about the island this weekend, perhaps he'd have to start checking it more often.

[trigons_child]

Elizabeth was distracting herself by digging into Raven's makeup collection (which was mostly black eyeliner, hush), so Raven got up to open up the door.

"Hello, Jono," she said, smiling but anxious. "I was hoping to ask Elizabeth a few questions about her world and I thought you might wish to be here as well."

At least she seemed a happy and healthy child and not terrified (of anyone), so the odds of her other self wearing someone's wings was small.

[furnaceface]

Wings were not for wearing, Raven. God.

//I... have to admit to being curious,// Jono admitted, glancing toward the girl for a moment before looking back to Raven. //She's... said a few odd things, here and there.//

Blue. Really. Blue. She was starting to sound like Deadpool.

[trigons_child]

"I must tell you about Rook as well," Raven murmured, not wanting Elizabeth to hear that part. "But later."

She didn't need to upset Elizabeth with tales of interrupting weddings and knocking up the bride with a kiss.

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

Don't ask why Raven had blue lipstick. It had been bought by mistake and she'd never bothered to throw it out. But Elizabeth had been happy to discover it because she could use it to make herself like Daddy.

She swiped the lipstick messily on her lips, then up her cheeks as well. Setting the tube back down, she turned around with a smile on her face. "Hi, Daddy!" she said. "Now I look like you!"

[furnaceface]

//Lat-Oh my God.//

Please, Elizabeth, don't take it too personally that Jono is staring at you now, somewhat in a state of horror. He's just completely having a BSoD moment, here.

//That's what I look like!?//

He was already trying to find something to wipe that crap off with. Possibly with Elizabeth tucked firmly under one armpit.

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth looked up at Jono and wibbled. She was an empath like her mother so she could feel that something wasn't right. "What's wrong, Daddy?" she said, lower lip trembling like she was about to burst into tears.

Look what you did, Jono.

[trigons_child]

Raven was already diving in with a makeup wipe. "Elizabeth, you are much too young for makeup," she said gently, trying not to upset her further as she swiped the cloth across her cheeks. "And that is not how you wear lipstick."

She glanced over to Jono and gave him a helpless shrug. She had no idea what any of this meant, but at least Elizabeth wasn't at all upset about her father's appearance?

[furnaceface]

His daughter was doing some sort of freaky Apocalypse Jr. impression, because apparently that was what he looked like in whatever future that she came from, and no. No no no...

He closed his eyes, tried to run a few of those Askani meditation phrases through his head that Cable had been using when he'd gone asking for help with his powers. Deep breaths would have been ideal, here, but... well...

//I'll explain later,// he said, in an aside to Raven. And then, opening up again, trying to push forward something resembling a state of calm to Elizabeth, he added, //What yer mother said, Sunshine. Lipstick is for lips only, right?//

[trigons_child]

Raven sent a warm wave of comfort toward Jono. She could tell that what Elizabeth had done wasn't mere playing with makeup; it had meant something to him.

She finished cleaning off Elizabeth's face and gave her a hug to soothe any lingering fear that she'd done something wrong. "It is all right, Elizabeth," she said. "We are not upset with you, I promise."

She smoothed Elizabeth's hair from her forehead and asked, "But...how long has your father looked like that?"

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth shrugged. "Forever and ever," she said. "'Cept when he was fire before. I don't 'member that though because I was too little."

[furnaceface]

Jono was... not really looking for feeling very green, but if he was capable of throwing up, odds were high that he would be on the nauseous side right then.

//It's... probably not a look that you want to go... wearing about, around here, luv.//

Because, you know, Apocalypse was not the most popular mutant that had ever lived, and there were more than a couple of people around here who probably wouldn't be so thrilled at the implications that might arise from appearing to want to emulate him.

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"Is that why that stupid boy in the coffee shop wanted to fight with me?" Elizabeth pouted. She squirmed out of Raven's arms and over to her father.

"He said I wasn't his clan and I said the Akkabababa clan was better and he started calling me names," she said. "But they have to be better because they helped you after M-Day when Mommy wasn't there to heal you."

[trigons_child]

That meant a whole lot of nothing to Raven (except not being there to heal Jono if he had gotten hurt, which wasn't going to help her at all in the clinginess department, so help her Azar), so she just looked at Jono to see if he understood any of that.

[furnaceface]

Jono was going do to that wide-eyed staring thing for a few more moments, now.

//... It would be... a good idea to not talk about Akkaba around other people, luv. They're not... All that liked, really.//

She was saying a good many things that even he didn't grasp. M-Day? But Akkaba and Apocalypse were names that he'd grown up hearing, and really rather preferred not to hear again, if he could help it.

//We're theirs by blood, but that's all. And blood never was worth all that much.//

Welcome to a wonderful world of discovery, Raven!

[trigons_child]

That got an eyebrow from Raven. And she thought her family was bad?

"What happened on M-Day, Elizabeth?" she asked.

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"Ummm, lots of people lost their powers," Elizabeth said, scrunching up her face in thought. Most of her knowledge came from overhearing the adults talking.

"Including Daddy," she said. "But Mommy and me were in Glacia visiting visiting Auntie Karla and Uncle Warren and Kayla but she was a baby like me. So we didn't know Daddy was hurt until we got back but somebody told Mommy that someone took Daddy away from the hospital and Mommy got really upset but we found you and you said Akkabadabra had healed you. But you were kinda mad about it I think. 'Cause Mommy would have healed you better."

Yes. That was totally the reason, really.

[furnaceface]

//Mmm... yes, I suppose that... would be a reason to be upset,// Jono replied, slowly.

Lost their powers? And what business did Akkaba have with him? His family hadn't had anything to do with them and their mad god since his great-granddad...

Well. With the possible exception of hideous tattoos, anyhow.

He'd fallen silent, again. Really, without his powers, it was a wonder that he'd survived long enough for Akkaba to get their hands on him at all.

[trigons_child]

Raven had quite a few questions she suspected would have to wait until Elizabeth was asleep or otherwise occupied. The sick feeling she'd had in her stomach while finding out about Rook had returned. She knew if Jono's powers were suddenly neutralized, he'd die. She'd be able to heal him if she was there, but she hadn't, and these other people had, but at some sort of cost. Blue?

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"The stupid boy called me spawn of Ensabbanur," Elizabeth sulked. "What's that mean? He's soooo lucky his daddy stopped me from beating him up."

[furnaceface]

Jonothon closed his eyes, pressed the heels of his hands against them for a moment while he worked on figuring out words.

Words were tough, here.

//It means we're descended from somebody who did a lot of bad things, Sunshine. And people might not like us much because of that.//

Understatement of the year.

//That's why we don't talk about it. Not about Akkaba, and not about Apocalypse. Okay, luv?//

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"Are you mad at me, Daddy?" Elizabeth said. There went the lower lip again. "I didn't know they were bad."

If she had, she wouldn't have thrown the name in Brooker's face.

Actually, she probably still would have because he was annoying.

[furnaceface]

//I can't be angry if you didn't know,// Jono replied, shrugging a tiny bit. //You know now, Sunshine. I trust you won't go throwing those names about.//

For her sake, and for the sake of whatever freak-lipped parent he apparently turned into someday, in some timeline somewhere.

//Just about bedtime now, don't you think?//

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth almost protested, but she actually was tired. It had been a busy day.

She held up her arms to him. "Can I have a hug first?" she asked.

[furnaceface]

Oh, small child. There was no way at all that Jono could even consider making an excuse to wriggle out of that, was there?

That didn't keep him from fidgeting for a moment before nodding a little, squaring his shoulders as he crouched down to pull her into a hug. The worry and the fear that he was feeling was being pushed very far down there, with a bit of a psionic firewall being build up around it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he didn't accidentally light their daughter on fire.