Stranded (IC)

[Cyroa]

He watched her curiously as she spoke. She certainly did not fit the regular mold. "Purse snatcher or no, it was still a ugly little creature. Obviously not human. That took guts," he said with a nod of acknowledgment. He shrugged. "Order whatever you like or as much as you like; my treat. Everything is excellent here. As for soda," he smirked, "I'm sure they'll get you a coke even if they don't have any." He didn't pick up the menu himself, mostly watching her but occasionally scanning the crowd through his peripheral vision.

[Aoiroo]

When the waiter came back, she ordered that and a coke and was pleasantly surprised to find they did in fact have it in stock. When the waiter had gone she heard a couple of whispers and side glances at the table and she was certian it wasn't about her. She turned her head to look at him this time,

"Whoever it is you're related too must have some major pull huh? Can't say I'm terribly surprise, even if I'm not actually from here this is a fairly old city where legacies are made and most people stay their entire lives if they can help it, even if certian events make that much shorter then they expect."

[Cyroa]

James shrugged. "Yeah, my family is well known. Very. But I like to think I've done enough on my own legs. I've invested enough that I don't worry about money or have to go to them for anything." He shrugged once more. He didn't particularly want to talk about that anyway. "How about you? What's your story? Or do you normally hang out near the malls at closing despite not living anywhere nearby?" He flashed a smile, meaning no harm. He was just making pleasant conversation.

[Aoiroo]

He was changing the subject, well at least he wasn't trying to openly brag about the whole legacy thing because that's gets old real fast. Cracking her neck a bit she turned her body towards him with her legs under the table and propped her head on her folded arms looking up at him,

"It's not much of a story, but good food takes a while so might as well."

She sat herself up this time by resting her head onto the palm of her hand as she set her elbow on the table and started talking like she was reading a fairy tale.

"Once upon a time, a girl got into an expensive college for her work on one field. Once she got their she did just about everything the college had to offer as well as everything she could for that particular field, and as such promply burned out of all but one particular field that caught her interest. She switched her major and lost the nice little scholarship that went with it, and had to switch to student loans to be able to graduate. When she finally graduated, she found that her field while not particularly populated was recently deemed a luxury rather then a nessasity of a fickle economy making it impossible to get steady employment in the field. So, now she spends her days roaming the city taking day jobs that she might be even remotely qualified in."

Letting out a sigh she pulled the coke glass up next to her and took a sip while she waited for a reply.

[Cyroa]

James raised an eyebrow. "Well...that's a pretty sucky story. Really need to work on those details. It'll help make the story better," he said with a smile. "I wasn't exactly big on school myself. To busy. Always something or another to do," he said with a shrug. "So, what was your major in or what did you want to be doing? And I don't suppose anything has panned out given where you said you were living, huh?"

[Aoiroo]

She snorted and took her lips away from her straw,

"Nothing fancy, I guess I classify as the starving artist, even though I don't paint, draw, sculp, or make mobiles out of spare parts. My major is Graphic Design, stuff like ads, billboards. I've been hired by companies before, but they find it more economical to pay for a general logo for whatever they're building, and then grab a guy from the IT department and have him take three minutes from his busy schedule of downloading illegal music and finding ways around the administrative blocks on Facebook to stick whatever design I made into all a color appropriate template on Microsoft Publisher. Overall, such a job gives like maybe a couple hundred if I'm lucky. I'm qualified for web design as well, but am usually shafted in that field either by HIT nerds. Mostly, my money comes from favor jobs provided by my old friends from FreeSa in the theatre district, one of the many reasons I live in the Fens."

Okay, there weren't many reasons why she lived in the Fens, there were three, cheap rent, close proximity to the theatre district, and the fact that she will never have to play host to her brother's offspring.

"Anyway, it's not like you'd know that much about this sort of thing, you said you were good with investments, but that only works if you have money to invest in the first place. Given, what you do is an honest living, just a bit cushier then most."

[Cyroa]

James listened as she spoke. "True. I've never worried about money. Ever. But I've had to worry about things far worse than that. A trade off maybe," he says with a shrug. "Actually, none of what I do pays me a cent. I'd be poor as dirt if I expected that." He reached inside his coat and pulls out a card and a pen. He writes a few names and numbers on the back. The front simply had his name and a phone number on it. "This is my card. I know a few people. Try one of those numbers on the back. They'll hook you up with something a bit more steady. Won't be starting at the top or anything, but it'll at least get your foot in the door someplace if you've actually got the skills. It'll get you stabilized so you can make your own moves." It wasn't much. It was up to her if she followed through.

[Aoiroo]

She looked wearily at the card, picking it up and turning it over in her hand. Looking over at him, she gave him a shrug,

"Maybe some day, I'd be lying if I said I haven't gotten similar offers before, but as hard as it can be at some time it isn't a bad life. It gives me the freedom and choices to move and think as an individual rather than as a part of a whole, it was sort of the reason I choose the field in the first place."

While part of what she said was true, she left out that the other offers were generally companies of a questionable background since they were generally the ones that had the spare money to hire someone like her full time for the convience of it. Sitting back her eyes caught and followed a waiter who had a plate of hot dumplings that made there way to the table. Thanking him quietly, she took her fork and picked one up quietly, blowing on it she took a large bite. It was still a bit hot so she had to take a sip afterwards,

"Huh, gonna have to let that sit for a while."

Taking another sip before blowing on and finishing the dumpling on her fork, she turned over to him.

"So, what exactly are you?"

[Cyroa]

James shrugged. "Up to you. It's just an offer to help. No strings attached," he said with an unconcerned shrug. He reached over and grabbed the hot dumpling, not bothered by the burning heat in the least, and popped it in his mouth. He gave a wry smile. "Benefit of my powers," he said by way of explanation. He paused a moment at her question. "What do you mean, 'what exactly are you?'"

[Aoiroo]

Sitting back, in her chair she stretched a bit, and trained her eyes back at him.

"Well what do you think I mean, it is a question with a multitude of answers depending on the person."

Picking up her coke she drained it with another sip and set it off to the side to be refilled.

"I already know who you are, since we exchanged names, and I just finished telling you what I am, in a sense, so I'm returning the question in a more blunt form. I know a couple of things about you, from our conversation, and from observation like that you're well connected and from an older family, that you're a generally nice guy who partakes in the cities most famous form of volunteer work. What I'm curious about is, your powers, they don't seem like those of a metahuman, they can have multiple powers, but they generally follow a theme. You can control fire, and you can teleport."

She was counting the powers she had seen on her hand and started to look back on the scene.

"You can probably sense demons too, that imp was pretty fast and I doubt you found it by just randomly teleporting around the mall."

Reaching for her fork she grabbed another dumpling as she waited for an answer and blew it casually like she had just asked about the weather. Sticking it into her mouth, chewing for a second then swallowing she looked him into the eye and said,

"It just doesn't fit in the metahuman catagory."

[Cyroa]

James grinned. "What and who are very different questions. Just as there a plethora of powers. I've seen a lot more varied powers than just that too," he said with a smile. "The 'metahuman category' can an encompass quite a bit. I've met quite a few smart people, none are experts, so I doubt you are either. No offense. But I have a plethora myself yes. Some are magic based, spells if you will, which might be causing you some consternation," he said with a smile.

[Aoiroo]

She watched him quietly as he talked, he had quite a nice smile and it looked very well used. When he finished she met his smile with her own.

"I do not claim any status as an expert in any field, and I don't think I'm of much higher intelligence then the average person, I just like researching interesting concepts like that of metahumans in general. Though I'll give you that I know very little about magic.

She stopped and turned her head to catch sight of their waiter once more and she waited as he brought her a refill, her soup and her chicken. As he walked away, pulled her soup in front of her and picked up her spoon before saying,

"It doesn't change the fact that while you danced in it's general area you have yet to actually answer the question."

[Cyroa]

He chuckled. "No many do. It's not all just clever tricks and all that. Usually it takes a bit of talent and a good amount of effort to make it work. Usually," he said with a grin. He popped another dumpling into his mouth. He wasn't that hungry and he didn't really need to eat but he couldn't deny the food here was quite good. "I think I have. My family has quite a history of oddities. There's a super powered type once ever couple generations; I guess I'm it this time around," he said with a little shrug. "Combined with some extra magic thrown in for good measure, covers it pretty well." He wasn't telling her the truth, not completely anyway, but there's no way she'd know. He could charm a nun if he really wanted after all.

[Aoiroo]

"You still haven't given me a straight answer, you've just given me several explanations about what you could be."

After taking a few spoons full, she lifted the bowl to her lips and finished the rest of it's contents into her mouth. After wiping her mouth she grabbed one of the dumplings and then went for the sesame chicken. Loading up her fork she gave him a light shrug,

"Not that it matters, I don't actually care about the answer that much, it's just good for making conversation."

Which was half true, she wanted to know the answer but not enough to push the matter on someone kind enough to offer a free meal. As for making good conversation, well super powers have always been a subject of interest in Freedom City.

[Cyroa]

James shrugged. "I've given you plenty of answers. Whether you want to accept them or not is entirely up to you. Not everything is a straight black and white response. There's an awful lot of grays or complete unknowns out there. Take it as you like," he said with a wry smile. "Honestly, and this is true for quite a lot of things, sometimes you don't need to know. It would just make life more complicated. There are people in the business who really don't need or want to know the answers to a lot of questions," he said with a little shrug. He was being polite but the girl seemed to have a hard time taking hints, not that he minded really.

[Aoiroo]

Looking at him she gave him a smile,

"Nothing is black and white, everything is it's own color to be percieved by whoever sees it and you can paint a very colorful picture with your words. I'm sure there are tons of people who would of taken any one of the scenes you painted as a reasonable answer, but for some reason you didn't seem to believe it yourself so I really couldn't take it."

Reaching for her drink, she took a long sip before she opened her mouth again,

"However, I do believe from what you said that truth is complicated, well at least you believe it is probably because you've seen a lot of complicated things. Me, not so much, and it'll probably stay that way for a good while."

Reaching down she finished half her plate before looking up and waving over another waiter,

"Could we get a to-go box please?"

[Cyroa]

James shrugged one shoulder with a little smile. "There's nothing wrong with simplicity. Those are nice truths, as rare as they are. Still, most of the time, complicated is more fun. Makes your work for it, exercising the brain and all that. Not all the time. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of complicated things in your life too. Pretty much a requirement for living for most people," he said absently.

He nodded to the server as her food was packed up. He took the bill, signing off on it after reading it over quickly. He could care less what it really cost. But in his line of work and with his background, it made sense to always read the fine print.

[Aoiroo]

"Life's only as complicated as you want it to be."

She let her eyes skim the check as it was put on the table and let out a low whistle as she saw the price. No chance of her chipping in on something like that, heck she couldn't even cover the tip even if she wanted too. Letting out a light sigh, she reached into her purse and felt around before she forgot. The small red and slightly rose scented string of beads always managed to slip into the very bottom of her purse, but she managed to slip it out without taking half the contents of her purse with her (an empty box of tic tacs did fall out though). Wrapping the beads around her hand and holding the silver bobble at the end in a closed fist she said quietly,

"Thank you ohh lord, for the many good food I have found today, and the fact that I will not have to pick up the tab because of the kindness of a rather strange stranger."

With this, she counted down the strand and also said a Hail Mary. With the rosary still in hand she hefted her purse over her shoulder, and used the other hand to pick up the leftover box.

"Well, thank you very much for the meal James, ready to leave?"

[Cyroa]

James laughed lightly. "Oh no. Life is darn complicated; once in a while we get lucky and find a smart that's simple. Those are nice moments," he said ruefully. He raised an eyebrow at the rosary and the prayer. Neither bothered him, despite his heritage. It was more that the prayer usually came before the meal than after. He could respect and honor faith as well as the religion it went with, no matter what the religion...well, most of the time. There was a certain fluffy-winged turkey out there who just bugged him for some reason. Anyway... He nodded and stood once she had finished her ritual. "Ready when you are. So, where do you live? Address will do fine or if you'd rather not say, how about a cross-street," he asked, holding out his hand.

[Aoiroo]

Reaching into her purse she dropped in the cross and pulled out a well worn and well creased tourist style map of the city. Unfolding it, she looked down it for a bit following her finger off a line that started off from a red star that was labeled in the key as the location of the Beaudrie Opera House. Following it right to an area right at the border of the Fens and the Theatre district and stopped,

"Right about there should be fine, after that it should only be a few blocks."

Raising her wrist, she took a look at her watch. It was a decent hour, the usual drunkards from the local clubs and theatres wouldn't be around for at least another hour and forty five minutes. After stowing the map she pulled out the small bottle from before and palmed another pill, just in case.

"Alright, ready when you are."

And with that she grabbed his hand.

[Cyroa]

James glanced at the map, looking at the intersection she pointed out. "Alrighty then." He took her hand with a nod. A moment later they vanished from the restaurant. They suddenly appeared on the corner of a much dirtier part of the city. James looked around. He didn't come down this way much. Only when there was some catastrophe of problem he had to deal with. "Well, here we are. Will you be alright from her," he asked her, turning to face her once more.

[Aoiroo]

She braced herself for the naucious feeling, but this time it only came on a little before the ginger pills did their job. As they appeared on the empty street she glaced around the block until she found a few local sights. Looking up, she noticed one of the street signs was missing, which meant they were in the right place. This was further confirmed when she saw the glow of the sign for a bar called The Norse Chair, which only had enough neon actually working to light of the words The No hair.

"Yep, I can see the cheapness from here. People think it's a bad neighborhood, but the Fens is actually one of the safer places to be here at night because most muggers know this is not the place to stake out if you want to jump anyone who has a lot of cash or valid credit cards."

[Cyroa]

James gave a wry smile. "The Fens aren't all that safe. Muggers are not the major concern. I've got a few friends who like to hang out down here, 'patrolling' and the like." He took a final look around before returning his gave to her. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Hope those opportunities pan out for you," he said. "If you need something, drop me a line. I'll wait till you're walking in a bit before vanishing, but unless you need me for anything else..." he said, letting it hang.

[Aoiroo]

She held back an eye roll from his mention of 'friends', while she was sure some heroes did patrols sometimes, it wasn't a perfect system and as such she herself had been subject to several muggings as well as had to bust up a couple in the past. Given, most of them were near the border of Greenbank. She gave her watch another look before responding,

"If I really need you in the next few minutes I'll be sure to scream quick enough so the kidnappers for the prostitution ring don't have time to obscure my conciousness with a rag and some chloraform. Anyway, there are probably people around who need more help at the moment than me, so don't go all Dulcinea on me and get overly protective about some random girl you've just met, I'll be fine."

Turning away she started to walk a few steps before she turned around,

"Ohh, in case I'd forgotten, thank you again for the meal and for killing that little whatever it is."

[Cyroa]

James gave a wry smile. This was a rather touchy and odd girl. Still he'd come this far; he could wait a few more minutes. "You're welcome," he said with a nod and a smile. He waited patiently, learning against the pole of the local streetlight to wait. He'd give her a few minutes, waiting patiently. Then it was back to work he supposed. He'd done his 'good deed' here.