Almost a Statistic

[Drew Conner]

“If she's still under contract and we haven't invested anything yet, keep the contract and wait to see if she recovers. The last thing we want to do is run the risk of cutting bait too early and losing out. You said yourself there was something there, right?” Drew stepped out of the office building and onto the sidewalk. His phone, as usual, was glued to his ear with only his side of the conversation being heard. “Of course.” He said with a nod, glancing apologetically toward Selina Taylor , who'd been waiting on him beside the running SUV by the curb. He held up a finger, signaling the call wouldn't last long. “Right. Like I said, just sit on it for now and see. It's not going to hurt anything to show a little patience.”

Drew went back and forth with the person on the other side of the call for a few more moments before tactfully and politely ending the conversation and saying a brief goodbye. He huffed and tucked his phone back into his coat pocket before turning his attention fully to Selina. “Alright. Sorry about that.” He said with a light chuckle. “It seems someone had the bright idea to void the development contract Dyer signed with that girl that got hurt.” He mused, shaking his head again. A hand waved dismissively, though, as he quickly moved on from talk of work.

It was midday and Drew was in the mindset of taking at least an hour away from the bustle of the day. Erika was busy, Alistair was off doing whatever and Drew had precious few friends to speak of these days leaving Selina as his best option to accompany him to lunch. It didn't matter that Selina would have probably ended up following him around anyway, she remained one of the few people close enough to him that he actually, genuinely enjoyed the company of. She had an almost brutal honesty that he'd, on more than one occasion, needed to be exposed to. “Are you hungry?” He asked. “Because I'm thinking of hitting up that little deli a couple blocks down.”

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded to Drew, more than used to the phone calls that routinely plagued her employer. It was merely part of the job, both his and hers. Selina’s eyes flashed in mixed concern and anger when he brought up Alex. That someone would mention that incident so dismissively felt odd to Selina, perhaps because she took it so personally. The fact that there had also been a possibility of Alex being fired for merely being the victim of a hate crime, had Selina slightly on edge. Luckily Drew had been against the idea, but the simple thought of it bothered her. Selina quickly reminded herself that her personal life didn’t belong at work and shoved her emotions aside, merely nodding to him. She didn’t think she could talk about what happened to Alex casually or with impartiality, so she remained silent.

    Selina smiled at the mention of lunch, grateful for the distraction. “Sounds good to me,” she agreed easily. Perhaps her manner wasn’t entirely as unaffected as she’d hoped it would be, but it was a start. She knew he could read minds, but Selina always tried to maintain the professionalism she took such pride in while she was working. Luckily, she knew which deli he was referencing. They had an excellent chicken sandwich that was spicy enough to satisfy.

    Selina opened the door to the SUV for him. She might’ve asked if he wished to walk there, since it was only a few blocks away, but with recent events she really didn’t want to risk even that far. It was a pity, because the day was beautiful and she loved walking downtown Kalispell, even in spite of the dangers. There was some darker part of her personality that was amused at how what she’d experienced for her race, gender, and orientation was now affecting those who were considered default by society.

    The movement to help mutants would focus on creating sympathy for the wealthy white men who were at its forefront, and would benefit them far more than it ever would her or her people. Selina knew this, yet she still hoped for Drew’s success, if only so that those who were lower on the totem pole of society would have some recourse if attacked for yet one more punishable difference. It was the same as with any other social movement, so she wasn't surprised in the slightest. Those who were already in power remained in power, even when focusing on "righting" power imbalances. She just hoped that Drew's efforts would result in some manner of reprieve for those who would undoubtedly be hit hardest.

[Drew Conner]

Drew frowned just ever so slightly. He rarely used his power so flippantly and never with the few people he truly trusted but he didn't need to read Selina's mind to see her bristle. He sighed and shook his head, pausing and turning to face Selina directly. "Hey, I'm sorry." He said, his tone sobering. "I know Alex is your friend." He attempted to catch Selina's gaze in order to prove his sincerity. "She's Erika's friend too and I imagine it's hard for you to hear her talked about like she's just a business decision. It's the mode I was in, please don't think it was personal." He smiled a little and offered a subdued shrug of his shoulders. "If it makes you feel any better we are doing everything we can to help her. I even got her sister transferred out here so she can be closer." He nodded curtly and even though his demeanor remained soft there was a hint of the trademark Conner determination creeping into his voice. "She means more to all of us than a contract, I promise you that."

Another frown, this one much more resigned than the last, touched Drew's features as Selina opened the door to his SUV. He turned his eyes to her almost in a 'do we have to?' sort of look but remained quiet and followed her silent direction to climb into the vehicle. He'd hoped to walk and take advantage of a brisk, yet tolerable winter day but he was hardly one to go against the wishes of his head of security, especially not with how things have been as of late. "I never can have any fun around you, can I?" He remarked playfully, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.