"...and so that's when I made sure he had enough to eat and took him to Sanctuary . I plan on checkin' on the kid tomorrow," Derek was telling Artair about his run in with a homeless mutant that tried to pickpocket him. The kid's name was Donahue and had been living on the streets for a few years. Derek was proud of himself for stepping in and helping a fellow mutant. Something that Haven advocated about all else. 

Artair and Derek had rode in a town car together from Haven to X-Gene Persuasion. Derek had decided fo wear a white t-shirt with green palm leaves and blue jeans. He kept his leather jacket in the backseat of rhe cab since it was a warm night.

Now they sat at the bar watching mutants dance and talk amongst themselves. Derek sucked down his third wild berry daiquiri, "but enough about me, tell me how Xavia's lips felt against yours when you kissed her,"'of course Derek knew the details from Xavia, but he wanted to hear it from the Scot's mouth, "did she taste like nectar? When's the second date?"

It'd been a nice night and he knew Snow was looking forward to a drink with him and he'd been talking up this place for a while now. Going for a simple pair of dark blue jeans and black t-shirt, it was too warm to bother with any more layers. If he hadn't already been on a date with Xavia and had another on the cards, he'd have been immediately suspicious at being invited out to a gay club. Snow was a nice guy, but the Scot really didn't want to have to make an a--- out of himself flirting in a club in front of friends. Yet. 

No one could argue that Derek wasn't a good person, helping kids and befriending ornery Scots. There was a reason he got the name Snow, and it wasn't just the animals. "Nice work lad, glad you good help the poor kid find somewhere safe to sleep and get a meal." Artair hadn't heard much about sanctuary though, maybe he should ask some questions around Haven.

Fixing his friend with a very level stare, "You know I'm not answering that mate, no matter how many drinks you ply me with," shaking the lemon daiquiri for emphasis. "What happened on our date is between me and her. As for a second one, we've not planned when it is yet but yes, there will be one. What about you though Snow? Any special men in your life, except the boss man of course." Turning the tables was his forte and using Derek's obvious crush on Devon was par for the course.

Derek playfully rolled his eyes, "but 'em sheets, walls, and mattress now what happened." If Derek could talk to inanimate objects, he was sure that he could get some juicy details. Derek was about to say something smart to Artair, but stopped when he brought up men.

"...Don't try and flip the script on me, Meirda." Derek motioned for another drink to Jace, the bartender. In response he got a head nod. "To answer your question, Zeus probably isn't even thinkin' about me. He could have anyone at Haven or in the world. Why settle for...me?" Derek scoffed and stared down into his drink. He knew his chances with Devon was slim to none, "I have more of a chance with Kendra than I do with him."

The mutant glanced around the bar and watched one of the guys dance. He had blue skin, glowing white eyes, and white hair. Derek felt an immediate attraction and looked away. "But yeah, no way."

He just chose to laugh at that rather than play along. That wild, wonderful and completely unexpected night was only between the two of them and it would damn well stay that way. Unless, did Derek get his furry friends to follow them? "Good thing you're not Belle then, can't be taking every princess's job lad, need to leave some for the rest of us."

"Zeus!? Jesus Christ lad putting him on a pedestal much?" Shaking his head with a grin, "but seriously Snow, Devon's a lot more down to earth than you might think and trust me, he's way less aware of just how pretty he is than you think. Guys downright dense sometimes." Devon could do worse than someone has permanently happy as Derek and frankly they seemed like they'd get one well, "And don't count yourself out too early, he might belong on a run way but you're not bad looking yourself."

"Wait, Kendra?" Oh god, he already knew Xavia and was fast becoming her BFF, now he knew the dreamer as well. "Bonnie lass, red hair, southern? Ring any bells?" Please don't let it be her, he didn't need everyone he knew gossiping about his new (maybe) relationship.

"Lad, what you need to to cut loose, find a guy and just have fun. Even if it's just for one night," giving him a look speaking volumes, "and I'm sure there's someone in here pretty enough to catch your eye." Artair hadn't missed the glances Derek was casting around, more than one guy in here seemed to catch his fancy.

Derek playfully rolled his eyes at Artair, "true. Plus I already have Snow White, Cinderella, and Tiana all wrapped up into one." Derek stuck his tongue out at his friend playfully before chuckling and turning his attention to the bar out in front of him. The twenty year old mutant worked there during the day in the coffee shop section. It was usefully peaceful when he worked and the perfect place for people to go for first dates.

"...Thank you and you're right, I shouldn't be puttin' him on a pedestal," Derek paused, "he is a little dense about how attractive he is. Maybe he doesn't want to actively draw too much attention to his good looks. I know if I was him, I wouldn't need to." Derek shrugged his shoulders and wrapped his hands around the base of the glass that was just slid over to him. "Thank you, Jace."

Derek raised his eyebrows at Artair. Did he know Kendra too? Did Xavia mention her to him? "Yep! From Georgia? That's the one." Derek liked Kendra. She was really nice to Derek and even featured him in an article for her magazine down in Georgia. He gave a little wiggle before sucking on his draw to get a taste of the sweet fruity smoothie that awaited him. 

When Artair suggested that he cute loose, Derek scoffed. "Me? Cut loose? Impossible. I don't really party like that and this is my second time comin' to his bar as a customer." Derek took out his phone from his pocket and placed it on the counter top. His eyes flickered to the guy he was checking out earlier. The mutant smiled and looked away to his friend.. "Maybe there is...maybe there ain't, wingman."

"Oh course you know her, the fact that you're BFF's with Xavia wasn't enough, now you know Kendra as well." Sighing, why did everyone he knew somehow know each other? More importantly this basically meant nothing that happened between him and Xavia was going to be kept secret for very long at all. "Next you'll be telling me she's friends with Xavia as well. Wouldn't be the most surprising thing about the whole situation between us."

Grinning, he knew he'd gotten him. "Lad, you don't need to party to have fun, just relax, talk to some people and don't have any expectations. You'll be surprised how easy it becomes after that." For a person who didn't generally socialise a lot, Artair did alright when he went out to bars or clubs. Apparently he had this whole approachable vibe. Somehow. "But don't get me into the idea of getting you a friend for the evening, I might just take it as a challenge." Oh he saw those looks, but which one was it? The pretty boy with the blue skin, that very well built guy in the corner? Who knew.

Taking another deep drink to polish his own off and signalling for a new one, he could get used to drinking here. The cocktails were cheapish, tasty and had a decent amount of booze in them. "How've you been since that amazing f--- up that was our first mission? Sorry again about screwing that one up." Maybe he did have an anger problem, it was starting to get him into trouble.

"Aw, poor thing," Derek gave Artair a couple of pats to the back, "no, they're friends too. Kendra and I are Xavia's lab and class assistance. Now you have two of us two worry about. Including Devon," S---! Why did Derek have to bring up his name?! He winced a bit before turning back to his fruit drink, "forget the last part I said." The mutant mumbled quickly, but still understandable to his bar mate. 

Derek groaned, "but it's hard for me to talk to people I don't know. It makes me nervous. Think about it, how was I the first few minutes I met you?" Derek asked with raised eyebrows. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the dance floor. He was clearly giving eyes to the guy with the blue skin and glowy eyes. He wondered if the "lad" had any powers or if that was it for him. Either way, it's cool. Artair's comment and rolled his eyes, "you already planted your seed in one flowerpot already, Meirda." He winked at him playfully, then gave him several nudges.

"Well, the fox came home with me and she's currently roaming the third floor of the Honeycomb Cooperative," he answered, "you did scare me a little bit, but in all, I enjoyed it. It showed me what I was gettin' myself into," Derek smiled at Artair before picking up his phone, "now if you excuse me, I have some courage to muster." 

After Derek got up from his bar stool, he gestured for Jace to give his best straight male friend a shot. Instead of heading to the blue man, he headed for the exit. When he got outside, he took a deep breath and placed the phone to his ear after dialing a number. He waited for him to pick up, but when he didn't, Derek decided to leave a voicemail.

"Hey, Devon (Tempest ), it's me, Derek, uh, I was thinkin', maybe you'd like to...have a picnic in Central Park on next Friday evening if you're not busy. And maybe...it could be a date? I know this is sorta out of the blue, but, y'know, take chances right?" he chuckled without humor, "anyways, if you don't wanna do it, then that's fine too. I understand completely," he paused, "have a good night."


Derek hung up the phone and stuffed it into his pocket before going back in. He made his way back to Artair and sat down beside him. He didn't say anything, but did take several gulps of hid daiquiri.

"...How did you feel afterwards?"

"Hey, it was cute. Do that flailing and I guarantee some of the guys in here will find it endearing. You'll have a dance partner in no time." He was too hard on himself, Derek was a nice guy and it came across, that went a pretty long way. Christ if he was into girls they'd be all over him, they just ate up his brand of awkwardness.

He did nearly spit out his drink at the next joke. Narrowing his eyes at Derek. "Like I said Snow, no comment on that front. I would like to know if you have information and if you got through less than normal circumstances. Not a fan of being followed, if you catch my drift." It was said in a fairly pleasant tone, less a threat and more a gentle reminder of boundaries.

Sacred him? That wasn't surprising he'd gone off the deep end and don e some pretty harsh fighting. True, Artairs style would never be pleasant, he made weapons after all, but he'd crippled a couple of the guys there and most would need months of recovery.

Waving him off as he went to call someone (Artair already had suspicions who) he had a little time to think. Hopefully the lad wasn't too frightened off by his berserker moment. Haven had a lot of good to do, they didn't need everyone behind the scenes on the less than legal side of it. With a little more confidence Derek would be a great spokesperson for the group.

"Hmmm, sorry was off in my world there. Felt pretty s---- after, spent some time finding the bottom of a bottle to calm down. I'm not proud of what happened, it was proof of why we have to be better, more responsible than the average person. One moment of anger and some bigot's spending weeks with his jaw melded shut, barely able to breath let alone eat." No had died though, that was a plus. Not his worst outing by far, but he wasn't about to tell Derek about his and Kendra's misadventure.

Bringing the conversation back to something more pleasant he took a shot in the dark and hoped he was right. "So, how's Devon. You too have a nice chat?" he asked, oh so casually.

Derek laughed at Artair. The grump actually had helpful advice. No wonder he was so shippable. "Thank you, Artair. It means a lot comin' from you." Derek gave Artair a playful nudge. Artair also had a point, too. If Derek was straight, they wouldn't be having the current conversations they were having now. He would most likely be with either Allegra or Kendra.

"What? Oh, God, no. I didn't want to watch any of," he gestured to Artair with a scrunched up nose, "what happened there. I just made sure that you guys that safely. I...worry," Derek was overprotective of his friends. "Other than that, I haven't 'spied' on anyone." Derek added truthfully. He hadn't thought about it, but he could be a spy for Haven or retrieve information from various sources.

Derek smiled sweetly at Artair, "it was a very interestin' day. I wouldn't change it for the world. Plus, I got a new furry friend because of it." He still hadn't picked out a name for his little fox friend. Maybe something along the lines of Diana or Iris. He still was throwing names around.

When he came back, the twenty year old mutant rolled his eyes, "no, he didn't answer so I left a voicemail." Derek answered with a sigh, "Maybe he'll check it in the mornin'." Derek sniffed and wrapped his fingers around the base of his glass. "...How old are you anyway?"

"Look I'm not angry and I get where you're coming from but I'm a big boy, I can handle myself and protect her if need be. It's just a bit of an invasion of our privacy you know?" He wasn't sure where things stood at the moment but he did want to see her again and they were definitely going on another date. If that went well, who knows, he'd probably ask her if she wanted to make the relationship official. "And trust me, Xavia might be pregnant but if anyone threatened her she's at her most dangerous now. A mother will do anything to protect their kids."

Apparently Artair had a habit of scaring his friends on their first meeting, Kendra, Xavia and now him. Not a great pattern there. "As long as she's happy that's good, was worried she was badly hurt after that fight. Little girl has fire in her."

Right on the money, good. If Snow kept pushing for info about him and Xavia, he could always pull that out in return. "Bit out of the blue but I'm 21. Why the interest? Do I come across as older like?" He'd been told that from time to time but he'd just been forced to group up quicker than most people. "And what about you Snow?"

"I'll not push you into a situation you're not fine with but seriously if you want a wingman just shout. You'd be surprised how effective a charming accent is for breaking the tension." He'd gotten more than one uni friend a date with a fetching lass. "You be surprised where you might meet someone you'd end up dating." Like a Chinese restaurant, where you proceeded to shock someone into getting 2nd degree burns.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Artair," Derek wanted to nuzzle him apologetically, but realized that it might make things even more uncomfortable so instead he gave his shoulder a rub. "And...I know Xavia is in good hands when she's with you. I just worry. If I do it again, you're more than welcome to beat me with a mental newspaper." He teased a bit to lighten the mood.

Derek knitted his eyebrows, "...who got hurt? Kendra?" he asked, "Kendra's my girl, now. She would totally be bae; make her ancestors angry." Derek snickered and looked over at Artair from his drink. Did he fight her? If he did, then Derek would...do nothing.

"Oh, no! I'm just curious how old you are. I haven't asked you. Actually, I only know how old Allegra is and that's it," Derek couldn't remember how old Xaxia -- in her thirties? He wasn't too sure. He couldn't exactly count her "tree rings", "I'm twenty. I turn twenty one in a couple of months so that should be interestin' for me. Especially if you have anythin' to do with it."

"You're my wing man." He deadpanned. "You're my wing man, officially. You will also take me to Scotland one day and get me some Scottish ----." Derek blushed a bit.

"Glad to see I have free reign to smack you if need be. Always fun to have that permission," his voice light and joking. Not that he needed permission with most his friends, he usually had back and forth style friendships. A bit off putting here but back home that's just the norm.

A moment of confusion followed by sudden realisation, "Oh no, not Kendra the fox lad. She got hit pretty hard by one the of the guys in the fight, looked like she was limping a little." Kendra he knew had gotten hurt, badly but it wasn't his place to spill that. That and he really didn't want to remember that night at the moment.

"Oh you shouldn't have admitted you're turning 21. That's a big deal back home, the whole 'becoming a man' thing. There will be drinking, there will be awkward flirting and there will be fun, count on it." That, was going to be a riot. he was expecting some epic hangovers from that party. The kind that took two days to recover from.

He would regret that, so much. "So it's offical then. Well now I won't feel so bad introducing you to that very bonnie lad you've been eyeing up all this time." Yes he'd seen, he wasn't blind after all and the guy wasn't bad looking, he had the blue skin going for him. Blue was a good colour. "I'm sure he'd love to play a little game I like to call, 'Have you met Derek?' Might as get some practice in, you'll be playing that a lot if I drag you to the Isles."

"Mmhmmm." Derek playfully looked Artair up and down, "I wonder what else you like havin' the permission to do." Derek didn't know if that made since or not, but hey, if it made Artair feel uncomfortable, then it worked!

"..." Derek ground and gave himself a face palm, "God, I'm stupid sometimes. You're gonna have to bear with me." He would say that he should be cut off from drinks, but he hadn't consumed any alcohol. Sigh. "The Fox, right. Yeah, he kicked her pretty hard. Nothing broke, thankfully." Derek sighed and slurped down his drink until it was empty. He quickly called for another one.

The twenty year old groaned, "don't make a big deal out of it. I just want to have a small party...maybe at Haven. You, Xavia, Kendra, Allegra, Devon, Aleksandr..." He trailed off, "Donahue, and the other Havenites," Derek paused again, "maybe food...and drinks." He would've said strippers, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go that route.

"...Introducin'?" Derek's heart sank. He did ask for this after all. He chewed on his lip as he looked at the blue guy. "Wait, Bonnie lad? Look, Merida, you're gonna have to teach me some Scottish slang so I can know what you're talkin' 'bout." He stood up from his barstool. "...Are we goin' now?"

"Good to hear, wouldn't want anyone getting hurt over my idiocy. Feel free to get hurt over your own though, that's fine by me." Which was only half a joke. Getting hurt for being stupid was one thing, nearly bleeding out was something else. God that had been a scary night. "Just try not to get shot mate, that's a little outside my pay grade at the moment."

"I'll only do what you're comfortable with, but there will be drinks. You're not getting away from that night without a bottle of true whiskey from the homeland." His own 21st he'd gone back home, had a great time with some of his old school mates and been given a very nice bottle of Scotch from his uncle. "But if you want some very pretty guys there willing to remove certain articles, I wouldn't be against it. Neither would most the others I imagine."

Smiling, he forgot sometimes how odd his speech was for people here. Even back home a fair few English people couldn't decipher it. "Bonnie means pretty lad, much like a certain blue skinned young fan n the dance floor." Derek was too much fun to mess with. "Just for reference, wee is small, eejits are idiots and sassanachs are the English."

"Oh you are on," standing up to match his friend. "Just don't get upset when this works and you have to flail on your own after a bit." Artair was pretty self assured about wingmanning. He could work that approachable foreigner vibe and get them very happy to meet a nice friend of his. "Come on then, and remember to smile. You'd be surprised how much that helps." 

"Shot, yeah, I'll try not to," Derek was about to make a culturally aware statement, but decided against it. Instead, he continued to slurp down his fruity drink and ordered his sixth one. He should probably stop before he drowned himself or go into a coma, but he didn't want to.

Derek chewed his lip in anticipation and deep thought before taking in a deep breath, "that all sounds...amazin'. I can't deny." Especially the last bit of pretty guys taking off their clothes. It seemed like the perfect gift for him for being such a Disney Princess.

"Right," Derek made sure to make mental note of Scottish slang, "well, let's go get this bonnie," He nodded his head, "later I'll teach you some urban slang." Derek added with a grin.

"Smile, right," Derek took in a deep breath and looked over at Artair. He knew what he was doing, right? "The worse thin' that can happen that he says yes...or sense he is a mutant, he could set me on fire or drown me from the inside out," he stopped a couple of feet from him and gave a small wave when they made eye contact. He quickly reminded hismelf to smile, "I can't do this."