Above the East River (open)

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro's reply consisted of a slight shrug of his shoulders and no time for consideration.:: "It depends on the person."

[Gambit]

"Of course it does," Gambit said. "Still curious?" he asked, still wondering whether it had been only the explosion that had drawn Pietro's attention.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro had ruled out plausible danger, which made it no concern of his. He could know Gambit for years and would remain mystified; partially from the man himself, partially Pietro's inability to see from more than one perspective.:: "Not about that."

[Gambit]

Pietro's answer wasn't a direct 'yes' or 'no'; and Gambit always appreciated a chance to see ambiguity in everything. The conversation seemed to last now, and that meant there was no immediate danger - not that Gambit would suspect Pietro to be a threat, it was merely a habit of being on guard with people he didn't know and therefore didn't trust, and on locations where he felt less protected by the surroundings. However, he did trust his knowledge that people who hung around Xavier did not attack for no reason, so he could be certain he was safe for the next five minutes.

And that's why Gambit allowed himself to relax a bit more. A tiny smirk touched his features.

"About what, then?" he asked.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::There were issues around them, in this city and beyond. Pietro had seen a sliver of them on fact-finding missions for the X-Men, or reported in the newspaper: the occasional dead or missing person, often a mutant. The Brotherhood's continuing activities; the latter of which drove him to anger, as per usual. Assaulting a Church as though it were an underpass waiting to be condemned. The attacks on humans by unidentified mutants. They could all be interconnected, or the world was going to Hell far quicker than usual; neither would surprise him.

Would he admit to that? Gambit had information, but of this nature? He did not know. And he had not sought him out for information, or any true reason, apart from checking a random event he happened to witness. Pressing would lead nowhere. Spreading his hands, he gestured to the air around them, to the life and the city, the people beyond their location. Rossignol was out there.:: "What threatens my family. But I don't expect that to change."

[Gambit]

"That's optimistic," Gambit remarked. He glanced towards the city, past the foot of the bridge. "Nothing ever changes," he said, a thought that was no doubt inspired by Tante Mattie's voudoun lore. "And yet everything does."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro was unable to discern sarcasm unless it was scathing, and thus he took Gambit's words at face value. He wasn't often - that was to say never - called "optimistic," and like a foreign term flung at him, he met it with a split-instant blank stare before his thoughts turned elsewhere. Simple enough, as Gambit's body language turned towards the city.

His words were oddly philosophical, or not, as he knew little of Gambit on a personal or intellectual level. Unfortunately, he knew far more about the seedier aspects of the other man's personality. For him, at the very least, those words rang true. He still lived at the mansion, still had the same priorities in life, and yet he had joined the police force.:: "They say life is a river ever-flowing."

[Gambit]

"That would fit," Gambit agreed. "It's always the same river but it ain't ever the same." He turned slightly in the direction of his motorcycle again (incidentally, the river was the same way), not taking a step in that direction yet but making it look like an invitation for Pietro to follow if he felt like continuing the conversation.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::As was the story of Pietro's life, he had plenty of time on his hands, and little to do with it. He took Gambit's change of direction as a subtle invitation, and with no plans for the night, accepted it. He glanced at the river and then at the other man.:: "Where to?"

[Gambit]

"Well, it depends," Gambit said, "on what ya want t' do and on whether ya want to do it in Gambit's company."

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro adjusted the bag on his shoulders and moved his hands to his sides.:: "Keep it relatively legal, and I'm in for the evening."

[Gambit]

"Well, that sounds just too promisin'," Gambit commented, being deliberately cryptic on whether he was referring to the first or to the second part of Pietro's answer. He headed towards his bike.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro followed the other man to his motorcycle; he'd hear an address, or a name...something that would tell him where to run for them to meet up.:: "Promising...yes."

[Gambit]

As Gambit walked the few steps towards his bike, his mind ran over things. He remembered what his last meeting with Pietro had looked like, the one that ended at the scrapyard in Jersey. Pietro had arrived there before Gambit had, and Pietro did that by running. It would probably be reasonable to just tell him where to go, since, apparently, a ride on Gambit's bike, if offered, would seem slow and boring.

Another was the curious limitation set for the evening - 'relatively legal.' Gambit's 'relatively legal' was a vast spectre of things- It was easy to misinterpret Pietro's request. It could include anything from sneaking into a museum at night (without taking things) to just dragging Pietro into Gambit's bedroom, both of which fitted Gambit's idea of relatively legal but unlikely agreed with Pietro's thoughts on the subject for the evening.

So it probably had to be something in between. And also probably without alcohol involved, since Gambit vividly remembered Pietro's manner of drinking - so one of them wouldn't feel any effect of the alcohol, and the other would still be able to control himself but could start behaving in a slightly weird way (which was something that irked Shade about Gambit sometimes), so there would be no point in that. Had it been Pietro's sister, for example, things would have been different of course-

It could be something active, Gambit decided. He crossed out Laserzone and boxing - even if he thought he was a match for Pietro's abilities, it was something rather challenging and needed another occasion; left the idea of parkour for later, for the same reason; clubs and exotic dancers - he had enough of that at work and didn't feel like giving Pietro a tour around the city's night spots; most other ideas required preparation or at least daylight. "Pool or bowling?" he asked Pietro finally. Those were two things where the mutant powers of each of them meant relatively nothing for the outcome.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro required no time at all to consider the question; he detested bowling.:: "Pool."