xp_logs | Amara and Callie: Apartment hunting

Our heroines venture forth with hopes of finding an apartment in the big city. Anything, really, as long as it doesn't smell like fish.

Finding suitable housing in New York City was proving to be nigh impossible. And as they left the most recent disaster, Callie scratched another address off her list. Everything was so expensive and tiny. She wouldn't have minded the tiny so much if they were clean; mold and infestations were not going to fly.

"You know, I'm starting to rethink the one over the Indian restaurant," she commented to Amara. "It was a little loud, and it smelled strongly of curry, but on the bright side when we don't want to cook food would be easy to come by?"

"This is true," Amara said dubiously. "But then that waiter that went passed while we were there would not stop staring at my chest. I am not sure I would want to face that every time I came home." She wrinkled her nose. "I do not know how John and Angelo found their place, but I am starting to become very jealous."

"Divine intervention?" She looked down at her page of listings and crossed them off with a sigh. Though the duo had not ventured to see them, based on the descriptions (or rather, the decoded descriptions) they would just be wasting their time. "You know, we're really not that far away from District X. Wanna swing by and see if we can bribe them to tell us their secrets over dinner?"

"That's not a bad idea," Amara said with a grin. "And hey, maybe we can see if there's anything available in the area while we're there. Their place is actually pretty nice, we could get lucky as well." Amara wasn't terribly convinced, but it was a possibility.

"Are there actually any nice areas of District X," Callie asked when they were en route. Sure the apartment itself might be nice, but the area around it? She hadn't actually ventured into District X ever, really, but she heard the stories and hadn't been tempted to check their validity. "I mean 'Mutant Ghetto' kinda has some bad connotations to it."

"There are," Amara replied. "I mean, some parts of it aren't particularly safe, but I think most of it is okay. It just has a bad reputation because so many mutants live there. I don't think it's especially worse than any other area in New York." She shrugged. "But we can ask Angelo? I know John gets weird about me walking the area at night, but I think he's just being overprotective."

A mischievous smile appeared on Callie's lips, one that she didn't even try to hide. She turned to Amara, green eyes sparkling with interest. "John," she asked, her voice sing-songy. "As in John Allerdyce? Whyever would he be overprotective of you?"

Amara couldn't help but smile herself at that, her cheeks going a little pink. "Yes, John Allerdyce." Her smile turned into a little bit of a grin. "I've gotten to know him better since I started working for Elpis. Occasionally we both end up staying late, and he insists on driving me all the way back to the mansion."

The demographic landscape was starting to shift as they continued through the city. Shops and restaurants displayed decals in their windows to indicate to the knowing that they were mutant friendly. At the same time, graffiti with a decisively anti-mutant messages could be found on signs and the outsides of buildings. But even many of those, it seemed, were in the process of being taken over and changed into something more mutant positive.

"Ah. So this whole wanting to move out of the mansion is completely based on the logistics of working late at Elpis," Callie fought to keep her face as somber as possible, "and nothing at all to do with John then?"

"Of course!" Amara said, still blushing. "And it's closer for me to get to campus, and I'll be able to stay later at HeliX events." It had absolutely nothing to do with John. Honestly. But if they happened to live in the same neighbourhood...

Callie laughed and linked her arm with Amara's. "Oh Amara. I get it. I was just teasing. But it might be... convenient to live closer to him. Could spend more time doing whatever instead of having to make sure you hit the road to get you home at a reasonable hour. Wait." She stopped and looked around at their surroundings. "Is this it? There isn't any real big change. Oh no wait. The street signs are different. Huh."

"It isn't much different to the rest of New York," Amara said with a laugh. "Or well..." She grinned, looking over at a couple walking along, one of them a lime green color, the other seeming to be made of crystal. "Maybe a little different. But it just has a bad reputation, like most things mutant related."

It was delightful to see people of all different shapes, sizes, colors, and configurations walking about without fear. The contrast from the area around campus was apparent, and Callie felt more at ease than she had in awhile. She smiled happily as the they walked past shops and buildings that were in much better shape than the chloropath had anticipated. "This kinda reminds me of some of the more urban of the ecovillages from last summer," she said. "You know, it seems pretty all right."

"It isn't bad," Amara agreed with a smile. "And there's a sign in the window over there about a place for rent. Shall we go and see if it's still available?"

"Available and in our price range." Callie eyed the building with a cautious eye. It looked all right from the outside, but who could tell what mysteries lay within those walls? "Let us venture forth and see what truths we can uncover."