multiversallogs | i ordered two coffees, one is for you

Who: Odessa Wander and you, maybe!
What: Coffee break and downtime.
Where: The Glory Shada.
When: Various points throughout the workday.
Notes: This is an open thread for those who have reason to be at the Glory Shada.
Warnings: None as of this posting. Will update if that changes.

When Odessa Wander ~~was told~~ decided she would become a surgeon, it was for a very select organisation. It meant that barring some sort of disaster - and those were known to happen - she didn't actually have to work that often. She found it dull, and never imagined she'd savour the time between surgeries.

She definitely savours it now, like the cup of coffee cradled in her hands. Working with and for the public is more hectic than she ever expected it to be. And if she were a better person, she'd actually find it to be more rewarding. At any rate, she's thankful for her pay, and that she's doing the work she loves, and that she's kept busy, but Christ she wishes she could be more selective about her cases. It's made her glad she didn't pursue working Emergency.

It can't be comfortable in those heels she's wearing, but she isn't sitting in the break room. She leans her back up against the wall, staring across the room sort of at the wall opposite her, but also past it. If uncertainty were a palpable feeling, it would be properly radiating from her. Beyond obviously wool gathering, however, she takes great care to ensure that she doesn't appear to be outwardly sulking.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's adorable, she thinks, the way he's so altruistic. Odessa wonders where her handlers went wrong with her. "Not enough people like you in the world," she commends. She's certainly not one of them. "I'm glad to be working together."

She considers warning him to stay out of her head, if he experiences what people feel, but... Either he'll be able to figure that out on his own, or he'll find out the hard way. Instead, she offers kind of conspiratorial smirk. "I kind of need to be a bad girl and sneak out for a cigarette." She holds up a placating hand quickly. "I'm quitting. Honest. Stress, though. You know how it is. Anyway, you want to join me?"

"Thank you," he says, looking more modest than he usually does when someone pays him a compliment. But then again, remarks on his moral fibre is somewhat different. Especially since that the months before Baedal and his time living in the city have begun to replace Charles' certainty with the sinking sense that his efforts will never quite be enough.

"I promise not to scold, I--" And there's a strange moment where he glances off to another direction, unblinking, but breaks out of it with a smile, before turning back to Odessa. "Sorry, I picked up on someone I know nearby. Yes, I'll join you. That way we can meet him outside." And, with a look of his own that borders on conspiratorial, "He's like us."

"Well then!" Odessa claps her hands and rubs them together eagerly. "He should appreciate this. Right. My turn to show off again." Reaching out, her slender fingers curl around Charles' forearm. "Deep breath. And off we...

"Go." There's no physical sensation of movement as the break room vanishes in an instant, replaced by the familiar view of front of the Glory Shada hospital. She spreads her arms out to her sides and smiles wide. "And there you have it." She reaches into her lab coat and pulls out a small silver case of hand-rolled cigarettes. "Do you know they call these things Holy Smokes? Made with actual holy water or somethin' like that. I'm surprised I don't go up in flames," she quips, settling one between her lips and snapping shut the case before retrieving her lighter.

"You all right by the way? Sorry, I forget that whole teleportation thing can be jarring for others."

Having never actually been in contact with a teleporter before, that was quite the experience. Charles looks endlessly pleased with this development, although he gives a little shake of his head out of mild disorientation.

"Oh no, no, I'm fine. Although that is quite the talent," and his words are accompanied with a delighted laugh. Don't mind him while he ignores the urge to ask Odessa to do it again (she is on a break, after all. Also she's not Space Mountain.)

He does, however, cast a glance around for a certain familiar face while he answers the other conversation point. "That is a terrible pun. I approve wholeheartedly."

That familiar face is not too far away, actually, and looking surprised—but not alarmed—by the pair's literal appearance out of thin air as he slows his long strides to meet them. He's clean shaven as always, and dressed for work in his dark coat, boots and cap.

"Interesting timing," he says to Charles, of course knowing full well it's not an accident. "Who's this?" He asks this while looking at Odessa, perhaps seeming a touch aloof but receptive nonetheless. (Don't take it personally, kiddo, this is the norm.)

That previous laugh gets turned into a bright smile as Erik approaches. "Well, I wouldn't want to start getting predictable." Don't mind him as he rocks on the balls of his feet, still grinning.

Although it does get curbed due to introductions. "Erik, this is Odessa Wander, a colleague of mine," with an accompanying gesture. As if the lab coat didn't give it away. "Odessa, this is my good friend, Erik Lehnsherr." Now he can put his hands in his coat pockets, quite pleased with how events turned out.

"Oh, it's the only way to travel." Odessa blows a stream of smoke out of the corner of her mouth, away from the two men. She's visibly pleased with herself for having impressed the telepath, which means she's all but glowing as she greets Erik. "Charmed." That he's aloof doesn't bother her in the least. She's used to caution. "It's nice to meet a fellow Xenian. So, what do you do?" Her face scrunches up, apologetic. "Or is that too nosy?"

It is sort of nosy, actually, but it's not as though he's ashamed to discuss his abilities—now that he can afford to do so without worrying about being inconvenienced, anyway. Still, he's sensed an opportunity to be difficult, and so:

"I work with the sheriff's office in Mafaton, actually." Perhaps this evasion will come off as humility? Or prudence? That is a rather knowing look, after all; he's not oblivious to her question. "Deputy, at the moment."

For now. He likes to dream big. (See: working with, not for.)

Someone notices that obstinance. Charles' eyebrow raises ever so slightly, but he doesn't address any grievance directly. Instead there is a small crease to his forehead, as if to say must we?

He does, however, voice what went unsaid. "I've no doubt he'll be running the canton, soon enough. But then I can think of few people more suited." Because if Erik isn't going to sing his own praises, he'll do it for him, apparently (although the sentiment is genuine). Take that.

The evasion is not entirely lost on Odessa, but she doesn't press it. It was nosy, after all. Instead, she lights up as if that had been precisely what she was asking all along (and in some ways, it was). "Really! Deputy, hm? I'm sure Charles is right, and you'll be moving up in no time. You just have that look about you."

She takes another drag and again blows the smoke away from them. "You know, I've been looking into getting a place in Mafaton. The place I have now is way too close to Bonetown for my tastes." Her faces screws up for a moment, a quick shake of her head. "Not that there's anything wrong with Bonetown, but it makes my powers all fritzy." She wiggles the fingers of one hand as if illustratively.

His ego doesn't need any help, Charles, thank you. (But he'll take it.)

"That's exactly what is wrong with Bonetown, actually." He says this mildly despite his own strong opinion of the place. Bonetown should not exist, Erik feels. "Mafaton's housing prices are still reasonable, though, you should look into it."

Without skipping a beat, then, he shifts his attention back to Charles. "I'll come back later, shall I?" He was going to attempt to steal the man away from his office, but if he's busy hanging out with Odessa...

i ordered two coffees, one is for you

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

please excuse my slownessss

no subject

no subject

no subject