Making Changes | HarriBeau
Tagging: Remy LeBeau & Cole Harris Location: Thai Blossom; Midtown Manhattan, NY Time Frame: Evening, Tues. Sept. 15, 2015 General Notes: Remy and Cole hang out
Remy walked into the bustling restaurant, scanning the room for Cole’s face. He put his hand in his pocket, about to text him when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Oh hey, I was just about to text you” he chuckled. “This place looks pretty busy, huh? I guess the food must be good!”. Walking up to the Maitre D, he asked for a table. “So how have you been man?” he asked, taking a seat at the table. “I missed the last part of the block party. I think that last taco did me in” he laughed, rubbing his stomach. “How’s your sister? I didn’t get a chance to say hi.”
Cole sat down at one of the chairs between the entrance and the host’s podium, eyes on his phone as he reviewed some show prep notes and his meeting itinerary for work the next morning. Although the day wouldn’t be a long one tomorrow, he still knew that he would be waking up in the middle of the night, so he’d made a point to keep dinner somewhat early. Every so often, he glanced up to make sure he hadn’t missed Remy come in and when the taller of the two arrived, Cole stood up and pocketed his phone. Upon noticing that he hadn’t seen him, Cole placed his hand on Remy’s shoulder with a simple, “Hey,” and cast a light smirk. He looked about the bustle of the mostly full restaurant and nodded, “I’ve gotten takeout here a few times and I’d say the crowd is completely warranted.” As they were shown to the table, Cole said, “I’ve been doing well--seems like I’ve been doing a lot of catching up with people from high school lately but it’s nice to see some familiar faces.” His head shook as he sat down, “Oh I’ve been staying away from Mexican food lately to be honest but there was a lot of great food at the block party, for sure.” He picked up the menu while saying, “Cot’s doing alright. She’s actually staying at mine and Pietro’s place for the week, avoiding some issues with her roommate, but other than that she’s been doing well. What about you, how have you been? To be honest, I was surprised to hear from you at all.”
Remy was never really keen on leaving the comfort of his home, but he felt he needed some time with an old friend to unwind. He turned off his phone so prevent any interruptions and placed it back in his pocket. “Good to know” Remy said smiling, immediately getting excited at the prospect of eating delicious food. “Yeah me too. Crazy how everyone just kinda popped outta the woodwork right? It’s good to see them though. It’s always nice to hear that your old friends are doing well and are nearby” he smiled faintly. He really did like that his old friends had come back into his life, but a part of him wishes they’d bumped into him at a happier time in his life. He didn’t want to them to think that he had become a hermit and was out of touch with the outside world apart from work, despite it being true. He wanted to be remembered as the happy go lucky person they grew up with. This was his first step into getting that image back. “Smart move man, I underestimated that ghost pepper in that last one” he frowned, rubbing his belly. Remy scanned the menu, eying the steak with garlic mashed potatoes. “Oh that’s nice. On vacation from Xaviers? Ahh roommate trouble, I was lucky to have bobby as a roommate. We got along really well. I’ve been good, trying to be more social” he laughed, running his hand through his dark locks. Remy fidgeted in his chair, pretending to be engrossed in the menu, avoiding eye contact. “I know, and it’s completely my fault”, he said looking up slowly. “I’ve just been dealing with some personal problems and I just needed to time figure it out. I’m trying to change that now though, and you were the first person that came to mind”.
Cole nodded, “Yeah, there’s a few people I’ve seen around and talked with here and there over the years but some, I haven’t really heard from until recently.” His eyes looked over the menu at the various Thai entrees, settling mentally on a stir fried shrimp and eggplant dish while listening to Remy but he glanced up with a slightly arching brow, “A ghost pepper? Jesus. No wonder you were done after that taco.” His head shook and turned the menu over to choose a wine, knowing that one glass wouldn’t prevent him from getting home safely. He tilted the sleeved paper down to look at Remy while listening to him; Cole hadn’t resisted the outward reaction he’d had at the mention of his old roommate. “Lucky you,” Cole quipped back and while it wasn’t intended to take a shot at Remy, it was more the recollection of less than pleasant memories of his former friend that had been nowhere on his radar for some time until now. “But no, Cot isn’t at Xavier’s anymore. She’s transferred to Parsons School of Design last month. I haven’t met her new roommate but she’d apparently been giving her a hard time about Fashion Week, so Cot’s distancing herself until the event’s over.” His brows furrowed at the explanation Remy offered; to an extent he could understand what he said but at the same time, he had still been puzzled. “Anything you wanna talk about?” seemed the most appropriate response Cole could give. The waitress then came by with glasses of ice water for the each of them and asked if they had been ready to order anything. After responding to Remy’s general absence--finding himself again somewhat surprised to have been thought of first--he let the younger man place his order first, and then asked for the entree he’d eyed and a glass of Pinot Gris. Placing the wine order prompted him to ask Remy, “Are you drinking tonight?”
Remy> laughed “you always were more social than me!”. Still perusing the menu, he decided that red meat out for tonight as he’d had it twice that week and he was watching his cholesterol. He decided on the Pad Thai with chicken and a red thai curry. “Yep..I was feeling daring, it didn’t work out well for me” he grinned. Remy decided on a beer from the back of the menu while he listened to Cole. He sensed the tension over the mention of Bobby and although he was angry over what he did to Jo, he did have to admit, he had been a good roommate. He hadn’t thought about the boy in years and was as good as dead to him, so his name held no weight with Remy. Clearly Cole felt otherwise and Remy made a note not to bring it up again. “Oh? I bet Jubilee loves that. She’ll make her her protege” he laughed. “Yeah it seems stressful for all parties concerned. The designers are freaking out, the models are starving and the place is swarmed with security” he finished. Remy paused, contemplating how he could explain the situation without going into too much detail. He never really opened up to people without them doing so too. For some reason he felt more comfortable when he wasn’t the only one talking. Focusing on just him and especially things that were personal, was uncomfortable for Remy. “I dunno, I guess i’m just in a slump and i’m finding it hard to get back to where I was.” Much to Remy’s relief, the waitress approached them. He gave her his order and waited as Cole did the same. “Yeah, i’ll have whatever you have on tap, thanks”.
Cole gave a shrug with a slight smirk, “Well, I had to be, growing up, so I learned to be. Now, sometimes I just choose to be and sometimes I don’t.” Talking about his sister and Fashion Week, he then replied, “The behind the scenes matters aren’t really the problem for her. She hasn’t gotten to high fashion modeling yet, but rather print modeling and non-profit fashion shows. The issue is her roommate trying to take advantage of Cot having an automatic ‘in’ for Fashion Week’s shows.” He then listened to what Remy said and it hadn’t escaped Cole’s notice that it wasn’t a particularly informative response--vague again. There wasn’t much that Cole could say or do when explanations were being skirted around. It was a deeply ingrained, personal peeve of his, one that he had attempted to have more patience for over the years but still didn’t overall. After the waitress took their order and cleared their menus, he sat back in his seat and quietly thought a little more about what he told Remy just a moment ago about him being more social of a person. After taking a long drink from his ice water, he voiced some of those thoughts. “You know, even though we’ve both been crossing paths with more people from Xavier’s lately, I think that’s one of the unusual adjustments especially, when we’re not still in touch with some, or a lot of them. We all used to at least see each other almost every day but that isn’t the case now.” His shoulders rose and fell, “Still, when we were living at the same school, I didn’t really know anymore about you then than I do now. So I’m not sure what you mean about getting back to where you were.”
Remy listened and nodded, he used to be selectively social too. “Ahhh..I see. That’s a shame. I’ve known a few people like that in the past. They don’t care about you, just what you can do for them. I agree, she should avoid her until its over.” Remy felt uneasy in his chair, Cole was right, he didn’t know much about Remy. Some of that was to do with the FBI but a lot of it had to do with him closing himself off from everyone. Even Jubilee. “Yeahhh” he said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Again, that’s my fault. I guess part of that is my line of work and part of it has to do with how I deal with things. Before Xavier’s I used to deal with change fairly well. I’d move from target to target a lot, different towns in Louisiana, looking for different places to make a profit. People to hustle. Then when I ran to New York, I started making a life here. I made friends, had a girlfriend and everything was good. I didn’t want it to change because I never had that before, so when it did, I didn’t take it well.” Remy paused and sighed quietly, thinking about how he could explain the next part. “You know you used to see me around at school at all the functions and stuff. I rarely missed one. Now..” his voice trailed off. “Now my neighbors are lucky if they see me ya know? When Jubilee and I graduated, we made our decision to split and I figured i’d be fine with it. I took my time consuming job at the FBI and we both did our own thing. So my social life tanked and my work life excelled until I hit a bump a few weeks ago. I guess what I really need is balance? I don’t know. I think i’m just rambling now, sorry to burden you” he laughed it off.
Cole nodded, “It seems like it. Granted, they’ve only been roommates for a few weeks now but it’s the impression she’s giving Cot.” He listened to Remy’s explanation; hustling and networking did typically require some sort of social interaction, even if the connections made were shallow rather than deep or meaningful ones. Cole understood that and as a socialite and businessman especially, he had exercised it himself. But the more he listened, the more that some questions had come up for Cole. The mention of Remy and Jubilee’s break-up was something Cole only guessed attributed to Remy essentially existing by name only. Thinking on it now, however, Jubilee had only been gone for roughly a year’s time; perhaps the friends he’d made were friends of his from college? Or Xavier’s students Cole wasn’t particularly acquainted with in his time there. He didn’t know and it still didn’t quite add up for him. The waitress returned with Remy’s beer and Cole’s wine with a promise that their food would soon arrive. Cole thanked the woman and slid the wine glass a little closer toward himself. His head shook at Remy’s apology, “Don’t apologize--I asked, and I guess I’m still trying to make sense of things. That’s good you’re looking for some balance in your life though. I mean I don’t know who all you know. I remember you being somewhat social back at Xavier’s but that was years ago. Now, I know that you still know and keep close to Jo and you know Jubilee yet you’re saying your other neighbors barely see you as it is.” His brows were slanted pensively again as he drank some of the wine and when he set the glass down, he said, “I don’t know what your feelings are toward Jubilee now. I’m only assuming you still feel close to her since you’re both living together now. But you’re still close to Jo too after all these years. Mind me asking why...or how you managed keeping close to her, and Jubilee too, I guess, all these years and even this past year, but you seemingly fell out of touch with everyone else you said you made friends with? I mean you know that I’m good friends with the both of them and hell, you and Jubilee dated for most of the time that I’ve known her, so I guess for me it still comes back to me not knowing much of anything about you--not well enough to understand how your life just became: work, Jo and Jubs, unless I’m mistaken there.” After another long drink with his wine now halfway gone, Cole then added, “Turning things around, or finding some balance between a work life and a broader social life wouldn’t be so hard. I can help, probably better than most if it’s what you want, but there’s got to be efforts to make it happen.”
Remy sipped his beer as he thought back to his years at Xavier’s. “I was more social in high school than I am now, that’s for sure. What i’m saying is after high school, most of the people I knew or talked to on occasion, faded out of my life when we graduated. I kind of expected that to happen because we all did our thing and pursued our careers whatever that was. I was friends with these people, but I wasn’t very close to them. Not like I am with Jo and Jubs. Jubs I was close with for obvious reasons and Jo I was close with because honestly she was always with Jubs. Plus we had arrangements in high school of who occupied what room when I was with Jubs and she was with Bobby. Over the years Jo and I got closer and when Jubs left, she was my neighbor but she also always looked out for me. Still does. Her and I have had a lot of conversations over the past about stuff that we don’t really tell anyone and I guess that’s probably one of the main reasons we’re close. Don’t get me wrong, i’ve always considered you a friend, that’s why you came to my mind when I wanted to go out. I just find it easier to really talk about stuff with people who do the same with me ya know? I know with how you grew up, you learned to be guarded, being in the public eye and all. I just have difficulty getting close to people with those walls up.” Remy, now halfway through his pad thai, started spooning the curry into his plate. “No that’s pretty much my life. Like I said I just kinda threw myself into work because it meant I didn’t have to deal with the fact that I was feeling lonely. I didn’t have that problem in college. It was like high school. I saw people, made friends, hung out, but when we graduated we all went our separate ways and that was that. Again, I didn’t expect anything different. The only thing I didn’t see coming was Paris. I guess that’s what changed everything for me.”
“Sure,” Cole said, mostly ceding to the fact that most people lost touch with others after leaving a school. Social media didn’t exactly allow for the same sort of excuses now that once existed, but it wasn’t likely to be or stay close to every single person over the passing years. He was forming his own opinions as to why the same two people Remy had been close to in high school were the same two he’d only been close to now, or remained the only two that he’d mentioned by name since they began this discussion. It wasn’t really in Cole’s interest to grill him; part of him understood the basic practice of being guarded and Remy made it clear he’d understood Cole’s reasons for it. He didn’t know Remy’s reasons, but as it stood, he didn’t really know the man sitting across from him beyond the fact that he once dated his best friend, was currently reliant on his older sister, worked for the government now, and was a foodie like many of the other people Cole knew. Commenting on Remy’s difficulty getting close to others, Cole shifted a bit in his seat to sit up a little straighter, “Well, a lot of people have those walls up--even Jo and Jubs. All three of us did to varying degrees when we first met. I won’t speak on their behalf although I’m sure both of them would tell you that I am not quick to name someone a friend. A lot of rudimentary details about me are already out there as it is with the media and the internet but an adjustment for me was that several people at the Institute didn't already know who I was, so I did start there with some people I became friends with. Jo and Jubs knew after my mother came into conversation, but two large reasons why I did let my guard down enough for them to better know me were because, one, we ended up spending a lot of time together, and two, because through talking with each other over that time, we found out we had common interests. That at least got me interested to get to know them better, and it opened the door for relationships with the two of them that held more depth than sporadic small talk. And things just grew from there.” He’d taken a moment to stop when the food arrived, and after the waitress left again, he’d picked up his fork and continued speaking casually and honestly, “So when I say that I don’t really know you, I’m not expecting you to dive into your whole life story tonight but given the years that I’ve known of you, by now, knowing something basic about you doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. Even if Paris hadn’t happened for Jubilee, that’s one of six years and if someone asked me, I couldn’t tell them what your favorite color is, or what you like to down when you have down time, you know?” His shoulders rose and fell and after he took a bite of his food, added, “So...let’s start there. If you want to know mine: blue and black, and reading, playing piano and watching movies.”
Remy thought about how most people he knew were guarded. "I guess part of the reason most of us are guarded are because we're mutants and we aren't widely accepted yet. I mean, even before I was a mutant I was guarded but that was more of a result of having to look over my shoulder all the time. People had a harder time tracking the person who conned them when they didn't know much about them. It was safer for me that way and I guess old habits are hard to break." He shrugged and sipped his beer. "I really don't pay attention to celebrity media. It's like that gossip blog in high school. People will say anything to get attention" he rolled his eyes. Remy smiled at Cole's attempt to get to know his interests. "Mine are black and red, watching Netflix and writing code" he chuckled. "Most people don't know that much about me, i suppose you could guess the coding part. I don't think anyone's ever really cared to ask. Most conversations with people are about work these days. I'd occasionally discuss movies or something if someone tried to get me to go with them. Other than that, it's mostly mundane small talk, which I'm more than happy about because it means I dont have to divulge anything to them. I'm learning now that that did me more harm than good because now I've isolated myself."
While he’d already known the reason behind many people being guarded, having had numerous conversations and getting to know old classmates and some of the staff members, Cole thought back about The X Gazette and shrugged. The thing was stupid but it wasn’t necessarily something new that he’d encountered nor had he paid it all that much mind. In some ways, he did equate it to the media and the paparazzi most especially, but after clearing his mouth from another bite, he’d said, “Some say and do what they do because they’re genuinely curious or they know others want to relate to them on some level. Some do just have motives of getting attention though, yeah--tabloids, that gossip blog, fanatics usually aren’t publishing their information to be factual or lend much of a harmless favor to others though. Back then, before any of us had gone to school together, I didn’t say the things I’d said about myself to get attention. It was expected out of association to my mother’s rise in fame and celebrity, so…” Again he’d shrugged and ate some more, all the while listening to what Remy liked to do and the additional information about himself. Occasionally, Cole nodded and drank some more of his wine, nearly finishing it, “It makes sense given your line of work now, and even with conning, which I didn’t know you’d done. You mentioned coding though and that did remind me about the computers class with Dr. Sage. So I guess something like...setting someone up with free cable or Netflix is something you’d be able to do? Or is it more like Photoshop and website coding?”
"I can understand that. The problem is you don't what's made up and what isn't. I think unless you've heard them say it, don't believe it." Remy thought about what Cole had to do to fit the mold of a celebrity mother. "I don't know how you did it. Having to answer questions you don't want to and always having to watch what you say. I give you credit man." As soon as Cole mentioned not knowing about his conning, he froze. Apparently he'd gotten more comfortable with Cole than he expected. "Oh..uh. Yeah let's keep that between us huh? Before I went to to the institute I was a gambler and a thief. I don't talk about it because I'm not proud of it, but I swore to Xavier id stop if I attended the school and I've kept my word ever since. I wanted to make an honest life after that and I guess catching people like me is my way of making up for all the bad I did in the past." Remy looked down as his voiced trailed off. He pushed the remaining food in his plate around with his fork. When Cole mentioned Dr. Sage, Remy smiled. "Dr. Sage, she was a great teacher. Easy on the eyes too" he grinned. "I can do both. But the coding I do is mostly viruses or Trojans I use to gather information. I like to play around with the code in my spare time and try to create different hacking techniques that I can use at work."
Cole listened and cast a mirthless smirk, “I got used to it after a while. I think if I didn’t, I would have back away from the celebrity life altogether, but I’ve got a better handle on it now than I did ten, twelve years ago.” He’d looked up from his plate to Remy as the younger man stilled and for a moment, Cole had done the same, motionless and somewhat expressionless with his eyes remaining fixed. It wasn’t until Remy asked for discretion that Cole moved again, dropping his eyes to his fork as he gathered more food on it. “I don’t think it’s likely to come up in conversation with anyone, but I won’t say anything to anyone about it.” After a light chuckle, he said, “She was, yeah. And now she’s a mom which is kinda crazy to think about. Her and Dr. Grey, actually.” His head shook a bit; he was happy for his former professors, certainly, but it was still strange for him to think of them as parents now. He shrugged his brows, intrigued by what Remy said he was capable of, and how he spent his free time. The waitress came by to check on them and see if either of them wanted refills on their drinks. Cole shook his head, knowing he’d be driving himself home and while he was sure his body’s tolerance for alcohol was a lot higher than what a single glass of wine could do, he wasn’t about to push it. Instead, he asked for the check to be split and let the woman attend to Remy while he finished eating what remained on his plate. In between his final bites, he’d asked Remy, “So when it comes to Netflix, what are you top three recommendations--series or film?”
"Thanks" Remy was grateful for the discretion. His eyes widened, "what?? Wow, I'm getting old" he joked. Remy let the waitress take his plate as he finished off his beer. He too was done with drinking for the night. "I highly recommend Archer, sense 8 and Sherlock. What about you?? I just finished binge watching Archer so I need some suggestions" he smiled. "I'm assuming you have Netflix? Or you want me to get it for you?". Remy liked the turn of the conversation, the light banter and the overall guys night he was having. He was grateful for Cole coming out with him and looked forward to more outings like it. The evening gave Remy encouragement to go out more often. The waitress came back with the bill.Handing the card to her, he turned to Cole and said "I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for hanging out. We should do this more often. Maybe bring Pietro with you next time." He signed the receipt and handed it back to the waitress.
Nodding in response, Cole took one more bite of his food but he’d cast Remy a surprised expression, initially wondering what his shock had been about. But he soon realized that it was about their professors being parents and he chuckled gently, “Welcome to the club. But yeah, I’m surprised they aren’t about to open up a daycare at the Institute although for all we know, it may be coming at this rate.” He mulled over the show recommendations Remy gave, having heard of all of them but actually watched none yet. After another couple of bobs of his head, he said, “I’ll have to keep those in mind. Lately I’ve been watching White Collar, House of Cards and I’ve checked out some episodes of Grace and Frankie, mostly out of my soft spot for Jane Fonda. I tried to watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt but it wasn’t that funny to me, but of the three, I highly recommend White Collar and House of Cards.” Once they received their bills, Cole fished out his debit card and gave it to the woman. While she’d gone to charge them for their meals, he listened to Remy and nodded, “Good to hear, man. Since you’re getting out and about, we can see about hanging out more. I’ll invite Pietro along if you want--see if he’s free to hang out too. Weekends are usually better though, when it comes to getting together in the evenings at least.” The waitress returned and Cole put his card back in his wallet before tipping and signing away on the receipt. He left it on the table and scooted out of his booth seat. On their way out of the restaurant, the elder of the two fished his keys from his pocket and parted ways with Remy with a polite, “Get home safely.”
