"Man, yo, there a lot of boxes in this house," Todd said, shoving another one aside. He frowned, looking up at Callisto, who had been helping him get the office clear. "You think it'd be okay if I got a glass of water?"
"Probably. Want me to come with you?"Callisto glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she hauled another three boxes -all stacked on top of one another-towards a growing pile of what was pretty much just unused office equipment. "Water quality's probably pretty nice here. Good well water. Filters in the pipes. That kind of thing."
"Yo, you think so?" he asked, cocking his head thoughtfully. "Yeah, I could kinda use a break..."
"Yeah. It's a nice house. Newer end of things too," she murmured. "if you want a break, let's take one." She dropped the boxes, and slapped his shoulder. "Come on, Toad. Break time."
He grinned and gave her a thumbs up as he was slapped.
"Break time yo!" He hopped out of the room and back down the stairs toward the kitchen. "Man this house like some steven king shit. Think it's haunted?"
"Maybe. Ask Morgan if there's any corpses sealed in the walls" Callisto mused, heading downstairs with him. "Maybe it's more Poe than King."
"Oh good point yo. Better watch out for like, swinging blades and pits." Todd poked his head into the kitchen nervously. The room was empty, and quite clean. The only thing out of place were the two coffee cups on the drying rack and not much else. A tidy, comfortable little kitchen with some coffee still heating in the pot.
Callisto walked in.
"..I bet it's all real well stocked." She paused. "the kitchen. Not the torture room. Though maybe that too, if she's got one."
"I mean, gotta keep it stocked if you're gonna have one right," Todd mumbled, lingering in the doorway of the kitchen, hesitant. He hated the way his heart seized up on the threshold. "Damn, its clean in here."
"Yeah. First time I've seen a clean kitchen in a while. Or any kitchen," she admitted, peeking in the fridge. "Want something to eat, Todd?"
Todd leaned inward to look, still not quite entering. "Yo, we probably shouldn't poach without permission..."
"You don't think so?" Callisto asked, looking over her shoulder She ran her hand through her hair "...hm.."
"I donno, I mean Morgan's cool. I don't want her to lose her shit cause we ate her fries or something," he mumbled, looking at the floor.
"I don't think she'd get upset ...she invited us into her home, after all. She's been welcoming. But if it makes you feel better we can ask." She tilted her head. "Or I can break out an MRE."
Todd shifted back and forth on his feet.
"Yo you really love those MREs, huh?" he chuckled nervously. "Nah I mean, she did invite us... it's probably fine... I can like, get her back if it ain't, right?"
"Of course you can." Callisto agreed. "I get being nervous about it though."
She opened the freezer, looking through it, talking as she did.
"...MREs are an acquired taste. They're portable, easy to heat and eat. And after a while you find the good ones and start to enjoy them. I used to eat them all the time when I was with the morlocks... military surplus stores sell them for fairly cheap."
"That's pretty cool, yo," he bobbed his head, and finally entered the kitchen with a breath, coming up behind Callisto and ducking under her to look through the fridge. "I mostly eat like... canned food."
The fridge was pretty well stocked but certainly hadn't been 'filled' yet. But there were a number of things inside. Eggs (a lot of them), some bacon and ham, ground beef, vegetables. Milk, Juice staples really, without anything too fancy or exotic..
Callisto pulled out a pack of pizza pockets from the freezer and looked them over.
"Canned food, huh?" She asked.
"Yeah. You know yo, spaghettios, beefaroni, those little mac n' cheese tubs. That kinda shit. Looks like Morg and her bro like actually cook shit," Todd gazed at the fridge contents with some reverence.
Callisto smiled thinly at him with a nod.
"Things you don't need to heat up. Straight from the can sort of meals. I get it." She opened pantry. "They have more here. Pasta and everything. Guess Morgan must know how to cook. Neat."
"Damn, yo. Guess she can cook any time she wants without somebody breathin' down her neck," he murmured, thinking darkly of his foster mother. Former foster mother, he reminded himself. "Want me to throw these pockets in the microwave?"
Callisto held them out to him, giving a curious, but significant look of empathy.
"Please." She leaned on the counter after handing them off. "Yeah..and she's got proper electricity instead of just a fire, or self heating packets."
"Yeah," Todd nodded, and he gave her a shy smile, taking the hotpockets and sticking them in the microwave. "Sucks when you don't got electric. I been there every now and again.".
She leaned on the counter as she watched the microwave start up.
"There's not a lot in the way of 'power' down in the sewers. Most of the light comes from the same fires they use to cook... and if there's no fire, it's cold dumpster food eaten by the light filtering in from the grates above." She shrugged her shoulders '...I'm used to it. It's why I like MREs."
He shrugged too. "Yo, thought about goin' down there myself once or twice. When Martha was on a fuckin tear. But I knew I was lucky to have a roof over my head... barely, you know?"
She reached over and grabbed his shoulder. Todd was surprised by the sudden gesture, but he didn't flinch, too much at least.
"Sorry you had to deal with it too, Toad ...sometimes a difficult roof is better than none...but you would have been welcome with the Morlocks...they're..." She looked down at the microwave as it turned with her single eye "they're good people."
Todd gave her a thumbs up, and broke contact as he quickly turned the microwave off the second before it was about to beep.
"Heard good things. But yo. Here we are. In a clean kitchen. Eatin hot pockets. Ow!" he burned his hand as he tried to grab the thing. "Uuuh, got a plate?"
Callisto's hand shot out and grabbed his.
"Careful." She turned it over and looked his fingertips over with a pensive frown. "We should run that under cold water. It's sanitary here, so we can probably avoid blistering….there's plates up there. Run your hand in the water, I'll plate us the pockets."
"Uuuuh, yes ma'am," he nodded, grimacing embaressedly. "Sure it'd be fine though..." he headed over to the sink and ran his hand under water.
"Best to be careful. In the streets, even a wound like that could get infected and turn into something deadly." She plated the hot pockets carefully, and placed them on the table. "Water or soda?"
"I could go for a soda," he said. "Kinda funny, but I don't usually get like, infections when I get scraped up."
Callisto set out two sodas on the table, and shut the fridge.
"Maybe it's part of your mutation. That's useful." She chuckled softly, brushing her finger over the long scratch over her face "I usually just avoid getting hurt. Usually."
"I mean that's the best way to go if ya can manage it yo," he grinned and came over to the table.
"Your feast awaits, Toad." She gestured to it with a sweeping motion before she took a seat, and cracked open her lemon/lime soda. "I have to agree, though."
Todd sat crosselgged in the kitchen chair and saluted her with his soda as he cracked it.
"bout which, yo?"
"Avoiding being hurt is the best defense against infection." She said with a half smile. She paused a moment before she said "I'm glad you have a place to go now, Todd."
"Hey you too, right?" he smiled, digging into the hot pocket. "No idea how long Morg'll put up with us stayin here but it;;ll be cool while it lasts."
"yeah." Callisto smiled, brushing her hair away from her eyepatch. "It'll be nice to have a roof for a bit. ..Hopefully it'll be as long as the brotherhood stays together. We could use a base of operations."
"Yeah," he nodded. "Yo... think it'll last? You know, as a group?"
"It could." Callisto said, closing her eye. "...on one hand, we could find we don't work well together as a combat unit and we could dissolve. On another, we could die. But...if neither of those happen, yes. I think it could last. Probably for a while….maybe until our goals are realized."
"That'd be a hell of a thing, huh?" he said, a smile spreading over his face.. "we did work pretty good together the other day."
"Didn't we?" Callisto took a bite of her hot pocket. Unfortunately, most of the filling came out the other side and fell to her plate. She sighed. "Even if things went a little too far, we still executed the plan pretty well."
"And when things got a little crazy we handled it alright, yo. Uh you want a fork for that?" He chuckles as the filling fell on her plate.
"Yeah, a fork might be nice. I forgot how easy these things fell apart"
"They stay together better if ya hold em like a cup," he laughed, hopping up and rummaging through the drawers to find the silverware drawer. "Not that one... not that one..."
She watched him, and nodded. "You're right, though...we kept our cool and escaped the police with little trouble. I'd call that a successful operation."
He looked over his shoulder. "Think we'll have to tangle with the cops again?"
It took a few tries, but he eventually found a drawer filled with fairly high quality silverware.
"Probably." Callisto said "the authorities don't like it when we assert ourselves."
"Shit they got all the good stuff," he murmured, looking at the fork in the light for a minute. He hopped back over to Callisto and presented it to her. "Guess we gonna be outlaws, yo."
Callisto took the fork and turned it over in her hands with a soft 'huh'.
"Being an outlaw isn't so bad," she said quietly "it can help you survive when you've got nothing else."
"Nah, yo," he grinned, sitting back down. "I was just thinkin outlaws are cool as hell, right?"
"Aren't they?" Callisto sipped her soda before meeting his eye "Freedom fighters...revolutionaries and all those sorts are all considered outlaws, as much as the cowboys in film are."
"Right?" he grinned wider. "Like, you think about it, Luke Skywalker is totally a terrorist yo."
Callisto nodded sagely.
"that's right. A terrorist with a sword fighting a corrupt system. A classic set up. Plenty of fairy tale and fantasy protagonists do the same." She leaned on the table Iif you look at it a certain way, we're almost heroes."
"I mean, I'd say we are, right, yo? Heroes fightin for mutant kind? even if we ain't got cool laser swords... yet."
"I can work on that….though it may take some time." She smiled thinly "I think we are, though...yes. Heroes of Mutantkind. Even if some may not see us that way."
"Yeah I ain't expectin' universal acclaim," he shrugged. "Everybody know's Superman's boring."
"But everyone loves a hero with flaws. One who has to fight the system as well as the bad guys. A relatable hero."
Yo, right? So like, we'll be a hero to the people who get it."
"Mutants like us. The Morlocks too. People who need us the most." She smiled slightly, poking at the remains of her hot pocket with her fork. "...it'll feel nice to be seen that way for once."
"Yeah, kinda new for both of us, yo."
Callisto nodded, and raised her soda to him
"It is...but I think we'll take to it pretty well."
"We'll show everybody not to underestimate us."
"Damn right." Callisto nodded, right before there was a soft knock on the doorframe.
"Hey guys." Morgan said as she slid into the kitchen "I see you found the food! There's more in the pantry if you're ever hungry, and Mom's got a chest freezer there too for like, meat and stuff."
Todd jolted, and quickly sputtered "Yo, sorry about grabbin it without askin first, Morg."
Morgan grinned, baring her fangs in a jovial smile as she came over and lightly slapped him on the back before taking an empty seat at the table.
"Hey, we're a brotherhood now right? Don't worry about it. My kitchen's your kitchen. If I really didn't want anyone eating something special of mine, I'd like..." She shrugged her shoulders "write my name on it."
Callisto gave her a thumbs up. "got it. Names for special items."
Todd's worried expression slowly changed to a grin, and he felt his heart rate go down. "For serious? Aw man, cool yo. Got it! won't touch nothin with ya name on it!"
"Same goes for you guys." She said , winking at Todd, who flushed as she did. "you get something you want special, put your name on it too alright? "and yeah..for serious. Also, if you guys want something for dinner, let me know. I'm a decent cook so...I'll do what I can."
"MRE Pizza, maybe." Callisto said "Magneto interrupted my meal earlier."
"I...can't make that." Morgan replied, blinking at her, mystified by the response..
"I mean, you don't gotta cook for us or nothin'," Todd shrugged. "I'm sure we can manage... unless like ya LIKE cookin' yo. Wouldn't stop ya."
Morgan flashed a bright smile, crossing her arms over her narrow chest.
"Man. I practically grew up cooking...for my brother and myself, mostly. When it's not an expected 'obligation' hanging over my head, it's fun. I'd be happy to cook for you guys. Just like, not every night."
"Well shit, yo, that'd be cool, right?" he beamed over at Callisto. "I can't cook for shit but we could like i dunndo do dishes or somethin."
Callisto nodded. "It sounds cool to me. I can learn to help. Or do the dishes, either way. Most cooking I do is over a fire."
Morgan clapped her hands together "Awesome, though. That'd be a big help, you know? If we're all going to live together, we might as well have fun with it, right? We've got the supplies."
"Yo, you right, Morg, this whole thing could be a blast."
"It will be a blast" Morgan said confidently "trust me, it'll be great!"
She laughed, quieter than before, fingertips curling inwards atop the table as she clenched her hands in loose fists "It'd only been a few days I guess, but the house was really starting to feel lonely being so empty. So this'll be fun. "