Frank and Yvette: Bribery and Coffee

[x-pinnochio.livejournal.com]

In which Red X is discussed and Frank doesn't punch anything.


Frank had been mildly curious about Yvette since the journals. Red, spiky and adorable was an interesting description- and that was before she'd started talking about Red X. So he'd brewed two mugs of coffee (sweetening his own to nigh-bearable levels) and made his way up to her suite, with his best charming smile on.

Then he'd tried to knock. Which is hard with a cup in each hand.

Yvette was in the living area of the suite, finishing up some homework, when she heard a muffled kind of thump on the door. Curious - and wondering if Shamu had escaped from Kyle's suite again - she went to the door and opened it. No cat, but instead there was a young man she hadn't seen before, carrying two mugs that smelled welcomingly of coffee.

"You would be Frank, yes?" she asked with a smile. Her Albanian accent was perhaps a little softer than it had been in years gone by, but it was still fairly heavy.

Frank- who had been winding up to tap the door as delicately as he could manage with his shoulder- paused, and then smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. You're Yvette?" Stupid question. Red? Check. Spiky? Check. Adorable? Check. Oh, God, Check. The mansion, it seemed, was a warren for hot chicks.

Focus, Frank. Fantasise later. "So I know you said no to bribery, but I've never met anyone who can turn down fresh coffee," he said, wafting the coffee dramatically under her nose.

Luckily Yvette was not a telepath, or she would have been a lot more awkward. As it was, she giggled and carefully took the cup in her long-fingered gloved hands. "Coffee is always the perfect bribery material," she agreed. "Please, come in." She moved aside to let him into the suite.

He stepped inside, nodding in thanks as he did so. Right now, the wisest decision was to be polite and friendly- no need to make things uncomfortable, after all. He glanced around for somewhere to sit, sipping on his coffee. "So, I was kind of wondering if you could tell me about Red X."

She waved at the couch, taking a seat in 'her' chair, the one covered with a blanket of the self-repairing cloth that made a normal life for her possible. "Of course. I am glad you are interested - it is always good to have the new victims." Her giggle belied her words. "Just joking."

"Sure you are," said Frank with a drily amused half-smirk on his face. He sank onto the couch, and then carefully got comfortable. "Your grad suite is awesome, by the way," he added. "So. Red X. I'm interested."

"There are certain perks for staying here," Yvette acknowledged. "As for Red X... where to start? The school has been associated with it for many years now, since the program began, really. Ot os a good way for the students especially to learn that their powers are more useful than they might first think." She gave a small, self-conscious shrug. "Like me, for example."

"Hey, spiky's useful! I mean, you can pick locks and climb walls and stuff." It was this completely thoughtless blurting out of words that had made Frank such a hit with the ladies. He paused, reddened a little. "...That was more coherent in my head." Okay. Distraction, distraction. He took a huge gulp of his coffee, and then changed the subject. "So, powers control. Cool. What else? I mean, how'd the program get started? How did you get involved personally?"

"It is funny you should mention climbing walls, since that is one of the things I do with my powers." Yvette cupped her mug, inhaling the fragrant steam. "Red X started when Professor Xavier approached the Red Cross with the suggestion of letting his students volunteer to help in disaster situations. There had been some incidents already, a hurricane which reached the New York coast, where the students had shown they wanted to help, so he decided to see if it was possible to set up a formal program." She sipped at her coffee, collecting her thoughts. "I began with Red X when I was the student here. I was very much in need of something useful to do with my powers, and the Red X program was exactly that. My first mission was an avalanche in Canada - I found I was able to help a lot and I decided then that Red X was what I wanted to do."

Frank considered that for a moment, cradling his mug in both hands. "Well, I have to admit, that's pretty freakin' awesome," he said eventually. "So that's the gig? We fly in, fix things with our sexy genetics, and bask in public adoration?" He sipped a bit, grimaced at the heat. That coffee maker was freaking terrifying, it really was. "Okay. So... here's the question that sucks to ask. How much do people... appreciate it? I mean, that doesn't effect whether or not I do it," he added hastily. "I'm not a glory hound or anything. It's just... I was talking to Angelo. It seems like this is something that people would ignore so they could hate on us more."
Yvette's eyes glowed softly. "It is varying," she replied after a moment's consideration. "Sometimes there are the thank yous and the people realising you have helped them. Other times, not so much. And in some cases, I have seen people refuse to have the help from Red X mutants, even though it is putting them in more danger." She sounded more sad than angry. "Fortunately, that does not happen so often."
Frank nodded, face a little troubled. "That... sucks," he said eventually. "That really, really sucks." He almost asked what she'd done then, but he had enough tact beaten into him over the years to avoid that question. "But, helping people," he said instead. "That's a pretty worthwhile cause. Where else have you guys... deployed?" He pasted on a self-deprecating half-smile over the awful terminology, trying to move the conversation on as fast as he could..

"It does, yes. The Red Cross does its best to educate, but it is the long struggle. Especially when sometimes the incidents we are helping with are caused by mutants, like San Diego." Yvette sighed a little - sometimes she wished people would learn faster. "It has been a little while since we went out, but we have helped with fires and snowstorms and floods and hurricanes... Lots of the evacuation work, mostly, some rescue. And not always people - Kyle and I once saved some endangered owls from a brushfire." She smiled over the memory.

"You guys do conservation work too?" Frank sat back. After a minute, a small grin ran over his face. "That's pretty cool. No, actually that's seriously cool." He sipped his coffee again. "Okay. So. Let's ask the fun question. You guys take on students, right?"

"When it comes up, yes." Yvette affirmed. "And yes, we take on students - the program was designed for young people between 14 and 18. But even after you turn 18, you can still be involved, either as a volunteer or as a field leader, once you do the training." She set her coffee down and got up to rummage through her book bag. "I have the pamphlets for the new members, if you would like one. Training is the last Friday of the month."

"Please," said Frank, leaning forward. Somewhere inside his head, a little part of him relaxed. This conversation had been far less... revealing... then the one with Angelo. He'd been kind of worried he was going to fly off the handle again, and he wasn't sure how Yvette would have taken that.

He was really going to have to work on controlling his temper.

"Where do we train? The grounds?" he asked.

"Sometimes. The woods especially are good for the search and rescue type training. For the first aid and CPR, the doctors train us in the medlab - it is a requirement that even the occasional volunteers maintain those qualifications." Yvette came back with the pamphlet and passed it over to him. "Sometimes we take groups into New York to the Red Cross office there for the more specific training, like communications."

Frank nodded, taking the pamphlet. "Okay. So will I have to fill out any forms, or anything?" Seemed like this was the kind of thing that'd need forms. Or some kind of legal stuff, anyway.

Yvette nodded. "The standard permission-type forms, yes. And something for your parents or guardian, so everyone knows what is going on." She shrugged a little apologetically. "It is the way of the bureaucracy, yes?"

There was a minuscule pause before Frank nodded at that. "always getting in the way, yeah." He grinned wryly. "Thanks, Yvette. I'll get back to you." He stuffed his leaflet into his jacket, grinned again, and headed for the door. "Hope you can find a use for a god-damn treeman!" he called over his shoulder.