video;

[storm_warning]

[Ororo's decked out in the cloths she arrived in back during the festival, only she's fresh off her 'shift' of the day.]

Okay, so the whole anti-Foreigner thing aside, some of these kedan guys seem nice. I guess.

[They haven't freaked out at her for her hair or eyes, for one thing, but she's not totally convinced.]

But, can I get a second opinion on the job thing? There's a bunch of us that've been here long enough to know if it's a sham or not. [She leans back in her chair, bracing her boots against the edge of her desk, running her fingers through her hair.]

Look, last time I had to do a few hours "work" -- [She brackets the word with finger quotes.] -- for secure room and board really didn't work for me or my friends. [Weapon X project, she's looking at you.] I just want to make sure that kind of mess is never going to happen again.

[The deputising was bad enough, thx.]

Comments

[sharpes]

Dead, comatose, dreaming. Who knows. But there's an economy here and I don't know about you but I still have to eat.

[shrug.]

[storm_warning]

And you're okay doing what they tell you to? [Legit question.]

[sharpes]

[... he shrugs.]

I like surviving.

[storm_warning]

What if that surviving means helping them do something bad? I mean, who knows what we're really helping with here.

[sharpes]

Okay, somebody's putting way too much thought in this. I'm working at a bar. The only bad thing I'm doing is getting people drunk.

[storm_warning]

[That stops her a moment and she shakes her head, easing off on the doomsday conspiracy.]

I just don't want to be used again. [Disdain for the concept? Sure.]

[sharpes]

[Ugh well now he's thinking about Osborn.]

And if it's that or die?

[storm_warning]

[...that shuts her up.]

That's the kind of choice I want to avoid being stuck with. [She crosses her arms.] That's why I'm asking these questions, so it never happens.

[sharpes]

Hey, you can't always know everything. Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.

[... a brief grin.]

Or the lightning strikes.

[storm_warning]

[The quip cracks a smile and she leans up against the console.]

I thought you liked getting zapped.

[sharpes]

If it's for a good cause.

[storm_warning]

Any lightning strikes that come from my book're always for a good cause. [The jaded air's broken on her end.]

[sharpes]

Oh yeah?

[storm_warning]

Yeah. I don't do shady things.

[A beat as she thinks about the car thing with Jason.]

Much.

[sharpes]

Uh huh.

[He so doesn't buy it.]

[storm_warning]

[And she crosses her arms at that, but mind that smile.]

You saying I look like a criminal?

[sharpes]

Hey! Not even remotely.

[storm_warning]

[She has been, on the intentional and unintentional scale, but she's trying not to hover on that too hardcore here.]

Sure. That'd be why I heard 'uh huh' instead of 'gee, Ororo, the thought never crossed my mind.'

[sharpes]

Well, I mean. Everybody does shady shit sometimes. Have you met Prof X?

[storm_warning]

[That silence means Brandon gets a point in this debate.]

I try not to think too hard on it. [Lest he notices, cough. Besides, the last time she tried putting 'Xavier' and 'shady' in the same sentence ended with her being dumped. Or her dumping Hank. It's complicated.] Otherwise it ends up a right mess of moral codes and the ends justifying the means.

[sharpes]

Yeah, well. That's the X-Men for you. No offense.

[storm_warning]

None taken.

[It's a dry statement.]