Artie and Sooraya. (Backdated)

[x-artie.livejournal.com]

Sooraya runs into Artie in a diner in District X, the day after his ...conversation with Remy.



Artie had spoken to Remy a day ago and still hadn't made up his mind - how did you agree to trust someone like that? so when Neal had texted him, asking him to compare a set of Albert Kotin prints from his '58 exhibition with a set of copies he'd jumped at the chance. It was possible that Remy had been right, that this was less complicated, easier work and less likely to get him killed. But, on the other hand, if he was going to fuck people over, he might as well be doing it for a reason.

Payment stuffed into the inside pocket of his jacket, he'd stopped in a diner in District X for a coffee and some lunch, staring absently into space as he ate.

Sooraya hesitatingly stepped in the diner after her visit to the local organization trying to help newly manifested mutants. Her coworkers had recommended the diner for both good tea and an excellent peach pie. She made her way to the counter to take a seat when she caught a familiar form in the corner of her eye. Slowly she made his way to the table, a little stunned when she recognized him for sure. "Artie?"

He blinked at the sound of his name and looked up startled, snapped back to the here and now. He waved over to her and gestured for her to sit down. It was too late to avoid her and keep brooding.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had left New York." Sooraya took a seat, frowning a little as she took his somewhat scruffy appearance. "Are you doing okay?"

"I got back into town a bit over a month ago," Artie replied and looked down at his jacket, flushing. "I'm ... kind of staying in a bit of a bad part of town. The jacket is just to ensure that I don't get mugged on the way home," well, on the way through the tunnels to the electrical substation he called home, "because I look like a tourist. How are you? And everyone else?"

"I am sorry, Artie. I didn't mean to..." Sooraya gestured vaguely with her hand. "I have been doing well, though busy. The finals for university are coming up, so I have been hitting the books. And everyone back at the mansion is at least safe and sound for the moment." Which meant quite bit to Sooraya, especially with the one year of mark of their kidnapping to Genosha approaching.

He quirked his lips into a wry smile and gave her a quarter-sized image of himself offering Sooraya a one-armed hug. "I'm glad to hear that," he said through the synthesiser. "You going to pass your finals?"

"I think so. Intro to Economics is gonna be hard and I might need to ask Dr. Grey or Ms. Guthrie for a little help with some finicky points of the Mutation and Genetics class I am taking. But the rest is going well." Sooraya smiled at the server as she arrived and quickly ordered tea and a small piece of pie before turning to Artie. "Do you want anything else?"

Artie gave the server a bright but closed-mouthed smile and held up the menu, pointing to the blueberry pie and then gestured, one. His response to Sooraya was another tiny picture, this time of the girl asleep on a pile of books.

She has to smile at the picture. "Except for economics, it's at least interesting to learn more about. What have you been doing so far? You said you had been out of town?"

He froze momentarily before collecting himself. "Well, I went up to Chicago and saw my mom's grave." It had just been a grave, neglected for twenty years in a cemetery Anticlimatic really. "And then I went to Atlantic City. Played some craps. Came back here and found someplace to stay..."

"That sounds like quite a trip. Did you have any luck in Atlantic City?" Sooraya left it to Artie if he wanted to mention anything about the visit to his mother's grave.

Artie gave a silent, bitter laugh and switched to scrolling text at her eyeline, his concession to lowering his voice against eavesdroppers. "I wasn't winning much so I switched to using my powers. And got caught and almost murdered because I tried it at the wrong casino. They beat the stuffing out of me," some of the scabs from the healing cuts he'd received were still visible, as were the fading edges of some of the bruises, "and I spent three days chained to a radiator waiting to be executed by a mob boss before X-Force rescued me. So, yeah, I had some luck."

Sooraya's eyes widened and she immediately surveyed Artie's face closer, now clearly noticing the remainders of his injuries. "Are you recovering well so far? And please tell me you have at least a good place to stay. You should not be out there if you are still injured. It is so easy to become prey nowadays."

"I'm recovering just fine," he replied and smiled at the server as the man put down the plates of pie. The one-sided conversation would have looked weird anywhere but District X. "I've got a reasonably safe place to stay. Or at least, no-one is going to see me at all once I'm in the tunnels. I'm just dressed like this for getting in and out of there safely."

"What?" Sooraya coughed as a piece of pie went down the wrong way. Finally washing it down with a sip of tea, she considered a moment before she replied. "I know you might not want to, but I am sure you would be welcome to stay in the mansion. Especially if you were hurt."

Artie shook his head. "I really don't want to move back to the mansion at the moment, Sooraya. I lived down there when I was kid. I can live there now till I get a place of my own. I'm fine."

"The mansion is still home, Artie. You will always have a place there." Sooraya shook her head though. "But I do not intend to nag, Artie. I am just a little worried. Do you have everything you need there?"

Well, TV, a fridge and some power that didn't come from either batteries or some probably fairly dangerous jury rigging would be nice he thought and nodded, showing a picture of a thumbs up. "The mansion is home for you, sure," Artie said, "but I need to live my own life for a while. I've lived there since 2002. I was freaking nine . I need to ... do other stuff." A picture showed him walking away, duffle bag over one shoulder and not looking back.

"It's not that strange of an idea to me to stay at the mansion for a while. But where I grew up, a young woman stayed at her parents home till she got married and went to the house of her husband. I do understand you wanting independence though and that you want to see what is out there in the world." Sooraya paused for a moment. "I am just worried about friends getting hurt."

He gave a humorless and silent laugh. LeBeau had dangled him off a damn building yesterday after he'd asked for a job and the best place he could find to live at the moment was in the damn Morlock tunnels, surrounded by metaphorical ghosts. "You don't have to worry about that," Artie said finally, through the synthesiser. It was a lie and Sooraya probably knew it but...

"Artie, I know you can survive. I saw enough of that last year in Genosha. But don't you want more then just to survive? To really live? Is that even possible while you are staying in the tunnels?"

Artie shook his head and then shrugged. "Stop worrying, will you? I have income right now, I have a place to live and I'll have everything else sorted out soon enough."

Sooraya tilted her head, a stubborn look in her eyes. "I will try if you promise me something."

"Tell me what it is first."

"That if something bad does happen, you won't try to solve it alone? That you will look for help. I am not saying that you have to come to the mansion. I know you have friends in the city. But just don't try to solve everything alone?"

"I promise that if I'm able to ask for help, I will," Artie replied, all seriousness.

"Then I will keep you to that." Sooraya took another sip of her tea, letting the subject go. It would do no good to push any further. "I have to say though... I agree with the folks who recommended the pie here."

He gave her a grateful smile. "It is good pie."

"It certainly is." She considered for a moment before asking. "Do you still have the same cellphone number or do you have another one?"

"I've got the same number. I thought about swapping it around, but... cell phone companies don't like giving technically homeless mutants pay as you go plans, you know? And this one is customized for me, so I didn't want to bother with a new phone."

"That is good to know." Sooraya quickly glanced at the display on her own cellphone and frowned at what she saw there. "Ah, I am afraid I need to run. I have another meeting in about twenty minutes with someone interested in one of my projects."

Artie reached out and gave her hand a pat. "Thanks." He paused for a moment and then said, via images, "have fun with that." He flagged a waiter over and held up a prewritten note saying could I get the bill please?

"Maybe not quite fun, but it should be interesting." Sooraya replied as she stood up, pulling a few bills from her purse. "Never mind Artie, I have got it."