youngestclarke:

“Well, you know, just trying to… keep out of the way.” For most other people, Darren would’ve stopped there. But Raj? He’d taken him in after his life completely turned upside down and had likely already seen him at his worst. He’d extended a trust and respect Darren hadn’t felt he’d earned, and that made it far easier to be open with him. His hands found the ball, tossing it lightly between them to keep busy.

“It’s just weird.” Darren continued, barely pausing for a breath. “That was, that was home and we got out of there so quickly and I- god I have a fucking soccer ball and like three socks. Not three pairs, three socks. And we can’t even go back because now it’s fucking ash and dust and I just…”

“Was that the first time you’ve been chased out of your home by SS?” Raj asked Darren, not fully remembering the boy’s story. “It’s tough,” he admitted. “And it doesn’t get any easier no matter how many times it happens to you.” He sighed and tossed the ball back to Darren. “We’ll get you more clothes and everything. We’ll... try to replace what we lost. That’s all we can do, really. And we’ll make home here, or someplace else. If... if you want me to run you down to the border so you can escape to Mexico, I will. You know I like having you as part of our group, but if you want to leave the country I do understand, and I won’t stop you.”

southsidestray:

“Suit yourself,” Jamie chirped before tipping the rest of the milk into his mouth and licking his lips. Dairy was Jamie’s absolute favourite despite his growing lactose intolerance. He dared nature to keep it away from him though, as if indigestion and uncomfortable bowel movements would stop him from trebucheting spoonfuls of dairy products into his cavernous dairyhole.

Jamie was a beat away from taking Raj up on the claim that he’d love to see if he really was ‘faster than lightning’ but was side-tracked by the abhorrent pun that slipped out from the other’s face. He glowered and grumbled, “I didn’t know you guys wanted me to start robbing banks. I thought you were supposed to be the good guys.

“If that milk makes you fart like it did last time, I’m sending you outside until it’s all out of your system,” Raj warned Jamie. Then he rolled his eyes. “Good and bad are subjective. If you’re stealing from people who need it, that’s bad. If you steal from humans who would rather see people like us locked up and tortured...” he shrugged. “Well, then, why should I care about not hurting them if they want to hurt me?” Raj sometimes had an... odd sense of morality. 

mirageofsofia:

Picking up the glass from the table, Sofia could feel her hands begin to shake. It was early in the morning, yet of course, earlier than this she could except a daily dose of some kind of mixture of drugs entering her veins. Ever since her escape, she had weaned off of most of the drugs, yet the physical effects of many still lingered, one consisting of shaking hands. She felt so proud she was able to bring it to her lips and take a sip until. Crash. The glass splattered all over the room. Her chocolate eye rolled back into her head, all she wanted was a god dammed glass of water.

Hearing someone come into the room, she bit the inside of her lip. “Watch your step.” She said a bit to loudly as she turned to face the familiar face. Finally a sigh of relief left her lips. “Hey,” She said back much more comfortably. Seeing a face from the old base, calmed her anxieties. “Couldn’t sleep, never really can sleep that well you know.” She said rapidly grabbing the dust pan and beginning to pick up the pieces.”Plus if I were asleep who around here would be breaking stuff? It’s a full time job you know.” She laughed “What about you? Shouldn’t you still be snoring in your bed Raj?” 

Sweeping up the reminder of the glass and throwing it away, she began picking at the piece stuck her hand. “Also do you know where they would keep some kind of tweezers around here? It’s a stubborn bit.”  She sighed throwing her hands up in the air.

Raj saw the mess and went to help Sofia clean everything up, not saying anything about it and not accepting any arguments against his help. “We’ll try to figure out something to help you sleep,” he told the girl gently. “Some medication, or something.” He chuckled at her little joke. “I do not snore,” he argued. “And I’m always up this early, you know me. Up with the sun.”

“Oh, you’re hurt,” Raj noticed when she started picking at the piece in her hand. “Sit down, I’ll find the tweezers.” He went and found where they kept the first aid kit and brought it back to the kitchen area, sitting down next to Sofia. He got the tweezers and carefully took her hand, holding it still and pulling out the shard. “Is that the only one?” he asked, looking for more shards.

sisterxnature:

“Cal and I aren’t used to sticking around in large groups but… I wouldn’t mind hanging around and helping the Underground despite the… miscommunications and such.” She paused and hid a small smile before chomping down on a piece of bread. “Well, you didn’t. Sleepy-Boy ran with me and Cal to… procure supplies. The Wizard wasn’t too happy about it, but there’s food. So.” Ro recalled the scolding they got when they showed up, though she was mostly sure that the main concern was disappearing and coming back without notice, especially after committing a felony during their outing.

“El español y el italiano son mis primeros idiomas, en realidad. No aprendí inglés hasta que tenía seis años. Francés a las once. La madre de mi padre es hawaiana y ella me enseñó su idioma cuando tenía doce años.” Rosita looked up, her eyes bright. It wasn’t often that she met anyone else that spoke fluently – although she felt that maybe she was assuming he did. Maybe he’d only finished high school Spanish. 

Leaning back, she favored a glass of orange juice over her food and nodded thoughtfully. “I can make tikka masala, rogan josh, tandoori chicken, bhelpuri, and gulab jamun. I’d need the recipe for anything else.” She set her glass down and gave a bit of a grin. “My family is a bunch of human garbage but they did manage to pass on a wealth of knowledge before I was promptly cut out of the family photos. Although, most of the recipes I learned were from online; my brother was super fucking suburban and only wanted to make fancy white-people food. At some point I got tired of I’ve catered for Tom Cruise so many times and he loves this.” She made a gagging sound and rolled her eyes. 

“Also – are you saying that you’d consider it if you had the proper team? I’m small and young, but I pack a fucking punch. Cal does too. And it wouldn’t be our first time liberating mutants.” Rosita left it there, knowing that he likely wasn’t going to react well if she gushed about her bloody rescue missions. “I don’t want to cross any lines here, of course. I just… I’ve met mutants before that lost their friends and loved ones to collars and I’m not the kind of person that likes to sit on the sidelines and hide and just let them rot. If we have the means, we should try, right? It’s not like there’s anyone else that’s going to help them – or us, right?”

“Miscommunications?” Raj asked. He’d heard that some people weren’t getting along with Ro and Calder, but he didn’t know many details about it. Raj chuckled at Ro’s nicknames for everyone. “The Wizard?” he asked. “I’m guessing that’s Oz? I’ll have to remember that.”

“Ah, pasé algunos años en la sede de Houston para la MU, y había muchos hispanohablantes allí. También ayudé a los mutantes a llegar a la frontera con México, por lo que el español fue útil para conocerlos y enseñarles,” Raj explained. “También hablo hindi, pero no puedo escribirlo.”

Raj ate his food happily, and he nearly moaned at the mention of all the Indian foods she could make. “You are my savior,” he told her very seriously. “Finally, someone who knows how to make Indian food. I’d make it, but... I burn water when I try to cook. I do remember my mom’s recipes pretty well, though, so I think I can help you out there. The key is lots of spice, most of the time. If it doesn’t burn your mouth, it’s no use to me.”

Raj sighed at her excitement to go liberate mutants. “I’d love to, but we can’t do anything that would risk the safety of the others here,” he said. “I’m trying to get Oz to let us organize something, but it’s ultimately up to him as long as we’re being offered safety at his base. And it would take a lot of planning, and a lot of manpower. We’d need pretty much everyone here on our side, and that’s going to take a lot of convincing.”

youngestclarke:

The early morning hours were usually the quietest- or at least Darren hoped that was so. His observation was that the Atlanta base was filled more with night owls than early birds, and a bit of space was getting more and more necessary. They’d been there what- days?- and the temporary bunking had him itching for some room. It was understandable of course; one base couldn’t just be automatically prepared to house this many more mutants indefinitely. And yet, every chorus of labored, sleepy breathing continued to wake him up, forcing him to toss and turn throughout the never-ending night.

So, soccer ball tucked under his arm (the only real item he’d grabbed from his room in Charleston and stuffed into his backpack alongside assorted socks and t-shirts) he found his way to the training room, only to find Raj already awake. Not only awake, but energetic. Shit. Given his lack of good sleep, Darren wasn’t in the cheeriest of moods, but he wouldn’t want to seem ungrateful around the big man in charge. Or now… the second big man in charge. How would that power dynamic work?

“I dunno, just, uh…” with his arm he lifted the ball, gesturing to it with his eyes. It’s not like Darren could actually practice his power, unlike the other mutants. Nope, he just had a soccer ball. “Tryna wake up, I guess. Not sure I really slept.”

Raj nodded at Darren and went to wipe off the treadmill so it wasn’t sweaty for the next person. “I understand that feeling,” he said. “It’s not easy getting used to another base.” He knew that some people might not appreciate Darren’s power, but Raj had always seen it as useful. Not when he was alone, of course, but when he was around other people in a fight, he could be extremely useful, so long as the other person had enough control of their powers to be able to use them well even when they were augmented. “How’re you getting along here?” Raj asked. He was especially protective of the people who’d come from Charleston with him, since he knew them the best. “Everything going okay?”

southsidestray:

Jamie offered Raj the carton of milk in concession, although it was mostly empty. He didn’t look too guilty though, if the smug curve of his mouth were to say anything about it. 

“Maybe you should work on your defense,” he mocked out of pure spite. The swat did little to dislodge him from his perch or his determination to continue devouring the contents of the fridge. Picking up a bag of chips, he popped the bag and resumed his consumption with glee. “I sure will, Raj, with every penny from my overflowing bank account.”

Raj rolled his eyes at the offer. “I’m not using that. It’s had your germs on it,” he said. He took the carton. “And it’s almost empty. There’s like nothing left, man, just finish it.” 

“Be glad I don’t zap you with lightning,” Raj said, adding in a mutter, “no matter how tempting it is.” He rolled his eyes again at Jamie’s sarcastic words. “What, you can steal food but not money, now? Guess you’re just a small-time cat burglar then, huh?” He laughed at his own pun.

sisterxnature:

“I’d say I know the feeling, but I kind of… don’t?” Rosita gave a nervous laugh. “Once I learned how to use the active side of my mutation, hunger was never an issue. I’m glad for it only because I literally can’t even eat canned food or hot dogs or bologna… Sometimes I’m a bit jealous of you guys for that.” She was rambling on as she worked, her gaze and thoughts a million miles away as she placed plate in front of him. “Ham, cheese, pork sausage, mushrooms, onions, and egg in a sourdough bowl. Disfrute de su comida.”

She sat down with one of her own and began to eat slowly, listening carefully. “Well, I’m glad at least some of you made it through; SS is fucking brutal these days.” She cast her gaze down towards her food and scrunched up her nose. These days. She knew that they were always terrible. “And, you know, if you just ask I can make just about anything as long as I’ve got the recipe and ingredients. Cooking helps me feel like I’m not living my life out of a duffel bag in a knockoff FEMA camp. No offense – I know MU makes do with what they’ve got.”

“You guys ever consider breaking your friends out…?”

“You’re lucky, then,” Raj said. “Hunger... isn’t exactly a problem you want to have. It just sucks the energy out of you. Makes it hard to do anything.” He thankfully hadn’t had to go seriously hungry in a long time, since before joining the MU, but he still remembers it. He looked down at the food she placed in front of him. “Wow, that’s impressive,” he said. “I didn’t even know we had sourdough or half these other things.” He smiled at her Spanish. “Gracias,” he responded. “Hablas español? I mean, your name sounds hispanic, but I didn’t want to assume...”

He took a few bites of his breakfast, unable to resist it anymore. It really was delicious. He snorted a little bit upon being told the SS was brutal these days. “They’ve always been brutal,” he said. “They’ve just got better tech and more people supporting them now.” Raj raised an eyebrow when Ro said she could make almost anything. “You happen to know anything about Indian food?” he asked. “Call me stereotypical, but most white people food doesn’t have enough spice for me.”

Raj sighed at her question. “Considered it? Plenty of times,” he said. “It’s just not feasible, though. Or hasn’t been, with the manpower we had. I’m tired of waiting to go up against them, though.”

[[ EDITED TO ANSWER HER LAST QUESTION ]]

sisterxnature:

For the first time since arriving at the Atlanta base, someone besides Calder got a smile out of her. It wasn’t a polite smile forced to her lips, nor was it one of dry humor. Rosita’s lips parted to reveal pearly whites in a genuine, happy smile. “Just for that, I think I will make a nice little breakfast for you. At least someone else here appreciates the idealism of eating healthy despite the living situation.” Rosita dried the last dish with a blast of hot air from her hand before putting it away and moving permanently to the stove. 

“I don’t know if you’re keen on rabbit or deer, but there’s some leftover in that tupperware there,” she said, pointing to a plastic container near the microwave. “And, yeah. You can call me Ro. Although, I hear Sir Sleeps-A-Lot has taken a liking to Te Fiti.”  She gave a small laugh, thinking about how Jamie’s name for her was once upon a time on a list of codenames she was thinking of years ago. 

“Oz brought us in after we tipped a truck hauling us off to some mutant detention center.” Stirring the bacon sizzling in the pan, Rosita glanced over her shoulder. “What happened in Charleston…? Me and Cal mostly keep out of the way around here and it’s only been a few days, but we’ve heard whispers about refugees from Charleston. I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if it was something really bad, of course. I was just curious. Concerned. Maybe a bit nosy.” 

“Thank you,” Raj said. “I’ve mostly just gotten sick of food that’s been in cans for… god knows how long,” he admitted with a bit of chagrin. He went to brew a cup of tea while Rosita cooked. “I’m fine with pretty much any food,” he said. “I’ve been on the run enough of my life to appreciate food when I get it.” He chuckled at the Te Fiti joke, even though he didn’t know the movie it came from. “I’m guessing you’re talking about Jamie?” Raj asked. “Yeah, don’t leave any food you want out or he’ll eat it for you. He just took the last of my tikka masala, which I was really looking forward to eating.” He sighed. If only that were the worst of his worries.

“It’s okay to ask,” Raj told Rosita. “Charleston, as you may or may not know, was another MU base. It got raided by SS. Only a few of us made it out, thanks to Sebastian.” Raj tried not to let his mind linger too long on his crush. He took the teabag out of his mug now that it had steeped enough and tossed it in the garbage. “I have connections with a lot of other bases, and Atlanta was easiest to get to from Charleston, and Oz said they could take us, so here we are.”

southsidestray:

Being something of a crepuscular creature, Jamie tended to rouse at the weird hours of the morning which always lead him to boredom and ultimately devouring the contents of the fridge before everyone woke up. It made for some pretty grumpy teammates, which was the best part of Jamie’s day, considering that there were a limited number of people who’d care to partake in Tom-and-Jerry roleplay with him without some kind of incentive. (Something about maturity or ‘better things to do’. Pussies.)

Jamie sat on the counter of the kitchen in too-big pajamas and a carton of milk, idly banging his heels in wait for the rest of them to wake up. A crumpled wrapper at beside him on the counter, clearly marked ‘RAJ’, along with some Tupperware, marked with various other names.

“I’m always up this early,” he replied, grinning with satisfaction. His eyes were sunny crescents, gleaming with poorly-veiled delight. “How’s it going, Raj? Getting off to a running start?”

“Ah, yes,” Raj said, rolling his eyes. “One of the two hours of the day you’re awake. So this is when all of our food goes missing.” He sighed and went to pour himself a bowl of cereal. He looked for the milk and then found who had it. “C’mon, man, that’s gross. And it’s everyone’s milk. Learn how to share. You sure think everyone else’s food is for sharing.” He spotted the wrapper with his name. “Was that my tikka masala?” he asked, getting annoyed for real now. “Do you know how often I actually get Indian food? You’re paying me back for that so I can get some more.” He reached over to slap Jamie upside the head, not hard, just to annoy him a little.

sisterxnature:

Rising before the sun wasn’t something new to Rosita. Before Sentinel Services crashed into her life she had a helluva schedule. Even so, her life on the run often afforded her the chance to just sleep in and enjoy wasting the day away doing absolutely nothing. Today was not one of those days. Rosita was up early, slinking into the kitchen area where she quietly started in on dirty dishes and putting work in over the stove. 

The stranger greeting her was initially met only with a grunt befitting a neanderthal. It took a few moments for Rosita to gather up the energy to be even remotely sociable. “Dishes and breakfast. Want some?” She gestured towards a skillet of scrambled eggs and another simmering vegetables. “I was going to make bread boats and quiche but I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m more uppity than they already do,” she joked.

“Bread boats and quiche? Should’ve made it, classed this place up a little,” Raj said with a smile. “Regardless, that smells delicious. I would love some. It’s nice to have some real food around here once in a while.” Too often, Mutant Underground bases had to resort to days on end of just canned food, especially if it was too dangerous to leave to get food. So having fresh food was something Raj considered a luxury. “We haven’t had the chance to get to know each other much,” Raj commented, starting to dry the dishes that the girl was washing even though he hadn’t been asked. He was used to helping around. “You’re Rosita, right? You and your partner arrived about the same time that we got here from Charleston.”

Raj had actually thought that Charleston would work out for him. He should’ve known better. Nothing ever worked out for him. He was starting to wonder if Sentinel Services had placed a tracker on him that he didn’t know about, because it seemed like they always seemed to find him. Running... he was always running... 

There were times he enjoyed running, though, like when he was able to do it by choice. He preferred to run on the streets, but after such a close call with Sentinel Services, Raj was worried about getting caught outside on his own, even in the early morning. Thankfully, the Atlanta base had a treadmill, so he could still run in some capacity. That’s where Raj currently was. He’d woken up an hour ago, and the sun was just now starting to rise as he finished up his last mile. He slowed down to a walk and then stopped the machine, stepping off. He wiped his sweat with a towel and then headed up to the kitchen area. He wasn’t entirely surprised to find that someone was already in there. “Hey,” he greeted, going over to fill a glass with water. He downed the water before continuing. “What has you up this early?”

Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.

Bob Marley