Figured. Blondie didn’t get the Playboy reference. Riley shrugged her shoulders, ”Lots of cleavage, not so lots of skirt. Still clothed, but sometimes pretty scantily…pictures for men’s magazines.” she explained. Svetlana didn’t seem like a milk and water girl, so Riley didn’t cut any of the corners.

How much of the next story made it through the language barrier, Riley wasn’t sure of either, but at least the girl was acting like she’d understood. Maybe the point had gotten across, though, because the woman grinned and revealed a little bit more of her own story.

So she was a Russian Bride. This was definitely someone Riley could relate to. Nobody had ever bought her for marriage, or shipped her halfway across the world to accomplish it, but somehow the revelation made Riley feel better about her own occupation.

Riley couldn’t help but be a little sympathetic to Svetlana’s situation. The girl had expected one thing, and arrived to find something very, very different. Why did things seem to always work out that way for some people? The last piece of information made Riley laugh, though, and she shook her head.

”They never are honey, they never are.” she said with a shake of the head, and when she’d finished laughing, she shrugged her shoulders, ”Well then, I guess it’s a good thing that you found your gig avoiding people. It’s not right when you’re led to believe you’ll find one thing, and you arrive to find something completely different. That happened when I got to New York.”

Riley stopped and sighed, then shrugged her shoulders, ”I got told that the ‘modeling agency’ I’d been set up with had a flat for us to stay in while we waited for jobs.” she snorted at the memory, ”What I found, was a roach motel, a bunch of drug addicts and worse, and a sleezeball with camera. Apparently that was their angle, getting poor girls like me from other cities to search out their dreams.”

She wasn’t looking for pity again, never that, and there was a warning in her words even if she wouldn’t come out and say it. New York definitely wasn’t all glitz and glamour.

”Most of us had spent everything we had to get here, on the promise of high paying photoshoots. What we got was something totally different.”

Sveta couldn't help but giggle once again. Not because there was anything really funny about Riley's story, or her own; but it was just amusing how the two of them got stuck in the elevator together.

"At least, you have good looks." she smirked "That is something. Or at least, that is what they tell me."

When people were not after her for her powers, they were around her for her looks. It was not really any different it would have been in Russia. Of course, that one was a guess. She wasn't a mutant, back in Russia.

"It sucks, isn't it." she giggled "I should find a job too. Something to do. And earn my own money. I can not be guarded for ever."

Sveta pulled her knees up, then stretched her legs again. They were falling asleep.

"I have a little sister, back in Russia. I want to bring her here. Or I wanted to. Maybe, when I get into less trouble."

Two deep yawns followed. She was getting sleepy.

”Yeah…it’s something alright.” Riley knew she was good looking. She had known that since she’d really been quite young. It wasn’t like she’d asked for it though, and if she could have traded it to be more plain looking…Riley didn’t know how vain she was, but the idea was tempting. The words ‘you’re too pretty for this business’ had been thrown at her more than once. Apparently models weren’t suppose to be traditionally pretty.

The blond commented that she needed to find a job, make her own money, stop letting people guard her. Riley shrugged her shoulders, ”If they give you enough money to get by on, and don’t expect you to do much of anything….I’d ride it out as long as I could. At least until you found a job you really wanted to do. It’s too expensive to live here without something, and it sucks to get stuck in something you hate.”

Svetlana had a sister, it seemed, and the girl was still in Russia. Riley nodded her head sympathetically and wondered why it was this woman had been able to crack the careful shell she usually built up when around strangers. Maybe it was the Archie Bunker thing, your survival instincts kicking in when you’re trapped in close quarters with someone, it wouldn’t work to be at each other’s throats the whole time.

”I hope that works out for you and your sister. Waiting for less trouble would probably be good though. All that stuff about kids needing stability and whatnot.” she shrugged as Svetlana yawned, then echoed the action. Damn contagious yawns.

”If you want to close your eyes, I’m not going to mug you in your sleep or anything.” Riley said. ”These maintenance guys are definitely taking their sweet-ass-time.”

>>”If they give you enough money to get by on, and don’t expect you to do much of anything….I’d ride it out as long as I could. At least until you found a job you really wanted to do. It’s too expensive to live here without something, and it sucks to get stuck in something you hate.”

Sveta snickered at that. Riley was telling the truth. Judging from what she ahd shared about her previous experience, she would know...

"Or I can just get married" she grinned "I make a very good wife. And I have the whole exoticness going, with the accent." she added, pulling a mock serious face, and overdoing the accent. She was getting good at speaking English (and understanding it), but she liked to play with her own language.

>>”I hope that works out for you and your sister. Waiting for less trouble would probably be good though. All that stuff about kids needing stability and whatnot.”

"Yes" she agreed, more serious now "She deserves a good place to live. Even though, she is a very clever young lady."

>>”If you want to close your eyes, I’m not going to mug you in your sleep or anything. These maintenance guys are definitely taking their sweet-ass-time.”

Sveta yawned once again, but shook her head. "No, I do not want to sleep. It would look funny, when they come to rescue us, and I am asleep on the floor." she smirked "Maye we should scream. Dat annoys the people out there, they would send someone to shut us up."

Marriage. A concept as foreign to Riley as the woman sitting across from her in the elevator. She frowned, and shrugged her shoulders, ”I can’t say marriage is something I’d ever be interested in. Who needs a man to tell them what to do? To expect you to be at his beck and call. Besides. All the married people I know are miserable.” It was true, and maybe it was a statement on society. Riley didn’t qualify that, though. In the circles she ran it, it wasn’t all that surprising that marriages struggled to work.

Riley did allow herself a chuckle at the end of Svetlana‘s comment, though. ”You do make a point. Maybe you could find some lonely old rich guy here in Manhatten who wants nothing more than someone to sit by his bed and read to him and be his beneficiary when he dies.” Riley did smile at that idea. All that freedom, all that money. It would totally be worth the few years of playing nanny to an old man.

The subject switched back to Svetlana’s sister and Riley nodded her head at the glowing description that was given. There really wasn’t much to say though because Riley had never met the girl. ”I do hope it works out.”

Svetlana thought it would look strange if she were sleeping when the mechanics finally made their way into the elevator, and Riley shrugged her shoulders. The woman could suit herself. She did, however, provide an idea that held no little amount of merit. Riley thought about it seriously for a moment, ” Heavens no, not in a place like Macy’s” she said as poshly as possible.

”Besides, if we’re not careful, they might decide to leave us here.”

As if on cue, a loud clink echoed its way down the elevator shaft. ”Ah…our rescuers begin to arrive. I wonder how long it will take.”

Riley was full of ideas for a profitable marriage. Sveta chuckled again even though she remembered all too well the weeks before her arrival to the US that she spent a lot of time wondering if her future husband was really young, if he had all his teeth, and if her would treat her badly. Yeah. She was in no hurry to go through all that again.

>>”Heavens no, not in a place like Macy’s. Besides, if we’re not careful, they might decide to leave us here.”

A wicked grin crossed the Russian girl's face.

"You, maybe. I am too dangerous. And useful."

That logic had it obvious faults (one of them being that Riley was an adapted), but it still amused her.

>>”Ah…our rescuers begin to arrive. I wonder how long it will take.”

Sveta tilted her head and listened to the sounds. "Dat work too. Too many lazy people here to leave an elevator not working."

A slightly twisted smile spread across Riley’s face as she sat in the elevator and Svetlana made what was most definitely intended to be a joke. She shrugged her shoulders, ”Yeah. If it were just me, they’d probably cut the cables.”

Svetlana said she was dangerous, and important, and Riley nodded her head again. It was fascinating what was dangerous these days. ”Isn’t it funny, who they consider dangerous these days?” she mused, leaning her head back and watching the ceiling of the elevator as the maintenance men worked.

”I mean…you get insomnia and feel a caffeine buzz when you’re around mutants. What’s so dangerous about that?”

Riley had a feeling there was slightly more to the story, but if Svetlana was so dangerous and important, she probably wouldn’t want to share. Riley was finding herself in the business of knowing things lately. Particularly things about the mutants she’d ran into. She ticked them off in her head again. There had been the gold guy, the blind Asian kid, the jock, the bimbos at the photoshoot, Lori, the guy in the street, and now Svetlana. Sure there were millions more, but these had made themselves known to her, and Riley figured that knowing was going to be half her battle.

The blond said something else and Riley’s head jerked up and out of her thoughts. She smiled and nodded her head.

”Yes, heaven forbid people have to actually exert themselves to spend money.”

>>”I mean…you get insomnia and feel a caffeine buzz when you’re around mutants. What’s so dangerous about that?”

Svetlana smirked an all-knowing smirk.

"You know. Mutants do not like to be affect by others. It is not really what happen to them, it is the fact, that something does. Right? And I, I make mutants buzz. Like coffee." she chuckled "It is like, giving sugar to children."

A lot of sugar. To extremely dangerous children. Yup.

The clanking noise was louder now. Svetlana stood up and smoothed down her skirt. She offered a had to Riley to help her up.

Svetlana said that her power did to mutants, what sugar did to small children. That was interesting…it sounded almost like it was the exact opposite of what Riley did. The dark-haired woman found herself curious about the exact specifications of the other woman’s power. It was hard to ask, though. They’d had a nice conversation, and Riley knew she’d be prying if she pushed too much further. There was still no telling how long they’d be in the elevator, and the somewhat easy rapport they’d established was vastly preferable to anything else.

The clanging and banging was louder, though, and when Svetlana offered her a hand to stand, Riley took it and pulled herself to her feet. Just in time.

The floor lurched, and Riley’s back thudded against the wall of the car as it began to move, and Riley cursed.

”They could have at least warned us…” she said to the blond when she’d finished with her tirade.

The elevator stopped, and for a moment Riley thought they were going to be stuck all over again. That wasn’t the case, though, and momentarily the doors opened. Riley looked to Svetlana, studiously ignoring the store managers and maintenance workers who had situated themselves outside the door.

”What were you going to look at up here? I’m really just mall-walking and window shopping. Maybe they could find her escort, and Riley could learn a little more about the mutant population of New York.

Sveta almost lost her balance as the elevator strated moving, and she leaned against the wall for support.
Well, at least they were not falling, or anything.

>>”What were you going to look at up here? I’m really just mall-walking and window shopping."

She walked out of the elevator with Riley, tugging her clothes into place and smoothing down her hair; she was aware of the looks they got from the men, and bit back a smirk. She didn't need to be a telepath to guess at the fantasies they just had.

"Nothing, really" she shrugged "Just, how you say, window shop. But let's not go in the elevator again."

She looked around, searching for Sebastian.

"Let's go, find my... um. Friend. He must be looking for me. I lost him somewhere..." she smiled at Riley "I could introduce you."