Coffee Time (OPEN)

The hot cup of coffee in front of Iha brought a welcoming sensation as he put it to his nose, then sipped slowly. He loved to spend time at the cafe. Looking at the people around him. Learning the new customs. He had missed so much. This combined with trying to learn the language of the people he listened intently to them around him.

The building was on the side of a busy street. He had been sitting at a table outside. Shielded from the sun with a light yellow umbrella and sipping on his drink as the sun had just finished rising at dawn. For the last few weeks he's been coming to the same spot every day. Taking Mehka's training seriously, he has been running for ten miles in the mornings, practicing his forms, and excelling quickly in his combat arts. Coffee is how he had been rewarding himself.

Arlandria Vega was feeling powerful.

The open sky and glowing sun of an early morning in Egypt was unfamiliar, especially compared to the New York skies she was used to, all clouds and buildings plastered on top of a polluted sky. Tristan Cadbury, the primary genetic engineer that had been carefully keeping an eye on the artificial genetic makeup of Arlandria her whole life, had suggested that Arla travel somewhere supplied with sunlight for both Arlandria’s health and his research, and, as she pulled her sun-warmed hair into a high ponytail, she was thankful for his suggestion. The heat boiling up off of the sidewalk and wrapping around her long legs barely registered in her head as she strutted down the street, head on a swivel. She was always aware, always on the lookout for crime, criminals, or, in this case, a cafe in which she could get a solid internet connection so as to report the early and immediate affects the sunlight seemed to already be having on her power. She wasn’t planning to buy anything from the cafe, no, she simply wanted to grab a strong connection, if only for a moment. She sat absentmindedly in an open, outdoor seat, away from the shielding cover of the umbrellas, and whipped out her phone to shoot a strict report back to New York as the sun rose.

It was strange to see someone walk up and sit at a table in the sun. Everyone, especially the tourists, went out of their way to sit in the shade. Some even complained that Iha was taking a long time at his table, being forced to feel the presence of the seemingly unbearable rays.

The question made it's way through Iha's mind and soon he found his vision fill with information on the woman that sat down a few tables over. His peripherals full of articles titled, 'Miracle Birth?!' and, 'Scientific Breakthrough!'. They all looked very interesting.

I wonder what her story is, he thought to himself.

He quickly gulped down the rest of his coffee and stood up in the sun. He felt the rays hit his skin and it seemed just as rapidly a  number signifying his temperature blinked and raised a degree.

"Would... like company?" Iha attempted, his Egyptian accent leading the way off his tongue.

Arlandria glanced up from her phone as she was addressed, a smile instantly illuminating her face as she observed the speaker, a dark-haired, dark-skinned man whose voice was thick with the Egyptian sands. Her brown eyes caught the sun as it crept over the buildings, turning from their rich brown to a bright gold as the light filled them.

“I’d love the company,” she replied, her voice and face reflecting genuinely. It was true; although she didn’t mind being alone too much, the woman thrived in the company of others. She locked her phone politely, slipping it into the pocket of her white shorts. Tristan and her report could wait; after all, she wasn’t in Egypt only for science, she was there for the sights as well. As the man sat, she would reach her hand across the table to shake his, introducing herself along the way.

“Arlandria Vega, American tourist,” she’d continue. Her voice was bright, yet still kept its underlying maturity. She spoke slowly and purposefully, each word selected carefully from the thesaurus of her mind. She would smile at the man, clasping her hands on the table before her to let the man know he had her attention.

Her smile brought a feeling of gladness to Iha's mind. He loved to meet new people and learning new things. He also saw this as a perfect time to practice his English. Especially with such a beautiful dark woman.

"Thank you." He said while taking a seat and shaking her hand. "My name is Iha." The words rolled off his tongue fairly well, these where the first phrases he learned. "Ar... Arlandria Vega?" He tried to pronounce. "That... I... is a... wond... beautiful name." He stumbled.

Iha's tongue still had difficulty turning sound into English, not to mention remembering the words he is trying to speak.

Mention of the united states made him nervous for a moment . Was she sent here to look for me? he wondered. The company could have sent a beautiful woman like herself to get close to him. He let this thought slip to the back of his mind. Not dismissing it, just not going to worry about it.

"What br...ings you to Egypt?" He questioned politely.

Arlandria listened patiently as Iha stumbled through his knowledge of English language, nodding here and there to encourage him to continue. She shifted slightly in her seat to get a more direct window of warm sunlight on her body.

“Iha...” she repeated quietly and absentmindedly, committing the name to her memory as he spoke.

“Thank you,” she’d add to his compliment, before letting him continue the conversation.

“I’m here for the tourism, history, and, of course, the sunshine. There’s plenty more of that here than nearly anywhere else I’ve ever been,” she said, raising a hand absentmindedly towards the morning sky. It was the truth. She had no need to lie, but, she decided, there was no need to bother this man with the whole truth. She could tell him she was here for research, too, but, the details of that research would require a whole life story to a man she’d only just introduced herself too. No, no, a simple explanation of vacationing would be enough, less he got curious.

“And you, what’s your story? Are you a native of Egypt?” She asked, noting both his appearance and his voice. She tilted her head slightly in a curious manner, her long curls shifting to dangle down over her shoulders.

Iah payed close attention to the words that streamed across his vision. He attempted to read quickly in order to minimize any delay that might happen between him reading and understanding. The long silences always passed like nails on a chalkboard. This time though he kept up eagerly.

He smiled, "No, not from here. I... born in Egypt. " He struggled slightly but it was completed by a friendly smile. He missed his home, the sands of the desert and the feeling of the Nile running through his fingers. His thoughts went else where for a moment. Then snapped right back.

"Oh, I have a ... long story." He said. "So do you I think." He spoke, not relizing what he said for a moment then trying to correct himself, "I mean... umm... we ... umm... all do." It was becoming a bad habit of his. So much information passes before his eyes he forgets what is meant to be secret and what is public information. Catching his slips far too late then stumbling, searching for the right words and quickly only made those long moments even more gritty.

“Egypt, I’ve never been there, but the photographs I’ve seen, it’s beautiful. It ought to be a wonderful place if it’s producing wonderful people,” she said coyly, offering Iha a small smile as she gave a small compliment. The man was nice to look at, Arlandria certainly wouldn’t deny it. His dark hair and scruff gave him a pleasantly rugged look, and his golden eyes were everso intriguing.

As good as he looked, Arlandria’s eyes still narrowed as Iha mentioned that he thought she had a long story, her smile faltering for a moment suspiciously as the man caught himself. What did he know? Had he been following her? Keeping up on her story? She allowed the warmth of her demeanor to return, however, as he mentioned that all people had long stories leading up to the present.

“Yes, we all have stories to tell or keep,” she commented, suspicion in her voice despite the return of her smile. “What brings you to India from Egypt?” She proceeded to ask, cradling her head in her hands as she leaned over the table.

The woman's expression wasn't lost to him. He received it much when he slipped, always a sense of suspicion, but Iha greeted her smile with his.

A flash, seen only by Iha (maybe a glitch), followed buy a quick painful twinge in his head. It felt like someone cut him from ear to ear, but behind the blade was relief. Then sudden pain in his right arm. His skin quickly changed color, the hair grew and shortened sporadically, then evened out into a wave and returned to normal. It happened so fast that Iha could only bring his left hand to his head and squeeze the woman's right with his, he was careful to not cause her pain, at least he thought...

It didn't cause Arlandria pain so much as shock. The woman yelped out of surprise as her hand was grabbed, pulling away instantaneously but unable to release her hand from his grip. Her heart dropped as she was seized, afraid that she had trusted the man too much, that he'd take advantage of her, that he'd try to hurt her, that he had been following- but, n-no, this couldn't be normal. Arlandria watched his hand, gripping hers, change color- then normalize- in absolute horror. Had she been in the heat too long? Was it the bright sun playing tricks with her eyes? She was sure she had seen something. Even her own powers of light manipulation had never yielded such a change. Her eyes raced to Iha's face searching for answers, but the sight only proved to shock her more.

Her confusion and sickening horror increased as she watched his hair grow, flex, shimmer, and retract back into his head. He held a hand to his head, seemingly in pain as he gripped onto Arlandria tightly. In a moment as sudden as it had started, it ended, however, and Iha returned to normal, albeit looking a little shaken. The tiny freakshow was not only noticed by Arlandria, however; the crowd surrounding the two had noticed Iha's changes, or at least Arlandria's shock.

"Stay unnoticed, Arla. An eye that sees too much is friends with the mouth that will give you away," Tristan had whispered to her as they embraced before she walked onto her plane. Yes, some distraction, some ruckus to allow the two to escape to another locale would be nice. She only hoped Iha would comply.

"Iha, let's get out of here, okay? We can talk somewhere where there aren't a million eyes watching us," she whispered suspiciously, patting Iha's hand with the one that wasn't in his grip. "Just trust me." After one final pat, Arla raised her hand and stood, excited to try her power if only for a mere party trick. She turned her hand towards the sun, and, like a huge mirror, light bounced from her hand and temporarily into the eyes of the surrounding coffee shop patrons, blinding them like a spotlight suddenly turned on in the dark. She tugged at Iha's hand, begging him to come with her as she navigated through the sudden deluge of all-consuming white light blanketing the area.

Arlandria led Iha down a side street, not too far from the coffee shop or the main road, but far enough to be quiet, secluded, and protected from the prying eyes Arlandria had been taught to be overly paranoid of. She stopped after a few steps, waving her hand with flourish. Over the building tops, she could see the light she had created dim. She smiled to herself. She felt powerful, stronger than ever. As she turned to Iha, however, her face fell to concern.

"Maybe I'm being paranoid. Sorry I drug you away. I was afraid of what those people might do to foreign freaks like us," she said quickly.

"But that doesn't matter. Iha, what happened back there? Your whole body just, I don't know! It changed, real suddenly, and- well, and I didn't know what to do! I was scared! Are you okay? Should I call someone?" she began to ramble, words spilling out of her like the mouth of a river, endless, quick, and senseless. Her hands, shook with every wild hand motion she made, and she looked at Iha expectantly, fear evident on her face.

Following along a rooftop would be a certain man in an Owl Costume. Despite it being daytime, The Owl Man was there, sneaking along a building while peering at the two of them. He would be taking in every word they said, using his enhanced hearing to filter through their words. Owl Man had a job to do. These might be villains making a plan. He had seen them in the Coffee Shop conversing about something and the male freaking out with his hair going crazy, and the female pulled him away. It was strange...

Owl Man removes an Owl-Rang from his belt and prepares to hurl it before catching that the female was fearful of what people would do to them. He discerns that they must both be some type of metahumans. He puts away the Owl-Rang and listens for more information, crouching behind a chimney. He rolls a dial on the side of his cowl, zooming in on their faces, examining their facial expressions as they engage in conversation.

India was not the place Sam had thought he would be spending the last two weeks in, but he was happy to be seeing the world a bit more. It was nice to get away from America and actually see the world, do hero work elsewhere and all that. The only problem with his current situation was that...well, he had lost his wallet and had no means of money. He still had his tickets home, but they weren't for another few days. In the meantime, he had nowhere to stay, nowhere to go. He was forced to return to his normal means of establishing a place to sleep. Cleaning out a dumpster, setting a sheet down, and using that as a means to sleep in. It wasn't great, but for now it would have to do!

Laying there now, he was just enjoying the peace and calm of this quiet alleyway. It was a perfect place for him to establish his temporary home and just kill time until he had to leave. He looked over to his bags and reached over to grab a bag of chips he had brought with him. He popped them over and lazily began to eat them. He would've liked for there to be something to do or someone to meet, but he wasn't sure what the laws were in regards to metas and stopping crooks nor did he know the language. He couldn't converse with the people or ask if he could stop crime. Sadly, he just had to wait it out and pray the time went by quickly. It wasn't an easy task, but it gave him time to think. He really plan out his life and goals. Maybe a career change? Maybe figure out that problem that had been plaguing his mind for the last few years. There were a lot of productive things he could! This was the perfect time to get started! Finally he would be able to-

Was that people talking? And in a language he could understand?!

He lifted his head off of the sheet and looked towards the roof of the closed of dumpster, his eyes wide with excitement. Finally there was something to do in this town! He quickly jumped up from the dumpster, throwing open the lid and looking down into the street. Yes! There were two more people there! A man and woman! The man looked a little worse for wear possible and the woman seemed a bit worried maybe? It didn't matter! Company was company! He was just happy to have found someone else. He clapped his hands together once as he looked down at the pair. "Hello there! My name is Samuel Grayson and it's gre-"

CRASH!

The lid of the dumpster had bounced back and fell straight on Sam's head, knocking him back down into his sheet. He let out a long groan, rubbing the back of his head and rolling slightly. After a few moments he finally managed to regain himself and stand back up, this time only slowly lifting the dumpster lid and making sure it wouldn't fall back down on him. He returned his attention back to the pair and smiled sheepishly, a hint of pain on his expression. "Hey there...uh, it's great to meet you! My name is Samuel Grayson!" He tilted his head at the man, blinking once. He then looked toward the girl, now scratching his cheek. "Is everything okay here? Did something happen." He lifted himself out of the dumpster and jumped down from it. "I'm a hero! If there's anything wrong I am happy to help!" He nodded once to the girl, then once to the man. "What's the problem?"