cutting_edgex23 | (no subject)

(no subject)

Parties at Greymalkin Industries -- parties that involve the X-men -- are barely-contained chaos made manifest.

At least this year there were no supervillain attacks.

Or attacks by the government.

Or attacks by anyone or anything, for that matter. X does not consider it luck.

(She wouldn't.)

But now the party is over, and she and Elle have made their way back across San Francisco from Marin County. The fish have been fed, and the kittens, too.

And now all that remains to do is to get ready for bed.

And, perhaps, have a post-party debrief. Sometimes it is important.

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"I like it here, too."

Beat.

"When it is quiet."

Elle is good company.

"But there's no decorations here."

Elle doesn't mind that either. But she's also probably more partial to shiny stuff than X is.

"You brought tinsel with you," X says, holding up the few faint silver strands caught in her fingers.

Beat.

"And Mr. Simmons has more. Downstairs."

This pause is longer.

"He says he likes when the store looks festive."

"It's - something you do."

With a small shrug, "I used to get stuff. Like candy."

X would probably care for candy canes even less than decorations.

"You don't get to have it most of the time."

"I think he has those, too. They are multicolored."

They taste like fruit punch. X does not know this.

"We can get some. He will not mind."

Elle blinks away.

"Even now?

She does know people don't always like to be bothered at night. And doesn't care enough about candy canes to not let that stop her.

"He does not sleep in the store," is X's response.

"And we can be quiet. On the stairs."

It's like being six again, a little.

Not that X would know that.

Elle wouldn't remember enough to comment.

"Okay."

She doesn't move to leave immediately, however. "Have you had them?"

X shakes her head.

"No. I do not like sweets."

One day someone will introduce X to root beer barrels.

Then her resistance to candy will be doomed.

But today is not that day. Probably.

"I know."

Elle shrugs. "We can do it later. If you don't want them."

Or however 'later' turns out.

"I do not mind them."

Beat.

"And the cats are quiet now. It will be easier."

Elle looks back down to the tinsel in her hands.

And then, without saying anything, she rises from the sofa, walks over to X, and puts the tinsel in X's hair, instead.

"Okay," she repeats.

X leaves the tinsel where it is.

Because Elle put it there.

One day this may become problematic.

(But probably not.)

"Okay," X echoes.

And then, quick and silent, X heads for the front door of her apartment and the stairs beyond.

She trusts Elle to follow.

Elle does follow.

She slightly ringing her fingers now that she's given away her tinsel, but it was totally worth it.

The strands of silver in X's hair catch the light from the windows outside.

It twinkles.

Then she unlocks the back door of the shop and slips inside.

The silver is still visible.

Elle has a lot to answer for.

It's pretty. Like Ava's silvery headband.

"He doesn't care if you take his stuff?"

"Some things are okay. I do not steal."

Not from Mr. Simmons, anyway.

Not even if mission parameters demanded it.

(Probably.)

Elle doesn't really have the same qualms. But stealing attracts attention, which is something she's mostly trying to avoid now.

She pokes at another string of tinsel, this one green and hung from one of the shelves, but leaves it in place.

"You know which things," she calls to X.

"I do," X says in return, pitching her voice loudly enough to be heard --

But only just.

She comes back with a small container of candy canes, most of which are rainbow-colored.

"Some of them are peppermint. I think they are new."

She offers the container to Elle.

It doesn't make much difference to Elle. She picks out one of the rainbow ones.

"You might like those," Elle offers, though with a tone that suggests she knows it's probably futile. Peppermint is, at least, a different kind of sweet.

X offers a quick one-shouldered shrug.

"I do not know."

Beat.

"We can go back upstairs now."

Unless there is something else down here that Elle would like to see.

Elle tears the plastic off her own. It can't be said she didn't try.

"This is enough," she answers, putting the candy stick in her mouth.

That might be an 'okay' to the suggestion.

X just nods, though she does scoop a few more candy canes out of the jar before putting it back where it came from and heading upstairs.

The cats are a little more awake, so X sets out a small saucer of cream, then moves toward the closet.

She shoots Elle a quick, sideways glance as she opens the door.

It's entirely possible that the brown paper-wrapped box is accompanied by a hesitant look.

In case Elle does not want it.

At the moment, Elle is a little too distracted with the candy cane to notice what X is looking at.

Well, with the candy cane, and with watching the cats, her own gaze just slightly suspicion.

Elle returns the sideways glance, however - her own expression is blank. She doesn't know what X would be hesitant about.

"It is Christmas," X says, after a long few moments of silence.

"It is not a cat T-shirt. But I got you a present."

This is where X hands it over. The box isn't very big, and the wrapping is fairly tight.

What's inside the box is a watch -- made of dull black metal so it will not reflect light and give Elle away -- with X-men symbols along the sides. The face is plain.

In addition to other functions (like a small temporary image-inducer), it functions as a communicator, too.

These are all things X will explain before Elle goes back to Milliways.

It is important.