Age Of Magneto

What Did You Say Your Name Was?

Erik had pulled together a massive rally - and droves of mutants had shown up ... though the people he was relying on for back up weren't lined up on the stage with him. Someone had pointed out that showcasing your heavy hitters all in one spot was a pretty weak strategy if something actually went wrong, so instead, Erik was center stage with Wanda while the others in his slowly growing inner circle were dispersed around the crowd watching for trouble.

Interestingly enough, K was more on the outskirts - and she wasn't wearing a uniform. And that was something Bobby picked up when he saw her and all but skated over - not very subtly - to grin her way. "Decided you didn't like their color scheme?" he asked, still with a wide grin on.

"I'm not really one to beg for attention," she said, giving him a quick once over. "Subtle."

Bobby smirked and gestured down at himself. "Hey, me? I look good. I look good in anything, mind you, but not everyone can pull it off."

"True story," she agreed, her focus on the crowd around them. "As long as you're happy with it."

"And I am," Bobby agreed. He stuck his hand out. "So. I'm Iceman, and I gotta say, I'm a real fan of anyone who gets Cyke to make that 'the world is unfair' face."

She pushed herself off of the tree she was leaning on to shake his hand. "So that's the thing? Everyone goes by clown names? I thought it was just his crew," K said tipping her head toward the stage.

Bobby blinked at her and then shook his head, making a perfectly-shaped ice crystal and holding it out to her. "It fits. Come on. Tell me I don't have the best codename. At least it's not Cyclops or The Blob."

"Oh, it absolutely fits," she agreed. "But your mother probably spent months deciding to nickname you Bobby. You should use it."

Bobby stopped. "I... definitely did not tell you my name, Fashion Snob Woman...."

"Would you prefer Rob, or ..."

"Oh god no," Bobby said. "Where-" He shook his head. "Magneto, right?"

She gently shook her head at that, holding his gaze. "He prefers everyone to use their 'mutant' names. Whatever that means."

"I mean, we go by our real names back home but ... where... how did..."

She gave him a glance over her shoulder and simply started to walk along the edge of the crowd. "Are you here to stop something in particular or ..."

"We're just trying to make sure it doesn't turn, y'know... violent. Which it tends to do," Bobby said, trying to get it back as he shook his head.

"Erik is handling any sentinels that try to come close," K said. "Everyone else here seems interested in his spiel."

"Right, but that's... kind of what tends to lead to violence," Bobby pointed out.

She let out a little 'hmm' and found another more shady tree to stand under. "This is my first one."

"The last one I was at? The mob mentality was thick. Just about got stampeded trying to stop a beat-down of some humans at a mall," Bobby told her frankly. "Not pretty."

"How did it start?" she asked.

"Welllll...." Bobby let out a sigh. "If you want the truth, idiot teenage boys calling a mob full of mutants 'freaks' was definitely not helpful."

"Sounds like it was an attempted case of Darwinism."

Bobby shook his head. "Yeah, okay, listen, if we're gonna beat down every idiot teenager in the world, we'll be real busy? And also, according to Beast, I'd be dead fifty times over..."