the Ad
Scott always started his day with a cup of tea, milk and sugar blending into the dark liquid until it reached the perfect ratio for him to enjoy. Usually he made it in the comfort of his own apartment but today he found himself a block down the street inside the foyer of a new cafe that had been under construction for the past few weeks. It was warm inside and filled with a quiet hum of coffee machines and light chatter from the few patrons sitting at the metal round tables. He admired the stone working of the walls as he placed his order, tea and an apple cinnamon muffin, not his usual cuisine but he was trying to be more open with the new year. He took the treat wrapped in wax paper and settled down at one of the small tables that dotted the establishment, producing a newspaper from his tote bag.
A few years ago if someone told him that he would be relaxing and having breakfast in a New York cafe he would have laughed in their face and walked away still laughing. That's the thing about growth, you have no idea how far you've come until you look back and see the distance you've traveled. A big city like this was far from his comfortable home on the southern outskirts of North Carolina but that's what made it so fun.
He flipped through to the funnies and scanned his eyes over the panels and quietly chuckled to himself.
“Oh garfield you fat fucker”
He took a sip from his cup and flinched as the taste buds were burned away, an annoyed humm leaving his lips.
“Good to know the machines work”
He folded the page and browsed over the remaining bits, beetle bailey honestly didn't do it for him.
He sat the cup aside for the time being and went for the muffin hoping it would calm his tongue. He absentmindedly scratched his nose as he munched away, the beads of the two bracelets on his left arm clicking quietly. It was a calm day, the city itself seeming to fall into a white noise hum as patrons came and went, signaled only by the ringing of the bell above the glass framed door. The rest of the paper honestly held no importance to him but he found his eyes drawn to a small help wanted ad in the classifieds.
‘HOUSEKEEPER/CHEF NEEDED,
Rigorous screening must be done before any applicant is considered, this institution is dedicated to keeping its staff and students safe-’
His eyes skimmed the rest of the ad and his eyebrows jumped with a ‘hm’ as he read farther along. The address listed was the Xavier institute for higher learning, the mutant school in Salem center. He had a great respect for the school and its inhabitants, normal people prosecuted for something they couldn't control, politicians debating if they should even be allowed to live. He folded the newspaper to have the ad facing outward and pulled his phone out the the leg pocket of his carpenter jeans. His lips twitched in a fond smile at the lock screen image of one of his beloved cats as he opened the phone, adding the number into his contact list so he'd be able to call once he got back home.
With a sigh and a pat on his thighs he rose from the chair and gathered up the newspaper and the wrapper from the muffin, depositing both into the recycling bin before shouldering his bag and taking the tea to go. Even after 30 minutes the tea was still too scalding to even consider drinking it, so it found itself tossed into a public trash can as the man leisurely continued on his way down the block.
He reached his apartment complex with no issue, giving the doorman a greeting before taking the elevator up to his sixth floor apartment. Once inside he sat his keys in the glass bowl on the counter and his hoodie was draped over the back of a kitchen chair. He got a pad and pen and sat down at the table, pulling out his phone and scrolling down to the new number.
“Alrighty could be the big break”
He hit the call button and the line began to ring.
“Xavier institute for higher learning, professor Xavier speaking”
Hi, how you doing this morning? My name’s Scott hammonds i'm calling about the newspaper ad?”
There was a brief beat of silence.
“Is this a serious inquiry?”
Scotts brow furrowed .
“Yes i assure you i'm being serious”
He blinked rapidly as an odd feeling flashed through his head for a moment , leaving just as quick as it came.
“My apologies, the past few calls pertaining to our ad has seem to attract those of poor character”
The call ended about twenty minutes later with confirmation that he would be going to another cafe to meet with an employee from the mansion, a ‘colossus’ , which he assumed was some kind of codename, for brunch and to go over some paperwork regarding background checks and all the usual stuff. With that over he had nothing else planned for the rest of the day and retired to the couch with a box filled with a deconstructed raccoon skull. Euro taxidermy had been a hobby of his since he was in his early teens, almost every space in his small home decorated with the remains of various flora and fauna.
The sun hung high in the sky and slowly began to make its descent behind the horizon, scott had finished up the skull and turned to the steaming crock pot on the counter, loading up his plate before turning to the couch and turning on the tv, setting it to the news.
He took a bite of the pot roast, cooked to fall apart, watching as the anchors talked amongst themselves over the weather.
“It may look like rain steven but something bigger seems to be on the horizon, ladies and gentlemen today finally ended the manhunt for the fugitive mutant calling himself ‘deadpool’ , the man will not be charged for his crimes due to his actions uncovering a secret ring of peadophillia in the mutant orphanage agency, more on this story at 11”
The screen was filled with a brief photograph of dead pool and his team,’xforce’ , as he had publicized it.
The red and black outfit was hard to miss and he studied the others with him, two younger girls, one very edgy in looks with the other being very flashy, a big smile on her face and she clung to the arm of the grumpy one. Beside Deadpool was an older man who looked like he would rather be anywhere but there, an arm that glinted with metal resting on the butt of a large gun. Behind all of them towered an extremely built man with his arms crossed, expression firm,but what caught Scotts eye was the fact that his entire body seemed to be made of metal. Scott leaned closer to inspect but the picture changed and the news continued on.
He turned in early that night, alarm set for 9 oclock the next morning and he drifted off, wondering how the day would end up transpiring. Over the phone he had only given his name and messaged his information so that a background check could be run, he understood the precaution especially with what he had just heard on the news.
Morning came with the shrill beeping of his alarm and he rolled over to silence it so he could lay there and collect his thoughts. He heaved himself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom starting up a shower and gathering up something to wear.
He didn't want to go to classy and show up in a suit but since it was a simple lunch he decided on fitting jeans and a nice button up tucked into them. He continued about his morning with a light breakfast of toast and read through a mycology textbook until 10:30 rolled around. The cafe was a twenty minute walk and if he timed everything correctly he would get there just a few minutes before the set time of 11 oclock.
His hair was gathered back into a tight braid and slicked with bear grease, a silk scarf adorning his head and keeping his beloved locks out of view. He had started to cover his hair a few years back, following the beliefs of his tribe that your hair is your most sacred possession and that not just anyone should have contact with it. Most did the traditional braids but he stepped it up by covering it all with the scarf, he had to much going on for someones energy to go and fuck it all up.
The sun was out today more than it was yesterday, no clouds blocking it, leaving him a nice warm pathway down the street as he waited at the crossing.
The cafe was in sight now and he took a deep breath to collect himself before he stepped into the establishment. He scanned the crowd with furrowed brows.
“Hell be hard to miss”
Those words were the only description he was given of the man, Colossus, who would be deciding if he'd be employed or not. It was in that moment thats scott saw him. He was seated in the back corner, away from prying eyes save for the tiny handful of customers giving him shocked looks. He was getting these looks because he was the metal man from the news last night. He looked big in the picture but good god.
Scott took another breath and adjusted his glasses before striding over.
“Excuse me?”
The man turned his head and Scott shrank back slightly at the intenseness of his milk white eyes. He had a gause patched tapped above his brow , looking a bit haggard in all honesty.
“Uhm colossus right? I'm here about the interview”
His gaze immediately softened and he gave a polite smile.
“Da scott yes?
Scott gave his own smile
“Yes sir”
“Wonderfull, please take seat”
He did just that, hanging his tote bag off the back of the chair before sitting down and scooting his chair in.
“Professor tells me you have experience with this type of job, would you tell me about yourself?”
“Well my name is scott, i've lived here for only about a year now, uhm i took culinary all through highschool and worked several restaurant jobs, one of which i was trained under a french chef who taught me a good chunk of what i know now. I took care of my mother and my 5 little brothers and sister for pretty much my whole life back home so messes of all kinds don't bother me at all, including little ones with attitudes”
They shared a chuckle over that and Scott truly felt at ease, this man radiated comfort, someone you could trust to watch your drink.
“So you are hard worker”
“Yessir, aint been a day in my life where i wasn't working, used to be a farmhand”
That statement intrigued the other who leaned forward a bit.
“You work on farm before?”
Scott smiled and nodded.
“Yes, dealin wit the cows and horses, I was training to be a barrel racer ,you heard of that?”
“Yes american rodeo, very interesting”
“Gah it is on tv but the training is terrible, i always smelled like hay no matter what, like it was ingrained into my skin”
He laughed and colossus smiled before reaching into his own messenger bag and retrieving a small stapled pile of paperwork.
“This is application, your background was clean save for something from teenage years”
Scott felt his face heat up.
“Oh god you saw those, i swear im a great person that was just a product of the environment”
Colossus waved away his worry.
“Is fine, we all make mistakes when young”
Scott felt relaxed, this was not what he was expecting at all, he'd be genuinely surprised if this didn't work out.
The paperwork was simple things about employment history and the usual hooblah, a few questions basing around mutants scattered through.
“You can fill that out tonight, tomorrow you can come visit mansion to drop off paperwork, will give you tour”
“That sounds good, let me write my number down for you, just a sec”
He placed the paperwork carefully into his bag and pulled out a notepad and pen.
He scribbled it down and exchanged it with the scrap of paper containing the mansion address that colossus handed to him.
“Now you guys aren't too strict on appearance are you? I'm covered now but i've got lots of tattoos and as you can see piercings, i swear it dont affect my work”
Colossus was gathering his own things into his bag.
“Appearances are something we do not judge , you are welcome no matter looks”
Scott let out a mental sigh of relief.
They chatted some and ordered their lunches to go as Colossus's phone had begun to ring several times in a row.
He groaned when he read the caller id and raised the phone to his ear.
“Wade, i am working”
Scott could somewhat pick up on the excited chatter through the receiver and couldn't help a giggle. Five minutes passed of a rather annoyed colossus silently listening to the never ending stream of chattering coming from the other side of the line.
“My apologies”
Scott waved his concern away with a laugh.
“Trust me i've been there way to many times”
The conversation finally ended and Colossus let out a heavy sigh as he pocketed the phone.
“I must go now, apologies again”
“It's fine, honestly, so I'll be seeing you tomorrow. What time?”
“12 would be best, mansion is bit empty then”
He nodded and rose from his chair, shouldering his bag.
Colossus stood and Scott had to take a small step back, looking up slightly to continue the conversation.
“Now i didn't get your name, i mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want-”
“Piotr, colossus is codename”
They both paid their tab and walked out onto the busy street .
“Well it was lovely meeting you Pitor, i'll be seeing you then”
“You as well scott, i look forward to working with you”
With a smile Scott waved goodbye and turned away making his way back towards his apartment.
He sank into his couch with a pen and the packet resting on his knees.
“Good with kids .yep. don't mind extreme messes. Oh yeah”
He checked off as he went prattling on aloud to himself.
“Self defense training?”
He wasnt ripped but he wasnt scrawny either, his petite frame had a small amount of muscles from his labors chores and he had plenty of experience fighting in the renaissance festivals.
“Weapons training?...i wonder if i can put broadsword and bows”
He did just that and finished up the remainder of the application.
“I've got this in the bag”
He stated aloud and walked into his bedroom, changing into a tank top and shorts before returning to his living room and starting a stretch routine. He tried to workout at least once a day everyday, thirty minutes at the least.
As he was doing a plank the phone beside him chimed with a text.
‘Scott?’
He replied to the message.
‘Yep. Piotr?’
‘Yes’
He saved the contact into his phone and continued on with his workout with the tv going for white noise.