Welcome to Gaia! ::

Robert had promised to meet her and with his life in Chicago he had no trouble navigating New York, city-to-city, he loved the city. He walked with his thumbs hooked in his jeans and entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he had agreed to meet with his half-sister in front of a painting by Eugène Delacroix that Robert had been wanting to stand and study for awhile.

He was right where he said he would be, taking in the painting bit by bit and thinking of nothing else but it. A rather normal looking man dressed up in a tan colored suit and brown shoes, his hands clasped behind his back and his posture straight and still. No one would ever have guessed where he had come from or the kind of people his parents were. No one could guess, just looking at him, that he was a mutant and that behind his contacts was a pair of solid eyes of red and black. And no one would be able to go further and guess that he had a beautiful ability, that he could mend damaged organic matter. He could heal.

Robert, himself, didn’t think of those things. It was part of him but not a part he considered so important that he wanted it to govern his life, he considered his studies and his work as an archeologists, and soon to be, anthropologist, to be far more important. Robert held his religion closer, even still, he choose to shape himself by his trust and faith in God. The color is divine, its organic in a life of its own, genius and the movement is fluid and dramatic, a more beautiful scene than could be captured on any camera... things are so much more important when taken in and then reborn through human memory, heart, and soul. Yes, I see God in this work... something about Delacroix absolutely connects with me and, Robert stopped his internal commentary as he heard someone approaching him. He turned his head to the side to confirm it was the person he was expecting to meet and when it was he turned fully. A cautious but not unfriendly grin came across his mouth and he collected her hand between both of his.

"Hello once more." Robert greeted. "It has been too long for two people sharing a father to not see one another, don't you think?"

“Petre Stark wants to change the world by reforming the Avengers and the candidates for that team are almost all the children of ex-heroes or people who have close ties with ex-heroes,” Robert answered. “But I don’t know if she can pull it off, as always, the different egos and the leftovers or pro and anti registration are not making it easy. I also think she’s trying to perform under the pressure of her father but if she’s anything like him, she’s not going to give up easily. She said she would pay as me as much everyday as I make all year at my current job, what do you think of that for incentive?” Robert smirked, his mouth like their fathers. His reddish-brown hair was kept clipped short against his head and lightly gelled just so he looked like he cared, all things to keep his professional image in-tact. He didn’t want to show up with bed head and colic swirls. “You missed the meeting but, I wouldn’t be worried, there was not many people that showed up and no one was excited about it, sad…” He suddenly stopped sounding like a radio reporter for the NPR and emotion entered his voice, strange, and almost depressed. “Too think heroes use to have to work and give everything to be part of something like the Avengers and now… Tony Stark’s kid can’t pay someone enough to join. What’s happened to… everyone?” He stared at the painting. Robert felt, through his own speech he had just realized what he had to do. I need to take this job and I need to do it not because of the pay, I need to do it because… it does matter. It is important. He sighed and eyed the girl at his side. “Did you not receive an invitation?”

“No, honey, I’m the voice of a shrewd intellectual who can’t get on an airplane without a paper bag,” Robert chuckled, his chest moved a bit and he smiled, showing well-brushed teeth with some light staining from drinking a lot of coffee, tea, and soda. “I think I am going to join because I’ve always thought of myself as a humanitarian. Trying to see other cultures without the prejudice of your own and trying to take everyone as an individual… there isn’t a good future with all the hate lingering from the Hero Registration Act and, in the end, it only serves to weaken not only the hero community but the world community, it has been long enough.” He tried to keep worry over the Starks out of his mind. “You should have come, Cossette,” Robert looked down at her in that fatherly way. “Not many people showed up, it is a shame that you didn’t because you were doubting yourself. Out of all the reasons to not give something a chance, the ones you just gave are not very good. You’d be wonderful on a team of heroes and… you would get to experience living right in New York city. And you know what? In the end. If it doesn’t work out… it was a great experience for you, something you would be able to take anywhere else and I’m going to join. I’ll be there.” He reached over and carefully put his hand on his shoulder, fingernails clipped short and clean. “If I could gain some support as an Avenger, I might be able to translate that into fund for my other projects…” Projects to help people and research to help save indigenous peoples being consumed by greedy industry, loosing their culture everyday, forced into situations that leave them impoverished for decades because someone was too lazy to bring in the right people to make things work, Robert looked at the painting again. “It’s hard to change. Typically, I don’t like it.”

“Oh, I am still in the habit of drinking coffee throughout the day,” Robert said tenderly. His brown eyes, though contacts, were dark but ordinary. Something easy to trust and easy to look at. “I think I passed a small café on my walk here, well, I’m sure I passed a lot of them. Sometimes I don’t pay as much attention as I should, I suppose I need to begin to correct that if I am seriously going to become an Avenger,” He rubbed his covered arm. “I feel that I’m too old to be starting this kind of career… if this kind of thing is actually considered a career…” On that, he didn’t know, deep in his reflection of what it met and what it was. He didn’t feel it was his world but, at the same time, he knew the feeling of discovery. I’m sure the first men to crawl into the Pyramids didn’t feel at home, either, he thought. Maybe I need to get me a hat like Indiana Jones, maybe that is where the power lies.

Robert chuckled briefly, “You know, Cossette, neither of us are much like our father.” He observed. “We worry too much, don’t we?”

“Reckless is a better word for him,” Robert sour tone told enough. “I will show you,” He seemed to hesitate leaving the painting but when he did turn away he began to walk briskly.

Robert navigated the city like a high profile lawyer who worked these streets everyday but he lived in Chicago for a long time now and he felt connected to the broken concrete and sparse plantings. The shop was on the corner but a sleeve of a place with a narrow door, he opened it, a bell jingled behind. Once he stepped in, he kept his hand on the door so it remained open for Cossette. “Come in, come in, it looks shabby but it’s a local place,” He already was finding them, he had an eye for it. Knew where to look. Inside, everything was dim and condense. A small espresso bar had rows of bottles behind on glass shelves like they were hard liquor when they were only flavoring, some more exotic than others. A soft black chair in a corner next to a tiny table was where Robert motioned for her to go as he approached the counter.

“Your best coffee for myself and the lady there, I take your India Red in mine and she…” He looked back at her. It was obvious he intended to pay, he was already taking out a plain wallet.

[[Cossette_LeBeau]]
“On n'aime que ce qu'on ne possède pas tout entier.

It was clear that Cossette and Robert had very different views of their father which was why the blond's heart sunk a few levels within her chest as Robert called their father 'reckless'. "He's not--" She cut herself off partly because she knew it was a useless argument and partly because Robert was soon swiftly leading her to a nearby cafe.

Whatever Robert thought of their father was his own personal business. Robert and Cossette had different mothers and grew up in contrasting lifestyles. Robert had reasons for calling their father things like 'reckless'. But still, it hurt Cossette to hear such things. Not because she felt like she had gotten the better half of the deal but because she wanted Robert to see the father that she knew. The hero, the brave man, and the doting father.

“Come in, come in, it looks shabby but it’s a local place.” Cossette snapped out of her thoughts and looked around the small cafe, a genuine entranced smile spreading across her once troubled face. When Robert gave the order fir his coffee and then waited for her to fill in her own, Cossette looked up at the barista behind the counter.

"Just a cup of French Roast, s'il vous plaît." Her tastes in coffee had always been simple, just like most everything else. As they took their orders, Cossette took a seat, staring into the steaming cup of coffee. "Merci, Robert." She smiled, the barista behind the counter watching her, entranced by her soft features. Cossette was unaware however of the young man's obvious affections-- he even charged Robert for half price for her coffee --and was focused on her brother. "I should find a way to pay you back. Maybe I should get you an Indiana Jones hat. You are always traveling." A lighthearted chuckled bubbled forth from her lips. "Or is that too silly of me to suggest?"

[[Cossette_LeBeau]]
“On n'aime que ce qu'on ne possède pas tout entier.

Cossette thanked Robert for the cheesecake, taking a small bite as she looked to him. "You know me better than you give yourself credit, Robert." She paused as the elder man expressed some interest in their father. Cossette thought of her father then spoke. "He was always the 'wild one' in the X-Men, doing what he wanted when he wanted. He was rebellious and sassy but then.. But then mama tamed him. Just enough mind you." She took a sip of coffee and her voice softened from it's excited tone, "He may just appear to be the 'ragin' cajun' to others but he isn't. He's warm and kind and has an undying sense of adventure. It's like he can't get enough of life. Yet he loves the simple things: me, mama, staying at home and cooking. Papa-- he is something else. There are a lot of things about papa that others don't realize because they don't look. I don't know how to describe him. But, I would never wish for another papa.

[[Cossette_LeBeau]]
“On n'aime que ce qu'on ne possède pas tout entier.

A two handed grip on the coffee cup slightly tightened, the avoidance of eye contact, abandonment of the mostly eaten cheesecake, the softer breathing-- it was all a sign of uncertainty and hurt. "Robert, I-- I really do love you for who you are. You're such a treasure and it's been such a privilege to actually get to know you. I hope you find what you need in life." Cossette looked up but not at Robert. She didn't look at anything in particular. A long paused followed as Cossette went into thought, taking a slow sip of her coffee. All of the people I cherish... Will I lose them if I go through with this? "I'm-- I'm leaving. I want to make a difference. I want to fight for a cause that I believe in. But right now I'm not sure if Petre Stark's cause is my cause. I've found my cause.. and I need to change things my way. I just.. don't think I'll come back if I go." She finished the last of her coffee and finally looked up at Robert, a look in her eyes that was so gentle, so full of love that it could break anyone's heart. "Robert, there are so many things I wish I could tell you. So many things I wish we could do and say and share. But we can't. Not yet and maybe not ever." The chair scraped against the ground as Cossette stood up. "Thank you for meeting me today. Je vous aime*, Robert." She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek before standing and leaving. As Robert watched her walk away, a dark and heavy feeling seemed to crush him.

As if he knew something terrible was going to happen.

[[*"I love you" Sorry if it got all sappy and angsty lol. I have a semi-idea forming so far and I really, really like it. Also, sorry for god-moding just a bit at the very end. You can cyber slap me for that!]]