milliways_bar | (no subject)

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X slips downstairs after her shift in the nightclub, half-glancing at the back door before she decides to forgo training for the moment.

It is more important to eat something. Just in case.

The fact that X-23 (and her soup) are settled at the bar instead of her usual booth is entirely unrelated to anything.

Except that she refuses to be uncomfortable in what is, for now, her home.

This is just proof of that.

[ooc: This post is open until it falls off the front page or X gets another EP, whichever comes first. Thanks!]

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"Oh."

X absorbs that.

"I did not know."

What she doesn't say--'it is okay'.

Maybe later.

"It does not make sense."

"No, it really doesn't."

She tries a tentative smile.

What she'd like to do is ask if X is angry with her. Bela would be. That is for damn sure.

X does not smile back. She is not working.

But--

"You are confused, too."

It's a little bit of a question.

"I stay confused here."

"Oh."

X is, for a moment, desperately unsure.

"I am sorry."

There's a question in that, too.

Is she supposed to be? Does that help?

"You don't need to be sorry for me. I can handle myself just fine."

She can. Really.

"Okay," X says after a moment.

Beat.

"You are careful? With--"

This pause is a little longer than before.

"Here. And at home."

"I'm extremely careful at home. I need to be a little more careful here, I think."

X tilts her head, considering this.

"Sometimes it is safer here."

She knows that much.

She thinks of Cal.

"Yeah. Sometimes it is. Um. If I can make things safer for you, I will," she says, knowing the offer is ludicrous to a fighter like X. But Bela knows she has a serious weakness in the emotional arena now. "You know. If you should ever need it."

"Okay," X says, voice and expression utterly serious.

"Thank you."

Beat.

"I will remember."

"Good."

She smiles. Okay. This is not too hard. Just a little hard.

"Good," X echoes.

Then--

"You are not hungry?"

It is easier to talk about this than--everything else.

Oh, look at that! X knows the glory of the subject change. That's Bela's favorite thing ever, here. Fabulous!

"Maybe a little. What do you like to eat here?"

"Spaghetti."

X's response is prompt.

"The soup is good, too. And sandwiches."

"I haven't had pasta in a while. Maybe I'll try some tonight. I've only had a scone, so I should eat something more substantial. Have you ever had scones?"

X frowns for a moment, running through her memory banks.

Then--

"Yes."

Beat.

"There was tea, too."

"Oh, yes, there should be some tea to go with scones."

Except when you want alcohol instead.

X is silent for a few moments.

"I like milk."

Better than tea, at least.

"Milk is fine, too," she says, brow furrowing.

She hopes she isn't saying something wrong. Between X and Cal, Bela is often stymied for anything to say.

X studies Bela.

"You do not have to drink it."

Beat.

"It is okay."

"Oh, no, I like milk! I just thought-"

She smiles.

"Never mind."

X looks a little uncertain again.

"Okay."

Beat.

X eats another spoonful of soup.

"Pancakes are good, too. With chocolate chips."

"Cal mentioned that," she says, and her smile is much less tentative now. "He's my friend, too. My special friend."

Maybe her best friend.

"Oh."

X relaxes a little.

"That is good."

Beat.

"He is nice."