Amora idly walked along the park, a book with several notes in her hand as she mutted to herself, flipping through it and squinting every so often. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, curls of gold hanging down her back that jerked with each step she took. She was in her human guise, short and curved in the ways that drew the eye. Her clothes looked like something out of a magazine, a long sweeping skirt of cream with roses that tucked into a brown belt at her waist and into a rather modest neckline dress. Her heels clicking smartly on the pavement as she kept to the sidewalk and weaved between others that occupied the area.
Finally, she grew irritated with trying to read and walk and made her way over to a park bench, plopping down with a huff and another string of muttered words too muffled to be heard clearly. Her fingers scanned over the pages of the old paper, and flipped page after page with a frown marring her features.
Oddly enough she was 'toned down' from her usual seductive enchantments, and as a result did not draw the eyes of every passing male in the vicinity. Her irritation and anger a warning enough to most not to approach her perch on the wooden bench.
Armando tended to stand out- much like Amora, but for *very* different reasons. He's well dressed, at least, in a fine tailored suit that any well-off banker might be seen in. His grey skin stands out- the fact he's got no hair on his head, even eye-brows. Its the white eyes though, that seem to really bother people. Eyes without pupils or iris- wholly featureless. People tend to move out of his way, allowing him to read his own book as he walks without much fear of bumping into anyone. He's only partially paying attention when he comes to the bench he likes to read on- a bench that happens to be occupied by Amora.
"Ma'am? Do you mind if I join you?" Armando asks politely. This bench had a wonderful view of the green- surrounded by trees leaving it shady and comfortable in the heat. It was most certainly one of Central Park's best views.
Amora glanced up, green eyes flashing with a hint of annoyance at being interupted before the irritation was washed out at the sight of Armando. She blinked, once, twice, and then a third time before she registered his question. And then she was smiling, scooting over to offer him a fair share of the bench and patting it beside her.
"Of course, please, have a seat." She rolled her shoulders back, and shut the book on her lap with a soft thump of ancient paper and leather bindings.
"I hope you don't mind my asking.. but are you Armando? You see, I very much doubt there are many with your unique appearance walking around New York.. and a friend of mine mentioned you previously.." She bit her lower lip, lowering her eyes in a false shyness.
"Thank you!" Armando offers with genuine thanks, and an easy smile. He takes his seat and sits- opening his book to begin reading before the question comes. He looks over now with quiet curiosity, "Yes, I'm Armando- Armando Munoz." he says, "A pleasure to meet you. I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage Ms…?" He's polite, at least- his eyes never straying to Amora's bombshell figure- he seems to be looking her right in the eyes. Its a little difficult to tell with his eyes lacking pupils and irises.
Amora recrossed her legs, offering a perfectly manicured hand toward him with another easy smile. "Helen Eve, but please, call me Helen. Sean talked about you before and he said that you're a good friend of his. I'm so happy to meet you." She murmured softly.
Her green eyes met his evenly, unblinking and without a smudge of discomfort. She seemed perfectly at ease with his appearance.
"Sean said I'm a good friend of his?" Armando asks, looking rather dubious about that, "I somehow doubt that." a touch of a laugh in his voice. "I rather think he'd call me a gray-skinned toad. Thank you, though, for sparing me that truth, Helen." Armando says with a good-natured laugh to follow, just shaking his head- grinning.
Speaking of the devil himself, one Sean Garrison strode calmly down the winding paths of Central Park towards the meeting place he had agreed upon with Miss Eve two nights past. Their last meeting having been eventful with her dear friend Louis, his time had largely been occupied putting her more intricate designs into motion. Thus when his gaze lighted upon the two sharing park bench beneath heavy boughs of old trees, an eyebrow rose. This was happy fate, something he would make no effort to dissuade.
His stride brought him into audible proximity just as he overheard his name and the skepticism, "I did not. In fact, I think I said something to the effect of, 'I can't stand him.' However, I thought you may be able to help my friend."
Coming to a gliding stop behind Helen, he gently lowered his hands to rest on her shoulders as his lips graced her cheek in polite greeting.
Amora grinned, and gave a small shrug, her hands resettling upon the book on her lap. "He did call you his brother." As Sean approached, her gaze slid over her him and beyond as if she was checking against the appearance of anyone else. Then she sighed and held up her hands as he ducked to press a kiss against her cheek.
"You caught me. I was trying to be polite, Sean. Especially as Armando made the effort to be polite to me in turn." She flashed both of them a smile and she turned her attention back to Armando.
"It's a small world, no?"
"Oh, Sean. So good to see you." Armando offers with his typical politeness. "So, you think there's something I can do to help a friend of yours." Armando begins, looking now between Helen and Sean with quiet curiosity. "I'll admit- I'm curious." he says, with a shake of his head.
"So then, how exactly can I help you, Helen?" he wonders towards the woman- he could be looking at Sean. He could be looking at Helen- its hard to read.
Sean straightens as he pulls loose a cigarette, lighting it as he took a long drag and didn't bother to join them in sitting. His gaze was already shifting, picking apart the other potential playthings he could find in this park. Still, he answered the question in typical haughty disinterest,
"Helen here suffers similarly as we both do in some of her talents."
He paused as he exhaled slowly, a predatory interest spared to drag over the woman in question with a hungered lingering. If there was any question as to why he was going out of his way to make this introduction on her behalf, it was answered in that gaze.
"However, she does not possess my means. You recently mentioned to me that should I need protection, comradery, brotherhood - it would be mine. I don't need it but she may."
Amora ducked head, as if too shy to ask for her help herself as Sean spoke up in her stead. She allowed it, and even made a show of pushing her hair back from her face before she ventured forth an answer to confirm what he had said.
"Yes, as Sean said.." She glanced at Armando and smiled prettily with a flutter of her eyelashes.
"He said that you would know others.. more gifted people like us. And I.. well, I so very much want to not be alone.."
Armando's eyeridge lifts slowly, nodding quietly. "I do. I know a great many mutants." he says slowly, "Many live in Mutant Town." he says, as he takes a slow breath. "I can set up a meeting- but I'm not the gatekeeper." he says simply, as he leans back on the bench a bit.
Armando looks over to Sean now. "Its curious to me that you'd ask on someone else's behalf, Sean." He sees that gaze- and understands it well enough. "Because it means you can't get what you want without my help." he notes. "And that's an odd thing to me- although I'm sure its torture for you given the situation." he smiles teasingly towards the pair. "So then, what is it you do, Helen?"
"You're insufferable, Armando. It's a wonder your mother didn't drown you, though I have a sneaking suspicion she may have tried."
There was no alteration in his tone, the theory floated in the same purposefully polite intonation he favored. Smiling sweetly, he turned to lean against the bench, facing away from them as their mutual introduction resumed and he could focus on more important things. Like that woman at distant picnic table reading a book, her legs crossed, summer sun casting her in flickering shade.
Amora smiled, stretching out her legs and arms before her as if she'd been waiting for the question to come up. And in fact, she had. Her hands tapped the thickly bound book on her lap with a hard rap of her knuckles against the hardened leather.
"I have a bit of energy manipulation and some light protection against telepathy. I think. At least that's what I've been told by one. I haven't had many chances to really test it out, you know?" She held up her hands with wide eyes and shrugged, turning her green eyed gaze to Armando.
"So you see, I really don't know what I'm capable of."
"All I'm saying its not my place to bring others into the fold, as it were. There are other, wiser men who do that. I can set up the meeting, though." Armando returns to Sean. "And no. My mother didn't try to drown me. She spit in my face after I saved her from a burning building. Pretty much the same, though." he returns, with that hint of bitterness.
Armando returns his attention to Amora- its clear that Sean has zero effect on the grey-skinned young man. "Well, I can certainly point the right people in your direction, Helen." he assures her, "And your way, Sean." he offers quietly. He shakes his head, "What is it that you're reading, Helen?" Armando wonders next, looking curiously towards Amora's very old, leather bound book.
Sean tosses his eyes skyward in a casual roll of dismissal as his name is mentioned once more, waving the lit ember perched between his knuckles as he intoned, "You caught me. This is all some ploy for me to feel loved and accepted like my parents never did."
Having made his sardonic commentary, he let their attentions turn towards literature, his focus returning to the woman at distant table. And the longer he watched, the more frequent the turns of her head became, her eyes widening almost unperceptively, though if they were closer one could note fingers beginning to twitch with mounting anxiety.
Delighted with her torment, Sean smirked and turned an ear to the conversation still occurring at his back with mild interest.
Amora blinked and glanced down at her book as if startled that he'd be interested in what she was reading. The book was old, which was clear enough from the scratches and wear on the leather cover. Even more telling was the fact that it lacked a title.
"Oh, well, as I said before.. I don't really know what I can do. But I found this old book in an antique shop. It mentioned something about mastering the earth's energy. I thought it might help me with my energy manipulation.. But so far it's mostly about some old myths. Really dry and hard to read." She made a point of sighing dramatically. "And utterly unhelpful."
"Oh. Very interesting." Armando offers with a nod and a smile, "I'm rather a fan of old books." he explains, "Maybe when you're finished with it, I can borrow it." Armando says off-hand, as he just looks towards Sean with a shake of his head. "So, how's best to get in touch with you, Helen? By the way- lovely accent." he offers, "Where in England are you from? It sounds rather familiar… I know a Professor at Columbia with the same accent."
Amora shrugged, "If you're interested I don't see why not!" She beamed, leaning forward as she spoke and then a laugh escaped her at the mention of her accent. "England. And the professor you're speaking of would be Professor Louis King? Yes?" She shifted forward on the bench seat and made a small 'mm' sound at the back of her throat.
"We grew up together more or less. He's an old friend. So that would be where you might have heard it before."
"Quite likely." Armando offers with a smile. Odd that two people from the same area would both be interested in Mutants. "And yes, Louis King- that's him exactly." he says, nodding quietly. "You might want to talk to him regarding your mutation- he's quite interested in the subject." he says, "There's also Moira MacTaggert- she's an expert on the science behind it all. Probably the world's number one expert, in all honesty."
"Oh, I'd be quite interested. I love old books." Armando says with a quiet smile. "There's nothing like reading."
As the distant woman finally collects her book and staggers off with a hunted pace, Sean turns his focus back to the conversation on the bench with a triumphant gleam to his eyes. Snubbing out the cigarette to smoldering ash, he settled beside Helen with an arm curving around her shoulders, a quick motion freeing his jacket button as he reclined in the shadowed summer heat.
"Louis doesn't enjoy my company. Besides, I don't think she's interested in the academic study of mutants. She's not a laboratory rat, Armando. She's looking for safety and belonging. Isn't that right my pet?"
Amora nodded, her gaze slicing over Sean's form with a glitter of warning coloring her green eyes. An edge. A line. And then she was turning toward Armando with a laugh and smile. "Louie and I are old friends, he knows my mutations and I know his. We discovered them together when we were kids. The difference being that he's far more academic in his studies. I just.. I want to /know/ others like me. I want to share our stories and find a place.."
She trailed off and sighed softly, looking down at her book. "I've lost my home recently.. so.." She shrugged, pushing her hair back from her face and smiled.
"I'm sorry, Louis is a mutant as well?" Armando asks, clearly surprised. That didn't add up- not really. Not with the conversation he had with Louis. "So then, how do I get in contact with you, Helen?" Armando asks, "I know a guy who can help."
Amora shrugged easily, a smile still on her lips. "I'm sorry, that story is not mine to tell Armando. I'm sure you understand, Louie and I are old friends.. and what he tells is up to him." She sighed softly, smoothing her hands down the front of her dress.
"Well, I suppose you can find me through Sean. He's been /such/ a gentleman about helping me out in this city." She murmured softly.
"Oh, I'm sure he has been." Armando says, giving another little look towards Sean. A quiet thing. "Do make sure he behaves." he offers, as way of advice for Helen- understated, but there all the same. "So, Sean- how's best to get in contact with you, then?" Armando asks, smiling still.
Upon hearing his name, he nodded easily and gestured to one of the luxury apartments bordering the park.
"The grey brick building, as I don't frequent the library as often as you. I'm townhouse 1A. Though you may have some trouble getting through the doorman, I will try to prepare him for your potential intrusion. Helen is at my home often enough given her current situation."
As he spoke, a finger trailed along her bared shoulder, teasing across the tender flesh of her neck, a possessive gleam in his eyes that interrupted only when he broke away to stand and rebutton his jacket.
"In fact we have dinner plans, Armando. It was a pleasant surprise seeing you here, but I don't want to be late and I'm not sure you would be ah-Welcome where we are going."
Amora shot Sean another sharp look, her eyes narrowed as her lips pursed together at the presumption in his touch and manners. She rolled her shoulders back, her chin lifting in a haughty tilt. "If you ak for me, I'm sure the doorman will let you in." She smiled prettily, and leaning in closer to whisper conspiratorily toward Armando.
"He has quite the crush on me." She winked and settled back in her seat until Sean rose to leave. The mention of dinner had her eyebrows climbing upwards, before a sugary smile crossed her lips.
"Aww, Sean, you shouldn't have! A surprise dinner? How sweet!" She fluttered her eyelashes and patted her book tenderly. "I fear you'll find me in sore company, I can't just put the book down for long you know." She grinned and looked back to Armando. "We should do lunch sometime. Are you free tomorrow?"
"You'd be surprised the places I'm welcome, Sean." Armando offers with a quiet half smile. "However, don't let me get in the way of that- do enjoy your dinner. Helen, it was a pleasure to met you- don't forget now- make sure Sean behave." Armando smiles, "I am. I can certainly go to lunch with you. It be my pleasure- if you'd like, I know a place we can talk rather freely in Mutant Town."
Amora beamed and clasped her hands before her chest with an excess of energy. "Oh, that sounds lovely! I shall see you then, Armando. Thank you." She all but purred with delight.
She then leaned forward to try to press a kiss against his cheek unless he drew back or otherwise attempted to avoid her. "And I promise I shall try my best with Sean, he is very.. very, impulsive. Is he not?"
Sean waves off the appreciation with a dangerous glint in his eyes that matched the one in her own Asgardian gaze. He awaited the dissipation of vapid pleasantries, his hands in his pockets as he regarded their exchange with a distant observation that gained an edge as she leaned in and brushed her lips across the other man's cheek.
And there was no jealousy in the expression, though perhaps it could be mistaken for such.
No, he was studying Armando with a faint smirk on his lips.
Armando is clearly surprised when the kiss presses to his cheek- raising an eyebrow. "Quite impulsive. He's used to getting what he wants, when he wants." Armando says, not seeming… smitten with Amora at all. There was a slight shake of his head as the magic passed over him, before it was shut down completely by epigenetic triggers that allowed for an evolutionary leap. One that imparts immunity from magic. He is, suddenly, a mystic dead-zone. "A lovely gesture though, rather continental." Armando says with a quiet smile towards 'Helen'. "I'll see you tomorrow for lunch- say around twelve thirty. Meet me at the corner of <A particularly safe corner just outside of Mutant Town>."
Amora leaned back, her expression still fixed with the plesant pull of her lips into a smile. Even noting how her magic seemed to fizzle and snap back, she withheld a sigh. Though the expression behind her eyes darkened with a hint of amusement.
"Yes, well, I married a French man for a time. One picks up such habits." She shrugged, standing up with her book clutched between her arms to her chest.
"I'll see you tomorrow Armando. It was lovely meeting you. Come along darling, show me what new place we're going out to eat. Hm?" She arched a brow in Sean's direction.
Sean accepts the woman on his arm with a casual ease, a grin staining his countenance even as he practically pranced along. It was as if Armando finally did something to please him, and as they strode casually back to his apartment, he leaned in to whisper in conspiratory tones,
"He's a fascinatingly ugly piece of power, isn't he? I'm so glad you two could meet."
Their step would be steered inside, where a phone call and a favor secured a dinner reservation he had never bothered to make. Assuming of course Helen still wanted to go.
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