To: Furry@ muir.edu
From: icy@ xavier.edu
Re: Trouble on School Grounds
Hank,
You've gotta come home. There's something in the air driving people buggy. Kurt and Logan are doing their best, but the cuts and scrapes, broken bones and other problems keep coming. It's like the racists grew overnight, Blue. I don't know what the fuck to do anymore. I'm going insane. We can't let the kids go to the mall without supervision because they keep getting attacked. And believe me, Jubilee is pissed off about that. And if Jubilee is having problems you can imagine what the rest of us are going through.
Harry's got burned down last night for serving mutants. I can't believe it. Harry's has been there for as long as I can remember. Logan is not happy. He can't get the beer he likes from any of the liquor stores. They're laying off mutants in record numbers and Slim thinks there's a conspiracy afoot. Oh my God, did I just use that word in a sentence? I did. I used the word "afoot." This is all Braddock's fault. She's taken over the public speaking classes and one of the literature classes. She's also running a seminar on Sherlock Holmes. That means all of us are being subjected to her practice lectures at the dinner table.
Clara is wonderful. You have to come home and try her cooking. She makes the best cookies I've ever tasted. Then again, we were subjected to Jean's cooking. Scott's cooking too for that matter. The dreadful duo have moved in together officially and they've converted Jean's old room into a place for another teacher. Did I tell you that Storm, Kitty and Jubilee have moved to one of the boathouses to start farming? They're planting all sorts of veggies and things. Right now, Warren's been hard-pressed into helping them make an irrigation system. They need to fly stuff up to make the water tower. I don't even want to know what Slim's got on the planning board to get the permits for that. But we've got a greenhouse going in too. Me, I'm in charge of designing the freezer system for all of it. Like I'm supposed to know these things? I'm an accountant!
Come home, Blue. Hurry!
-Bobby the exceedingly frantic
*****
To: icy@ xavier.edu
From: furry@ muir.edu
RE: Trouble
Bobby,
You sound as if you have been quite capably handling everything in spite of my absence on the school grounds. Moira and I have begun a series of lectures to the leaders of Europe. They refuse to understand what is happening to the mutants of the United States is similar to what happened to the Jews of the Holocaust. Even the Germans are willfully ignoring the concept. They believe that so long as no one is killed by the government, it is not their place to judge any other country's choices pertaining to racial relations. It is most enlightening to witness the sheer incomprehensible ability of the human mind to ignore the implications of the most blatant abuses of power. However, I have had the distinct urge to pick them up and shake them until their fool heads pop off. I feel that would be unproductive and have thus far resisted my baser impulses.
I am sure that Jubilee's disappointment with being unable to shop has reached epic proportions. Have you considered simulating a mall in the Danger Room and allowing the children to wander around it at will? That would allow them the illusion of freedom while providing them the protection they need. And it would allow Jubilee to indulge in her less than legal activities without the possibility of being apprehended. Although, you may wish to program that eventuality in. It is my opinion that you may have need of her particular expertise if the mutant situation becomes anymore restrictive in regards to property. For that matter, perhaps it is time that our Fearless Leader and the Windrider updated their skills. Oh, ignore the ramblings of a rather disillusioned current ex-patriot living across a large expanse of water.
It would seem that the Xavier campus is expanding at an alarmingly quick rate. How have you found the workers to erect this water-tower? And how, for heaven's sake, was Warren convinced to assist physically with a building project. It was my understanding that he was incapable of wielding a hammer due to the interference of a general hard work genetic inhibition present in his family.
Give my regards to everyone.
Sincerely,
Hank the blue
*****
"Have you spoken with Lensherr?" Remy asked his wife suddenly.
"He'll give you a safe haven, but I'm out of it. I'm human."
"He'll give our mutants safe haven, non? I'm not planning on leaving you, ma chere." Belle put her hands on her hips. Her paintbrush dripped black paint onto the drop cloth.
"If I tell you to leave, you will do so, am I understood, Remy? I'm not going to let you get killed just because you're too stubborn to walk away."
"And I am not going to walk away because of a threat, chere. I've been beaten. I've been chased. I've been cursed. I am not going to lose you because you push me away. We're in this together, Belle. Forever," Remy snapped back.
"Forever's a long time, cher."
Remy stepped forward and caressed her cheek. "Mon couer, there is nothing that will keep me away from you. Not even Hell."
"Pretty words from my pretty," she said with a small smile. "But I'm serious. If I tell you to leave, I want you to leave. Don’t be an idiot."
"Why would it be safer to be away from you, ma chere?"
She blinked. Another drop of paint his the drop cloth.
"I'll always come to you, ma chere. I don't care if I have to beat the Devil himself, I will be by your side."
"You are an idiot, LeBeau. Je t' aime, Remy."
"Je t' aime, Bella."
*****
Mystique sighed. Why had she decided to take on more children? "Stop it, all of you!" she snapped. They quieted down, looking sheepish. Mystique stood with her hands on her hips. "What am I supposed to do with you? Put you into the corner? Clean up this mess. And there will be no more fires in the house. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
*****
"Will this do for your lab, Mr. Essex?"
"It will be fine. Thank you," the Englishman stated. The officious clerk beat a hasty retreat before he could be asked to do anything more.