Kevin, the sheepfarmer

[southernreaper]

Kevin loves the smell of Scotland in the morning. Even tainted by sheep dung, he loves the smell of it. Running along the road, he waves to the cow trimmer that trundles past him on the farm road, headed toward one of the dairy farms a bit away. At his side, jogs his Rottweiler, Mimsy, her tags jangling softly in time with her paws hitting the ground. "C'mon Mimsy." He picks up the pace and turns into the farm yard, headed for the little cottage he has. The owners of the sheep farm allowed him to stay there, rent free, because of the work that he put in around the farm. His small blacksmith operation, taken over from the owner's husband, brought him in a little bit of money, as did his pay from the farm. And there was the small prize money he'd won on Forged in Fire. So, he is doing alright.

He's left the XMen, New York, Georgia... all of that is behind him and he's content. He barely watches the news and only watches the local stuff when he does. There's nothing to be worried about out here.

He flips the sheep over, straddling it, and begins trimming feet, quickly and efficiently, with the other workers lining up the sheep with Mimsy's help. She woofs as a car pulls into the drive. Kevin lets the sheep go and pulls the next one over. "Jake! Go see who that is. Mary ain't back yet."

Jake nods, the youngest of the group, and goes trotting out to see who would come visit them today.

Jake with his red hair tied back and the sprinkling of freckles over his nose stops dead in his tracks, seeing the man step out of the car. "Can I help you?" He asks, his Scottish brogue thick with surprise.

Mimsy, curious, trots out to see the man who came to join them on the farm. She doesn't know him, but he looks nice! She sits next to Jake, and waits, her ears perked up.

Comments

[resurrxion]

It played out like this.

At age sixteen, Joshua Foley woke up to the end of his innocence. The last mutant healer left standing, the weight of the world suddenly resting on his ill-prepared shoulders. Holding the lives of his classmates in his hands had always been a burden he was not ready for, but now he was all that stood between himself and the extinction of their species.

Each failure is a weight. A precious life lost that they'll never, ever get back.

Laurie Collins dies reaching out to him, delicately trying to pull the weight from him even as he pulls away and holds tighter to this new duty. Josh Foley takes out her killer.

And things only really get worse from there. X-Force destroys him completely, taking and taking and taking until he has nothing left to give. Then, and only then, he disappears into the night. His hands are stained with blood and the sin of this, of his gift being used in such an evil manner, tarnishing that shiny gold into a lightless black for months.

He's only recently regained his healing abilities - death, it would seem, is a great renewer. Still he's far from cleansed. There is no reset on this. And so the young man who steps out of the car isn't the same young man that Kevin Ford last knew. Josh looks leagues older and oh so tired. He's bright and shiny in the humid heat of the sun, raising gloved a hand in greeting. ]

"Hey, uh..." He rubs the back of his neck, frowning a little. he hadn't thought this out. "I'm... looking for a guy? Brown hair, about ye tall? Heard he was here."

[southernreaper]

Kevin freezes. He'd been listening, but he'd been distracted. But it's not possible. Not possible. He'd come here to get away from all of them, to leave them all behind. Under his knees, the sheep struggles and he lets it up.

"Kevin, you alright?" One of the other men ask. "You see a sprite or something? You're whiter than our sheep."

"Take over here." He says, getting up and dusting his gloves off. No one here questions his gloves. The also don't question his need not to be touched. That's why he loves being here.

"Jake, go help with the flock." He says, staring at Josh. His eyes are cold and distant. This isn't the way it was supposed to happen.

"Sure, Kev. You alright?" Jake asks.

"Yeah, go on." Kevin hasn't taken his eyes off of Josh. "Mimsy, sit." The big Rottweiler sits next to his feet. He sighs. He'd known, sooner or later, that someone would come looking for him. Can't hide from Cerebra or Cerebro or whatever they're calling it these days. Not that Kevin cares. He can't. Being with the XMen had made him into a person he hadn't liked. Running had been the only option. Now, he's found peace. Should've known they'd come and destroy that.

Kevin's broadened in the time he's been gone, put on muscle. He's a bit taller now too. He jerks his head toward the cottage at the back. "Come on. We'll talk." He is going to make it very clear that he sure as hell is not going back. And why they would send Josh of all people baffles him. "Come on, Mimsy." She stands and trots after Kevin.

Daddy, she needs a treat! That's what going in while the sheep are still being trimmed means, right? TREAT!

Kevin's cottage is neat and tidy. There are a few dog toys scattered about, books on forging, in fact, there are books everywhere. The other thing there is? Cookware. None of it dirty, but he's got a lot of it hanging on his walls. He walks over and pours a mug of coffee, offering it to Josh. "I ain't goin' back." He says, bluntly. Better to get that out in the open.