"I can't promise I won't step in if I feel like he's gone too far." Peter replied mulishly.
Callisto laughed then. Laughed. Peter's face burned. "He acts on my bidding. Just because you're strong, doesn't mean you can do as you please." Her eye settled on him, challenging. "I lead the Morlocks."
Peter looked away first. "As you said."
She snorted and waved the knife around idly as she spoke. "That said, since you made a mess by knocking Sunder out, I'm having you take his place for a supply run. How strong are you?"
He shrugged. "No clue. I mean… since my powers came in, I've never had to lift anything that I couldn't actually pick up."
She looked speculative, then beckoned him over. "Lets check real quick then." She stabbed her knife into the top of the desk. "Pick this up."
Peter shrugged, coming closer and squatting down at the foot of the desk. He worked his fingers underneath and heaved, but it only caused the front half to rise up, causing it to tilt precariously back on the rear legs.
Almost faster than Peter could see, Callisto reached out and snatched up the bowls and cups one-handed, preventing them from slipping entirely off the now tilted desk.
Peter mumbled. "Sorry… I need to get a little closer to the middle to actually–"
Callisto smirked, settling the stack of bowls and cups in her lap, before she'd gone back to picking at her nails with the point of the knife. "No, that's enough. It looks like you're lifting with pure muscular strength. No telekinetic assist. No esoteric effects."
Peter shrugged. "I guess."
Callisto jabbed the knife in his direction to punctuate her next question. "Any strain doing that? The desk as a whole is around five hundred pounds."
Peter shook his head. "No problem. Actually, if I could rig up some ropes, I can probably carry this one-handed."
Callisto nodded absently. "I see. Alright, put it down. You'll do."
Peter gently let the massive desk sink back down.
"We have a supply run tonight. You'll be going with a couple of others, but your main job is going to be part of the muscle. We're going to be grabbing a lot of stuff so we need a couple of strong backs to do it." Callisto said.
Peter thought about how she phrased it and the timing and the fact that for the most part only a few Morlocks really could pass for 'normal' in terms of general appearance.
"I'm guessing 'supply run' is Morlock-speak for 'robbery'?" Peter asked slowly.
"If you want to be blunt about it, yes." Callisto stared him down. "Is that a problem?"
Living on the streets had given Peter's morals a severe beating. The thought of simply taking what they needed to survive didn't even remotely faze him. And the Morlocks did need things. He shrugged, trying to affect nonchalance. "No."
Callisto flashed a shark-like smirk at him and nodded, approval once more in her expression. "You can meet the ones coming with you after dinner."
"I do have a question." Peter said, raising a hand.
"I'll allow it. Go on?"
"Caliban spoke to someone named Bouncer last night. If you have a teleporter why not just have them–?"
Callisto laughed. "Oh, we've had that come up. Bouncer's teleportation is limited by a combination of distance and weight. The heavier something is, the shorter the distance he can move it. The amount of extra supplies you're going to be picking up tonight, Bouncer might be able to teleport all of that by a few feet at a time."
"Oh."
"And he needs to rest between instances of teleportation." Callisto shrugged. "So you'll still need to bring whatever we get by hand. He can be ready to pull you all out in case things go wrong, but I don't expect that to be a problem. Anything else?"
"No, ma'am."
She gave him a dismissive nod and gestured to the double doors behind him with her knife. "On your way, then, Dumas. Don't disappoint me."