Sooraya & Arthur | A Common Friend

[xp_longshot]

Arthur seeks out Sooraya at the District X Community Centre to discuss Haller’s time spent on Muir.



"Tea?"

There was a blond man outside Sooraya's office door at the District X Community Centre. This itself wasn't that noticeable — the world was full of blond men and the constant, diligent hum of activity that underscored the CC portion of the centre's name could also stand for "continual chaos."

Arthur Centino was, however, armed with an electric kettle in one hand and an extra cup looped around that same pinky finger. The world should have more blond men bearing tea. His other hand delicately cradled his own cup. He raised it in a little toast. This was an offering.

"It is like a hug," he said with a shrug and brilliant smile, "in a cup."

"A hug in a cup?" Sooraya glanced up from her laptop quizzically, then quickly rose to take the cup and electric kettle from him. "Arthur, what brings you around today? Bearing tea even." She added as she pushed some papers aside and put them on her desk.

A box of herbal blends was produced, with a flourish, from seemingly nowhere. This was offered to Sooraya, like a gift, before Arthur set to the ritual at hand. "You see, this is a cleverly choreographed bribe." His eyes crinkled with mischief. "Do you take it weak or strong?"

"Somewhere in between the two." Sooraya replied as she quickly looked through the box before pulling one out with several warming spices. "I am kinda wondering what you need to bribe me for though?"

"You see," and Arthur waited for her to place the tea bag into her cup before pouring, "We share a mutual friend and I've heard from several reliable sources that you also know people on Muir. I think we should know each other better."

"You're worried about David, huh?" Sooraya concluded easily, pulling her chair from behind her desk to make it less formal before taking a seat. "Have you been in touch with him a lot?"

Arthur nodded, but his eyes narrowed as he poured himself a cup and sat. "I think David," he said slowly, "has been ghosting me since he left. Are you having any better luck?"

"I get little bits and pieces, but we haven't talked a lot. I do know he is focusing on rebuilding his shielding at the moment and that kind of psi work can be pretty taxing." Sooraya offered, having seen several psi's and this psi specifically rebuilt themselves a few times. "So he does need some time for that at least. And there are good people on Muir who will keep an eye on him."

"I have only ever heard glowing things about Muir," Arthur said softly. He toyed with the string on his steeping teabag. "Haller," and this was a deliberate name choice, "and I have gotten to know each other over the last year. I want to help him, but is waiting the best thing we can really do?"

"He needs at least some time to rest and heal . . . " Sooraya hesitated before adding: ". . . just not too long."

"Ah," the other man said with an experimental swirl of his tea, "So we do both know him."

Sooraya studied him carefully, sipping from her tea in the meantime. "Is it just that he is ghosting you that has you worried right now? Or are there other things?"

Arthur tilted his head, and the look on his face was, if briefly, an unspoken 'isn't that enough.' Instead, his smile thinned. "I'll be the first to admit," he said with a dry chuckle, "that working at XFI has taught me the bad habit of asking too many questions, but let's imagine just for a sec — how do you think most people here or the back at the mansion would describe David?"

"It's just . . . " Sooraya played with her cup as she searched for words. "Ghosting is not a great signal. But in my experience David has different kinds of being quiet . . . and it's not always easy to tell the difference between them... And I can also easily miss things."

"True," Arthur agreed softly, "But the answer I've gotten most to my question, and I've asked, is 'I don't know him that well.' That's why I'm worried. David's great at being front stage solving everyone else's problems, but who's there to help him? I don't think he'd even ask."

"He's not great at that." Sooraya immediately agreed before falling silent. "But I do know one or two others in the mansion he might have been in touch with, like Scott or maybe Jean. Why don't I reach out to them and see if they've heard anything from him? I'm wondering if it's just you or everyone else too."

Now this brought back his smile. "We," Arthur corrected. He took a sip of tea. "We reach out."

"It's really only Scott and Jean to start out with . . . but how about I talk to Scott and you can reach out to Jean?" Sooraya proposed.

"Hm. The Doctor," he considered. "I have nearly cracked through her professional shell to find the gooey, marshmallow center," and this got a self satisfied nod, "So I can work with that." His eyes narrowed in consideration. "The last time I talked to Scott we crashed the Blackbird together, but in a fun way. It has been a bit."

"It does sound good, as long as you don't talk about Jean having a gooey center or something. That just sounds wrong." Sooraya raised an eyebrow at him. "I also haven't spoken to Moira in a few days, so I'll do that too."

Arthur nodded. "You're right, she's more of a heath bar. Sweet on the outside with a tough, complex center. This is why teamwork makes the dream work, Sooraya." The blond perked up then, just a little, like a weight that had been on his shoulders was somehow now lessened. "I suppose he might be talking to Jessica or Warren. Couldn't hurt to ask."

"It's worth checking out." Sooraya agreed, though she did have some doubts about that. She didn't voice them though, especially since they did need to make sure. "As long as you deal with the feathery peacock though."

"Warren," Arthur said with fond consideration, "is a very considerate friend once you understand his view of the world." He held up a finger. "Which is mostly that he's the star of his own special blend of romantic comedy biopic meets Succession, and that we're all his supporting cast."

A thought brought Arthur's attention back to the moment, and the tonal whiplash of his next statement was noticeable. "I would like to meet Moira," he said, "We can split contacts two and two and all, but I would like you to introduce me, please."

Rolling her eyes first at the description of Worthington, Sooraya had to blink when Arthur made his sudden request. "Sure. That I can do when we've the chance. But for now, let's ask some people first. I can talk to Jess if you want me to?"

"That's that then," the other man agreed happily. He squinted in thought. "I'll admit I'm trying to picture all four of them in a room with Haller at the same time. I can't decide how that might end."

"With David as the center of attention?" Sooraya narrowed her eyes. "With David hurrying out as soon as possible . . . I think and a big argument between at least three of them . . . or wait . . . David would end up trying to mediate between them . . . Either option could work."

As she continued, Arthur's expression hitched like he'd stumbled upon a gap in their shared understanding. "David," he said slowly, treating it more like a word or title than a name, "for me, that's not who he is. A stage name." He sighed, and leaned forward. "David's already told me you know this, but I'm going to lay it all out so we aren't playing the name game: I know about his disorder. I think of him as Jim, but I know Davey. The man's got a complicated relationship with his father — yes, that guy with his name on the place we live — and 'David' going to Muir is both needed healing and what I suspect is his version of running home to mom and dad."

Arthur paused in thought, searching the ceiling for any relevant stage notes he might have missed. "My real worry is that he's the kind of man who needs company to keep him from going more strange."

"Ah . . . " Sooraya frowned, studying him with new eyes. "Now things suddenly make a lot more sense . . . in a way . . . " She simply stated as she let the new perspective sink in. "I wasn't aware you were aware of all of that."

Arthur returned a polite smile, but it was expectant. He took a sip of tea as he waited for Sooraya to process.

Sooraya rose, turning to the small bookcase as she gently ran a finger over a photo she kept there. "I first met Mr. Haller when I came to the mansion and he'd help me to bridge the language gap . . . then when I donned my leathers I learned to fight side by side with Jack and Cyndi. David became my colleague and later on my friend after we started working with mutant kids, each in our niches . . . " Pulling the picture of the shelf, she sat back down. "Somewhere along the way during my visits to Muir we became semi-siblings, especially when I learned the truth about his father . . . but Jim I only met last August."

"About the same time we got close," Arthur offered as sat with cup in hand, lighting drumming his fingers on the desktop in thought. "You had a better paced relationship — I'll admit I cheated." He wiggled his free hand's fingers. "He helped me with my psychometry, but it was messy. I saw him. Jim. Things grew from there."

"And now that we know both know where we stand . . . Some time on Muir is good for Jim, too long isn't. At least not when he is there for himself. So let's get to figuring out if he's hit that point yet."

"Excellent. Then this is a team up," the older man said with a self-satisfied nod. He leaned closer, then, as if to share a secret. "Turns out leading with tea has never let me down."