[Voice, locked to residents] --EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--

[malnosso]

[At 2:15AM, the journals suddenly blare out an alarm, followed by this message.]

EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY. This is an emergency.

The following occupants of the Luceti enclosure must report to the teleporters in twenty minutes. You are required as reinforcements in Region 13. Bring all necessary armaments with you. You will be teleported directly into combat.

Anyone who fails to comply will be forcibly escorted to the teleporters by droids.

This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill. You have twenty minutes.

[The message repeats twice more, the alarm continuing until the twenty minutes has elapsed. No questions will be answered.]

Comments

[wildbluevagner]

[Kurt winds up arriving by the teleporters with only minutes to spare, nervously rubbing at his bed-head. He has swords sheathed at his side, and it's hard for him to hide how anxious he's feeling.]

Mia! [It's a concerned greeting.]

[frost_jewel]

[As he wasn't in the chaos of the house's preparations, Mia is surprised to see Kurt appear before her.]

What's- [Armed. Oh. The sentence dies with the rest of her exhale.]

[wildbluevagner]

[Kurt's surprised too, having not seen the list. And he frowns.]

A draft... that's what. [He hesitates, just in case he's misunderstanding. Maybe she's here to see people off? Maybe that's a thing people are willing to do at 2 in the morning?] You too?

[frost_jewel]

Me, too. [But where was he when she and Rogue were in the kitchen telling fleeting dark reminiscing jokes about straws?] The droids didn't drag you here, did they?

[wildbluevagner]

[Sleeping too heavily is where he was, until Laura woke him up, and still met Rogue anyway because timelines are weird. But his cloud of denial is burst - another person drafted.]

No, I managed to get here fine. The upside of sleeping in is that I have an express route to wherever I'm going. [He just can't demonstrate right now, because yeah. Tunnels.]

[frost_jewel]

[Something painful works its way through Mia so quickly she doesn't feel it in and of itself; she shudders from its aftershocks.]

I'm worried, Kurt. [Someone ought to know.]

[wildbluevagner]

[Kurt's fur is practically standing on end as he considers what is to come. He's never quite heard of a Malnosso emergency before. This seems different - new and scary. As Mia admits that, he looks on in concern and breathes out a sentence.]

I'm worried, too.

[He lets it hang there for a moment, before he tries speaking onwards.]

It sounds like a lot of us are going out there. [Including Jean, who's never been drafted before.] ...But that also means we can all watch each other's backs.

[frost_jewel]

That's because a lot of us are. [Their matched serious tones clash with Kurt's bedhead in a way that surprises a smile out of her for a second.] I worry about Luceti while we're gone, too.

[wildbluevagner]

[It's an idea he hadn't considered before, but one that makes sense, given that it was just last year that the enclosure was invaded. It's scary to think about, especially with all the capable fighters who were drafted. And Scott and Bobby, both relatively new to Luceti, were both left behind there.

There's a mix of empathy and slight teasing in his response.]

You really do worry enough for the whole village. But there's not much we can do on that front, is there? [Aside from stopping whatever emergency is out there before it can directly threaten the village itself in some way.]

[frost_jewel]

Well someone has to make up for those who don't even worry enough for themselves.

[Kurt.

Her smile is grateful, though.]

[wildbluevagner]

Fine! [He finds himself smiling as he tried to act agitated by it.]

If that's the way it is, maybe I'll just take some of your worrying for myself! And there's nothing you can do to stop me.

[He dips an imaginary spoon towards Mia's head, as if scooping up ice cream.]

[frost_jewel]

[The motions are...unusual, but the sentiment is real.]

Oh, no, I can't trust you with it. Something awful might happen to it while it's with you, and then where would I be?

[wildbluevagner]

[He tried ok. The sentiment definitely can't get any realer.]

Come on, I can totally handle it! Would it be so bad to end up a little more worry-free? If it means a Mia who smiles more, I don't see the problem there!

[frost_jewel]

I think I smile a lot already, Kurt.

[That one stung, as the implication that she's doing a disservice to herself of her friends always does, however humorously intended.]

[wildbluevagner]

You have a good track record. I'll give you that much. [He plays at mulling it over. He's trying to make sure he doesn't slip in anything that hits him. He'd much rather live in this moment of levity for as long as possible; he's not even sure how much longer they have left until they have to leave at this point.] Still, smiles must be a lot better when they're not mixed with worries.

[frost_jewel]

They are. Still...this stretch of calm was too good to be true, wasn't it?

[wildbluevagner]

I guess it was. [Reality starts to drag him down, but he holds a soft look on his face.] At least we'll have something calm to think back to, whenever things get crazy.

[frost_jewel]

[Mia can't help but smile again and shake her head.]

You really don't worry about anything.

[wildbluevagner]

[He runs a hand through his hair.]

It's only because I don't have to do homework here! ...Or maybe I just find it a lot harder to worry, when I'm around friends.