Out with the old....

[sundead]

Who: Everyone
What: New Year's.
When: Dec. 31st, New Year's Eve, to Jan 1st, New Year's Day.
Where: Everywhere
Summary: It's New Year's, and the people of Luceti have a lot to reflect upon, and to look forward to. And on a more meta level, new journal names.
Rating: We'll see...

New Year's brings images of crowds, and songs, and fireworks; staying up til midnight and watching balls or bells being rung. But Luceti is a different time and place. Whether you're partying with friends or watching the sunrise, what are you doing today?

Comments

[touchofrogue]

It's not... it's not simple. [Gawd, what does she even say to all that?]

I don't know what ta say, Kurt. It might have been her own doin' that got her frozen into stone, but I was the one that [pushed her off a cliff] ...made sure she'd never come back. I know I hurt you and... I wish I could have done what was right.

[If only she knew what was right. Leaving Mystique alive to hurt them both? Was that right? No. But saving her... like Gambit saved his dad... saving her would have been right, for sure. She swallows hard, daring to share a little bit more.]

Do you know why Mystique adopted me?

[It's at least in part a rhetorical question - she knows she's never talked about this with him - with anyone, really - before.

Let's just say it was my powers she wanted to nurture didn't even begin to cover it.]

[bamfing]

[His other self knew all of Mystique's plans for Rogue. Though those memories are hazy already. But when it comes down to it, he doesn't need another life to tell him what is obvious. Why would his mother adopt some random mutant...]

She needed your powers.

[And not just any powers. Rogue's powers.]

If she wanted just any mutant... well, I wouldn't be Kurt Wagner.

[touchofrogue]

[Well, him guessing that means that she doesn't need to bare her heart over Destiny or any of that...

The best thing she ever did for you was let you go.]

No. You'd be Michael Darkholme. [And we both remember what a charmer he was, right? Don't be sad about this, Kurt.

But because she doesn't want him thinking about that too much either...]

And you're right. That was all it was, from the beginnin'.

[bamfing]

I used to think that if I had been with her, things would've been different. Maybe I could have helped her. Help her let go of her hate. [He sighs and shakes his head.]

But... thanks to this place, I guess I know now what would have happened instead.

[touchofrogue]

[Mrrr... that's not fair either. It's off topic, and not really where she wanted the conversation to go, but... even though it would be easier to let him believe that.]

Ya don't know that's what would have happened. Every possibility we see is just one of thousands. But... [She looks down.] I do think that's a pretty good bet.

[bamfing]

[It's not territory he wants to go either. But. The name got mentioned.]

Probably. [Okay. Time to. Get back to where they were supposed to be.]

Anyway. I still haven't said what changed. It's not just wanting a sister anymore. I have one now. You've been here for me this entire time. Whether we're fighting, or having fun, or annoying you, or having my brain messed with, you're there. That's what my parents did- my real parents. It didn't matter what happened, I could always count on them.

[A glance to her, with a small smile.]

And I think I can always count on you too.

[touchofrogue]

[Except for when you really needed me, right, Kurt? She knows, she knows what she lost over that.

It's a pretty lie, but when it comes down to it... lies aren't what she wants.]

Do you really? Think that, I mean?

[bamfing]

Of course I do. I wouldn't say it otherwise. You're important to me, Rogue.

[And just to make that clear, he sets a hand on her shoulder. And doesn't get zapped, because he has gloves on.]

[touchofrogue]

[And she has a coat on, considering it's freezing, so yeah, Kurt's technically safe enough. It doesn't stop her from tensing up, though. Sometimes she wonders if anyone will ever realize that it takes just as much trust - if not more - for her to let someone touch her, as it does for someone to touch her.

She glances at him over the corner of her eye and takes a deep breath.]

The first time ya called me that, I'd just found out who Risty was... who my mom was. An' it was... a lot. I didn't want ta be related to her. Everything that she'd done to the X-Men, everything that she'd done ta me...

[She'd lied. From the beginning, she'd lied. If Mystique had come to her as her Mama and asked her to fight side-by-side in the Brotherhood, if she'd just been upfront about it... then Rogue didn't know where she'd be. But instead, Mystique had made it seem like the X-Men were trying to kill her, had made it seem like the Brotherhood was her only option, all the while lying to her about who she really was.

And of course Risty had seemed like the perfect best friend. Mystique knew her daughter. And Risty... she'd just been trying to get close enough to destroy them all. And she was the perfect sap, too out-of-sync with the general happiness and goodness of the Mansion to abide by all the rules, too attached to the X-Men to be anything other than trusted...]

I didn't want anything else ta do with her. But now I think... even if it means owning her an' all that I did... no, I know. It'd be worth it ta call you brother.

[bamfing]

[He knows that any contact with Rogue is not something to take lightly. His time with the holo watch had given him some semblance of knowing what it meant to keep your distance, but only because he had a secret to hide, not because of the danger involved in it.

But more than that, this is the first time she's actually said it. Brother. Sure, maybe he believed that she thought of him that way already, but for her to say it...

That's big. She wouldn't just say that to appease him. She was no longer someone he could claim as a sister. They were siblings. Maybe not by blood. And maybe it wasn't the best connection. But that didn't matter.]

... thanks, Rogue. I know how much that means. [He gives her shoulder a slight squeeze.] Happy new year, sister.

THERE IS NO NON-CHEESEY WAY TO END THIS. I HAVE TRIED AND FAILED

[touchofrogue]

[She smiles, soft and real and warm, and fragile as glass.]

An' happy New Year ta you, bro.