Laura Kinney

[ @wxpnx23​ liked for a starter !! ]

First day back in District X wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. There were questions, and answers, and more questions and even more answers. Elysia was exhausted. After she made sure the others she brought in with her were okay and settled, she stole herself away from the group and wandered out into the heart of the district. Already she was lost as it had grown quite the ways since she had last been there; there were buildings and pathways and gardens and people and homes - it was, essentially, it’s own miniature city, one that Elysia was most glad to have returned to, but she needed a little help.

“Excuse me?” Elysia prompted to a dark haired mutant and tapped her on the shoulder, to gather her attention. Well, in the hopes of. “Sorry to bother, but I’m a little turned around… Uh, which way is the clinic from here?”

Laura hadn’t been in the district too long, but she had started to get used to it all easily enough. She’d almost entirely memorized the layout of the district, having taken many a walk to get used to it. She didn’t like unknowns, not when she could help it at least. And, she kept her ear out for important events. She’d heard a new girl had arrived, or returned apparently, and had brought some others with her. She assumed eventually they’d run into each other, (she somehow managed to run in to pretty much everyone) but hadn’t expected it to be this soon.

Laura had braced herself to the new scent approaching her, so the shoulder tap hadn’t startled her as much as it might had she not been on alert. She turned to face the younger mutant, and kept her face impassive. “Keep going down this street, take a right, and then a left and you’ll be there.” She turned to walk away, but had a second thought. Leaving a new girl in the district, even one who could probably take care of herself, didn’t exactly sit well with her. “I could walk you there, if you want?”

@wxpnx23​

Things had been…difficult at the school, all those years earlier. It went beyond the usual mix of teenage hormones and social dynamics. Their lives weren’t and had never been normal, so of course school wasn’t going to be normal either. Josh’s biggest regrets came from that period of his life. He’d lost so many people and felt like he’d let plenty of others down. 

Laura numbered among the latter. He’d thought plenty of times of reaching out to her once she arrived in District X, but there had always been some reason not to. The clinic, usually. Josh kept himself busy, sometimes overly busy, because he didn’t know what to do otherwise. He’d had staff trained for awhile, though, and they could handle the place barring some emerging crisis. That day, he decided to let them. 

He’d been out walking for awhile, meandering rather than going anywhere with purpose, and eventually he strayed close to the school. Unsure if she saw him the same time he saw her, he raised one hand and waved. “You busy?” 

Laura didn’t exactly have many fond memories of her time with the X-Men. To be fair, it wasn’t ENTIRELY on the shoulders of her fellow young X-Men. She hadn’t exactly made it easy for them to get close to her. Made it quite difficult, actually. Still, it didn’t feel great to be looked at like a monster by all of them, especially after they found out she was on the X-Force. 

But, there was a silver lining to it all. It had all made her stronger. And, in a weird way, reminded her she was human. The fact is, she wasn’t the same person she was back then. And, for the most part, she’d been moving past all of it. Being around the others wasn’t as...uncomfortable, as it used to be. Which was growth, in a way. Progress. 

When she wasn’t in the greenhouse, Laura liked to sit around outside on campus, take in the fresh air, maybe read a book. It was during one of these moments that an old teammate approached her. Josh. Turning her head, she raised her eyebrow, shutting her book. “Not particularly. It’s...been a long time. What do you want?”

@wxpnx23​

When Laura had asked him if she could attend to the greenhouse in a more formal way, he’d been happy to grant the request. Not only did it eliminate rotating the responsibility between the staff, but he couldn’t even recall another time when Laura had actually approached him to ask for something for herself. To even get her into the District in the first place, he’d gone to her, and the only thing she’d asked of him was that her sister be allowed to accompany her. The greenhouse was an easy thing to provide.

Once in awhile, he checked in, but rarely did he manage to show up while she was actually there. That day he seemed to be lucky, and he could see her moving among the green when he stepped inside. “This place has never looked better,” he offered by way of greeting. “It suits you.”

It had taken Laura three days to convince herself to ask to take care of the greenhouse. Although it was a coping mechanism she had discovered during her time with the X-Men previously, it was one she had developed privately. She had kept it to herself, and the idea of sharing it with the others was...nerve wracking. So, when Scott had agreed to let her take care of it, with little questioning or even a confused look, it had meant something. Though she’d never share that with him.

And with all the drama going on with her family right now, she NEEDED this. Needed the stress relief it gave her, and the solitude of it all. Nobody seemed to bother her when she was in there. Until today. She had smelled Scott approaching before he had stepped inside, so she had turned to the door when he walked in. “Thank you,” she responded simply. “It...helps with the stress.”

self para for Laura about donning the mantle of wolverine.

Laura wouldn’t describe herself as a party girl. Not entirely. A part of that was simply that no bar that she’d know of made anything with enough alcohol to actually get her drunk, anyway, and most of the stuff tasted terrible on its own. That and her upbringing didn’t exactly put going to parties on her to do list. She preferred to be by herself, or at most with the few people she actually trusted.

But, Warren had wanted to go, and he’d used his puppy dog eyes and she did have a hard time saying no to those and she missed the big idiot so she had relented. They had spoken of a few joint costumes before settling on a twist on the classic phantom of the opera (gender swapping had been her idea). It scared her, she had to admit, to basically admit to everyone they were together. But, here she was.

shoutout to @lightascending​ for the edit! Laura as The Phantom, a Phantom of the Opera sex swap. Specific costume details under the keep reading :)

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Gabby pulls the headphones off her head, resting them on her bed when the sound of the apartment door slamming captures her attention instead. She quickly stands up to leave the bedroom and see what was going on. What could have upsetting her sister like this? The least Gabby can do is try cheering her up in any way that would work. Jonathan was left asleep in the other room while Gabby sought out her older sister.

Her hands throwing long strands of hair up into a messy bun just when Laura approaches her. “Are you okay? Why did you slam the door?”

They’ve been busy, sent on different missions that separated them for a while but now they have the chance for family time again! Which meant her eyes widened in excitement. “Did you just say amusement park? Can we do that? I want all the cotton candy and to ride all the rides and win a stuffed animal bigger than Jonathan! Oh! Maybe we can stop at a diner along the way and there will be a creepy cook named Vincent but we overlook it because the burgers are just that good!” She playfully tugs on her sister’s arm while expressing her delight at the ideas.

Most of what was bothering her Laura couldn’t really talk about to her sister, even if she wanted to. She wasn’t going to tell him about what Daken had been doing, or what had happened. It wasn’t her information to share, and she wanted to spare Gabby the pain of it all if she could. “Don’t worry about it,” she mumbled, opening up the fridge and grabbing a drink from it. “Just some people getting on my nerves. Not all of us are social butterflies like you, after all.”

“Amusement park it is,” Laura replied simply, grabbing her keys from the counter and turning to head out of the apartment. She hadn’t been to an amusement park in a long time, since Logan...Shaking her head, she pulled herself from her reminiscing. 

@wxpnx23

With his company’s expansion reaching Star City, Warren felt obligated to keep his tabs on this location in particular. The serene ocean atmosphere in the distance, while nothing new to him, provided a homely atmosphere right outside his office window. There were also a slew of familiar faces within the area, specifically in one that was known as “District X.” Though he was eager to see old friends and acquaintances, there was one who resonated most with him in recent months. 

Admittedly, she was a tough nut to crack but she was a woman who consistently held her ground without faltering. And while he cherished the times when they worked together, he needed to be reminded that in certain circumstances, she could handle herself. For that, he couldn’t help but admire her from a distance, offering his help only when needed. 

But he’s felt lonely without her. When she mentioned something about a mission, he sprung on the opportunity to expedite his expansion to Star City and arrange for an impromptu visit to District X. She mentioned something about the place being primarily for mutants, which would deem it safe to use his wings. 

He spotted her from a distance, carefully landing a few feet away, wings partially folded back. Brushing some dust from his pants, he cleared his throat and addressed her with a humbled grin. His brows softened at the sight of the other, outstretching his arms towards her, should she choose to embrace him.

“Told you I’d be here quick,” he said. “Heard you were stressed out and I figured since I missed you anyway, I decided to expedite my flight to be here. How are you feeling now?”

It had taken some adjusting, but Laura had finally started to feel like she was getting used to being in District X. And for someone who wasn’t quite used to being surrounded by people, that was surprising. But, it did make a sort of sense. Her family was here. Pretty much everyone that she cared about was here. Except...

Her and Warren’s relationship was...strange. Unexpected. It snuck up on her, and he had wormed his way into her heart while she wasn’t looking. From the outside, she could tell how it would look to people. They were total opposites. She was darkness, lethal and threatening and terrifying. Warren was the perfect contrast to that: kind, thoughtful, beautiful, hell he even had wings like a damn angel. They should never have worked together. Laura hadn’t dreamed to think they’d last even this long.

And yet, here they were. A few months strong, despite the distance between them. They were adults, they could handle being apart. Laura was certainly no lovesick puppy starving for attention. And, with video call, they had kept in touch as much as possible. But, that wasn’t like having him actually around, and she had been missing him, especially in the wake of recent events. Someone in her corner wouldn’t exactly be frowned upon at the moment. 

She hadn’t told pretty much anyone about the relationship, no one other than Gabby knew. It wasn’t that she was ashamed, it was simply that she didn’t care. She didn’t want to hear about what people thought, or about his checkered past with relationships, or why he was too good for her (and he was.) She was content for it to just be...them.

And then, as she was taking a walk around the district to clear her head, he basically dropped out of the sky. She knew he was coming, but she didn’t expect him to be here so soon. And, normally she wasn’t one for public displays of affection, especially in front of so many people she knew. But Warren was here and this week had sucked and she had just needed someone on her side, so she rushed to him as fast as she could, throwing her arms around him and pulling him close.

“Like I need to get out of here,” she mumbled into his chest. “Dinner?”

RL: Why everyone in your family gotta be so damn dramatic? Didn’t he break it off? I ain’t really up on everything.

RL: Yeah. That’s complicated. Easier to just show you.

RL: Real nice to ol’ Gambit, you know. And after I offered to make you dinner.

LK: The million dollar fucking question right there. I blame Logan. Something in the genes.

LK: Well that’s suspicious. Just assumed it was a girl you managed to keep for more than five minutes. But that is unrealistic

RL: I been… bit preoccupied. But your brother ain’t got no claim on Ice Man. 

RL: Well you know you always got a break with me, claw-baby. You can meet Acantha.

RL: I got that way ‘bout me.

LK: Took him too long to get that memo. And now I gotta deal with the fallout of that mistake.

LK: Acantha? 

This week might just be the WORST one she’d been having in a while. Not even including the high stakes underwater mission they just went on. No, immediately after that she had to deal with the school looking at her like she was crazy for Daken’s idiotic actions with Kurt, she had to bump into her ex in the worst possible time, AND she had to meet with Frost too.

So, overall, she needed a goddamn break. And quickly. Slamming the door of their shared apartment, Laura approached her sister, running her hands through her hair.

“I need a break. And I haven’t seen you enough. So just...pick a movie in theatres, or a trail to hike, or an amusement park, or a place to eat or...something. Because I need to get the hell out of here for a bit, and with someone who won’t drive me completely insane.”

RL: I guess I ain’t the whole school. What’s going on? Someone need a stern talking to?

RL: True. Ain’t never seen someone eat like you do. How ‘bout some Jumbalaya? I got some Andouille. Real spicy like you like, petite.

LK: Really? You missed that? Daken broke into the danger room and threatened Kurt cause Kurt’s with Bobby.

LK: and it’s not a secret. Fucking dumbass. no, I’ve got it. I’ve already chewed him out for it. Left me drained and I need a break.