Lorna & Longshot | Los Angeles

[x-longshot.livejournal.com]

Lorna and Arthur meet randomly in the parking lot of a local grocer.


"No. I got it." Lorna said to the check out clerk at the local grocery store. She had only been in California for a few days and her mom sent her off on an errand.They were having a dinner party for some of their friends and Lorna wasn't in the mood to help entertain her parents friends. She was on vacation.

She wasn't really pushing the cart but using her powers to move it. She was still healing from the last X-Men mission and she promised the docs back at the mansion she would take it easy. Opening the trunk with a click of the key remote and started to put the groceries in, her powers no longer focused on the cart as she winced from the burn marks on her arms. The cart started to wheel away from the green haired woman and towards an unsuspecting car.

There was a clang, followed belatedly by an "oomph."

The cart had veered not along the downward slope of the parking lot, but instead up and to the side so that it had eventually collided with a sleek Spyder GT. Or, more accurately, its owner. The sunglass-wearing, hat-pulled conspiratorially low blond let out an inarticulate "ugh."

Lorna turned but it was too late. She moved the cart away from the car before she got there. "Oh my god. I am so sorry." Lorna came up to the man, "Are you alright?"

The man moved carefully to reposition the reusable bag clutched to his chest. He smiled as best as he could around the sucker in his mouth — long hair was tucked into the hat in what looked to be a paper-thin attempt to look nondescript — and his eyes were surveying the bag for damage. His smile didn't break at the small despite red stain growing on side of the bag.

"You got me," and his tone was over-exaggerated without any trace of actually being hurt, "Just tell my family that I loved them when they cart me away." He released one hand from the bad to mockingly clutch at his chest. A brighter grin. "Hey. That'll be easy given the means of execution."

Lorna fast walk came to a slow one when the man was being dramatic — in a playful way. She couldn't help but smile back at the stranger, at least he wasn't one of those jerks. "I will replace whatever broke in your bag."

"No. I am afraid that you have ruined tomato sauce forever. If I were Italian, that would have been a right tragedy." If his accent hasn't been a obvious before, the rolled "r" and "oil" in "right" was a clear indicator.

"Well good thing you aren't Italian because I don't know any Italians that would get tomato sauce straight from the jar. They would had made it from scratch." Lorna said with another smile, taking note of his accent. "Then again I don't know too many Italians so I will let it slide."

Arthur returned the intensity of her smile without any protest, and took the opportunity to set the bag down on the ground and remove his sunglasses. He swirled the lollipop absent-mindedly. "You're too kind with all of this forgiveness. Imagine if the world were full of people like you. There'd be an end to war."

"Wait. I recognize you." Lorna tilted her head to the side when he removed the sunglasses. "Yeah, you are the one that bought Dr. Cecilia at the charity event a few months back."

He blinked. "I get that a lo — Say what? I mean. Yes? Wait, what?"

Lorna laughed, "I work with Dr. Cecilia. Actually I am the one that feeds her. I am Lorna."

The man smiled blankly and leaned against his cardoor. The cart was still rolling loosely about five feet away. "So tell me, Lorna, is feeding Dr. Cecilia a hobby or a job? Perhaps a passion?"

"It is a job. I am on staff at Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted. I have been cooking since I was little though it is not what I went to college for."

"Ah ha. So I bit of all of that, eh?" The man could have sworn that he had heard of Charles Xavier's before, but the memory was distant and fuzzy. He met lots of people daily. Surely one could have been a Cecilia. Had he been to the doctor's this month? "The name's Arthur. You've apparently heard all about me, but I know so little about you. What did you go to school for? College never seemed like an appealing option to me."

"I went to Westchester College in New York for my Bachelors in Geology and went to UC Berkley for my Masters. You are a reality star, right?"

Arthur blanched. "I prefer 'Charismatic television host and adventurer who explores pushes the limits of man in nature.' Weekly. The other term makes it sound like I'm going to get voted out of a house somewhere. Worse, it devalues my craft."

"Interesting. I never thought about it that way." She looked back down at the bag. "Are you sure I can't replace your jar of sauce?"

His smile was back. "No, really. I'll have to sort through the mess of my bags, but they've been due for a good cleaning. No harm done! I'm sure this was a valuable lesson in cart safety for one of us."

"Well let me make it up to you in the form of real Italian food from a non-Italian. I promise you won't regret it."

"Well now. I like how quickly this escalated. I was taught to never turn down an offer of free food, especially when there is a beautiful woman involved."

"And I am surprised that you actually agreed after I almost killed you with my run away cart."

The man blinked, uncomprehending. "What? You almost —" Then he erupted into an honest belly laugh. "Are you claiming to be a cart-assin? That you are the cart whisperer?"

"If anyone asks, I will deny it." Lorna smirked. "Well today is your lucky day, No death involved."

"Well, now I'm afraid not to accept lest I never wish to feel safe in a parking lot again." He pulled out his phone and gestured for her to take it. "Book me. I'll bring the wine."

"You will never look at a shopping cart the same way again." Lorna took his phone and put in her own number and her parents address. "Dinner will be at 6. It is a dinner party, so be prepared."

"I make a living Being Prepared, even if there never was a Dinner Party merit badge." Arthur retrieved his phone and did not check it before pocketing. Lorna may have noticed a brief text message flash about a change in shooting schedules. "I hereby promise to be on my best behavior. I'll have to thank Doctor Cecilia on my next appointment, eh?"

Lorna's mind briefly flashed to the Lion King with Scar singing that song. "Good. Cause I would hate to kick you out." Lorna chuckled and shook her head, did he really not remember the Charity event? "I'll see you later." She turned to grab the cart and started to head back to her own car.