This idea had been on Derek's mind ever since he was in the Mansion. However, because of how fast life was moving with being inducted into the Haven, working with Xavia as her lab and greenhouse, having a part time job at X-Gene Persuasions, and getting settled at the Honeycomb Cooperative, he just didn't have the time. 

Now with things a little more calmer and less stressful, Derek was able to fulfill this idea. Thanks to Jude who recommended Kealey Shinbo for getting a costume made since she tailored them for the X-Men. If she was good enough for them, then she was definitely good enough for Derek.

Derek had made an appointment with the woman two weeks in advanced which allowed him to trade his shift at X-Gene with another employee so that he could sit and talk to her.

Taking in a deep breath, Derek waited patiently in the small waiting room outside of Kealey Shinbo's office. He was dressed business casual with a button down green shirt and khaki pants with black dress shoes. He hoped this meeting went well.

The business world was an interesting one. One that Kealey Shinbo was still trying to wrap her head around two years after managing to secure her very own offices and launching her exclusive line. Things had been good, really good and she couldn't help but feel like the luckiest girl in New York as she looked out her windows and over the city.

The offices were small, and a bit eclectic, but they were high above the bustling crowds of New York and the distance gave the blonde enough space that she could actually think and let her creativity reign without the burden of too many outside emotions. Sure, Kealey's secretary was there, and the few workers that she employed to help her with custom designs, but she was used to them by now and could nearly shut them out on most days. They knew about her abilities, and were the kindest of people. They were kind of like a little family.

Swiveling in her office chair, Kealey peeked at her appointment calendar. She had a client meeting this afternoon with a woman who needed a dress for a gala. These were Kealey's favorite kind of customer. The woman was beyond excited about the party, and had seen some of Kealey's work and been interested. The two had already had a couple of concept meetings, and the woman had been delighted in what they'd been able to create. Today was the first fitting of the gown itself, and Kealey couldn't wait for feedback.

There was another appointment today too, one that was set to begin very soon. The meeting was with a Mr. Derek Menes, someone Kealey couldn't claim the pleasure of knowing on a personal level. The meeting had been made a couple of weeks ago, and Kealey still didn't know exactly what it was about.

Casting out over the office, Kealey let her powers flow to the forefront of her mind and quickly identified the new person in the waiting area. His feelings were hopeful and patient, and there was something he wanted.

Reaching out with every intention of asking her secretary, Claudia, to send the man back, Kealey paused and then rose. There wasn't much going on today, there was no reason she couldn't greet the man herself.

So out Kealey went, following the unfamiliar emotions to the young man in the reception area. Smiling welcomingly, the blonde held out her hand, "Mr. Menes," she said, Irish accent light and friendly, "I'm Kealey Shinbo. If you'd like to step back into my office, we can discuss why you're here."

Derek was scrolling through his phone when he heard the door open and his name being called. He quickly looked up to see a blue eyed, blonde haired woman who introduced yourself as "Kealey Shinbo." With a wide smile, Derek stood up from his seat and walked toward her.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Shinbo. You can call me Derek. Mr. Menes is my father." Derek chuckled a bit and offered a hand to her and smiled politely. "Thank you for seeing me, by the way. It's a real pleasure."

The mutant really hoped that Kealey Shinbo would craft a costume for him. He was more than willing to pay. He even had a speech made if need be.

Kealey chuckled as the young man requested a more casual moniker than than she had originally used. It was no problem for her. For now though, until she was sure exactly what the meeting was about, she was going to stick with Ms. Shinbo. Kudos to the young man for using the proper prefix too!

"It's no problem at all." The blonde said in response to Derek's thanks

"Follow me." she added, gesturing towards the office she'd left just a few moments before. Derek followed and as they entered, the blonde gestured towards a chair on the visitor's side of the desk, moving behind the desk to take her own seat.

Once settled, Kealey smiled and leaned a little forward, "What can I do for you?" she asked. Men's wear wasn't her specialty, but she'd made a few things before, if that was what this meeting was about, something could surely be arranged.

After Derek entered the office, he gave a quick look around before sitting on the other side of Ms. Shinbo's desk. Her office look nice and cozy. Nothing too flashy, but at the same time it showed that she was a woman of importance.

"Well, I ah-- first off allow me to officially introduce myself. My name is Derek Menes. I'm twenty years old and moved here about a month ago, first starting at the Mansion. I stayed there for about a week before I transferred into the Honeycomb Cooperative." Derek chewed on his bottom lip nervously before straightening his back and placing his feet flat on the floor. "I was hoping that since you make the uniforms for the X-Men that you would perhaps make one for me."

Derek wouldn't mention his current Faction ties unless he had to.

Well.

That hadn't been what Kealey was expecting.

The blonde tilted her head as Derek spoke, and focused on the emotions of the young man in front of her. Really focused.

He was nervous, that was the paramount emotions that Kealey could feel. Nervous enough that it made her want to bounce her foot in agitation or chew her bottom lip, both habits she'd worked very hard at mastering in the past few years. There was something else there too, though, buried underneath the nerves. Earnestness. The young man was serious. Kealey didn't laugh, or do anything at all for a long moment. She thought.

"I'd be interested in knowing who told you that I do that." she said, after much internal deliberation. Proping her elbows on her desk and lacing her fingers together, Kealey leaned forward.

"If I did make those suits, and I'm not saying that I do. The people I make them for would have gone through a very rigorous training regimen and have the approval of at least a few people who already have them."

She paused for a moment, hoping her words would have time to sink in.

"Would you meet those requirements?" she asked quietly, "I can help with your nerves if it would make it easier for you to answer." she added softly.

Uh oh, well now another emotion was being to raise to the surface and that was anxiety. He wasn't sure if telling Kealey that his friend and apartment mate, Jude, had recommended her. Derek shifted a bit and began to chew at the inside of his cheek.

"Well, ah," Derek cleared his throat and smiled a bit at Ms. Shinbo. "I heard that you designed the suits from a ex-X-Men trainee." There, Derek wasn't giving any names, but at the same time giving Ms. Shinbo information. It's a win win for everyone.

Derek wasn't sure about the next question. Of course he was now officially part of the Haven, but he didn't think he'd gone through anything too rigorous. Though, training with Ranger felt like he did. "Well...no, I'm fine. Thank you," he chewed on his lip, "I'm guessin' so?"

Kealey momentarily felt bad. The level of anxiety her questioning had produced wasn't the type of thing she usually tried to inflict upon others. These were important questions though! The scar over her eye, and the various other injuries she'd sustained, and watched other sustain, were proof enough that messing with this sort of thing wasn't to be taken lightly.

A former X-trainee had spilled the beans about her extra-curricular sewing activities. This probably warranted more investigation, and Kealey made a note to herself to mention this encounter to Shin when she got home later that night. It wasn't that it was a state secret or anything, but was still worth keeping an eye out.

Derek plunged forward, declining her offer of soothing his nerves. The blonde shrugged and leaned back in her seat, face neutral as he continued to speak. He thought he met her qualifications?

"Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" she said, hoping to find out more about his motives and why exactly he wanted a suit. "Through my work with my other clients, I tend to know a great deal about each person before I try to work on anything for them. Details are important, especially knowledge of any special abilities since a utility garment would need to be able to accommodate many different things."

So, Ms. Shinbo wanted to know more about Derek? He could do that no problem. Cleaning his throaty, he tried to seek confident, but at the same time humble. Taking in a deep breath, Derek responded saying,

"Well, I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, I'm twenty years old, I'm a mutant, ah, I'm gay, and, ah, I can communicate and influence the behavior of animals," Derek paused, "I'm also a member of the Haven. We help minorities along with mutants." He explained with a smile. He made sure not to spill too much information. "Oh! And I'm applying for school in the fall at NYU as a animal studies major."

Well, if nothing else, Derek was earnest. Kealey listened intently as the young man spoke and made mental notes of the important things.

20 years old? He was so young, and not a part of the X-Men, but a part of the Haven? Kealey hadn't heard of such a place, but made a mental note to ask around and see what she could find out. It sounded like some kind of philanthropic organization. It would be worth looking into, if nothing else.

The young man's powers were interesting to say the least. Power over and communication with animals was something that could come in very handy in a great number of situations. The fact that he was starting school made the blonde grin, she could still remember when she'd decided to start design school. It had been a huge deal, and look where it had gotten her.

"You've forgotten the most important thing though." she said when he was done talking.

"Why do you want the suit? Who are you working with, or what are you doing that requires such attire?"

It was definitely going to be one of the conditions of Kealey's work on such a project. She didn't want to send someone so young out on their own in something she made if it was going to encourage the young man to end up hurt.

"...Oh," Derek gulped and hadn't really thought about what he would be doing with the suit. He just wanted one. His eagerness was starting to be replaced with nervousness. Chewing on his lower lip, he struggled to find a sound answer to Ms. Shinbo's challenging questions.

"I...want the suit to have something better to wear when I'm helping others from thugs and criminals. Wearing it would also make sure that I'm well protected," Derek cleared his throat and adjusted the way he was sitting in the chair. "I just want to help people, Ms. Shinbo. I want to make sure no one feels afraid or oppressed. It's not a good feelin' to have. At all."

Derek hoped that he wasn't wasting her time. He just wanted to be good.

Kealey could feel the nerves creeping in over the eagerness that Derek had felt as he described himself and his powers. It hadn't been the blonde's intent to make him nervous again, but it was important to know what the end goals were here. If Kealey made a suit for this young man, she was partially responsible for what he did while he wore it, and what happened to him. Encouraging the wrong tendencies in the wrong person was dangerous and irresponsible.

It was on the tip of Kealey's tongue to ask the young man why he wasn't looking to join the X-Men. They would have given him a chance to exercise his desire to help and given him the training he needed to do so safely.

"Have you considered looking into training at the Mansion? I could put you in contact with someone there who might be able to find you a place with other, similar-minded individuals." The person was her husband, or Sam if he wasn't too busy.

If not.

"At the very least, I'd like to go out with you one night and see what you do. I'd feel wrong about just handing you a uniform without knowing exactly what you're getting into."

To be honest, the idea was kind of exciting to Kealey, it had been a long time since she'd broken out her own uniform, and the thought of the jacket and boots ensemble made her smile.

"So, you can either take that name from me, or pick a time and place for us to meet for our night time excursion."

She smiled. Hopefully that would help with Derek's nerves, otherwise, she might have to intervene.

"I-I have thought about training at the Mansion. Actually, that's where I first went to when I came to New York, but then I became aware of Haven and the good work they do." Derek answered with a small smile. He gave a glance around her room before focusing back on her.

So, she wanted to go with Derek on one of his night searches? He could do that no problem! There wasn't anything that he needed to hide from her so it was totally doable. "...Okay, yeah. We can arrange that. I think that would be better anyways so that you have an idea of what exactly I do."  

Derek stood up from the chair and gave her a warm smile. "It was nice meetin' with you, Ms. Shinbo. I hope I didn't take too much of your time." After Derek shook her hand, he turned and walked out of her office. He would certainly keep in touch with her concerning the time and place they should meet in order for him to show her what he did. In all honesty, he was looking forward to it.