Electric Patrol

It was a cold and windy day in the city of Chicago. A low mist had blown in from the Great Lakes and shrouded the entire city in a perpetual haze, giving it quite the dower look. Due to this, most of the citizenry stayed indoors, wishing to stay away from the mucky atmosphere. One young hero refused to do so.

Tesla walked down one of the various street corners present in the city, his body shivering slightly in the cold moisture. "Ugh, why does it have to be so cold right as I head out on patrol?" Shaking his body again to get his blood flowing, he kept on walking, only the sound of his boots clacking on the concrete following him. "At least it has kept the criminals off the streets for the time being," he acquiesced aloud as he kept on walking, small sparks of electricity arcing from nearby lights into the ring on his back.

Several minutes passed of him simply walking along, no particular locale in mind until he heard what sounded like a muffled scream a few blocks away. His glowing eyes narrowed at the noise, his whole body going tense as the beginnings of an adrenaline surge began. Flexing his gauntlet encased fingers he continued towards the sound, approaching a nearby alley as he did so. Rounding the corner, he raised up his hands, lightning already arching between his fingers tips. "What's going on here!?"

It was then Tesla's eyes widened slightly as he noticed a man giving a woman one heck of a hickey.  They both screeched as they heard Tesla's questioning shout, each caught in being shocked and trying to look more presentable. Tesla quickly lowered his hands and offered the couple a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, um, you can continue whatever it was you were doing. Without waiting for an answer he immediately hurried out of the alleyway, his cheeks blushing furiously. Once he was a good block away he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Well, great job hero, nearly fried two lovers. I'm sure Joshua would be proud." Sighing, he looked down at the locket dangling from his neck, giving it a forlorn smile as he did so. Reaching a hand up, he clutched it close to his chest. "I wish you were here, you always new how to make my days brighter." Taking in a long breath, he continued forwards, perhaps his day could get better still.

It was the most wonderful time of the year. Ares thought that anytime he got to drink this wonderful golden liquid. Forget milk and honey or whatever the Asgardians believed, this stuff was the greatest! He finally found out the name of the mystery liquid. It was called "Eggnog" apparently, though Ares didn't think it tasted anything like eggs. He had a half gallon clutched between his fingers as he walked down the street. Chicago was a windy and beautiful place. It reminded him of the urban areas of his home. The streets were so modern there, though the rural areas like where he once lived had been so poor and primitive. The haze even made it look like that one Bloodborne place.

The cool, brisk wind would brush his cheeks as he walked through the night, boundlessly stumbling about, like a child who was seeing the world for the first time. He couldn't help but laugh as he ran a hand through his dark hair, his eyes jumping from building to building. Every sight he saw was just another treasure for him. Despite his mischievous nature, Ares was the kind to truly enjoy the little things in life. The wonders of freedom and all that it brought. Ares didn't even bother to look where he was going as he tapped a cane across the ground, his sunglasses over his eyes. It didn't matter that it was night out, he still wore them. His cane clicked as he walked through, genuinely not noticing as he turned the corner and bumped into someone that was, by the feeling of it, was heavier than him. Ares himself stumbled backwards and planted onto his posterior.

"Ah, wow. Okay." He said, grinning like an idiot as he set his half gallon of eggnog to the side and taking his cane in both hands. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own foolishness. "Sorry about that. I'd keep an eye open but..."He said with a shrug. His head was seemingly on a slow swivel, almost like he was trying keep himself oriented and upright. He cleared his throat as he tapped the cane a small bit, looking to the person he'd run into. With his sight finally fixated and settled he realized that he quite possible just ran into a supervillain that was about to mug him, as proof of the badass looking gauntlet.

"So whaddya want, my wallet or my coat? Been through this enough to know." He said, shifting a little as he reached up and tugged on his scarf, stopping it from choking him as he shifted in his black jeans and his black, heavy wool coat.

Tesla had kept on walking, not particularly paying much attention to anything as his patrol continued to be quite uneventful. There were a few pedestrians he passed, each he gave a friendly wave, only for them to quickly move past him. Sighing he kept on walking, being careful not to shut off any street or traffic lights on accident as he passed them. After nearly an hour of this, he finally decided it was perhaps for him to turn in for the day.

Turning around he felt something bump into him, causing him to stumble back for a brief moment before catching himself. At first he was just confused by sudden run in, only to become further lost at the sudden question. "Wait, what did you just say?" Shaking his head, he held up his hands in what he hoped was a placating gesture. "Oh my, no I don't want to mug you. i don't want your jacket, or wallet, or anything else you have." Looking down at his hands, and noticing they were stilled partially charged with electricity, he quickly brought them behind his back, offering the man a sheepish smile.

"Oh? Huh, wow. You're a good egg." Ares said as he took in a deep breath, releasing a slow exhale as he moved the long white cane about, hisown hand feeling the area around him as he started to reposition himself. He triedto stand, but clumcily tripped over himself, garnering him some embarassment. OF course he was a guy that displayed several traitsof being blind. Then he realized that it gave him no excuse to be a clutz. After managing ot stand on his own he had to squint from behind his sunglasses, trying to make out anything to the blur.

"Well I'm thankful I ran into one of the good guys out here. Feels like this place gets worse every night. But I guess I can't complain. Getting mugged twice a week beats getting shanked once and dying." Ares brushed himself off with a chuckle. With a flick of the wrist, Ares repositioned the white cane properly in hand with the red tip tapping off the concrete. Ares smiled his friendly ear to ear smile as he tapped around. He had soon realized that he had just left his eggnog on the ground. That wouldn't do, as he was simply addicted to the stuff. He took a sniff and cleared his throat before asking aloud: "I-uh. I hate to be that guy, but did you happen to see where I dropped my drink?" He mused, still tapping his cane about in the complete opposite direction. He was obviously a little lost...and a little blind. With any luck the stranger was nice enough to help a guy out.

Tesla simply smiled at the man, then smacked himself mentally as he realized the fellow was blind. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he reached down and picked up the drink in question, brushing it off with his other hand before offering it towards the man. "No problem at all sir, it is behind you currently, around torso height for you." Waiting a moment for the man to reclaim his drink like he expected he continued speak. "And I apologize for the city, I try to tone down that side of things best I can, but sadly I can't be everywhere at once."

Chuckling, more to himself then to the man, he adds. "And I've kind of only bit at this hero business for around a month now." Taking a moment to look around, he lifted and eyebrow at the man. "I do apologize if this is intrusive, but why is a blind man wondering about Chicago in the middle of this kind of weather?"

"How is it at? Oh, thanks!" He said, initially he was confused then he seemed elated. What a pleasant surprise to see someone actually was nice enough to pick the thing up for him. Ares took the jug back from the man, expecting it to be wet or covered in snow, but it really didn't matter, it was just another nice surprise. But next came the apology for the state of the city, and an explanation that Ares didn't quite need to hear. No, really, it was a bit of a mistake to let Ares know that he was a hero. A brow burrowed but the smile stayed the same.

"Wait a hero?" He asked, but the man seemed to be transitioning into a new line of questioning. Ares just believed it to be a bit of deflection, or stress induced quickening. The questions of the blind man in the bad weather. This was a joke he hadn't heard before. "I'm not entirely sure about the weather honestly. It feels chilly but that's what the coat's for. I'm actually just on my way back from my sister's birthday. I just turned 24 last month and she turned 27 yesterday- but uh. Can we jump back to this Hero thing. So what you're like one of those vigilantes or...like a Superhero?" Ares said rather cheerfully, though he cleared his throat and had to ask again about the hero thing.

If this guy really was a hero, Ares was going to have to warn him. This business wasn't the business for nice guys.

Tesla was now confused all over again. What did him being hero have to do with anything? Shrugging he easily responded, "Well, no one has accused me of being a vigilante so far, so I guess a super hero." Flexing his fingers, he let a jolt of electricity arc between his digits. "I mean, I have that meta-gene and I want to help people if that's what being a super hero is." Lowering his hands to his side, he let out a shallow breath. "Honestly I'm not really sure, all I know is that it feels good to keep people safe."

Taking a moment to look over the man, he raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do you ask? I apologize if this accusatory, but why does the specifics of my occupation matter? With how things are these days I wouldn't be surprised if a meta-human lives on every street corner around here."

Ares was stunned for a moment as the guy brought up himbeing a hero as if it weren't a big thing. That's where Ares just smiled and listened to the little story. So he was a hero, metagene and all. Ares nodded, highly interested in the man's differential between the two. He confessed he wasn't truly sure of what he was, but it felt good for him to keep people safe. Ares closed his eyes a moment, still hidden behind the sunglasses.

"Well yeah. There's people with metagenes everywhere. Still the minority but yeah. They don't use their powers to help others, if they even use them at all. Like I said; you're a good egg." Ares said, genuinely impressed by the random heroes' resolve and genuine compassion for others. He found himself chuckling at the concept of people considering being a hero as an "occupation". Unless he had a Hell of a sponsor, Ares doubted the credibility of being a hero as a day job. He cleared his throat a little and let out a sign, nodding as he opened his eyes. "I appreciate it. Seriously. It takes a special guy to come out here and risk everything for people like me, you're a lifesaver. Speaking of, I'm actually pretty famished. Whattya say to helping a blind guy find a place for food, and in turn he'll buy?" He asked as he felt his stomach growl, his hand moving down to punch himself in the guy, muttering for his stomach to shut up, as if it were autonomous.

Tesla simply shrugged in response, the motion causing the Jupiter Device to make a bit of noise as its parts shifted. "Well thank you for the compliment I suppose." Taking a moment to look around, he placed a hand on the man's shoulder, making sure to lower the voltage their to an unnoticeable level. "I think I know of a pretty decent place, i hear they serve the best pizza if you don't mind eating that."

Making sure no traffic was incoming, he used the pressure of his hand to guide the man towards the establishment in question, causing a few lights to flicker momentarily as he passed them by. After a little while of simply walking, he decided to address a part of the man's observation. "I do suppose you had a point with most metahumans not using their powers constructively. Honestly it is a shame they don't, but I can't blame them for wishing to use them privately." Looking down at the blind man he added with a bit of humor in his voice, "Some of us just don't have that luxury of keeping our powers to ourselves."

As the two approached the restaurant, Tesla made sure to let the man go first, opening the door for him as he did so. "There is a table just a few feet in front of you if you want to take it, I'll be with you in just a minute." With that said he headed inside himself and made his way to one of the managers, saying in a hushed tone. "Put that man on my discount would you?" The manager simply nodded in response and made his way to the back. Satisfied, Tesla made his way back towards the table he hoped the man had been able to sit at without trouble. "I think they may have a brail menu available if you ask for one, or I could simply read the menu off to you if you wish."

Ares couldn't help but smile as the man began to make note of the finer details of conversation. The topic of metahumans actually tended to bore Ares, but for some reason the guy seemed to have an energy about him. It wasn't as boring as it usually was, but Arescertainly welcomed the breakin conversation for a moment. He started to evaluate himself a moment, thinking back on how exactly he was going to warn this guy of the dangers of being a hero. But then the idea struck him, just in time.



"I should probably just stick with pizza. I trust ya." Ares replied in response to Tesla offering to read the menu to him. He would have done the brail option, but he'd have to admit that he didn't use brail. Pizza was the best choice for defaulting, that or chicken. Every place ever had chicken. After a second, the waiter came over, his eye twitched a little as he looked over Tesla and Ares for a moment. Ares smiled, but didn't look at the waiter until he spoke.

"Good evening. My name is Jackson and I'll be your waiter." He said, a little his through his teeth as he passed out the menu's, his eyes locking on Ares before rolling them and clearing his throat. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"Uhm. Hm. I'll take anything from draft, or water. Surprise me." Ares said in his usual chipper tone, though the waiter seemed rather...aggitated by something as he seemed to choke back whatever was giving his lip a twitch and requiring his need to breathe deeply.

Tesla looked down at the menu as the waiter came over, not really noticing any of the strange facial ticks. That is until he heard the slightest amount of disdain in the waiters voice. Looking up from his menu, he gave the man a questioning look for a brief moment, before responding "And I'll have a coke." Waiting a moment for the waiter to write their orders down, he turned his attention to Ares. "So, I don't think we traded names."

Offering his hand to shake he stated, "You can call me Tesla." After a moment, he began to withdraw his hand with a sheepish grin. "Right, keep forgetting you are blind." Chuckling mostly to himself he continued, "So who do I have the honor of talking to and eating with today?"

"You know, I thought about that, and I wasn't sure how etiquette carries when you're at dinner with a hero. I mean, is it rude for me to ask a name. Would I offend you for not knowing you?" He said, he had a bit of nervous laughter tied in as he shifted in his seat, comfortably letting himself lean back. Though the jovial smile dulled into a simple little grin as he saw the faintest motions of Tesla extending a hand. Though he retracted it, making comment of his own forgetfulness. Then he asked in oh so many words who Ares was. Ares had to admit this guy had a form of geekish charm about him, even Ares couldn't hate the guy. Words like honor were very prevalent in his childhood, so in that specific word he had to admit...this Tesla guy won his respect over.


"Ares. Like the God of War. Here, I'll give ya a hand this time." He said as he reached up and placed an arm out, a hand extended with a smile. He found himself amused at the prospect that perhaps this person was a genuinely good person, but he couldn't help his own curiosity. Why were they a good person? What made them what, or rather who, they are? "Former villain and overall bad influence." He said, still smiling before he leaned back, completely unsure if he would be taken seriously or not.

  The waiter returned and placed the drinks on the table, he left a stray for Tesla, but he neglected one for Ares before hastily making his way far away from the table. Reaching out Ares felt for the glass, gently making sure he had a grasp on it before taking a sip of the amber liquid that foamed. "That's good stuff..." He said with a refreshed sigh.

Tesla smiled in response, only delaying in taking Ares' hand to make sure no currents were going through that particular limb at the moment of contact. Then his body stiffened as the fellow mentioned being a former villain, causing him to shake the man's hand for just a second longer then what most would feel was comfortable. "Former villain you say?" Yet, instead of frowning in concern or condemnation, instead an eyebrow rose in curiosity. "Well, I'm glad you are of the former variety, villainy just doesn't sound right coming from you." Pausing, he added with a mild chuckle, "Even with a name like Ares."

As the wait deposited their drinks, Tesla's eyes once again lingered on the man, a small frown forming on his lips as he took notice of the strange neglect he was showing to Ares. Shrugging it off for the moment, he simply slid his tray over in front of the blind man. Waiting a moment, he lifted a hand and waved the waiter back over. "Excuse me sir, you seemed to have forgotten the second tray. I know I'm not much to look at, but I didn't think that made me invisible." As he spoke, he kept a friendly smile on his lips, only the smallest traces of sparks arcing from the ring on his back giving any indication of his mild irritation.

The handshake lingered a little, Ares had sort of expected him to react adversely to the concept of a former villain. He was grateful, however that the man decided to give him a chance to at least explain himself. He made a mention of the former villain thing not making much sense to him, even with a name like Ares. It made him wonder what he was trying to say. What was wrong with the name Ares? He heard something dragging across the table gently before his smile faded a little as Tesla decided to speak to the waiter about forgetting a tray.

  "What? I'm so sorry sir that's not- I didn't-" the waiter began, though he stopped as he looked over at Ares and tried to hold his tongue. Ares shifted though his smile returned, it was more sheepish and shamed than his previous ones.

"He wasn't ignoring you..." Ares said as he tapped the tray. "I'm blind, not deaf. You're a sweetheart though." He looked towards the direction of the waiter's voice. The waiter's face was beat red, the more that Ares spoke, it seemed the more he wasn't in control of himself.

"Look, I don't need anything. Just, bring me the check and once my friend here's finished I'll be on my way. I'm just asking you; don't drag my friend into this. Please?" Ares said. The Waiter grumbled a little as he seemed to calm down, walking off a little, mumbling something about retrieving a tray. Ares found this whole event rather alarming, and he didn't do the best job of hiding it. He went to slide the trey but stopped, his smile flashing back for a second. "I was totally gonna be cool and give this back to you, but I can just see me pushing it into your drink and....well....can't see it but, ya know." He said as he motioned for Tesla to take his tray back.
 

Tesla kept his eyes on the waiter for a good few seconds before turning his attention back to Ares and smiling just a tad sadly. "I'm so sorry about his behavior, I'm not sure what's gotten into him." After a moment he shook his head. "Oh no you don't, you keep that tray, I'll just wait for the new one." Sighing, he lifted a hand up to the locket that dangled for his neck and gripped it softly, his smile only looking more morose now.

"Maybe, maybe this is my fault?" Tearing his gaze away from Ares, he looked to where the waiter had disappeared off to. "I don't know why I'm about to tell you this, but the people that run this place are some close family friends of mine." Pausing, he shook his head and sighed. "No, that's a partial lie, they are more like a second family to me." Turning his gaze back over to Ares he continued in a soft voice, like someone recalling a happy memory long after it had become mired in sorrow. "You see, they're the family of someone close to me that I lost about a year ago. I blamed myself for what happened, and I still do somewhat even now. Yet they didn't, they said they knew it wasn't my fault and they gave me somewhere to morn in safety, away from everything."

Leaning back in his own chair, a small smile began to reform. "They are some of the most wonderful people I know." Frowning, he added, "But I guess there was some resentment buried in the extended members of their family. That waiter was his cousin, and he was actually one of the first to help me heal." Turning his gaze back towards where the waiter had gone he added in a sad tone, "But I guess he still has some things to work out."