No Politics Allowed
 

Carrie yawned a little to herself as she leaned back in her seat, waiting for drinks to arrive. Wednesdays were always hard, but at least the work day was over. She and her roommate were out having some coffee before dinner, because it was a coffee-is-necessary-for-non-zombie-life kind of day.

Of course, what they didn't know was that someone else at the café was a mutant, and was rather interested in talking to them.

Alice was slumped a bit in her seat, her thumb ghosting over the screen of her phone. It had been a long, mentally exhausting day, and all she was looking forward to was a quiet night at home and some sleep.

Charles Xavier walked over to the two girls after they'd gotten their coffee, smiling at them.

"Pardon the interruption, but I noticed I've seen you two here before, and you look like you could use more caffeine."

Alice blinked.

"That's what the coffee's for," she pointed out warily, holding up her cup a bit.

"I wasn't sure if you'd like a refill or not quite yet," Charles admitted with a little grin, because he tried not to pay too much attention to things. "I'm Charles Xavier."

Alice watched him warily. Of course she'd heard of Charles Xavier, most people with an X-gene had heard of him. She glanced quickly at Carrie and then back at Xavier.

"Okay, what's the deal?" she asked after a moment.

Charles blinked. "I just wanted to talk," he said, perhaps a little plaintively. "I have seen you in here before, and I know that you know who I am. Is it so bad to talk to people nowadays?"

"It's not just talking when someone like you approaches someone like us in public," Alice replied carefully, watching him. "Never."

"I will admit I am curious about you two, since I have heard of you, but I swear I did not intend to do more than talk." Charles frowned a bit. He was rather confused as to why she was so suspicious, but he wasn't going to give up because of that.

Alice studied him for a moment more, and then looked questioningly at Carrie. She didn't really mind him sitting down if Carrie didn't, as long as all he really wanted was to chat.

Carrie waved to a chair, unconcerned. She knew she could make him leave if she needed to.

"Thank you." Charles smiled as he sat. "I hope I didn't make too poor a first impression."

Alice shrugged a bit, still half-waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to really get down to why he wanted to talk to them. She still wasn't convinced he didn't have some sort of ulterior motive.

"I will admit I've heard quite a bit about you two. You're rather well-known, especially since you keep telling people you don't want the extra attention." Charles smiled a little, looking between them.

Carrie just snorted and shook her head, amused.

"You're not exactly anonymous yourself," Alice pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "We just do what we can and try to keep our heads down."

"I do try to call attention to myself," Charles pointed out with a bit of a grin. "Although I think you have pointed one or two people in my direction before, for which I thank you."

"Like I said, we do what we can," Alice said with a bit of a shrug.

"Indeed," Charles murmured. "If you ever find that you need help, feel free to call me." He wrote down his number. "Or if you wish to talk. I've been told I make a decent listener."

Alice paused at that.

"Just like that?" she asked cautiously. "No... I dunno... Interview process or something?"

Charles blinked, equal parts curious and amused. "Interview process?" he repeated. "It's not as if I'm offering you a job, at current."

"No, I know that," Alice said. "But you being... you, you're just handing out your phone number to us?"

"Yes," Charles said. "You don't seem the type to abuse it, and even if you did, I could discourage that. But I doubt it will become necessary."

Alice studied him for a moment longer before taking the offered number.

"We'll try to give you a heads up next time we send someone your way," she said as she slipped the paper into her pocket.

"Thank you," Charles said with a smile. "I do appreciate that." He hesitated a moment. "If I could ask you a small favor, though..."

Ah. Alice had been waiting for that.

"What sort of favor is it?" she asked, glancing at Carrie.

"If an... old associate of mine contacts you, would you let me know?" Charles smiled, though it was a little pained. "His name is Erik Lenssher."