Every few weeks, Mystique went into Westchester for brunch. It had been years since this particular trend started, and even now she couldn't say what it was that kept her doing it. Masochism, perhaps, wandering so close to Charles and his students, occasionally seeing one from the other side of the block. A constant reminder of what she was fighting ... for? Against? Something.
Regardless of reason, Lucas Bordon paid for his omlette and coffee with exact change, as he always did, and set out to wander the area. He was an unassuming face, useful for setting people at ease and not being noticed. Either a software designer or an English teacher, depending on what people assumed about him, and how Mystique felt at the moment. He liked books, he liked curios, wandered into the same antique store every time to see if they had any pocket watches or matchboxes.
Half way down a block, he paused. The fourth store in had been empty the last time he'd passed it, had been a knitting store once upon a very long time ago. Now it seemed to be home to a psychic, or so the remarkably tasteful advertising proclaimed.
Fresh blood. He smiled faintly, and wandered in. One never knew what one would -
The pause was barely perceptible, long training ensured that. Only the slightest widening of his eyes, a slight lull in his gait, and in his pockets, hands were clenched until knuckles were white. He moved in and away from the doorway, eyes glued to the woman seated calmly in her chair - how else would she be? - looking exactly the same as she had the last time -
Mystique swallowed, took one breath, and made a slow circuit of the shop. Elegant, tasteful, evocative, perfect, exactly as it would have been, if -
By the time he - she - reached the woman and her table, she had hemself once more under control. The faint smile on her lips was Luke`s, his walk back to normal, his breathing easy. The air of mild, sardonic scepticism when he spoke, though, belonged to an entirely different man, from a very long time ago.
"I can't say I normally put much stuff into this fate-and-Destiny nonsense." She held out one hand, palm up across the table. "But something about this place makes me think that maybe you know more about it than most people. So, how about it? Is there anything interesting in my palm?"