It was a slow day in the tailor shop. Javier spend his free time organizing his work space (mostly the front room, to make it look less cluttered for potential clients). Once he was done with anything that seemed like it needed doing, he sat down with his notebook doodling possible designs for outfits for the X-team. He had made updates to some of their costumes already, and had ideas for a full re-do on others. It was an interesting challenge, and something that he never really considered as a career. But when it came to fitting suits, or designing superhero outfits, the researcher in him definitely felt drawn to the latter. Plus, some of those ideas doubled really well as cosplay upgrades for Booker. Two birds with one stone.

Javier sat behind the counter with his feet up, absorbed in his sketching, when the bell rang at the front door. Looking up, he snapped the notebook shut, stowing it in a drawer before he stood up, adjusting his vest, to greet his customer.

"Welcome! My name is Javier. How can I help you today?"

The man that came in seemed a bit cautious. Rich had a set of clothes on his arm that looked rather color coordinated. A scheme of blue, black and white trim was spread over the shirt, shorts, and half ripped balaclava. It all looked pretty well worn and beaten up from repeated use. Inside, the young man felt quite stupid to be in the shop but he didn't have a way to fix this stuff himself. At least, not in a way that would be considered professional or even that good. Walking up, a half smile was thrown Javier's way as he placed the fabric on the counter.

"Hi, Javier. Thanks for the welcome. I uh, was wondering if you would be able to work your magic on this? I been looking for a discrete, talented tailor and from my research you are pretty much it. Can you help me?"

The look on the man's face suggested that his was a little vulnerable coming here. But his eyes beamed hope. All Rich could think of is if this doesn't work then he might just need a whole new suit and pray that this guy doesn't recognize this as vigilante garb.

It was most definitely vigilante garb. Too flamboyant to be a bank robber's outfit, and too torn to be everyday wear, even in New York City. The guy looked a bit awkward about it, but the fact that he had brought it to a shop at all was interesting. Javier looked the clothes over.

>>"Hi, Javier. Thanks for the welcome. I uh, was wondering if you would be able to work your magic on this? I been looking for a discrete, talented tailor and from my research you are pretty much it. Can you help me?"

Discrete. Did someone tell him? Javier by now had worked with a number of vigilantes, for better or worse, and made outfits for some other mutants as well. Maybe he needed some kind of a secret password to see if someone was here on recommendation. That would have been so useful. Without it, he was not sure if he had to keep pretending he didn't recognize the costume.

"Um... it seems like the material might not be the best choice for... extensive use" he noted tentatively "I can do my best, but if you plan on wearing this for... physical activity, you might want a re-design. Eventually."

Thinking back on it, he probably could have brought other clothes instead of just the outfit. I'm a colossal dunce. The tailor didn't seem too perturbed by the outfit, at least. That was a good sign. Javier's words got him thinking, about whether or not a redesign could be in the cards. He had never had a professional redesign done before. It sounded expensive, especially for a dishwasher. Of course, in the long run, he could be saving money. The guy was probably right, regardless.

"I mean, how much would something like that run? And what does a redesign entail? It doesn't exactly sound like something I should put rent money towards unless it's going to be worth it."

Rich was curious now, leaning onto the counter. He cleared any sort of schedule for the day, knowing that this was going to take a long time just for repairs. Now if something gets thrown in, it would likely take twice the time.

It was awkward to talk to someone while pretending not to notice that they had a superhero costume. They both probably knew that the other one knew that they knew (Javier was getting a headache), but there was no way to get to that topic without someone making a first step and giving some secret away. The idea of a re-design seemed to pique the man's interest, though.

>>"I mean, how much would something like that run? And what does a redesign entail? It doesn't exactly sound like something I should put rent money towards unless it's going to be worth it."

"Well, the cost depends on a lot of factors" Javier noted cautiously. He worked fairly cheap for a custom tailor (for superheroes), but he really couldn't guesstimate without knowing more "And the re-design is mainly based on what you... need the outfit to do. Or withstand. You know how there is custom design for different sports? Depending on what activity you use the outfit for, I can work with different materials, and cuts, and... things like that."

Rich nodded his head, contemplating what would be best for a redesign. As much as he was into aesthetics, it would just be an expensive suit if it there was not any staying power. Scratching his beard, the young man wiggled his lips before answering.

"For lack of a better phrase, I need something practical in a rough and tumble situation. I am very active and get into a lot of intense, grating work. Very physical. Heavy lifting. Stuff like that. Needs to be able to take a beating, metaphorically of course. And literally."

He scratched the back of his head, feeling like his little charade should have ended when he walked in the door. The guy was not a moron and Rich was obviously not really prepared for what was going to be discussed. It was as if he never went to a real tailor before. He finally sighed and put his hands in his pockets. It was no use, and was painfully obvious.

"Definitely literally."

The conversation was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, which in turn was making Javier's anxiety skyrocket. It was obvious that they were both dancing around the same subject, and the man would not have brought his vigilante costume to a tailor had he not expected something like this. It was hard to explain away the design and the flaws any other way but with the obvious. Still, if he stuck to talking about upgrades, maybe it will be fine...

>>"For lack of a better phrase, I need something practical in a rough and tumble situation. I am very active and get into a lot of intense, grating work. Very physical. Heavy lifting. Stuff like that. Needs to be able to take a beating, metaphorically of course. And literally."

If he did have powers, they came with strength. And physical abilities. And he was definitely getting good use out of them. Javier arched an eyebrow at the paper-thin explanation.

>>"Definitely literally."

The guy was not with the X-men, or otherwise he would have said so. They knew Javier. He could be a lone vigilante... or he could be the opposite. He seemed like a decent guy at first glance, but that was not exactly a solid recommendation.

"You are not my first customer who needs... those kinds of upgrades." Javier admitted cautiously "It is not my job to ask for details, however, if you happen to have mutant powers, I want you to know that that's... kind of my line of work. I can make the outfit suit your needs, but you'd have to tell me more about... yourself, so I know what I'm working with."

As it finally came out, Rich felt relieved that the secrecy could cease. He wasn't very good at it so now that they could talk shop, his shoulders relaxed. He light leaned onto the table, feeling much better and gave a legitimate smile.

"Fair enough, I'm sorry or how awkward this was. You know how it is. People....just don't always understand until they live it you know? Having to hide who you are just so others don't feel insecure. I don't know if you know what I am talking about, but never mind that. I am a vigilante in this city. My powers are tech organic physiology, so strength and durability essentially. I need a suit that can keep up with that. I'm not very fast but mobility still has importance to me. But I would also like to not have to be naked during a fight. I am not sure what you might have in the back, but anything is probably better than just the cotton fabric from before."

Rich was so glad he had found the right place otherwise this could have went south very quickly. Now he was just wondering what this guy could actually do. If he had access to hero level materials then Charger would certainly interested the man's skill.

"And how customizable can we be here? Is color an option?"

Javier could see the relief in the man's face as they finally broke through the secrecy. He was sure both of them still held their fair share of secrets, but for now, they could talk about the suit with a lot less awkwardness. He smiled a little and nodded when Richard explained about having to hide his identity.

>>"I am a vigilante in this city. My powers are tech organic physiology, so strength and durability essentially. I need a suit that can keep up with that. I'm not very fast but mobility still has importance to me. But I would also like to not have to be naked during a fight. I am not sure what you might have in the back, but anything is probably better than just the cotton fabric from before."

"Yes, probably." Javier nodded, looking over the suit. It was not tragic, but it was also far from being very practical. Also, the man had increased strength. Go figure, they had that in common.

>>"And how customizable can we be here? Is color an option?"

"Color is definitely an option" Javier smiled, nodding to Richard to follow him to the workshop in the back. "So, tech organic... um, you're going to have to explain that. When you use your powers, do you... change size, for example?"

He thought for minute, wondering how he can explain his mutation. Rich decided to stick to the topic, as details may not help the tailor any.

"My DNA is an mix of metallic and organic properties. I don't change size or shape. I don't even change forms. This is what I got. No off button to speak of. Just sturdy as can be. Pretty much all in on strength and defense."

His arms lifted slightly, with a shrug, before slipping them back in his pockets

"Oh and blue please. Kind of my favorite color. But red, black, or dark green is fine as well. Since colors are a thing." He said, with a smile.

Javier was a mutant, but that did not mean that he was very clear on how other mutations worked. Hell, he barely had a grasp on how his own mutations functioned, whenever it functioned at all. He tried his best to expand his knowledge, but given how all powers were unique in some ways, in the end it was easier to ask.

>>"My DNA is an mix of metallic and organic properties. I don't change size or shape. I don't even change forms. This is what I got. No off button to speak of. Just sturdy as can be. Pretty much all in on strength and defense."

"Oh." Javier blinked. Strength and defense. Sturdiness. Not all that different from his own powers, but also something the outfit clearly could not keep up with "That... sounds cool."

>>"Oh and blue please. Kind of my favorite color. But red, black, or dark green is fine as well. Since colors are a thing."

"Well, if it's blue, you might get mistaken for the X-men" Javier pointed out, before he started digging around for his note pad and a pen "We can discuss it, though. Do you mind if I take some measurements while we talk?..."

"Aww." He said, boyishly as it turned out blue was not as good of an option as he hoped. The tailor had a good point there. Though, if he were to ask, he would want to be X-Men. And wearing it might even have the real X-Men contact him. They would ask him to likely tone down the blue, and he would ask for a job application instead. In his ideal world it worked.

"Though, I don't know my numbers off the top of my head. It might be more accurate if you use the the tape measure thingy since I would rather not give you incorrect numbers. Speaking of the X-Men, you wouldn't....happen to have like a phone number or something for them would you?"

Rich seemed a little disappointed about the color option. Blue was not a bad color; less threatening than red or green or black, and it would look good on someone like him. The X-men had also chosen it for a reason, and over the past decade, it became associated with "good guy" vigilantes, on the side of the police. Most of the time, anyway.

>>"Though, I don't know my numbers off the top of my head. It might be more accurate if you use the the tape measure thingy since I would rather not give you incorrect numbers. Speaking of the X-Men, you wouldn't....happen to have like a phone number or something for them would you?"

Javier got the tape measure and the note pad out. He was going to do his own measuring even if the guy knew his numbers; people were wrong about those more often than not. And if he wanted to make a good suit for fighting, it needed to fit very well.
Javier winced when Rich asked about the X-men. He did have a phone number. Hell, he even knew where they lived. But he was not going to disclose that information. That was some basic comic book stuff Booker could tell you about: you have a connection to the vigilantes, and the next thing you know, some bad guy is kidnapping and torturing you because you are an easier target than a superhero. Nope. If this guy turned out to be genuine, he might mention him to Sam. Until then...

"No, not really" he shook his head, trying to be as convincing as possible "They are a little above my paygrade. But I'm going to do your best that you can hold your own in the new outfit..." he began measuring and taking notes. This part was usually awkward, so he kept talking "So... how did you decide you wanted to do this?"

The tailor seemed to be sending mixed signals. The wince suggest that he either had a been experience with them, or he didn't like the question. Rich found that to be fair, as the inquiry wasn't exactly subtle or really even that smart to be asking. While he wasn't entirely sure this guy was being up front, he understood why he might not be. Rich would also leave it at that, since he wanted to be nice.

"Fair enough. It's not like they broadcast that stuff, even to mutants, it seems."

The young man shrugged and thought a little about the next question. It wasn't something easy, like a favorite color or best vacation spot. It was to see what his thinking was. His origin story. Or at least the reasoning. His thoughts briefly returned to how he first found out of his powers, as the sounds of tires screeched in his mind. It wasn't pretty. He looked down at his shoes, trying to weave his way back into the present. It took a second but he got there and returned the gaze to Javier.

"You ever feel...like deep within your soul that you had to do something with your life? And not just because you were good at it? Or had skill just handed to you essentially? But because you feel like life would be wasted if you didn't take a certain path?"

His expression was a vulnerable one, but had a splash of passion to it. All the while, he did the best he could to not be a pain to the tailor for doing his job.

"I'd be a waste if I didn't use what I can do to make the world a better place. Sure, I can say it is the right thing to do. While it is, it wouldn't be my entire answer. Not truthfully. My abilities came at the great personal cost that can never been given back. Not using them...means the cost didn't matter. Which would be a lie."

Luckily, Javier's brush-off of the X-men question did not spark any follow-ups. He kept working on measurements, taking notes, and steering the conversation towards another topic. That last one was the most exhausting, for an introvert like him.

>>"You ever feel...like deep within your soul that you had to do something with your life? And not just because you were good at it? Or had skill just handed to you essentially? But because you feel like life would be wasted if you didn't take a certain path?"

"Uh..." Javier admired people with a sense of purpose. He really did. When he'd found out he was a mutant with super strength, he even felt like he was expected now to use his powers for the greater good. It was just... more of an outside pressure, rather than an inner motivation. He enjoyed his work, but he never felt like he needed to change the world. Or even save it.

>>"I'd be a waste if I didn't use what I can do to make the world a better place. Sure, I can say it is the right thing to do. While it is, it wouldn't be my entire answer. Not truthfully. My abilities came at the great personal cost that can never been given back. Not using them...means the cost didn't matter. Which would be a lie."

Backstories. Everyone had one. Javier nodded, feeling too awkward to pry into someone's painful past.

"That's... it makes sense, yes." he nodded, finishing up the measurements. "So... maybe we could talk about what all you expect this new outfit to withstand?"