13711/Stray

Stray
Date of Scene:	08 August 2021
Location:	Loew's 46th Street Theater - Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Kit Killovarras, Phoenix, Storm

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Kit Killovarras has posed:
It's been a few days since the incident in Bushwick, at least two from the moment Kit had woken up and while he may not have gone far, Kit is quite capable of making it hard for people to find him.

It's here in the run down old theater though that he can be found in what can only be explained as a small survivalists camp in the underworks of the stage. It had been a normal theater and at one point and even when a company had tried to renovate it and turn it into a cinema, the underworks were kept for the sake of repair work as needed.

There's a small mound of fabrics, likely used as a bed and a small camp stove, a single bowl, camp tins used for cooking and a backpack with supplies in it.

Kit may not be immediately visible, but it's here that he could be found at the moment, curled up underneath the fabric mound. He's not asleep, not exactly but at the same time, he's not entirely alert right now either.

Phoenix has posed:
Might not be immediately visible, no, but Jean can feel him. Just there. No, not there. Over there. Yes, that's the spot. She had been on the hunt for just long enough to get from point a to point b. Point a being Xavier's school grounds. Point b, being this run down theater.

Upon arriving at the general location, Jean had parked the car she'd driven here in, and then walked the short distance to the building. And around it to the back. Here, now, she's cautious as she opens the door. She doesn't fear attack. She'd sense anyone long before they ever got her. But cautious never the less, because old buildings can sometimes have parts and pieces fall off of them.

Once the door is open, Jean slips inside and looks around briefly before her eyes go straight to the mound of fabrics, and Kit, that she cannot yet see. "There," she says in a quiet voice, pointing to the stage. "Beneath it." She pauses, and raises her voice. "Kit," she calls out.

Storm has posed:
When Ororo had spied Jean headed for the garage at the mansion, her curiosity had been piqued. She'd turned her steps and followed along after her best friend, and simply grinned after getting into the passenger side of the car. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a grey t-shirt with a cartoon sun on the front of it, and a pair of sandals to round out the outfit. Her white hair is neatly braided and resting over one of her shoulders.

She didn't ask questions, and she did her level best to keep a quieter mind. She doesn't want to be distracting to Jean, after all. Once the car is parked, she gets out and follows along after her, her steps unhurried. She isn't afraid of being attacked, either, given the forces that are so near to being at her disposal to wield. She steps through the door moments after her friend does, then looks towards the stage as it's pointed to. "I wonder what it is that drew him here," Ororo says softly, a touch of concern to her voice. "Is he alright?" she asks, tilting her head a touch to one side as she looks to Jean, watching her a moment. She starts to head towards the stage.

Kit Killovarras has posed:
Is he alright? That's a wondrous question indeed. Physically Kit is fine, more so than he should be but mentally? No, he's far from it. It's a strange cocktail of self-loathing, unchecked hatred, sorrow and suicidal thoughts that surround the aardwolf like a minefield. He wasn't alright when Jean first met him, but at least he was stable, but now?

At his name being spoken, his ears twitch a little and his nose pokes out of the mound of fabric, just enough for him to get a line of sight. He doesn't respond vocally, but at least he can be seen to a degree now, violet eyes barely visible through a gap in the stage, peering out from his weird little vantage point in the underworks.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey had, never the less, told Ororo exactly what she was doing and where she was going, and why she was doing so. To Ororo's question, Jean glances to the frost haired woman for just a moment. She shakes her head, her eyes holding a tinge of sadness within them. Sadness, and more. Understanding.

The redhead turns her eyes back to the stage, and what little can be seen through that gap, just as Kit pokes his nose, and eyes, out of that mound of fabric. As she watches what little she can see, Jean goes quiet for a time. There's a sense of concentration about her.

And she is concentrating. Jean projects her thoughts and feelings into Kit's mind, leaving the projection just open enough that Ororo also gets the edges of it. Reassurance, caring, understanding of how Kit feels. Most of all, she projects her thoughts of Kit to him. The enjoyment of the kinds of foods he eats. His overall gentleness and willingness to help others. All of the good things she's witnessed him doing, though most of them he likely had had no idea she'd witnessed. For those, it really helps being a telepath. It also helps that she tends to keep a mental eye on the school and students under her care and protection. And Kit is no exception to that rule. There's a sense there that Jean will protect the youth with her own life should such ever become a necessity.

Storm has posed:
There's only one way of finding out if Kit is alright or not, and that's to lay eyes on him and to talk to him. Once she's closer to the stage, Ororo stops and then she lowers down to a crouch at first before further settling to her knees. "There you are, Kit... we have been worried about you," Ororo says softly, a gentle note to her voice. She rests her hands on her knees, comfortable and non-threatening, at ease.

Ororo looks over to Jean, studying her friend a bit closer then. She sees the sadness in her friend's eyes, that look of understanding, and then her attention turns back to Kit. She doesn't have the same means of making herself understood as what Jean does, but she'd protect Kit with everything she has and is, if it was necessary.

Kit Killovarras has posed:
Kit seems numb to the projection, right up until anything regarding his 'kind nature' crops up, then his eyes narrow and for a moment, there's a faint view of fangs as he growls, "Trying to be a good person is what got me here," he says, his body slinking a little further back into the underworks, taking some of the pile of fabric with it, "Most people don't care what you do, when they see a monster it's all they see."

It's a mix of hatred and rage that floods his mind at the moment. There is fear and sorrow, a feeling of betrayal in some form or another, but it's somewhere below the worst of his emotions.

"All anyone's going to care about is that some kid got mangled by some kind of animal. Do you think anyone's going to give a damn that he was beating someone else senseless before I stepped in?" There's a little bit of a shake in his voice somewhere behind the growl. He's fighting himself to, at very least, keep himself from snapping at the people he knows actually care, but it's a fight he's slowly losing. "Or how about the fact that I gave him every chance to stand down and stop fighting?"

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey nods her head in agreement with Kit. "Kit," she says gently. "There will always be people who don't care what you do, who will only see a monster. Within your heart is what matters. How /you/ want to be is what matters, not what others think." The growl doesn't phase Jean at all. She listens to what he said without backing down or away, without showing any signs of submission or backing off.

"Please, tell us exactly what happened. Everyone who matters already knows that whatever happened, you were being a good person."

Storm has posed:
It's a sad truth. A lot of people don't care. They see what they consider a 'monster' or a 'mutant' and they read it as being a thing that's out of control whether that's the truth or fiction. Ororo remains where she had knelt upon the floor, and her hands remain as they are on her knees. She doesn't move, and she doesn't try to invade his space, but she does watch him. "You are a good person, Kit," she says softly, a gentle note to her voice. "You are not a monster," she adds, the words sincere. She doesn't believe that he is, regardless of his appearance. "What Jean says is true."

"I care. Jean cares. There are others who care, as well. About what happened, and why it happened, what lead up to it happening. These pieces of information are all important," Ororo says softly, watching him. She turns her gaze towards Jean for a moment, and then she gives a small nod before looking back to Kit. "Yes. Please, share with us what happened," she requests, still in that soft tone of voice.

Kit Killovarras has posed:
The growling slowly stops and Kit's teeth disappear again behind his lips as he murmurs, "I was out doing a supply run.." after a long few moments of silence. "I'd literally just picked up a bunch of supplies to take to a couple of the homeless around Bushwick." He stops for a moment to think, then adds, "Actually, they're probably still on the telephone pole.' He gives a little shrug, a quiet popping sound coming from a few of his joints as he crawls out from the underworks.

He's only wearing a pair of black boxers, probably because he was trying to sleep, but what his lack of clothing reveals is a bit telling. There are patches of fur all over his body that are matted and missing, dozens of lines where the fur is not quite right, where the skin beneath had been fairly literally torn. "I heard a bunch of people chanting 'fight', smelled blood and heard something going on, so I went to try and break it up. I've broken up street fights before, normally people just flat out run when I show up..."

Once he's crawled out of his hole, he doesn't stand, he just sits there, almost like he's still trying to make himself as small as possible, something he does on habit more often than not, but this wasn't because of his habit. He's visibly shaking, obviously trying not to look at the others too.

Phoenix has posed:
For the moment, Jean has remained where she is. Close enough to be heard easily and to hear easily. She crouches down into a squat and stays that way, her arms propped on her legs. Through it all, Jean continues to project what she /knows/ Kit to be. A good natured person with a heart of gold who wouldn't willingly harm another living being if it wasn't necessary. Things that she knows in her heart to be true, because she'd experienced them.

"Ro's right, you know. You aren't a monster. You're a person. No matter what happened, you were protecting a life." Jean glances to Ororo and nods briefly, agreeing with her words. She goes silent at this point to listen to what Kit has to say. As Kit comes out, Jean's eyes briefly take in his physical state, and there's nothing even remotely romantic about her eyes roaming his body. No, those green eyes of hers are clinically assessing. Noting what and where for later dealing with in medical.

Once Kit has come out, Jean rises gracefully to her feet and steps over to him. She crouches beside him and lifts her left hand to place it on his shoulder. She projects soothing thoughts and emotions at him. She doesn't speak, though, instead waiting for him to continue telling what he remembers.

Storm has posed:
As she listens to the story that Kit relays, Ororo tilts her head just a touch to one side. She's curious, but she doesn't ask any questions and instead gives him the time and peace to be able to tell his story in his own time. That he was taking supplies to homeless people reaffirms what both Jean and she had said -- he was being a good person, as he so often is. She brings her left hand to her right, fingers twining one hand with the other but her hands otherwise remain upon her thighs. She watches him as he comes out from the underworks, and though she takes note of the various marks or indications of wounds in his fur, she doesn't pay any of them an abundance of attention. She doesn't stare. But similar to Jean, she makes a mental catalogue, of sorts, for medical later.

"To protect a life, to be willing to take wounds for another, these are noble causes and you are right to take them on," Ororo says softly. She looks to Jean and gives her a smile and a nod before turning her attention back to Kit. "There have been many times when I have hurt others for the sake of saving lives, for preventing people from being hurt. Witch is likely the kindest of the things that I have been called for doing so," she says softly, a small smile returning to the corners of her lips. "My apologies... please, continue when you are ready," she adds, giving a small nod and falling quiet at that point.

Kit Killovarras has posed:
The aardwolf doesn't recoil from his shoulder being touched, his ears twitch a little along with the words of the two women and after a few moments? He sits up a little, giving a quiet sigh as he murmurs, "I didn't even want to fight him, I just wanted him to stop hitting the other guy.. He had him on the ground when I tried to break the fight up and he was about to hit him again, so I gave him something else to focus on so the other guy could get away."

He's calming down, little by little at least, though his body is still shaking all the same. "He wanted a fight, so I gave him a fight. I thought he'd stop if something went wrong, I even told him to stop after the first injury but he just kept fighting..." His ears pin back for a moment, but then he sighs and continues. "One of his energy balls hit a building, so I stopped fighting and put my attention on making sure no one else got hurt.. Then it.." he actually winces a little, rubbing at one of his legs, near the 'ankle' joint, which would be about a third of the way up his leg, as he explains, "I heard him say something, then it felt like my leg was breaking.. And.. I woke up in the hospital."

There's a momentary mental click, like his mind switched off suddenly, then switched back on. There's trauma there, something he's intentionally blocked out. Even without telepathic abilities, it's easy to see in the sudden breaks, the stuttering and the pauses, the loss of memory.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey nods agreement with Ororo once more. She too, has harmed others to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Jean continues listening without commenting until he's stopped talking again. Even with telepathic abilities, it's going to be difficult to get through to exactly what his mind had blocked out. Jean likely will do so, but not right now. Preferably without Kit even being aware of what she's doing. Later. After he's safe.

"Making sure no one else got hurt, protecting those who cannot protect themselves, is what being an X-Man is about, Kit," she says gently. "You did the right thing. You didn't do a bad thing. No matter what uninformed people say. No matter what people who refuse to see the truth before their eyes have to say."

Storm has posed:
"That seems, alas, how fights often are, between those of us who seek to protect and various aggressors," Ororo says softly, her brow furrowing briefly before she gives a small shake of her head. "We just want to stop the pain from being given to someone else," she adds, a little smile barely finding the corners of her lips. It is a short lived expression, though, as he continues with his story. What he had chosen to do doesn't sound to her to be a bad plan, all things considered, especially considering the alternative of letting the fellow continue to beat his victim. And that simply would not have done at all.

Her blue gaze lowers to the joint he rubs a bit, and her brow furrows anew at his words before she gives a small shake of her head. "I am sorry, Kit... that you were hurt in such a way. As Jean said... you did the right thing, and you did a good thing. Protecting people, trying to prevent them from being hurt or killed. It is what we do," Ororo says softly, a small smile coming back to her features. "There will always be those who speak out against the choices that we make, the abilities that we have, the way that we look. And yet, look to those we save, those we protect. They get to go home to their families, to see more days, because we intervened. Some people are short sighted," she adds, a touch sadly.