Devon gave a brief, short nod about Noel. His eyebrows narrowed again at the mention of de-aging. He’d heard about that but didn’t know the finer details. It seemed it had impacted more here than he realized. There was a slight frown, his face scrunching up as if he ate something unsettling but missing memories? The uncomfortable face faded quickly, eyes narrowing along with the brow as his lips became a thin, displeased line.

Missing memories? To Noel? That was concerning.

Another nod at Jude’s involvement in BlacTac, which meant Ranger wasn’t running things so much now?

“I’m sorry, Svetlana, really,” he sighed, shaking his head, before taking another sip of his drink. “I-”

There was a knock at the door, an aid bringing in lunch, and a few minutes later they had a meal before them. The aid left but not before throwing Sveta a so it’s not a rumor look. The news would travel fast.

Devon was holding his noodles but hadn’t yet taken a bite. He played idly with the chopsticks between his fingers. “I’m sorry I didn’t return sooner. I should’ve pushed back after that first mission and I- Well, that is a shame about Noel and Ranger. That makes me worried about how they are being manipulated. If they left, they left, but if someone is messing with them…” He shook his head, chewing his jaw rather than his lunch.

“And you’re right, the Inner Echelon needs some help so we can help the rest of Haven and… well, everyone,” he gave a nod. “I hope everyone appreciates that the purest Muse was still here to inspire them.” He smiled gently. “Which members are particularly active? Which should we approach?”

Sveta rolled her eyes at his compliment. Always a charmer. No wonder Devon was so successful talking money out of people. Haven needed a leader like that; despite her bet efforts, Sveta was not exactly warm and likable. Even though Pippa made her work on her accent.

"SUPER is not a problem for now" he picked up her own bowl of noodles. "Sang has it under control... we can coordinate, or at least stay out of each other's way. She's doing the right thing." For now, anyway. Sveta kept an eye on things.

"The IE... is pretty much me." she admitted with a frown. "I've been pulling a whole lot of weight around her. I'm not complaining" she held up a gloved hand. "It's important work. And I'm good at... some of it. But there are parts I can't do. Mail order bride school never prepped me for running a corporation like this. Go figure." she noted with a smirk. "And I'm not you. No one's you, Devon. If I didn't know what your actual powers are, I'd say it's a power you have... people follow you, not me." The did for a while, but only because she stepped up from the IE. "We'll need new people, and we need to pick them carefully. Lányi's already on the inside track... But we'll need more."

SUPER not a problem, under control… People evolved and organizations did too; Devon knew and respected that. But after the dangers of SUPER and other such militarized organizations in the past he had concerns. At least Jude offered assistance through BlacTac and even if they came to not be aligned with Haven, Devon at least trusted Jude would be there for Sveta.

Good.

What wasn’t good was the IE had fallen apart and Muse had had to run it herself, alone, without support, for a job she only partially helped volunteer to aid with. Again, not to run, alone. She wasn’t complaining but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He gave a nod that it was important work and he chuckled quietly at her joke. He smiled faintly at her smirk.

But her comments about him stoked an uncomfortable blanche combined with a faint blushing of his cheeks. Again, he chewed his jaw rather than any lunch but he maintained eye contact with Sveta. She was kind, encouraging, and smart and a leader of her own.

“Not all leadership roles are the same,” Devon stated with confidence and a slow tip of his head toward her. “But the truth of that aside, you have been running things, supporting our public leaders, helping the business, helping Haven, helping others… A leader acts. And I thank you for saying that,” he paused, “About me. I can’t recall the last time I was complimented so I felt a bit flustered hearing it.”

He smiled gently, “I don’t want people to follow me so much as come together, have healthy conflict, sometimes disagree but find what’s right for people… Maybe it’s that once they get over my willingness to talk about emotions they can see we care.” The smile broadened but he nodded. “And yes, you’re right. We need to find new people willing to work and to help, who give themselves even when it’s not easy.”

Another pause, “And I need to demonstrate that I will not allow you or any member of the IE be put in a position like this again. I promise to continue working on that and to be honest with you and whomever we bring in. Trust is key even if trusting myself sometimes is difficult.”

“Anyone you’ve thought of approaching that you haven’t yet? I’m going to get myself back out there and be watching, meeting others.” He went to take a bit of his noodles but a thought occurred to him, “Oh, what of our sometime allies at Xavier’s?”

Sveta watched Devon. He thought of her words as compliments, but she meant them. Sveta had been jaded for a long time; Haven was the first place in decades that had given her something to actually believe in. Sometimes it still felt ridiculous that she did. And now Devon was back, looking worn, but all business about fixig things. Again.

Sveta sighed, setting her food aside, and walked around the desk to sit next to him.

"Alright, we'll circle back to that. Eat. No offense, but you look like sh*t." she smiled softly, which was a rare sight. "How are you? Personally?"

Devon watched Sveta put her food to the side and move around the desk- He thought she was after a dumpling, or more sauce, or maybe another napkin. He shifted in his seat to give her easy of space to reach the front of the desk and instead of grabbing something she took the other seat facing the desk.

Big blue eyes blinked at her in a bit of confusion. Had things gone terribly with Xavier’s? They’d had many friends there. Cold Steel was a good person he’d worked with on a few matters, and…

Devon glanced down at his noodles. He hadn’t taken a single bite yet. He’d been too busy talking, thinking, discussing… HIs eyes rose back to Sveta and he chuckled, blushing a bit more and sighing as she said he looked like shit. He knew it; he’d tried his best this morning after having nearly no sleep. Ah but then the hard questions. Why’d everyone always have to ask how he was, how he was feeling…

Oh no, he knew. He did the same. It was important. People who cared about others did that. He felt bad to make them worry, feel they had to spend energy on him, but he knew it was important. That didn’t make it easier.

Those blue eyes shivered slightly as he started back at hers. There was a pause at the sound of her pronunciation of the word are echoed within him. “Well I did say honesty,” he sighed with a small smile. “I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve been going without stopping, without resting for years. I wasn’t kidding when I said I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been complimented. Always working, fixing, investigating… And even in the last year when I was playing the founder opening a new Haven location abroad I never had time to sit and eat. Too busy meeting and greeting.”

Devon shrugged a shoulder. “I saved a psychologist who focused in marriage counseling but who’d been volunteering to talk with mutant children, and we had to lay low a bit… She and I got to talking and she helped me realize I had to step back, say what I needed and wanted to be doing. I got too accustomed to saying yes and just helping however I was asked. Not easy to say no to such sometimes, but…” he lifted his noodles. “You have to care of yourself first.”

And with that Devon lifted his chopsticks and a large twirl of noodles into his mouth, slurping them up with a satisfied smile.

To Devon's credit, he decided to be honest with her.

>>“Well I did say honesty. I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve been going without stopping, without resting for years. I wasn’t kidding when I said I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been complimented. Always working, fixing, investigating… And even in the last year when I was playing the founder opening a new Haven location abroad I never had time to sit and eat. Too busy meeting and greeting.”

"Oh, believe me. I know the feeling." Sveta had been filling in for him for years, and it was a lot harder than Devon made it look. Or that anyone assumed, really. She could tell he was as exhausted as he claimed. It was the downside of believing in what you did: you put way more into it than what was usually healthy.

>>“I saved a psychologist who focused in marriage counseling but who’d been volunteering to talk with mutant children, and we had to lay low a bit… She and I got to talking and she helped me realize I had to step back, say what I needed and wanted to be doing. I got too accustomed to saying yes and just helping however I was asked. Not easy to say no to such sometimes, but… You have to care of yourself first.”

"Well... that part's easier when you have help." Sveta noted. Running things alone was not good, not even for someone like Hadden. She realized a moment later her words could be taken another way. "I'm not blaming you." She held a hand up. "I just mean... we should pay more attention to that in the future. Dividing up responsibilities, taking breaks, I mean."

Devon felt a stab of pain as if from a knife. He’d found himself in a worse situation after being gone so long. He felt that knife trace over his body then slash over his hand. He’d left Sveta to a similar situation for something she hadn’t even signed up for. Devon had been kidding himself clearly thinking the IE would support her. They’d abandoned her.

Like he had.

The blue-eyed young man nodded sympathetically at Svetlana’s words, keeping the guilt from his face. The noodles were already helping. Something told him he’d need to nap after this, which was probably a good idea after last night.

The guilt wasn’t getting any better, but he knew that was he was putting that on himself. Sveta maybe was upset - and she deserved to be - but it’s not like she was coming at him. She was speaking honestly too. She wasn’t wrong. It is easier to manage, well… everything when you have help.

>>"I'm not blaming you."

See there, she even said it. Devon smiled gently and took another bite of his lunch, nodding. After a pause, he nodded again. “You’re right of course. More group meetings, especially once the IE is more formally grouped, but more checking in on one another. Trust and all that. I’ve been reading some leadership books to help me fall asleep actually,” he chuckled.

“I mean, they help for that and the actual leadership,” he said gently. “But again, I’m sorry Sveta. Sorry I didn’t push to come back sooner or check in… Left ya with this and all. I appreciate all you’ve done and more.”

>>"I’ve been reading some leadership books to help me fall asleep actually,”

Sveta laughed softly, returning to her own bowl of noodles. They would be okay. Not because of the leadership books (she had tried those too and quickly discarded them), but because they could actually share the responsibilities this time. And because they could talk about the elephant in the room.

>>“I mean, they help for that and the actual leadership... But again, I’m sorry Sveta. Sorry I didn’t push to come back sooner or check in… Left ya with this and all. I appreciate all you’ve done and more.”

"I appreciate the apology." Sveta nodded. "But don't be too hard on yourself. You'll have people do that for you often enough."