1963-06-19 - Father's Day for the Fatherless
Summary: Armando (Darwin) and Nancy enjoy a meal at Shraffts Diner
Related: None
Theme Song: None
darwin nancy 


If there was one thing Nancy liked about Schraffts, is that they didn't mind serving to mutants. So long as the place wasn't too busy. And they weren't scaring any customers away. So the middle of the day, like now - when the place was slow? They loved mutants then. And Nancy was maybe not as obvious a mutant as some - but she did have some space-age fashion going on.

The plastic gauntlets, that was basically just a cover for the loops of wires running around her arms.

Nancy lifts the bit of coffee she managed to get, her eyes tracking over the light crowd that had already started to have a little mid-morning breakfast here. The rush had passed, after all.

In steps Armando 'Darwin' Munoz, very clearly and obviously of the mutant kind. His head is wholly hairless, skin grey, eyes white and featureless- difficult to read. He wears a rather nice business man's suit- clearly tailored to fit his odd dimensions- his arms noticeably longer than a standard human's. He smiles and gives a wave to the servers behind the counter, and they even wave back. He's apparently a fixture here. Luckily, he never makes trouble- and always pays, so pretty much a model customer. He comes to sit not so far from Nancy- the table just next to her's. The server comes over, placing a menu down. Armando smiles to the server, "Thanks, Carol. Coffee to start, please." he orders- getting a smile in return from the dark-skinned waitress. "Sure thing, hun." she replies- polite, at least.

A little smile dances upon Nancy's lip as Armando takes a seat nearish her. Beyond the gauntlets, she was dressed simply, but pretty enough, with a blue dress with lapels, leggings, and boots. Bringing up her coffee to her lips, she takes a seat. "Hey," she says to him, "Having a good morning?" She asks, with a slight cant of her head to one side.

Armando looks up, smiling over to Nancy. "Oh, quite the nice morning, Miss. Thank you- I hope the day is finding you well?" he asks, offering a smile towards Nancy. His coffee comes, and he begins to prepare it quietly.

A hand lifts, and she pushes her dark hair back over her ear. "The day is finding me well enough," says Nancy. "You know. Just kinda spending father's day - here at a diner," she says, her lightly accented voice a little wry as she lifts her coffee up. "Bothering a strange man who is no doubt just trying to enjoy his own coffee, right?" she says. A beat, and she kinda gets a sideways sort of smile. "Especially with the whole Gates thing going down," she says. Another beat. "I'm Nancy," she says.

Armando smiles still, "Well, the Gates thing *is* an issue. However, for today at least, I'm going to keep my mind on the future." he begins, sipping his coffee. "I've never celebrated a father's day, for what its worth." he offers to Nancy. "He left my life when I was very, very young." Armando explains, without any bitterness. "If you'd like, I can join you- then you at least won't be spending father's day at a diner alone."

"What's got you so optimistic then?" says Nancy, scooting her chair over a bit. The glove part of her gauntlets was a sort of leather, and she taps a fingertip against her glass, and it makes a muffled sound. With an open gesture to one of the open chairs at her table, she takes another sip of her coffee. "I'm sorry to hear of that," she says, in spite of his tone. A handful of moments more, "So - what brings you to New York?"

"I've got a new job." Armando replies, "Things, personally at least, are looking up." He stands, taking his coffee and menu to join Nancy at her table. "Thank you." he offers, "As for New York- I've always lived here. Born and raised." he explains, "What about yourself?"

There was surprise on Nancy's features - even if she moves to quickly cover it with a more pleasant expression, inclining her head once. "What is it you do? As for me, well… I am a student, of sorts, at an academy," she says at that, taking another sip of her coffee proper. "I've just moved into New York in the last few months," she says. "From Tokyo," she adds - albiet a bit hesitantly on that last point.

"I work for Worthington Industries. I'm a liaison between their R&D and Marketing departments." Armando offers, "I've only just started, but so far so good." he says, with a smile. "Oh, Tokyo? Hopefully there isn't too much in the way of culture shock?" he asks, "We eat far less fish, I know." he says with a quiet smile. "Which Academy is it that you attend?" he wonders

"I think, perhaps, that there was more shock in Tokyo than here," says Nancy, pursing her lips tightly. Eyes draw down to her drink, then back up again. "But I do miss eating fish so much, it is true," she says. "Not that the cuisine here is terrible, but… what you grow up with is what you grow up with, but there is a reason I am alone on father's day, as well," she says, making an open gesture. "What does that mean? A liaison between those two departments?" she says. A beat. "Do you enjoy the work? I know you said you are new still, but…"

A moment. "I go to Xavier's - the intensely private school down in Westchester."

"I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of traveling abroad. Maybe someday, though." Armando admits, after another sip of his coffee. He doesn't follow up on Nancy's father's day statement- perhaps not wanting to pry. "I do enjoy the work, its quite fulfilling so far. I'm looking forward to it."

Another sip of coffee, Armando nodding. "I'm familiar with the institution. Professor Xavier has asked me to be a student-teacher. I'm likely to take him up on the offer, its important for all of us to stick together." he says, with a quiet smile. "Very important for us to have solidarity."

"I wouldn't go to Japan," says Nancy, an edge of moodiness going into her voice. And the lights dim around them, the waitress and a few customers glancing about in mild surprise. There were clear plastic plates in those gauntlets, displaying the wires beneath. A blue spark tracks along them. Another sip of her coffee. A breath in - and a breath out, and her brown eyes track from coffee to Armando once more, the lights slowly returning to their usual brightness. She latches onto the subject change.

"Then you know about the school already," she says. "I'm just… not sure how secret he wants it to be, you know?" A handful of moments more, and she slides her coffee mug between her fingers, frowning a bit. "I would recommend it, Armando. Particularly since you are successful outside of that safe place," she says. "It would be inspiring, to know that what we have - for the more obvious mutants - isn't what we are stuck with."

"Mister Worthington is the reason I have my job. He took a shine to me, and hired me. Still, that hope is important." Armando says, noticing the shift in electricity. Its odd, but his skin seems slightly different in the moments after the electrical disturbance- almost more rubbery- but only slightly. "I've got to check when I can do it- I mean, transportation won't be a problem now that I've got the job and I do feel that the school is a very important thing." he agrees, with a smile- those white eyes gazing to Nancy. He cocks his head ever so slightly, "I'm not really successful, yet. Soon, though, I will be. We make our own future."

Nancy pauses a handful of moments in the wake of that little outburst, tapping her fingertips against her coffee mug. A beat, and even that tapping comes to an end, and she was /looking/ to Armando. Just looking at him, with kinda a narrow-eyed look of intent. A beat more, and she runs her tongue over her lips. "If you're like… reading my mind or something, you don't have to be worried. I wasn't gonna shock you," she says.

A moment.

Checking her wristwatch - built helpfully into the wrist of her rightmost gauntlet, she looks towards him.

"I hope you don't mind me taking off," she says, with a pause. "But I have to start going - I promised someone that I would help them with something - although I appreciate you spending a little bit of your father's day with me," she says, standing up - her lips pursing. She looked about ready to bow, but she extends a hand instead.

"I can't read minds." Armando offers simply with a quiet smile. "I have no control over what my body does, unfortunately- I'm in a constant state of evolution. They wrote a paper on it, actually. I'm sure there's a copy at Xavier's. Its titled 'Darwin, The Evolving Boy'. They didn't use my name." he offers simply, "And really, it was nothing at all. I wasn't going to spend it with my Father, after all." Again, he doesn't seem overly bitter on the fact. He stands, as Nancy does- taking her hand with a quiet smile. "Its been a pleasure. Armando, by the way. Hope to see you around."

The thick leather of Nancy's glove could be felt, no doubt. But she squeezes as best she can through it, even if she had no real power in her grasp. "I will have to read it," she begins, but says, a little more intently, "Armando." This last word is said with a smile. "Or, at least, ask the professor about it," she adds.

"I hope to see you around too. Perhaps at the Institute, if you find yourself with the time in your busy life to teach," she says. A hand - after the shake, dips into the purse she carries, pulling out a little bit of a tip to set beside her coffee cup. She wasn't flush, but solidarity, yes? "Have a happy rest of your day," she says, with a wave - as she heads towards the door proper.

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