As it turned out, there was a limit to how long the FBI could hold onto the Full Circle. Maya was one last court petition away from wresting control of her bookstore back, it seemed. Naturally, that meant she'd gone through her closet and grabbed her best suit. It wasn't easy to find clothes in rail thin and extra leggy. Tailors were her best friends. And after trying to squeeze into the pants, Ghost realized that she would have to be relying on one yet again.

The dress pants weren't the only thing looking tight these days. In a fit of desperation, Maya grabbed a few things. She wasn't expecting a miracle, but she was hoping to get her X uniform adjusted a bit too. She threw it in the small but growing pile and looked up the tailor shop she'd used last time on her phone. Only. That shop looked to be closed. She did a generic search and chose one at random. She didn't have time to vet them. Worse case, if they botched her suit, she could buy another. Absolute worst case, she would just grab an ill fitting generic X uniform next time she went out on a call.

Maya got her bearings, ghosted, and sent herself streaming down toward Manhattan from the Mansion. Transportation was one of the biggest perks of her power. In order to avoid making a scene on the street, Maya let herself in underneath the front door. White smoke billowed in and condensed slowly into a cloud, a pillar, and finally solidified into the form of a pale woman with brown hair and bare feet.

Darn shoes. She always forgot them!

Maya made sure to hit the bell so the shop attendant would know to come on out and closed her eyes in order to make extra sure she was putting herself back together properly as she came into her weight. Apparently, she'd been putting more weight on.

((OOC: Javier Martín Moreno))

It was a quiet day around the shop. Javier was catching up on some work he had put aside earlier; his to-do list was already crossed out for the day, so now all extra tasks he could accomplish would only make him feel better about the day' work. He was in his happy place, sitting at the sewing machine at the back of the shop, making some hemming alterations on a dress for a friend's friend. There was no sound except for the buzz of the machine... until he took a glance up, and saw smoke billowing in under the front door.

Javier stood up, watching with growing concern as the smoke seeped in. Did someone set fire outside the shop? Was it a gas leak? Gas leaks were supposed to be invisible, right? Was the basement on fire? He stepped towards the front of the shop, but paused again. Should he be moving towards the smoke? What if it was tear gas? Did he miss a protest while working?...

As he considered his options, the smoke appeared to have a life of its own. It took on shape.

Ghost?...

Nah, ghosts didn't exist.

The smoke took the shape of a young woman, and hit the bell on the desk he had in the front of the shop. Not a ghost, then. Mutant, probably. Javi took a deep breath to calm himself down. Should he make a comment about the mutation? Did people talk about that kind of stuff with other mutants?...

"Hello. Hi. Sorry, I didn't... er. I did see you come in, honestly." he walked forward, mentally kicking himself. Bad customer service was bad for business. "Hi. I'm Javier. What can I do for you?"

Oh. Goodness. There was a person there. Maya didn't like to frighten people and the whole reason she'd elected to recompose herself inside was so that no one on the street would recognize her or, worse, get scared.

"Javier. It's lovely to meet you. I'm Maya and I apologize for the dramatic entrance." Maya sank down to her heels, fully corporeal and glad she hadn't misplaced her clothes while flying. Shoes, she could forgive, since they were probably just laying at home in Cafas' closet. She probably had ghosted right out of them.

She offered her hand to shake. It never hurt to be polite, but if you want anyone to be on your side, it's your tailor.

"I was hoping I could have your shop look at some things for me and work on the fit. I know It's a lot easier to take things in, but I've gained weight!" And she could tell her enthusiasm at the topic was atypical. "I was recently ill. So that's a good thing." Especially if it was muscle. Her little tummy said it wasn't, but Maya was only just starting to take her physical training seriously. Some day it would be muscle.

"There's a few things in here, but only 2 items that are a priority for me. If you have the time, that is." The shop was small and she didn't sense any movement elsewhere so he may have been the only one. "If you're busy, I could schedule for later, of course." How silly of her to just show up, but she had been hoping...

>>"Javier. It's lovely to meet you. I'm Maya and I apologize for the dramatic entrance."

She seemed nice. She did not seem like the kind of person that would show off her powers as a prank, or to intimidate someone. Javier shook her hand.

>>"I was hoping I could have your shop look at some things for me and work on the fit. I know It's a lot easier to take things in, but I've gained weight! I was recently ill. So that's a good thing."

"You look healthier" Javier said before he screwed his eyes shut for a moment, realizing what he was saying "I mean, congratulations... umm, what do you need done?"

Well, there was the first exchange he'd store in his brain forever to kick himself about.

>>"There's a few things in here, but only 2 items that are a priority for me. If you have the time, that is. If you're busy, I could schedule for later, of course."

"Yeah, no, I have time" Javier waved a hand at the shop in general "It's just me here. I mean, I work alone. Mostly. But I'm done for today, so I can take a look at your things if you want." he added, glancing at the bag she had.

"You look healthier."
Really?!...

> "You look healthier"

It only threw her for a moment. Did she know him? No. But that didn't mean that he didn't know her. She always forgot that was possible since she was dating who she dated not for his celebrity. Or maybe he knew her from vigilante-ing all across the city? Either way, Maya brightened at the compliment because that's what it was. "Thanks!"

> "...what do you need done?"

"I need-- Well, let me just show you." Maya set the shopping bag of clothes down for a moment so she could rummage. She emerged eventually with some charcoal pants.

"These are my super fancy pants and I have to be in court to answer some things." Actually, was she due in court to testify for that deputized arrest where she had to turn over that gun? She would have to check that fax sitting on the shared x-men desk to see if it was a "you may be" or "you are" in front of that summoned word. "If it's at all possible to add some space around the waistband? That's where it's getting tight."

The other one was her X-suit, she rummaged for that next, but the fabric was unique enough that it was a fast find.

"This one... I don't know what to do about this one..."

She did not take offense at his comment, Javi tried to convince himself as they moved on less akward topics. She had quite a few clothes in the bag, but she apparently had priorities involving which ones she wanted to get fixed the most. The first was a pair of pants that she pulled out; Javier looked over them, and then her figure, trying to guess just how much weight she had put on.

>>"I need-- Well, let me just show you. These are my super fancy pants and I have to be in court to answer some things... If it's at all possible to add some space around the waistband? That's where it's getting tight."

Court?... Javier could not help but wonder what she was going to court for. Not that he was going to ask. There were so many wrong answers to that... pretty much anything beyond 'jury duty' was going to end up more awkward than what it was worth. And it did not matter for his job anyway. While she rummaged around some more, Javier took a closer look at the pants.

>>"This one... I don't know what to do about this one..."

She plopped the outfit down onto the counter, and Javier's eyes widened. It was an X-men uniform. His gaze jumped from the uniform to the woman, then back. He had seen enough of the X-men on the news to be able to tell that the outfit belonged to one... the woman looked vaguely familiar too, as much as vigilante superheroes on a news screen could look familiar to anyone. So, it wasn't a Halloween costume. Javier touched the fabric, instantly curious about what such outfits were made of... but the same time wary of the implications.

"You're an X-man?..." he ventured, touching the fabric, and turning the outfit over. Focus on your job, Javier. It's just an outfit.

It wasn't like he had anything about the X-men, personally. They were doing the best they could, from all he could tell. He just had a general thing against vigilantes... mostly because they tended to drag other people into trouble with them.

"This kind of defeats the secret identity thing, doesn't it?..." he added, motioning at the woman and the outfit. Did vigilantes really just take their costumes to a tailor shop like this?... Or was he stuck with someone else's secret now?

"I am a member of the team. Yes, sir." Curiosity and temerity warred in his body language. Maya wondered if she'd ever been that apologetic in her actions and if it was living in the public eye that had changed her or if she'd simply grown up. EIther way, she could sympathize. What would it be like to meet one of the blockbuster movie stars Cafas always rubbed elbows with? (Not that the two were equatable.)

"Are we supposed to have secret identities?" She teased him. Everything certainly had been more secretive in years before. And now that they'd been alerted to the threat that was SUPER, it seemed a lot of X-men were hunkering down. But some, like Maya, didn't really have that choice. She'd been an X-man for too long. Even regaining the pigmentation in her hair hadn't thrown people off of who she was. Her powers were the same. She was still going to fight for what was right, in or out of costume. She'd done it too long to go back now.

"I've gone through training in order to become deputized and my work with the X-men is as legal as the vigilante volunteer system is ever going to get. I'm not ashamed of my team or my actions. So I guess it's not really a secret to me." Besides, she was dating a celebrity. Maya smiled her public smile. It was so incredibly refreshing to meet someone who wasn't all up in her business, but outside of being an X-man and dating Cafas, there just wasn't much leverage. Rowan was safe at the Mansion.

She shrugged with a good-natured smile on her lips.

"Our team tailor ran off and got married. You know how it is. I don't want to bother marital bliss." Especially since that'd been so elusive for her. "Want me to tell you it's cosplay? It could be really good cosplay..."

Javier was aware that he was not handling his surprise especially well. In fact, if there was a wrong way to handle meeting an actual real-life superhero, this was probably it. He worried that he came off more hostile than he intended. He really did not dislike the woman on principle... he just did not know what the etiquette was for cases like this...

>>"I am a member of the team. Yes, sir. Are we supposed to have secret identities?"

"Ummm...?" Javier was actually not sure about this either. Were they? He felt like many X-men showed their faces off in the media quite often. Not all of them wore masks when out on missions. Still, face and identity, that was different, right?... Javi fiddled with the sleeve of the costume absent-mindedly, not knowing how to answer.

>>"I've gone through training in order to become deputized and my work with the X-men is as legal as the vigilante volunteer system is ever going to get. I'm not ashamed of my team or my actions. So I guess it's not really a secret to me."

"No no no, I didn't mean you should be..." Dammit, why could he just not communicate like a normal person?! She probably thought he was an anti-mutant bigot or something. He really didn't want to go into the legalities of vigilante groups with this woman. But he also did not want to make her feel like he did not want to go into the...

Aaaaaaargh!

>>"Our team tailor ran off and got married. You know how it is. I don't want to bother marital bliss. Want me to tell you it's cosplay? It could be really good cosplay..."

"Oh it is definitely not cosplay." that just slipped out before Javi had a time to realize what he was saying. It was an honest comment. While mentally torturing himself, he had been fiddling with the costume, and while it did not take a professional's eye to tell it was high quality, he could see the subtle differences between something that looked fancy, and something that was an actual, functional vigilante outfit. Now that he said it, he turned his attention to the costume to hide his awkwardness. "So... what would you like to do with it, exactly?... Is the material relevant to how your powers work?..." In other words, how did she not just... smoke out of her clothes?...

Why couldn't it be cosplay? Maya frowned at her uniform. It was just cloth. Stretchy and with a skirt... She didn't hate the skirt, but an idea was forming. A half-baked, baby, proto-idea.

> "Is the material relevant to how your powers work?..."

"No. But it's stretchy and easy to move in. I can uh... infuse my power? I guess? I can infuse it into things, even other people." Hence the creepy puppeteering power she'd never fully explored.

"I'm worried that making alterations would ruin the stretch. Would it... is it maybe crazy to ask... do you do design work here?" New hair. New body. Why couldn't she had a new uniform too? Maybea leather.

No. Not leather. The guys who wore leather squeaked and Maya did too much stealth for that. Plus leather didn't breathe.

"I- maybe this was all a bad idea." She could just gather that super suit back up and stuff it back in the bag, right? They'd just pretend this never happened...

The situation was all-around awkward, but Javier could not restrain his own curiosity. It was not every day that someone like him got to see something special like a superhero uniform. He might have problems with the general concept, but the design aspect was fascinating, especially with transitional powers like hers involved. The costume was not badly made either. He wondered just how... personal it was.

>>"No. But it's stretchy and easy to move in. I can uh... infuse my power? I guess? I can infuse it into things, even other people."

Javier blinked. People? What, she could turn people into smoke? Anything that involve the words infusing and people made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but she seemed like a nice enough person not to be some crazy mutant fanatic.

>>"I'm worried that making alterations would ruin the stretch. Would it... is it maybe crazy to ask... do you do design work here?... I- maybe this was all a bad idea."

She was not sure what she wanted. Oh well, Javier usually wasn't either. But the question had already been asked, and Javier felt an uncharacteristic urge to jump on the opportunity.

"Yes, I do" he answered, then lost his initial momentum "... I mean, yes, I do design too. I've... worked with different kinds of fabrics before, for professional... wear." worked, in college, until he dropped out, that is. Professional wear was not quite as advanced as vigilante uniforms, but the idea behind special materials was the same. And she really seemed to like her freedom of movement. "I could try to come up with something if you have... specific ideas."

He really wanted to try. But after their initial introduction, he did not want to be too pushy about it.

He did design work? He didn't sound terribly confident... Did she want someone not terribly confident making her a suit that she sometimes relied on to help her feel confident? Could he even do it?

Maybe she should let him try. The worst it would be was wasted money. For the chance at giving him a boost of confidence...? Why not?

"If you could manage without destroying the old one... Yes. Absolutely. Let's see you asked about specific ideas?" She hadn't walked in with specific plans. This was what she got for being impulsive.

"I suppose I could list the things I don't like about the old one? That's a place to start at least." She just had to put aside her nostalgia for all the bad guys she'd strung up into precarious situations first. It was weirdly emotional. Maya let the fabric go entirely so that Mr. Javier could stretch it out or hold it up or whatever he needed.

"That uniform is a little flashy since it's white and grey. Stealth at night isn't even an option." She was far less pale and white now. She didn't fit. "It provides little to no actual protection which is okay, I need the maneuverability. And I need the fabric to breathe. But... there's the dumb, uh... there's a skirt. I don't know what to do about that, uh, whole... area." She wasn't blushing. He was blushing.

>>"If you could manage without destroying the old one... Yes. Absolutely."

Javier picked up the old outfit and laid it out. He was taking in the details and the work someone had put into it, and already thinking about changes that he would make. But he did not want to spring all that on the young woman. He would listen to her ideas first.

>>"Let's see you asked about specific ideas? I suppose I could list the things I don't like about the old one? That's a place to start at least."

"That works." Javier nodded. Problems led to solutions that led to improvements. He could work with that.

>>"That uniform is a little flashy since it's white and grey. Stealth at night isn't even an option. It provides little to no actual protection which is okay, I need the maneuverability. And I need the fabric to breathe. But... there's the dumb, uh... there's a skirt. I don't know what to do about that, uh, whole... area."

Javier blinked. The woman blushed a little, which in turn made him blush too. But now that he was faced with specific problems, he could focus on those before things got too awkward.

"Okay, so... different color. Does it have to be... some kind of blue? The X-men wear blue, right?..." he was not sure if that was simply a preference, or an actual requirement.

"Also, flexibility, and possibly more protection, as long as it does not harm the flexibility. And... do you want to keep the skirt and have something... under it, or would you rather switch it for pants?"

"Blue is the color of the loaner uniforms. So it could be blue. It doesn't have to be. It does have to have a prominent X somewhere for easy identification. Doesn't have to be contrasting in color, just... big. And there?" Colors were a safer topic rather than talking about how to avoid camel toe while jumping around in a skin-tight suit.

"The skirt and the heels— oh goodness. I didn't even bring the shoes. Those are both artifacts of a... previous design preference that I was not invited to give my opinion on." That was the most politic way to say that Sam screwed all the women of the team over by choosing skirts and high heels for what was supposed to be practical and tactical. Ghost had kept hers this long because it hardly mattered for her. She wasn't running in her physical body half the time. That was potentially different now. Would she avoid her air-form to avoid falling into the same fate? She would have to get into an actual altercation to find out. For now...

"I think I would prefer to swap to pants, provided that it doesn't hike up. Y'know." She alllllmost got through that with a straight face, but the idea of constant wedgies or worse...?

Javier did now show it, but he was actually excited. He was not a fan of the X-men, but at least they tried to work with the police, and have some sort of a system for the rules they followed. On the other hand, the outfit was definitely a challenge, and one that he always hoped he would get to do. A professional outfit for someone with extraordinary mutant powers.

>>"Blue is the color of the loaner uniforms. So it could be blue. It doesn't have to be. It does have to have a prominent X somewhere for easy identification. Doesn't have to be contrasting in color, just... big. And there?"

Javier nodded. That was a design issue. A fashion statement, in a way, but also branding, and important in situations that were chaotic enough wihtout unrecognizable uniforms making an appearance.

>>"The skirt and the heels— oh goodness. I didn't even bring the shoes. Those are both artifacts of a... previous design preference that I was not invited to give my opinion on."

Javier chuckled a little. The heels. No woman (or man) doing actual vigilante work would choose to work in heels. That just did not happen, despite what comic books claimed.

>>"I think I would prefer to swap to pants, provided that it doesn't hike up. Y'know."

Javier blinked, blushing a little as he realized what she was talking about, about pants hiking up. "Yes, that's... a functionality issue. It'd have to be designed like active wear, for a wide range of motions. So that it is not restricting, and doesn't shift out of... where it needs to be. You said that your powers don't cause a problem with the outfit?..."

"No problems, I can transform the clothes with me between states. It's how I've lasted this long in heels."

He seemed to be picking up the torch as a professional in his field and with the comfort of this being his area of expertise, the small embarrassments like potential camel toes and wedgies were easier to shrug off. Now, if Maya got a new suit, it would be up to her to stay in the right shape to fit in it.

"I understand if you need some time. I did kind of spring this on you. Do you need measurements or...?" She didn't even know, really. Measurements seemed prudent, though, given her extra girth.