Lu and Nolan - Backdated

[ax_herald]

Nolan checks in on Lu.


Nolan had heard from his roommate that Lu Brande had just joined the ranks of Xavier's, but he hadn't gone to bother her straight away. Shinobi had only let him know when Nolan had come back from the City the previous night, and he was hardly going to go and bother her late at night.

Today, however, he came back earlier, and decided to go try his luck. Rooming with Clarice, Shinobi had told Nolan, so he went and knocked on the familiar door, hoping Lu would be in.

Lu exchanged looks with herselves as she heard the knock. "What do we do?" Orange asked, ringing her hands with a wide-eyed look of alarm.

"Say, 'Who is it?'?" Purple suggested, and very deliberately turned her attention back to flipping the pages of her magazine on the bed she was sprawled across. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that's traditional. Besides, it's probably someone for the roommate, and it's mutant school. I'm not recombining for no good reason."

Neutral groaned. "Come on," she told Orange, who if anything was looking more terrified than ever, and reached out to recombine with her. There was no appreciable delay before she opened the door, and blinked. "Nolan! Shinobi said you were here." She smiled just a little awkwardly and opened the door further, gesturing for him to come inside. "Come on in."

"Hey Nolan, looking good," Purple said from the bed. She grinned at him, but gave no indication that she was going to get up. "Mutant High must agree with you."

Nolan blinked at one Lu, then the other. Shinobi hadn't told him what Lu's mutation was, and Nolan hadn't asked. He rarely, if ever, did, given how discreet he was about his own. After a beat, he let out a soft, incredulous chuckle, and gave them both a dry smile as he walked in. "I've been in the City more often than here, lately. There's nothing like the polluted air of New York City." He'd come here without changing out of his suit, straight from his business in the City. He gestured between the two of them curiously. "Hidden twin thing, mutant thing, both?"

"Mutant thing," Neutral Lu admitted. Her smile brightened a little and she shrugged. "And it's actually hidden triplets, but one of me's still a little shaken by the move and everything."

"She got kidnapped," Purple added with a roll of her eyes. "She's going to be shaken for ages."

Nolan came to lean back against the desk on Lu's side of the room, and looked over at the Lu on the bed with wide eyes. "Kidnapped?"

Neutral Lu looked over at Purple, who shrugged and turned back to her magazine. It figured. Turning back to Nolan, she smiled awkwardly. "Someone wanted to put the pressure on Dad, and got hold of one of me. I called Shinobi, and - well, no harm done, right? Except that dad's suddenly worried about security, and figures I'll be safer here"

No harm done?? Orange protested.

No long term harm. We can handle this, Neutral scolded her. Don't make a scene in front of Nolan. He'll tell Shinobi, and Shinobi will feel bad. Fortunately, that was enough to quiet Orange down. At least for the moment.

Oddly enough, Nolan looked relieved at the news. Corporate kidnappings were by far a lot less trying than the other sort mutants tended to have been subjected to, in his experience. And she had said, no harm done. "They didn't hurt her, then?" Nolan checked.

"No, just locked her up for a couple of days. It's all good." Lu sat down in her roommate's desk chair and gestured for Nolan to take hers. "So what's new with you? I met Shawn at the release party; he seems really nice."

"And really hot," Purple chimed in with a grin, looking over at them once again.

"Glad you noticed," Nolan dryly answered, but there was some softness to his tone, too. This was Shaun they were talking about. And truth be told, he would much rather talk about Shaun - within limits - than about his mutation. So if Lu was not going to ask how long he had been here, or why he was here, he was going to be thankful (he probably owed it to Shinobi), and roll with the flow. He settled in her chair, angling it so he could have them both in his field of vision. "He's wonderful, and I've been seeing far too little of him these past few weeks. The launch has kept me busy."

"It was amazing, though." Lu grinned. "My dad's already eyeing your new CTO, and trying to figure out how to add holographic interfaces to some of our products. Be warned." Granted, she was joking (mostly, her dad did envy Nolan his new CTO, but he wasn't a poacher) but the holographic interfaces? Nothing short of amazing.

"Your dad should call me," Nolan replied pointedly, lips quirked into a small smile. RJ Brande was one of the few businessmen Nolan actually liked. "I'm keeping Kitty for as long as she'll let me, but we could discuss a joint venture."

"I'll tell him. He'll call." Her dad liked Nolan. More importantly, her dad liked Nolan's business practices, which wasn't something he said about many people. "How did the launch go? Everyone I've talked to has been impressed, and from what I've seen, the feedback's been positive."

"It's going well," Nolan confirmed with a nod. "Our users are happy, the numbers are good - which means our investors are happy, too." He wasn't going to get into more details than that, of course, for obvious reasons, but that much he could say. "We sent Brande Industries a few phones and tablets, did RJ pass any of it on to you?" They had done that with most companies they had ties to. It was good business.

"One of the tablets," Lu confirmed. She offered a crooked grin. "He offered me one of the phones too, but we'd have fought over it and three seemed a bit much to ask for. I'm saving up for them. Reese is loving his, though. And the tablet's great."

Nolan spotted the holo-display module beside the desk, and smiled over at Lu. "You have any trouble with it, let me know. Beta-testing can never be 100%."

"I will. No problems so far, though," Neutral assured him.

"You have to press to the left of the Z to get it to work," Purple pointed out. "And sometimes your last word gets erased when you try to scroll with your left hand."

Despite herself, Neutral grinned a little. "Other than that."

"I'll look into that," Nolan told them with a small smile, pulling his phone out to make a note. Once that he was done, he looked over at the Lu on the bed. "Thank you."

"Hey, you asked." She finally closed the Motocross magazine she'd been reading and sat up, waving his thanks aside. "I figure if you didn't want to know, you wouldn't have."

"Also? She's not really known for her tact," Neutral added apologetically.

Nolan looked nonplussed, then told both of them, "They were genuine thanks."

Neutral Lu exchanged awkward looks with herself, then looked back to Nolan and gave him an awkward smile. "You're welcome, then. Sorry, she tends to be overly literal sometimes, and - well, we're really not used to doing this with anyone but family or Shinobi yet?"

"Speak for yourself." Purple grinned at Nolan. "I'm not feeling awkward at all. Do you still have the Aston Martin?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course I still have it," Nolan replied without missing a beat.

"That's a gorgeous car," she said, leaning back on her hands and smiling. "I mean, I'm not sure I'd have chosen white? But still. It's beautiful. How fast have you taken it?"

"100," he answered, after a short pause. He had considered evading answering, but it was the most engaged this Lu had been since he had walked in, and he was curious about... her, them, all of this. Whatever was going on.

"Nice." Purple nodded approval. "I got Shinobi's coupe up to 95 on the freeway the other day after we rescued Sis, but it was starting to shake. How did the Rapide handle?"

Neutral groaned and shook her head.

"Splendidly," Nolan stated. "It's meant to go faster still. We should hit a race track some day."

"Yes! I'll drive if you don't want to," she assured him. "I'm a great driver."

"If you like taking corners on two wheels," Neutral grumbled.

"I wouldn't own that car if I didn't want to drive," Nolan pointed out, amused at the way she phrased it.

"Hey, you could be having an 'I don't feel like driving an amazing car at high speeds' day. I've heard they happen to people," Purple pointed out, then smirked. "Never had one myself, but that doesn't mean you haven't."

Nolan certainly had; they involved visions. But he was hardly going to go there. "That would also be a 'let's not go to the track today' day," he dryly pointed out.

"Mmm, good point." Purple Lu grinned impishly. "So...I can't drive it?"

"Are you gonna keep it in one piece?" Not to mention herself.

Lu looked offended. "Ruining a car like that would be a crime against humanity. Of course I'm going to keep it in one piece. I told you, I'm an amazing driver."

"She really is," Neutral acknowledged reluctantly. "She somehow got more than her share of the reflexes."

Interesting, but Nolan made no comment. He really didn't want to open the door to questions about mutations being turned back around on him. "Then I just might," he agreed. He wasn't sure when he would have the time to make it happen, since he had other priorities, especially since the weather also had to cooperate, on the day of.

"Awesome." Purple grinned at him.

"Yeah, awesome," Neutral agreed with considerably less enthusiasm. She rubbed at her forehead, trying to keep from splitting despite Orange's protestations that they were all going to die. Which they weren't, probably, unless she strangled Purple herself.

"Are you all right?" Nolan asked of the Lu perched on the chair. "I can leave you be, if - I only wanted to welcome you to school."

"No, I'm fine." Neutral Lu lifted her eyes and offered a crooked smile. "The last of me is offering her opinions on our likely demise. I'll spare you the details."

"Be glad you're being spared. She's headache-inducing." Purple commented. "Besides, it was cool you came by. We couldn't figure out whether we should go bug you or not."

The last of her? She had mentioned triplets. Nolan kept thinking things over, trying to put the pieces of that puzzle together, even as he answered, "You would have had to pick your moment. I'm really not around much, these days."

"You said. You've been staying in New York?" Neutral asked, jumping on the change of subject. "Just for work reasons, or...?"

"Work," Nolan confirmed. "This is a busy time for us."

"I can't imagine why," Lu joked. "You must've really had to ramp up production."

Purple groaned. "And the conversation comes back around to work," she pretended to complain as she got up. "I'm gonna go get a soda, let you guys talk shop. Want anything, Nolan?"

"I'll come with you," Orange offered, spontaneously appearing. She offered Nolan a smile and a little wave. "It's nice to see you, really, and I'd like to talk sometime? But Sis is the one who's really interested in the tablet details. I just think it was really nice that you gave it to us."

Nolan started at the sudden appearance, then gave the new Lu a small nod and a smile. "It was nothing."

"It really wasn't," she disputed, then bit at her lip. "Though if you want a suggestion? A really sensitive stylus that you can draw on the holo display with would be a really nice feature for the next version? Something you can shade with, or specify medium appearance?" She smiled, a little. "I'm not sure how that would work? But drawing or painting mid-air would be really cool."

Nolan smiled back at her. "You're full of helpful ideas," he noted, pleased, as he pulled his phone back out to make another note. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she chirped happily.

"Okay, okay. C'mon, artist, let's go get drinks," Purple said impatiently, though with a fond smile that contradicted her tone. "Did you want anything, Nolan?"

"I'm all right, thank you," Nolan replied with a shake of his head.

"See you later, then," Orange volunteered. Neutral waited until the other two had left the room, then let out a sigh and smiled. "Sorry. We're probably kind of confusing, huh?"

"Confusing tends to be an everyday thing at this school, as you'll find out," Nolan assured her. And he didn't even attend classes. "It takes some getting used to."

"It's pretty awesome, really," Lu assured him. "My roommate's been great about all of it. But then, she'd never met me before, either."

"Clarice has a heart as big as her appetite," Nolan stated with a small smile. Her only flaw was not letting him pay her for all of her trouble.

Lau laughed and nodded. "She really does."

"But, yes, don't worry about the confusing," he went on. "I'll do my best to take it in stride. Is it me, or are your eyes and theirs - different?"

"It's not you," Lu assured him. She widened her eyes to emphasize the fact that one as violet and one amber. "I usually wear brown contacts in public to hide it, though. My dad'd be cool with me coming out as a mutant, but I'm not altogether sure I'm ready. Especially given the various reactions Warren's gotten."

Nolan nodded. "It's not a decision to make lightly. And there's a lot more to be afraid of than those kinds of reactions."

"Yeah, I know." Lu's smile faded. "I want to make a statement, and at the same time? I'm not sure I'm ready to make a statement, y'know? Plus there's Dad and Reese to consider."

"Not every coming-out has to be orchestrated quite like Warren's," Nolan stated. "Statements don't have to be quite so loud. Something to keep in mind."

"Good point." Lu mulled that over a little, then shrugged and smiled. "Anyway, the question was about my eyes, right? I've got one of each color - we do when we're combined, too. The me who really, really wants to drive your car has purple eyes. She's an adrenaline junkie," Lu confided, "but she really is a good driver, I promise. And the one who wants to draw in mid-air's eyes are both orange." She grinned a little. "You'll probably see her with Shinobi a lot."

Nolan couldn't imagine how hard it must have been to find a sense of self and identity, with a mutation like that. "Thank you," he told her with a small smile. "For explaining."

"Hey, least I can do, right?" Lu smiled back, then took a deep breath, exhaled, and met his eyes. "Look, I know you're probably wondering if I'm going to ask. But Shinobi said you probably wouldn't want to talk about it. And I'm good with that. It's really no one's business but yours." She shrugged. "If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me."

"He's a good friend, isn't he," Nolan replied, with a brief, soft-dry smile. Keeping both of their secrets. "Of course, he would hate for us to spread the word, ruin his reputation."

Lu laughed and shook her head. "I wouldn't dream of doing that to him. But yeah, he's kind of the best."

"It's good to have one more person around here who appreciates that," Nolan said honestly. "Anyway," he stood. "I should go knock on Shaun's door. Thank you. For not asking."

"Thank you for coming to say hi." Lu got to her feet and smiled. "Don't be a stranger, huh?"

"I'll do my best," Nolan assured her, "but I wouldn't hold my breath, if I were you. I'm notoriously bad at setting time aside to socialize. But we'll try to find a day for that race track drive."

"Yeah, about that? Try to set it up with me or Purple when Orange isn't around, ok?" She grinned. "It's easier to let her find out about some things after they happen."

"I'll keep that in mind," he assured her. He headed for the door, opened it, and turned back to Lu. "Anything you need, don't hesitate."

Lu smiled. "Back at you. And give my dad a call if you get a chance, huh? He's still feeling bad he missed the release party; he'd love a chance to take you to lunch and hear about it."

"I'll set something up," he assured her with a small smile, and slipped out the door. There was something he wanted to discuss with RJ Brande, anyway.