cutting_edgex23 | (no subject)

(no subject)

X slips through the door to her apartment, stepping aside so that Duo, too, can make it over the threshold.

The walls are white, the floors are worn hardwood, and the majority of the furniture is black. There are multicolored glass vases in the window, and the drapes are purple.

The kitchen table is chrome and glass.

The door to the bedroom is closed.

"Bela helped. With the furniture," X says as the door clicks shut behind them. She takes the time to lock it. It is only practical.

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"Very chic," Duo says, looking around. It does look like she had some decorating help. There's still a remarkable lack of personal items laying around, unless you count the furniture. He wouldn't, yet. It's too new.

"I don't think I know her."

"She sells things. To demon hunters."

Beat.

"She is good with a gun."

This next pause is slightly longer. Just slightly.

"She and 494 have sex."

Suddenly his opinion of Bela goes down!

"And yet she also helps you buy furniture?" Something is funny, here.

"Yes. She is my friend."

Beat.

"She is not supposed to?"

X is perplexed.

"No, no, supposed to doesn't have anything to do with it." Duo waves a hand, pacing around to get a better look at some of her furnishings. Where does she hide the guns, under her bed?

"I was just curious, is all. The two of you sort of swing back and forth about how antagonistic you're feeling, yanno?"

"494 is not good at having friends."

X sounds strangely sure about that.

"He is not okay."

The guns are in the bedroom. And in the back of the closet.

There are a few in the kitchen cabinets, as well. Don't ask where she put the explosives.

There is, however, no television in evidence.

"He's really not." Duo likes making friends! He probably would have made up with 494 by now if he wasn't such a consistent asshole. Duo has to admire his dedication, though. That takes serious effort.

"How you doing, anyway?" These two things are in no way related! Of course not.

"I am okay," X says.

And after a few moments--

"I have a cell phone. Cyclops gave it to me."

This order of reporting makes sense in her head.

"In case I am needed."

"Cyclops, that's your leader guy, right? At the school? When it's not getting rebuilt, anyway. That's good, I guess. You planning on going back?"

"No."

Beat.

"The X-men have been disbanded. And--"

She hesitates, just for a moment.

"I do not want to kill because people tell me to."

Not anymore, anyway.

Duo gives her a smile. "Hey, nothing wrong with using your right to make a choice. That goes double for the important stuff. That why you moved out here? See what you make of yourself when you're behind the wheel?"

Someone else would say yes here.

X--is not that person. Not yet.

"No. The Institute is destroyed. Everyone else is gone."

Beat.

"I--"

"I lived here before. I liked it."

So maybe the answer is 'yes' after all. X doesn't know.

Hey, at least she moved somewhere she actually liked, rather than someplace that would be logical for mission-y reasons.

"Close enough, I'd say. It was a good idea. Meet anyone cool out here, or are you keeping to yourself?" It's not healthy for someone to live in Milliways completely, Duo figures. Unless you're dead.

"Mr. Simmons likes to talk. Sometimes."

Beat.

"The pawn shop is useful. And there is Pam. At the diner."

This pause is not as long.

"They have good pancakes."

And X has a schedule. Funny how that works.

"Nice. It's always a real good idea to cultivate some friends in your neighborhood. To seem like you're a good kid, even if not completely normal. Do people favors. You do that, you've got an army of neighbors at your disposal who'll tell you all the gossip, pick up your mail if you're out of town, and warn off the suspicious types if any come knocking at your door."

He's an expert at this sort of thing. Everyone in Duo's neighborhood would happily lie for him, up to and including to the Preventers.

X nods very seriously.

"I will remember."

Beat.

"Thank you."

She is not sure what to do now. Visitors are--well. Joris and Elle were easier. But practice is useful.

"I am good at fighting. And protecting people."

X slips over to the window.

"That is useful here. Sometimes."

"Yeah? You got trouble around here?" Duo joins her at the window, checking out the area. He's never been to San Fran for any length of time. And it's not like you can judge a city by it's counterpart hundreds of years in the future.

X shrugs.

"Sometimes. At night. I have not finished reconnaissance yet."

It's only true.

"I am being careful."

"Good. 'Specially if you plan on being here for a while. Lemme know if you need any help covering the area. I know you can do it yourself, but recon goes quicker with two."

X nods, and the faintest hint of tension leaks out of her.

"Okay."

Beat.

"Thank you. That will be useful."

She tilts her head, watching him for a moment.

"You are not busy tonight?"

"Wouldn't have come out here if I was! You figuring now that you've got me at your disposal, might as well take advantage?" He beams.

X is not good at subtext.

"You said you could help. With recon. And you are here now."

"True, true, and true! What d'you say, we can catch some early dinner and take a walkabout?" He wonders if she's keeping maps, or likes to see everything personally.

"Okay."

X nods a little, slipping through the door to her bedroom.

She leaves it open wide while she opens one of the desk drawers and pulls a file. Then another.

"These are preliminary observations."

It's an area two blocks away--maybe three. There are maps--the basic kind you can get from Mapquest. Or City Hall.

Duo waits for her, passing the time by staring in a sort of enthralled way at the cactus on her kitchen table. "You know, some people say you're supposed to have a plant for a year before you have a pet. And then take care of a pet for a year until you try having a relationship."

He accepts the files and flips through them, having a look at the layout of the streets nearby.

X flicks a quick glance at him, half startled.

And then--

"Oh."

Beat.

"You mean sex."

"Aaaaactually, I meant relationship." He waves a hand, still looking at the maps. "You can have sex whenever you think you're ready, I always figured. It's less work."

X looks blank.

Very blank.

"I do not understand."

"Well, if you just have a random one night stand with someone, it's not like you ever have to see them again if you got what you want out of it."

He turns a page. It's a little easier to talk about this stuff if you don't have to make earnest eye contact. Also it makes him want to shoot the people who brought X up less.

"But if it's a relationship, you want to keep seeing someone, make you both happy...it's hard work."

X is now even more confused.

"So I should not have friends?"

Beat.

"Yet?"

"What? No! No no no. I mean a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Or a romantic one. Sorry. The slang is kinda vague sometimes, I guess. Dating. Being friends can be hard to figure out too, don't you think? It's the same idea. Standing next to someone at the bus stop is easy. You never have to see them again. Being friends, well. Get what I mean?"

"Oh."

X digests that.

"Being friends and having sex is confusing, too?"

She--wouldn't know.

"Ohhhh, yeah. Definitely." Duo nods a few times to confirm his statement. "It helps if you're honest. But hell yeah, confusing."

X considers this.

And, because Duo just said one-night stands were easy--

"Why?"

"Well, things change. You have to decide if you're just friends, or something more, after. Pretending nothing happened is never a good idea."

He flips the file closed. "So, hungry? You mentioned a diner."

"Oh."

X is silent for a few moments more, then she nods once.

"Yes. We should eat first. And you can meet Pam."

Beat.

"She will like you."

"I'm very likable. Lead the way!" He takes a step toward the door, then pauses. "You want these files? Or do you add to them after you reconnoiter?"

"I do not carry them with me."

Beat.

"People notice."

She'll follow him out the door. And lock up.

It is safer.

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