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They had ventured plenty deep enough, but at this point, the two of them pretty much knew these woods. The pause turned into a concerted stare off into the distance, and he put a single finger up. “Wait for it. Just…” A red fox and its kit break out from behind a tree and sprint quickly behind another tree, playing chase. Maya took a moment to watch the foxes, smiling at their antics. She knew this forest had a variety of animal life but she’d only seen kits once before. “Did you see that I joined the X-men?” She asked finally, unable to keep it contained any longer. She didn’t want to let anyone down but she knew she could do some good on the other team. “I’ve been meaning to tell everyone, about leaving X-Factor. I can’t do both and school, so I need to choose.” Arthur's smile softened as he took his eyes off the foxes and looked over to Maya, and he repositioned slightly to ensure that she could see his face. The smile never broke. "I do talk with Scott, Maya. We — Me, Lorna, Alex — were just wondering when you would tell us. We're so," and he leaned in to emphasize this, "excited for you! How exciting! Action! Adventure!" “I guess that makes sense,” Maya replied with a wry expression. Here she’d been fretting about whether they’d see her moving on as a defection and a reflection on them and they’d just been excited for her. “How hasn’t QQ drowned you all in the bath yet? You’re all way too chipper.” "Hey now. Q isn't here, Maya. We — me, Alex, Lorna, everybody — care about you. What's got you so excited about X-People-ing?" “Apart from getting to punch bad guys in the nose?” Maya smiled at Arthur, crouching as one of the Kits decided it was playtime with its mother, who was having none of it. “I’m not really the type of person who sits behind a desk, mostly. It’s not that I don’t get investigation is important, even in the X-men but I like the idea of being the first person into something, protecting people.” His eyes crinkled a little as he shrugged, understanding. "It is important to try all the things! Punching, helping, even desk sitting. I guess the all-leather getup too. Oooh, and the mystery." At this point, Arthur was getting off-topic and stopped himself. "You're always welcome to come help or hang out if you want, still. You're part of the XFi family." "I'm not likely to disappear or anything, not completely. That'd give QQ too much peace and quiet, and think what he'd do with all that?" Maya's eyes had softened into a true smile and she grinned up at Arthur before turning back to watching the kits, relaxed now that she'd gotten her true mission out of the way, and content to just enjoy the day. She'd always felt happier out here, and not just because buildings with any amount of history tended to have 'feelings' to them. "So, anything else in your bag of urk..." Maya's words cut off as her hands reached for her head, her fingers digging as she clawed at the sudden pain. She couldn't reach it though, couldn't stop it. All she could do was scream. An appropriate reaction to this may have been a blank stare or a sudden what, but — given the randomness of his general mutation and the even more general wtfery that living around the X-people instilled or, quite possibly, having lived through a lot at this point — Arthur's first reaction wasn't either of those things, but instead to immediately support Maya as she reacted. "Woah now, keep breathing. Deep breaths. Serious-faced, Arthur did the same as he worked to best lower Maya onto her back as he fumbled for his phone. "This is one of those 'stress screams' is it?" He knew it wasn't, but levity seemed appropriate. |
