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5/3 Instance: Getting Used To It All

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 7:23 pm
by Ferguson
Current Timeline

Miles: He sat at the table and held his warm paper cup of coffee. Starbucks was not the usual place for him to take dates. Not that he had any dates before. None, in fact.

Miles: He looked to his watch. Arriving 30 minutes early was a bit much, he realized.

Jessica: It had been something of a nightmare trying to navigate the city. She'd had to stop several times and ask for directions and the noise of the traffic was deafening. She was going to have to say no to coffee in the future. At long last, she found the cafe in question and pushed the door open, looking for Miles.

Miles: He was sitting in a long leather couch, deciding that he would let her choose to take either next to him or one of the leather chairs across from him. The oval coffee table in front of him was designed almost perfectly for laptops and general hipster use.

Miles: Miles made sure he wore his nices v-neck tee shirt, his brown corduroy jacket, his Michael Jordan #23 scarf, and of course, his brimmed beanie. He had put his fingerless gloves next to his drink on the table.

Jessica: Jess took the seat across from him after taking off her coat. She needed a sit down after all that hassal. She ran a hand through her hair and leaned her head back, closing her eyes for a moment. It was quieter in there because the walls and windows blocked a lot of the street noise.

Miles: Wow. He thought. She's gorgeous. "Oh... uh... Hi! Wow!"

Jessica: "Hi... am I late?" she eyed his half drunk coffee.

Miles: "Oh! No! Not at all! I'm super early, actually. I didn't wanna be late so I came way too early!" He tried to laugh. It was forced. The snort didn't help.

Miles: "Sooo... I hope you found the place okay. This is the only one that serves all the summer teas all year long."

Jessica: "Well... I found it, that's the main thing..." she looked around the place now that she was less stressed out.

Miles: "What would you like?" He offered. "I can go get it." he smiled what he hoped wasn't a nervous grin.

Miles: It was.

Jessica: "Um... do they have tea?"

Miles: "It's Starbucks." He said with a laugh. "Yeah! What kind would you like? Rooibos, Green, Black, Chai, which variey of those?"

Jessica: "Either black or green.... but if it's black I'll want milk and sugar..."

Miles: "Earl Grey? I assume?" He started to get up.

Jessica: She shook her head, "No, you never put milk in Earl Grey."

Miles: "Oh... uh... so what kind?" He asked, not sure if there was any other kind. Should've offered her TeaLuxe... he realized. British! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Jessica: "Any black tea that's not Earl Grey will be just fine," she gave him a smile.

Miles: He went up to the counter. "Could I get some black tea that's not uh... Earl Grey?" He asked the barrista. She smiled at him.

Miles: "What?"

Miles: He frowned. "Hold on..." He hurried over to her. "They don't have that. But... I have an idea. Are you willing to join me across the street?"

Jessica: "Um... sure?" she reached for her coat. "We don't have to leave... I can just have something else.... I don't want to be awkward..."

Miles: "No, no! This place across the street! Tealuxe! It's amazing! It's just tea! They brew this awesome Hot Chaider and Hot Chaiclate! It's great!"

Jessica: "Oh.... okay...." she slid out of her seat again and put her coat back on but didn't do it up.

Miles: He realized he should've gotten the coat. He grimaced at his lacking gentlemanly ways. He instead ran (skittered almost) to the door to hold it open for her. "After you, m'lady!" He smirked.

Jessica: She gave him a small smile and stepped back onto the street, wrinkling her nose as the sounds and smells came flooding unpleasantly back.

Miles: "I'd offer you my hand, but I feel like you have some super awesome ability to cross New York City Streets. I swear, you're a mutant if you can do it without a single taxi cab honking at you."

Jessica: "Well that's a good guess because I do have an ability that means I can cross the road without that." she lifted into the air a little way.

Miles: "Whoa-whoa-whoa!" He pulled at her arm to try and bring her down. "No! Wait, you registered? You don't wanna do that, not in the city!"

Miles: It was New York. People see a lot of weird things. Not a lot of people looked up. But a couple did. The observant ones. The hobos, mostly.

Jessica: "It's fine, it's only across the road...." she frowned, letting him pull her back down.

Miles: "It's alright. I have a spider-sense thing. Sorta. It's a little less... obvious." He notioned towards the crosswalk. "Follow me!"

Jessica: "If we're using the crossing are powers really neccessary? Also.... how do you think I got here?"

Miles: "You... Flew? Here?" He was amazed. "I'm surprised the MRA didn't tase you to the pavement. And yeah, you haven't been around NYC much, huh?" He let a young tourist couple go before them. "Take this example. Crossing from our side of the street is a happy, young, Asian couple."

Miles: "Presumably on a honeymoon. New York City as a romantic getaway..." He shook his head. "I will never understand China. Anyways, on the other side, an everyday New Yorker."

Miles: "You know because his tie has the Yankees logo on it, he is looking at his cell phone and texting while talking on his blue tooth, eating a bagel, and drinking a hot coffee." He used his hands to make a camera. "Aaaand... scene."

Miles: Without missing a tick, the New Yorker walked right through the crosswalk. The pedestrain symbol was blinking but the Asian couple were busy snapping photos, talking to eachother, laughing merrily.

Miles: The New Yorker was across, without even looking up, in seconds. Unfortunately the young asian couple were only 3/4 of the way across. "Aaaaand, the horns and swears."

Jessica: "But I'm not going to stop in the middle of the street.... that's dangerous.... and yes I flew here. I don't drive...."

Miles: "We're not driving. We're walking. Fast." He took her hand and the signal came. "Leezzgo!" He yanked her off the sidewalk and tried to guide her a windy way around the crowd of people.

Miles: Young girls with earbuds singing songs, older bald businessmen with bluetooth phones, texting college students, secretaries at work, tourists, all around general NEW YORKERS.

Miles: And running through the thick of it was young Miles, the african/latino-american mutant boy pulling on the hand of the British girl who had been living in Amsterdam. The Melting Pot at its finest he thought.

Jessica: Jess managed to keep up with him, thanks to her own quick reflexes. She was quite proud of herself for not knocking anyone over. Once on the other side of the road she glanced behind her. Flying was safer.

Miles: "Okay! TeaLuxe!" The cafe was on the corner of a building. The design of the door was a giant mug.

Miles: "Okay, it's all tea. You can order that plain british stuff if you want, but they got some real cool stuff here. Shipped from India, Africa, etc... They infuse teas with other flavors. It's great."

Jessica: "The 'plain british stuff' is just fine," she smirked a little, heading inside.

Miles: He sighed but kept a smile. "Your call." He went to open the door but she beat him to it. "Damn." He said under his breath.

Miles: He slipped around some exiting patrons and got to a table. Using his foot he pulled a chair. "A seat, Ms?"

Jessica: She nodded, sitting down and giving him a smile, "Thanks..." she took her coat off again and draped it over the back of the chair.

Miles: He smacked his forehead, realizing he forgot the coat again. "Be right back, drinks." He slipped off to the line.

Miles: Moments later he came back with milk, sugar, a hot cup of black tea, his own mug of hot chaider (chai steeped in authentic hot cider). He balanced this all precariously.

Miles: "Spider-balance? I guess? I've spoken with a few of the professors here, Dr. Styger thinks my abilities might be spider-like. Sorta like yours."

Jessica: "That seems logical... my balance is really good... helps being able to stick to things." She took her drink, adding the sugar and poking the teabag with the stirrer for a while.

Miles: He sat down and tried to put his mug down. He couldn't. Panicking a little, his arm started to become transparent. "Aw, shit."

Jessica: "Relax..." Jess said gently, reaching to help him, "It's not a big deal." And he was worried about a little bit of flying...

Miles: "Okay... Okay..." He calmed down and his arm returned. "Thanks. So... yeah this place is great. I used to come here with my Uncle sometimes."

Jessica: "You're welcome..." she gave him a smile and went back to prodding her teabag, "Used to?"

Miles: "He and I we uh... we don't talk much. Dad doesn't want me talking to him." Not that I've spoken to my parents or let them know where I am lately... he remembered.

Jessica: "Oh... that's sad...." she took the bag out and added milk, stirring until it reached the right colour.

Miles: Miles raised an eyebrow at the mixing process. "Milk?" He shrugged. "Something you do in Europe I suppose." He took 5 packets of Sugar in the Raw and dumped them into his Chaider.

Jessica: "No... they look at you funny on the continent too... it's a british thing...."

Miles: He wasn't sure what she meant by 'on the continent' until he remembered England wasn't exactly attached to anything. "Oh... right, okay, just realized what you're talking about. Right. Well... uh... what kind of music do you like?"

Miles: The music playing in the tea café was a light, smooth-jazz cover of various pop and mainstream metal songs. Currently it was "Crazy Train", originally performed by Ozzy Osborne.

Jessica: She gave a small shrug, "Don't know.... only really listened to classical and what they played at work...."

Miles: "Ah. Well... You should try some stuff. You ever heard of jazz? Or the blues?"

Jessica: She thought about that then nodded slowly, "Yeah... but I don't remember listening to any...."

Miles: "Okay, here's the deal then. I'm gonna take you to a real sweet jazz café sometime, much better than this crap. I'm assuming you don't really like hip-hop, so we'll skip the club. This place though, awesome. I might even be able to show you some of the piano tricks my Uncle taught me."

Jessica: "Piano tricks? Do you play?" She was reluctant to agree to something else he might consider to be a date.

Miles: "Yes. And no. I can, but not for long. I don't know a lot, but I know some ... what did he call them? Charming tunes."

Jessica: She smiled, "I can't play any instrument.... I'd like to learn though..." She'd had many arguments with her father about that.

Miles: "Well, thankfully the instrument learning phase of my life is over and I'm more interested in learning things from books. My Dad says I'm smart, my Ma says I'm just driven. I think, or at least I like to think, that I'm a little of both." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

Miles: "What about you? You going to shoot for anything at the school?"

Jessica: She looked down at her tea, "I don't know... I don't even know why I'm here... Not sure what to do with myself now and I'm further than ever from where I want to be... I need a job really..."

Miles: "You should get one. Hell, you could probably get one here if you wanted. Not like you couldn't get to work on time each day? You fly right? And you know tea. I bet you could spruce this place up, teach 'em a thing or two. They'd hire you, it's the accent."

Miles: He grinned. "It's lovely. Customers would fall over for you."

Jessica: She nodded, "Yeah... I'm sure they would...." she sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I don't know... I'm sure they already have plenty of staff...."

Miles: "Well... you never know." He looked around quickly for a 'NOW HIRING' Sign, but didn't see one jump out at him. "I would say worth asking about."

Jessica: "Maybe... but I don't have any qualifications to speak of.... so that could present a problem...." she frowned, "I should have stayed where I was...."

Miles: "You're a people person! I can tell! You're great with people! And better yet? You're great with guys. I've seen the other guys at the school! You have 'em wrapped around your finger!" And I'm the pathetic new guy.

Miles: "What'd you do when you were in Amsterdam, anyways?"

Jessica: "I-I, uh..." she shook her head, "It doesn't matter.... it's not something that'll look good on a resume..." she avoided his gaze and decided to avoid further explanation by taking a sip of tea.

Miles: "What, drug runner or something? Who cares, you were a mutant making it on your own with any method you could to get by! We all know the story, they don't need to! I'll spruce up your resumé. Fake some resources, applications."

Miles: He shrugged. "I can do it. I can give you a whole new past. Ha! Oxymoron!"

Jessica: She shook her head, "It wasn't that..." she wrinkled her nose a little, "I don't want to lie... what if they checked?"

Miles: For what? Your past work history? This isn't exactly like working for ING, Jess. They take your word for it. You'd be a barrista. That's not worth the time and money to do background checks, so long as your falsified papers are thorough enough." He nodded confidently.

Miles: "And trust me, they will be."

Jessica: She frowned, not sure she liked the idea of falsifying papes. "And why do I need false papers?"

Miles: "Because you're an unregistered mutant, slash, illegal immigrant, slash, ex-whatever. And if there's one thing my family knows about, it's how to get immigration status and how to duck around the loop holes until then."

Miles: He whipped out his wallet. "My aunt Yemi? Her three kids and her all came from Morocco. They weren't considered legal citizens for a long time, my dad had to work with them to get through the system."

Miles: He grinned a devilish grin and added, "While my Uncle falsified documents and got them legitimate enough to be applicable for jobs. The kids were all born in the states so they were allowed to go to school, but they were getting passed on jobs because of their immigration status."

Jessica: She frowned again, contemplating her tea, "And... why would you do that for me?"

Miles: "... I like you?" He said plainly, feeling now like he was being sized up. "I... I just want to help you out."

Jessica: "But why? People don't do that... what would you get out of it?"

Miles: "... A smile?" He hoped.

Miles: "Maybe a free coffee once in a while? Unless it would risk your job." He got quieter. What did she expect of him?

Jessica: Jess ran a hand through her hair and shifted a little. This was a completely alien concept to her. "That's all?"

Miles: "Well... yeah? What else would I be expecting?" his eyebrows were furrowing now, confused.

Jessica: She gave a half shrug, "I don't know... money?" she paused, "Me?" she suggested. That was usually what people wanted from her.

Miles: "You? How would... why would-..." He froze and his mouth dropped. "Whooooaaa! No, nono! I mean... yeah! But... no! Not like that! I want to like... be your friend. You know? Be someone you trust! You don't just... that's... My Moms would kill me if I did that to you." He said bluntly.

Jessica: "Why? Other people have.... I wouldn't blame you...." she frowned.

Miles: "Well... I mean... you're gorgeous but... that's like, something you earn. Y'know?" He leaned forward and almost reached for hand, but didn't. "It's... If I were to do that to you, I'd be a creep. And it sounds like you've had a lot of creeps. I don't wanna be a creep, Jess."

Miles: I don't want to be my Uncle... he thought to himself.

Jessica: "You're far from being a creep.... even if that was what you wanted..."

Miles: "I would never want that." he reassured her.

Jessica: "Well.... okay... I'm just not used to that...."

Miles: He smiled proudly. "Get used to it. I'm awesome like that."

Jessica: She smiled back, "I'll try... it'll take some reprogramming though... so don't hold it against me if I mess up...."

Miles: I could never hold anything against you... he thought. "I wouldn't. And you won't."

Jessica: "I'm almost certain I will... but thanks for the vote of confidence..."

Miles: He held up his mug for a toast. "Anytime!"

Jessica: She laughed a little and held up her mug to his.