Aqua's visit to the Hellfire Club (open)

[Pietro Maximoff]

"Underground, at least in London," ::Pietro replied. He had not tried to seek any information since returning to America, and mutants had been far less well-known when he and Wanda had left.::

[Aqua]

"Oh," Emily said. "I guess I just wear pink glasses or something... I thought mutant community was more open than that."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro shook his head once. The concept of a mutant community as a relatively new one. With the different reactions from humans and mutants alike, it would be years before they could call themselves a genuine community, united in the same sense that other minorities were. If they ever achieved it.:: "We ourselves cannot agree if we are outcasts or evolved. There is no unity in that."

[Aqua]

"That's sad to realize," Emily said as her hand holding the pastry halted halfway to her mouth. She looked at Pietro, once again thinking how she took everything he said to be true. Even now, when it came to things he had mentioned not being well informed about. "Do you think there's a way to be a mutant and not be a part of the whole controversy?"

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro considered her question. Before Magneto's last war, his answer would have been "yes." Now however, times were less certain.:: "Actively or passively?"

[Aqua]

"Passively," Emily said.

[Pietro Maximoff]

"Not now," ::Pietro replied truthfully. He had been dragged back into the controversy from the opposite side of the world, years after he thought it would no longer be an issue. With the factions defining each side, it was impossible now. But it had been possible, and it could be possible again.:: "How can you not be part when on one side there are those that condemn your existence and on the other there are those who condemn theirs for the same reason? Existence is as passive as you can be."

[Aqua]

"Well, if you ignore your mutation," Emily suggested an example. "Not allow it to become a part of your own identity. Biologically you continue being a mutant, but psychologically you reject that - can you be not involved then?" She knew it must have sounded weird, at least bits of it, but she was unable to formulate it better.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::The conversation was beginning to tread on dangerous territory for Pietro. His own life experiences were at war with both sides of the rhetoric he had heard in his youth and with the rhetoric he had heard from the anti-mutant bigots. Over all, he did believe that most in life simply wanted to be left alone, to raise their families. But it was difficult, when those that did not want to be left alone began to bother others.:: "Most mutations cannot be simply ignored. And it is not your self-identity that affects the balance. It is how those around you perceive you."

[Aqua]

"Then, I guess, the not-involvement cannot happen," Emily agreed with a small sigh. She took a small bite off her pastry.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro nodded in agreement. There was bad blood on all sides now, paranoia, violence. Non-involvement was difficult to affect as a position.:: "Not now, but someday."

[Aqua]

Emily chuckled, a bit more bitterly than she'd want it to sound, "Gosh, I hope I'll live to see it."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::There was bitterness in her laugh, bitterness he knew all too well. It was yet another way she reminded Pietro of himself at a younger age. But she was a sweet young woman, and should not be marred by bitterness. the world would never be perfect; the world would never be close. But he did believe that, at least the smaller villages in Europe, would one day recover from the damage dealt by Magneto, and it would be possible to simply be yourself in a place like that. He would fight for that right to be left alone; he would die for that right.:: "I hope so also."

[Aqua]

Emily met his eyes. She realized that it was her fault they'd strayed off into that rather gloomy topic, and even though that hadn't been her intention, she still felt the need to apologize. "Sorry for bringing up such topics; one would think there'd be something better to talk about on a sunny day."

[Pietro Maximoff]

"Don't apologize," ::Pietro said, both reassuring her that it was not necessary and that he had taken true offense at the topic. It was a difficult one, certainly a depressing one, but it was not as though the afternoon had been ruined because of it.:: "What would you rather talk about?"