Wait, her teaching job was up at the mansion? What was it with this city and coincidences? It was strange but hardly the weirdest thing about today.

He could understand the sacrifices she was making, trying to create a better life for her daughter than she had. More than most he could empathise with that. His own childhood hadn't exactly been picture perfect and he'd couldn't imagine not doing everything for his own children, if he had any. "I get that. I was lucky enough to have family around after my father's death. They helped me out a lot more than I realised at the time." Artair didn't really feel weird sharing this, or some reason.

That may have been a joke, but Xavia might not have known how much his inner nerd was screaming right now. Chuckling as he answered, "After today, I think I'll pass asking you to injure yourself further for my own interests. As fascinating as I would find it."

At least she had her appetite back, food would probably help right now. Taking a few more mouthfuls and reveling in the taste, he was so glad he'd gone meatless for this meal. It tasted way better than he'd have expected and lets be fair, it was probably way better for his heart. "I do find it funny that people are more surprised by me being really interested in their powers, than being afraid. Maybe its sad too."

"I already have slides set up for students," she said by way of reply to his remark about her injuring herself to sate his curiosity and nerd within him.

She tucked away at the spring roll until it was gone, then the second one. She peered at Artair for a moment, tilting her head in curiosity of her own. "I do not find it odd, though sometimes it is startling. Too many times people t'ink wrong t'ings about being gifted. I used to before I knew I was one."

She took a breath and then flattened her palms against the table. "Some people t'ink very ill if we are different, so sometimes it is hard to be obliged to speak of it."

"I'd be lying if I wasn't tempted by the offer. Maybe the next time I'm up at the mansion I could swing by. if you're not busy of course." Learning more about people's mutations had always been so fascinating to him. Now that he wanted to be a doctor, it only made sense to know as much as possible, so he was better equipped to treating a mutant's injuries.

Weird as it might be, he was glad he had an excuse to talk to Xavia. She was an interesting conversational partner, certainly more grown up than most of the people he met. "Aye, that's true I suppose. Prejudice always find a way in, gets its hooks in. Differences are so easy to see, sometimes they forgot our similarities."

Artair should be surprised by the us and them mentality, but it was hardly new to him. "Well, for every bigot nowadays there seem to be three people ready to shout them down. Cannae be all bad for us anymore if that's the case."

"T'ere are also people who would exploit." Now her voice was soft at that one, she was picking at her food again. "Speaking from experience, being experimented on tends to make a person less trusting toward anybody." She took a bite of noodles, then set her chopsticks down.

"I hope Delilah never knows t'at. She will always have mind of a child and no doubt easily trust t'e wrong people when I can't be t'ere and I pray times are much different by t'en." She shifted her hand through her red locks befor setting her cin in her palm and elbow on the table.

"Anyway, tell me more about what you are doing... Are you going to be a doctor?" Not everyone who studied medicine were going to be doctors.

That he sat up for. He was all for scientific experimentation but something about her tone told him that's not what she'd been exposed to. Explained her jumpiness as well, he'd hardly blame her for not wanting to talk to anyone, ever. Wanting to protect innocence he could also get behind, there was too little of it left in the world.

Putting his chopsticks he considering his answer carefully. "Thats the plan, at least in the end. I'm only sitting here thanks to some amazing doctors and the mind numbing amount of work they went through with me. After all of that," he shrugged, not really sure how to put it into words, "it just seemed right to do the same." It was new sharing this much with a stranger, but Xavia seemed like a good person, who understood what it was like.

"It also explains why I find peoples mutations so fascinating. Hard to treat a person when your drugs either don't work or have a negative reaction. Being able to create treatments targeted at helping people is a basic of medicine. Only seems logical to take that a step further." It was one of his passions after all and if he werrn't so determined to be a doctor, he might consider research.

"Not to mention the possible medical advances we could make by embracing peoples mutations and working with them, not around them.

"Maybe you can help me, t'en," she murmured to him. She lifted her hand to wave a waiter down so she could get a box for her food, asking for some more spring rolls for later. The waiter would get him some too if he desired, obviously, and she'd wait for the employee to walk away before explaining the situation.

"I t'ink somet'ing is wrong wit' my mutation. I try to figure it out on my own, I hate... Labs. And I cannot exactly go to doctor in any hospital anyway wit'out worry t'at I run into someone who would not be good."

She held her palm out... There were still stitches closing up an unusual looking wound. "Vine got ripped out and made wound in my palm, did not stop bleeding." And she would probably trust him to look at the burns too. "You do not have to... I just... Do not know wehoto go to and you do not seem like you would do somet'ing bad."

Help her? It was possible but he was hardly a doctor yet and his training was no where near complete. Choosing not to get any more spring rolls and just getting the few leftovers he had boxed up, he listened intently to her explanation.

The wound did look nasty, ragged almost, which matched her description of how it happened. "Don't know how much help I'd be but I'll do what I can. If need be I could give you a couple of names of people I trust, good people." Artair knew his emergency medicine lecturer would bend over backwards to help anyone, mutant or not. Better yet, he was a good person. Giving her a warm smile, "I tend to try not do bad things, what with the 'DO no harm' oath and all that."

"That aside, how long ago did this happen and how long was it bleeding for?" Best to get an understanding of what he was dealing with. "Also, if you work up at the mansion could Doc not take a look at it? Don't mean to make assumptions or anything, he just strikes me as a good person to bring this to." He didn't know her history with the mansion, or if she had tried Doc already, but saying it and it not being needed was better than keeping quiet with something important.

"First time it happen, it bled for an hour... I went to DocProf and he healed, but did not know what to make of. Second time bled for a half hour until t'e lady I help stitched it. I don't know if I want to try someone else, you have to know I am only asking you is because you do not hit on me or act like you want somet'ing." She was very straightforward.

She was also being honest. She didn't know how he thought she looked, she knew that if he thought those thoughts that men think, he didn't try anything fresh. It was nice. She then took her check and dropped two twenties, telling the waiter to keep the change. She gestured with another bit of cash toward his check, offering to pay for his too but not doing it unless he took the offer.

At least Doc could see to it, so unless it happened without any ready access to medical care it wouldn't be a huge problem, but it was still worrying. A wound bleeding for an hour was never good. "That's fair, just wanted to put the offer on the table." That, was a wee bit surprising. She was bonnie, that was hard to get away from, but what kind of experiences was she having that him not hitting on her was unusual.

Smiling at her unspoken offer, he'd have taken her up on it if this meeting hadn't played out quite the way it had. Let her pay for him after causing her injury just wouldn't sit right with him. Waving her off with a warm grin, he paid for himself and left a decent tip, mainly to ease his conscience over the problems he'd caused them.

"Well then, where would you like to go, so I can get a look at that hand? I've got everything I'd need at mine, but if you're not comfortable with that I'm sure Doc wouldn't mind us using a corner of his office. Might even be able to bounce ideas off him." He tried to make it obvious in his tone that he wasn't hitting on her, but he wasn't sure if it came across. Xavia had clearly had some really bad experiences and he already felt guilty for adding them. He didn't want to appear to be just another guy after something from her.

Was she fine going with him? Yeah. Maybe... She didn't know... But she needed to get looked at. The burns were bad, and the weird wound on her hand was probably needing at least another look see. It took her a long moment to answer, "We can go wherever is easiest. Closest." Her home was a good twenty minute walk away, but her leg was throbbing.

She took her fortune cookie that the waiter brought when he brought the check, opened it and ate the cookie as she read the fortune. The fortune you seek is in another cookie. hah, good one. She tucked that away.

When she moved to stand up, she bit her lip and made a sound. The fabric of her skirt was still wet and flopped down onto her blistered skin before she made any more moves. Damn it, she really needed to stop injuring herself!

That ruled out the mansion then, it was either his or hers, depending on time. Even if it was his, maybe getting her home was the best option. Getting the cut looked at then letting her get to bed without having to travel afterwords seemed the logical conclusion.

Taking his fortune cookie and pocketing it for later, her pained noise dragged his attention back to the situation. "Well, you're not walking anywhere lass. Let me call a cab and we should be ready to get you home." She looked like she was in a fair amount of pain, which wasn't surprising given the burns he'd seen briefly. Offering her his arm and pulling out his phone with his other, he gave her a warm smile. "You need a hand walking or will you be alright to outside?"

One phone call later, they had a cab on its way, now it was time to find out their destination. "Mines only 5 minutes from here by cab. If yours is about the same distance, I can't see why getting you home isn't the best option." When it came to treating people for non life threatening stuff, them being comfortable was usually a big boon. "You ready to go then?"

"Twenty minute walk." She said about her house. But when it came to possibly letting him assist her, she knew he wasn't being fresh, yet there was part of her who froze at the thought. "Okay," she said after some hesitation, and waved him over to help her out.

After they got in the cab, she decided to go to his place instead of hers since her daughter was probably going to be traumatized if she saw that burn. "Your place, my daughter is home wit' my mot'er and probably does not need to see the burn. It is bad."

He would likely notice at some point that she smelled like a rose arbor in the summer when they were in season. It was probably a good clue as to how men reacted to her a good amount of time. It was not the least bit synthetic, no chemical smell, it was like there was a room full of flora.

Twenty minute walk? A cab was the only option to be honest. Helping her out of the restaurant and towards their waiting transport and, after her suggestion, they were headed towards his. Christ, he was an idiot. He hadn't even considered her daughter being there and how upsetting it'd be to see your mother injured. Had it really been so long since he'd worried about things like that?

"I should have most you'd need to get the burns seen to, at least before you get them check by someone with proper facilities." Giving her a fairly level stare to accompany the statement. If the burns were as bad as they had looked, she would need real care for them, or risk a nasty infection.

Now that they were in fairly close proximity, and there wasn't the smell of food around them, he picked up a weird smell. A couple of experimental sniffs cemented how out of place the scent was. It was like roses. Not a rosey smelling perfume, or the synthetic smell from a shampoo, it was the smell of actual roses. That was...weird. Made sense given her mutation, but it still wasn't something he'd been expecting. Best not mention it though, it didn't seem like a polite thing to bring up. "Not long now, Xavia. Shouldn't take up too much time to get the burns seen to and that wound a proper look at. Should have you home pretty soon."

Despite the sheer amount of pain a burn brings a person, she managed to keep from making anything more than sounds as he helped her to the cab. He might notice the beads of sweat dotting her upper lip during the car ride to his place. This woman should be screaming, but remained stubbornly silent.

Xavia peered over at Artair, and when he tried to reassure her, she just said, "I hope so." Her eyes met his for the first time, but only for a moment before she dropped them. Her foot shook in the meantime, and she raked her fingers through her hair.

When the cab stopped at the destination, she automatically handed over the money for it without thinking about it. It didn't bother her to pay. She didn't climb out, however, since she was kind of afraid to move until she was able to lean on some support...

Journey didn't take long, thank god for that. Burns were some of the worst things doctors dealt with and not just because of the pain they caused. As they pulled up he was halfway to getting his money by the time Xavia had already paid. Artair preferred to pay if he was the on to call the cab, just seemed polite to him. He'd argue any other time, especially given that the situation was his fault, but it wasn't it time for it now.

Helping her out the cab and thanking the cab driver, he directed her towards the lobby door. "Good news is, while I live on the 6th floor, the lifts working again. Won't have to hobble up the stairs." It had only taken four months to get it up and running after the last breakage. Record time if his neighbours were to be believed.

The lift ride was, awkward to say the least. The rosey fragrance was particularly strong in the confined space and it was pretty hard not to think about it now that he'd noticed it. Fortunately for him, his upbringing kicked in and sheer politeness stopped him mentioning it. "I know it hurts, but we're pretty much there. Not much further."