xp_logs | Sapiens Foundation - Attending a fundraiser

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Angelo and Sooraya attend a Sapiens Foundation fundraiser in the hope of meeting Ayame.

There was nothing obviously remarkable about the young woman at the microphone. Certainly nothing that would brand her as visually undesirable by the people she was addressing, nor present anything other than a photogenic presence to any media attention. The only evidence that she was anything other than an average collar suit was the rubberized material that covered her hands and peeked over the collar of her shirt.

A mutant.

The speech hadn't been long, but her soft voice carried steadily through the microphone. Her closing words were clearly oft-rehearsed.

"I realize that I ask much of my fellow mutants, but we must establish limits on those perceived to be limitless. Society can only function with boundaries and rules, and we must continue to work to find a way to be a part of it; to not press so hard against those markers as to disturb the peace.”

Angelo was listening carefully, but paying equal attention to the people flanking Ayame. "Do they look like bodyguards to you", he murmured to Sooraya, "or handlers?"

"Hmmm... maybe a bit of both?" Sooraya narrowed her eyes as she studied the situation, taking in their body language and attitude. "Though, watch how she is flinching away from her just a little." She nodded at the burly woman at Ayame's left side. "I'm no Doug and it could be that she just doesn't like her, but that was definitely a flinch."

"Something to keep an eye on, if she comes out to mingle when she's done her speech. How they act, if they let her go around without them right there..."

"Did you notice her outfit? The collar and the gloves..." Sooraya spoke quietly, taking the situation again. "It was in our briefing materials, but it's so weird to see it like that."

"Thank you all for coming, and for supporting our cause with your time and money. We all benefit from a safer world, and none of this would be possible without your help. Please enjoy the rest of your evening, and if you have any questions or would like to make a donation, staff are available at any time." With a barely perceptible bow the young woman stepped away from the podium, accompanied by her minders. They offered her no playful chatter or congratulatory words, and Ayame made no attempt to engage them. Even walking between two people she seemed alone.

"Now let's hope she does come out to mingle..." Sooraya followed the people on stage with their eyes as long as she could, but they vanished behind a curtain. "What is your impression of what she said?"

"She was trying to be as inoffensive as she could", Angelo said, eyeing the curtain. "And I didn't read her as totally convinced."

"Me neither. And it all sounded pretty rehearsed." Sooraya stated quietly, shaking her head. "What do you think? Let's mingle a bit and see if she makes an appearance? Maybe see what else we can find out?"

"Sounds like a plan. We might pick up some useful things from the other guests."

***

Ayame Inoue moved through the crowd like a ghost. She smiled and spoke, yes, but she never touched. Rather than shaking hands she would fold hers together and incline her head in acknowledgement. The way her minders maintained a safe perimeter around her, and the way Ayame herself would adroitly step back whenever someone got too close, indicated this was not a cultural affectation. When she thought no one was looking she would touch the rubberized material covering one hand with the other, as if constantly reassuring herself it was still there. While she chatted easily enough with potential donors she rarely maintained eye-contact for more than a moment or two.

"Somehow she looks very lonely." Sooraya quietly remarked to Angelo. Ayame seemed to be approaching where they were currently standing and she paused to take a glass of mineral water from a passing waiter. "Don't you think so?"

"She does", he agreed, helping himself to a canape. "And kind of nervous. Like maybe afraid she might hurt people nervous."

Catching the eye of a small clutch of three young men, college students probably, laughing and punching each other as they challenged each other. "I've got a feeling those three want to put something to the test. See how they would react."

The girl had moved into the corner with a drink. Her minders seemed to have disappeared, and from the expression on her face it didn't appear to be because she'd sent them away. She seemed uncertain, like a dog who'd lost sight of its owner.

The men seemed to take this as a signal. One gave his friend a playful push in Ayame's direction; the young man stumbled forward with a laugh, but accepted the challenge. He advanced on the young woman with the overly friendly air of someone who wasn't particularly interested in the event they were attending and had been finding most of his entertainment at the open bar. As Sooraya and Angelo watched, he engaged the woman in small talk.

It was difficult to tell if it were his words or his body language that bothered Ayame more. Whatever he said was lost in the general chatter of the party, but the way he leaned toward her was self-explanatory. The girl tried to edge away, but her back was already nearly against the wall, and all avenues of escape were blocked by the two friends that had moved to hover behind him. When the instigator reached out to touch her shoulder Ayame flinched away, drink clutched in front of her like a talisman.

Angelo tensed, watching this, and glanced to Sooraya for backup, but did nothing else... yet. So far, the young men hadn't done anything to merit a stranger stepping in to escalate the situation. So far.

Sooraya quickly glanced around her if the so-called 'minders' were somewhere in sight, but spotting them nowhere she let out a sigh. That changed when she saw one of the other boys stepping closer, raising his hand as well as he aimed to touch her hair. "If they touch her again and it goes wrong, guess who will be blamed." She hissed and quickly headed in that direction.

He rolled his eyes at the stupidity of drunken young men and followed her, calling out before he got there. "I think you should leave the lady alone, boys."

As soon as they got there, Sooraya reached up, grabbing the back of the shirt of the frat boy with his raised hand and yanked him back. He blinked at her stupidly. "Are you really not that smart?" She addressed him with a raised eyebrow. "Or do you want to hurt yourself and your friends?" She kept her voice low, giving the boy a little push away from the situation. If a scene could be avoided...

The aggressor opened his mouth to say something, and from the expression on his face it had a fifty-fifty chance of being a term especially unsuitable for a formal event. However, before he could utter actual fighting words his more sober friend interjected himself between the two.

"Hey, we were just kidding around," the boy said. "He just had a little too much. All she had to do was say something."

"OK", Angelo said amiably, although his body language wasn't quite so friendly. "So now we're saying something. Go be somewhere else."

"C'mon, man, we have better things to do." The young man ushered his friends away even as the poster child for a Boys Will Be Boys upbringing glared back at them. The third paused to stare back at Sooraya's hijab and the cast of Angelo's skin a moment longer before he, too, turned to follow.

Sooraya followed them with their eyes for a moment, making sure they weren't making other plans for now, but then quickly turned to the young woman in front of her. "Are you okay? That seemed rather unpleasant." She asked, trying to keep things at least a little light.

"Y . . . yes." Ayame looked relieved, but her stance hadn't changed: still as far back against the wall as she could manage, still curled into herself. Like the young man, her eyes were lingering on Angelo. "Thank you," she added, as if remembering herself.

"Would you like something to drink?" Angelo asked, seeming not to notice her attention on his grey skin as he turned to look for a waiter.

"No, thank you. I'm still working on mine." Now the girl's gaze shifted to the crowd. She searched, apprehensive, like a child worried about being caught in her mother's makeup cabinet.

Following her gaze, Sooraya quickly scanned the crowd, guessing who she was looking for. "I think your companions are over there, near the exit. Would you like one of us to get them for you?" She asked kindly.

"Or", Angelo said carefully, "block them from seeing you for a little bit? No powers, just stand in the right place."

"So you are a mu-" the girl began, then flushed, as if she'd almost said a dirty word. She raised her glass to hide her mouth, eyes downcast in embarrassment.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "That's none of my business."

"That's OK", he assured her quickly. "I wasn't trying to hide it, and I could have. Yeah, I'm a mutant."

Ayame's eyes flicked up again. Her lips parted on the cusp of a follow-up question, then her eyes jerked to a space over Angelo's shoulder. What little openness her body language had begun to convey immediately closed once more.

"Excuse me," she murmured. "I need to go. Security is looking for me."

Angelo quickly palmed a business card from his pocket and pressed it into her hand under guise of shaking hands goodbye. "Call me if you want", he said quietly, turned away from where she was looking. "Any time."

Once again Ayame seemed about to say something -- a thank you, perhaps, or a demurral -- but her minders were fast approaching, and the girl thought better of it. Mutely she slipped Angelo's card into her pocket, nodded her head awkwardly, and excused herself.

"Poor girl." Sooraya shook her head as Ayame hurried away in the direction of her minders. "She seems pretty scared. I really hope she'll decided to reach out."

"We've done what we can." He was still watching Ayame as she was ushered away. "It's up to her now."