New Ride

Posted on Sun Oct 6th, 2024 @ 6:49am by Solveig Kallestad & Jonathan Sinclair
Edited on on Sun Oct 6th, 2024 @ 6:54pm

15,949 words; about a 80 minute read

Mission: Summer's Fading Light
Location: Sedona, Arizona
Timeline: 8/25/2016

A week had passed and after a visit to town and a little help from one of the maintenance staff, Solveig had made the groundskeeper cottage quite comfortable for herself and for Hati. The thousand dollar stipend had really been nothing, but she knew better than to complain. She did have a comfortable amount of money from selling her own car, her mother’s car, and much of what had been owned at the house in Gibbon. It was enough for her planned outing today and a good safety net of savings; she’d never been an extravagant spender. She had made her way down to the garage to wait on Jon to join her. He was being generous with his time and she was quite grateful for the promise of his help in this particular endeavor. Car salesmen always tended to behave better when there was a man present - especially one that had the disposition and physicality Jon had.

She waited by his cars, scrolling idly on her phone as she stood there. She wore a dark grey tunic length sleeveless tank top with a faded white graphic on the front of a twisted feather where bits of it were breaking off and turning into birds and a simple dark wash denim capri. Her shining brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and from her ears dangled silver feather earrings. She looked nice and had even put on a touch of makeup for the outing, deciding looking a little extra nice couldn’t hurt matters.

She was there for only a few moments before the elevator door opened and Jon walked out. He wore dark jeans, clean brown boots, and a white short sleeve shirt with an unbuttoned mandarin collar. When he saw Solveig standing by his vehicles, his eyes flitted over her feminine figure, but no more than what would be tasteful. His face was neutral, but he did purse his lips in a sort of dry greeting.

“Good morning. Are you ready for this adventure?” He asked, making a mild joke without a smile.

“Good morning. As ready as I can be.” She greeted with a warm, gentle smile. “I really appreciate you being willing to come and help.”

“It’s no problem. Someone has to help you get out there, right?” He asked, and then stepped over to the cars. He grinned at her subtly and gestured to the vehicles, remembering her interest last time. “Pick your poison, Sol.”

She looked at his trio of cars thoughtfully and her eyes lingered a little longer on the pristine white Lamborghini with obvious interest, but she remembered his comments about it feeling like a toy to him. She turned to him, that smile still on her lips. “Well, as much as I enjoy riding around in your sin against God and man, I think I’d rather not risk breaking my neck.”

She gestured to the wine colored Escalade instead.

Pressing a button on the key, Jon stepped over and opened the passenger door for her. It was a big SUV, but nothing near the ridiculousness of his Hellfire.

“I was sure you were going to go with the Lambo.”

“Well, you mentioned you weren’t especially comfortable in it.” She offered honestly and took his help getting into the car. “And that you like to take it out on the roads where you can go fast and won’t get arrested. This seems better for a town trip.”

Truth be told, Jon appreciated how thoughtful the woman seemed to be. Most people were thinking about what they wanted on an almost constant basis, but Solveig seemed to genuinely have an interest in having other people get their way. Jon shook his head.

“No, come on. We’ll take the Lambo and go the scenic route.” He said, smiling subtly and handsomely, but not using a tone that invited descent. With his keys, he unlocked the other car.

“Are you sure?” She asked, her pale cheeks actually flushing slightly with color. It was more of a reflexive question than anything though as she was already moving to get out of the Escalade. While she wasn’t short, she really didn’t have a lot of practice navigating tall vehicles so she reached out to steady herself on his shoulder as she awkwardly slid out.

His hand found Solveig’s waist as she slid out of the truck in a similar way it had when he was pretending to be her boyfriend at the airport to ward off the man who had been following her. He removed his hand quickly and put his mind off of it, closing the door behind him and stepping naturally to the passenger side of the Lamborghini and pulling it open.

The white car was pristine and clean, just like his other two, and the inside was just as clean. It had a strong new-car smell that wafted out into the garage as he opened the door. It was low to the ground, so she certainly wouldn’t need help getting inside.

She slid into the low car with ease, all smiles as she looked over the beautifully manicured interior. “It really is a nice car. Is it your newest one, or just the spoiled baby?”

“A good father doesn’t have favorites.” he said with a smile, and closed the door. Walking around to the drivers side, he opened the door and lowered himself into the driver's seat. He had the car modified to fit him better, but his knees still almost made contact with the console. Closing his door, he stuck his key in the ignition and the sports car roared to life. “I’m choosing the music this time though.”

“There was nothing wrong with the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. They were on your Spotify playlists.” She teased him and grinned while she buckled her seatbelt and settled into the mostly comfortable seat.

“I never said there was. But I like to listen to something a bit harder when I drive this baby.” he said, lifting his phone and opening Spotify. He cued up a playlist of rap music hits from the year. The bass kicked in right away, shaking the car and featuring the impressive speaker system. As he put the car in reverse and pulled out of his spot, the sound of the music insisted upon itself in the garage. As he turned around and prepared to take them out, he looked over at Solveig to make sure she was comfortable.

Solveig seemed happy and comfortable in the seat and at the very least unbothered by the music playing. She was looking at the console with the energy of a person who wanted to press all of the buttons, but was behaving themselves. “So what made you get a Lamborghini?”

Jon pulled the car up the ramp to the garage at an unsafe speed, but slowed down as they emerged from the door. A group of students were standing around close to the main entrance talking, and when the car emerged, their attention turned completely to the passing car. Whistles, shouts, and excitement resulted, and Jon beeped his horn before pressing down on the accelerator pedal and gunning it down the driveway.

“I like a little danger in my life every now and then.” he answered with a smile as the car sped and vibrated with the power of the bass. They had to speak up to be heard over the music and the sound of the engine.

She grinned and giggled at the natural thrill of going fast. She noticed the reactions of the students to the car and found it strangely endearing. It was fun to see people excited about something. “Sure, but why this? You barely fit! Too big.”

“That’s out it is in sports cars.” he said with a chuckle as they pulled up to the gate and came to a stop as it slowly opened. “If you want to drive one of the big name fast cars like this and you’re my size, you have to get comfortable with a snug fit. Just a fact of life.”

“So why this over a Ferrari?” She asked, bringing up the natural competitor to the vehicle he had chosen. She turned her head and looked at him, her beautiful clear blue eyes full of curiosity.

“Ferrari’s are all about power and aggression. It makes for a fun ride, but I wanted something a little sexier; something sleek and smooth.” he answered as he pulled up slowly to the state route and looked to the left to make sure its safe. “I plan to get one some day, but I decided I wanted to start with a luxury ride.”

He turned right onto the road and immediately gunned it. The impressive power of the engine sent the vehicle rocketing forward and giving them the impression they were being pinned to their seats. In seconds, he surpassed the speed limit. He chuckled in the driver’s seat, his eyes plastered on the road.

“Woah!” She cried out, a grin on her face that clearly showed her exuberance. It was an adrenaline rush to be sure, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had been in something that went this fast. She began to laugh as the scenery whipped by them and turned her head to look out of the window.

Jon turned up the music loud enough that it would hurt the ears of more sensitive people, but the rumble of the bass and the feel of the car under his control had him in the zone. A pickup truck in front of them was going at a reasonable speed, so he switched to the other lane to pass him. An oncoming minivan made the experience feel particularly dangerous, but he switched back to the proper lane before they collided. He chuckled again and then licked his lips. The adrenaline junky in him was certainly coming out.

There was a natural rush of fear as Jon cut out of the lane and into the path of the minivan; it wasn’t fear for herself however as much as it was for Jon and whoever was in the minivan. She’d survive most anything. When he slid back into the proper lane, she licked her lips while looking out of the windshield and ahead.

“You don’t drive the abomination like this.”

“Don’t talk about my baby that way.” he said, looking over at her with a frown, though his eyes were still smiling. “And when I drive the big one, it’s for a different reason. That one is my rifle; this one is my pistol. Also, I’m not enough of an asshole to do this in traffic.”

“Even the ugly babies deserve love.” She winked at him playfully then looked forward again. “What’s the Escalade then?”

“The Escalade is like a responsible parent. That’s as close to a minivan as I’ll ever get.” he said, and took a turn with ease. The large houses in the mountains close to town were starting to dot the hills beside them and traffic on the route was becoming more frequent. As that happened, Jon slowed the car down to a normal speed. They were approaching beautiful Sedona, and red shone with sunlight everywhere they looked. “So, what kind of ride are you looking for?”

“Affordable, reliable, and has a good amount of cargo space so probably just a small SUV if they have one.” She said and looked around at the beautiful view. Maybe she would get tired of it one day, but it was so different to anything else she had seen in her life.

Jon nodded as they came into town, his eyes cutting to the public high school off the road to their right. As they came to their first stop light, he transitioned into a respectable driver again. Looking over at her, he tapped his leg with his finger lightly, but the sound of the impact was strangely loud, especially as he turned the music down.

“You sure you don’t want a matching Lambo?” he asked.

“Maybe if I win the lotto one day.” She replied, but was distracted by the sound she was hearing and looked down to where he was tapping his leg. He wasn’t hitting his phone or anything else in his pocket that she could see. “What is that noise?”

“Nothing.” he said, stopping the tapping immediately and returning his hand to the wheel as the light turned green and traffic started to flow again. He drove with one hand, generally, but looked much more tightly constricted than he had in the Hellfire jeep. “So, what did you get into when you came to town to get your supplies?”

When he quickly changed the subject from the sound she had been hearing, Solveig blinked and looked at him, confused. “Ah, I went and bought some blinds, a few cookware things I was missing, some gardening supplies, and some incidentals. Carl drove me in.”

“Oh, Carl? Never knew him to drive anybody in before.” He commented, smiling gently but saying nothing more.

“Oh… well he seemed happy enough to do it.” She noted and shrugged, now looking away a bit awkwardly. She still couldn’t get the sound of that drumming out of her head.

“So um… was that you?” She asked and gestured slightly to his leg.

“What?” He asked, kindly enough but clearly not understanding what she meant at first. Then, when he saw her gesture, he understood. “Oh, the tapping? Yeah, I guess. Why?”

“Did it sound like that because of your gift?” She asked, gentle but obviously very curious. She was treading lightly though given his initial reaction.

Jon hadn’t made the connection that anything had been unusual with the tapping at all, but when she asked her second question, he understood why.

“Oh, yeah. My gifts are momentum-based, so any ride in the car, especially a fast one like that, activates it.” He said with a neutral affect, as usual. “Any movement does, really, even walking.”

“What happens, exactly? If you want to share. You don’t have to.” She demurred and gave a sheepish smile. Some people simply didn’t like to talk about their gifts after all; not everyone had a gift that could be considered “good” like her own and she was aware of that.

He pulled the car to a stop at another red light and looked at her more fully. He didn’t seem remotely upset or uncomfortable with the question.

“When I move, on my own power, or for any other reason, my body converts that kinetic energy into a different form. I get stronger and more durable. Even now, after going as fast as we were, I could probably jump across half the city.”

“Oh wow, that sounds amazing!” She smiled with genuine enthusiasm. “Have you ever seen how far you actually can jump?”

He nodded, grinning.

“I’ve seen that a couple times.” He said, calmly, seeming amused by the question. If only she knew. “My record is 35 miles so far.”

“Wow.” She looked at him, obviously genuinely impressed by what he had said. “I’d always wondered what it would feel like to fly like that. I know it isn’t really flying but damned if that isn’t close enough.”

“I could t tell you about the flying that some people can do, but I can tell you it feels a hell of alot like falling.” He said, seeming genuinely warmed by her enthusiasm for what he could do. He hesitated for a second as he started to move the car again with traffic. “If you’re really curious, I could maybe take you on a ride. If you’re brave enough.”

“Really?” Her eyes sparkled excitedly. “I’d love that!”

She didn’t seem to have any fear whatsoever at the prospect that might have been rather daunting.

He licked his lips and nodded then, turning his head away from her a bit to hide how satisfied he seemed to be with her eagerness.

“This is it. Sedona Automotive.” He said, pointing a finger and changing the subject suddenly. He didn’t lack confidence with women or with anyone really, but he was trying to be professional. He also didn’t want to admit that the quiet gardener was growing on him. “We made it.”

Solveig turned her attention from Jon and back out of the window just as they made the turn to pull into the car lot. As the lambo purred, it served as a siren call for the men and few women inside to come out and watch carefully, practically salivating over the car - or perhaps the thought they were going make a sale to someone with a lot of money.

“A bit like vultures, aren’t they?”

“Cars, money, power, and guns.” He listed with a smile as if he had said enough in just that. He pulled the car into a spot on the edge of the parking lot and opened the door and climbed out in a hurry. He moved to her side of the car quickly to avoid her getting out in her own and pulled the door open again. He offered his hand. “And a nice pair of legs tend to do it too.”

“I’m confident this one is very much the car.” She placed her delicate hand in his much larger one when he offered it and gave a warm smile as she slid out of the car with his help. “I’m afraid they are going to be disappointed on the money front… are they playing rock-paper-scissors to see who is coming over here?”

She could very clearly see that they were.

He looked over at the dealers standing at the entrance to the building and shook his head.

“Idiots.” He said, and placed a hand on her back, guiding her forward into step with him. He didn’t force her, and she hadn’t shown any amount of discomfort with him taking the lead, so he did what was most natural to him.

While she didn’t verbally agree, the giggle she let out at his observation strongly hinted at her feelings. She responded to his hand on her back easily and walked with him; the small gesture certainly painted a particular picture of the pair to the salesmen they were walking towards. She smiled and lifted a hand in a little wave. “Good morning.”

A man in his mid to late forties dressed in a sage colored button up shirt and dark blue dress pants stepped out from the group and most of the rest filtered back inside. He put on a big, almost comical grin and closed the distance between himself and the approaching pair.

“Good morning! Welcome to Sedona Automotive. My name is Mike; how can I help you both today?” He asked, his brown eyes moving between Solveig and Jon, but ultimately resting on Jon expectantly.

Jon greeted the much shorter man with excellent posture and a terse frown that perfectly countered Solveig’s friendly smile. He extended his strong right arm, the one with the tribal tattoo sleeve, and grabbed hold of Mike’s hand. He shook it firmly; too firmly, and held on tight.

“How you doin’, Mike?” He asked rhetorically and seriously. “I’m Jon, and this is Solveig.”

“I’m good. I’m good.” Mike replied, hiding a slight grimace though his grin did diminish noticeably. Once he was able to get his hand from Jon’s grip, he turned to shake Solveig’s hand and found her greeting mercifully more gentle. “Can I help you find something or are you just browsing?”

Solveig cleared her throat slightly, still wearing the pleasant smile. “I’m looking for an affordable compact SUV with good cargo space.”

“Ah, alright.” Mike replied slowly, his eyes now flitting from Solveig to Jon back and forth and he was slowly starting to actively look crestfallen. “Did you have one in mind?”

“I ah… actually don’t know too much about cars. Just what I looked up on the internet, but there’s a lot of information there, obviously.” Sol chuckled.

Jon didn’t smile with the two of them, nor did he seem mildly amused by the exchange. For the moment, his arms fell to his sides and he watched Mike’s every move.

“Do you have anything like that here, Mike?”

“Yeah, yeah definitely.” Mike nodded and rallied himself. A sale was a sale after all, and if someone was buying something, he was going to get paid. That wasn’t nothing. “So I think what you’d be looking for is probably going to be like a RAV4, a Sportage, or a Terrain. Luckily we have all three in stock today, oh and a CX-5 if you like Mazdas. Let me just go check where they all are on the lot and I’ll come right back, but why don’t you both come inside, get some water, and have a seat while I do that?”

Mike smiled and gestured toward the building.

Jon nodded and walked after Mike, making sure he didn’t leave Solveig behind. As the sails man opened the door for them, Jon let Solveig go into the dealership before him, and then put his hand on the door himself. He gestured inside.

“Go ahead, Mike.”

“Oh uh, thanks.” Mike blinked and stepped inside after Solveig. “So you guys can just have a seat over there, help yourself to the coffee or tea and there’s bottled water in the fridge.”

With that, he walked off and Solveig turned to Jon, looking up at him. “So… I know they aren’t really your type of car, but do you happen to know anything about any of those that he rattled off?”

“I’m familiar with the companies that make them and some of their practices. I can get on my phone and tell you something about the specific models when we get the manufacturing year and the Kelly Blue Book papers.” He said, sounding sure of himself. Gently, he touched her back in the same place and walked with her over to the seating area. “Coffee?”

“Sure. I like it black but very sweet.” She glanced up at him and pulled out her phone from her pocket. “If it isn’t too much trouble I’d appreciate your advice, honestly. I can read what’s on the internet but I’m sure you understand it way better than I would.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” He said, picking up two of their flimsy styrofoam cups and preparing their coffee, adding sugar only to hers. He returned and handed it to her before lowering himself into the undersized chair. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t cheat you or sell you a lemon.”

“Thank you.” She smiled and took the coffee from him, her soft fingers brushing against his hands. Once he had settled, she sat back and crossed her long legs, picking her phone up with one hand and holding the coffee in the other. “Which should we start with?”

“We can start with the Sportage, I guess.” he said, pulling out his own phone and starting a search of the car. “Their website says they have a 2012. Looks like people are complaining that the air conditioning system makes too much noise. Not a big problem, in general.”

“Yeah, not bad really.” She leaned a bit closer to look at his phone, invading his space but still being respectful of him. “It’s not too bad looking either which is nice.”

“That’s true. Looks like the RAV4 has some oil pressure problems. No offense, but I’m hoping to get at least a few months in before I’m under your car doing some major surgery, so I don’t like the look of that.” he said, shifting his phone over a bit so they could both see it easily. They were close, and the smell of his modest, woody cologne and her shampoo mixed complementarity.

“And I thought you were a car guy.” She teased, briefly looking from his phone and up to his eyes with that warm smile. It probably came as very little surprise that Solveig had a mild scent of jasmine and coconut.

“I am a car guy, but that doesn’t mean I want you to buy a clunker just so that I can entertain myself.” he said, grinning and looking into her stunning blue eyes. His brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight streaming in through the large glass windows and he wet his full lower lip with his tongue as he chuckled. “What’s next? The Terrain or the CX-5?”

“Let’s go with the Terrain.” She nodded, brushing a bit of her pretty brown hair behind her ear.

He moved his thumb over his phone and navigated to a different page.

“Looks like the Terrain is good up to 150K miles but the repair costs are higher than other SUV’s of its type. You don't need to worry about that too much.” he said. For him, it was a given that he would be helping her take care of the vehicle, and he didn’t seem to mind it at all. He also hadn’t considered whether or not she would even want help with that.

“Well, I won’t have too much spending money after today, but I’d hope it wouldn’t break down before I’d get more and it wouldn’t be a problem.” She said with a slight chuckle, not seeming to pick up on what he was hinting at with what he had said.

“Don’t worry about it. If that happens we’ll get it taken care of.” he said, and then moved on to the final car the dealer had mentioned. “Most of the issues I see with the 2012 CX-5 has to do with the diesel version, so that doesn’t apply. It’s a bit more expensive to fix than other cars, but all in all, it seems like an okay car.”

“Hmm alright.” Solveig looked over the car as he showed it to her and took a sip of her coffee. “I guess I’ll see what he ends up having, but what order do you think you’d put them in as far as best to worst?”

“I think you should take a close look at them and decide from there. You can’t know if you like a car from googling the model.” He answered. “But I think you should start with the Sportage. I could see you driving that.”

“Sounds good to me. Thank you, Jon.” She said and touched his forearm lightly. It was about this time that Mike wandered over and looked between the two of them.

“Alright so I’ve got someone bringing over the Terrain it was in one of the back lots, but I do have the Sportage and RAV4 ready to go now. The CX-5 is being looked at by someone else. Where would you like to start?”

“The little lady would like to start with the Sportage.” He answered, still grinning a bit from her hand resting on his arm. In his other hand, he held his black coffee, which he brought to his lips and sipped.

“Excellent. Well, if you will both come this way then.” Mike smiled and gestured toward the door. “Though I’ll ask you leave your coffees here, wouldn’t want to risk a spill.”

Solveig stood and moved to pour her coffee out into the small sink by the coffee makers and threw away her cup instead of just leaving it for someone else to do. She wandered back over to Mike and they slowly began to make their way to the door.

“The Sportage is nice, I think you’ll like it. It is decently roomy, but I don’t think your boyfriend will fit in it too comfortably.”

Jon downed the rest of his coffee before he tossed the cup and followed after the two of them. He nudged her gently with his arm, looking at her with his usual serious expression.

“Yeah, how’s your boyfriend going to fit in there?”

Solveig had been about to correct Mike when she felt Jon give her a nudge. She looked over at him, and then a small smile tugged at her lips. “Well, that’s why I was getting a compact suv… he can stretch out in the trunk space… with my cat who he absolutely adores.”

Jon realized that Solveig was innocent enough to mean what she had said literally, but despite the fact he lived at a school, the Navy had prepared him to make everything dirty. He bit his lip and didn’t allow himself to laugh at what she had said.

“That’s very generous of you.” He said as they walked with Mike. He trained his eyes on the car as they approached and it came into view.

She was none the wiser of Jon’s thoughts and simply continued walking after Mike. Her ponytail bounced in an animated fashion behind her, putting in an entertaining, cute display all on its own. They approached the sapphire blue Sportage, and Mike began to immediately rattle off the specs.

“Alright so this is a 2012 Sportage SX. All wheel drive, 60k miles, one owner, no accidents and it had steady and regular maintenance by the Kia dealer until it was sold here. We’ve got some other bells and whistles, but go ahead and take a look inside, hop in, see if you want to take it for a test drive.” He reached out and opened the front door for Solveig and she climbed in. He then looked back at Jon, his eyebrows lifting and clear amusement on his face.

“Did you want to take a look at her trunk?”

“Might be good to see if it's the right size.” Jon said, the shadow of a smile appearing on his lips before almost immediately disappearing. He walked to the back of the car and reached down to pop the trunk. “You’ve got enough room back here for your furry friend.”

He turned to Mike, running his hand over the fabric at the bottom of the trunk.

“What’s the asking price and how did you get there?”

“We’re asking 20k for it which is a steal if I do say so. AWD and the premium interior package with relatively low mileage, you aren’t really going to find better if she likes how it handles.” Mike offered up, speaking with Jon easily but occasionally looking up front through the trunk as Solveig was going through the process of touching everything.

“Mmm. Jon said, looking up at Solveig as well. “How do you like it, Sol? Comfortable?”

“Yeah, it is.” She called back to him and then turned her head to look back and smile. “There’s a lot of buttons!”

“Keys are in the ignition, why don’t you go ahead and start her up?” Mike prompted and she turned to do just that. As the car purred to life, Mike looked at Jon. “So how long have you two been together?”

“Me and her?” Jon asked with a small smile. “We’re not together. I’m just a friend.”

“Oh.” Mike blinked in that awkward way that could only stem from that kind of misunderstanding. “Uh… well, sorry. My mistake.” He cleared his throat and immediately left Jon, moving up to the front driver side and opening the door. He leaned in and grinned at Solveig, but this time there was something different to it.

“So, ready to take her out for a ride?”

Jon walked around to the driver side as well and pushed the door open shamelessly. He crouched down and leaned in, bumping Mike aside slightly in order to get his hand on the lever to pop the hood. When it was done, he moved around to the front of the SUV and lifted the hood. Securing it in place, he leaned in and started inspecting in silence, not seeming to pay much attention to what Solveig and Mike were saying if he could hear them at all.

The sound of the peppy engine with the hood open muffled out most of the conversation, but from the snippets he could hear she was asking a few questions about the car. After a moment, Mike popped his head around and looked at Jon. “She wants to drive it.”

Jon didn’t respond, nor did he indicate that he had even registered the man speak. Instead, he was moving from one part to another and seemed to be listening closely to the engine. After a few more moments, he unlatched the hood and dropped it carefully. He went around to the passenger side door, opened it, and climbed inside. It wasn’t a very snug fit, but it was far from comfortable for him.

“She looks great under the hood.” he said, looking at Solveig.

“Great!” She smiled at him, cheerful and enthusiastic and completely oblivious as Mike sulked and climbed into the back seat behind her. He then brightened though and leaned forward to speak to her over the shoulder of the seat.

“Alright, Solveig. Let’s get you out on the road with her. Go ahead and pull out of that exit there and you’ll get on a road here that you can put her through her paces. The man’s hand came up on the other shoulder side, his fingers threatening to brush against her shoulder as she buckled her seatbelt and reached down to put the car into drive.

Jon caught the man’s proximity to Solveig and even noticed the closeness of his hand to her, and he had to admit he felt a small amount of defensiveness over it. Mike hadn't done anything wrong, but he still felt he didn’t want anyone touching her. Still, she didn't seem uncomfortable yet, so he minded his own business. He buckled his seatbelt and sat back a bit more relaxed than when he had been driving.

Mike too sat back and buckled his seatbelt, effectively cutting his near contact with the woman in the front seat. She drove the Kia easily to the exit and off the lot the man had indicated to her and began down the longer back road. She seemed perfectly competent and comfortable behind the wheel, driving with both hands but confidently moving one off to adjust the AC and crank it up to make sure it was good and cold. She didn’t mind the heat, but they were in a desert and there was a limit to what she was willing to tolerate.

“Glides pretty smooth, doesn’t she?” Mike asked from the back when they were about three minutes into the drive.

“Yeah, it handles really well. A bit firmer of a ride than I’m used to, but I don’t mind it at all.” Solveig replied.

“How do the brake pedal and accelerator feel?” Jon said, looking over at her feet as she drove the vehicle. He stole a quick glance at her legs, but moved on immediately. “Too soft? Too hard? Sluggish?”

“No pretty smooth, honestly.” She replied and briefly glanced over at him but kept her eyes on the road.

“That’s important. I never offer bumpy rides unless that’s what someone is after. Some models you just can’t help it but usually the people looking for those cars know to expect it.” Mike said from the back seat. “Now just up here we’ll be coming out onto the street so you can get a feel of how it moves in traffic. Take a right, then another right at the light and we’ll be back on the lot in a jiffy.”

“Sure.” Solveig said and pressed the accelerator down more to see how the car moved at a higher speed. When they were nearing the end of the road, she let up and smoothly came to a stop at the stop sign.

“It’s pretty peppy.”

“As long as you’re happy.” Jon responded, eyeing Mike in the back seat. He enjoyed the air conditioning as usual, but his eyes went to the console in front of them. “This plastic interior looks like shit. It’s cheap, Mike.”

“Well unfortunately, Jon, you’ll just have to take that up with Kia. I don’t make the cars.” Mike quipped from the back as they turned into traffic. “It is sturdy and easy to clean.”

Jon didn’t respond to that, but instead just sat back and decided to enjoy the ride. At the end of the day, Mike was right, and the car was fit for Solveig’s purposes.

The short rest of the ride was spent with Mike extolling the virtues of the car to Solveig while she gave understanding, appreciative responses that didn’t indicate she was sold on the car, but that she was interested. She pulled into the lot and parked where Mike indicated.

“So, thoughts?” Mike asked.

“I like it. I’d also like to try at least one of the others before deciding.” Solveig replied.

“Sure! Which one would you like to try? The RAV4, maybe? It’s a solid car.”

Instead of looking back at Mike, she turned her enchanting blue eyes to Jon, her brows lifting and her head tilting just slightly in want of his suggestion.

“Let’s try the CX-5.” Jon said decisively when he saw she was waiting for him to answer. He could tell Mike thought he was home-free with her before, but the fact she was looking for him to guide the process in some way suggested to Mike he was more of a problem than might have been indicated by the fact Jon and Solveig weren’t dating.

To his credit, Mike was able to keep his display of frustration to a slight furrowing of his brow as his suggestion was dismissed. His salesman smile returned immediately after. “Sure thing as long as the other person who tried it earlier isn’t in talks. Let me just pop back inside to check.”

He didn’t wait for their acknowledgement and moved back inside to do just that.

“Is it just me or did he start acting a little weird?” Solveig asked and looked up at Jon.

“When he started flirting with you or when you cared more about my suggestion than his?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Huh?” She blinked at him, oblivious.

“He asked me how long you and I have been dating, and I told him we weren’t together. That’s when he started acting like a jackass and started selling to you instead of to me.” he explained, shaking his head.

“Oh. I didn’t even notice.” She blinked several times and then frowned, reaching out and lightly touching his forearm with a few of her fingers. “I’m sorry.”

Jon looked down at her fingers as if she had touched his arm with something dangerous. He looked up at her and suppressed his smile.

“It’s not your fault. Though you could start to notice. Men like that literally make a living taking advantage of pretty girls who don’t notice like you.” he said.

Instead of taking the criticism harshly, Sol simply smiled at him and her hand naturally floated away from where she had touched him and back to her side. “I appreciate you looking out for me, Jon. Thank you.”

He eyed her, looking somehow both appreciative and skeptical, but he mastered his face again soon and it returned to the displeased, grumpy neutrality of his everyday life. He played it off like he didn’t care because that was how he did things like this.

“Yeah.” he said simply. “That’s what I do. I’m not going to let you do this by yourself if you want help.”

She had already been smiling at him genuinely, but as she watched his expression shift from positive and back to a more dour one, the corners of her lips twitched as if her smile was only threatening to grow. She had a feeling that even if she didn’t necessarily want the help, he likely would have tried to give it to her in some way regardless. She found it strangely endearing, and it spoke to him being a good man at his core despite what his outward attitude might indicate.

Mike returned, all smiles again, and approached the two. This time, he slid between Solveig and Jon to get her to disengage from the much larger man and command her attention to himself.

“Follow me, the car is this way. The other family didn’t want it - a bit too small for their needs - so it’s all yours to see.”

“That’s so convenient. We must have the best luck.” Jon said blandly as the two of them walked on either side of the salesman. He had noticed the man stepping between them, but he was hardly intimidated by the act. He noticed a car of the model up ahead as they approached. “This it?”

“Yup, this is it.” Mike confirmed as they walked up on the black CX-5. He moved to the front door and opened it, smiling in a charming fashion.

“Hop on in.”

Solveig noticed this time and as she moved to get into the car, she looked over at Jon and lifted her brows in a sign she saw what he was talking about now and then slid into the car. She knew she had lived a sheltered life, and she had never really strayed from it like her sister had perhaps out of fear of becoming too much like Eisa in the end.

She was about to say something, but Mike had left and was scrambling around the front of the car to get into the passenger side next to her first. She started laughing.

Jon watched as the man opened the door and slipped into the passenger seat and shook his head. Men could behave so stupidly in front of beautiful women, but he had never been one of them. He went to the rear side door on the passenger side and got in, packing his long legs into the vehicle with great uncomfortable effort. He tapped on the back of the seat in front of him hard.

“Roll your seat up, Mike. I normally ride in the front seat for a reason.” he said tersely, not afraid to make his displeasure obvious at the man’s antics. “More.”

“Sorry, can’t go up anymore. If you’re too uncomfortable you can go wait inside and I’ll take the test drive alone with Solveig here.” Mike offered, glancing back to Jon with a bit of a smug smirk on his face.

Jon stuck his leg between the seats in front of him, and it rested between Solveig and Mike, He shook his head at the man.

“No, I’m fine.” he said simply before rolling down his window while the air conditioner fired up, getting a breeze while it went through its hot phase. “Don’t worry about it, Mikey. You just do your job and I’ll relax back here.”

Solveig blinked as Jon’s massive leg came up between the front seats and rested on the center console. She was petite enough in her body that it didn’t encroach on her space, but it certainly bothered Mike who would either have to lean away into the door or physically put his arm on Jon’s leg to be comfortable. Right now he was opting for the lean. For just a fleeting moment, she wondered if Jon was just messing with Mike because obviously he was trying to cut Jon out or if there was something more there.

After nearly an hour, the trio had gone through the rest of the car options they were looking at ending with the RAV4. Jon and Mike had continued to spar in their own way, and Solveig had done her best to just pay attention to why she was here in the first place. Eventually, they landed back inside and Mike was sitting behind his desk with Solveig sitting on the opposite side.

Conveniently, there had only been one chair, so Jon was forced to stand or leave the small space.

“So, what did you think? Which one had you most interested?” Mike asked.

“Honestly, I still think it was the Sportage.” Solveig replied, folding her hands in her lap after crossing her legs.

A shadow of annoyance passed over Mike’s features and his jaw tightened briefly. “So the first car.”

“Yes, that’s what she said.” Jon said, crossing his huge arms over his chest and standing in the doorway, preventing exit or entrance. The fact that Solveig had made the supremely annoying decision to literally test drive every car on her list was nothing but amusing to him, but he still kept his frown on. “Now let’s talk about the price. When we were standing out there, Sol said the price for the Sportage was too high for her bank account. I want to see what you can do for her, Mike.”

“Honestly not too much, it’s a great price, but I can set you up with a great loan and interest rate.” Mike said, leaning in toward Solveig now with a slightly less welcoming demeanor now that he was getting rather fed up.

“How much can you come down?” Jon asked, ignoring the fact he was trying to zero in on Solveig.

“A thousand maybe. If you have enough to put down.” Mike replied, speaking to Sol as if she had asked the question.

Solveig shifted in the chair and was obviously growing mildly uncomfortable with the situation. Her last car had just been given to her by the state, she had never really had to negotiate prices at all and didn’t know how to effectively do so, but she still found that too expensive. “Um…”

“If that’s the best you can do, Mike, then we might need to speak to your manager and see what they can do for us.” Jon said, raising his eyebrows.

Taking a deep breath, Mike finally found no other choice but to acknowledge Jon and he did so with a set jaw. “Well what are you looking to spend?”

Perhaps Jon had some intention on fronting some money for his “friend” or something, but there was only so much Mike could do, and he knew he could sell the car near the asking price eventually.

“I was thinking somewhere around $15,000.” Jon answered. He stepped up directly behind Solveig who sat in the chair, way below him. He leaned forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. His eyes remained locked on Mike. “How does that sound, Sol?”

Solveig wasn’t an especially slight woman; she had a nice figure and a healthy amount of weight to fill out her curves, but as Jon put his hands on her shoulders and loomed over her, he made her look rather small. Despite not being overly familiar with him, she was relaxed under his strong hands; she trusted him. “That… would be good.”

“Yeah I can’t really come down that far. I can do 18k.” Mike replied, looking between Solveig and Jon and once again uncertain who to speak to.

“”Say $16,000.” Jon counter-offered, seeming unconvinced by the man’s suggestion he couldn’t go lower.

Mike shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, I really can’t.”

“Well,” Solveig began and placed her hands on the arms of the chair. “I guess we'll just have to go somewhere else then, won’t we?”

“And if we walk, that means I’m never stepping foot in this place again. And, as you saw when we pulled in, I don’t drive used cars.” Jon said. It was more of a strategic boast than any real pride he had. “I’d really like to recommend you to all the students and colleagues I work with, but not if your going to be like that, Mike.”

“Wait, wait hold on, let's not be hasty.” Mike lifted his hands, a very mild panic in his voice as he continued to look from one to the other. “I can do… $17,000.”

“Now we’re talking seriously.” Jon said, and stood up, releasing Solveig’s shoulders.

On hearing Jon’s approval for the price, Solveig nodded her own agreement. It had been more than she had been wanting to spend, but she would be able to afford it and not be in danger of being destitute. After thirty minutes of paperwork and the dealership making sure the car was pristine, Jon and Solveig stepped outside and she held the keys to the Sportage in her hand.

She turned to Jon immediately and threw her arms around his shoulders, giving him a big hug and pressing her body against his. “Thank you so much.”

Jon hadn’t been expecting the hug, but since his face was hidden from her in the hug, he allowed himself to smile. He wrapped his arms around her as well and held her tightly and genuinely.

“You could have done it yourself.” He said. “You just might have had to let Mike take you out on a date.”

“Mike is old enough to be my dad and that’s a bit too much for me.” Solveig laughed, keeping the hug brief but still looking up and smiling at him with genuine warmth. He had lovely eyes. She looked away and to the car again. “Can I treat you to lunch or something for all your help?”

“You don’t have to do that.” He said, standing up straight again.”I don’t need to be paid back.”

“I know I don’t have to and I know you wouldn’t expect to be, but I want to.” She lifted her brows, her smile turning into a grin. “Or I guess I can just make you more grapes.”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“Lunch sounds nice. What did you have in mind?”

“Do you like Thai food? There’s a place called Tara Thai that looked interesting when I was looking up places the other night.” She tilted her head at him, her eyes curious. She knew he was a bit of a health nut, but wasn’t sure where he fell on more exotic options.

“I’ve had it once or twice before.” He said with a grin, offering no more than an affirmation that he was familiar with the food. “You want to drive us over?”

“Oh.” She blinked, surprised by the question. “I can do that. I just know it’s not very comfortable for you in the car, at least the Lambo is a Lambo.”

She smiled kindly and rolled the keys in her hand as she looked at him. His smile really lit up his face; he was already attractive, but it certainly made him even more so.

“You just got a new car, and I’m sure you’re excited to drive it. We can go in your ride; it’s no problem.” He said, placing a large hand on the car and tapping it gently. He pulled open the drivers side door for her then.

“Alright then.” She agreed with no more fuss and hopped up into the driver’s seat. She buckled herself in as he closed the door, turned on the car, and then immediately cranked the cold AC up. As he rounded the car for himself, she tapped in the restaurant to Maps and turned on the directions, placing her phone speaker side up in the cup holder to make sure she could hear it clearly; she would have to mess with the gadgets later.

Once he was settled, they set off for the restaurant. “Feel free to mess with the radio if you want.”

Jon nodded, but made no attempt to reach for the radio. Instead, he settled into the slightly uncomfortable space as Solveig guided the car to the parking lot’s exit and onto the road. As they started on the roughly 18 minute drive, he turned his head and looked at her.

“I can’t believe you didn’t give Mike your number. For all you know, he might be your soul mate.” He said. There was no smile on his face, but a slight lifting of his brow let her know he was teasing her as a joke.

“Mike could be my father.” She pointed out with a mild chuckle and shook her head, but her eyes were fixed on the road. She noticed he didn’t even make an attempt at the radio, but she didn’t think much of it other than that. “Like, legitimately. I have no idea who the man was.”

“Does Mike seem like the sort of guy who flies to Norway in order to sell his swimmers to the government?” he asked, looking at her, still amused. He was aware she didn’t know who her father was, and while that did happen to people on occasion, it was very seldom that it occurred in a situation like hers. His parents had divorced and his father was a manipulative bastard, but at least he knew who he was, for what it was worth.

“Mmm no, I suppose not.” Solveig laughed again, but it was less animated than before. He’d get a sense that perhaps none of the aspects of the program she spawned from were especially voluntary for neither the men nor the women. She used the controls on the steering wheel to turn up the volume of the radio to a quiet background noise and began to flip through the channels while watching the road.

“You know, with the new DNA and ancestry racket the scientific community is promoting, you can probably find your dad. The Norwegian government might even tell you, assuming you haven't asked already.” he commented, turning his mind to the cycling channels of the radio. He found himself a bit curious what she would land on, but decided not to dwell on the question.

“They won’t say and I yeah, it might be a viable option. I honestly think I don’t want to know, though.” She glanced over at him briefly and found some talk radio station to leave it on for a moment just to serve as background noise. “The men in the project weren’t any more willing than the women.”

“These people can be real sickos when they get to doing their experiments.” He claimed, referring to non-mutants without saying so. “What, they couldn’t find willing participants? Why didn’t they just pay them?”

“It was a different time when the program started.” She explained and gently stopped the car at the red light ahead. “Other than that, I honestly don’t know. My mother didn’t like to talk about that and it’s not like you’d get the truth from anyone involved.”

As the light turned green she took her foot off the brake but waited a beat to switch to the gas to make sure no moron was going to run the red light. “Your father reminds me of the scientists who worked for that program.”

“Does he?” Jon asked, lifting a brow and looking at her. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t a scientist.”

“No, I’m sure. More just his demeanor than anything reminds me of them.” Solveig sighed and shook her head. “We had a meeting a few days ago.”

“Well, I’m already sorry to hear that.” Jon said, looking at her. He sighed, but remained quite calm despite the natural stressfulness of the situation “I assume he talked to you about why he’s here?”

“He did, yes. I wish I could say I was surprised by any of it, but I’m not.” She pulled to another red light and she eyed it for a moment. This was the worst part of driving. “They always want us to do their dirty work for them.”

“He’s always believed mutants were useful. He used to love to pontificate about that.” Jon said, his affect neutral. “He started off in law, but eventually learned to make use of us. I think the biggest problem is that he’s here for us.”

“Again, I wish I could say I was surprised. He has a number of adult mutants to recruit and he’s using your school as a hunting ground for future recruits. I’m actually a bit surprised that is tolerated, but perhaps the money speaks the loudest to your board, not the safety and livelihood of the students.” She reached up and pulled her ponytail up a bit, then replaced her hands on the wheel.

“I wasn’t at the meeting, but if I know my father, he sugar-dicked them like a master. He probably promised it wouldn’t affect the students and that the missions are going to be safe. So, you know..” he looked over at her while she drove, his eyes lingering on her pretty profile, “90 percent bullshit. I’d bet money he and the Senator are working together too.”

“Well, bullshit and money make the world go around.” She shrugged again, not really able to do much more given she had her hands on the wheel. “I just hope you all remain safe in… whatever he is going to make you do.”

“You said no?” he asked, seeming almost surprised.

“Why would I say yes?” She returned, taking her eyes off the road in a safe moment to look at him with a quirked brow, then away again.

“A chance to use your skills; curiosity about what he is up to.” he answered quickly. “Ten thousand dollars a month and a retirement package.”

“I’ll use my skills every day tending to the grounds, he’s up to evil things, and my salary is enough money for me.” She turned onto the road that would take them to the restaurant.

“Hmm..” Jon said, and was silent for a moment. Then he broke it as he saw the plaza where the restaurant was coming into view. “He asked me to lead the team.”

“Naturally. Your background makes you the obvious candidate. I’m sure you’ll do well at it, if you choose to take him up on the offer.” She flashed him a brief smile but went back to her business of pulling them into the plaza and looking for a parking spot. “I’m not a fighter.”

“Anyone can be a fighter if they have the right battle and the right training.” he said, convicted. He watched her as she parked. “Or do you mean you don’t like to fight?”

“I won’t fight. I will defend myself if necessary, but I won’t fight.” She easily pulled into the space between the lines and parked the car. Before she turned it off, she sat back and looked at Jon. “Your father picked the wrong twin.”

“I’m sure he’s looking for her too.” Jon said, locking eyes with her. “And I respect every lady’s right not to fight, but that often means somebody else has to fight for you. If this team is going to be used to fight threats to national security, somebody has to eliminate the threats. Why not us?”

Solveig looked at him then with her intensely blue eyes and her brows lifted. “What exactly did he tell you that your missions would consist of?”

“He didn’t get specific, since it's classified, but he told me the team would be tasked with work related to domestic threats to national security.” Jon answered. “I suspect a profile of recon and extraction.”

“And you believe him?” She asked simply and finally turned off the car.

“Yeah, why wouldn't I?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. “That’s a standard mission profile for a Black Ops team.”

“That sounds like something they’d tell you to get you pulled in and when they give you the real missions, you can’t get out.” She noted skeptically and glanced at the restaurant. “And yes, someone will have to go out and fight for me, but some people need to stay behind to make sure you all have a home to come back to, no?”

Jon nodded, not seeming upset in the slightest about having his beliefs about the situation challenged. He knew she wasn’t a former soldier and she seemed to prefer civilian life, but he also knew she was a product of government meddling and manipulation of mutants. He couldn’t blame her for being a bit of a conspiracy theorist.

“That’s true, yes.” he said. “But there’s no reason they would need to trick people into doing national security work. There are people who do these assignments without being strong-armed every day. What do you even think they would have the team do besides what I said?”

“Assassinations, quelling dissenters, doing some strong-arming of their own to make sure something that the powers that be deem needs to happen happens - you’ll be turned into a brute squad, not some black ops finesse team. I’m sure your mission will start out that way; you’ll do exactly what he says you’ll do. Maybe you’ll go rescue some prisoners somewhere, maybe some of them will be children for that extra sense of goodness and justification, maybe you’ll scout out the house of some warmonger and deal with that but eventually… it won’t be that anymore.” She smiled at him then, simple if a little sad.

“That’s always how it goes for people like us.”

Jon smiled as he listened to her, the expression unusually easy and good-humored, and he even chuckled a few times. What she was saying was clearly not something he heard every day.

“Sol, you’re joking, right? No disrespect, but it sounds like you’ve been watching too many movies. I served, and I can tell you none of that happens unless it's the group profile. Assassinations on American soil? That’s not even legal.”

“Yeah, sure. You’re right, probably too many movies.” She smiled sweetly then. “Ready to go in and eat?”

His amused smile softened into one that was endearing and kind before it started to neutralize as it always did. He moved his fist over to her and rapped on her shoulder gently with his knuckles. He wasn’t stupid, and knew she was just humoring him to avoid a conflict. He didn’t find that her doing so bothered him, as she had already demonstrated her ability to speak up for herself when it was important.

“Yeah, let’s go. I’m starving.”

She got out of the car and locked it once he had hauled and twisted his bulk out of the small vehicle. She wished she could say she couldn’t believe he was so naive, but she did; most military types were like that and there was no convincing them otherwise. Unfortunately, he seemed the type that only learned through experience rather than heeding the caution of others. Joining him at the back of the car, she walked with him toward the restaurant.

“I hope this is good. There was a Thai place back where I used to live that I loved, but they closed it down about a year back and I haven’t had good Thai food since then.”

Jon walked with her until they got to the door, when he stepped forward of her and opened it for her. He seemed to take every opportunity to take care of her, and didn’t seem interested in any thanks. As they walked into the quaint restaurant, he looked around at the seating options. He noticed that the place was in need of a makeover, but suspected that said very little about the quality of their food.

“Welcome to Tara Thai. Table or booth?” A short woman said from a desk near the entrance. Her eyes moved between the two people of drastically different heights.

Solveig smiled at the woman and then looked over toward the tables and booths; the booths were smaller despite probably being more comfortable. She looked back to the hostess, still smiling. “A table, please.”

“Come with me, please.” the young woman said, and walked them toward a table near the wall right beside the front window. From that position, they could see the plaza and the parking lot outside, including Solveig’s new car.

Jon moved over immediately to pull out Solveig’s chair, earning a smile from the waitress.

“My name is Chariya. Can I start you off with something to drink?”

“A cha yen and a water, please.” She said and moved to sit down in the chair Jon had pulled out for her and gave thanks through her smile.

“And just a water for me.” Jon said, lowering himself into his own seat against the wall.

The waitress smiled, slid menus in front of them, and then stepped away to put in their drink orders.

“So have you been here before?” She asked after thanking the waitress and lifted her menu to start looking it over.

“Once before, yeah.” He said with a nod as he picked up the menu. “A few months ago. It was pretty delicious.”

“Good.” She nodded, pleased with hearing he had thought it was good. “Do you want to try the combo platter for an appetizer?”

“Go for it.” He said with a gesture at her. “You go out to eat a lot or do you normally wait for special occasions?”

“Special occasions or if I’m not feeling well enough to cook for myself, though granted I usually have something in the freezer for those days.” She glanced up at him over the menu and continued reading. “I’ve been told I’m a talented cook and I like what I do cook, so why not.”

“Oh, for real?” he asked, looking up at her. He had already planned to get exactly what he’d ordered last time, so he didn’t even take time with the menu. “I normally just eat whatever Chef makes as long as it's healthy. Going from mom’s house to the military didn’t do much for my cooking skills. There’s always someone whose job it was to do it for me.”

“I’m of the mind that no matter who you are, you should always have three or so simple meals you can make.” Solveig lowered the menu then and looked at him with a smile. “Cooking for someone else is a sure way to make them feel cared for.”

“That’s true, but it never really came up for me.” he said, obviously listening to her. “Where did you learn to cook?”

“My mom taught me some, but mostly I taught myself through the internet and Food Network.” She noted and shrugged slightly. “Someone had to do the cooking.”

“What was she busy doing? Did she work alot or something like that?” he asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the waitress approach again, but he kept his eyes on Solveig.

“No.” Solveig replied but also noticed the waitress coming over so she paused and instead turned to smile warmly at the woman.

“I think we’re finally ready, sorry.”

“No problem.” the woman said with a smile, her eyes moving back and forth between the two of them. “What can we make for you today?”

“I’ll have the Hawaiian Delight, please.” Jon said, his face back at the unreadable neutral he typically had. He handed her his menu. She didn’t bother to write it down. She turned to Solveig then and smiled at the more friendly of the pair.

“I’d like the Pad Woon Sen, please. We would also like to start off with the Combination appetizer.” Still wearing the warm and welcoming smile that typically rested on her face, Solveig handed the menu back to the waitress. “Thank you very much.”

When the waitress walked away, Sol looked back at Jon. Her smile remained, but it was less vibrant. “She worked a job in a factory when she could, but she… struggled a lot with her mental health and would come off of her medication relatively often which made her really not able to function or care for anyone including herself.”

“So you and your sister had to pick up the pieces.” He added, understanding the story she was presenting to him. He thought for a moment about the similarities and differences between their childhoods. While there were some things they shared, like being raised partially by a single mother, there were significant diversions.

“Me more than my sister. She tried for a little while when we were young, but she has a more… unique disposition than I do.” Solveig took a sip of her tea, enjoying the sweet and creamy flavor.

“Unique how?” He asked, looking at her curiously. “Do you mean she’s selfish?”

“She’s not a nurturing type, really. She gets easily frustrated by things and she has a lot of anger in her.” She frowned a little as she spoke of Eisa, thinking of her twin and the dreams she had about the riot in Seattle. “She did try for a while, and even from time to time when the constant trying stopped, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact our mother was just… ill.”

“That’s important to do when dealing with someone in that situation. Otherwise, you just treat them like dog shit for something they can barely help.” He said, sipping his water. “My brother is the same way. Hotheaded and inpatient, and gives criminals a bad name.”

Solveig listened with obvious and focused interest as he spoke of his brother. Her blue eyes rested on his face, taking him in and again taking notice of how handsome he was. “What do you mean?”

“Anytime he shows his face, it’s bad news. And it’s ridiculous really. We had a great mother.” He shrugged and leaned back in the chair that was too small for him. “She couldn’t help him.”

“I think maybe there are just some people that can’t be helped, but not a lot of people.” She watched him lean back, noticing how small he made the chair look and finding herself feeling a bit guilty for getting him to do things that were obviously making him uncomfortable. “But some people need different kinds of help.”

“Some people need a serious ass whooping, and Ransom is one of them.” He said, grinning a shallow grin and shaking his head. “He’s too old for me to keep him in check anymore.”

A sympathetic smile crossed her pretty lips. “Did he like to accuse you of trying to act like his father?”

“All the time.”Jon answered. “He was only seven years old when they divorced. It hit him even harder than it did me. I tried my best to take care of him, and he tried his best to make that hard to do.”

She nodded, switching to her water to sip on that while they waited for their appetizer. “Eisa liked to accuse me of trying to mother her, so I know how that feels to a point. How old were you when they divorced?”

“I was ten when the break up started. That’s when my parents really pulled back from each other and my father started in his private practice in D.C. The split finally happened two years later when I was twelve. We moved out to an apartment in the bad part of the city, but my father kept paying for my schooling and anything else we needed.” He answered as he noticed the waitress approaching again. “That’s when my mother found out she was pregnant with my sister. Apparently mom and dad had a last hurrah.”

The waitress set their appetizer down on the table with a smile.

“There you go. Is there anything else I can get for you right now?”

Sol glanced at Jon’s water briefly then back to the waitress with a smile. “No, I don’t think so. Thank you.”

Once she walked away, she continued. “I feel like I hear of a lot of people doing that; it’s never a good idea given that exact thing can happen.” She sighed and shook her head, then smiled a bit brighter. “I bet you adore your little sister though.”

“To be honest with you, I don’t know her very well. “I started the Naval Academy the same year she started Elementary School. Besides seeing her when I visited, she’s a mystery to me. She’s at the University of Texas now, and we text every now and then.” he claimed, though his feelings on the matter were unclear. He looked down at the food that had been placed in front of them and grinned, then he looked back up into her beautiful eyes. “Do you mind if I bless the food?”

“No, I don’t mind.” She moved a hand from her lap and reached across the table to place it on top of his, then lowered her head slightly.

With her eyes closed, Jon safely smiled at the touch on his lift hand, but raised his right hand and crossed himself.

“Bless us, O Lord, and these, thy gifts, which we have received from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.” he said, and crossed himself again, rather quickly. He opened his eyes again and used his right hand to reach for his fork. “Did you ever try to contact your sister again after she ran away?”

Gently she slid her hand away from his and picked up her own fork to shift some of the food onto her smaller plate. “I did, yeah. She never answered my calls, but I’d leave messages. Eventually I gave up on that though. The last time I called her was to let her know about our mom, but she didn’t answer then either.”

“Is she mad at you or something?” he asked, taking a bite.

“We’re just different people who are too different to get along, I think. She doesn’t like my approach to life.” She shrugged and picked up a piece of the Thai toast to try. It was richer, but the bread and cucumber cut it nicely.

“Same with my brother and me. I like to follow the law and be an upstanding citizen, and he likes to be a villainous, selfish little shit.” Jon shrugged. “He still lets me visit him though. I don’t mean to pry, but I guess I’m wondering why she won’t even take your calls.”

“I’m not worth her time.” Solveig smiled sadly and shrugged. “But, she’s my sister. I still love her.”

Jon picked up a wonton with his fork and dipped it into the sweet & sour sauce. Popping it in his mouth, he closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed the flavors as they presented themselves. As he was lifting his eyes again, however, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look out of the window. Two suits, a man and a woman, were standing next to Solveig’s car and talking quietly. He narrowed his eyes at them to see if they were moving on, but he knew for a fact they worked for the government.

“Check out your three-o’clock.” he said to her, swallowing his bite.

“Hm?” She lifted her head and turned slightly in her seat to see what he was talking about, then immediately frowned and turned back. “I’d like to think they are just admiring my shiny new car…”

“I doubt that very much.” Jon said, turning his eyes to a polished black government car near it. He watched as the female agent took out her government issued phone and took a picture of the front of Solveig’s car. “Is somebody looking for you that you know of?”

“Not exactly, but I’m also not surprised they are here.” She said and wiped her mouth, moving to stand. Giving him a smile, she slid her chair in. “Enjoy the appetizer, if our waitress comes back maybe ask her to delay our meals until I’m done speaking with them?”

“I’m going with you. Are you crazy?” he asked, standing up as well, but clearly watching her movements. “What if they’re here to arrest you or something?”

“Why would they arrest me? I haven’t done anything wrong.” She blinked, tilting her head.

“Well, you said no to my father. That isn’t wrong, it does mean something unfortunate might happen to you.” Jon said with a shake of his head. “Are you sure you don’t want me out there?”

“Well, I’m not going to tell you no if you really want to, but I don’t think there’s really any cause for alarm. If your father did send them, I’m sure he’s just trying to scare me into submission and if I’m in jail, he won’t get his way.”

Jon listened to her, not nearly as optimistic as she was. He sat down in his seat again. It wasn’t as if he was prepared to stop the agents from doing their job without much more information anyway.

“Just be careful what you say. You have rights, and you don’t have to speak to them.” he said, concern edging his calm, even voice.

“You can come with me if you like, Jon.” She said, now giving him outright permission but she didn’t linger and instead started walking toward the door.

Jon had already decided to let her have the conversation on her own since she genuinely didn’t seem worried. Instead, he remained in his seat and looked conflicted. He would be able to watch her out the window and would be able to respond if he was needed.

Solveig walked out of the restaurant and moved over toward the agents. She was smiling slightly and relaxed, her hands loosely at her sides. “Good afternoon.”

The two agents responded with masked surprise as the woman they were looking for came to them. They offered no smile, but instead, squared up a bit more.

“Solveig Kallestad.” the man said, extending a hand. “I’m Agent Mathews and this is my partner, Agent Slade. We’re from the DMA and we’re here to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright with you.”

She reached out to take his hand and gave it a light squeeze, but didn’t press Slade for the same. “What questions do you have for me?”

“We’re looking for one Eisa Kallestad. Federal records indicate she’s your twin sister.” Matthews said calmly. “We’d like to know what you know about her whereabouts and recent conduct. Can you help us with that?”

“She is, yes, however I haven’t spoken with her in eight years nor do I know where she is. I am aware of what happened in Seattle, though. She used to talk about how she wanted to be up in the Northwest by the ocean.” She offered up calmly, leaving her hands at her sides.

“So you mean to tell us your sister is your only family in the country and you haven’t spoken to her in eight years?” Slade asked, taking a step forward confrontationally. “That seems a bit hard to believe, especially considering where you live nowadays.”

“I did try to, but she never returned my calls. The last time I tried calling her was a month ago and I left a message to let her know our mother had died. Before then I hadn’t called her in three years and she never reached out.” She turned her eyes to Slade, not liking the way the woman was posturing at her.

“We believe she’s living in Arizona as well after the event at the rally in Seattle.” Matthews said, trying to draw her attention back to him. “We suspect she’s become a follower of Tama. Would you happen to know anything about her living at Kohana or any information about her religious leanings?”

“Religious leanin…” She smiled as if she had just heard something very amusing. “My sister was never the religious sort. She thinks they are all cults. I don’t think she would ever go to that kind of place unless she felt she didn’t have a choice, but it certainly wouldn’t be to ‘follow’ anyone.”

“And why is that?” Matthews asked, furrowing his brow. “Everyone follows someone at some point, right? Your sister can’t be so much of a rebel that she wouldn’t change in eight years.”

“Of course she can.” Solveig said with absolute confidence in the matter. “And she is.”

“Are you aware of any criminal leanings or radical beliefs your sister holds?” Skade asked, her face a mask of contempt. “Has she ever spoken about wanting to table the American government or do harm to non-mutants?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She finally asked and her blue eyes landed on Slade again.

“I’m here to ask you questions. Please answer them, and we won’t have any issues at all.” Slade responded coldly, her eyes almost rolling at the question Solveig had asked. “Your sister’s philosophy..”

“I’ve been answering your questions and cooperating, and yet you’re looking at me like I just ran over your puppy.” She pointed out and crossed her arms finally.

“Agent Slade means no offense. A lot of good police were killed the other day as a result of your sister’s actions. We’re both trying to get to the bottom of it.” He said, looking somewhat sympathetic. “If you answer the question, we can finally get out of your hair and you can get back to your lunch date.”

Solveig remained quiet for a moment, still looking at Slade’s face. She doubted that it was just the incident that was making the woman look at her like that - that was the face of someone who had viewed mutants with disdain for a very long time. “She was only ever thankful to the government for allowing us to move here, she had no more complaints than the average citizen would.” She paused and looked back to Matthews finally. “My sister is a bitch, she’s not a killer.”

“It doesn't seem to us, nor to anyone, that she is guilty of killing anyone yesterday.” he answered in a reassuring tone. “Yet her actions led to massive overactions on the part of the paramilitary organization belonging to The Way and their leader. She would be a very effective witness in bringing them to justice. Please, call us if you learn anything at all about her or are able to contact her.”

He reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a business card before extending it to her.

“She won’t reach out, but yeah, I will.” She said and took the card from Matthews to slide into her pocket. “Is there anything else?”

“No, that’ll be all, Miss Kallestad. Thank you for your time.” Matthews said with a tight smile while his partner continued to look at Solveig as if she was an active criminal. “Enjoy the rest of your date. And congratulations on the new car and job.

With that, the two of them turned and walked back to the car they’d come from.

Solveig lingered for a moment to watch them, but then turned back into the restaurant to rejoin Jon. She smiled at him as she approached the table. “All done.”

“I see you’re still free. Did they forget their handcuffs?” he asked. “That woman was looking at you like she wanted to kill you.”

“She was.” She agreed as she took her seat. “Not an uncommon look though. I guarantee she has some sort of personal vendetta against mutants and joined up with the DMA so she feels like she has some sort of power; kind of like a racist cop, I imagine.”

“It’s a shame when the bad ones get in.” he said with a frown. “What did they want?”

“They wanted to talk to me about Eisa and the incident in Seattle.” She said and pulled over more of the food from the larger plate so she could eat it despite it having gotten cold while she was outside. She filled in the details between bites, and when she was finally done she shrugged while wielding one of the satay skewers.

“So no handcuffs for me this time. Sorry to disappoint.”

Jon grinned again but said nothing, as if he had some joke in his mind he intended to keep to fhimself. Before long, the waitress came out with a large brown tray with two dishes on it.

“Pad Woon Sen for you..” she said, placing a bowl in front of Solveig before grabbing the other one for Jon, “And Hawaiian Delight for you. Enjoy!”

She refilled their waters and then she turned again and quickly left. More customers had entered and she was clearly in a hurry.

“Thanks!” Solveig called after her quickly but didn’t seem to care as she rushed off. She looked down into her bowl and then leaned forward slightly to look into Jon’s bowl. “Is that what you had last time?”

“Yeah, it is. The first time I was here, the menu was a mystery. I didn’t know what the hell to do.” Jon said, scooping into the bowl. “Hawaiian Delight sounded nice and American. And the person I was with said I’d like it.”

“Are you a little less adventurous with food?” She asked, genuinely curious and not appearing to criticize him at all for it if he were. She used her fork to fluff her noodle dish a bit, but found everything was thoroughly mixed in which was usually a good sign.

“I’ll try anything you put in front of me, but I’m not going to volunteer unless I know I like it.” he said, and finally took a bite. Like before, it was quite tasty. He wondered if there were things here that were better, but he wasn’t feeling like experimenting on that particular day.

“Do you want to try some of this?” She asked in that sweet way he was coming to find was very typical of her. She pulled the plate her appetizers had been on a bit closer and gestured to it to show he wouldn’t need to eat after her from the bowl.

He looked at the bowl and the plate for the space of a short pause before nodding. He wasn’t one for eating off of people he didn’t know, but he understood she was suggesting a different arrangement.

“Yeah, thanks. What is it again?”

“This is called Pad Woon Sen.” She reminded him as she used her fork and spoon to collect a portion of her meal, enough for two or three bites worth of food. “It is stir-fried glass noodles with eggs, vegetables, meat, and sauce. I usually get this or Pad Thai, but sometimes I’ll do a curry.”

Once she had a good representation of the dish on the plate, she pushed it across the table to him and then gathered up a bite for herself from her bowl.

Jon looked down at the smattering of components for the dish and decided it looked appetizing, even outside the traditional presentation of Solveig’s bowl. He pulled the plate over and tried the various parts together, eventually nodding.

“I could get with that.” He said, his low voice light and casual. “Do you want to try mine?”

“Sure. It looks good.” She smiled at him again. Her own food was delicious and she found herself glad she had thought to try this place, but it was made better by the company. She knew she was probably seeing a different side of Jon than most simply judging by what she had heard from him, but she wasn’t a stranger to a person who had a hard exterior who could be gentle with others.

Jon’s dish was cubed chicken sauteed with pineapple, bell peppers, onions, and carrots with a side of white rice. Just as she had, he section a sampling of the dish onto a separate plate and slid it across the table toward her.

“Sorry to tell you, but I’m one of those guys that likes pineapple on pizza,” he said. “In fact, I’m almost convinced it's the most important ingredient.”

“I’ve actually never tried it on pizza.” She admitted and pulled the small plate closer. “We didn’t really eat a lot of pizza and when we did get some on occasion it was usually just sausage, pepper, and onion.”

She took a bite of what he had put on the plate. The flavors worked well together, the sweetness of the pineapple mixing well with the blank slate of the chicken while the other vegetables added the savory element to keep it from getting too sweet. She preferred her own meal, but she wouldn’t have complained about his.

“Well then you haven’t lived.” Jon said, smiling at her gently and looking away to his bowl. “Pepperoni, sausage, onion. These are great. But without the pineapple? Pointless.”

“I like stuffed crust pizza.” She said with most of her attention on her meal, but still able to carry on the conversation. “The more cheese the better, really. Stuffed crust, extra cheese.”

“Well we can agree on that.” Jon said, finding that the conversation made him wish he was eating pizza. “Don’t normally do it though. And when I do eat that stuff, I normally feel terrible the next day.”

“Just means you need to eat it more often.” She flashed him a pretty, teasing smile.

They continued eating and making light conversation mostly regarding their food preferences and stories surrounding them. Once they had finished up and Solveig had boxed up her leftovers to take back home and after a bit of an argument over the bill which she relented and allowed Jon to pay, she drove them back to the dealership so he could pick up the Lambo. She parked a couple spaces down from it and got out with him, walking over to it with him.

“Thank you, Jon. I really appreciate all of your help today.”

“Well, now that you’ve got your own wheels, I guess you won’t be asking me for a ride anymore. It’s the least I could do. Don’t mention it.” he said, placing a large hand on her shoulder and patting it gently.

“You never know.” She chuckled and looked over to the strip of grass in front of the parking spot. Extending her hand out, the grass shifted slightly then made room as something bloomed out from between the blades. They looked like spikes of leaves, then a pink flower appeared in the middle, rapidly turned to green, then eventually solidified into a very plump, ripe looking pineapple. She reached down to pick it, and when she did the rest of the plant slid back into the ground as if it were never there.

“For when Chef makes pizza next time, hm?” She said and handed him the massive pineapple.

Jon reached out and accepted the fruit with a surprised expression. He had only seen these small manifestations of her powers, but he found himself wondering what else she could do. One of his roles at the school, after all, was going through power intensives and training with the students as well as physical regimes. He nodded at her, reflecting on the gift.

“It’ll have to be a big pizza. Thanks.” he said, before using his key fob to unlock the car and reach across to place it in his passenger seat. When he stood back up, he looked down at her. “I assume you’re about to take that car and get into some trouble now?”

“We’ll see, but I imagine I’ll be eating your dust on the way back. Oh, is there a specific place I should park in the garage?” She asked, her head tilting just a bit.

He shook his head. “Wherever you want. Just don’t scratch up my babies.”

“Now now, I take good care of them.” She laughed, but when it drifted off she seemed to become mildly more pensive and her smile faded just a bit.

“Do you think your father sent those DMA agents here because I told him no? I find it hard to believe they knew exactly where I was and when I was here. You don’t have a tracker on your car do you?”

“Not that I know of, but I wouldn’t put it past him.” Jon said with a shrug. “I doubt he sent them to ask you a few questions about your sister, especially because nothing bad happened to you. He probably told them where you were, though.”

“Maybe, just weird to me they’d find me here too.” She said and gestured to the restaurant, but shrugged and smiled. “Well, I’ll see you back at the school then.”

“My grandfather asked for permission to take you on for the DMA. They already knew you were in Sedona. As for today and right now: that you can probably blame on Cornelius Sinclair in some way.”

“Just might want to check on that is all.” She flipped her ponytail back behind her shoulder and started moving slowly back to the car. “See you in a bit, then. Don’t get pulled over.”

“You’re the one getting chased by the Feds.” he said, before opening his door and climbing inside the car. Turning it on, he gave her a wave before pulling out of the spot and toward the street too fast.

Solveig watched him go with a sigh and shook her head, wandering back to her car and getting in to start the drive back to the school while obeying the rules of the road. It had been a nice outing, and she found she really enjoyed Jon’s company. He seemed to feel the same, but she knew better than to read into it at all. Really, it was just nice to have a friend.

END

 

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