cutting_edgex23 | (no subject)

It had better be Bruce, or this is going to be awkward.

'Hey.'

He slides in next to her, dressed in a suit with the tie pulled loose and top button unfastened, drops an arm around her shoulders and simultaneously picks up the beer.

Perhaps long days are contagious.

'You OK?'

X leans into him without any hesitation.

One breath.

Two.

"I am better. Now."

A pause, and she turns to look up at him.

"It is difficult. When people you know do things that are -- "

What word is the one she wants?

" -- mean."

'What happened?'

He presses a brief kiss to her head, because she's there and he can.

"Noriko hit a boy in the face with a glass inkwell. Because he said he cannot look at a cannibalistic serial killer as human."

It's pretty straightforward, in some respects.

"She thinks it is okay. And justified."

Beat.

"Because she told him she would. If he did not stop talking."

Bruce drinks some of his beer, and frowns as he thinks that over.

'If she told him, I guess he can't claim it was unexpected.'

But he's willing to bet there's more to the story than that.

'I don't know Noriko. But a glass inkwell? That's pretty extreme. How old is the boy?'

"He is a teenager. I do not know if they both are. Anymore."

She does not sigh.

"And I do not think he is really combat trained. It is problematic."

'And she is.'

OK, so that's different.

He falls silent while he thinks it over. Her name does ring a bell, actually. It's been a while since he socialised in the bar, but X does talk about people sometimes.

'And a mutant?'

"Yes."

X's response is prompt.

"She was my team leader. Before. When I was -- "

Smaller is not accurate in this case.

"Younger."

Bruce's head comes around sharply so he can see X's face.

Because if Noriko has hurt X personally with this, that is...not cool.

'What's she like?'

"She thinks anger and fear are the most important things. To motivate people. She thinks it is what drives us. And that it should be."

X slides her fingers through Bruce's, holding on just a little tightly.

"She wants to protect our teammates. And other mutants. But she wants it to be easy. Because it is not fair that it is hard. But it -- "

Her gaze drops, just for a second.

"I do not understand. Her. I do not think she understands me."

A faint, fractional hesitation.

"But I do not want her to be someone terrible. And I know it is not -- hard. To be. I remember."

His face darkens. Whatever Noriko did, he doesn't like people upsetting X. OK, so it's inevitable sometimes, given everything in her past, but that doesn't make it all right.

'Stuff like this is never easy, and expecting it to be is naive. At best.'

He squeezes her hand a little.

'And anger and fear are the worst things. Period. Not just to motivate people with.'

"That is what I think, too. It -- they only make people stupid. And easy to hurt."

Her shoulders have gone tense, though her grip on Bruce's hand has gentled.

"I do not want people to be easy to hurt. Even if I cannot always stop it."

'No one's ever going to be able to stop all of that.'

Sad, but true.

'But you can do something about it when you see it. Did you speak to her?'

"Yes."

She is quiet for a few seconds, leaning against Bruce.

The seconds lengthen into minutes.

Then --

"And I will watch. In case it happens again. With someone else."

This does not make her happy at all.

"I do not know what else to say."

'I guess she didn't listen then?'

He lets out a silent breath, almost like a sigh. He understands bad guys like to try and run things by fear, but another mutant who worked with X, a 'good guy' thinking that way? That doesn't make sense to him.

'Who was the kid she hit?'

"I do not trust her. To control herself. Anymore."

She is still not reconciled to that.

It feels -- wrong.

"She hit Autor. He is young. He writes a lot. Many people think he is a jerk."

Her gaze is direct.

"I do not think that part is relevant."

'No,' he says, slowly.

He doesn't know him, so he can't make any guess as to the whole story.

'Being a jerk doesn't mean you deserve to get glass smashed in your face. And if she used to be a team leader, it sounds like she should be able to rise above stuff like that.'

Protecting people who need it does not tally with assaulting them when you lose your temper.

X is silent again for a little while, fingers tightening on Bruce's again.

"I know it is hard. To be hated. I do not forget."

He knows that. She knows he knows that.

"But I do not know how to help. Or how to make it stop. I -- "

A breath.

"You know."

Crime, among other terrible things, never sleeps.

(Neither, apparently, does rage.)

He knows that, yes.

'It's not up to you to make all of it stop,' he says, quietly.

'You can't force...OK, you probably could force people to be different, but you're better than that.'

She knows that.

"I try to be," X agrees. "It is important."

And here may be the crux of it.

"I thought Noriko was, too."

And now --

Now she doesn't know. Not with certainty.

It is distressing.

'So, you don't trust her?'

He can see how that would be bad. Not knowing if someone you thought was an ally is now not someone you can rely on.

'But hey - it might have just been a really bad day for her. I'm not excusing what she did, but it might not mean that she's like that all that time. I tm ight have just been a one-off.'

X would love for that to be true.

"I will keep watch," she says, instead. "And I will see."

A pause.

"Then I will decide."

She tucks herself into his side a little more comfortably, reaching up to rest her hand on the side of his neck.

It is good to know he is alive.

"You are okay?"

He smiles at the touch, as he usually does.

'Still beating,' he murmurs, and rubs his thumb in a circle on her shoulder.

Then nods, and takes another swig of his beer.

'I fell asleep in a board meeting this afternoon. I'd say that's OK.'

The other members were not so impressed, but he doesn't mind that.

X frowns very slightly, leaning up to study him from a closer angle.

"Another nap will help?"

She is game, if he is.

"It is better to do that here. Or in San Francisco."

She is just saying.

Edited 2014-08-21 21:53 (UTC)

'It might be useful.'

Also, nice. If she's going to come with him.

'And yeah, anywhere but at the boardroom table is probably better. Your place?'

He likes her place.

And trusts that she understands about his nocturnal schedule. Alfred is...well, it wouldn't be fair to say he doesn't understand, but he does keep waking him up at three in the afternoon with a frown on his face.