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Post by Maniette on Sept 11, 2014 12:33:29 GMT
This was only the second time in his life Nathan had been inside an airport. The first time was almost twenty-four hours earlier when he had stepped onto the plane taking him out of Australia. He didn't linger in the luggage collection bay very long, only hanging around long enough to collect his backpack, which was half his height and just as bulky. He slung it over one shoulder, huffing slightly at the weight (and hadn't that cost him and arm and a leg to get on the plane at all). Everything about the place was confusing to him, only compounded by the fact he'd had almost no useful information to give to Immigration. His own fault for accepting such a mysterious job offer, he mused wryly as he slipped the other arm into his pack and walked towards the exit. An international letter arriving in his temporary home location, popping up right when he was considering moving overseas anyway? It seemed bloody suspicious in hindsight, but at the time it certainly felt like a miracle.
He stepped into the afternoon sun, blinking slightly when the autumn clouds parted. He took a few steps forward, then blinked and frowned, fishing a letter out of his cargo pockets.
...he had no idea what the man he was meeting looked like. |
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 11, 2014 23:45:02 GMT
Siddesh Singh shifted his feet, squinting up at the clouds, trying to assess whether it was going to start raining, or if this burst of sunshine was evidence of things clearing up a bit.
He was standing outside Terminal 7, on the edge of the car park that he'd left his old Honda, awaiting the arrival of a man he'd never met before, or even spoken to. Xavier's lawyer had asserted confidently that Nathan Ward would be arriving in JFK Airport at this time, and given details of his flight, explaining that the man was already en-route. It was a mildly frustrating chain of events that was becoming quite typical of Siddesh's life.
For the third time in as many minutes, Siddesh wondered if he wouldn't be better off waiting for Mr Ward inside the terminal building, just outside the arrivals gate. When he'd arrived, he'd ended up taking a position by the exit doors rather than entering the terminal itself, and he still wasn't sure why.
It bothered him. He trusted his instincts, he supposed, but it was unsettling when he couldn't pinpoint what had set them off.
He slowly became aware of a sudden increase in people leaving the terminal, and straightened, examining the new arrivals. He caught the gaze of a young man that he supposed looked rather Australian - or, at least, he had that stereotypical blonde and tan combination - and raised the "Nathan Ward" sign he held with an questioning look.
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Post by Maniette on Sept 12, 2014 10:42:56 GMT
Relief lit up his face, but his smile was thin as he raised an arm in acknowledgement. The man looked very stern, his shoulders almost as broad as Nathan's, which only served to make him feel more anxious. He approached the man at a trot, ignoring the way his pack bounced painfully off his thighs, but slowed to a crawl just out of arm's reach.
He couldn't help a dry swallow before he stepped forward properly, holding one arm out and hoping his senior didn't notice it shaking slightly. "Nice to meet you, Mister Singh..." And he faltered, colouring when he realised he didn't know how to pronounce the man's name.
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 12, 2014 20:54:05 GMT
Siddesh took Nathan's hand, sizing up the other man, trying to ignore the sudden deja-vu as he was reminded of evaluating new recruits at boot camp. Broad shoulders, broken nose - the man was clearly no stranger to scrapping, but his head dipped nervously as he stumbled over Siddesh's surname, and his hand had trembled a moment when he'd held it out. It wasn't promising.
Would it be better, Siddesh asked himself, if he had a brawler's personality to match his looks? Still... hopefully this was just evidence of jet-lag.
"It's good to finally meet you," he said. "I hope your journey wasn't too exhausting."
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Post by Maniette on Sept 13, 2014 13:09:51 GMT
Mr Singh's grip was firm, notably more than his own, which only made him feel worse as he awkwardly tightened his grip in some sort of attempt to prove himself before releasing and trying to smile again; he could totally do small talk, right?
"Nah. Not too bad, y'know? A bit wrecked at the moment, but then I've never been on a plane that long before. Or... ever, really," he added with a nervous laugh. He had the distinct, highly familiar feeling he was making a terrible first impression.
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 13, 2014 16:05:22 GMT
Siddesh nodded briefly. "Well, you'll hopefully have time to recover when we reach the school. Shall we head to my car?"
*
Half an hour later, the two men were driving down the motorway, without speaking.
What had started as Siddesh being too distracted to converse as he navigated them out of the airport had ended up solidifying into a deeply uncomfortable silence, and it was clear to Siddesh that Nathan wouldn't be able to break it.
He wasn't sure where to start the conversation, though. He knew next to nothing about the other man - Xavier hadn't left any details about why he'd decided to offer the Nathan a job at the school. It could be assumed that he was a mutant, but what kind?
And how much, exactly, had he been told about the school? Siddesh hadn't seen the job offer that the Australian had received, and from what Xavier's lawyer had said, he suspected that Nathan may not have been given the whole story.
"So," he said, giving up and going for the stock opening, "tell me a bit about yourself, Nathan."
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Post by Maniette on Sept 13, 2014 16:21:29 GMT
Half an hour in dead silence had given Nathan plenty of time to stew in his own thoughts. The more he thought about the letter and his current situation, the more nervous he was becoming about it even being legitimate. It seemed too elaborate to be some sort of scam though, and what point would there even be in it? He glanced at Singh occasionally, wondering what the man's own motivations could be. Surely he was related to the school, but Nathan knew nothing about it beyond his own position as groundskeeper-to-be. The man's seemingly default glare kept making him look away, despite the lack of eye contact.
Then Singh's question woke him from his reverie with an almost violent start; it took him a good few seconds to answer as his brain scrabbled for answers. "I uh-- there's not much to tell, really," he said simply, daring another glance at Singh before keeping his gaze determinedly out the window. "Grew up in a little country town, moved out of home and 'round a lot in my teens, uh..."
He scratched his neck idly. How much was too much information, when he could (and in the past, had) let slip about his mutation at any time? It was better to be cautious. "Was between jobs when your letter found me, that was a bit of a lucky break. I would've been in a new suburb if it had been any later."
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 13, 2014 16:35:16 GMT
And if it was any later, the letter would have undoubtedly been sent to the new suburb instead, Siddesh thought. Psychics.
The information that Nathan had offered was promising, in a rather unfortunate way. If he left home in his teens, then there was probably trouble at home, which was a typical story for mutants. But the man hadn't confirmed he had powers yet. He decided not to probe in that direction quite yet. "You've travelled quite a lot, then? Do you enjoy it?"
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Post by Maniette on Sept 13, 2014 16:44:40 GMT
"Not travelled, really. Didn't go far enough for that. Mostly just hopped between a few suburbs trying to keep a job."
He sighed slightly as he rubbed his chin, idly noting there was stubble that needed tending to. He'd lost too many jobs for simply being a mutant, like hell he was about to admit that.
"Bosses just thought I wasn't very good at them, I guess..." he mumbled noncommittally.
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 13, 2014 17:37:29 GMT
Siddesh shot him a sideways glance. He hadn't had much experience in recruiting people in a civilian situation, but he was fairly sure that anyone saying "I guess my bosses just didn't think I was good at my job" to a new employer was almost certainly hiding something.
"I see. What sort of work did you do?"
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Post by Maniette on Sept 13, 2014 17:51:26 GMT
Nathan shrugged, but his hands stayed put this time. "Tradie work, mostly - bricklaying and construction type stuff, had a couple of short contracts out've that. Got some mileage out of kitchens too, I like cooking."
Too bad I lost the kitchen jobs from sticking my hands in a roaring oven, he mused, balling his hands in and out of fists. "Didn't mind the tradie jobs, hard work's easy for me."
He looked down at his hands; all of this answering was just making him more anxious than ever. He took another deep breath, before squeezing his hands together and more or less blurting out, "Is it alright if I ask what you do in the school? They uh, never told me much about it, y'see..."
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 14, 2014 10:24:57 GMT
What to do? Nathan was still hiding something, and Siddesh wasn't keen on revealing the workings of the school to him until he had a better grasp of what the man was like.
Which was going to be tricky, he realised, if they drove directly there like he'd planned. There was no telling what Nathan might see, and no telling how he might react. Hmm. That's... difficult.
"Well, you know it's a school," he said, carefully. "We taken in students of all ages. But we are a bit selective in who we bring in - for students and staff. They all have to have something special about them."
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Post by Maniette on Sept 14, 2014 10:45:34 GMT
The phrase 'something special' struck a chord in Nathan's mind. He'd heard similar phrases for years: a little bit different; not quite normal; weird. Lots of lovely roundabout ways to avoid saying 'mutant'.
But Singh had been nothing but blunt around him so far. It was probably just paranoia taking the front seat. That certainly wasn't a possibility to ignore.
So he said nothing, and went back to staring out the window again.
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Post by AriadneArca on Sept 15, 2014 14:11:41 GMT
Well, Nathan seemed to want to let the matter drop, for now anyway. But Siddesh still knew next to nothing about the other man, not even whether he was a mutant or not. And the school was getting closer by the mile.
However, for some reason, Siddesh found himself reluctant to ask the question more directly. He was reminded of his reluctance to meet Nathan Ward inside the terminal building, and slowly, he put two and two together.
I didn't want to meet an unknown potential mutant in an enclosed public space.
The thought disturbed him. You can take the man out of the military, he thought. Do I really want to spend my life assessing everyone I meet as a threat?
But maybe it was better safe than sorry. Perhaps he should be preparing for things to go badly. Nathan had a nervous disposition, after all - what if Siddesh asking him about his mutant status triggered something?
He considered his options. He hadn't had the foresight to bring a plant with him into the car, to his regret, but he was fairly sure there was some sort of inconspicuous wooded area between here and the school.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, a relatively untamed area made up of deciduous trees and scrub came up on their right.
It wasn't exactly a forest, but it'd do. Siddesh flicked his indicator on and said to Nathan, "I'm just going to pull up by the side of the road for a bit. I need some fresh air."
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Post by Maniette on Sept 15, 2014 23:40:32 GMT
The indicator caught Nathan's attention, which meant, thankfully, he didn't jump when Singh spoke again.
"Y-yeah, no worries," he more or less mumbled in reply. It's your car, I can't exactly stop you, followed as a thought.
It caught Nathan off guard slightly when they parked on the right side of a road a short way later. He'd have to get used to that, he thought idly as he followed Singh's lead in hopping out of the car. He didn't follow any further than that, instead leaning against the car and scuffing at the loose gravel around his feet. At least that was in no short supply if he needed a kick-start to his armour.
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