Fred and Angelo and Lunch (Backdated to Nov 20th)

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Fred gets some advice from one of his closest friends.



"Lunch is on me", Angelo said firmly, settling into his chair. "No arguments."

Fred went to open his mouth, but finally just sighed, shaking his head as he picked up a menu. He'd lost enough of these fights to Angelo to know when to just not try. As it was, after five disastrous job interviews, Fred didn't have the morale to argue, "...Thanks, Angelo. I'll buy next time..."

"You'll buy when we've got you a job and you can afford it", was the optimistic counter-offer. "Which will happen, when the time's right."

Fred didn't need to look at the menu, he knew he'd be getting the most burned burger the restaurant would allow. He looked around to make sure no one was seated near the pair of mutants on the patio before lighting a cigarette, "I don't want to watch doors anymore, yah know? An' all the mechanics jobs are so fought over..." Fred sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Please tell me your morning is going better."

"It is, actually", Angelo said cheerfully. "l think we might actually get somewhere in Libya, now the new regime's working its way in. Wanting to prove they're different than the old guard, and all..."

Fred unconciously offered the contents of the open pack of cigarettes to Angelo as he spoke, having become so used to cigarettes being a shared commodity at his workplace, "Are you going to be spending any time over there? In the near future, I mean..."

Angelo accepted it equally without thinking - despite his repeated vows to give up, he'd still never completely managed it. He considered, then shrugged. "Personally? Probably not, I don't get to go on the field visits as much as I did in the early days. Perils of management. But if it looks really interesting, I might clear myself some time to go check it out."

Fred grinned a little, "I'd offer to go over, but I'm pretty sure the last thing they need right now is a massive, overweight white guy..."

Angelo snorted. "You could be a carnival strongman. Entertain the kids."

"I'd probably take to it real easy. Ah already entertain drunks. They're like kids, right?"

"Pretty much", he answered, laughing. "Now. Tell me about this morning. We figure out what went wrong, we can figure out how to make it go right."

"I just...I dunno, Angelo." Fred said after they had both placed their orders, "I can't think of anything I really want to do in college. I am sick of bouncing. Can't get a mechanic job, and I probably wouldn't want it if I had it." Fred lit a fresh cigarette with the still burning remnants of his last one. Chain-smoking was never the best idea, but Fred could care less at this point, "How are you supposed to wow people when you have no idea what you want to do with your life...?"

"By finding out", Angelo answered, determinedly upbeat, and started writing on the napkin. "So, okay. We know you don't want to be a bouncer or a mechanic the rest of your life, and we know sitting in an office all day wasn't for you. That's a start, right?"

Fred nodded, "And Ah'm sorry for that, Jello." he said, a little drawl leaking out in his apology, "I loved working for you and Mr. Nathan, but I..." he sighed, "Ah can't go the nine to five thing. I don't know why." He knew exactly why, but the reasons weren't exactly appropriate lunch conversation. Even someone as socially thick as Fred knew that.

Angelo waved it off. "Nine to five, all the typical office thing, it doesn't suit everyone. We wouldn't want anyone in the job that was unhappy there. What we gotta figure out now is what would make you happy. You know, if you wanted to set up your own business doing whatever, Nate and I could finance you to get off the ground..."

Fred held up a hand, "No way, Jello. You and Mr. Nathan have done way too much for me to come callin' with a hand out." Fred sighed, "There isn't a lot of call for a guy who can take a beating outside Red X and...well..." The thoughts Fred had been mulling over for the past few weeks, now that they were called on to actually be conveyed, were of course totally unprepared and half-formed...

Angelo tilted his head, something in that catching at his own thoughts. "You know, I can think of a couple places that would have call for that. One or two of them you'd have to work a cover job in an office or a doorman, but the other one you wouldn't have to do anythin' you didn't want to."

Fred furrowed his brow, "What do you mean...?"

"The X-Men", Angelo said simply. "I gave it up 'cause Elpis came first for me, but you... it's different for you. You might find it's a better fit there."

Fred paused. A Fred-Pause, while typically long, wasn't usually punctuated with as much surprise as this one, "X...Yah mean be, uh, ahn X-Person? Me?" Moments ago, Fred was about to mention looking into a job at a nearby Race Track that did sideshows like Human Cannonballs. Now one of the people he respected most was telling him he should look into Mutant Superheroics.

"Why not you?" Angelo asked reasonably. "You're strong, you've got pretty good powers control these days, you know how to control a situation without hurtin' people worse than you have to, from the bouncing, and you've got more smarts than you think you do. And the X-Men isn't all about fighting supervillains, so it'd be more variety than door work."

Fred let all of Angelo's words sink in, his cigarette burned almost to the filter by the time he spoke again, "Yah...yah really think I could, Jello? Like, Ah got what it takes...?" Had he been more focused on what he was saying, Fred might have regretted how corny that sounded.

"You know what, I do", was the serious response. "I mean, there'd be the trainee stage, but you already bein' over eighteen... somehow I get the feeling that wouldn't last too long."

Fred looked around, as if to make sure he was indeed the one Angelo was talking to. He leaned in a little, unsure if he was supposed to be talking about a pro-mutant terrorist cell at a dull roar on a lunch patio, "Do...do I fill out an application or something...?"

"No", Angelo said, laughing. "No written applications required. You talk to... Jean, I guess, with Scott out west and Storm gone. Let her know you want to give it a shot."

There was something primitively terrifying about the thought of talking with Dr. Jean, if only because everytime Fred spoke with her he was feeling awful, "ah just...sign up..? Huh. Hard tah believe it's that easy..."

"Well, it's not. Not really. Joining's that easy, but there's a lot of training before you make full team. But I think you can do it."

Fred, despite himself, smiled broadly. Savin the world, cool codenames... Finding a place for himself, "yeah...ah could do it, yah know?"

"Ah could be an X-Man."

"You really could", Angelo said with a grin. "I'll even talk to them before you do, if you want. Put in the good word."

Fred, still smiling, nodded, "thanks, Angelo, Ah'd appreciate..." his voice trailed of, and color flushed from Fred's cheeks, "uh...Ah don't have to wear the, uh, skintight uniform, do I...?"

Angelo snorted. "Black leathers are kind of compulsory. Or greys, at first... but they could probably make some kind of accommodations for how you wear them. Kurt and Kyle get to go without the boots to make it easier with their feet, that kind of thing."

Fred held up his hands, "Long as it has...y'know, room..."

"I'd think you can probably make a case for needing it with your powers", was the more serious response. "You know, the way you can shift and all."

Fred nodded, and looked at the still smoldering cigarette he'd smashed out just a moment before, "...So, what do I do now...?"