He was an idiot, so very, very stupid and so very, very dead. He didn't know what had gotten into him, picking fights like that. It went against every survival instinct that had been drilled into him for years. Perhaps it some childish sense of justice that drew him into picking a fight with a couple of jerks, maybe it was the fact that in the last couple of days he hadn't been in survival mode. The weariness of living meal to meal slipping off him with every comfortable day he spent in the mansion. Whatever the case, he must have been loosing his mind and right now he had a couple of very large and very angry men chasing after him.

Alex skidded around a corner, rushing down the street. There had to be a door or something that he could hide behind. A place where they wouldn't think to look. At random he picked a door, which was thankfully unlocked, for what purpose he didn't know, honestly he didn't care so long as it brought him out of harms way. Without a second thought he raced through the door and slammed it behind him. He leaning back against the door he waited for his breathing to settle a little before looking around.

It seemed to be an office of some sort, a small row of filing cabinets against one wall, a computer humming softly on the desk. The lights were off and below him he could hear soft jazz wafting up. For now it was safe and hopefully the owner wouldn't be back until he felt he could leave without getting caught. Slowly he sunk down to sit by the door, knees pulled up as he settled in to wait.

Randy hung up the phone with a heavy sigh. The band was going to be late, if they even showed up for the night. He didn't like playing music from the albums during the night rush. It just didn't draw the crowds the same way. Life happened though and he knew how to deal with it. Still, it would be nice if there were less problems in the first few months. On the positive side of things it was still mid-afternoon, things could change. He mulled thing over for a while while he checked on his inventory.

Click. Thump.

Randy looked up. The sound of a door had come from his office. He was sure he had locked the door. Even if he hadn't he wasn't about to let someone rob him. He considered for a moment getting his pistol from under the registrar. He did buy the guns for this specific reason. Porting back to the main bar-room he whispered to his bartender. "Someone just broke into the office. Keep everything running normally down here." Grabbing the pistol from the safe he slid it into his back pocket then ported back to the store room.

Randy positioned himself to where the middle of his office should be and ported upwards. He was about a foot higher than the floor and landed with a loud thump. One hand went to the pistol as he scanned the room. The lights were off but he could make out the figure huddled at the door. "Alright, stand up slowly and we can all walk away from this."

Just as his frantic heartbeat had settled he was startled again. A soft displacement of air and the thumping of boots in the darkened room alerted him to a new danger. And here he thought he could hide out for a little while. How silly that thought was.

"Alright, stand up slowly and we can all walk away from this."

He stiffened at the implied threat and did as he was told, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. "No need to get violent. I wasn't doing anything wrong."he said before giving a small self-depreciating smile, "Okay, I opened the door to place that wasn't mine. But to be fair it was unlocked." He wondered if he should explain why he was hiding out in this dark office and if the guy would even buy the story that he was being chased by a couple of thugs. Probably not.

Though he did have a couple questions of his own. Like how did the guy get in here without opening any doors. However it didn't seem prudent to question the owner of the place. Or at least he assumed it was the owner, it could be someone completely different. That was another question that he could ask, "Are you the owner of this place?"

Randy watched him raise his hand and stand up.  Just some kid  not even eighteen.

>>  "No need to get violent. I wasn't doing anything wrong.  Okay, I opened the door to place that wasn't mine. But to be fair it was unlocked."

So he had forgot to lock it.  That was rare.  However that didn't explain why the kid was here or why he was huddled against the door instead of rummaging for valuables.  Wasn't much worth stealing in the office besides Randy's second pistol but he kept it in a small safe anyway.  Maybe the kid wasn't trying to rob the place.

>>  "Are you the owner of this place?"

Randy took a few steps back and reached behind him for the wall.  Fumbling for a second he found the light switch and flipped it on.  "Yes, now sit down."  He motioned to a chair in front of the desk.  Moving to his own chair Randy pulled the pistol from his back pocket and placed it with its partner in the top draw gun safe.  "Ignoring the fact that I didn't lock the door, you are breaking and entering.  So start explaining or I call the cops."

He winced at the sudden light, blinking furiously to adjust to it. Looking about he spotted the gun in the man's hand, realizing just how close he got to being shot. It did nothing for his nerves but he tried to keep the fear from surfacing. Freaking out would do nothing to help him. Hopefully, this situation was still better than the one he was escaping.

"Yes, now sit down."

He gave a soft chuckle, hoping to dissipate the tension in the room. "Sit, stand, sit, geez I feel like I'm in church again."he joked, though it seemed to fall on humorless ears. He coughed and sat down in the chair, keeping his hands in his lap. If it was just a scolding for his wrong doings he could handle that. The guy didn't seem to be in a punishing mood. Perhaps he could just explain and go home without a problem.

"Ignoring the fact that I didn't lock the door, you are breaking and entering. So start explaining or I call the cops."

"Y-you know how it goes, you piss off one guy, you piss off all his friends. So I just figured I'd hide out here till they get tired and go home. It was this or some dumpster, personally I'd prefer this."he explained, hoping the short version would be enough to satisfy without having to go into detail.

>> "Y-you know how it goes, you piss off one guy, you piss off all his friends. So I just figured I'd hide out here till they get tired and go home. It was this or some dumpster, personally I'd prefer this."


Randy listened and watched the kid carefully. He seemed to be telling the truth, plus given the amount of time it took Randy to get up to his office it was a small surprise to find him huddled at the door not looking for cash. Maybe he deserved the benefit of the doubt. "What's your name kid?" A small tension breaker, Randy could have used a few more of those when he was a teen. He had been in more than a few fights outside the boxing ring and definitely had things go downhill before.

Alex relaxed a little when the guy didn't question his story further. At least for now anyway. There was always a chance he would. Not that he did anything wrong, just something very dumb. Pick a fight with the wrong guy, get the short end of the stick. He really ought to know by now to mind his own business. Still this was a better result than what could have been.

"What's your name kid?"

"Alex, what's yours?" Simple answer for a simple question. Besides it wasn't like the guy needed to know his full name. It would only serve to have something to give to the cops if he so chose to call them. Best to keep his answers short.

>>"Alex, what's yours?"

"Mr. Peterson. So you were running from a fight and thought hiding here was a good bet." He chuckled, Randy wasn't one for running from a fight but then again boxing was one-on-one. Groups could be an issue. "Luckily I'm a reasonable man Alex. You needed some were safe and you found it. The problem is however now that your here, and pretty sure you aren't going to rob me... What's your next move kid?"

Alex had got himself into the situation, now, how would he get himself out. Nobody ever thought that far ahead. Randy rarely did because he had an emergency escape plan build into his DNA. Not that he still didn't have issues that porting couldn't solve, like arguments with the bank. However when he was a teen and in boxing his coach taught him to think ahead, plan where the next punch was coming from. This seemed like time to pass that lesson on.

"Luckily I'm a reasonable man Alex. You needed some were safe and you found it. The problem is however now that your here, and pretty sure you aren't going to rob me... What's your next move kid?"

Well that was a relief. He really didn't want to have to fight his way out or worse get arrested and hope that the people at the mansion would bail him out. "Well I had planed to just leave once some time had passed. You know, wait for them to give up on chasing me."he shrugged, it was a loose plan at best. He hadn't thought he'd be caught but there were ways to clear up bad feelings where this situation was concerned. "I was sort of hoping you'd let me do that. But if you want, I'd be willing to put up with some work if you think I should pay you back for a decent hiding spot."

A trade, labor for shelter always seemed a fair enough deal. He had done it enough times to be comfortable with most menial chores. Though this was temporary so he hoped the man wouldn't take advantage of his offer and make him do something ridiculous.

>> "I was sort of hoping you'd let me do that. But if you want, I'd be willing to put up with some work if you think I should pay you back for a decent hiding spot."

Well, technically Alex had a plan. A pathetic plan by Randy's standards, but a plan. The question was could he work off his keep. Sixteen was the legal wage to work in a bar, and since he would just be cleaning up there wasn't going to be any real problems involving minors and booze. "I got some cleaning to do, you could help with that. Assuming your over sixteen. I don't want some off duty cop riding my a** after i decided to help you."

"I got some cleaning to do, you could help with that. Assuming your over sixteen. I don't want some off duty cop riding my a** after I decided to help you."

"I'm sixteen, not to worry. And if some off duty cop decides to question my presence I'm pretty sure I can handle it." Not like he hadn't before, to be honest cops were looking for excuses like everyone else to be lazy about their jobs. He seriously doubted an off duty cop was going to do little more than issue a warning. And with this being a temporary thing, he doubted it'd be too much trouble for Randy.

>> "I'm sixteen, not to worry. And if some off duty cop decides to question my presence I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

Randy let out a sigh and shook his head. "See, that's the cocky attitude that probably got you into this situation in the first place. Secondly you will not handle it because this is my bar, my liquor license, and my a** on the line for having an underage worker." With that he stood up and motioned to the door in the back of the office. There wasn't really much for Alex to do, but forcing some honest labor into the kid wouldn't hurt. Sweeping, wiping down tables and maybe a few dishes. "Even so, its not doing me any good to just sit here wasting my time so, after you."

"See, that's the cocky attitude that probably got you into this situation in the first place. Secondly you will not handle it because this is my bar, my liquor license, and my a** on the line for having an underage worker."

He bit his tongue from saying anything further. It wouldn't do to bite back with a sarcastic remark, no matter how much he wanted to. Honestly cockiness has both been his detriment and his benefit in equal amounts. While it led to him having to run from some situations, it also got people to trust his judgement when they wouldn't otherwise. Confidence, even when faced with the unknown, is better than paralyzing doubt.

"Even so, its not doing me any good to just sit here wasting my time so, after you."

He stood as Randy did and stepped through the door. "Whatever you say sir."he said, keeping his tone as respectful as he could. "Do I need to wear a uniform or something?"he asked curiously glancing back at the older man.

>> "Do I need to wear a uniform or something?"

"Just a black apron." Randy followed Alex, closing the door behind him, then ported to the bottom of the stairs. As annoying as it was from a business standpoint, it was a good thing the bar was slow. Running the bar and keeping Alex busy at the same time would have been difficult. Making his way towards the cleaning supplied Randy called over his shoulder. "You're gonna be wiping down the tables and sweeping the floor. Depending on how long that takes I might have another job for you." With a spray bottle, towel and apron in hand Randy turned and waited for Alex to catch up.

He jolted a bit when the man popped into place in front of him and hurried to catch up with him. Alright the guy was definitely a mutant and hell, he was casual about it. That was nice to know. Perhaps this restaurant was one of those mutant friendly places. On catching up with the man he grabbed the apron and put it on. "Right, anywhere specific I should start?" Running a hand through his hair, he realized he was going to look a bit out of place here. Well if anything he could honestly say that it was his first day on the job and that he hadn't been able to by the appropriate clothes and what not if anybody asked.