Day by Day (Drifter)

"You're in over your head, boy." a deep, disgruntled voice called out. The owner of the voice stood in the center of a construction site, which he had been lead to on a wild goose chase by a certain vigilante. Said vigilante was using cover and stealth to his advantage here, but he was still quite outmatched. This dude looked like a combination of Bane and Electro, with electrical tubes protruding from his back and into his metal clad hands. Besides the electricity he had been tossing about, this guy clearly had some cybernetic augmentation going for him as well. His words were true, Drifter was in over his head.

"I wouldn't worry about me, not when little ol' you is in so much danger." The voice echoed out through the concrete construction site, bouncing off the ceiling and walls, however where it came from was quite clear. The metahuman yelled at the top of his lungs and charged toward it, using a combination of brute strength and his electricity to literally disintegrate a pillar he believed Drifter was hiding behind. What he found was a smart phone and a bluetooth speaker playing a recording. The realization on his face was only there for a moment, as it was replaced with that of pain. Using the distraction Drifter had managed to fire two explosive darts into the mans back, which exploded and sent the man flying off the ledge and onto the ground three stories down. This, of course, gave Drifter time to regain his stealth advantage.

He caught a glimpse of the metahuman while hiding, and as expected he was hurt, but more pissed then anything else. The guy was far too tough to put down so simply, which is why he still had a trump card ready. He really, really hoped this worked.

"Arggggg! Come out ya coward! Face me like a man!" the metahuman growled. Lukas smiled at that, because that was the plan. He leaped down, using some simple parkour techniques to make sure he landed safely, and appeared in front of the meta.

"Not really my style, but i suppose i can make an exception for you, little dove." Drifter said, leaping for cover before the man even charged up his burst of lightning. It spat against the concrete, tearing bits of it off and generally being scary as shit. Drifter knew he had to get him to a certain point in this construction site, that's why he brought him here in the first place, but that meant risking getting blasted to death.

I'm fucking crazy aren't i? Drifter asked himself. With that, he bolted from his cover, running in the opposite direction of the meta, seeing a few blasts wiz past him. Just a little further.

"Come back here you little rat!" The man said before chasing Drifter. For a big guy, he could fucking move, meaning he was already on Lukas' ass in seconds. Thankfully though, they arrived at where Lukas wanted him. The vigilante dropped a few flash bangs, and the meta covered his eyes in pain, stunned. It was go time now, Drifter shot beneath the man, hitting a water pinp while the big guy was still recovering. In fact, he really had enough time to explain the situation, considering the metas senses were enhanced.

"Say goodbye sparky. That pipe is gonna burst in a few seconds, and when it does, your little electrical rig is going to backfire. And if that wasn't enough to kill you, the explosive sticks i hit you with coated you in a powdered sodium/potassium alloy, which you'll know if you took chemistry in school reacts explosively with moisture. Have a wonderful day." Lukas explained to the dazed metahuman before running like hell. The pipe did give way, and the entire area exploded with water before drenching the meta, doing exactly what Drifter said would happen. First he was electrocuted by his own power and gauntlets, then the powder reacted with the water and he became a living shock bomb, exploding into, well, liquid. For good measure the building fell on what was left of him as well, all while Drifter watched from safety.

"And they say I'm an amateur. Wonder what the elite normal's would do to him, then." Drifter chuckled to himself as he got into his car and drove off, doing the clean up with his tech to cover his tracks once he did. In moments, he was just another guy driving along in a Honda. And that's when he got a text message.

Sky: Hey. I'd like to see you again.

Huh, he didn't know if she really were committed to anything more then that one night. At least he knew now that it was a bit more then that, not that he understood exactly what it was. He never loved anyone, ever. He understood the difference between a mere feeling and true emotion too much to fall in love in one night, though that didn't mean it couldn't grow.

Regardless, he was still in New York, and he wasn't doing anything, so he might as well go see her, right? Not like anything bad could happen, unless of course another metahuman mercenary showed up and tried to kill them. After what happened last time, he was packing some serious heat wherever he went, date or not. Grabbing his phone, he thought about what to write, finally settling on something casual.

Lukas: Me too, dinner?

Not much to worry about when it came to Lukas' tech. He locked it up even when he wasn't doing wildly illegal things, it was just a force of habit at this point. He always browsed with a custom proxy and encryption, he always used fully encrypted, prepaid phones, also with proxies. The guy just knew how to cover his tracks when it came to technology. In this day and age, nothing was secret, not unless you were a ghost like he was.

He didn't really know where to go while he waited for Skyler to text back, so he just kept driving until he heard the vibration against the leather passenger seat. He reached over and saw the message, seven a clock. That was two hours from now, so, he had to do something in the mean time. Might as well get ready or something, put on some nice clothing maybe? He hadn't done the date thing in so long it was all unfamiliar to him. Thinking about it, he would have just brought his grungy self immediately if that's what she suggested.

He pulled into the hotel he was staying at and primped, putting on his usual 'going out' get up. It consisted of a black shirt with angel wings on it, a hoodie over that kept open, dark grey skinny jeans, converse shoes, and of course his necklace and ring. After that, he would watch TV and mostly hang out until seven rolled around, and then he would make his way to Skyler''s home. Not without taking a selection of grenades and a sawed off shotgun of course. The drive was pretty long, taking him to the outskirts of town, but he made it in time. The home was quite humble for a badass agent, totally not what he expected, but he supposed everyone had their surprises.

Outside now. He sent after grabbing his phone. He hoped his car was upscale enough. It wasn't bad, but even though it was a sleek black sports car, it was a Honda, and he was sure the agent had ridden in some truly insanely awesome vehicles.

He was notified to go inside over text, which meant he actually had to go in and meet whoever she lived with, which likely meant her daughter....... That was something he hoped to avoid, but then again if he planned on doing this whole dating thing long term it would happen eventually, right? He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and just walked toward the door, knocking but getting no answer so he just opened it and walked in, seeing the hologram from their last meeting. He had seen plenty of things of this nature before, and knew it was possible, but he had never actually met a fully sentient AI before.

"Hey...... Avia is it?" Lukas asked, likely getting his response before he trotted off to a warm yet modern living room. Quite surprising in this sort of house, but then again it's the type of interior he initially expected her to have. Curve ball after fake curve ball before a fast ball with this chick. He would sit down and wait for his date to come walking in, and when she did he was at a lose for words.

She looked absolutely stunning. She did herself up from her hair to her toes it seemed, instantly making Lukas feel like he was being rude or at least naive. He smiled and got up, standing a few feet from the woman and looking her up and down.

"Wow......uh, you look amazing." Drifter said, mouth perpetually half open. He let out a faint chuckle and shook his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry........ I didn't know, well, i would have wore a suit if i knew is what I'm saying." Lukas continued, wondering what to do. He supposed it was fine, he could take her to an upscale place and all, she deserved it. He would stick out like a sore thumb but still.

"It's fine though, I'm glad. You ready to go?"

Lukas blushed ever so slightly when Skyler kissed him on the cheek, if only because the AI and other girl were there. Though, they didn't seem to care really. Drifter was a bit surprised by the bluntness of the girl talking about his clothes, but he payed no mind to it, only smiling in return. It seemed the whole clothing issue was not really an issue, because they both seemed fine with it. After that was all sorted out and the two females put on a movie to watch, Lukas walked Skyler out to his car, opening the door for her before getting in himself. Honestly it wasn't really to be a gentleman, he just sorta did it. Force of habit maybe.

Once inside, he drove off at an actual normal, not being chased by either cops or murderous metahumans speed. It was nice really, being normal, going out on a date again. He thought of places to go, New York had upscale places right? He had only one place in mind really, a place he went once before oddly enough.

"You like seafood? There's a place called Le Bernardin downtown, figured we'd go there." Drifter said as he got on the highway and made quick work of the miles in between him and the city. Assuming she said yes, he would continue on to the restaurant, or to one of her choosing, and once again open the door for her before walking up into the building and handing his keys to the valet.

Probably gonna cost me a fortune....... Eh, what the hell...

Skyler walked slowly, making sure not to twist her ankle. She was, afterall, wearing high heels. She was use to combat boots, most of the time. Her superb reflexes gave her a natural godlike ability to walk near flawlessly in heels - but for some reason she felt a little off tonight. Was it her nerves? She couldn't quite place her finger on the issue at hand.

If there even was an issue, really.

Smiling, she had accidentally reached her hand for the door handle as well. Her fingers brushed the back of his hand, and she felt like a younger kid. It was cute and fake taboo to touch the person's hand that you liked. The fear of getting cooties was all too real.

Skyler and Luke were not little kids. Yet, she felt a blush curl over her cheeks from that simple accidental gesture of her hand brushing his.

She sat down into the car, making sure that her dress was all the way in the car before the door got shut. She relaxed there, settling into the seat. She sighed with happiness as Lukas crossed around the car to get into the driver seat. Skyler took the few moments of solitude she had to make sure she really wanted to pursue this. Part of her said no, but the majority settled on yes.

There was no harm in it, after all.

The car ride was filled with deciding where to eat, and Skyler had actually settled on a different venue. Somewhere not so grandiose - but still delicious. A smaller jazz joint with finer cajun cuisine, and seafood like dishes. It seemed Lukas liked seafood, so Skyler decided why break the bank. Plus, she might even attempt to go on stage and sing something. It was open mic night. But, so was every night if any one was brave enough.

"There's no valet, but this place is great. C'mon," She said, getting out of the car and waiting for Lukas to get to her side before leading the way toward the door.

Ok, well, it turned out that Skyler had decided on a place. Lukas silently felt relief at that, after all being a vigilante didn't pay worth a shit, and being an IT guy was a living wage but nothing special. Plus, fancy places really weren't his thing. So he drove to the place, parked the car himself and walked with Skyler into the building where they would be seated and given a menu. He decided to order the seafood platter, it had pretty much everything and was enough to serve four people, and he liked a multitude of choices.

He realized it was open mic night, and part of him wanted to go up there, part of him wanted to sing even though he knew he sort of sucked at it, or maybe that's what he told himself. Either way, deciding whether or not to do it was a more daunting question then you would expect.

Come on, there was a time when you would have killed to be up there. A familar voice said in the confines of Lukas' mind. Great, this again.

Dude, fuck off. I'm not doing it. Lukas answered back. He was a bit uncertain about that though.

Will so. The voice said with a chuckle. Lukas shook his head, realizing he couldn't look like a crazy person as the food was brought to the table and he started to eat, ordering some drinks for the two of them.

"What's your favorite color?" Lukas said with a completely serious look, then started to chuckle. He effectively got his mind off the voice in his head, even if it was simply his own from a decade or so ago.

".........Seriously, i ask everyone this. It might not be the best coversation starter but it tells me a lot about a person." Lukas reasoned before taking a drink of his beer that was brought to him, a light ale perfect for seafood.

Interesting. He really didn't take Skyler for the purple type. Maybe it was her outfits, or hair, he didn't know. Regardless, it told Lukas there was a lot of compassion under all that hardened assassin. He knew that already sure, but the fact she even opened up to the question solidified there was a lot more then a killer inside her. Lukas briefly wondered what Matt or Patrick would think of him dating a smoking hot mercenary, but decided they were too unpredictable to really speculate about. His own question was asked, and he laughed, realizing it was a tough question as Skyler had said.

You know this! Green! Drifters younger voice echoed in his head.

No..... Drifter responded, but was interrupted.

Red? Black?! The voice questioned.

I'm not saying any of those. Have you ever flirted before? Luke asked.

No...... The young, innocent voice said.

Oh, right..... With that Luke blocked anything else out and got to actually answering, pulling out an entire crab leg and buttering it as he seemingly contemplated.

"No question about it..... Silver, just like your hair, your eye..... It's a wonderful color." Luke said with a smile, taking a bite of the buttery sea spider. He hadn't had good crab in years.


"So what are you singing tonight?" Lukas asked, smile still on his face. He had an unusual feeling in his chest, throughout his body. He was happy.

Honestly, Luke didn't think that lame line would work. However Skyler visibly blushed at it. He couldn't help but feel his face get hot at that, but he hid it well, taking drinks and bobbing his head a little at the horrible singing one of the more drunk costumers was performing. Skyler then said she would sing if he did, and that was quite alright with him despite him clearly being nervous.

"Sounds like a fair deal any day, I'm in." Luke said, his excitement half drowning the fact he didn't really want to do this. But maybe alcohol would help. Come on, how long did you think he would stay away from booze?

"Shots!" Lukas yelled out, a waitress arriving and writing down their order of shots and their music request. He didn't know what to sing, but he thought maybe they could do it together.

"You wanna do it together? You can pick the song." Drifter said. He probably had a different taste in music to her, but honestly the style he liked wasn't the easiest to sing.