Gilmore, Lu, Lu, and Lu at Halloween

[ax_glory]

Gilmore bumps into Lu at the Halloween party, not one time, but three. It isn't until the last time that he realizes there's something odd going on -- and at least two of Lu seem to enjoy letting him muddle through it on his own.

Despite the Professor's assurances that it was perfectly okay for her to split whenever she wanted, Lu was just a little nervous about all three of her attending the Halloween party individually. Granted, Shinobi was there, which meant Orange probably wouldn't have a nervous breakdown over the size of the crowd, so that was one thing she didn't have to worry about.

If only she could dismiss her concerns about what Purple might get up to as easily.

Helping herself to one of the frighteningly convincing green, smoking drinks, Lu looked around, hoping to spot a familiar face. Someone had mentioned having seen Warren...

She smiled warmly as she instead saw a far newer friend, and headed over to where Shawn Gilmore was standing. "Hey. Long time, no see."

Gilmore tipped down the edge of the gold pince-nez he was wearing (even though they were totally fake), to peer at the young lady who approached him. He looked startled for a second, and then broke into a bright grin. "Why, is that Lu of the enviable eye color? So it is! Well. Seems like you've found out about our little secret club," he chuckled, vaguely indicating the entire school with a swirling gesture.

"It's supposed to be a secret?" Lu feigned surprise and shook her head sadly. "And here I thought Shinobi'd just found a really exclusive Halloween party. He really should've said something before I texted invitations to everyone I knew." Relenting, she grinned and shrugged. "But seriously, I got my very own invitation, and went ahead and lost the contacts. Is this where you really met Nolan? Or did you guys meet through his foundation and then hear about the school?"

"In truth, he lives across the hall from me," admitted Gilmore with a smile. "I hope you'll forgive my telling you the public story, last time. We all work pretty hard to keep the school safe and out of the spotlight. But you're here now, which means..." He tilted his head, and pretended to smoke the long carved wooden 'pipe' that wasn't actually even hollow. "I'm going to guess it's not just your eye color that landed you a spot at Xavier's."

"Not all, no." Intentionally cryptic, Lu smiled. Shawn seemed to like puzzles, based on his Clue inspired mystery - she'd give himone. "If you haven't figured it out by the end of the night, I'll tell you. But neither of us could be totally honest at the party." She shrugged, letting her smile tilt. "Honestly, I had no idea. I mean, I knew Shinobi was a mutant? But I thought he'd just ended up at a school in Westchester because none of the other prep schools would take him."

That stole a laugh from Gilmore, bright and warm and deeply amused. "Let's be honest, that still might be true. I think he attends classes? I'm not sure I remember seeing him in any of them, mind you, but surely he must make a nominal effort. Between Shinobi, Warren, and the actual royalty who go to this school, I'm continually astounded at the technical wizardry that Kitty and Nolan must have in place to keep us off the world's radar."

"Hold it - Nolan's new CTO is here?" Lu shook her head. "My dad went nuts trying to figure out where Nolan had found her. Their new product line is amazing. Do you think there's any chance she'd be willing to jump ship? Dad's a visionary, but he has a hard time finding people who can make some of his ideas work." She paused as the rest of what Shawn had said sank in, her forehead furrowing. "And what do you mean, actual royalty?"

There was a lot there, and Gilmore wasn't sure which question to answer first -- and he had a few of his own, besides. "I mean, not just princesses of industry and princes of style, like myself," he said with a bright grin. "We have two actual princes from the nation of Asgard, Loki and Thor, and this guy Namor who is definitely royalty from somewhere or other."

He tucked his prop pipe into the belt of his purple sherwani and shifted his drink so he could gesture across the floor to a young lady dressed as Rey from Star Wars. "As for the rest, you'll have to ask Kitty yourself."

"Later," Lu replied, shaking her head, though she stole a glance at the other girl (at least partially to admire her costume). "I'm not Sebastian Shaw, I'm not going to try to recruit people at parties." She grinned a little. "He actually tried that once, with my dad's COO, if you can believe it. Fortunately for us, Marla's heard what Sebastian's like to work for." Not to mention, he was her dad's most loyal, and trusted, employee. But that sounded like bragging, and it wasn't what she was going for.

That name again. Gilmore had an idea that 'Sebastian Shaw' was pretty universally preceded by the phrase 'ruthless businessman,' but there was something else going on there. "What is he like to work for?" asked Shaun, curiously. "Nolan warned me away from him, but didn't really say why. I used to have a digital assistant named Sebastian; obviously, I had to change that if I wanted Nolan to ever visit my room again."

"I can't say as I blame him." Lu made a face, then shook her head. "No, that's not entirely fair - I'm probably at least a little biased because he's Shinobi's father, and their relationship is - well, strained is probably mild, but it's accurate enough. To work for - I've never worked for him, but I wouldn't want to. He fires his execs whenever anything goes wrong, even if it was his own fault - no, especially if it was. And it's said that some of them aren't seen again."

Gilmore's brows shot up at the end, there, because that wasn't quite what he'd expected. "Ah, are we saying that he isn't just a nosy asshole, and isn't just a terrible dad, but he's actually... dangerous?" Miracle of miracles, Shaun Gilmore did actually know how to lower his voice to something other than a rolling boom.

"That's the rumor," Lu confirmed. She smiled a little and shrugged. "Having met him? It's possible he started it himself. But I think there's at least some basis in fact."

Gilmore whistled softly. "Okay. Definitely staying away from him now, and kinda hoping I can talk Nolan into the same. But..." He tilted his head. "Apparently, not all Business Dads are dicks? You sound like you're pretty close to your dad."

"My dad's kinda the best," Lu agreed, her smile brightening. "You should meet him sometime; he loves working with young entrepreneurs."

"Just what I happen to be," Gilmore pretended to gasp in surprise, touching a hand to his chest while his eyes fairly danced with laughter. "How does he feel about bespoke pop culture references, responsibly sourced and handmade?"

Lu laughed. "Honestly? He probably won't catch the pop culture references. Cham and I have to pretty much sit on him to get him to relax and watch TV for an hour. But he'll have a lot of respect for the handmade part." She shrugged and smiled fondly. "He started Brande Industries from scratch, pretty much single-handedly. If you ever need anything, I'm sure he'd be happy to help."

Gilmore could think of a dozen things he might ask of an established CEO -- things he'd specifically denied from Nolan, not wanting to confuse their personal relationship for a professional one -- but the mention of Lu's father's company distracted him. "Brande Industries? That's the green-energy company, right? That's your dad?"

Lu's face warmed, but she smiled and nodded. "Adopted, but yeah. That's my dad. "

That look told Gilmore just about everything he needed to know. "You have no idea how glorious it is to meet a mutant who likes her parent," he confided, though his smile was tempered with the understanding that a lot of his friends' parents were just plain shitty. "From what I've read about Brande Industries, I have to conclude it's because Mr. Brande is a genuinely good person. You don't meet many of those."

"Nowhere near enough of them in the universe," Lu agreed. "But yeah, he's pretty awesome." She smiled. "Added bonus? I can actually tell good stories about my grandmother, too, if you ever really want to be bored." She took a sip of her Coke. "How 'bout yours? I'm guessing you're on good terms?"

"My folks are spectacular. They've always supported me. Being gay, being a mutant, wanting to start a business when I was eight -- they always have my back." Gilmore smiled fondly. "Even when they don't really understand what I'm going on about."

Lu laughed and held up her glass. "Here's to having the best parents at the school?" she proposed. "Even if other people think they do, we know better, right?"

Laughing, Gilmore clinked his cup to hers. "I can most assuredly drink to that."

***

Lu bit at her lip nervously as she looked around the room. There were a lot of people - too many people - and she wasn't at all happy about being there. Except...well, she'd promised Shinobi she'd come, and he'd been really good about staying near her, or at least checking in regularly. And he was coming right back after he took care of something, by which she was almost positive he'd meant he had to go to the restroom, so he shouldn't be gone long.

Besides, the other two were already teasing her about having put on a pair of bell bottom jeans under her dress. But really, she was pretty sure it was supposed to be a top and Purple was just wearing it as a dress. Which she would, and odds were even that Neutral'd go along with it if she thought it was cute (which it was, but she still wasn't comfortable wearing it to a party with people she didn't know) and...

Right. She was going to stand here and smile. She could do that. She could. She could even wave at Nolan's boyfriend who'd been so nice at the Nolcorp Release party. And just to prove it to herself, she did.

"Hey!" Gilmore had just finished dancing with Kitty, which had been fantastic since his actual boyfriend wouldn't even dance in private. Definitely never in front of the entire school. He grinned at Lu as he made his way over, fishing the pince-nez out of his pocket and settling it back on his nose.

There was something a little different about Lu, this time, and Gilmore tapped his chin until he figured it out. "Ah, you switched up your look! I hope it's not too chilly down here?" he asked, tilting his head quizzically. As the official party planner, he felt somewhat obligated to pay attention to the temperature control.

"What? Oh!" Lu smiled and shook her head. Shawn must've run into one of the other two. "No, it's fine. The temperature, I mean. I just - I felt kind of...is it supposed to be a dress, do you think? Because I really wasn't sure, and I'm not sure if Shinobi'd tell me it wasn't if he thought it'd hurt my feelings, y'know?"

"I think it's whatever makes you most comfortable and ready to have a good time," said Gilmore, because he knew better than to comment too specifically on a lady's wardrobe. "And might I say the entire outfit is absolutely darling, however you style it? You look like you stepped off an album cover, directly out of the past and... into our hearts," he extemporized with a flash of a grin. Lu hadn't minded his silly exuberance before, so he hoped she found it charming.

Lu giggled obligingly, because Shawn seemed to expect it, and because the compliment was nice even though she suspected he'd have said the same thing no matter what she was wearing, because he seemed like he was just a nice guy that way. Still, it wasn't that simple with regards to the possibly-a-dress, was it? Just because two-thirds of her were convinced it was the perfect costume didn't meant she was.

Reminding herself that Shawn had meant well and that most people didn't actually argue with themselves over clothing choices (or at least, she didn't think they did, but how would she really know?), Lu smiled. "I'm not sure Nolan would be okay with the 'into our hearts' part," she pointed out, though again, she was pretty sure he didn't mean it the way it sounded. Then again, it was better to point that out anyway, she thought. Just in case she was wrong.

"Nolan understands that my heart has room for everyone," Gilmore promised her with an easy grin. His tone was light-hearted and it was clear that he was being playful now. Really, he liked making sure that other people felt comfortable, felt good and wanted and liked. Sometimes he went a little overboard in his efforts. Just a little.

Or... was it that Lu was different? She was so confident and relaxed the other times they'd talked. Now, she seemed kind of unsure of herself. Gilmore sincerely hoped no one had made her uncomfortable tonight. "And, he understands that sometimes I have to find replacement dance partners since he won't step out on the floor with me. Would you like to...?" He gestured out to the dance floor.

"Oh. No, I mean, I don't really - well, sometimes when Shinobi talks me into it, but..." Lu bit at her lip again and shook her head. She was rambling, and there was no good reason for it, because Nolan's boyfriend was obviously just trying to be nice. But still... "I'm not a very good dancer," she admitted. "And there's a lot of people on the dance floor."

Gilmore looked momentarily perplexed. Stammering and avoiding people didn't seem like Lu, but he wasn't going to push. He was confused, though. Sure, he didn't know Lu very well, but this didn't seem like the young lady he'd met before. "Well, if that isn't your idea of fun, may I suggest the chocolate fondue? We have a truly frightening array of sprinkles," he intoned, dropping his voice into a low creak worth of Vincent Price.

"Are sprinkles supposed to be frightening?" she asked, only partially kidding. She'd never really been afraid of food (okay fine, she'd been afraid of green jello when she was younger, but she'd gotten over that) but if there was a good reason to be afraid of sprinkles, she wanted to know it. "I like chocolate," she admitted. "But I can find it. I mean, if you've got better things to do? It's okay."

At this point, Gilmore was deeply confused. He was fairly certain that his brand of humor was inoffensively charming -- and it almost never failed. He'd definitely been able to make Lu laugh before, but now she seemed to be taking him much too seriously.

In the handful of seconds during which he couldn't quite form a response, an urgent buzzing came from the pocket of his trousers, and he startled slightly and pulled out his phone to glance at it. Gilmore's dark brows shot up. "Oh, dear. Not better things, but, um... I've just been informed there is a sparkly purple soap-monster creeping across the lawn, and I'd put money down that I know whose fault that is." He looked up apologetically at Lu. "I'm sort of nominally in charge of all this tonight, so I'd better go take a look. You'll forgive me? Have fun with the sprinkles?"

"It's fine," she assured him, though her eyes had widened at the mention of a sparkly purple soap monster. Except...he had to be kidding, right?

She was still telling herself that when she went to go find Shinobi to tell him she'd had enough partying. Much as she wanted to meet her new classmates, this was way too stressful.

***

Gilmore hadn't wanted to admit it, but now that he had witnessed it, the diaphanous, sparkling purple soap bubbles spreading out across the lawn like a Lisa Frank fantasy land really were... well, glorious. No one was hurt or even slightly inconvenienced, and the staff seemed more amused and baffled than actually upset. Some of the other students had dived in and were popping in and out of the bubbles, laughing and soaking each other. Gilmore stayed out of the way for the moment, his face lit up in the outdoor darkness by the light square of his phone screen.

I can't even be mad at you, you glorious scamp, he typed to his number one suspect, and sent the text.

"You're on the phone when there are purple bubbles everywhere?" Purple Lu asked incredulously as she splashed her way over to Gilmore's side. And grinned. "I figured you were probably the man behind it, given the color." She'd been hoping to run into him all evening, and not just because of a shared love of the color purple. Gilmore was actually fun.

She wasn't sure yet whether or not there were many people around here who fit that description.

Gilmore's phone went back into his pocket as he blinked at Lu, so baffled that he didn't know what to say. Fifteen minutes ago she had been too awkward and nervous to dance, and now she was frolicking through the bubble-mess. And also dressed differently. This was Mutant High; things that seemed inexplicable usually had just one explanation.

"This is almost definitely a Shorthalt production," Gilmore said, with a swirling gesture toward the purple foam. "And since no one saw the culprits, probably a Shorthalt and Vessar collaboration. If they weren't so lovable I'd be tempted to throttle them daily." He tilted his head, brown eyes looking quite shrewd behind his costume's pince-nez. "You changed."

Lu looked down at herself and frowned. "Well, I'm not wearing the same thing I wore to Nolan's release party," she acknowledged. "Don't you think it'd be kind of weird if I was?"

Gilmore put a hand on his cocked hip and arched a brow at her. "I mean that's the third variation of that outfit I've seen tonight, and you practically ran away from me about fifteen minutes ago. Something's very fishy here, Miss Lu."

Oooooh. Lu grinned impishly as she realized what was going on. Had the other two done it intentionally? She doubted it - she was the one most likely to have come up with a plan like that (though Neutral had a mischievous streak from time to time, so she couldn't rule it out). Still...

Oh, what the hell. Lu laughed and shook her head. "Did you happen to ask anyone what my mutation is?" she asked leadingly.

"Is it the power to confused innocent inventors?" Gilmore returned, touching a hand lightly to his chest, as if ready to clutch some invisible pearls. Even in the dark of the evening, his eyes were dancing with amusement.

"Nah, that's just a side benefit," Lu countered with a grin of her own. "I mean, it's a huge one? But there's a bit more to it than that." She eyed him with amusement, purple eyes sparkling.

All right, he wasn't going to get a straight answer, and Lu wanted him to guess. Gilmore scrubbed thoughtfully at his goatee with finger and thumb, observing her as closely as he could while not getting in her face. "This is your third outfit and you didn't have time to change... oh, how did I not see that before?! Your eyes are the same color, and they weren't earlier!" Now he lightly smacked his palm to his forehead. "Are there three of you? More?"

"Three." Lu held up her hand for a high five and grinned broader. "Nice job. You met the other two already, huh? I'm more fun."

With a sigh of relief, Gilmore clapped his hand lightly against Lu's, and grinned back. "Technically speaking, we met at NolCorp, though I don't remember feeling like my head was spinning then. I'm afraid you might have to apologize for me to the Lu wearing jeans tonight. I'm afraid I made her awfully uncomfortable." He pulled a pained expression. "I thought I was suggesting fun."

"Hey, it's not you - her concept of fun is seriously weird." Lu's tone was derisive, but she had a tiny fond smile on her face as she shook her head. "She's uncomfortable most of the time; she'll get over it. And technically, you met all of us at NolCorp, but we're different when we're not combined." She grinned. "So, I make your head spin, huh? Are you going to tell Nolan?"

"He'd probably just ask me if I wanted to lie down," Gilmore replied with a knowing grin. "If you want to make him jealous, you're going to have try a lot harder. And, well, being a boy would probably help."

"Yeeaaah, can't help you out there," Lu acknowledged, her grin matching his as she made a "what can you do" gesture with her hands. "Probably just as well; I'd hate to go up against Nolan, but over you, it'd be tempting." Flattery, flirting, and some good natured teasing. From what she'd seen thus far, Gilmore would recognize it for what it was.

Gilmore laughed warmly; Lu flirted and teased much the same as he did, and it was a real delight to get as good as he gave. "I'll tell you one way he'll never try to compete," he noted, with a significant glance out toward the mess on the lawn. "He'll never chase me through a sea of purple soap bubbles. Would you do the great honor?"

"Well, normally I'd prefer to be the one being chased, but seeing as it's you," Lu teased. And gave him a couple of seconds head start before racing off after him.

Not bothering to stay and argue, Gilmore finally surrendered to his (rather childish) urge to toss himself headfirst into the purple foam. "Catch me if you can," he sang over his shoulder, and took off at a leisurely, enjoyable pace. He would not be at all difficult to catch, but that wasn't the point. Finally relaxing enough from his self-appointed duties as Perfect Host, and running around like a teenager -- that was the point. He must remember to thank Lu-of-the-purple-eyes later for reminding him of that.