A Long Goodbye

[the_queen_bees]

((OOC: Bendy timed to a week after the final events of Crisis of Faith. Also, opened to any X-Men/New X-Men/X-Kids who would feel the need to go to Sophie's funeral.))The house was somewhere between a large house and a small mansion. Not many in the local neighborhood had turned out for the funeral of Sophie Cuckoo. Most of the neighborhood had

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[ayasofia]

Sofia attended the funeral, though she kept her distance from the Cuckoos. She knew they didn't like her, as much as she wanted to be friends.

She didn't know what to think. As much as she didn't want to, she thought of the last funeral she went to. It had been for her mother.

The feelings of loss and grief for Sophie and her mother mingled. She wanted to only think of Sophie, of her life, but she couldn't keep back the thoughts of her mother. Or of Nick and Dallas, and Jay, still lying in limbo- between life and death.

She thought of heaven, how beautiful it had been, how much she wanted to stay.

She thought of how she'd been turned away from paradise.

[lil_hellion]

Julian stayed near Sofia, though kept half an eye on the girls. He had been calm and quiet on the surface, but quietly bristling on the inside. Even now he still hadn't said anything, but kept a comforting arm around his girlfriend.

Truth be told, he hated funerals. He hated them even more when it was someone he knew and cared about was the one being buried. And as much as he was loathe to admit it, part of him resented Sophie for dying on him and making him be here now

[the_queen_bees]

When their parents broke them up to mingle, Phoebe shoved Mindee towards Julian and Sofia. She stood at a distance and then simply took off towards her room.

That was about how much she wanted to deal with things.

[ayasofia]

Normally Sofia would follow someone leaving like that but she knew her presence was probably not appreciated.

"Do you want to talk to them?" She asked Julian quietly. "I don't mind if you'd rather be alone with them."

[medicalmidas]

Josh didn't know how welcome he would be here. He was the healer who failed to save Sophie. He also didn't get along with any of the Cuckoos all that well, but he thought he owed each of them condolences and a chance to get as many free shots in as they could get.

Though, the girl he had his arm around might not appreciate the last sentiment. Laurie had wanted to come with, and Josh was doing his best to not wallow in what ifs and keep her close.

[corner_bloom]

Laurie had hardly known Sophie, and she hardly knew any of the Cuckoos for that matter. It was sad, though, when someone died, especially someone so young and under such circumstances. It was frightening, too.

She had her arm around Josh's back, standing quietly and nervous. Maybe she shouldn't have come. Maybe none of this was really her business, but she'd wanted to be there for Josh. They were lucky, and they had to be there for those who weren't. She was still on the verge of tears since the service; she needed to re-learn emotional control.

"Are you okay?" She looked up and asked carefully.

[medicalmidas]

"I'm... okay." His pause was more trying to figure out if he was more than trying to lie. He wasn't going to collapse into a puddle of tears or anything. Laurie was still with him.

"How you holding up?"

[corner_bloom]

"I'm alright." She looked around the unfamiliar room and took a deep breath. "I hope I'm not intruding or anything, being here."

[old_one_eye]

There was really very little he could say right now. "I'm sorry for your loss" just sounded so hollow.

Still, he was there to offer his condolences to the family.

[marvel_nxmfam]

He was greeted by a woman, in her early fifties who had managed sometime between the burial and everyone arriving here to fix her make up. Her face didn't show signs of tears, though you could see it in her eyes.

"Mister Summers... correct?" there was a faint Parisian French accent on her voice, "Thank you for coming today."

[old_one_eye]

"Yes, Mrs. Cuckoo." He nodded his head politely.

"I wanted to come and pay my respects. I'm terribly sorry about your daughter."

[marvel_nxmfam]

"We all are," she said, easily. Stance and appearance wise, she had given a lot to her daughters. "She talked about how much she enjoyed your school," she said.

[beastly_avenger]

Hank hated funerals. And he'd been too far too many of them. Simon, Jean (even if both of them had gotten better), Candy Southerland, and countless others. It sometimes seemed as though he'd spent the bulk of his adult life at them.

And now, one of his students was deceased. The Cuckoos had been strange, troubling girls, but he had expected that, when pushed, they would rise to the occasion. And Sophie had. She'd given all that could be asked for and more.

He truly hated funerals.

[x_professor_x]

"Henry." Professor X acknowledges one of his first students with a nod, staring broodingly at his steeped fingers. If he's feeling anything more complex than the subtle grief of anyone seeing a bright young girl taken before her time, it is difficult to tell, even for someone who's known the Professor for years.

He is, of course. Enough guilt and pain to shatter the will of whole armies, should Charles command his Mutant Brain to use this misery as fuel. But Xavier is naturally a cold, reserved man. What sounds like a simple greeting could be a plea for help or a sobbing embrace from anyone else.

[beastly_avenger]

"Charles," Hank returned, with a simple nod. He wasn't Scott, or even Warren and his issues, and hadn't been looking for a new father figure in his life with the X-Men, though the Professor had certainly become that, over the years. A supplemental one, rather than a replacement, but one all the same.

He struggles with the right words; he knows Charles well enough to know when the man is hurting. "It never gets any easier," he said after a moment. "We've lost far too many, of late."

[x_professor_x]

The Professor was never looking to BE a father figure. It was, perhaps, stupid of him to think that it wouldn't happen, but there you are. Xavier doesn't really regret it, even if the role did make him feel a little older than he actually was.

"No." Xavier finally says, letting his head dip a little in acknowledgment of Hank knowing him too damn well. "It does not."

"...I'm sorry you had to see...what I had to do to subdue Reverend Stryker." Xavier murmurs, then, making sure to keep his voice down in case of prying ears.

[newfiemolotov]

Sal sat in the back. She didn't really know any of the sisters really well, but she was there solely out of respect.

That didn't keep her from dabbing at her eyes with a tissue throughout the whole thing.

[the_queen_bees]

Afterward one of the Cuckoos approached her. The look on her face was hard. None of them were taking this well, but Esme was nothing if not a ball of anger at the moment.

"What are you doing here?"

[newfiemolotov]

Sal took a deep breath, then released it slowly. While she'd viewed the Cuckoos as girls with a superiority complex and a chip on their shoulder toward the world for absolutely no reason, now, it was all different.

She'd let it all slide - they just lost their sister.

"Here to show solidarity. Sucks what happened to Sophie, it really do. I'm sorry."

The sentiment wasn't forced; it was utterly sincere.

[the_queen_bees]

Esme didn't really care if the sentiment was real, and she could tell it was. "Solidarity? Do you know what that word means? It seems a bit beyond you. Besides, you don't even know which one I am. You only know which one I'm not."