Next Time I'm Taking the Stairs

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Late as per usual. Why did she insist upon drinking heavily the night before an important photo shoot? Of course, she always managed to pull it off and get there exactly on time, and hey, she was a model, what did they expect? Even so, she was really wishing she had done the adult thing and gone to bed early so that she didn't wake up late, have to haphazardly throw on her clothes and somehow manage to tame the beast that was her hair. The only benefit she had was that even haphazardly thrown together, a hungover mess, she was still presentable that it wouldn't create more work for the makeup and hair people to deal with. At least she was considerate when she did her skin and hair care.

With her bag slung over her shoulder, she quickly locked the apartment up, picked up her heels and ran barefoot down the hallway straight to the elevator...because why take the stairs when there was such a thing as an elevator? It was only the second floor, not a far drop whatsoever. What could possibly go wrong?

The door opened and she stepped in, leaning up against the elevator wall so that she could pull on her heels without tipping over. She smoothed down her skirt and pulled her shirt down, adjusting here and there to make sure she looked a little more put together than what she had before. Luckily she was alone. The door was just about to close, when a hand came out of nowhere and stopped them so that the body attached could make it through. 

Immediately, Adrian regretted her decisions of last night far more than she thought she ever would. She swallowed hard and folded her hands in front of her, stepping to the side of the elevator so that they didn't end up right on top of each other. Although, she didn't think she'd have minded one little bit if they had. Her eyes remained straight forward, but she could make him out in her peripheral vision and had her completely distracted.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Gabriel shouldn't have spent the night at Brody's apartment. He was late for work and he still needed to get home to get his things. And the hangover he had. Brody needed to stop feeding him alcohol until he passed out. The man could drink Gabriel under the table, the power suppressor really didn't know why in the world he always tried to contest that.

The elevator doors were closing just as he left the apartment but he managed to squeeze in at the last minute, apologising to the person in it for delaying them. He didn't really notice the person as he stood by the door and it would have been a creeper move if he had turned around to look at them.

It was just two floors down and he wouldn't have to see them again. Until the elevator screeched to a halt and the lights flickered off. "What the hell?" He grabbed on to the first thing he could reach just as the lights flickered back on.

Expecting the elevator to start moving, Gabriel looked up to see that the numbers on the board weren't lit up. "No...oh no no no." He started pressing the buttons but nothing worked.

They were stuck.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna would have been completely okay if the ride down had just gone fast, two floors! That was all! With her hands gripping her bag, she did her best not to look around too much. Just two floors and then she'd be off to work, never seeing this gorgeous guy ever again because she knew that a guy like him didn't slum it in Libby Creek. He was probably right off a one night stand or leaving his girlfriend's house to go back to his fancy place. Or maybe it was his sickly aunt. Brother? Whatever it was, she knew she'd never see him again. There was simply no way she got that lucky and she typically wasn't the one who she'd call lucky in a situation like this.

After he settled in beside her, she took a deep breath and waited for the elevator to begin moving. Except this little thing happened....where the elevator was moving...and then it didn't. The lights flickered and the elevator halted, causing her to reach out and steady herself on the bar beside her. No. This was bad. This was very very bad. Her eyes widened and she glanced around. Fuck! The lights flicked back on and she waited and hoped. She was going to miss the photoshoot. "C'mon," she whispered while the man who shared the elevator with her pressed buttons and freaked out as much as she was.

"Fucking really?" Adrianna groaned and ran her hand through her ponytail. She dropped her bag and glanced around, there had to be something. A reset button? A camera? A call button of some sort? She had to get out of here or she was going to lose this job. Adrian paid no mind to the guy any longer, she had more pressing matters. "Call button, call button. C'mon! There has to be one..."

[Gabriel Mendes]

He was kind of glad he wasn't the only one freaking out in the elevator. He just thanked whatever entity out there that he wasn't claustrophobic. Just really late for work.

As the girl started looking around for a call button, Gabriel slipped his phone out to see whether there was a signal but of course, there wasn't. What was it about elevators and cell phone signals?

"Do you have a signal?" He finally acknowledged the other person, turning around and actually looking at her. He may have done a double take. He may have realised that he was stuck with someone who looked like a model. He may have thanked whatever entity out there that he was in the situation he was in.

He may also be staring.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna hadn't even thought of her cellphone until he mentioned having a signal. She dropped down to her bag and pulled out the phone she had resting on top. She knew before she pressed the side button that she wouldn't have any luck. She hoped so much that she could at least access snapchat to sneak a picture of this heartthrob beside her to show Cassie and Dani and Robbie and all of the other people she knew. They wouldn't believe her if she just tried to describe him and she definitely wouldn't do it justice. Just as she suspected, there was nothing. No service. They really were stuck.

"No such luck," She frowned and stood up, dropping her phone back into her bag. Adrian chewed on her lower lip and leaned back against the elevator wall. This was a problem. A huge problem. Alright...not a huge problem, seeing as she was at least sharing company with a gorgeous guy who wasn't completely disgusting.

Adrianna looked up at him, realizing that he was still looking at her and she offered a smile as she outstretched her hand, "I'm Adrianna." Hey if she was going to be stuck in here for God knew how long, she was most definitely going to at least learn his name.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Sighing when the girl responded in the negative, Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. When she introduced herself, Gabriel looked down at her hand before shaking his head. He might as well make the most of the situation. Reaching his hand out to grasp at hers, he gave it a gentle shake.

"Gabriel." He smiled, letting his hold linger before pulling away. "Shouldn't have taken the elevator to go down four flights of stairs." He chuckled before turning back to the buttons and tried to press the call button. When all he got was static, he punched it lightly and backed up to the wall and slid down to sit.

"One absence won't get me fired, right?" He joked, wiping his hand on his pants as he looked up at the girl.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna watched him run his hand through his hair before looking away quickly. Being shut in a confined space with a beautiful guy was usually not the worst thing. In fact, it could pose for some great sex. But she wasn't going to just jump his bones right then and there because it was 1) inappropriate upon first meeting and 2) she wasn't a total whore. She liked to know at least a little about a guy before she tried to get into his pants. Names were at the very least necessary. She wanted to know what she'd be screaming and 'Random Elevator Guy' just didn't have the best ring to it.

He took her hand and as soon as she made contact with his skin, she had this weird feeling. No, not the type of feeling in sappy romance novels that describe some cliche connection. It was something triggering her ability, but when she looked at him, there was no aura. She got no sense of an ability from him, but she didn't quite have the same feeling that he was normal either. She dismissed the feeling though and focused more on the way his lips formed his name. Gabriel, fitting for such a angel-like beauty as himself.

Gabriel's hand left hers and the feeling went with it, still leaving her a little confused and disoriented, though she truly believed it could just have been from the way he touched her and her slow processing mind. "I was thinking the exact same thing," She sighed and opted to sit beside him. What else was she going to do? The heels were killing her and she didn't know how long they'd be stuck. "I think you'll be okay though. One absence in any kind of desk job usually isn't anything to worry about. I bet you own some big business or something right? You just have that classy business guy look to you." And it was so attractive.

"I think I'm pretty much screwed though. No show means being replaced and no pay," Adrianna sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. She wondered which of the other models would get her shoot. She had really screwed herself this time. If her mother found out, there would be a lecture just waiting.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Unaware of the thoughts going through his new companion's mind, Gabriel had his own thoughts of the situation. He didn't like it. Sure, it was a Godsend that he wasn't claustrophobic and yes, a major bonus he was stuck with someone who looked like the stepped off a Victoria's Secret catalogue but he still didn't like it.

When they shook hands, a tingling sensation ran up Gabriel's arm and he then realised that she was a mutant. His smile widened and he pulled back to lean against the wall of the elevator again. He chuckled when she guessed he was a business owner. "Ah, no, that would be my dad." He responded. "Didn't know I could be classy in a t-shirt but thanks."

When she mentioned a show, it could have meant a lot of things but model was still number one of things she could be. "Show?" He asked before just asking outright. "Are you a model?"

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna narrowed her eyes and laughed, "It's not what you're wearing so much as it's just the way you hold yourself. Perhaps it's the emittance of confidence I get from you. Your body language says class and poise, even in just a t-shirt." She'd always paid much more attention to the way someone walked, spoke, used hand gestures than just the way someone dressed. Clearly they'd both caught each other on a rough morning, so who was to say that he normally wore what he was wearing (normal-looking as it was) every day? Adrian didn't usually like wearing her hair up, she didn't like not having time for her morning routine, but the morning had caught her off guard. If he was going to get anything from her, it would be from her body language and the way she spoke. Not how she looked, at least, in her mind.

His guess had been spot on and she was a bit shocked by how correct he was. He didn't know anything about her, other than that she'd said show. She could have been a singer, an actress, dancing in a ballet or play. Yet his immediate thought was model. Was she coming off stereotypical? Did she sound dumb? Adrian smiled, her insecurities smashed and jammed into a box for the distant corner of her mind, "I didn't realize I was meeting a psychic. Fancy trick you've got there." She laughed and nodded, "I am a model, yes. Amateur though, not quite top model status, more like catalog." Which was nowhere near what she wanted to be, especially with as old as she was getting for the model world.

"How about you? I was wrong about the businessman thing. What is it that you do, Gabriel?" The sound of his name coming from her own lips wasn't as pleasing to her ears, but saying it had been much nicer. Typically she didn't waste much time on details with perfect strangers and although they were stuck in an elevator for an unpredictable amount of time, she knew she didn't have to now. It passed the time though and he seemed fairly interesting. Enough to keep her short attention span occupied for the time being anyway.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Gabriel had never really seen himself in the corporate world. Though he did sit at a desk when he was doing paperwork, he wasn't chained to it. His current job gave him the freedom to move and because Gabriel was a physically active person, it did him good not being a paper pusher. But he did like the idea that his confidence was apparent.

"Sounds like you know a lot about body language." He gave her a playful smirk before chuckling when she confirmed his guess. "Oh it's a shame." Gabriel's smirk softened slightly as he kept his lecherous thoughts to himself.

The question had him shrugging, seeing as she was a mutant, there wasn't really a big risk to telling her what he did. "I'm a recruiter at Bellefonte Academy. Which I can only assume you went? I'm no psychic but I do know a fellow mutant when I touch one." He paused to consider the phrasing he used and an embarrassed grin spread across his lips. "I mean...my abilities picked up on yours when we shook hands."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna was so thrilled that she was not the girl to easily blush, she'd trained herself early on not to let a few words fluster her and although she did feel a little quickening in her heart rate, she was otherwise unfazed. "I do. I study body language in any and every situation," She smirked back and angled her body more towards him as she spoke. It was one thing to pass sidelong remarks and looks when making small talk, but small talk wouldn't last if they were stuck in here long. If she was going to be here a while, she figured she might as well give her full undivided attention to the conversation rather than what horrible, stuck-up priss had taken her spot in the shoot.

His occupation she had not seen coming from a mile away. The way he knew that she was a mutant and she still couldn't get any read on him. But that was what gave it away. She remembered learning in class that certain abilities would clash with hers. Shields of sorts, other power mimics and what he was. A suppressor. That explained the off feeling that she had when their hands connected. She'd never been around a suppressor before, not for training or anything, so she hadn't known what the trigger would have been like. "A recruiter? That's amazing, I bet you've traveled the entire country, huh?"

Adrianna was stunned though. How had he gone to Bellefonte and she didn't even recognize him? Adrianna had known everyone practically, even if it wasn't person to person, she knew names and his didn't ring a bell. With a face like that, she couldn't possibly have forgotten him. "I did attend Bellefonte, yeah. Long time ago though," Which wasn't a total lie. In Adrian's world, a year was a long time. And it had been four for her which might as well have been a lifetime. "You're a suppressor aren't you? When you touched my hand, I felt something but...I couldn't put my finger on it. It was just at the tip of my tongue." His embarrassing use of words didn't bother her, in fact it only fueled what she was already thinking and she tried not to make him feel too uncomfortable in her response.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Smiling in response to her turning herself towards him, Gabriel nodded, ducking his head momentarily. It didn't really take an expert to realise that she was interested.

Her surprise at finding out he was a recruiter was met with a smile, though he did feel bad that he hadn't ever seen her before. How she had slipped through his friendliness was every bit as surprising as him turning out to not be a businessman.

"Yeah, I guess I have. Although I don't recall if I've gone to Milwaukee or not. If I have, it must have slipped my mind." He shrugged.

When she pinpointed his exact ability, he smiled and nodded. "Power mimic? Or detector?" He asked. His ability to pick up powers was a latent addition to his suppression. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. When it did, he sometimes couldn't even name the ability.

"Bellefonte isn't that big, I can't believe I've never seen you before. Were you a transfer from the Canadian school?"

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna laughed at the information he gave. She envied him, traveling the world was something she was craving to do. Her mother had done it, gone all around Europe for dance competitions, all around the US even. The stories she had fascinated Adrian and only made her wanderlust that much stronger. As a model, she hoped she would get the chance to do just that, but as long as she was strictly catalog in the small town of Kalispell and the state of Montana, she knew she was stuck in this spot. If she could just find a way to break out and become an upscale model, she'd be out of this town in a second. Or rather, she thought she would. "It must be fascinating, I've only ever been here and Oceanside, California which is where I was born."

Her smirk widened, "Both. I'm a sensor and a mimic. So to say the least, you threw me off of my game a bit." She laughed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. The truth was, she'd been quite the little nerd at Bellefonte before growing into what she looked like now. She'd made it a point to know everything about every ability that they had on record. She wanted to know what she was getting herself into with whatever ability she decided to mimic. Suppression was the one ability that she knew she couldn't mimic and it was so strange feeling it in her mental fingertips, but not being able to hold onto it.

"Nope, I've been at Kalispell the entirety of my mutant schooling. I look a bit different now, contact lenses and clear skin," Adrianna laughed and shuddered. "Those were some dark times. I can't imagine not seeing you around though, I imagine you didn't just magically sprout the way I did," Adrian laughed again. Because it would take a lot of sprouting for him if that were the case. He was so damn muscular, there was no way that kind of definition happened over night.

[Gabriel Mendes]

Unlike his sisters growing up, it always excited him whenever they went on vacation. He had managed to keep his child-like sense of wonder even until now. Though admittedly, as a job, traveling wasn't so much fun as it was when he could just relax and take in the sights. Most of the places he went to on recruitment missions were dull and he didn't really gain much experience. But it did mean he didn't have to sit behind a desk the whole day so, win.

Raising both his eyebrows in surprise when his assumptions were right, he nodded at her powers and then the revelation that she had been at Kalispell the entire time. It still blew his mind that he didn't know her.

"Oh a little bit of acne isn't that bad." He chuckled. He had his awkward phase as well, that much he was willing to admit. Adrianna's remark about him made him smirk a little. He wasn't imagining it now, she actually was flirting with him.

"No, these took hard work." He held his arms up and flexed them a little. "Some others, I was just blessed with." He may have looked and sounded like a douche but he did work hard on his body. She seemed to appreciate it at least. "I'm sorry, I have to say this but you're really beautiful."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna had never been picked on for what she looked like as a preteen. In fact, she had kept under the radar with Cassidy until she started realizing that it wasn't where she belonged. She had been a dancer, she was in good shape, her eye sight was poor and her skin maybe wasn't the clearest, but she had ways of fixing that. The glasses had been in her life up until she could afford contacts on her own because she hated asking her parents to pay for them when they had already bought her glasses, but she had worked hard on her skin care, using Pinterest for remedies and cleaning up her diet to take the oily foods out. Adrian had done a number on her looks, changed up her mediocre wardrobe and shortly became quite the popular hottie.

"I agree, it's only natural, but it was most definitely a pain." Okay, so she might have been attempting to casually flirt with him. Who could blame her though? He was tall, legs for days, his arms were kind of distractingly huge and that didn't even touch on his face. If she had gotten stuck with anyone else, she didn't think she'd have relaxed as easily and accepted that there was no getting out. She might have actually tried to rip the door open to make it to her job, but she didn't have to. He was more than keeping her interested and distracted from the fact that she was not making any money.

As he flexed, her eyes traveled over each indent and cord of muscle in his arms. Yeah, she definitely had no complaints. Adrianna smiled and tilted her head appreciatively, "I would definitely say so. You seem well-sculpted. What's your exercise of choice?" Lifting obviously, but she wondered if he always pumped iron or if he channeled other ways of shaping himself as he was. She'd always been fascinated by exercise, especially with her dad being a personal trainer. She had done her fair share of lifting.

She had been so engulfed in her own thoughts that his comment took her off guard. Adrianna knew she was attractive, she had built a career out of being beautiful, but she had her insecurities as everybody did, so she didn't mind hearing it said out loud by an equally, if not more, attractive stranger. She smiled wide and yet felt something odd happening, a flush of heat rushing up her neck to her cheeks. Adrianna Carstyn did not blush. Ever. She'd trained herself not to, and yet, here she was, red as a tomato. "More like hot mess right now," She laughed and ducked her head, "But thanks." She cleared her throat and looked up at him, attempting and regaining that confidence she was known for, "And if I may say so, you're kind of gorgeous. Like wow."