Deviation Actions
Literature Text
With crumpled up dollar bills wadded up tightly in his hands, the dreadlocked man leaned against the wall of what had to be the nicest smelling building he’d ever come across. His free hand drummed on the side of his leg as he muttered and mumbled to himself, weighing the pros and cons of entering the building. Lots of people in there, people who might know what his face looks like if those damn nuisances had been walking around with “wanted” posters or some shit. At the same time, varying up his locations would make him harder to track, and it smelled so good! They were bound to have something warm in there, right? He loved warm food, warm food sounded amazing, it wasn’t like money was an issue (not really, he had ways of getting more), just having people recognize him…
Adjusting his hood each time he peered through the window, a louder grumble escaped him, until he finally slumped and sat on the ground with an agitated huff. At least then he’d look more like a homeless person, and not someone getting ready to rob the damn place. It was late enough that he believed the traffic would keep him safe, at least for a little bit, long enough to make up his mind about whether or not he could afford the risk of being caught. For the time being, the cash was stuffed back into his pockets, pulling out an outdated smart phone that had definitely seen better days. He didn’t try to check the time or pull up messages or anything, merely holding it while staring ahead with a “zoned-out” glaze to his eyes. The least he could do was check for cameras around the building or inside it. That was smart. He could be smart sometimes.
If there were no cameras around, he could go in. If there was even a single camera that the feds could tap into, he would walk away and abandon all hope of something tasty. That seemed like a reasonable gamble, one that still left some hope for going inside...
Assuming, of course, his cover wasn't already blown.
And probably to his dismay - it was.
A soft chime announced the door being opened, and that alone wasn't unusual. People kept going in and out the entire time. But this time, the person leaving the café was surrounded by a halo of delicious scents which told lovely tales about all the yummy treats the place had to offer. And this time, the person didn't proceed to hurry away in an effort to catch some bus or get home. This time, the person stopped in their tracks right outside the café, and took a short moment to look around before spotting and smiling at Quincy.
It was one of the baristas, a fluffy, chubby young woman with a soft cloud of chocolate-brown curls about her head and eyes in the same color. All of that well matching the scent coming from the papercup she was carrying towards the hooded man.
"Oh, phew! I thought I missed you after all!" She said, genuine relief in her voice and a slight blush on her cheeks from the unusual feeling of approaching someone else first.
"I hope I'm no bother - I saw you through the window and thought you might want something to warm you up? But I couldn't just leave before my break, so, uh..." Her babbling slowed to a halt as she sheepishly offered up her papercup.
"I got myself a hot chocolate, but you can have it if you like. Not everyone can afford to pay and that's okay. If you like, I can treat you to a warm meal and drink every now and then, until you're back on your feet?" She gave the sweetest, most innocent and genuine smile.
Well, from what he could tell, there weren’t any cameras around that were directly aimed at the storefront, but there was one watching the back of the store? That was odd, but it meant that the only way he could get in trouble was if he went through the back and that seemed so unlikely-
Nearly jumping out of his skin the moment Cocoa spoke up, he dropped his phone in his lap and looked at the girl with a mix of panic and confusion. Where did she come from!? Holy shit, he’d gotten too lost in looking around, he forgot to listen for people coming his way, fuck. He took the time to look her over, assessing if she was a threat or not as he peered up through broken glasses. She was… short. Short and very soft looking, not like someone who could actually detain him if he could give a good kick to the shins.
It was like she was talking another language. He had no idea what she was trying to get at, up until he was offered a cup, and he looked at it with utmost scrutiny before casting his gaze back up at her. Nevertheless, he took the cup, and took the time to smell it before responding. He cleared his throat to make sure he couldn’t make a complete fool of himself, though his voice still left hints that talking wasn’t quite something he was used to doing.
“For free?” How... suspicious. Still, it smelled like the best thing he’d ever smelled in his life (that he could remember), and his lips formed a thin line as he mulled over her offer. “I… have money.” He set the cup on the ground beside him and fumbled before offering her the wads of cash, not putting his arm down until she took it or until it got tired, whichever would end up happening first. Normally, he might’ve considered taking her up on her offer, but that sounded like it was going to make him owe her a favor and he wasn’t going to get suckered into that. “Warm in there? Uhh… hot food too? Or only drinksh?” Damn, it was hard to avoid sounding like an idiot, but he tried to subtly ask about whether or not he was allowed inside the building while not saying enough that she would think he was some lispy dunce. Some places have a reputation to uphold.
Cocoa winced as well when Quincy jumped, spilling a few drops of chocolate onto her hands. With a slightly confused expression, she pulled one of them up to her face to kind of... carefully nip the droplets off. Licking them was not an option, but maybe she could save some of that delicious taste by doing this weird kissy thing and then licking her lips?
Her eyes wandered back to the stranger while she rubbed the remainder of the drops off on her apron. There was only so much one could do.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you..." She said more quietly that she had spoken before, her soft voice nearly drowned out by the traffic. Poor guy, his glasses were broken...
"Yeah, on the house." It made her smile a bit with relief when he took the cup and examined it, and then she blinked in confusion at being offered the money - but that soon made way for another, a bit shy smile.
"Oh! O-okay..." She carefully looked over the money and eventually, very gently, tugged out a one dollar bill. Of course the beverage was listed for more than that outside, but the only reason she took payment at all right now was to cater to this strangers's wish for dignity. Not to cover the actual price.
"There, all paid." She gave him a brighter, happy expression, the lind of smile someone with no guards possessed. And when he asked about the inside of the café, she actually even got a little bit excited!
"Yes, it's warm inside! There's this one corner that's especially cozy, and you can watch the street from there - wanna come in and drink your chocolate there? I'd have to check what else we can offer right now, but at the very least, I could whip up a toasted sandwich for you to warm yourself up with!" Warm him up, huh? The young woman notably said that while she herself had come outside without even a light jacket, and rubbing at her own goosebumps on her arms.
Truthfully, he had no idea what it was that Cocoa did with her hand, but held his breath as he watched her and sighed out a bit of smoke when she licked her lips. Was this some sort of power she had? Was she like him, just with some odd power to make him feel weird? This was a bad idea, a bad idea indeed. He never should’ve entertained her, he should’ve just told her to fuck off like he normally would’ve-
The more Cocoa spoke, the more he realized that she was either a very good actor, or being sincere. It was hard to tell which, he wasn’t used to reading people and could only go off of his gut feeling, which right now felt a little sick and topsy-turvy but that was beside the point. Watching her take some of the cash, he appeared satisfied and put his remaining cash in his pocket, before grabbing the drink and hoisting himself up. He wasn’t expecting to suddenly go from craning his neck up to scrunching his neck down… she was pretty short.
Taking another quick look around, he fell silent while trying to decide if he should really be entertaining this. He couldn’t afford to be a fucking idiot just because some kind chick was offering him free food, but good god free (HOT!) food sounded so nice! There were no cameras that he could find, hopefully there were seats away from the windows so he could hide in the warmth for a while without bothering that kid again… the man paused his train of thought when he caught the name of the store, feeling like it was familiar, before his eyes widened and his grip on the cup tightened.
“… oh, fuck.” He mumbled in utter defeat, looking between Cocoa, and the storefront, and back again. “The ginger girl. She worksh here, right? The one on TV?” He asked Cocoa, a scowl forming as he spoke. “I can’t go in there. It’sh not safe , not for me.” Taking a step back, then another, he raised the cup in a light salute along with a raised eyebrow, and started eyeing the cars parked out front as he continued to back away.
“Forget my face, yeah?” Damn! Had it been any other store, any other café, he might’ve taken her up on her offer. There were too many people after that dumb healing bitch though, too many feds on her trail. Unless, of course, it wasn’t that café, or if the short girl who smelled like heaven was really persistent about it or found some loophole that he didn’t believe existed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t gone without meals this whole time, he could miss out on one more. It wasn’t worth it, it just wasn’t worth it. He turned on his heels to leave, taking a sip of the drink in his hands and feeling his whole body shiver from the heat of it. What even was this again, did she say? It was a drink from the gods, Jesus tapdancing Christ. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to savor it, or chug the whole thing at once, but either way it was the best drink he’d had in his life.
“Thank you.” He called over his shoulder while checking to see if she’d gone back inside yet. It was too cold for her to stay out there anyways, and with a potential customer leaving she was bound to go back inside and pretend nothing ever happened... or call the feds now that her plan to trap him inside failed. Shit. SHIT.
Oh. Oh goodness, he was tall! Cocoa had to tilt her head back quite a bit to look at him, and it probably immediately gave her an additionally disarming appearance.
His hesitance made her wonder if he had more issues than just money. Many homeless people also struggled with their mental health, right? Maybe he felt like he was unsafe? Or maybe he even really was... she glanced inside at the people there and wondered if the true reason he was out there was to wait for some former bully to leave...
His next words brought her back to the present though.
"Ah, Callie? Yeah, she works here, why-" Oh. Oh, he really felt unsafe... but because of Callie? Why? Oh geez, there he went... but he seemed so thin, did he even get any food?
"Uh, uhm... wait! If you're hungry, I can bring you a sandwich right now!" She offered quickly, following him for a few steps.
"I mean... you can also... if you don't feel safe here, uh..." For a moment she hesitated, unsure whether she would tie a noose around her own neck with this. But then again... so what? She could probably afford a new phone plan if anything went awry, but if he didn't get help, who knew if he would even survive the colder days!
"I can give you my number and uhm. You can call me up when you're hungry and I can bring you something out here if I'm at work, or somewhere you choose when I'm free?" Maybe the offer to let him choose when and sometimes even where she gave him food could help make him feel safer? She already patted down her apron and pockets for something to write with.
There were many things that came to the man’s mind as he heard this girl calling out to him again, continuing to offer food and even a phone number. Slowing to a stop, he didn’t immediately turn around, simply looking at his cup as he tried to figure out why this all felt so familiar. Something about her kindness rubbed him the wrong way, but felt like something he was looking for at the same time… but no, she wasn’t blonde. She couldn’t be Mom, just someone maybe possibly vaguely like her.
There were two things he could really think to do, and both of them could end up getting him killed, but it was obvious this lady wasn’t going to take an easy “no” for an answer and there was only so many times he could reject a meal. Part of him wondered if she was truly dumb enough to not realize why he was hesitant to enter the building, but the little voice in the back of his head warned that she was faking it just to get his guard down.
Heaving a sigh, the man continued to walk away, but didn’t leave her completely hanging. Instead, her phone vibrated with a text from a number with only 0’s and 1’s that simply read [[No need. Too many guards watch this store. Thanks though.]]
That would be enough, right? He could leave, make a point of not coming around this area again, and in a worst case she would talk about how she ran into him and got a text from a number that doesn’t exist. It wouldn’t leave any tracks and he could still give her an answer without walking off like a dick! It just… felt wrong to treat her like a dick, if she WAS just trying to be a good person. Or maybe it felt wrong to treat her like a dick because she was pretty and smelled nice and gave him some amazing drink. That was a possibility too.
What a fucking idiot he was, huh?
Cocoa managed to catch up to the stranger as he stood there, staring at the cup. Ugh, if only she had something, anything to write with, where was her penc-
Oh.
She'd been about to wonder where her trusty pencil was when she needed it, but at the mere thought, she suddenly found it in the pocket of her apron.
How odd... she was so sure that she had left it inside, and also that she had only just patted down the pocket and found nothing in it.
Her phone vibrated in her pants pocket, and she fleetingly noticed it, but paid it no mind. Probably just Xander texting her about their evening together, she could reply in a minute. Right now, this was more important.
"Hey! Please wait, just a moment? I found something to write it down with!" Ahhh, he was so fast with these long legs of his! She should have prepared a sandwich for him before coming out here... he would probably have loved her turkey-gouda-special! If only she'd had given him one alongside the drink!
Unbeknownst to her, as she was about to give up on her chase in order to not stray to far from the café, her wish decided to fulfill itself. On top of Quincy's cup, a sandwich appeared out of thin air - it was still warm, as if it had been freshly toasted, and the scent of slightly melted cheese and warm turkeybreast wafted up to him, with a slight note of honey mustard mixed in.
Behind him, Cocoa suddenly felt a bit woozy, as if the short jog had exhausted her much more then it had any right to. Disoriented, she stumbled to the side until she could lean against the wall, a small "oof!" leaving her lips when she impacted it.
She felt really, really weird...
For fuck’s sake, this girl really wasn’t getting it was she? How far was she planning on chasing him away from her work? He supposed it wasn’t like she could get in trouble for it, if she was on break she was allowed to leave as long as she got back on time, but she was both chasing him and NOT checking her phone, which were both a huge pain in the ass for him.
He’d already done more than enough, he thought to himself. She would check her phone eventually, and realize it was that weird guy she’d tried to help earlier, and would understand. He’d already helped to give her the closure she needed as far as this interaction goes, so he didn’t need to stop and physically explain himself. The fact that she found a pencil didn’t mean much, not with his power stride and… and…
Tripping over his own feet, the man stumbled a few steps before regaining himself, eyes plastered on what appeared to be food resting atop his cup. His brow furrowed as he lifted the cup up to smell whatever it was, and it smelled good… he touched it, and it felt warm and definitely tangible… he dared to take a bite, and sure enough it was definitely food. His eyes watered a little and he cursed under his breath, wondering when he’d stop crying at real food, and made his way back over to the girl who was suddenly winded.
It took a bit of hunching over and careful maneuvering, but with one arm on the wall beside Cocoa, and the other doing a balancing act with the cup and sandwich, he felt pretty secure in no cars on the street being able to see what he was saying to her. The poor guy didn’t realize how cliché this must look to people walking by, either as some shitty romance movie or a very intimate mugging situation. The only thing of note was how green his eyes were, and how he smelled a bit like a fireplace, smoky but in a nice way.
“That was, by far, the stupidest thing you could’ve done just now.” He spoke sternly, over-annunciating his words while having a bit of a lisp pop up here and there during his rambling. “You know your work’sh being watched by the fuzz, right? They’re waiting for a good time to catch your coworker, and waiting for othersh like us to try and contact her sho they can track us as we leave. If they catch you, you’re never gonna be seen again, who knows what they’d do with a power like yoursh…” He paused, looking back down at the sandwich, and heaved a long and heavy sigh.
“Look… you need to go in there and tell them you’re quitting. Shtart looking for a job that lets you shtay at home, like… like a proofreader or something. Deliver baked goods. Whatever you want, doeshn’t matter, but stay home and wait for everything to blow over. Do you understand?” He peered between the cracks of his glasses at her, trying to gauge how well she taking this, and stood up straight to give her some space now that the important stuff was over.
He talked through the new bite he took out of the sandwich, unable to help himself. “I’ll help you walk back to the shtore, but then I’m gone. Shound good?”
Sheesh, what was going on? Cocoa was so preoccupied with her auddenly weakened state that she barely even registered the stranger returning, and only met his gaze with her own, exhausted eyes when he had already positioned himself.
Green. Was what arrived at her brain before any of his words did. What a nice green. And he smelled like New Year's Eve.
Oh no, was he sad? She thought she'd seen a tear in the corner of his eye for a moment, and raised her hand to wipe it away with the thumb. But the feeling of his cheek on her fingertips finally made her snap back to reality a little.
"Wh-?" She did a stupid thing?
"What did I do?" Her expression turned into confusion incarnate, and then the scent hit her nose.
Was that-?!
"How... where did that sandwich come from?" She asked, her brain quickly working to try and come up with a good, rational reason.
"Did I remember to bring it?" No, no that made no sense... wait, he had said more, about feds and fuzz and co workers and quitting...
Of course Quincy couldn't know that Cocoa barely if ever watched TV (she usually put on Netflix or such) and had paid the Feds only little mind. She knew that for some reason there were many around, and she knew that it had something to do with some people in the town they were looking for - but she had always been way too busy earning her keep and getting orders right to inquire more deeply. And now... someone implied that the government's people posed a danger to her?
God it was all just too confusing to follow.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times but couldn't even decide what she would want to ask him about first. So instead she just... stood there, trying to take everything in with an admittedly not very bright expression.
This girl was a god damn enigma.
It wasn’t like he had many memories to base his opinions off of, but from the media he’d consumed and the little bits of interactions he’d seen out and about, touching a complete stranger’s face was typically a no-no. He leaned his head back and away to try and avoid her hand, being careful to not tip his hood off of his head, and gave her a suspicious stare when she actually DID touch him.
And then she was confused! SHE was confused! The one doing all the confusing shit was confused!
And THEN she asked where the fucking sandwich came from!
At this point, he was staring at her like she grew a second nose, opening and closing his mouth as he attempted to find words that weren’t there. It was funny, in a way, that they both were doing the same thing to each other. He raised the cup slightly to give her a better look at the sandwich and finally mustered the words he needed. “You… you made this. Out of thin air. With your powers. You know… powers?” He blew some smoke downward for emphasis while trying not to blow it directly in her face like a total asshole. It smelled vaguely like incense. “Did… Do you have any idea what’sh going on here? In town?”
Good god… he came across someone who’d been living under a rock this whole time. “Oh, for fuck’sh shake…” He mumbled under his breath, keeping his eyes on her. Eventually he took yet another bite, unable to help himself, and didn’t mind how blurry his vision got. Warm food really was the best.
“We’re walking. Work’ll undershtand, c’mon.” He started to walk away again, but this time motioned for her to follow. At this point, he expected that she would turn around and run back inside, now that he was actually offering for her to walk with him and not trying to get her to go back to her job. That would be his luck.
It took a moment of his suspicious look for her to completely grasp the situation and pull her hand away from him as if she had burned herself. Right... not everyone was as touchy feely as her, and... goodness she hadn't been thinking very clearly, had she?
She immediately started feeling guilty when the stranger got more agitated at her behavior, even though she wasn't sure what she had done. Obviously she had to have mussed up somehow - why else would he get so irritated, right?
At least her question seemed to defuse his anger, if only for the moment. It really was funny how they stood there looking like two fish holding a nonversation for a bit, but sadly she wasn't exactly mentally present enough to laugh about it yet.
"Pow-?" Cocoa began to ask, before her eyes grew wide at his smoke trick. She couldn't help but follow the smoke with her eyes, captivated for a moment by the elegant swirls it was prone to painting into the air, and to lean in and sniff for a moment.
Wow, what a nice scent. She really liked incense.
Her doe eyes wandered back up to meet his gaze at his next question. For a moment she looked like a student caught off guard by a teacher's question and scrambling for the right answer, before she sheepishly shook her head. It seemed to exasperate him more, but at least the next things he said seemed to imply that he had answers to the questions she didn't even manage to ask.
As he probably expected, she hesitated when he beckoned her over. Following her eyes as she turned her head showed clearly why - straying too far from the café would make it hard to return in time for her shift to resume. But then she did turn her face to look at him again. And without another conscious thought, she tried to catch up to walk by his side.
She also took the opportunity to catch another glimpse of the sandwich. Yeah... that was her turkey-gouda-special for sure. Complete with the fresh paprika dice she tended to gently slip in after the grilling process so they would be just the perfect counterpart to the gooey cheese and soft turkeybreast. This sandwich was from the Hug-A-Mug-Café... did... did she really just make this appear?!
The only thing that was keeping the man from up and walking away was the fact that Cocoa, despite everything he wanted to tell himself, actually needed him. If she was wandering around with one of the most easily abused powers in the world, with no idea what could happen to her if she used those powers in public settings, it could fuck himself over just as much as it could fuck her over. Hell, it would ruin the chances of every weirdo in the town if the feds figured out how to use her to help them. With that in mind, he still stared at her like she’d revealed herself as a lizard person, but didn’t bail like he might have normally.
It seemed like every time he thought he’d figured her out, she found another way to surprise him. At least her leaning in to smell the smoke wasn’t as mind-boggling as everything else, but he hadn’t been expecting it (and CERTAINLY hadn’t expected her to seem to like it). She looked about as innocent as a baby while admitting she had no idea what was going on, and at least that part wasn’t surprising to him anymore. Sure, it was shocking that someone could live in this town for over a month with a blockade and not question why it was there, but he supposed there were ways she could’ve avoided it… mostly hiding under a rock, but it was plausible.
Taking odd detours as they walked, the man explained to the best of his ability what was going on. With a few lisped words sneaking out here and there, he talked about how the start of this year had people getting powers for no reason, how the military showed up the day after and surrounded the town so no one could get in or out, how people were being taken off to god knows where if the militia caught them. He talked about how her coworker Calliope had set up a meeting in that very store to try and help people understand what was going on, and how now she and everyone else involved are in danger, and how the café isn’t safe anymore. This part of the conversation took a long time, and he made sure to pause now and then whenever it looked like his walking companion had questions or wanted to say something.
There was a long pause after he ran out of things to explain to her, and looked around to make sure his plan was working effectively; his goal was to have them walk in a giant circle so he could leave her at her work again. “What I’m trying to say is,” he paused, his gaze avoiding her like the sun, “the Hug-A-Mug is being monitored, and if you shlip up too many times they’re going to take you away just like they’re going to take Calliope, and you don’t want that. Trust me.”
He stopped walking, looking at the sandwich that had notably shrunk during their conversation. “Thank you, though. I uh… I probably won’t see you around again, but I appreciate this.” He waved the meal around. “And the drink. Did… uh… I got your name, right?” The truth was that he already knew it, he’d had to find her data using his powers and knew her name, but he also knew better than to pretend she’d already given it and sound really creepy. No one likes it when you know more about them than they’ve told you.
“I’m, uh… Clark. I’m gonna…” he motioned over his shoulder, implying he was going to try and leave unless she stopped him. It was an odd experience, trying to end a conversation with a stranger. He’d need to look up more videos to figure out a smoother way to make an exit than this.
It was a good thing that Quincy didn't just go and abandon Cocoa. She really turned out to have been rather oblivious to the things going on in the city - she sheepishly admitted to a distraction she didn't elaborate on - and would doubtlessly have been a potential threat to him and other weirdos in the long run. At least she listened attentively to him though, appearing to put effort into memorising as much information as she could while she heard him out. After he'd talked to her for a while, her face showed that thoughtful expression again though.
"... but... how can such a thing happen? That makes no sense, I mean... Abilities like creating something from nothing, that's impossible, isn't it?" Cocoa looked back at her conversation partner, eyes begging for guidance from the stranger who seemed like such a knowledgeable being to her. He reminded her a bit of... fairy tales actually. Of the unassuming creatures that sat by the wayside, hungry until the protagonist shared scarce food with them - only to then turn out to be Fair Folk or talking animals in possession of much more power and knowledge than one would first have thought.
And... was it really a coincidence that this mysterious ability surfaced just when this man stepped into her life?
But... magic wasn't real, was it? Not like this...
"I mean, I wasn't good at physics, but I remember that everything is... limited. Like... sugar in a cake. There can't be more sugar in the cake than you put in the batter, it just changes a bit and distributes differently. You need to take it from somewhere for the batter. You can't just..." She gestured insecurely. "... make... sugar happen!"
A small squeak escaped her throat when in her hitherto empty hand, a small pile of raffeinated sugar appeared, immediately running through her fingers as she pulled the hand to her chest.
"Oh God... I'm sorry... sorrysorrysorry..." She whispered, trying not to panic, and giving the stranger a downright scared, guilty look. Maybe he was right... maybe she should take some time off from work until she got a grip on this... At least this had just been a small amount of sugar, not something bigger and flashier...
Her hands pressed tightly to her chest, she listened to what else the man had to say. Calliope... the sweet, kind woman who had always been a light in the café, now had made it a dangerous place to be? But... the Hug-A-Mug felt like a second home to Cocoa! It was... it had always been the closest she'd felt she could get to living in an actual fairy tale.
Then again, she thought as she looked at her hands (one of them still sprinkled with sugar)... maybe that was about to change now.
When the stranger began his goodbyes, it made her wince as he mentioned that they wouldn't see each other again.
"Uh, Cocoa, and no problem but... c-can we maybe stay in contact? Somehow?" She looked thoroughly scared when she looked back up to him.
"I don't know anyone else who knows about this stuff. And if I do, who knows if they're already followed... and I'm scared. I don't want to be taken away..." He really had scared her to the core with his story. Her life was supposed to be unremarkable, except maybe for the marriage she was planning... and now everything she had might be taken from her?!
"Please... I won't contact you from the café and I won't tell anyone. I... I can bring you more food! I cook well! I just..." She swallowed, hugging herself and shivering. Coming to think of it, her lips were a little bit pale by now - she really wasn't prepared for that cool weather, huh?
"... I'm scared." Her big, brown eyes lingered on him, waiting for an answer and openly praying for that answer to be affirmative. This... whatever this was, it was too big for her to face on her own, and with what she had just learned, she wasn't sure if there was anyone else she could even talk to about this.
Even if they were on her side - how sure could she be that they wouldn't be betrayed or taken in the end, possibly because of her?
This man seemed to be smart and quick enough to get away from whoever wanted to catch him. If she adhered to whatever rules he'd give her, he'd be fine, right? And he seemed reliable when it came to information...
There was a certain amount of bullshit that the man calling himself Clark could handle, but believing that someone could be oblivious to their entire town being quarantined and people being abducted because of a “distraction” made him rub at his temples. That was just… so… typical, wasn’t it? That things not immediately involving yourself could be ignored so whole-heartedly. He forced himself to appreciate the fact that she was at least paying attention now, and seemed to take things to heart, but it was unbelievably frustrating that he had to be the one to explain everything in the first place.
“A few months ago, people would’ve agreed with you.” Clark smirked and shook his head, rolling his eyes at the sugar that appeared and motioned to it as he spoke, “but now? Anything can happen, shweetheart. I’ll admit that your power is harder to understand than most, but… well… we both saw it. I find it easier to not think things through too much.” He looked away as he spoke. “The price of getting answersh isn’t worth it. Just figure out how to control it as quickly as posshible and you should be okay.” He tried not to sound angry at the fact that she was using her power again, because it was hard to be angry at someone who only JUST figured out they had their power in the first place. Instead, he sounded more like a parent scolding a kid for being inappropriate in public. At least then she might get the message.
“Cocoa…” it sounded familiar, but he wasn’t sure from where (was it the drink she gave him earlier, or something else? He would look it up later). Of course, he knew he should’ve expected this sort of reaction, but his face betrayed the calm he wanted to have for her. His lips pursed as she spoke, and his eyebrows furrowed in deep contemplation that looked all too much like a scowl. She was scared. She didn’t know anyone other than Calliope, who was pretty much a walking disaster waiting to happen. She was going to end up living just as paranoid as he did on a daily basis, but with only her imagination to give her an idea of what would happen if she was caught.
After a while, he heaved a heavy and loud sigh, and took a few more steps back before turning around to walk away. “You’ve already got my number, y’know.” With an overdramatic shrug, he waved and walked off, wondering if she was actually going to look at her damn phone now. At least it was a way to be contacted that couldn’t be traced back to him, as far as he was aware, and was easier than trying to tell her no.
That would be good enough, right? And… well… he could get food out of this if he played his cards right, which was a bonus.
Well... Cocoa had been. Uh. Distracted.
Tall men in green could do that. Which... was not something she'd tell "Clark", but it was why she blushed a little when she gave her excuse.
She did so again when Clark suddenly called her 'sweetheart'. She was barely used to pet names from her fiancé, so that little word immediately set her cheeks ablaze and made her avert her otherwise so spellbound gaze nervously.
"So... i-it's like magic..." She said softly, more to herself than to him, when she heard his explanation - or rather lack thereof.
The pause before he answered her plea was much worse than that moment of confusion and embarrassment though. She shifted uncomfortably under his pretty piercing stare, getting more scared that he would just walk away with every second that passed.
And then he did. But rather than running after him again, Cocoa fished for her phone with slightly trembling hands and pulled it out, tapping her thumb on the cracked display to reveal the message she had received earlier.
Her eyes grew wide when she read it, and slowly look up to see nothing but a sea of people passing by.
... he really was like the mysterious guides from fairy tales.
To her co-workers, a brief excuse about having caught a virus had to suffice to let her go for the afternoon so she could hole up at home and get to work. She had to get her new powers under control after all.
Tis finally done~. Welcome to the group, Quincy. C:
QuantumMythics: 3770 words = 377$$
Broeckchen: 2961 words = 296$$