Angelo and Reed -- Library talk

[xp-fantastic.livejournal.com]

Angelo didn't tend to frequent the library during the usual daytime hours. Too much chance of unexpectedly running into one of the people whose faces were just too familiar and yet not enough.

So, he was there at 11pm, wandering aimlessly along the stacks looking for something to catch his eye.

Reed loved libraries. The calmness was something that he appreciated, along with the quiet. It may seem silly, but he felt research he did in a library far surpassed that he'd find online. Old fashioned, he knew, but he liked to indulge in it when he could.

This late, however, he never expected to see anyone. It startled him when an unfamiliar head peeked in, causing him to drop his books. "Who are you?," he exclaimed, strethching his arms to pick his books up.

Angelo blinked at him, not least because he'd never encountered anyone
who could do exactly that before.

"Uh. Angelo. Who are you?"

"Dr. Reed Richards." By now his books were back in his arms. Squinting, he looked closer at Angelo. "I've never heard your name before. Not surprising considering I'm not the most social person, but I've been trying. What do you do here?"

That got a rueful smile.

"I've not been the most social myself for a while. But maybe now it's
time... I'm the lawyer, but don't hold it against me."

Reed's interest was piqued. "There's a lawyer? For what?"

"Whatever the Professor needs me to be for. Drawing up documents,
compliance... in my day job, I'm a defense lawyer."

That made sense, Reed thought. "Seems we all have two lives when we come to this place...what we can do for others here, and what we do outside. A defense lawyer. Interesting. You must get a lot of death threats."

He laughed."From time to time. But I live in the securest house in New York State, so."

Reed had to concede that point. "Well Angelo the lawyer, it's nice to meet you. I've been here for a while now, and I'm still learning new things every day. I've been working with the newer residents, trying to get into the routine here.". He looked down at his arms. "Still no muscles, but i'm trying"

"Ah, that takes time", he said easily. "I guess you're more on the brains side of things?"

"I'm considered one of the smartest men on the planet," Reed responded matter-of-factly. "I've been assessed by many organizations throughout the world. I have a triple doctorate, and am in the process of applying for my fourth."

Angelo whistled, impressed. "And I thought I was doing good to get a scholarship."

"Scholarships are awarded for good reasons. If you had one, then you must be intelligent as well. Besides," Reed pointed out, "you seem more balanced than I. All I do is study, create, theorize, hypothesize...it wasn't until I met Sue that I noticed the incongruity of my life."

"Incongruity?" he asked lightly, with a quick grin at the compliment. "Meaning something was missing?"

Reed's eyes snapped open. That was not what he meant to say. Damnit, even just thinking of Susan got his mind mixed up. "Yes. Well. All lives are missing someone -- something," he corrected himself. "the pursuit of knowledge and fulfillment comes in many different paths."

Angelo nodded. "Guess we've all just got to figure out for ourselves which one's right for us. Sooner or later."

Phew. Reed silently congratulated himself for saving the conversation. Although now he was wondering what Sue was up to...

"Well, I don't know if you were looking for a book in particular, but I could help if you'd like. I'm fairly well read."

"Not in particular, but I'll take recommendations? There's a whole lot in here I haven't read yet."

Reed started to speak before cutting himself off. "Wait -- did you want to just be left alone? I'm not good at recognizing social cues, and I don't want to force anything on you."

Angelo shook his head quickly. "Not at all. I could've just stayed in my room, but I've done just about enough of that."

"Okay," Reed responded. "But feel free to tell me to stop at any point. Again, I don't always know when I've gone too far."

"Count on it", he promised. "Now, about that book?"

"Depends on what you want.". Without looking, he shelved his books where he found them, his arms moving as Reed talked. "I'm partial to Stephen Hawking and non-fiction myself, but there's many good fiction series here too."

"Let's go with a bit of non-fiction." He was watching Reed's powers in action again, trying not to stare too obviously. "History, maybe?"

"History..." Reed tapped his chin for a moment. "Over here." He motioned for Angelo to follow him. "Medical history is generally something I enjoy, since biology is one of my least studied fields.". He walked up to a shelf, and this time, he stretched his neck up, before reaching up with an arm. He then returned to his original size, all the while babbling on about the book.

The look Angelo gave him made Reed smile awkwardly. "Oh, sorry if my ability is less than desirable to look at. It just comes into hand a lot."

"No, it's not that." He grinned. "It's just I've never met anyone with a power so close to mine."

Reed froze. "You have a power that's similar?" he could hardly contain the excitement in his voice.

"Observe." Without waiting another moment, he reached up to the top shelf - a good two or three feet above his head - and plucked down a book.

Reed nodded approvingly. "Very nice! Can you rearrange yourself as well?" He demonstarted by tying a bow in his arm, and then letting it fall back to normal.

"Not my whole body. It's only my skin I've got to work with, but to a point I can. I could probably make my face look completely different with practice."

"Oh, your skin...." Reed looked at him curiously. "In my case, it's my entire body -- bones, organs...in fact, I have to concentrate every second of the day to ensure my body doesn't...deflate, for lack of a better word."

"Oof. Yeah, I know that one. If I'm not concentrating, what happens isn't pretty."

He demonstrated

Reed watched in awe. "I am so happy I met you Angelo. I have never met a single person who can truly understand the mental strain i'm under on a daily basis."

With visible effort, he started winching his skin back in.
"I can not have grey skin if I really try, but going that far into control gives me splitting headaches."

Now that was interesting. "Really. So you can affect your skin that specifically. Can you also change the composition, for instance make it stronger or weaker as needed?"

"Not as such, but it's plenty strong. I can take a hit so it bounces off if I see it coming in time to shift things around, and I can lift a six-year-old with it like ropes."

"I'd love to study you," Reed blurted out. "Compare your abilities to mine. See if there's things I can learn from you on how to better maximize my powers."

"Hey, you just name your time." He meant it. "I'm always up for furthering science. Just we should maybe not involve the telepaths. The last time I tried that, it didn't go so well."

"I don't think I know any telepaths." Reed hadn't really met anyone. Maybe he should change that.

Angelo blinked at him.

"You... you know Professor Xavier, right?"

"Oh.". Reed hadn't realized that. "That explains the big head."

He laughed out loud at that. "Yeah, that would do it. I thought somebody would have told you, it's not really a secret. At least not inside the mansion."

"Sue was my entry into here, and I met the man briefly, but not for long. I wonder what else I've missed....". There was probably a lot.

"I'm guessing quite a bit. But nobody will hold it against you much", Angelo assured him. "We should probably have an orientation pamphlet or something."

Reed quirked a smile at that. "Welcome to a mutant sanctuary. Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times."

He could joke sometimes.

"Pretty much. We try to keep trouble away from here the best we can, but it can still be a wild ride sometimes."

"Definitely."