Who: Laura and Rahne
Where: Foyer, Xavier's
When: July 23, 2011 (after meeting with Scott out back)
Rating: R (language)


It's getting late, though it's certainly not breaking curfew if you were out on the school grounds with a teacher, right? The rain started a little while ago as mere spitting, but eventually gained strength over passing time. Now, while it's certainly not torrential or stormy, it's enough that anyone caught it in would certainly look like a drowned rat.

One of those someones happens to be the anti-social one of the bunch. The front door to the school is suddenly pulled open, revealing the steady thrumming of the sound of rain hitting the pavement, brick and eaves. A wet trail of footprints already run through the place from the common room sliding door to the front door in the foyer where Laura stalks in - and what a sight she is. Claws on one hand fully extended while the other grabs at her side, her arm wrapped around her mid-section as she displays a half-grimace, half- ...can a person look half-pissed off? "Fucker!" she snarls under her breath, slamming the door. She's beyond aggravated.

Rahne is getting her evening off to a much more ordinary start. Already in her robe, she crosses from the kitchen with a small plate of cookies, a book from the library tucked up under one arm. What better than a stormy night to curl up with a sweet snack and some literature, right? She's stopped in her progress across towards the stairs when Laura suddenly appears and Rahne's eyebrows shoot right up. "Ach, are yeh ... all righ'?" she asks, worried, but hesitant of the angry clawed thing.

The door finally closes and Laura stands there, wincing in pain as bones inside busy themselves healing. If someone's hearing was sharp enough, they might hear the small snaps and cracks as things move back into place. "Do I -look- alright?" Laura snaps, without missing a beat. Either she expected someone to be around or the pain simply makes things that much more acute. "Fucking idiot... who'd hire him? God damned coward..." she grumbles as she stands there, seething, glancing around as though a little lost. Like a lost, panicked, angry badger.

"Er, nae... nae, yeh dunnae," Rahne agrees in a quiet voice, setting down her plate and book on the lowest step before hazarding a few steps towards the lost and seething one. Her ears might be burning from the language, but she tries to stay on topic here. "Wha' ... happened? If yeh dunnae mind my asking." She tucks some of that red hair back behind her ear, keeping a bit of a distance from Laura, approaching her almost as you would a wounded animal, yes. "Woul' yeh like to maybe sit down?"

For a moment, while Rahne speaks quietly, Laura continues to look around, nearly snarling in pain and anger... though not -quite-. Despite her stream of colourful metaphors, she actually has -some- decorum. As Rahne gets closer and offers her a seat - though where? The stairs? - the dark-haired girl spins back toward the other rather abruptly, sneering a bit, though it really is out of anger instead of any kind of underhandedness. "Sit?" she asks, seeming a bit surprised by the question, having not registered anything else, apparently. Her anger comes down a couple of notches as her claws snap back into her hand for a moment. "Uh... yeah. Good idea, actually..." she admits hastily, shifting over toward the stairs unless Rahne stops her. She moves a little more deliberately now. "Just... guess I got... a lesson or whatever. Though it's likely all bullshit."

Rahne blinks as the claws snap away, though it is a relief once they're gone. She's now willing to move over close enough to make sure Laura doesn't need a hand as she gets situated on the stairs. And the book and cookies get nudged aside, though Rahne gestures towards the plate in case Laura would find a snack to be more comforting. "A lesson? Were yeh doin' powers training ou' in this weather?" she asks, a little surprised by that idea.

Maybe Laura didn't expect the next person she'd run into to be so... gentle? It nearly completely disarms her. She's still pretty pissed off and feeling pain, but at least she doesn't seem quite so out for blood now. Normally, she might just drop herself onto the bottom stair, but she affords herself a careful settling as bones get closer to being healed. It's only been minutes. She doesn't reach for the cookies, though a glance is given to them before she grumbles, "Wasn't a scheduled one. Didn't know I'd be... tested out there... then... whatever. I just owe him a punch in the face next time I see him..."

"Ach, /who/?" Rahne asks, her brow furrowing as she tries to piece together these fragments. As Laura sits, Rahne takes up a post leaning against the bannister at the bottom landing. "I cannae imagine yeh were fighting wi' Ralph again. He wouldnae ever do tha'..." She glances down at the wounded side, but isn't entirely sure what 'that' is. "Is there anything I coul' do? Woul' yeh like a towel or bandages or anything?"

Shaking her head, Laura replies first to the last set of questions, "No. I'll be fine. Thanks... I heal. Almost done. I'm just... the thing that hurts the worst is my pride right now. I let him get me. Bastard." Shaking her head angrily, she adds, "As for 'who'...? Slim Summers, one of the new faculty, I guess you could say. I don't know what Xavier thinks of him but he's an asshole."

Rahne gives an understanding nod to healing, but as Laura goes on, she starts to look a little scandalized. "Ach, yeh shouldnae talk abou' a teacher like tha'," she points out, lowering her voice just in case they might be overheard and she get punished for even talking about it. "I havenae met him, bu' ... I'm sure tha' he was jus' doing it because it's his job, nae?" She worries her lip as she glances quickly around the deserted area.

Suddenly looking up from the floor, Laura peers at Rahne. "What? The guy's an utter douchebag!" she exclaims, throwing her hand up in the air. "We were out there, talking. He was going on about how we should be training up, to not tell him that we've got nothing to learn about our powers, which I hadn't said... then the fucker just -blasted- me a good twenty yards with these laser-beam eyes of his. He -cracked- ribs!" To make a point, she lifts her shirt up just enough for the lower rib to show... as it makes the final snap into place. "He could have -warned- me," she points out in a near-growl. "But no, he blasts me and then -walks-."

It's no doubt a fortunate thing that Rahne doesn't know the literal meaning of that word, for simply the derived connotation is enough to get her to blush. "Shh!" she urges, leaning in a little. "Keep yer voice down. Professor Xavier's office is righ' through there." She points, before turning back to Laura with a frown. "He jus' ... blasted yeh wi' no warning an' yeh werenae even in a training session? Tha' seems ... Aye, tha's maybe a wee bi' harsh, bu' ... Bu' I'm sure tha' he had a good reason!" she insists, unable to say anything against faculty.

"Let the Prof hear me, I don't care," Laura retorts angrily, still seething about what Scott has done. "Yeah. We were -just talking- out there. Nothing more. I was saying how it was pointless for me to train with others because I could really hurt someone..." And she doesn't relish getting her nose broken again by Ralph. "And he just blasted me and walked off. Left me there in the rain. When I caught up, he was already on his bike... said something about not having to pull my punches now. Or something." Now that she's healed, she crosses her arms over her chest and adds, "Whatever. He's just a dick." She seems quite willing to pull out every piece of profanity she can find at this point.

"Yeh will if yeh end up wi' detention!" Rahne points out practically, glancing over at the silent door to make sure no one comes strolling (or rolling) out. Turning back, she seems to give the girl's words some consideration, canting her head to one side, and then shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe it was a misunderstanding?" she suggests lamely, trying to come up with some sort of explanation here, other than accepting their teacher to be 'a dick'. "Maybe he though'... tha' yeh were, ach, I dunna, looking for a chance to really figh', bu' then he felt badly an' wanted to leave before yeh got angry?" The powers of rationalization, they are vast.

"Detention? I spent time on the streets of Manhattan, Rahne... detention's nothing. Just boring," Laura replies with a considerable eye-roll. Moving right along, "And a misunderstanding... how is blasting me full on in the chest when I'm least expecting it a misunderstanding? You have to know this guy... if he feels badly about anything, it might be that he's run out of beer." Oh yes, the stop(per)s are out now. "I don't know what the Professor thought, hiring this ass..." Though, admittedly, this part is more of a mutter
than anything.

Rahne furrows her brow again, never quite having heard this take on detention before. She's never had it herself, of course, so her experience is all secondhand. "Aye, well, yeh still shouldnae want to get in trouble," she finishes up lamely, before listening to Laura go on. "Ach, I dunna how it /is/ a misunderstanding, jus' tha' ... maybe it coul' be? I dunna him, like yeh said. Bu' I trust Professor Xavier. An' he wouldnae hire someone he didnae trust." She has such unwavering faith in the man.

No doubt, Mr. Summers' approach is unorthodox and geared specifically to the toughened Laura because he likely knows she can take it and that she needs to be triggered to really train, that some tough love might go a long way with her... but Laura's not exactly being too receptive right now. "Want to get into trouble? At least it would be something interesting," she grumbles a bit, then sighs, setting her elbows on her knees. Leaning forward, she sets her chin in her hands and adds, "Whatever. So he trusts him. And you trust the Professor. But... whatever. Brick wall much?"

"Wha' do you mean something interesting? There's plenty interesting. There's classes an' homework an' dances, an' yeh can go ou' into the woods or into the city... Believe me, there's a lo' more to do here than in some other places," Rahne nods knowledgeably. She seems a little surprised at Laura's frustration. "Who's the brick wall? The teacher? Professor Xavier? Me? Ach, I'm sorry. People say tha' I can be stubborn, bu' it isnae tha' I mean to be." No, she tries to be perfect. Tries stubbornly.

Peering at Rahne, Laura replies, "Okay, let's get this straight... classes, homework and dances are not interesting." She doesn't like dances? "Going to the woods is something I do to avoid people. And the city... that's not exactly at the school, is it?" She then shakes her head and adds, "Brick wall... you. I mean... everyone here, maybe. I don't know. I just... I really feel like I don't jive with this place. I feel like no matter what I say, I'm wrong, I see things wrong, I focus on the wrong things... but I don't really feel that I am wrong. And... while you may trust the Professor's judgement, I barely know the guy. I got 'busted' by him, so..." Not exactly good trust-building foundations.

"Well, I wouldnae be able to go to the city if I werenae a' the school?" Rahne points out with a slight shrug. They really all link up in her mind. She turns a little more sympathetic as Laura goes on, offering up a small smile. "Ach, I think tha' nearly anyone feels tha' way when they firs' get here. Or a' leas' those of us who arenae, well, so popular," she says carefully, just in case Laura does think she's popular and takes offence to being told otherwise. "Yeh jus' ... Yeh have to give it a chance, tha's all. An' no one is saying tha' yeh're /wrong/. It's jus' tha' ... maybe other people see it another way?"

"It's obvious people see it another way," Laura retorts, throwing her hands up in the air in an exasperated manner. She runs her hands through her damp hair, ringing out the end onto the floor at her feet. "I've been here for a few months and that opinion hasn't changed much. I don't think like others. I don't act like others. And I don't always agree with how shit gets done around here. It's all so... Brady Bunch." And that's apparently not cool in her books. The question of whether or not Laura feels popular is left unanswered. She merely grunts, rubbing idly at her newly healed lower ribs. "Between people trying to be all happy-smiley-in-my-face all the time, others trying to set me up on unwanted dates and now teachers blowing me halfway across the school grounds... it's really just... I wonder why I'm here." This last is muttered as she sighs and looks at the floor.

"Yeh shoul' have seen me when I firs' got here," Rahne says, trying to be reassuring rather than going for sympathy in her approach. "I didnae fit in a' all. My friends were mostly teachers an' the other students, ach, they were nice to me, bu' they didnae really include me in things. Bu' now, well, I've got a boyfriend, an' some friends who arenae teachers." So that's definitely something, right? She shrugs and looks down at the cookies thoughtfully, trying to think of something more useful to say. "No' everyone is like tha'. An' mos' of the teachers dunnae blast yeh anyway, I promise. An' I'm sorry if yeh find me too, ach, happy-smiley, bu' I can try to stop tha'." She assumes that must be about her, of course.

Shaking her head, Laura replies, "But you seem all nice and easy going. That would make it easy for you to eventually fit in. Me... I'm... I'm not easy to get along with." This is a quieter admission. Shoulders slump. "And... I don't think like everyone else. I was bitching about the dance being a distraction at exam time and one of the boys assumed it was that I was bitter that I was going to have to go alone. I told him I wasn't going at all. It's not about that. I was trying to get caught up and -everybody- was talking about it. It was annoying." Sighing again, she shakes her head, "It's not you. It's... others. Who just don't get what it's like outside these walls..." Another sigh. "I'm sorry... I'm glad things have worked out for you." She then falls silent.

"It wasnae easy. It took years. An' I still dunnae think tha' I quite fit in. Bu' I've jus' found people who dunnae care abou' tha'," Rahne says with a shrug, before realizing this might not be the most heartening advice she could give. "An' yeh shouldnae have to go to a dance if yeh dunnae want to. I dinnae care for them either a' firs'. An' still, I dunnae think they're /tha'/ exciting tha' yeh shoul' neglect yer studies." No, she approves of Laura getting caught up instead. "Yeh dunnae need to apologize. Maybe yeh jus' needed someone to talk to abou' it. An' ... I do," she adds a little more confidingly. "Ken wha' it is like away frae here. Bu' tha's wha' makes me glad to be here."

Again with the sighing. At least Laura's not raging and out for blood like she was when she first walked through the door? Still as wet from the rain, mind you, but a towel and fresh clothing will fix that, for sure. But right now, talking. Talking works. "I think you fit in here better than me. Everyone talks highly of you when you're mentioned," the dark-haired girl confides with a bit of a shrug. "Don't cut yourself short. But... anyway... wait..." She pauses, then looks over at the redhead. "I assume most people aren't -from- the school... so... you say you're glad to be here... what's your story?"

Rahne goes a little pink at the idea of people talking about her, highly or otherwise. "Ach, well, I dunna abou' tha'. I jus' ... try to be friendly? Mos' people here, or maybe the ones tha' I get on wi' best, anyway, they were perhaps a wee bi' lonely before they came here? Yeh jus' talk to them, an' most are happy to have another friend." Sage advice or just personal experience. She gives a softer smile at the talk of her origins. "Aye, well, I woul' hope yeh'd get tha' I amnae even frae this country. Scotland. My guardian, Moira, she's an auld friend of Professor Xavier's... She took me in an' raised me as her ain, bu' ... she lives on an island an' there arenae other children there much, being a private research facility, righ'? So she though' it woul' be good for me to meet kids my ain age. An' so here I am..."

Shrugging, Laura says, "You seem nice without over-doing it. That's all. There are people who just... try too hard around here." She's not naming names. She falls silent after this, perhaps not really knowing what else to say about all of this. She's not exactly the best at being friends with people. But as she hears Rahne's explanation of her 'story', she looks a bit confused. "So... you're glad you're here because there weren't other kids on that island of hers?" She sounds a bit dubious about this.

Rahne likewise doesn't seem quite sure what to say about it. She can hardly insist that they don't try too hard, and she doesn't want to speak ill of anyone, even hypothetically, she just makes do with a shrug. "Oh! Nae," she goes on, smiling a little at Laura's confusion, shaking her head. The smile sort of dies away a little. "Living wi' Moira was grand. Lonely sometimes, bu' ... I wouldnae have traded tha' time for all the world. Bu' there was before tha'." She plays absently with the bannister, twisting a finger around one of the spindles and watching as she does. "The man who raised me, ach, he ... wasnae so verra nice." Another shrug is given, but this one more listless.

All other talk is ignored for the moment as Rahne starts to explain a bit more about her past. Laura watches her carefully, picking up on the other girl's sudden shift in demeanor. Okay, this is something important, she figures. Quietly, she prods the girl, "The man who raised you... not your father then?" She's -trying- to be gentle and not trod too much on sensitive issues, but there's something in Rahne's tone which makes her all the more curious. "What did he do?" she asks.

"Oh nae," Rahne replies, quietly but adamantly of the man not being her father. "He was the Reverend an' I was a ward of the Church." She doesn't even want to call him her foster father or adoptive father. She glances up for a moment at the question, a little surprised by the girl's forthrightness. "Ach, jus' ... Well, he didnae like me verra much. He..." She trails off, not quite sure how to put it into words, and just shrugging again.

Laura bites her bottom lip for a moment. She's not one to usually couch her words much or to try to be so gentle. That's what makes her so difficult with people. But she recalls an incident where she was too blunt with another student and she ended up nearly making her cry; she'd like to prevent a repeat. But... she just has to ask. "Oh... well... was it because of you being a mutant?" she asks, trying to keep the other girl talking.

"Um," Rahne replies, looking a little uncomfortable as she fixates that much more on the bannister. Such craftsmanship! You don't see that these days, with all the glass and chrome. "Nae, he jus' ... never did care for me. Bu' the mutant thing..." She pauses, trying to think of how to word it. "Well, tha' was when I went to live wi' Moira instead." It's easy to see she's glossing some details there.

Clearing her throat as she picks up on Rahne's discomfort, Laura looks off at the Professor's office door for a moment, giving the girl some breathing room. She then says off-handedly, "You know..." She struggles with something for a minute, then says, "I ran to the streets after my mom's boyfriend took a baseball bat to my face for being a mutant..." There's maybe something in her tone that suggests she's not looking for pity... but maybe trying to offer something up. Quid pro quo. Whether or not Rahne accepts it and gives back in return, however, is another story. "So... you ever want to talk, I'll 'get it'. Okay?" she adds quietly, steadily, looking back at the redhead again with that 'we don't have to talk now' type of tone. "Just sayin'."

Rahne looks over at Laura with undisguised surprise and horror as she drops that tidbit so readily, in such a matter-of-fact way. But, yes, maybe there's a little sympathy there too. "Ach, I'm sorry," she offers in a low voice, feeling horrible for Laura first and foremost. But it does make her struggle with the idea of sharing and by her expression, she seems to waffle on it a few times. "Moira ... saved my life," she finally comes up with, finding that the easier way to put it, with the positive spin. But she's obviously not talking metaphorically.

Laura's not the touchy-feely type, so she doesn't reach out and pat her on the shoulder or offer a hug. Instead, she simply says, "Don't be sorry. You didn't put the bat in his hands." At the look she gets, she adds, "I'd appreciate if you don't spread that around. Not many people know... and it's not something I tell everyone randomly." She then falls quiet long enough for Rahne to go on about Moira saving her life. Someone else saying those words might have gotten an eyeroll from the dark-haired one. But something in the way it's said makes her take it pretty much at face value. "Wow. Well... it's good you had someone who could. Not everyone does."

"Ach, of course I will nae tell anyone!" Rahne promises solemnly, aghast at the idea of spreading any such confidence. She takes these things seriously. But maybe not quite as seriously as she takes the matter of Moira saving her life, but she gives a small smile and nods. "Aye, I'm verra lucky. I thank God for it every nigh'." And knowing her, that's not just a figure of speech. "An', well, I'd appreciate if yeh dinnae tell anyone either," she adds. "No' tha' yeh shoul' lie, bu' ... I jus' dunnae see any point in people knowing. Things are grand now."

Shaking her head, Laura replies easily with, "Confidence is confidence. And I kind of picked up on the idea that you don't like to talk about it..." Whatever it is exactly. Rahne's still not exactly spilled the beans completely. Laura wrings out the end of a sleeve a bit before replying, "Thanking God, thanking your lucky stars, thanking her... whatever works for you. But really... relax. I get it. Sounds like a really good person got the shit end of the stick. That," she continues, "is what I'm talking about. It's great that things are 'grand' for you now. And it's obvious you haven't forgotten what it was like back then. Props." Did she just give her a nod of respect?

"How woul' I forget it?" Rahne asks with a shake of her head. "Nae, yeh cannae forget, bu' ... wha' is there to do bu' to move on, righ'? Or yeh try to, anyway," she allows, her optimism slipping just slightly for the moment. "It's easier some days than others. Bu' still, yeh jus' have to keep trying," she rallies, as much for her benefit as Laura's. "An' it means I dunnae want to take advantage of the kindnesses afforded to me now, aye? Moira an' Professor Xavier an' all the teachers here, putting their ainsel's ou' for me, when they dunnae have to."

Nodding slowly, Laura takes a moment before she finds something to reply with. Finally, she says, "Moving on. That's the part I guess I have problems with... but it's not something that can be forced, either." There's a quiet sigh. "I think out of anyone here, you'd be the least likely to take advantage of anything or anyone, so I don't think you have to worry about that." Idly picking her soaked shirt sleeves up from her arm here or there, she adds, "So... stop worrying so much. You've got it good. You're not in that bad situation anymore. But... just don't worry that you're taking advantage of it all. Because you're not." At least, she doesn't think so.

"It isnae easy, the moving on. An' sometimes when yeh think yeh've put it behind yeh..." Rahne trails off there with a sigh of her own before forcing herself back on topic. "I'm sure tha' it will come to yeh in time, if yeh let it. Bu' nae, dunnae force it. Jus' ... maybe be open to it?" she suggests lightly, in no way trying to imply that Laura /isn't/ open to it already. "An' ... ach, I'll try no' to worry so much," she allows with a wry grin, shrugging a shoulder. "Bu' I've always been a worrywart, so I dunna tha' I can make
promises there."

Sighing, Laura replies quietly, "I think I've been alone for so long... my anger was what kept me alive... and I don't know how to let that go." That might be quite the insight for a teen girl. But then, she's been alone; she's had plenty of time to think. "Anger. Outrage. It kept me going. Kept me one step ahead of those who might want to hurt me. It's hard to... just let that go." Now she's the one faltering over her words a bit as she seems to hold some things back. Clearing her throat, she draws in a sharp breath through her nose and quickly switches gears. "Well, we'll have to change that, won't we? Break you of the worrywart-itis. Too much worrying will find you in an early grave, you know." She nods as though she totally knows this to be true.

"Aye, tha' makes sense. Bu' ... yeh dunnae have to be alone anymore. An' there isnae anyone here who's gang to hurt yeh," Rahne points out gently. Douchey teachers quite aside, apparently. "Maybe ... Maybe it isnae an entirely bad thing, yeh're anger. I .. envy yeh for yer - yer spirit. Bu' jus' ... dunnae let it define who yeh are, maybe? It's something tha' it took me some time to learn here, bu' yeh dunnae have to be wha' people expect all the time. Yeh can be whoever yeh want to be." She gives a little shrug, and then her eyebrows go up at Laura's own advice. "Oh aye?" she replies calmly, as if considering the early grave risk of worrying.

"My... spirit?" Laura echoes a little curiously, then actually does something that doesn't happen too often these days: she smiles. It's kind of an 'I know, I know' type of thing, but it's a smile nonetheless. "Uh, thanks. But... it kinda is who I am. I mean... I'm the broody, moody girl who doesn't play well with others." Is this a reputation thing? Sighing, she says, "I just get so angry with how everyone seems to look at things through rose-tinted glasses." Slim Summers excluded at the risk of a bad pun? "It's infuriating to me. Like... at the museum with those kids tossing up hate-messages against mutants on the one exhibit... everyone was like 'turn the other cheek'." There's a pause as she fixates her gaze on Rahne, saying resolutely, "I -can't-. I just can't. I want to -do- something about it. But what -can- you do about it? Except maybe be angry and use that anger to get you through."

"Aye, it's hard, seeing such injustice in the world," Rahne agrees with a solemn nod, leaning up against the bannister as she carefully considers her words. "I jus' ... try to help where I can, I guess. I ken tha' I cannae change the world, bu' I can ... change mysel' for the better, righ'? I cannae stop those kids a' the museum, an' if we fough' them, it woul' only convince them they're righ'... So I try to be the type of mutant tha' I wish they woul' see. I dunna tha' they ever will, bu' I cannae help tha'. Ach, it makes more sense in my head," she says with a wry shake of her head. "I guess wha' I am trying to say... Yeh have to focus on the things yeh /can/ do, tha' yeh /can/ change, aye? An' one of the hardest things to do is to change someone else's mind."

Sighing again, Laura stares off at the Professor's office door again. "All this trying to rise above it crap... I'm sorry... it just seems so ineffectual. What good is it doing that and not doing anything else to stop these things from happening if they don't -want- to see what kind of a good person you are?" Looking back at the redhead, she adds, "Look, I get what you're getting at. I just think it would only work in an ideal world. And ours
is far from ideal." It seems her own mind is pretty set on things. "It's true what they say about actions speaking louder than words, but inaction coupled with silence gets completely missed on the unwashed masses, Rahne. Trust me on this."

"If yeh dunnae rise above it, they will drag yeh down to their ain level. An' we're better than tha'," Rahne says simply, but with conviction. "Rising above it doesnae mean doing naething. Bu' it means doing the righ' things for the righ' reasons. Bu' dunnae think for a moment tha' I'm saying yeh shouldnae do anything. Like a wise man once said, all tha' is necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do naething." She gives a little shrug of her shoulders. "Bu' wha' woul' yeh do to the kids a' the museum to change their minds? I jus' ... dunnae see there being too much yeh /coul'/ do there, no' unless yeh wanted to become the very mutant they were protesting against."

While Rahne speaks, Laura remains silent, staring down at her combat boots for a long moment. Finally as she is asked what she would have done, she asks back, "Other than given them both bloody noses for their troubles...?" Yeah, obviously Laura's more the 'talk with her fists' type of gal when it comes to conflict. But, after a moment's consideration, she replies more seriously with, "Detained them for the authorities. They want to vandalize, do it in a back alley and keep it to whatever thugee message they're trying to get across... but keep the hate messages out of it. But do all that in a museum? -And- add the hate message? They ran off. Justice never even had a chance."

Rahne's eyebrows twitch up a bit at Laura's initial response, and she's grateful when the girl goes on, because she clearly had no idea what to say to the bloody nose plan. But to the idea of detaining the little vandals, she nods her head. "Aye, maybe. If yeh coul' get them withou' showing the whole museum tha' yeh're one of those very mutants. If yeh coul' stop them an' turn them in, then aye, I wouldnae argue wi' tha'. They broke the rules, an' they deserve to get caugh'." She shrugs again, since that really seems simple enough to her.

As opposite as these two girls seem, maybe they're more similar than they thought. Laura sighs and shrugs, "I don't have to pop my claws... so really, if I tripped them or punched them, it would just look like some girl got pissy with them. Nothing mutant about that." Well... some habits are hard to kill. "Anyway... whatever. It's done. That incident anyway. More and more stuff happens every day, though. It just keeps escalating. Frankly, if I'm going down, I'm taking people down with me." She then moves to stand, picking idly at her clothes again. "I need to go find a towel or something..." she mutters grumpily, suddenly moody again.

"I though' yeh were jus' gang to detain them," Rahne points out tactfully. "Tha' doesnae usually take a lot of tripping and punching, no' if yeh do it righ'." But she's not going to dwell on it either, nodding in agreement that the whole thing is over and done with. "Jus' ... dunnae lose all hope, all righ'? Maybe some people are doing something. Jus' ... quietly." She shrugs again, moving on quickly again. "An' I dunnae think yeh are going down. I think anyone trying to take yeh down woul' have a verra hard time of it." She sounds almost envious there. As Laura stands, Rahne moves back a bit to give her ample room to pass. "Aye, it's ... getting late. I shouldnae keep yeh."

Trying to wring out her hair a bit more, then giving up, Laura shove her hands into her pockets and finally replies, "Yeah, well, maybe they need to do things more loudly because let me tell you... people are losing hope. I still have connections on the streets. People are going missing. Mutants. Without a trace. I heard about it before it hit the news. I'm still trying to contact all my people... some of them might be gone. There's something rotten in the air, Rahne." She turns to go up the stairs, then pauses and looks down at the girl. "Can't you smell it?" She then turns and heads up the stairs unless she's stopped.

"I'm sorry tha' yer friends are missing," Rahne says solemnly and sincerely, making the automatic jump from 'people' to 'friends'. "If there's anything tha' I can do... If yeh need help looking or ... jus' want to talk abou' it..." But she trails off with a sigh, bending over to pick up her book and her cookies with a conflicted expression, not trying to call Laura back.