8652/Catch Up

Catch Up
Date of Scene:	04 August 2019
Location:	Starbucks
Synopsis:	Cypher and Elixir meet for coffee, get caught up and find they have more in common than they thought. Even if Cypher loves all the wrong teams. ;)
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Cypher

---

Elixir has posed:
It has been a while since Josh had a chance to see Doug. Too much life, too much change. After their last string of text messages, the young mutant made a point of asking Doug to meet for coffee. Josh skipped morning training with the X-Men that day, so he asked Doug to meet him at Salem Centre Hospital instead. Mid-morning, Josh was in the Starbucks attached to the lobby with an Americano and his phone. The messy hair is normal but the rest is not. Josh is sitting at the little table in dark blue scrubs with a state health authority ID hanging around his neck.

When Doug approaches, Josh is tapping away on his phone. He sees Doug and waves.

Cypher has posed:
One, Doug has a lot on his mind this week. Two, his jam for today is "Pretty fly (for a white guy)" which means he's trying to cheer himself up. Also, he is in a suit, neatened up with a bowtie abd pocket square. He raises his right hand in greeting and then self-consciously lowers it. He has a coffee in his left hand, abd is balancing a bagel on it.

Elixir has posed:
"Hey man, looking sharp. Big day?" Josh asks with a grin. He waves a couple of middle-aged doctors who walk into the coffee shop and stand in line. Then turns his attention back to his friends. "Seriously, you look like you're going to court or something!"

Cypher has posed:
"I was giving a presentation about how tech can be used to assist mutant employees in the workspace and introing some apps I built to do just that. It's nice to stop moving for a second." Doug rubs the back of his neck, and sits. "You look... alive."

Elixir has posed:
"I'm good," Josh grins happily. He looks tired, but not terribly so. "Crazy busy, but it's really, really awesome. Like, couldn't ask for more awesome. Seriously, it's hard to beat sending sick kids home with their parents, you know? And they're gonna pay me and work with the health authority on some kind of healer regulation or something. I dunno, all over my head, but super cool."

Josh takes a sip of his coffee. "Who were you doing the talk for? That sounds cool, I didn't know you helped companies like that. Something new? Roberto's thing?"

Cypher has posed:
"Yeah, I'm his CTO, at least for initial launch. As much as we used to fight, he's the best tactician I've ever met. Oh, potential investors. Mutants aren't just the client, they're also the product. It's idealism cleverly disguised as capialistic cynicism... very Bobby da Costa." He sips his coffee.

Elixir has posed:
"Wow, you weren't kidding that he was gonna kick things off and run with it. Sounds smart to me though, I mean, gotta work with how the world really is, right?" Josh says, pleased for his friend.

"So, uh, what's a CTO?"

Cypher has posed:
"More like you make how the world is work for the people.". Doug stretches his legs and grunts. "Central Technology Officer. IT but in a suit and tie. It lets me make a mark on X-Corp in its foundational stages." His eyebrows raise. "Remember, we all have our limits."

Elixir has posed:
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense. You're perfect for that job," Josh says with a nod after swallowing another sip of his coffee. He sets the drink down and puts an elbow over the back of his chair.

"You guys are smart, like really smart. The Professor's gotta be really happy with you two, you know?" the healer asks with a grin. "That's exactly the stuff he talks about. Making things work. Super cool. Even the name is cool. Is it a city thing, or a state thing, or... bigger?"

Cypher has posed:
"It would be nice if it is, but the most important thing Xavier ever taught us is that it isn't about him." Doug adds, "Start local. Plan global. You're avoiding talking about yourself, Josh."

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks genuinely surprised and taken aback.

"Huh? I was asking about the stuff you talked about, like a friend does, you know? You didn't ask me anything," he points out, confused and a little hurt. Josh turns so he can lean forward with his forearms against the edge of the table. "Straight up? I'm trying with you. I've got like, no friends at Xaviers, so I'm like, really grateful you'll even talk to me. But seems like most of the time we talk you're accusing me of something or treating me like you're my older brother or one of the staff or something. Like, telling me I'm running away from the team, hiding from myself, avoiding things. It kinda sucks, you know? And I don't know where it's coming from. Am I just like, hard for you to read or something? Or is there something you need to tell me?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug Ramsey says, "Hmf..." Doug rubs his temple with two fingers. "Orrrr... I read too much and don't ask enough. Look. I worry about you. I worry you'll use yourself up trying to repent for things. I just read faces, not minds." He sighs. "I guess I'm out of practice. What I wanted to ask was, how are you? Please, tell me what you've been doing.""

Elixir has posed:
"Oh!" Josh says and leans back and chuckles. He looks a little abashed. "Sorry man, I keep thinking talking with you is like talking with Samantha," he says, referring to his psychic ex.

"I'm good, honest. Like, it's a /lot/ all at once, but it's really good. Moving in with Wanda, hell just dating Wanda, getting on the medical staff for the Avengers, signed on to handle some of the worst cases in Pediatrics at a few hospitals in the city. They're even figuring out how to like, register me and regulate like another category of medical personnel. Something about liability or whatever. I guess I get it, but there's no liability in healing someone too well," Josh chuckles. He is a bit naive in this last, but clearly very excited.

"I even got taken out to a Sentinel attack with Spider-Woman to do mass casualty work with the EMTs, and then to help out in a remote village in Costa Rica.... Dude, it's like everything I dreamed of once I realized what I could do, except more awesome. Had to a hire a lawyer to handle a bunch of this stuff, but I guess that's just part of it. Oh, and Tony Stark said he's gonna let me use some kind of training thing or something to kick my studies into high gear!"

Josh leans back and just smiles. "I... Honestly? I'm happy for the first time since I got kicked out of home. Mind blown. Like, you're right, I get it, I gotta watch out. I'm gonna have to work out something at school cause I'm lagging bad. I'm tired a lot. I got kidnapped by the freaking Russian mob a couple days back and would've been screwed if Wanda wasn't there. But I wouldn't trade any of it to hide again."

Cypher has posed:
Doug tilts his head, and he really, really seems to want to say something to the effect of what he said previously, but instead he just puffs out a breath, and then says, "I understand. It's why I'm not hiding my X-Positive status either." He shrugs his shoulders, and then says, "Listen, Josh. I really am sorry I've been so overbearing. All I really have is excuses, and that's no good. I'll try harder."

Then he adds, "But... it feels like -- and maybe I'm just going about it the wrong way -- When I've tried to share stuff with you, you're just not interested. Movies, music, books... those things are my *jam*, man. I consume media like Illyana consumes cake. Always have. But if we're going to be pals, we have to find our common ground. I mean... not that I have a ton in common with a lot of my other friends, socially, but -- I guess because we were younger we had more time to find the things we shared. That, and we were all rejects and oddballs together, sort of a superpowered Breakfast Club - ...that's an old movie."

Elixir has posed:
"Don't worry about it, we misunderstood each other. It's gonna happen, you know?" Josh says with a wry smile.

"Foom!" Josh makes an over his head gesture and laughs at the Breakfast Club reference. "Sorry about the other stuff, man. I guess we're pretty different like that, you know? I mean, I didn't go to Xavier's, didn't even know I was mutant until I was an adult," Josh says with a shrug.

"I haven't had a TV or gone to a movie since I was kicked out. I was a jock in school, all my friends were from church. You're into law, I'm into medicine. You're not, like, a football fan are you? That's sort of my thing. Just different people. Like, if it wasn't the school and the team, we'd probably never meet. Weird, you know?"

Cypher has posed:
"Are you kidding? What, you think I spent my whole life inside?" Doug says. "Dude. *Scholar-athlete*. I was on the chess team *and* championship junior varsity baseball before I joined the school. I was a boy scout, I was on the track team -- I did so many things I'm amazed I found time to *sleep*. I've always been a big advocate of what Theodore Roosevelt called the strenuous life. Find your limit, and then kick its ass."

He grins. "Nah, track and baseball were more my jam, but *Sam*? He loves football. And... you know 'Berto was training to become a pro soccer player before his powers manifested? He's *good*, man. Even now he can do tricks with a ball that I can't follow."

Elixir has posed:
"Shit, how come you never said so?" Josh says with a grin. He looks excited and leans forward a bit, more engaged.

"Who's your team? I was hardcore Yankees all the way. Asking for a kick in the teeth every year, but hey. Home team. That's nuts. I played ball, but I never got serious, I was all about football. Huh. Shit, we gotta go catch a game! It's been /forever/ since I went to a game."

Cypher has posed:
Doug gives Josh a long-suffering look. He's gonna say it... he's gonna say it.

"...I'm a Mets fan."

Elixir has posed:
Josh throws his hands up in the air and laughs.

"You're /killing/ me, bro!" Josh groans but chuckles. "How could you? Who's your football team then? Do you have one?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug exhales, and then taps his fingers together. Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap.

"...No comment." He says, looking away. "Believe me, Sam already dragged me through the dirt for it years ago. Who's your team?"

Elixir has posed:
"Giants, always giants. Me and my older brother used to scrap about it all the time," Josh says with a grin.

"But hey, there's something. Who doesn't like baseball? We just gotta get out and do some stuff. Like, catch a game, go to some weird retro hipster club on old music night," Josh teases. "That kinda thing. God knows we could probably both use it. Not like your life is getting /less/ busy either."

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks around, and then at Josh, and he says, low enough so that nobody else can hear him, "...I like the Bills."

He clears his throat. Then he tilts his head. And since she IS technically a contemporary musician and also a mutant, he asks, "...Do you like Lila Cheney?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh facepalms and lets his hand fall slowly down his face.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that!"

Josh shakes his head and drinks from his luke warm coffee.

"See? There's a name I know," Josh says after he swallows.

"Samantha loved her and she's on the radio. She's pretty good. And like, alive," he teases.

Cypher has posed:
Doug raises an eyebrow, and then he takes a sip of his coffee. "She and Sam used to date." He says. "We used to sneak out to her shows every time she came to New York, even though we were underage--" He quirks his mouth, and thinks about that.

"She's playing the Good Room in a couple weeks, but it's already sold out... You could take Wanda." He looks around, and then pulls a pen out of his pocket, and a napkin. He sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, and then writes a note, along with a doodle of a weird-looking frizzy-haired muppet-thing with one eye bigger than the other and a mouth bigger than its face. "...Dear Lila. Can you... make sure golden boy and his girlfriend get the VIP experience, for old times' sake? Still a huge fan, so much so I came back from the dead just to pick up your last album on vinyl. Your friend, Doug Ramsey." He passes the note over. "Work your magic and make sure that note crosses her palm, and you're in like Flynn."

Elixir has posed:
Josh tilts his head to watch and then reads it. "There's a huge inside joke in there somewhere," Josh says and gestures with the note.

"That'd be really cool! Don't you wanna go? Scare up one of the ladies, can be a double date even, you know?" he asks. "Can't believe Sam dated her, that's nuts. That's like dating Dazzler or something. Huh. That guy's got some kinda charm going, doesn't he."

Cypher has posed:
"A couple of 'em." Doug says, smugly. Then he sighs, and waves a hand. "Much like the Mets, my love-life has been a series of strike-outs, man, so much so that it hurts to talk about." He waves a hand, to try and dismiss the idea. "So unless you can scare me up a date, probably best if I stayed home." Then he tilts his head, and says, "Well, Sam's charming! Not MY type... too *tall*, man. But I mean, you know. Ladies love a knight in shining armor, and Sam's just that. Literally... he has a suit of Asgardian armor-- our lives are *weird*."

Elixir has posed:
"So weird," Josh says, moving on without pressing the sore point. "I mean, who has a set of Asgardian armour? How the heck did he even get that? Or like, a super crazy arm? It's all weird."

Josh looks around the coffee shop thoughtfully.

"Ever wonder what it would be like to just be one of these people? Just normal problems. Heh. Speaking of problems, everything work out with the one you texted me about? You're in one piece so I'm guessing you didn't get hurt. If you did anything yet."

Cypher has posed:
Doug sighs, and looks away for a moment. "The armor's a long story. A long story in which I did a lot of dishes for some very sloppy vikings at swordpoint. And yet? And yet... Asgard's a *blast* man. If I had a chance to go back, I'd do it in a second. It's wild. Like D&D except it's real--"

He looks around and then says, "...It's fine. I took care of it." There's something oddly final in that, like he doesn't want to talk about it, or he's not happy about it, or something. "...I think... we romanticize mundanity, but when we try it, it's like trying to play with the action figures you loved when you were 8. You remember you loved them... you might even collect them... but it just doesn't work anymore. There's too much to you and not enough to them."

Elixir has posed:
Josh grins a bit at the idea of Doug doing dishes at swordpoint. When Doug says he dealt with things, Josh looks at him for a moment and then nods. He asks no questions and seems satisfied.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Josh agrees. "Just the idea of having somewhere to get some peace sometimes. It's overwhelming! But I couldn't imagine stopping. Like if things went back to the way they were? It'd be empty. Huh. Like the last couple days? So amazing. I got to hold these really sick babies, I mean super sick, like, not gonna make it. And then... They were fine. And the looks on their parents' and the doctors' faces? Everyone was just so /happy/. Something good just happened and we all shared it and it's... Man. It'd be pretty empty without that. And I only did it the first time a couple nights ago!"

Cypher has posed:
"That's all we can do." Doug says, letting go. "Try to do the right thing with the abilities we've been given. And if we slip... then we just have to try again." He reaches back behind his head, and rubs the back of his neck.

"Just remember, there's no I in team, but there is a Me... and an At. Which is really awkward phrasing, but if things go sour, it's not your responsibility alone to get out of it. We'll help."

Elixir has posed:
Josh chuckles. "Never had a coach tell me quite like that, but yeah," he says. "'sides, I've got people like Wanda, Spider-Woman and Hank to learn about handling all this stuff. They've all been handling it for a while now. I'll get through. We all will."

Cypher has posed:
Doug puts his hand on his chin, and says, "Yeah. I suppose we will. And, that wasn't meant to be a negative, Foley. Not completely. If you and Wanda can find someone willing, I'll go. Otherwise, I'm just going to stay at home and watch Netflix, maybe do a little light coding. Much as I love Lila Cheney -- and I do -- I don't feel like being the solo or the third wheel."

A fancy wrist mounted computer on his left hand concealed by the sleeve of his suit beeps, and he says, "Oh! I gotta get back to Westchester and hit the gym. ...Look, when we can spare a moment, I'll give you a crash course on music and movies. There's so much good stuff out there--you have no idea." He pats Josh on the shoulder, and then walks out. "Take it easy, man."