Not in control of his mind or body? Maya just had to reach out and pat Kaz's hand again. She'd heard a lot of hard analogies about drugs. At least he seemed clean now.

"Yeah, direct violence has never worked out too great for me either. I am glad you're back. It feels like... I don't know. I noticed it when I first came in. You're more... focused. Like you found purpose. Even if it was a bad road to get there."

> ”That eventually lead to me having a number of mutant only communities built in a few countries..."

Mutant... only?

Without mutual interaction... well, Maya had lots and lots of opinions on that subject. "I, no, I mean you deserve it, it sounds like. Mutants need jobs same as everyone else. And places to live. I get it. Safe harbor and all that." She definitely took her hand back, though. Because her opinions about that kind of segregation were probably the kind that were good to share with the guy who was bankrolling her... probably because she was a mutant.

Uuuuugh.

Conscience incoming.

"Kaz, it's not my place to say something but I really think you need to hear it and I'm stupid enough to say it anyway." She charged on before she could change her mind or he could interrupt. "I understand you're trying to make safe spaces for people. I hope some find that advantageous. I'm just... I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of self-segregation. It stunts normal social interaction, normalization of mutants that don't look human, and it's a form of social exclusion that cuts both ways.

Mutants don't yet have a “safe space” everywhere in society. I get that. But I don't think hiding is the answer. So. Yeah. Two cents." Her face flamed in embarrassment, sure that she'd just put her foot in her mouth.

"I mean, I'm not a social strategist and I don't have eloquent words on the matter so if you want a debate, I'll have to concede the issue to you. I just don't like it when it's an "us" or "them" kind of situation."

Once he had spoken the words he saw them register with Maya and saw her expression change. Kaz wasn't surprised in the least that she was uncomfortable with the concept. As one of the X-Men it pretty much ran counter to what they worked towards. Though her reaction was quite different than Sam's had been, which did intrigue him. Maybe he was more jaded or hadn't thought it through or he thought the pros outweighed the cons. Whatever their differences at least he and Sam were on the same page when it came to some things.

Maya...

For a few moments after she removed her hand from his with, what seemed to Kaz, a sort of finality, he watched her. He watched as thoughts rolled through her head, he could see it in her eyes. Kaz didn't even think to begin forming words or questions or anything else, he just waited.

”Kaz, it's not my place to...”

And there it was. In another place, at another time, if it were another person, or if it were a human, Kaz probably would have smiled, maybe even laughed a little. Instead the kept a polite, neutral expression as he looked her in the eyes as she spoke.

Kaz appreciated that she wasn't knocking the idea outright or implying it was a bad idea. At the same time he felt a small bit of annoyance, he didn't think he had reason to be annoyed, but he couldn't help feeling it anyway.

When Kaz was sure that Maya wasn't going to add anymore Kaz smiled and gave her a very slight tip of his head. ”Considering what we are, you have every right to say something about it. Your opinion and concerns are completely valid. That said, I feel I need to expand on it a bit.”

Kaz sat a little straighter in his seat, clasping his hands in front of him on the table. Kaz tried to slip into his 'businessman' tone of voice, but it ended up being a softer than he intended. ”The Corydon Estates here in New York are mutant only, to a degree. I would have to check to be sure but I believe the current percentage of mutant to human is 70 to 30, not counting children under 18. Any mutant is welcome in the Estates, as well as their immediate family. The only humans we deny residency to are those who are those are anti-mutant. When a child who is not a mutant turns 18, they will have the option of taking employment with one of my companies within the city or leaving the Estates, with a six month grace period to find employment and housing, longer in the winter or if they are still attending school.”

Turning one hand palm up, ”Currently the Estates do not have any educational facilities beyond a moderately sized, combined, day care and Pre-K facility. If the residents express a desire for such facilities in the future, I will provide them, but for now, children have to commute to schools outside the Estates. This is one of the reasons the Corydon Estates is public knowledge, unlike communities in other countries.”

Kaz's posture slumped a little and he looked away from Maya. After a few slow, deliberate breaths, ”To be perfectly honest Maya, I don't believe mutants and humans can achieve equality right now, or in the near future, if ever. But I hope it does happen, sooner than later. Fact is, it won't happen until mutants are...” Kaz closed his mouth, and opened it again a few times before starting again. ”Mutants with visible mutations as mild as myself, often find it difficult to get approved for a house or have humans sell their homes to them, and it's even worse for those of us that are even less human looking. Jobs can be similarly difficult. I've had a few of my human employees buy houses so they can turn around and resell them to mutants who've been denied multiple times. So...I would like mutants and humans to coexist in equality, but until that happens,” Kaz's shrug seemed a bit resigned, defeated, ”It's not perfect, but it's the best I can do right now.”