Saphirus was grumpy.

Saphirus had coffee.

Saphirus needed that coffee, because he had a four month old boy at home, so he hadn't slept in... Well, four months.

To top it all off, he'd been told in not so uncertain terms that he needed to update his uniform.

What was wrong with what he was wearing, anyway?! Sure, it was 100% spandex, and riddled with holes from fights, and stains from... more fights. And that time the homeless man threw up all over him. There was that incident at the Ketchup factory, too. And that other time the same homeless man threw up all over him.

But it was familiar, and familiar was comforting, dangit!

Still, after hearing about it enough, and Shelby pretty much demanding it, he got a reference from a couple of the other team members to see a... Tailor.

Jesus, he hated this kinda stuff; he'd just pilfered his wedding suit from the GreatWill. Even so, for the first time in his life, the now slightly graying X-Man looked down to his phone to confirm the address, and then pushed his way into the small shop.

A bell rang, and the rather beefy looking man in skin-tight spandex looked up instinctively before hobbling on in toward the front, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, but the rest of his appearance better tended to than it had been at most points in his life. Tired eyes barely took in the surroundings as he took a big sip of his coffee, and muttered at whoever was behind the counter. "Got an appointment."

Javier walked out of the workshop in the back when he heard the bell chime. He had been expecting someone - another member of the X-men - for an appointment, although he was aware that sometimes the superhero types missed their appointments due to... half the city falling apart. What he did not expect was for the man to show up in a full suit made of... spandex?... Javier was not wholly comfortable with fully costumed superheroes walking into his shop in broad daylight, but he was too polite to bring that issue up. Maybe he should just start doing house calls to Xavier's...

"Um. Hello. Nice to meet you." he offered a hand to the taller man with a friendly smile "My name is Javier." he looked over the spandex suit, which was definitely showing some wear and tear up close... much like the man who was wearing it.

"So... I'm told that you need an update to your... work attire?"

Oh, he definitely needed one.

He was running a hand down his face to help wake himself up when the person spoke up. Younger man, fresh faced looking, friendly smile. He grunted.

"Yeah. Javier, Saphirus." He reached out shake the man's hand. The handshake would be a little bit odd. The super hero was clearly yolked, but the grip would feel almost... Nonexistent; It would be like shaking nothing at all.

"So... I'm told that you need an update to your... work attire?"

He looked down at himself. "eh... I mean, Yeah, I guess. Who said that?" He looked around a little bit. Oh, right, he was here, after all. What else would he be doing here. "I mean, yeah, like, it's not too bad, right? But I, eh, You know, a little updating wouldn't hurt... You know." As of right now it was a plain blue stretch of spandex with a black X formation over the shoulders and chest, and an M (for Masochist) layered above that.

Needless to say, it was a bit behind the times... Also, it looked like it had seen... A lot. If suits could talk, this one would be inconsolable.

"So, I dunno, They said you were creative and stuff... Any ideas you got in-" He looked up as the sound of far off sirens could be heard. Probably nothing. "Eh, In mind?"

The handshake was... light. Javier did not get the feeling of the man holding back out of courtesy, but he sure as hell was; never certain when his powers would kick in, he was generally cautious about handshakes. At least this time it was not painfully obvious.

>>"eh... I mean, Yeah, I guess. Who said that?... I mean, yeah, like, it's not too bad, right? But I, eh, You know, a little updating wouldn't hurt... You know."

Javier, despite his usually shy nature, couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at that understatement. Maybe someone higher up on the X ladder sent Saphirus for the wardrobe update, and he didn't even notice the need?... How did he miss that?

>>"So, I dunno, They said you were creative and stuff... Any ideas you got in- Eh, In mind?"

Start. From. Scratch.

"Uh. Yes." Javier nodded slowly, motioning to Saphirus to follow him into the workshop in the back. "But it works best if I work with what you need, and what you want it to look like. Are you... very attached to spandex?"

Please say no.

oSaphirus was invited to the back room. He looked back to the door with a quiet sort of longing as the siren sound slowly disappeared off iinto the distance. Maybe he should go check it out, right? Could be a serious crime. He could go fight a crime In his nice, comfy spandex bubble of familiarity. Why was this slightly more terrifying than getting shot at by gang members and mobsters?

The man started walking, and he followed reluctantly, scratching the back of his head as he asked his material question. "Well, I mean... Like, what's not to like, right? Spandex, stretchy, strong, lightweight... Heroic, y'know. All them heroes in the comics always wearin spandex..." He cringed internally at the many memories he now had of his wife savagely mocking him for wearing spandex in this day and age. How could he be wrong? Lotsa people in upstanding professions wore spandex... like... Well, heroes... Pro wrestlers... Uhm... Ballerinas? @#$%in... Ninjas? No, they wore Yorois... He knew that cause he googled it after fighting a real freaking ninja that one time.

"But I... Guess if you got another thing in mind... I'm open." He muttered, taking in the setting of the workshop in the back as he made his way after the tailor.

"So uh... How long you been at this... Tailorin thing?"

Say no to spandex, kids.

>>"Well, I mean... Like, what's not to like, right? Spandex, stretchy, strong, lightweight... Heroic, y'know. All them heroes in the comics always wearin spandex..."

"Yeah, that's... yeah they definitely do." Javi could not argue with that. He had made enough cosplay pieces since he started dating Booker to know the basics. But none of those were supposed to hold up in an actual fight.

>>"But I... Guess if you got another thing in mind... I'm open."

Javier nodded, and got out his notepad and measuring tape, and a few samples of fabric that he thought might work better. (Basically, all of them).

>>"So uh... How long you been at this... Tailorin thing?"

"A few years, since college" Javier smiled, omitting the fact that he'd quit college halfway though. "But I only started working with... superpowered people in the last year." He didn't want to say vigilantes or X-men. It would have been too bold.

"So... the best way to do this is for you to tell me how your powers work. Then I'll know what your outfit has to withstand in a fight."

Oh damn, this guy had been to college. One of them educated folk. Yeah, he looked smart... Not particularly strong, though... He did get an odd feeling from him... Like there was a bunch of potential energy just... almost there. It was sorta like being near Abyss, but on a much, much smaller scale. Was he a mutant, or was he imagining things? He always had a better time picking up kinetic energy rather than potential energy.

Eh, Maybe it was just the lack of sleep messing with him. He took a sip of his coffee, and looked around for a place to set the near empty cup down.

"Yeah? Who have you done this for already, then?" He gave up after a second, and just held onto the cup, looking up as the man asked him about his powers. The veteran crime fighter took a good long second to gauge the caliber of the person before him. He'd always trusted his gut when it came to whether someone was trust worthy; Years of mistakes and learning experiences had given him a pretty good sense of these things. He seemed alright.

"You know, it's sort of a secret, so if you tell anyone what I tell you right here and now, it doesn't leave this room, got it?" He looked around a bit to make sure no one else was listening in.

"If you look at all of the fan sites, they speculate stuff, right? They figure I got super strength, increased endurance, and I can fly. Hell, if you ask some of em I'm damn near unstoppable, with weird inconsistencies. Lotta questions... But... Well, It ain't like that at all." He paused, as if thinking about how to explain it the best for a moment, and then drained his coffe up. He held up the cup for a second, and then threw it at the wall.

In a quick motion he pointed his left index finger at it as it flew, and then moved the pointed off to the side.

The cup flew toward the wall, and then almost magically curved through the air, swung back around, and landed in his hand once more. "There. Kinetic energy. I mess with the energy that makes things move. One one side, I absorb it. On the other, I dish it out." With a crack, the cup popped open in his hand after he put a healthy bit of energy into it. He deposited the cup into a nearby garbage can with a short toss, and looked back. "That work for an explanation?"

>>"Yeah? Who have you done this for already, then?"

"A few people on your team" Javier responded tactfully. Saphirus came here though recommendation from the X-men, so there was not much need for secrecy, but he liked to be discreet anyway. "I assume Cold Steel was the one who directed you to me."

>>"You know, it's sort of a secret, so if you tell anyone what I tell you right here and now, it doesn't leave this room, got it?"

"Absolutely." Javier nodded. He was not going to be foolish enough to blab on the X-men. Anxiety was good for keeping secrets.

>>"If you look at all of the fan sites, they speculate stuff, right? They figure I got super strength, increased endurance, and I can fly. Hell, if you ask some of em I'm damn near unstoppable, with weird inconsistencies. Lotta questions... But... Well, It ain't like that at all."

Fan sites rarely were. Javier nodded patiently. He had only been in one accidental high-profile fight... well, two, if one counted both the cosplay convention where the ceiling came down on him, and the fight with the giant lemurs at Central Park Zoo. But even though his identity stayed unknown, the Interwebs were already full of chatter about his potential powers.

Saphirus threw a cup, changed its direction, and then caught it and crushed it. It was a small feat, but still a demonstration of an impressive power that seemed to break all the laws of physics. Javier blinked. "Whoa."

>>"There. Kinetic energy. I mess with the energy that makes things move. One one side, I absorb it. On the other, I dish it out. That work for an explanation?"

"Um... yes. It's a very impressive power." Javier nodded. He wasn't sure about all the intricacies of such a power, but it was a start. "Wait, what do you mean, one side? Your... the two sides of your body don't do the same thing?"

Saphirus flushed a little bit when it was mentioned that Sam might have referred him... There may have been a sticky note with a phone number and the text: 'Fix your s@#%, Saph.' He scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "Yeah, he was involved."

The reaction to his powers drew a bit of a smirk, though. "Yeah... It's pretty cool..."

Drilling into the details, though, the former closet vigilante started to feel a bit of unease... He shook it off again. That was his old habits speaking to him; He wasn't the Judge anymore, he could trust people. "Yeah. I'm sure you kinda felt somethin was off when we shook hands... Right hands. Force don't transfer into my right side like a normal person... Gets sucked up. Kinda feels like touching nothing... Pushing into a wall that gives no resistance but still doesn't move. Had some real hard hitters call the feeling damn near haunting in the past, but you get used to it when it's attached to you." The mutant chuckled as he reached down to pick up the coffee cup pieces and toss them into the closest trash can.

"From there, that force gets stored in my left side... Fills up like a battery, cool, jittery feeling that crawls up my arms the more it gets full... And I, I dunno, make it even bigger somehow, amplify it, and boom, push it out. The effect it even greater when I transfer that force through an object, like those crowbars I use. Though, it's rough on the fabric where I shoot the energy out. I blow out finger tips and knuckles like nobody's business."

He paused awkwardly for a second, and then looked around. "ehh... So... How's this all work, then? You gotta, like, measure me and stuff?"

Some abilities were easier to explain than others. In Javier's case, the explanation was "I am sometimes super strong, randomly, and sometimes not." In Saphirus' case... well. The more Javier heard the more fascinated he was by the whole thing. And especially a challenge. Two different, literal sides to a power? That was going to be fun to design an outfit for...

>>"Yeah. I'm sure you kinda felt somethin was off when we shook hands... Right hands. Force don't transfer into my right side like a normal person... Gets sucked up. Kinda feels like touching nothing... Pushing into a wall that gives no resistance but still doesn't move. Had some real hard hitters call the feeling damn near haunting in the past, but you get used to it when it's attached to you."

Yeah, okay. So the strange handshake had not just been the social anxiety. Good to know.

>>"From there, that force gets stored in my left side... Fills up like a battery, cool, jittery feeling that crawls up my arms the more it gets full... And I, I dunno, make it even bigger somehow, amplify it, and boom, push it out. The effect it even greater when I transfer that force through an object, like those crowbars I use. Though, it's rough on the fabric where I shoot the energy out. I blow out finger tips and knuckles like nobody's business."

Javier nodded, taking some notes. Right side in, left side out, with a vengeance. Storing energy. Force. And then dealing it out, preferably through objects. Researchers would have had a field day with this kind of stuff.

>>"ehh... So... How's this all work, then? You gotta, like, measure me and stuff?"

"Yes. Uh... yeah, that's a good place to start." Javier nodded, setting the notepad down, and grabbing a pencil and measuring tape. "Do you... um, change size or shape when you project the force you have stored? Is there a temperature change?"

Okay... So... this guy was gonna measure him... Right... He'd been sorta dreading this part. Kinda like going to the doctors, a bit. This guy was gonna decide what he looked like, what walking around felt like. None of the liberating freedom of spandex. That nice breeze, and super cool looking dynamic style? Gone? What if he had bad taste?! WHAT IF IT WASN'T AS COOL?!

"Y'know, maybe I'm good, you know?" He turned to head toward the door, when all of a sudden, that last little thread of stretchy material holding the old, beaten up suit together... snapped. And a rip formed. And it traveled, that rip, giving way to a chain reaction that saw the fabric rip from head to toe on both sides, where it returned to its unstretched size, about a foot square before his now naked form.

How had he fit into that? Well, he was strong, he just forced it, was all. Maybe a hundred too many times, apparently. The comic style loaded out form of Saph stood frozen in shock, his back to his would-be clothing crafter. Noticeable features, should the man be looking, his left side was covered in scars of all shapes and sizes. His Right side was clean of them save one, a hole from being pierced through the chest below the collar bone.

After the moment of surprise and realization passed, he covered his buff form, and yes, he wore nothing beneath the suit(the underwear goes on the outside, duh!), and peeked over his shoulder to Javier. "Okay... I guess I need a new one."

Some people were more comfortable with letting others into their personal space than... others. Javier himself was not exactly a touchy-feely person either (except with a very select few), but his work required him to get up close and personal with his clients, measuring them so that their clothes would fit properly. From the looks of it, this man did not like the idea of being measured. In fact, he tried to make a run for it.

>>"Y'know, maybe I'm good, you know?"

"I'll just..."

Rrrriiip.

Javier winced at the telltale sign of fabric giving up on life. Suddenly, there was a lot less spandex and a... lot more muscle. Honestly, it was a wonder that suit had lasted this long at all. Javier stared for a long, horrified moment before clearing his throat and looking away.

>>"Okay... I guess I need a new one."

Javier made a little choking sound as a laugh and a horrified yelp collided in his throat, then grabbed for the nearest length of leftover fabric, tossing it in Saphirus' direction.

"Yes, you'll... um. Yeah. You'll need a new one." thank god "Shall I see if I have some clothes lying around that would fit you in the meantime?"

Well... That happened. Wow. He felt a twinge of loss for the faithful little swatch of fabric that lay at his feet. It had been many places with him. Routine missions, deadly protests... A volcano death island, a killer skyscraper. It had seen a lot, and here, it rest, its work finally completed.

Saphirus looked back as he heard a bit of a chortle yelp at his comment. He bashfully caught the fabric thrown at him without looking, and hastily tied it around his waste, turning, and shrugging, "Eh, sure. I've already gone'n flashed you, so i'm sure you can't have anything more embarrassing than that lying around." He took a quick glance around the place again. Y'know, after what just happened well, happened, he sorta felt like the ice was broken. What could happen now, right? He could walk out of this place dressed the a prower ranger, and it wouldn't be any worse than standing naked in the middle of the room in front of ten inches of nostalgic spandex, right?

"Got anything that will fit me, though?" He was built like a brick Sh$^house, after all.

Maybe he had some purple shorts sitting around?

Wait... Was this about to be a clothing tryout montage, like in those chick flicks? Was music starting to play in the background? Oh no.

Standing around in his workshop with a stark naked man was not a usual part of Javier's workday. Especially if said stark naked man was not Booker. This situation, even in a tailor's shop, would have been pretty freaking hard to explain.

>>"Eh, sure. I've already gone'n flashed you, so i'm sure you can't have anything more embarrassing than that lying around... Got anything that will fit me, though?"

"Not... right off the bat" Javier admitted. The guy as well built. Javier wasn't sure if that was the mutation or the vigilante life, but there was a reason he was in a tailor shop and not buying spandex off the rack. Anymore.

"Here." he dug around in a box in the corner, pulling out a cozy bathrobe. He was going to refashion it for a cosplay project for some burnt out Norse god or another, but at least it was loose enough to cover most of Saphirus.

"So... in light of... that" he nodded at the spandex piece, with a shy smile playing on his lips "I'd say your new costume would need a more durable material?"

The pecked out superhero gladly reached back to grab the clothing offered to him. Sheepishly he pulled the robe on and turned around. It was made for a heavier visage, so it didn't fit too badly.

"Eh, yeah. Though honestly I'd messed with some materials in the past, A lot of the less stretchy stuff just breaks. Had a lotta trouble finding something that could tough out my power, so I had ta go for more of the flexing out instead." He Shrugged a bit, and looked over to a piece of equipment near him, reaching over to poke it absently, freezing when a piece fell off of it, and then standing up tall like nothing happened, and sneaking the broken piece to the table next to him.

"So I dunno if you got something really hardy. Alls I did was test a few things before I gave up, so." He looked down to a piece of his old suit on the floor, and reached down to pick it up, placing it in the robe pocket.

Maybe he could wash it and have the wife make some footie pajamas outa them for Jr.

"How'd you get into helping Heroes with this sorta stuff, huh?"