callisto + morgan (mostly)

[x-callisto.livejournal.com]

Callisto is chosen to take over Morgan's job. She's not quite sure how this happened.


Jesus, can I just sign the damn form already?

Callisto shifted in her seat. He was still going over the paperwork. There didn't seem to be much of it but for some reason it was taking him forever to sift through it. She cleared her throat.

C'mon, c'mon, before I change my mind...

At last Charles looked up and slid the papers across his desk with a slight smile - her thoughts had practically been shouted at him. "I believe everything is in order," he said crisply. "If you would be so kind as to, as they say, sign on the dotted line?"

Returning the smile with a tight, mirthless one of her own, Callisto looked a little like she was signing her own death warrant. She was still a little dazed, to be honest. When she'd been called into Xavier's office she'd assumed he wanted to discuss her recent move from the garage to general maintenance, or her accommodation, or the mods she'd made to that bike from the staff pool... The last thing she'd expected was to be offered a teaching position.

Scrawling her near-indecipherable signiature on, or rather over, the dotted line in question, she pushed the paper back across the table, her hands immediately returning to the ripped knees of her jeans.

"So..." She swallowed, her throat a little dry. "So is that it? I mean, are we done, or is there, like, do I need a textbook or a lesson plan or something from someone?"

"There will be various arrangements made for wages and the like, but to all intents and purposes, yes, that is 'it'." Her questions pleased him - they confirmed that he'd made the right choice in offering Callisto the position of self-defence teacher. Here was someone who would give their all for the students. "Mr. Espinosa can assist you in terms of the existing lesson plans, and given you haven't had formal teaching training, I would suggest that you ask questions of the rest of the staff." Another of those slightly amused smiles. "Lots of questions."


* * * * *


It was lunchtime so the entire classroom part of the mansion was empty. Morgan had been showing Callisto where the room was and explaining the basics of how she and Angelo ran the class. They tag teamed the class, occasionally asking others to demonstrate other skills or techniques. There was a lecture, explanatory portion and then the hands on parts of the class, the latter of which accounted for approximately seventy-five percent of the actual class. "How you grade these kids is up to you. Angelo's got his methods and I've got mine. We come together and decide final grades together. I've been less concerned with them mastering the skill if they genuinely try, participate and show up. Betto's a bit of a fluffy bunny, scared of getting hurt and hurting other people but she tries. Inez'll like you because she's got issues with holding back. It frustrates her like mad. Unlike Ange and I, though, I'm pretty sure you can take what she can dish, yeah?" She arched an eyebrow and gestured for Callisto to follow her out of the room to head to the gym. "Julian's also got a tendency to accidentally use his telekinesis when he's frustrated or not getting something. You're going to end up very familiar with the wall when you work with him. Pairing him with one of the harder to hurt kids is pretty much necessary."

"Karolina Dean doesn't take the class. I gave her an out and I'd appreciate it if you kept it up. She's a pacifist of the annoyingly blind type, but she's a good kid. She's got issues with being here and she kept acting out last term so I made a deal with her. She goes to see the school's guidance councilor, Haller, during her self-defense period and as long as he reports back that she's been in to seem him at those times and that they've been productive then she gets full credit for the day. What happens if he says she no longer has need of their sessions is up to you, but you'll never get her to participate in the class. She'll just sit there in quiet protest with a screamingly loud pro-peace, anti-violence book. Usually hippie crap," Morgan explained as they walked down the hall. Morgan hadn't seen Callisto around much for months now because she'd been busy bopping around doing her own thing. It was a strange thing to be giving Callisto the run down of her job so the woman could take it over given that the last time Morgan actually had a conversation with her the metamorph had wanted to do incredibly naughty things to the other woman.

Her current little frown of concentration as she tried to process all of this was much more endearing than her usual moody pout, albeit less sexy. She stuck her hands in her pockets as they entered the large gym hall, past the glass-fronted weights room and into the main gym area, currently empty save for the climbing and ropes bars folded away along the sides of the hall. She'd used the gym herself, usually during late nights and early mornings when she could be alone - at least sometimes, but the thought of it filled with kids was, frankly, a little terrifying. Not that she was about to admit it.

She cleared her throat. "Right," she said - her first words since Morgan had begun her run-down back in the classroom.

Morgan raised an eyebrow at Callisto. "Are you sure you want to do this job? It's not really that bad. Mostly you throw some kids around and teach them how to throw each other around. Just, you know, try to remember the no lethal means thing." The blue-skinned woman bit her lower lip. The non-lethal means only thing was hard for her to remember sometimes and had been since the beginning. Morgan had been leading them to the storage closet where the floor pads were kept that they put down during class so no one got hurt when they landed but she stopped next to the door and leaned against the wall.

"Seriously, these kids matter to me and if you can't do the job or you're not sure you can I'd rather they find someone else. I'm not trying to say you're incompetent or anything, I doubt you are, but not everyone's a teacher either." Admittedly, Morgan had doubted she herself was teaching material but she had been willing to give it a go. Callisto seemed more reluctant from her body language. Morgan tried to not get distracted by the little frown on the other woman's face.

There it was. The out. The final 'You don't have to do this', her final chance to say 'Actually, thanks, but no thanks.' Callisto took a breath, balling her hands into fists in her pockets before removing them to stretch her fingers out, as if readying for a fight. She shook her head. "I'm good. I said I'd take it on. I can do this."

Morgan had been watching her closely, studying as many body language cues as possible while Callisto obviously decided whether or not she wanted to take the job. The decision was made, though, that was clear, and Morgan was convinced it was a final decision. What she saw and what she heard was enough to satisfy her and she gave the other woman a smile. "Good, 'cause some of these kids could use you in this slot. Especially Inez and Yvette." Poor Inez who was too impatient to learn to hold back and little Yvette who was always so worried about hurting people. Callisto's mutation would let her handle both girls with ease and that was very reassuring.

Callisto got a warm smile before Morgan unlocked the door she was leaning next to. "So, floor pads. Always important when you're throwing minors around. Or being thrown around by them."

The brunette nodded her way through Morgan's walk-through of the various safety measures and conventions of the gym and class, the little frown and pursed lips of concentration remaining as she fought to keep her attention on these details that were no doubt vital to the safety of both student and teacher. Her hands found their way back out of her pockets occasionally to run her long fingers across this mat, or that prop, as if touching them would better commit them to memory.

A lot of it was just boring procedural stuff that Morgan had to tell Callisto. She'd be impressed if the woman remembered even half of it all when the first class came around. Angelo had needed to poke Morgan about little things for a week or two before she had all the nuance down pat. "You realize you're going to be fine, right? Angelo's good back up. He never let me or the kids down, he won't likely let you down either. Hopefully he doesn't need to take off short notice until you've got stuff down, though."

Callisto cleared her throat again, and nodded. "Yeah, uh, it'll be fine. I mean, I've taught kids to defend themselves before, just not... well. It was different. Obviously." She shrugged, shooting Morgan a tight smile.

"One up from me then," Morgan told her. "I was just a kid who had been taught when I started." The serious, professional talk was over and Morgan's posture relaxed in accordance with that. She bumped Callisto's hip with her own and slipped a finger through a belt loop, tugging the other woman just once before releasing her. "You look like you probably need a drink. Harry's isn't far. I'm buying." There was an inviting lilt to Morgan's voice as she spoke. Mostly she wanted to see Callisto smile and relax a little. She was wound too tightly.

Callisto blinked. "Uh..." Eventually, lost for words, she just swallowed and nodded dumbly.

They'd reached Harry's just as the Saturday lunch crowd were clearing out, Callisto passing faces that had become increasingly familiar over recent months as they found a booth towards the back of the bar with their beers.

The words "blatantly awkward" kept popping up in Morgan's head as she watched the older woman. It wasn't any one thing, but the sum of the parts so to speak. She'd seen her teaching replacement more at ease than this before and Morgan wondered if it was that ease or this awkwardness that was the rarity. Morgan, however, had a knack for completely ignoring the awkward and so she continued to speak to Callisto as if nothing was wrong and they were actually friends. On the way to the bar she'd even started to try to pick the woman's brain about modifications to Morgan's Ducati.

In the booth Morgan was comfortable and at home. Her back was against the wall, a leg stretching out along the otherwise empty bench and her other leg was under the table. She nudged Callisto's leg with her own gently. "I'm going to ask you questions and you can say you don't want to answer, but I'm going to ask anyway, alright?" She paused, letting that sink in before she continued. "What's with the withdrawn, almost hiding in your skin thing? Like I said, you can tell me it's none of my business and it's dropped, but I remember you in the woods when I nearly shot you with an arrow and that woman and this one," she nodded across the table to her companion, "have some stark differences between them. Don't get me wrong, the awkward kinda shy thing is damn cute on you, but you look like someone who should be more confident." She wasn't sure the last comment made sense to anyone but her, but Morgan wasn't really concerned if it didn't.

That slightly bemused frown appeared on the other woman's face, and she stared at her beer, lips pursed, for a long moment. Such a long moment in fact that it seemed she might be about to abandon the conversation altogether.

"I guess confidence depends on the situation," she said at length, her frown deepening. "Or how confident you appear, anyway." She shifted a little in her seat.

"So what situations are you confident in?" There was nothing but genuine curiosity in Morgan's tone. Callisto had proven too damn moody in the extreme hot and cold sense for Morgan to deal with much last summer, but that didn't mean she wasn't still curious. And it didn't mean she wasn't still drawn to the woman in an indecipherable way.

Well, not when being asked probing questions, anyway. Callisto cleared her throat for what seemed the hundredth time that day. "I guess more... active. Less social. I'm not... I don't really talk to people."

Morgan thought a whole lot of things could likely have been classified as active by some people but not others. It wasn't much of an answer but the rest was pretty obvious. Hey, at least the chick didn't have a hate-on for Morgan specifically, not that she'd really thought any reaction or action from Callisto could be categorized as hate anyway. "Why don't you talk to people?" Probably because then people ask annoying fucking questions like I am, Morgan thought, but didn't bother to take it back. She'd given the clear to tell Morgan to shut up to begin with. Callisto could take her out any time she wanted.

"Don't really have much to say, to be honest," Callisto replied simply, shrugging. "That and I have a talent for rubbing people the wrong way when I do open my mouth."

"Like when you suddenly swing from just fine to moody-as-fuck?" Morgan's voice had a teasing quality to it that matched the smirk she gave the other woman. She nudged Callisto under the table again and then shrugged herself. "I dunno, I actually like you when you're not snapping at me suddenly."

"That was..." the other woman sighed, her expression growing more strained. She hadn't forgotten their first encounter in the woods, exciting, confusing and frustrating as it had been, but she had resolved not to let it affect her behaviour towards Morgan now. "I was... thrown. I'm sorry."

A hand was waved in a dismissive gesture. "I like pushing buttons. I found one with you and I wanted to test it. Obviously it was the wrong one. Too bad, though." Morgan's eyes dropped to Callisto's stomach where her fingers had made contact in her test that had done more than just throw the other woman.

Callisto's shoulders hunched a little and she took a long swig of her beer. "I don't really like having my... head messed with. I don't think that's unusual."

"Wasn't messing with your head, love." Morgan took a drink before she continued and sat up a little straighter, turning to look at the woman more directly. "The closer I got the more the mask you wear cracked. I liked what I saw under it and I was curious who you are without the act you put on. I wasn't trying to mess with your head, but I guess I see why you thought I was." She shrugged and leaned back once more. "I liked you, wanted to see what else there was to you. That's all."

"I'm not sure how you think you know where the mask is and what's under it. I'm pretty sure I don't."

"When it cracks in front of you it's easier to pick it out," Morgan told her in a quieter voice than she'd been using. "If it didn't I probably wouldn't have known at all. I've had to make it a habit of studying people and pinning down the way they act and figuring out why they do the things they do. Now it's natural for me to study people to an extent. I started to study you the moment you caught my arrow."

"I'm not sure I want to be 'studied'. It's not like there's much going on to study."

"You're wrong there, but I can refrain for you. It's kind of an unconscious thing, but I can try to turn it off. Out of respect." Morgan wasn't honestly sure she was capable of turning the instinct off but there was only one way to find out. "Of course," she paused with her glass at her lips, "that's not going to stop me from staring in a solely appreciative of the view kind of way." She watched the other woman over the rim of the glass. She couldn't help it, Morgan liked reactions, but it really was hard to not stare at her.

"That's..." Callisto sighed, pursing her lips. "I'm sorry, I don't meant to... it's a bit... strange. For here. Or anywhere, mostly."

"Why's it strange?" Morgan arched an eyebrow with her question. She wasn't really sure if Callisto was referring to it being strange that Morgan was appreciating the view or that she couldn't really turn off the studying people thing.

"I guess I'm just not used to being... noticed. Any more."

The look on Morgan's face clearly said that she didn't understand how that was possible. "Anymore? Why'd people stop? I mean, you do realize you're beautiful, right?"

Callisto's mouth grew a little slack, though she couldn't seem to think of anything to say to this. Her eyes met Morgan's in confusion, but a moment later had moved resolutely back to her beer, staring at the play of light on the neck.

"Is this another test? Because..."

While the end of that word hung there in space Morgan didn't wait for Callisto to finish, figuring she wasn't going to. "No. It's not a test. Or a button thing. Sorry if it's a button I did, I really didn't think it was. It's just, well, the truth. I nearly backed you up against a tree and kissed you the first time I met you. That's not really my MO."

The brunette swallowed, hard, her eyes still on her beer. "Right. I mean. Okay."

"I'm really not actually trying to make you uncomfortable," Morgan told her with an attempt at being reassuring. "Consider the topic dropped, yeah?"

Callisto pulled her lower lip between her teeth to chew it again. There was a long silence. Then, "I wanted you to." The words fell on her own ears like a lead balloon and at the same moment she realised that, of course, Morgan knew that, must have known that, and that made the confession all the more ridiculous.

As suspected, Morgan had known it, but something about the admission actually making it past the woman's lips meant something. Head tilting to the side, Morgan stared at Callisto. She wasn't studying her, or at all trying to read her body language, Morgan was just staring. "Too bad I missed out by not making a move then, huh?"

"I, uh. Don't think that would have been a good idea. I don't really... do that."

"You don't kiss people you're attracted to?" There wasn't any judgement in the words, just curiosity. Morgan had her rules about sex, maybe Callisto had similar rules. Maybe for similar reasons.

"I don't kiss anyone, mostly. I'm not very good at that stuff. With people. It goes nowhere, or it goes badly. Better to steer clear."

Morgan gave her an intentionally dramatic sigh. "Looks like I'll only ever have you in my dreams. Though, if you want to get better at it they say practice makes perfect..." She grinned across the table to the other woman. She was clearly joking to lighten the mood, though she wouldn't have been opposed to being a practice exercise all things considered.

Callisto managed a tight smile back, finally meeting Morgan's eyes briefly. "I'm sorry," she said again.

That earned her a wide smile in return, the rare sort that lit up Morgan's whole face. "Sadly, I'm not actually entitled to every hot girl around so there's no need for apologies. Though I could be tempted to drag you out, get you to hang out with me sometimes. I might be persuaded to even stop hitting on you." She laughed and finished her pint of Anchor Steam.