Vanessa & Callisto | Thursday evening

[x-copycat.livejournal.com]

Vanessa stops by the shelter to thank Callisto for helping out on an X-factor case and winds up making her an offer.

The joy of being back to work had quickly turned into the despair of paperwork. Vanessa was sure Lucas did that to her on purpose as some sort of ass backward way of easing her into things. Maybe he was just worried she would cause some deserving scumbag to land in the ER. He may have been onto something there if he was. As it was, Vanessa had been doing a lot of catch up paperwork and doing the annoyingly tedious things like background checks and looking over case files handed by their greener staff members while she was "out of town." An interesting fact she'd run across was that Callisto, favorite awkward former object of Vanessa's affections, had been conscripted into helping Warren and Adrienne, of all people, track down a missing kid. The hilarity of the two of them looking for a newly christened street kid did not escape the metamorph. That kid never would have been found and brought home if it hadn't been for Callisto so Vanessa felt proper thanks ought to be issued, which was why she was making her way to the run down shelter the pair had found her at.

A worn, battered leather jacket layered over a frayed black hoodie and paired with jeans worn thin and scuffed up motorcycle boots went a long way to make Vanessa blend in more on this side of the neighborhood. The last thing she needed was someone who needed a fix thinking they could try to mug her. Police didn't look kindly upon assault, warranted or not, and she had something of a temper control issue lately. Half-lidded blue eyes darted around out from under the hood as she made her way into the building. Somehow she felt like she blended in less being people colored than she would have if she were blue. Funny, the things people get to be comfortable in.

Warren and Adrienne hadn't got past the foyer when they're visited the shelter, but when Vanessa entered the front hall waiting area was empty but for a rather bored looking young woman behind the reception desk. She was a little surprised to be waved on past without further question when she made her enquiry after the dark-haired ex-Morlock, and soon she was in the main area of the Shelter, a series of interconnected rec rooms and dormitories as far as could be seen.

It didn't take long, passing by open doors and scanning the rooms inside, to spot Callisto, sat at a table in the corner of one of the communal areas next to a perfectly ordinary if rather sullen looking teenaged girl, apparently deep in some sort of discussion. Callisto had always had a serious look about her, never one for smiles and small talk, but on observation it was obvious that she wasn't quite the same woman Vanessa - or rather, 'Morgan' - had met back at the mansion those few years ago. She had the same wild hair, the same perma-scowl, but to Vanessa, with her finely-tuned eye for body language and subtle physical cues, the Callisto before her today looked at once more and less fragile, somehow, than the one she'd met - perhaps more open and therefore more vulnerable, and yet more at ease with herself, rendering that openness a merit rather than a risk. Certainly the old Callisto wouldn't have reached and given the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, or favoured her with that tight-but-sincere smile, as she stood up from the table, their conversation apparently over for now.

Waiting hadn't been hard when Vanessa was studying someone. Callisto had definitely changed and that made Vanessa wonder... It had been in the back of her mind that the office needed more help with Laura off with her boyfriend for who knows how long, but she hadn't really thought about Callisto possibly filling that hole in a little until now. Head down, hands in her pockets, Vanessa approached Callisto with something of a cautious shuffle. The shuffle was to ensure the woman knew Vanessa was coming up behind her, but the cautious was an automatic reaction to not want to draw attention as an outsider. People who didn't really belong here coming in could make people who needed to be here less inclined to come.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked with a bare flash of a one-sided smile when Vanessa stopped moving. She had stopped just far enough to be outside of arm's reach, though Vanessa was well aware with Callisto the odds of her getting out of the way in time if the woman did want to attack her were slim to none.

The other woman didn't turn immediately, though when she did, it was quite deliberately - she obviously recognised the voice. "Vanessa," she muttered. Then, "You're all... pink."

Vanessa frowned and nodded a little, a motion which helped the hood pulled over her head hide her more. "Guilty. It's a...thing I'm going through at the moment." What Callisto probably hadn't noticed yet was that Vanessa was also blonde. It was a fact the metamorph was fairly sullen over. Her eyes were blue again, her skin was fair and people colored...but her hair wasn't red. It was blonde. It was like seeing a terrible California version of the adult she would have been if it had not been for the physical aspects of her mutation.

Pursing her lips thoughtfully, Callisto said no more on the topic. "Can I, uh... help you?"

Ah, awkward Callisto. Now here was familiar ground. "I just wanted to come by and thank you for helping Adrienne and Warren out last month when they were looking for that missing kid. I can't imagine they'd have had much clue what to do or how to handle a kid who had chosen to live on the street otherwise."

"Mm. I mean, sure, no problem - how is he?" Callisto went on immediately, suddenly interested. "He sort things all right with his parents?"

"I don't actually know. There doesn't appear to have been any follow up done. It's possible they didn't have the time to follow up because the office was aflutter with finding me soon after. It's also possible they simply didn't think about it. Not everyone checks up on cases after they close unless there are legal reasons to. I can find out for you, though." Vanessa also suspected there was a big difference between whatever training Warren and Adrienne got and the level of training Vanessa would have given them had they been around. After all, Vanessa was the sort who still checked in with a neighborhood madame to make sure no one was giving her and her girls hell who weren't cops.

"Thanks. He's a good kid," Callisto said. Then, "They're mostly good kids, really."

Vanessa looked around, presumably at the kids milling about but really it was mostly to take stock of some new footsteps she'd picked up on. "Good kids, crap parents and shitty circumstances. Usually the bad kids I come across have homes. Maybe it's an opportunity thing. Kids on the streets or in shelters have to focus on surviving so there isn't much time for anything else. Kids with homes and everything that comes with a home can focus on shooting up their school. It's an oversimplification, I know, but something to consider. Means and opportunity can count for a lot even in crime. Motive is always more important, though, I think. Usually kids making bad decisions has something to do with family or environment, things outside of their control."

Callisto made a face. "I don't..." She frowned. Callisto was, as always, not great at putting the complicated thoughts that ran through her head into words. Often, she wasn't sure what the right words were. "We don't really try to... analyse the kids. Here. That's... not what we're about. What I'm about." She did smile, though, lips closed, at the other woman, and she shifted her feet a little, suddenly remembering her manners, perhaps. "S'been a while," she said. "D'you... want some coffee? Tastes like dirt, but..."

"Coffee that tastes like dirt?" Vanessa grinned. "How could I possibly say no to that? Also, sorry, deconstructing motives and justifications and personalities is just habit. I do it with just about everyone, it's not particular to the kids here or elsewhere. When you spend so much time studying people it can be hard to turn it off, you know?" She pushed her hood back a little and it fell off completely, leaving her messy ponytail free and her peripheral vision expanded. "Like you, for example... you've changed a lot since I handed the self-defense class over to you."

"Not that much," Callisto said, almost defensively, leading the way over to the corner table where the coffee pot stood. "Just... found some ways to fill my time," she said. "Figured some stuff out." She glanced back at Vanessa, and the other woman could see her mind sifting through her memories of that last uncomfortable conversation, what, more than two years ago, now.

Morgan, as she'd been then, had done her damnedest to reach out, to befriend her, but Callisto, whether she was unable to shake the apparently deep embarrassment she'd felt at the acknowledgment of her attraction, or simply because she didn't do 'friends', had somehow managed to make herself politely unavailable, and their relationship from then had remained one of passing encounters and polite nods of greeting.

Callisto today didn't seem quite so uncomfortable. Whatever she remembered (and memory, after all, was a fickle, unreliable beast), she seemed to have made some sort of peace with it, because she smiled again, albeit tightly, and proffered the steaming paper cup of black coffee. "Here. Careful, it's hot."

"If it's going to taste like dirt then it ought to at least have the integrity to be hot," Vanessa replied with a smile as she took the cup. Ah, terrible black coffee. Maddie over at Puccini would feign horror at the thought but then Vanessa just wouldn't tell the girl that she'd cheated on Puccini's coffee. The metamorph blew gently on the coffee before taking a tentative sip. Yep, it was terrible, but no more terrible than what had lived in the Snow Valley offices.

Leaving all mention of how Callisto had or hadn't changed aside, the blonde changed the topic. "I have a proposal for you, actually. I promise it does not involve marriage and I will not pout, cry or otherwise have hurt feelings if you turn it down."

Callisto raised her eyebrows, pouring herself a glass of water and tipping her head toward a battered pair of seats that sat around an equally battered coffee table nearby. "Shoot."

As they made their way over to the chairs Vanessa mostly sipped at the coffee, which was too hot to be enjoyable but that was probably for the best. She waited until they were both comfortably sunk down into the over-worn armchairs before speaking. "X-Factor had to turn a lot of cases down while I was 'out of town.' It's something I'm looking into remedying now in various ways. However, I find myself down one staff member. We could use some help, even on a part-time basis. You've got experiences and skills no one else in the agency has, including a way of talking to people in particular social strata that I suspect none of the rest of us could replicate. And it's my girl with enhanced senses who is running off to join the circus for an indeterminate amount of time, so to speak, so you're useful in that regard as well. If you're interested."

Callisto didn't react at all for a long moment. Then, she knocked back her drink as though it was some hard liquor rather than a simple cup of water, before leaning forward carefully to place the empty container on the table between them. "I have a job," she said. Then, "Hell, I have three jobs."

Vanessa shrugged, clearly unfazed. "Like I said, you can turn it down. I will either conscript someone else or find a way to get it all down one way or another." Since she wasn't sleeping much these days she might not even have to turn many cases down. Though she would have to consider embracing this whole concealer thing so Lucas didn't lecture her on her inability to sleep for more than a few hours every other night. "I hadn't realized you had so much on your plate."

"Self defense at the school, volunteering here, and I still do some work in the garage," Callisto said with a shrug. Her eyes narrowed slightly, now, as she took in the other woman's appearance and general countenance in silence for another extended pause. That was another thing that had changed - Callisto's silences. A lot seemed to happen in her silences, now. Vanessa had the distinct sensation of being appraised. "Do you have someone else? To ask, I mean. Someone else who could help out?"

Being the subject of that sort of stare was distinctly uncomfortable, but Vanessa managed not to squirm. Granted, she only just barely managed not to squirm. "Do I have anyone else in mind right this second? No. I hadn't even come here with the intention of asking you. I only came to thank you for helping wealthy and wealthier find a kid. Like I said, though, I'll figure it out."

The other woman's usual pout was interrupted briefly as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth. She drew in a long breath through her nose, and released it again slowly by the same route. "I can't do... admin and shit," she went on now, sitting back, lifting a hand and running it across her face. "I get enough of that here. I'm sorry," she said. "But... if there's shit you think I can help with. And when I have the time, then... I'll help out when I can, yeah? I mean, I can't promise anything."

Watching the brunette over the cup of coffee Vanessa was once more sipping, she considered the reaction. Callisto had a lot on her plate, or at least seemed to, and she wasn't very keen to take anything else on. Vanessa could respect that. "That's fine. As I said, I won't be heartbroken if you say no. It's a job, not the end of the world. And the kids here probably need you more than X-Factor does. It's not a problem. Other obligations matter and the last thing I need is to put someone on a case who I'm not confident will be able to see it through. We keep strange hours, we go out of town and life is generally pretty unpredictable in the PI realm. If you've got places you need to be at certain hours of certain days then it wouldn't work out anyway. Don't swear it."

"Right." Callisto was frowning now, her mind obviously working overtime. "Look, it's not as though Xavier really needs me around; classes are tiny now. I mean, the shelter, I have to be around here, no question, but the school..." She made a face. "but I live there, y'know? Got to pay my way somehow."

Vanessa held up a hand as if in surrender. "If you really want to think about it then think it over. Get back to me whenever, the offer will stand. The school needs two self-defense teachers for demonstrations and the like but there's always someone around there willing to take over from my experience." She gave the other woman a half-smile. "But you'll really need to weigh this because there will be times that you will be on a case and you won't be able to get here. If I have to send you on surveillance or hand you a case that takes you out of town I need to be confident your head will be there, not over here thinking it's where you should be. It'd be a part-time gig, there would still be plenty of time for you to spend here but if you want to be here for forty hours a week it won't work out. Working with us means you'll be unreliable in other areas some of the time because you don't know how long a case will take or when you will need to be where for the most part."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Callisto said, though there was no hostility in her tone, only a sudden wearyness, as though the weight of the world had just been placed on her shoulders. Callisto was clearly not a person who relished having to make hard decisions, but then, who was? Perhaps Callisto was just particularly transparent - to Vanessa at least. "I think about it," she said. Then, "D'you still have the same number? As back when you were staff?"

"Yeah, I do." Her cell phone was one of the few things recovered from her abduction other than herself. Lucky for her the bad guys wanted to throw people off her trail. Unlucky for them it didn't work.

"Then I guess you'll still have mine," Callisto said with another of those tight smiles. It wasn't that she was insincere when she smiled, exactly. It wasn't that she was unfriendly, not really, not in the end. It was more that she could never get away from that undercurrent of worry that seemed to hang over her, all the time. Worry, or maybe just melancholy. "Anyway..."

"Anyway," Vanessa stood and pulled the hood back up over her head, "I should probably let you get back to work. When you make up your mind definitively either way just give me a call, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll... be in touch. Uh, Vanessa..."

The metamorph smiled and shook her head. "You'll get used to the name. They all do."

"No, it's not..." Callisto shook her head, hesitating, then went on, "Look, I don't know what happened, not much of it, and it's none of my business - I'm just glad you're back and safe. But... take care of yourself, yeah? Try not to work too hard." Her eyes narrowed slightly, as though she could see every lost hour of sleep written on Vanessa's face - and perhaps, in a way, it was.

Oh. That's where she was going. Vanessa instantly got uncomfortable. She did her best to hide it but small body language cues betrayed her. "Don't worry about me, I've been through the ringer before. It's handled."

Callisto nodded slowly, clearly not buying it, but not about to argue. "Look, I know I'm pretty far down the list," she said, "'Sbeen years since we've talked, even, properly anyway. But I'll be around. If you need to, yeah?" If concrete proof were needed that Callisto had changed in the past couple of years, this was certainly it. Volunteering to be a listening ear - indeed to be emotionally available in any capacity at all - was most certainly not the old Callisto's MO. But then, presumably one had to pick these things up, doing what she did now.

Vanessa blinked, then stared, clearly taken by surprise at the offer. She had walked into the twilight zone, it was official. "Thanks... I mean, I appreciate the offer. I'm not really one for talking so much as I'm one for punching things and drinking. But I'll keep it in mind if I feel the need to vent and do so to someone who isn't as likely to give me that look where their heart is breaking because they can't fix the world for me." When she put it like that, Callisto seemed like a much better person to talk to than, say, Adrienne. She was no more inclined to have a deep, heartfelt discussion about her time being cut up, though.

Callisto shot her that tight smile again. "Well, I can do punching and drinking too," she said. "Actually, I might be better at that," she added. "Anyway, it's cool, I just... yeah. Take care. I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Punching and drinking I might take you up," Vanessa told her with a smile. The ease in her voice and her body language was clear compared to the awkward tension from when Callisto told her to take care of herself.

"Right, well. Any time. Well. Any time when I'm free."

"I only punch things at five in the morning," Vanessa joked. "So if that's the only time you're free we're going to have to drop the drinking bit. But we'll figure it out. I'll call you when I'm free and then we can play phone tag until we're both available, yeah?"

Callisto just nodded at this, finally pushing to her feet and jamming her hands into the pockets of her ragged jeans, and suddenly she was just 'Callisto' again, and not this strange new creature who seemed comfortable with feelings and openly showed concern for others. She reinforced this persona with a quick nod of farewell.

Vanessa raised a hand in a wave to the brunette as she turned to go. "Thanks for the terrible coffee, love. It reminds me why I don't miss Snow Valley." She flashed a grin over her shoulder, threw the empty cup in the bin as she passed and buried her hands in the pockets of her hoodie again. She left the shelter as she had entered it, head bent, slouching and shuffling along.