2013.07.06 - The Third Recipient

Leopold has been insistent that his father meets with a girl named Elysia Mahira. And like all good fathers, Lex would see what his son wanted. Instead of meeting the woman in his office he decided on a different approach today. Finding her number wasn't a big deal. Lex left a message to meet at a diner that Lionel took him to when he was younger. Whilst he had yet to take Leo there, Lex had been to the place recently. Since that visit the restaurant, despite being a popular diner in New York, decided to give him all future meals free because of how much business they got from his last visit. The message to Elysia included a date, time and the address of where to meet Lex.

Sitting in a corner booth by himself the man waited letting his money colored eyes run over the room. His custom fitted black suit, with white button up shirt clung to his frame; a pressed purple tie hung neatly in place around his neck and dangled downward. On the breast of his coat was the "Hand of the King," pendant from Game of Thrones. However there was one difference with his pendant compared to the mass market items. Lex's "Hand" was made out of white gold. An Academy of Tomorrow pin hangs to the left the "Hand."

He waits at the table with a cup of coffee in hand. People have been staring at him and the waitresses were waiting for big tips and chaos. His last visit ended with a line that sprawled out the door while the restaurant pushed the maximum occupancy capacity to the limit. Every meal within a two hour block was comped and he encouraged others to tell their friends because the offer wasn't going to last forever. Word about free food traveled quickly. Selina Kyle and Justin Hammer weren't too impressed. Maybe Elysia would be impressed by the offer he would bring to her today.

Usually, as of the past year, Elysia has found herself perennially tardy for everything. She'd begun to speculate that it had something to do with time dilation and perception causing her to undercompensate due to always feeling she had forever to do everything, and therefore always underestimating when she could leave to be on time. Today, however, she wasn't going to risk any such faux pas. She made sure her clothes were layed out the night before, crisp black pencil skirt that ended just below her knees, black pumps with modest 2.5" heels, pearl silk blouse, charcoal hose, and a her hair already braided and ready to be rolled up into a twist in back. She set her alarm so she could be early, didn't press snooze once... even if one 5 minute snooze would have felt like hours of extra rest... and made sure to thoroughly wash and take the extra time to do her makeup just right so it was understated, just enough to accent her lips and eyes without being overt.

The reward for her effort is she is actually a few minutes ahead of schedule, and it helps her make it on time as she slips through the crowd. She arrives with just over a minute to spare and smiles, "I hope I did not keep you waiting Mr. Luthor?" adjusting her purse on her shoulder, she offers her right hand a bit nervously, "I'm Elysia Amber Mahira, it is an honor and pleasure to meet you, sir." trying to seem as confident as possible, a cheerful and genunine smile on her lips.

Seeing the dress was nice, but that confidence impressed Lex a little bit. Most young people were unsure of themselves. Those that weren't unsure were usually over confident. Typically they tried to sell a career in fast food and a "C" average as something great. Usually they went on to schools and did things like send out emails with the words "C*nt Punt," in it without thinking. There were a sliver of young adults that took pride in their grades and knew they were good because it was earned. Elysia was in that sliver.

"Not at all," Lex responded with his best and brightest smile taking the hand and giving a shake before he sat down. Looking at her with his money colored eyes Lex cleared his throat, "I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you down here today? But before we get down to business I thought I would buy you lunch, whatever you wanted, and you would just tell me about yourself. My son has only told me so much," the smile continued.

Nodding, Elysia, glances at the menu momentarily, a bit concerned... not about prices, since there is little likelihood of bankrupting the man across from her, but there is the issue of exposing herself too much if she orders the food she's usually consume in a single sitting. The time it takes her to decide it long, methodical, almost a whole second and a half of going back and forth with herself before she assures herself she can eat a moderately large portion without offending the getleman, and just eat more later to compensate, as long as she doesn't get into some fight and keeps herself at close to normal speed until later, she can probably keep her metabolism in check long enough.

With the over a second of thought aside, she smles and honestly offers up a short history, willing to embellish if asked, "Well, I was born in Texas, a real bookish little tomboy with a slight napolean complex due to always being the smallest in my class. Quickly learned that my need to stand up to bullies was useless unless I could defend myself and others with more then words, especially when the majority of them didn't understand insults like hydrocephalic australopithecus and fecal matter visaged troglodytes, but did still have sufficient faculties to grasp they weren't compliments. My first year of middle school they had a test to discover our scholastic level, and since I placed out of everything I finished out the year being home schooled, and started my Freshman year of high school two years early. Since I was even more the smallest one in my class, I tried to make the best of things, studying harder and using my smaller size to be an advantage, such as being so tiny meant I was perfect for the top of the pyramid or tossing as a cheerleader. Since the high school I was going to allowed students to study ahead, I used summer break to get most of my credits early, and thankfully started to go through some major growth spurts. Since Cheerleading Season ended before Track Season began, I started running on that too..." she pauses, a moment...

Blushing a bit, Elysia says, "Um... I just realized I've been running at the mouth... and I'm not even sure if this is what you meant by tell you about myself..." finally opening the menu and actually looking at what is in it, "Shall I continue, or did you want to ask about something specific that I might have passed up or not even focused on?" her eyes trying to read the face before her, her own sweet chocolate colored eyes gently looking for the similarities in the icon before her to the hansome youth who took her to lunch during the tour of the Academy of Tomorrow.

Seeing the abrupt stop Lex asked, "Why did you stop running? And don't be bashful about the price. If you want a steak dinner, which is served all day long, get that. Please," the smile didn't leave his face even as he added, "I insist." He wanted to know more about the woman but decided to focus on one piece of the puzzle at a time. Various features about Lex shined tried and true for Leo. They shared a similar jaw line and a few other bits of the face. The eyes were the same shape but were completely different colors.

The question, the truth, the half truth, anything but the truth... she smiles and nods, "Thank you sir." she decides to doge the question, at least for a moment or two, pretending to spend time reading the menu properly, when she could read it all in a fraction of a second, but it lets her ponder how to word things so she isn't outright lying, but only skirting the truth.

Looking up from the menu she decides the best way is to tell the truth of what happened, but omit only a few key details, "Well, as I gather from your question, you know about the fact I took gold in the hurdles, 100m dash, and 200m dash, from local all the way up to the IAAF World Junior Championships, and the allegations I was being vetted for the 2016 Olympics. I actually had four full ride offers for track to some of the best track universities in the country, and MET-U had given me the partial scholarship offer for my skills in science. I could blame other people for the accident, the student who didn't remove the metal stirrer from the beaker before leaving the lab, the professor for dumping the responsibility for cleaning up the entire lab on my shoulders so she could leave early to be with her significant other in the delivery room, or even the school for not having lightning rods around the school to protect against major strikes, but that would all just be excuses. The fact is, I let my ego and pride get me distracted, I was careless and negligent, and I paid the price. I didn't remove the stirrer from the beaker and put it on the shelf with the other chemicals, I rushed my cleanup so I could spend more time picking which full ride to accept and how long I should string them all along for possibly better offers, and because of it, I paid the price. The stirrer acted like a lightning rod, and the bolt ignited the chemicals and filled the lab with harmful fumes and smoke, and when I fled through the window, I was careless again when it came to where I decided to rest. The school's flagpole turned out to be a great lightning rod, which I learned first hand by leaning on it. Sufficed to say, when I woke up from the effects of being hit by lightning, I was no longer the same, and it seemed wrong to accept a full ride when I honesty could no longer run for any of those schools." she looks down a bit ashamed, but there is a touch of pride that she told the truth, without mentioning the exact why she couldn't 'honestly' run for the schools... because it would be dishonest no matter what she did, either she wouldn't be giving her all when she was running, or she'd could lap the track several times over before anyone else was fully off the runner's chalks.

Taking a moment to act like she is considering again, she says, "I think I'd like the chicken, spinach, and mushroom alfredo, the full plate, with an overloaded bake potato on the side, and a glass of water." hoping that the full plate, which can feed 2-4 people is not overdoing it, but she was told to not be bashful about the price.

Connecting the dots was something Lex loved to do. Lightning accident at a lab, plus a sudden withdrawal of a track star that was on the verge of a promising career, then an acceptance by Emma Frost into the Academy of Tomorrow that had its fair share of mutants mixed with Leo's insistence with the girl being "special" or "of interest" just made everything click for Lex as he surmised the experiment changed her. Somehow, someway she survived something life changing and became something new. Lex had sent Leo to that academy so the boy could learn about the changes that were happening to him, Leo had to control many things. It was easy to guess that Elysia was doing the same.

Seeing the waitress that came by Lex orders an orange juice, more coffee, eggs, scrambled, with a steak and a side of hash browns. He told the man that came by to take the order what Elysia wanted then just looked at the student for a moment.

Holding the new knowledge close, "You have my sympathies for what happened to you that day. The guilt you carried, I can only being to imagine." His hand extended outward offering to give a sympathetic hold and squeeze if she needed it. He waited a moment before speaking again, "All in all this may have been for the best. Think about it. Runners will eventually slow down. The body slows down long before the mind. Your new lease on life has people seeing the mind behind the runner," he offered as a consolation prize. "And that is why I am here today. I see the mind behind the person. Your dedication. All the things you do and how you just get by. Recently, my company has started to given out scholarships to students at the Academy of Tomorrow because I believe these students can change the world. I would like for you to be the third recipient," his money colored eyes look at the woman.

The reactions one can ive tend to run through most peoples minds when given wonderous news, and Elysia is no different... well except for the fact that she can run through all the choices hundreds of times faster and rerun a few of the better ones a few times to review them, but she finally settles on a simple slightly shocked smile, "Thank you very much Mr. Luthor. I... I'm at a loss for words for how much this means to me. I will endevour to not squandor this oppurtunity." she sit back to really let it sink in, because she really doesn't know what else to say... what else can you say? You won't regret this... too egotistical. I'm not worthy... just sounds like false humility. I don't need your shtako scholarship... well, that would just be stupid and insulting... actually that might be several level of stupid, stupid because it is a great oppurtunity, stupid because it is insulting to Mr. Luthor, stupid because it alienates Leo after he stuck his neck out to talk you up to his dad, stupid because insulting Mr. Luthor isn't just rude but foolish in of itself, stupid because it is hubris to the extreme, and stupid because it isn't even a good reference or quote to be homaging and nowhere close to something quality. Amazingly, it might actually have dulled her appetite some... the butterflies in her stomach are making there less room for food. Her face definitely shows her dismay, partly actually pondering if she really deserves it... is she depriving someone else who worked harder their chance, just like she would have been had she accepted a full ride to Penn State or Arkansas for Track. She look back up at the man, and almost is like a little girl trying to hold back the tears of elation, "Thank you so much Mr. Luthor. I... I'm so grateful. I won't make some false platitudes, but I hope I can make you proud that you chose someone deserving of it."

"The Hope Thorson Scholarship is a combination of achievement and dedication. The problems with some scholarships is they just look at grades and community serviced along with and please pardon my French, how well you can kiss the ass of the administration or scholarship committee. While I do like a good ass-kissing as much as the next CEO, I don't want students to sink to that level," a jovial smile pulled at his lips as she could tell he was being honest with a hint of humor. "I'd rather take the students that work their ass off for the award that maybe came late into the game or don't have the opportunities other students have to this that and the other thing. The grades of Eddie Thorson and Hope Summers show promising students but because they don't know the right people. Or things of that nature most big scholarships won't look at them. And to me that just isn't right." Before Elysia had a moment to potentially argue against the money he looked into her eyes, "I've seen how many jobs you've held down. You have a scholarship but it doesn't pay for much otherwise you wouldn't have your current job situation, yes? Yet despite the tragedy, the time consumed by the jobs, you still manage to earn a partial scholarship which shows your prowess. And to me that just screams someone that honestly deserves this. That's why I've picked you. You will be the third of four recipients. The first two were chosen at the open house held recently. Also, I know from what Leo has mentioned you're not enrolled yet. I will contact Emma Frost tonight for you see she is a near and dear friend, and she will contact you in the morning. How does that sound?"

There are so many terms to express the feeling Elysia has: astonishing, astounding, breathtaking, cool, fantastic, inconceivable, incredible, legendary, marvelous, mind-blowing, outrageous, phenomenal, prodigious, rad, remarkable, spectacular, stupendous, super, superb, terrific, unbelievable, unreal, wicked... and yet none of them is really strong enough, nothing fully encompasses her level of appreciation, so when she simply unders a partially breathy, "Awesome!" it is more that she decides to just stick with something classic, rather then spew the thesaurus of variations, or become a living run on sentence of thank yous and as mentioned, posterior pucker planting. She shakes herself out of her inner Katy Perry 'Firework' music video with her spewing a rainbow of excited fireworks long enough to asks, "How can I thank you enough for this... this transcendantly generous offer?" if she wasn't crying before in joy, she is now, tears welling up as she restrains herself from throwing herself across the table at over mach 60 to hug the man there.

Smiling bright at the woman he said softly, "The emotion behind your bright eyes is thanks enough." And the waiter came over delivering the food. Lex held up his glass, "To your future," he said in a toast to the woman.

Nodding and raising her glass, Elysia gulps back her nerves and smiles, "Gain, thank you so much. To the future, mine, your sons, and all those who will help make this world a better place." she carefully moves to clink her water glass, and then sips some before looking at the thick fettuccini in alfredo sauce, topped with lightly breaded strips of check breast, sliced mushrooms, and bits of sauted spinach. She samples a forkful, savoring the harmonious blend of flavors from the meat, pasta, fungus, vegetable, and creamy white sauce.