(closed) i need another hour of sleep

[sophielicious]

WHO: sophie, quentin, magik, scott, clive, kell-el
WHEN: ... august. for sure.
WHERE: corrine's cafe
WHAT: sophie is trying to connect some of her friends for mutual benefit.
NOTES\WARNINGS: if something comes up, it will be noted in the subject line.

(Look. Last mission? Complete disaster. Some got possessed, some got fucked up, some got kidnapped and experimented, some were left to their own devices, some were late arrivals. Reasons for this meeting include: extra layer of protection, as for some here are inexperienced, squishy, or both, and to keep a good eye on Sophie's dear OP friends, just in case some crazy shit happens again. Either way, everyone wins, right? Mission information through different networks, access to different powers on both sides, everyone wins.

And hopefully some of us fucking chill. Cough, Quentin, cough.

Corrine's Cafe is chill enough, although the fact she can't quite place the songs that are playing doesn't make her particularly happy, her eyebrows furrowing as she taps her finger on the table trying to figure out what damn Spice Girls-ish song is playing right now. Not like she knows all of them by heart or anything and this is not bothering her at all, her eyebrows are nearly pinched together because that's her neutral expression, absolutely.

At least she's distracted while they wait. Tap, tap, tap.)

Comments

[laserguy]

[All these supporting words... definitely stuff his parents haven't said to him, at least not lately. It almost makes him defensive. He wants to just brush off Clive's encouragement, maybe snark at him that he's just saying these things to make him feel better. However, that's not it, is it? Hard to put that sort of false totem on the older man when he's sitting there with that small smile.

God, stop being so earnest with him when he just wants to be a moody ass teenager!! UGH.]

Great, I'll let you know if I ever figure that out. [Small grunt, but there's something a little more explorative in his voice-- wanting to hear more from Clive himself.] What's your big goal in life anyway?

[herofhopeless]

[Clive let’s Scott take his moment. He had never heard these kinds of things when he was Scott’s age. What would life have been like had he had the support of someone when he was a young man? If he can provide even a fraction of that support, he will.]

I look forward to it. [Though he does hope that Scott’s life isn’t spent here. He deserves so much more than Etraya.

He should have expected Scott’s question, really. It’s only fair. He leans back a bit and wraps his hands around his cup. He looks down into the cooling liquid.]

I want to create a world where people can live and die on their own terms. [He looks up, eyes firm and alight with conviction.] Everyone deserves the chance to be free, to live their own lives and not have it decided for them by other people.

[laserguy]

[He barely bites back the response that he shouldn't count on it, if only because he knows that would get Clive to frown at him and he's avoiding that!!

Scott wasn't quite sure what sort of response he'd be getting from Clive. Well, something serious at the very least, a responsible sort of goal that befits the older man. Nothing mundane either, because he seems like the type that is going to change the world, sort of like his brother. Watching, listening to him... he thinks that all of his thoughts are correct, enough that he almost wants to snort, but the quiet contemplativeness to his position stops him.]

So, your world is filled with tyrants and stuff? People constantly dominating others?

[That thing is pretty common still, huh? Especially if Clive is from the old times-- something that almost feels medieval, complete with dragons and giant swordsmen.]

You're going to topple all of them?

[herofhopeless]

[Clive nods.]

Where I’m from, there are those who are born with magic and those who are not. Those without outnumber those who are. After a war between those with and those without, the major ruling countries at the time signed a pact to mark every person who was born with magic with a poisonous brand to set them apart.

[Clive’s grip tightens on his cup.]

Babes are taken from their parents, worse yet many parents willingly give up their children when they are found to have magic. Bearers are what they are called and they are treated as less than beasts of burden, used until they break and then discarded.

[Clive looks away from Scott to gaze out of one of the large bay windows on the other side of the cafe.]

I intend to topple them all and end magic so no one ever has to experience this again.

[laserguy]

[...Okay what the fuck??

He expected something pretty bad, but not like actual slavery and branding people just because they have magic. And even babies taken away? Though he knows the circumstances are entirely different, he can't help but wonder if something like that would ever happen in his world-- or many some other reality with just mutants and humans, with humans branding mutants in a similar way. Best not to think too hard about it, though it lingers slightly in his mind, a disquieting thought that maybe won't fully go away now.

There's growing concern? Anger? Probably both. He doesn't try to even hide it. Quite a conversation to have in the middle of the cafe though as they wait for Sophie's meeting to begin. Honestly, Scott has kind of forgotten about that, fully engaged with what Clive is telling him.]

Wait, why should you have to take away people's magic? People shouldn't have to lose their abilities just because society sucks.

[herofhopeless]

[Clive can practically feel Scott's demeanour change. Good. Anyone who didn't find outrage in the enslavement of people was not the kind that he wanted to associate himself with, frankly.]

Where I'm from, magic is a curse. Every time someone uses their powers, it takes that power from their aether. When their body starts running out of aether to give, it slowly turns to stone. It is a slow and painful death where, in the end, even your organs petrify.

[Clive looks back at Scott.]

Magic comes with a heavy cost. If it's not the weilder, it's the land. My world is dying, and not in the way that Echo speaks of. Access to magic needs to end before my home does, or there will be nothing left for Echo to save.

[It's a bit of an oversimplification, but he doesn't have the energy or the wherewithal to explain all of it. Maybe another time.]

[laserguy]

[...So actually having magic is a bad thing? Scott frowns a little into the chocolate croissant he's been munching on, not quite sure how to feel about that particular revelation. He thought it was like having a mutation, something different but still a part of them, but if magic always kills its user, it's hard to feel like it's something actually good. It's a curse, as Clive mentioned.

Being a mutant isn't a curse, right? It's... different. His powers don't kill him, even if they've been a struggle to handle. Not to mention that he kind of likes being a mutant, he's at least found somewhere to finally belong in his life with the others. It's funny isn't it? That it's when he became a freak is when he started to feel like he belonged somewhere.]

So not only are people mistreated by everyone, the very thing that's caused that to happen is killing them. [....] And the world. But. That still doesn't make it okay for them to be enslaved and shit, you're going to kick their asses too, right?