[h1][b][i][color=aba400][center]Maximillian Gray[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/rmBRrwyf/image.png[/img][/center][center][/center][hr][center][color=aba400][b]Location[/b][/color]: Mansion
[color=aba400][b]Skills[/b][/color]: [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/392257844256440322/1072256323997151362/Screenshot_20191006-040735_Instagram.jpg]Current Outfit[/url][/center]
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Nervousness ran through him as he stood inside the comfort of his house. The chill April air was blowing through a nearby window that was open. Max gripped the dark wood windowsill, taking one last look at the Louisiana view he'd learned to call home. The sounds of New Orleans filtered in from afar as people went about their day. He closed his eyes and took them in, holding them for the days he felt homesick back at the mansion. When he finally opened them again, there was a long sigh. Wood creaked behind him as Ben made his way up the stairs,  standing just beyond the door frame of their bedroom. Max didn't look back just yet, not wanting to say goodbye. He knew he would have to one day, but this felt too soon. 

[Color=aba400]"Just taking in one last view before I go. I know I'll be back, and I'll try and visit as often as possible, but…"[/color] Max's voice trailed off, knowing full well how Ben felt about all of this. He and Casper, and Max figured James as well, despised the X-men. Quite frankly Max couldn't blame them. They seemed to fight for humans more than they did mutant rights. Xaviers poster children of the world and yet where were they when the X-cutioner hit? Where did they stand when Genosha, a mutant island, was being destroyed by the Children of the Vault or Selene's hunger for power? But Max believed he could change them. Fix it from the inside out. Mutants [i]standing[/i] for mutants. Not this charade Xavier put on.

“You don’t have to do this to make a difference,” Ben said quietly. He didn’t turn around to look at Max. “You make a difference here with… with Dorian. And with [i]me.[/i] Is Xavier’s dream really worth it?” Silence clung to the air for a moment as Max's shoulders slumped. He turned around, making his way toward Ben before taking him in his hands. [Color=aba400]"This isn't about Xavier's dream. It's about making a brighter future for mutants. For Dorian. The X-Men, whether we like it or not, are the face of mutant kind. If I can change it so that they actually fight for mutants...Dorian could have a brighter future. Brighter than we were given the chance to have."[/color] Max looked at his boyfriend with pleading eyes. He [i]needed[/i] to do this.
 
“When I look at you now… I see myself… Before I died,” Ben whispered. “Just promise me… promise me you’ll come back. Promise me you won’t die a martyr. We’ve had enough funerals.” Max pulled Ben in for a hug, holding him there for a moment before pulling back and giving him a kiss. [Color=aba400]"I promise. I won't die a martyr, I've got a family that I love, and take care of to come back to."[/color] He gave his boyfriend a soft smile, pulling his hands away slowly and making a circular motion behind him. A swirl of cosmic energy,  black with hints of pinks, blues, and purples, freckled with white, opened up and surrounded a portal behind him now. Xavier's mansion could be seen through it behind him, while those within Xavier's walls would see the inside of Max and Ben's bedroom. 

[Center][color=aba400]"I love you."[/color][/center]

[Center]"I love you too, idiot"[/center]

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Max stepped in backwards through the portal, closing it as soon as he was on the other side. [Color=aba400][i]Alright Gray, pull yourself together[/i][/color] he mentally chastised himself before adjusting his grey wool coat. He chuckled silently to himself, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend's charming way of showing affection. The cold was even more prominent here in New York. Luckily he'd planned for this, wearing more than enough layers for the day. Still, he pulled his coat a bit closer together as he waited for the mansion to help warm him up. He inspected the grounds, trying to catch his bearing as to where in the mansions he'd managed to go, while also looking out for any hints at what Dorian's future might be like here. 

Growing up Max had always admired the X-men. Regardless of what his family thought, he had seen them as a symbol of good, a way towards peace that he believed was an option between mutants and humans. He wanted nothing more than to be a superhero, a child growing up within the walls of Xavier’s Mansion while gaining some outworldly powers and helping become that bridge that mankind needed. But his time in the Underground showed him the cracks within this foundation. They needed repair, a new set of eyes to see the problem and help fix it. Max wanted his son to have the opportunities he never had. If his son was a mutant, he didn't need him having to live in a world where people hated him simply because of genetics.

 He could see a ghostly silhouette of what he imagined his son would look like running through these halls when he was all grown. Max wanted to give him a better life than his parents gave him. To be raised surrounded by love and not hate. His eyes trailed over until he saw the back of another person nearby. Moving a step closer before calling out to them. [Color=aba400]"Oh, uh, excuse me. I just got here and I'm a bit lost. Would you happen to know where in the mansion I currently am?"[/color]