Home at last

The clouds loomed overhead, threatening to rain on the towering pillars of glass and steel above. the apartments strewn over each other like childrens blocks. And bluescreen was running down the sidewalk, heedless of the impending rain, relishing the wind in her face.

New York City. Finally. Zachary was finally done dragging her on a world tour for the sake of bragging rights, and although she hadn't been in New York long, it felt more like home than anywhere else did. Bluescreen was running on the sidewalk, feeling the wind on her face, and trying not to think. relax she told herself. not that it would help. she had been trying to relax ever since Zachary had noted that she should, and she was starting to think that maybe she couldn't. wasn't it good that she was always alert? she didn't feel overwhelmed. The only time she had been overwhelmed was on the open internet, and that was orders of magnitude more data than this body was giving her.

Bluescreen slowed down. she was bored of running. she decided to head to the library, reading would certainly keep her occupied.

The Interval Kid was on the beat. And he loved his job. Well, to put it frankly, he loved this life. True, he had a past, and he had regrets, but it was like things were at the best for him. He had fit fluidly into the New York life, nobody suspected him of being capable of affording what they could only consider as insane luxuries, but most importantly, his identity as Tiberius Hadley was unknown to all. And as far as his job as a superhero was concerned, he dared say he was doing rather well. People were starting to notice him. He would soon make a reputation for himself. He could almost hear the villains telling each other: "Don't operate in New York. That's the Interval Kid's territory."

Standing atop a building gave him a nice view, especially seeing that New York City had lots of high rise buildings (depending on where you were, anyway). He could catch a breather, look heroic at the same time, and pick up any 'idle chatter' on the emergency channel. After a while, striking a pose for nobody in particular became a little uncomfortable, and he was starting to get hungry. A quick snack would do his energy reserves some good, and he wouldn't have to use up his bars until a real need called for it. Fishing in his utility belt, he came up with some spare change and smiled to himself. How did superheroes without pockets cope?

In a faded blur of blue, the Interval Kid was gone. Everything seemed to move like it was suspended in super-thick glycerin, or was even completely static, as his presence was only identified by the gust of wind that followed his passing. He was gunning for the hot dog stand just outside the Central Library; the guy was always there. A quick snack (maybe people would get a good view of him too) and he would be off again...

"Whoa!"

His many distractions caused him to almost barrel head first into a redhead; she did look cute from the back, and it would be a terrible way to introduce himself. He stopped sharply right behind her, seeming to almost jump into existence, though the tell-tale blur of his super-speed would inform any sharp eyed person that he wasn't teleporting or turning visible. He intended to walk past her like nothing happened, but he then reconsidered. Should he apologize? Say hello? Make a heroic quip? he remained where he was, therefore, analyzing and counter-analyzing, already oblivious to the fact that he had almost just knocked someone over.

At least, he had instinctively taken a step back when he stopped, so that he was not close enough to appear to be considering something perverted.

Bluescreen was walking toward the library, when suddenly, she heard a "Whoa!" behind her. her mind immediately started to categorise the data. young, male, surprised- no. relax. she admonished herself. she turned to look, and saw a tall, muscular boy, late teenage years it looked like,with dark blue eyes. He appeared to be wearing a costume. he was standing away from her, apparently frozen in thought.

the guy had probably been about to bump into her so  she decided to mess with him a little. : "Hello. you have reached amelia blue. I do not give my number to people I have just met, and I do not want coffee. with that out of the way, what's your name? "

The vacant look in his eyes quickly transformed to one of surprise, then curiosity, as the young woman addressed him. He was thankful, first of all, that she hadn't slapped him hard or something; he noticed that people hardly gave any benefit of doubt these days. Also, her introduction was quite benevolent, so he could heave a sigh of relief. Shoulders relaxing, he cocked his head to the side, a smile drawing the edge of his mouth to one side.

"'Reached Amelia Blue'? That's an interesting way to put it. Coffee's kinda overrated, too. I'm..."

Here, he paused, again. Come to think of it, he had not had any occasion to introduce himself to anyone, one-on-one. Definitely, he wasn't going to give her his name, and to come up with a fake name was moot, since she couldn't know who was behind the mask. How did the big guns say it again? "I'm So-and so"? Was he supposed to affix a "the" before his hero name? All these questions bounced back and forth at the speed of light in his mind, then his eyes gained focus, and he smiled. Worst case scenario, if he completely goofed up, she wouldn't know that it was Tiberius Hadley behind the mask, and he would be spared the humiliation in the part of his life where social interaction mattered. Still, he had to do this right. First impressions and all that.

"... the Interval Kid. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

He extended a hand, and prayed in his mind that she would take it.

"'Reached Amelia Blue'? That's an interesting way to put it. Coffee's kinda overrated, too. I'm... the Interval Kid. Pleased to make your acquaintance." he said, pausing before saying his title. he extended his hand, and bluescreen took it, deep in thought. was this a superhero? she had never met one in person before, but big cities probably had plenty. she hadn't heard of him though. she would look him up as soon as she got the chance.

"pleased to meet you too." she said. "what is that you're wearing?"

The Interval Kid shook her hand warmly, but was somewhat taken aback by her next query. As she asked him what it was he was wearing, he looked down at his blue outfit (which he actually took a lot of pride in), then up at her face, the slightest hint of incredulity in his eyes.

"No way, lady! You've got to be kidding me!" he thought silently, as he realized that, for all intents and purposes, she really seemed to be in the dark as to what he wore and why. Then he shrugged. "Well, this is my superhero suit. You know, what superheroes wear to hide their identity, fight crime, do awesome things, and make a trademark for themselves..."

There was a pause, as he looked somewhat puzzled. Was she unaware of what he was wearing because perhaps it did not resemble a superhero suit? He had designed the future suit to resemble what he saw the big guns wearing, those outfits that inspired pride and hope. Was that what everybody saw when they saw him? Or, was it that people didn't even know what he was?

"Uh... it does look like a superhero suit... doesn't it?" he asked uncertainly.

From ontop of a rooftop, Arrowman was looking down and curiously watched the two while not doing the best to hide himself from the people. Arrowman was mostly looking at the guy in the superhero suit. "Huh, someone new, should I go and talk to them or?" He thought to himself before turning around and deciding to not say anything and walk away, a little shy with new heroes.