"And then hit the gym and get shamed by your personal trainer, no doubt. Yeah. That's pretty common even among ye of little cash except with dark chocolate, jogging trails, and self-doubt."

"Haha, a personal trainer is a funny concept really. No, I work out with regimes I find online and plan my own dietary stuff and all. Why pay someone to do something I can do myself? Also, trust me, doesn't matter how obscene the amount of money people throw at you, you always have self doubt."Maybe even more. He couldn't recall second guessing himself even half as much before the whole limelight thing.

"Super hero movie star? You actually believe all the things coming out of your mouth. I'm totally impressed. It's like you're from another planet."

Of course he believed it, though how she could know that was beyond him. In way of answer he pulled out his phone, googled 'Cafa' Auto-completed to 'Cafas Johnson' and slid the phone across the table. "You can check on your own phone if you don't trust mine."

"I get that messed up stuff throws your emotions out of whack. I work security and people are stupid. The stereotype of being cynical and jaded has a decent basis in reality. Cops and, uh, super heroes fall in that same vein, I guess."

"No kidding. The riots really showed enough of the stupidity, and every one certainly saw more than their fair share of messed up stuff." Not least of all him and the X-men. That no-one died from their little group was a miracle with so many angry mutants and armed non-mutants clashing.

"Aren't new relationships supposed to be all warm fuzzies and walking on air?"

A mirthless laugh escaped Cafas before he could suppress it. What he and the X-men did seriously didn't register for some people clearly. "I have one job where I pretty much act as mutant SWAT for NYPD and have no idea if I'll live through the day, and another where I can't walk ten feet without someone recognising me, for better or worse, that frequently takes me halfway around the world and back within 48 hours, multiple times a month. Maintaining a stable relationship is a nightmare. Starting a new one is hellish."

Did he get points for managing himself? Noel did as subtle a once over as she could. Yeah. Even with the hint of smugness, he clearly knew what he was doing.

She scanned the phone and the snippet of article that google supplied. "Wikipedia: Cafas Johnson Cafas Johnson (July 13, 1990) is the teen heart-throb lead in the Dusk movies trilo-"

That was followed by a photo gallery site and a fan club that promised "hawt candids."

"Huh."

The memorymancer actually did pull out her phone. Google gave customized results and anyone can make and edit a wikipedia page. And... stalkers happen? No. He looked to be the real deal. She held up her phone to compare his Wiki article photo to the real man sitting across from her. Was his head shot retouched? He looked a tad more real in real life. (Go figure.)

"Sorry, I didn't recognize you. Was your hair pink in the films?" It was actually rather embarrassing that she hadn't recognized him. Didn't she have a tee-shirt with his face on it somewhere? Or was it socks? Was she... wearing them now? Don't check!

But luckily, Cafas didn't seem interested in discussing his face. He wanted to bellyache about how hard his life was. Noel leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up onto the wrought iron table, only actually resting her calves on the surface and making sure to keep her feet away from Cafas.

"Sounds like you need a personal assistant. And, honestly, I'm surprised your producers let you risk your face, let alone your health. Ask them to send you a personal assistant and you'd probably get a healer or mutant shielder of some kind. Totally handy." Which, if Cafas was such a do-it-yourself guy would totally rub him the wrong way to take someone into "battle" with him for the sole purpose of keeping him safe.

"But, maybe make sure they've got military history so you're not taking a sheep in." A personal assistant could send his Kailey flowers and smooth down the edges of that relationship for him. Yep. He could throw money at his problems and they'd totally go away.

"Computer enhanced pink. Can't be the Fairy Prince without sparkling pink hair, or so I was told. I don't know, frankly I put my name forward as a joke when they were asking Allison to be in the movie. I sincerely hope that they took me out of pity and not because I was the best person to put their name forward..." Seriously. How had he ever gotten to where he was? Some mixture of good and bad luck...

My life is so weird...

"The X-men have a healer... Though really it does no good if you're dead. And a PA would just get in the way anyway. We operate as a team most of the time and having an untested and untrained PA along for my convenience would only unnecessarily risk lives.. Do you seriously not know of the X-men?" How? They were everywhere. Every mutant issue in the city seemed to land on their desks, and they attracted reporters like flies to honey when they were in uniform.

Hard to miss in those uniforms...

Computer enhanced pink, hmm? Maybe she was thinking of some other movie then. The face on her socks did NOT have pink hair. She would have noticed THAT.

"The X-men are mutant SWAT? That takes them up a few pegs by my measure. I thought they were just vigilante seclusionists with maybe some weird fanatic vibes going on. Dropped a few punk kids back at the Mansion. One of 'em stole from me." Noel bobbed her feet in time to the song playing in her head. Obviously she had no hard feelings about it.

"So I guess your mutation is pretty combative if you're an X." Noel scooped up her empty gelato cup and fiddled with the edges.

"The X-men are mutant SWAT? That takes them up a few pegs by my measure. I thought they were just vigilante seclusionists with maybe some weird fanatic vibes going on. Dropped a few punk kids back at the Mansion. One of 'em stole from me."

"Thanks for bringing them to the Mansion, we do our best to give them a good education and keep them away from the persecution as much as possible." Not that they always succeeded. Some people just seemed determined to ensure that mutants never saw a time they weren't persecuted. People that needed a good skull caving, though Cafas did restrain himself on that front.

"And yeah we used to be much more of the latter, but now we work with the police. Have since before I joined. I think the last thing we did as an independent group was over in Romania. Since then it's been a whole lot of jobs where the police don't want to risk their own. Typically when mutants with dangerous powers are holding out against the police siege and a fast resolution is needed. I'd say that makes us SWAT."

"So I guess your mutation is pretty combative if you're an X."

Cafas considered how to address that one for a moment. It was always a bit of a risk to reveal that one. Still, this girl didn't seem like a massive threat... Then again she did get a woman hit by a car...

"I can manipulate metal I'm in contact with. Make it harder, tougher, softer, weaker, that sort of thing. The most obvious part to most people is that I can change the melting and boiling points. My combative ability mostly resides in how much training I've put in."

Romania, huh? Noel set her empty cup down with half the lip unrolled and tapped a quick note in her phone to research that. What went down in Romania that pulled the mutant equivalent of SWAT overseas? While she was at it she made a note about the X's. That they were on the up and up and cleared with the police.

Metal manip. Well the advantages to that one were obvious immediately. "Hn. Who needs the jaws of life when you're around?" Or support structures or safe doors or knives or swords... "It's probably the hair, but I would have pegged you as a sugar spinner? Maybe some kind of hormone manip with a slant toward romance, considering your job. Something more... fluffy." She shrugged her apology. It wasn't much of an apology.

"So I'm guessing your training is in swords?" Because, who wouldn't? "At least, I'm hoping it is, anyway." She happened to have more than a few memories of sword-play and more than a little experience to boot.

"Hn. Who needs the jaws of life when you're around?"

that one hit hard enough to make him consider whether this woman knew him. No, no, she didn't. Just an observation. He smiled, though he was pretty sure the pain showed. "Heh, yeah it comes in handy."

"It's probably the hair, but I would have pegged you as a sugar spinner? Maybe some kind of hormone manip with a slant toward romance, considering your job. Something more... fluffy."

"My better half does the fluffy in our relationship. Though speaking of doing jobs that are liable to kill you, Calley's a cop." A couple who never knew if the other would come home. Low stress relationship if there ever was one.

"So I'm guessing your training is in swords? At least, I'm hoping it is, anyway."

Seriously who was this woman? "I mostly end up with a baton recently. X-men try not to kill people. My training is in bladed weapons and hand to hand though." Still, it was hardly surprising someone would be interested in the powers and training of an X-man. Heck, it would be vaguely strange if they weren't.

Whoa. Jaws of life go bad? Noel drew her legs back off the table and put them back on the ground. "Hey. I'm sorry. I just say whatever comes to mind. It seemed... With the hero stuff... "

Her mouth was well acquainted with foot. The harder part was making it right or learning to move on.

" So your guy's a fluffy cop? " Only this topic seemed bittersweet. Damn this guy was full of land mines.

"And recently means you have had at least some blade training." Noel wasn't sure if she'd always been this good or if her roomie was rubbing off on her. It paid to live with a profiler. "C'mon. Dish. We talking tachi? Tanto?" She made appropriately size hand motions indicating size differences. "Spather, sabre, foil?" This time she indicated weight and carrying style.

It was the best she could do in an attempt to cheer him: pick a neutral topic of interest and run with it.

"Hey. I'm sorry. I just say whatever comes to mind. It seemed... With the hero stuff... "

"It's fine, I really should move on one of these days."

" So your guy's a fluffy cop? "

"Sure is, which is surprising if you knew him before. I'm proud of him but I suddenly get how he must feel every time the X-men drag me off somewhere." And it wasn't exactly a good feeling, but it made Calley happy. Well, he assumed so.

"And recently means you have had at least some blade training. C'mon. Dish. We talking tachi? Tanto? Spather, sabre, foil?" Cafas arched an eyebrow. Not the usual level of knowledge. "European broadsword, with and without shield. I can manage with axes and blunt weapons as well. I make all sorts though." Speaking of which he was left wondering how much stock he had left. "How about you? Don't run into many people with that level of knowledge that don't practice."

Ah so the the heavy stuff. He looked like he could handle it, but again it just wasn't what she imagined for him.

"I apprenticed under one of those really old mutant guys with lifetimes of experience. I mean, he didn't look old at the time. Or... married."

Cough.

"Beat the crap out of me for months. In a training kind of way, I mean. But it was kind of like my job at the time so, I guess, like a crash course?" A comprehensive crash course with hundreds of years of memories to back it up. She could get lost in those memories if she wanted to.

"Sort of a weird time in my life." As if there were any normal times. Noel pushed her hair over her shoulder and let it cascade down behind her chair and scratched at her neck. She was glad not to be living in sin anymore, but... also she missed it.

"All in all, not too bad. I favor the saber or a gladius. Those long, heavy ones make me too slow and my wrists muscles burn with unholy fire after a while. I guess if I kept at it I'd have crazy buff forearms." Noel shrugged this was probably the most she'd said about herself yet.

"I apprenticed under one of those really old mutant guys with lifetimes of experience. I mean, he didn't look old at the time. Or... married."

Could she mean who he thought she meant? Surely not, how much influence could he possibly have garnered?

Well Calley, so, lots.

"Beat the crap out of me for months. In a training kind of way, I mean. But it was kind of like my job at the time so, I guess, like a crash course?"

She definitely meant who he thought she meant. If nothing else he recognised the teaching style from Calley's whining. Well now this could be interesting.

"Sort of a weird time in my life. All in all, not too bad. I favor the saber or a gladius. Those long, heavy ones make me too slow and my wrists muscles burn with unholy fire after a while. I guess if I kept at it I'd have crazy buff forearms."

Now how to gently imply he knew Sebastian?

Well, sort of met him once at his wedding...

"Yeah, I hear Sebastian doesn't hold back with the training"

Smooooooooooth.

"Training would help, but really there's no substitute for size and strength with the heavier weapons, though you can tailor them to a person within reason. You ever want a wrist workout though, get a rapier. They seem all nice and light but the length and one handed style makes them remarkably heavy. Cafas even found it surprisingly difficult at first.

Maybe I can get a sparring partner... Another one.

Sebastian. Noel flushed at his name. "Ah. Yeah. I forget sometimes that he's kind of a big deal." He'd simply been the guy she lived with for a year or so. She paid for their first apartment, crappy as it was. Or, rather, she let him crash in her crappy apartment. Then when he moved out, he'd asked her to come with. They had been entirely platonic until that last day. One freaking date and THAT'S that time his wife showed up?

Noel heaved a sigh and sank down in her seat. She itched her upper arm tattoo, the one that read DO NOT DATE MARRIED MEN. "Yeah. They called me his shadow and I kind of worked as his enforcer for a while." How embarrassing. "Only until I met the uh-wife and wised up to the whole big picture thing."

She shrugged apologetically. "He was entirely genuine." As if that explained it. But from her side, it at least justified her actions. How could she not believe him when he believed himself?

Until she met his wife? Now why would that have been an issue for an enforcer? Cafas tried to find something in her face that would give it away, though in the end it was the tattoo on her arm that gave it away. "Small world. I was at their wedding. Their marriage and your relationships aren't my business though." Tempting as it was to make it his business. Ghost was an X-man after all, and X-men had to stick together.

Ghost can take care of her own relationship dude.

"So exactly how old is Sebastian? Gladius isn't exactly a commonly practised weapon these days. I suppose it doesn't feature in enough movies." Cafas knew he was old, but Roman empire old? That's one ancient unicorn. Maybe Cafas was lucky to never fight him.

Who are you kidding, you would have revelled in the challenge.

Cafas rarely came across a challenge that had seriously lethal potential. Too much reliance on metal in weapons. Funny thought that someone throwing a rock at him did more damage than shooting him. How many people could say that? Even Saph was vulnerable on one side.

How many people can say they're able to fire a one pound lump of metal at speeds greater than sound? About the same amount I guess.

> "Small world. I was at their wedding."

Oh god. Could she just hide under the table or something? "One date. I swear to god, it was one freaking date. And then Maya was there and pissed and I just wanted to die." Easily the most mortifying moment of her entire life. Noel put her hands on her face.

>"Their marriage and your relationships aren't my business though."

Yes! Noel clung to that hope. "None of my business now either. Never have I run so fast or been so pissed." The aftermath of that meeting left a large fuzzy hole in her recollection. All she knew was that she'd done something to make things right. Or... right-er.

>"So exactly how old is Sebastian?"

Yes. Back to safer conversational territory. "I believe the term ancient applies." Noel got a bit of a distant look to her as she thought back through what memories she had from him and tried to find the oldest of them all. "He was born in the BC. Greece. I don't know exactly. They didn't keep time the same back then and I doubt his recollection is perfect." Noel didn't get much of anything until the Romans came into the picture anyway. He took up arms with a pitchfork first. Like any commoner.

"I believe the term ancient applies. He was born in the BC. Greece. I don't know exactly. They didn't keep time the same back then and I doubt his recollection is perfect."

Classical era? No wonder he ended up a little nuts, he'd lived through most major wars. With a penchant for swordsmanship it was probably safe to assume he'd fought in them. Fighting a single war wasn't good for the mind, let alone... Cafas shuddered at the thought.

"I can't even comprehend the amount of death he must have seen... Explains a lot really." Cafas shook himself out of his own recollections. The incident with Aura and Meld, the Violinist, Korea... "Frankly I think I prefer mortality to what he has." Even pain, injury and death seemed better than watching everything he loved crumble to dust.

Cafas leant back on the chair, against his on better judgement. A finger brushed against the metal legs assured it wouldn't break. Tipping him on his ass was another matter entirely. "So, enforcer for an immortal, what's your deal? I doubt he lets non-mutants into his godly employ. Not high enough to be considered, what was it? His Shadow?"

Racist unicorn...