ArchivedLogs:Two Invisible Guys Walk into a Cafe

Two Invisible Guys Walk into a Cafe
Dramatis Personae Faelan and Jack
In Absentia	2014-11-26 Two mutants seek some refuge from the cold and chat over coffee.
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to plentiful artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. The weather is absolutely miserable today. Cold, rain, wind, snow, ice. And for those left living on the streets, it's more miserable. If not for the abandoned deli Echo pointed him towards, Jack would be twice as miserable as he is when he stumbles into Evolve. Shivering slightly and brushing show and ice off himself, Jack sighs. He would have stayed in that deli by the fire all day but hunger got the better of him. So he's ventured to Evolve since his last two visits have gone so well. "Oh man...I wonder if I can get a towel here..." he trails off, scanning around slowly but not taking his hood off yet. Tilting the hood of his coat back as he enters the warmth of the place, Faelan lets out a sigh and sniffs a bit as the warmth starts his nose to running after the chill. Unzipping the dark winter coat, he shows a grey sweat shirt beneath it, and a pair of black cargo pants with many pockets tuck into well used boots. "Brr brr," he shakes slightly. Looking to the other person shaking off, he offers a little smile "Sucks out there," then scoots his way to the line of customers in search of something warm, pulling out a couple crumpled ones and looks at the menu. Biting his lip and deciding to settle for the simple, he just orders a hot coffee. Something that quick gets him his cup shortly, and he peeks around for somewhere to sit. Shivering a bit since all he's wearing is jeans, a hoodie, and a pair of 'borrowed' gloves, Jack is definitely appreciating the warmth of the cafe. He glances slightly to the side when he notices someone else entering and shaking off, keeping his lack of face hidden for the moment out of habit. He's still getting used to the idea of being able to just be himself and not have to hide in any place. "It really does," he agrees. He steps into line behind Faelan and squints at the menu, actually needing to think about an order this time. A quick examination of the crumpled and soggy bills in his pocket and he sighs before ordering a coffee as well. He's just stirring in some extra sugar when he notices the guy from the door looking around. "Looking for a place to sit?" he asks quietly. "There's an open table over there if you don't mind sharing with a...someone who can't hide their mutation." At being addressed, Faelan flinches slightly before relaxing with an exhale. "Yeah, sharing a table is fine. I don't mind that really." He nods reassuringly, and seeing a table opening, he gestures to it and starts to push towards it and flops in the chair, pushing out the other one for the other gentleman. Waiting for him to sit, he offers a smile as he tries to shrug out of the coat one arm at a time. "Its actually kinda comforting, in an oddly specific way." He sips his coffee at that, not particularly thinking he should say why. There's a relieved breath from Jack at that reply. He asks to make sure, having had some bad experiences even with other mutants in the past. He follows silently, dodging around people carefully. "Thanks," he murmurs to the pushed out chair, sitting down as well. "What's comforting?" he asks, pulling his hood back and revealing there's no one visible under there. "Oh, I'm actually more comfortable around mutants. It's a long story really," Faelan murmurs into his coffee cup, looking down kinda embarassed. As he sees Jack without a face, he seems thoughtful a moment, then concerned. "I... didn't do that to you did I? I mean, it wears off. It always has worn off before..." He bites his lip, peering at where Jack would be and reaches out a hand towards him. "Here, I can pull it back if it was me..." Taking a sip of his drink, Jack gives a faint noise of understanding. "Is it a good story?" he asks, trying to be a little funny. He would look confused if he could as Faelan reaches towards him. "Do what to me?" he asks, looking down at his hoodie. "What's wrong?" "The invisible thing. See?" Faelan's cup in front of him disapears as he glances down to it and looks back to Jack. "I mean, I can take it back again though. But for a person, it really only lasts like two hours though." He seems thoughtful, then has a little ooo moment. "You said permanent. Oh, I'm sorry." He nods in understanding as he takes his hand back and picks up the cup of invisible coffee, it returning to normal. "Woah," Jack stares at the disappearing cup. It's weird on a few levels to him for there to be something invisible around that isn't him. "You can..." he trails off, processing what Faelan means. "Yeah," he sighs. "No wearing off or taking back for me," he says, pulling off a glove to provide a little more proof of him not being visible. He glances at the cup as it reappears and kicks himself for feeling jealous of a cup of coffee of all things. A few light, loose objects in the area tremble but Jack gets things under control quickly. "I'm Jack," he finally introduces himself and offers his still gloved hand. "Yeah, I can. It's kinda like a field, it's hard to explain," Faelan says, though the hard to explain seems a bit more along the lines of not knowing. "I'm Faelan," he says shaking Jack's gloved hand. "Sorry if thats a sore subject or anything." Glancing at the little things around that had been trembling a bit he hrms. "Do you move things to? Or did we have a little tremor?" "It's okay. Just me being dumb," Jack says quickly, trying to cover with a laugh. He's a bit bothered by meeting two people so far that get to turn invisibility on and of but as is usual with him, he bottles it up. Jack's grip is firm and after the handshake ends, he takes off the other glove and stuffs them both into his pocket. There's a little wince when the other man notices the tremble. "Sorry, that one was me. I can...sort of move things. Gets a little away from me sometimes. It won't happen again." "No, it's fine. It took me a long long time and therapy, and practice, to not just go off," Faelan lets out a little breath and puts on his brave face. "Any time I was scared I'd kinda go off. And well, its dangerous what I can do. both for myself and others. But, see I'm here out in public." He smiles proudly at that. "Which I guess is good, New York laws are getting kinda stupid." "Therapy?" Jack was wary of that term after reading a few things in a discarded newspaper. As he sipped his coffee, the liquid just seemed to vanish into thin air. "What's dangerous about making things invisible? I mean sure you'de be the scourge of toes everywhere but..." he trails off, trying to joke again. The proud smile gets an unseen one from Jack and he nods a bit. "Tell me about it. They seriously try to arrest people here just for being mutants?" "Yeah, a lot of it. Kinda had a rough time coming into things," Faelan nodded, though doesn't seem he's quite willing to provide much more details on it. "Oh, it's not the invisible part. That I've got a lot more control over..." He nods and thinks a moment, then decides against a demonstration. "I can do more than just make things invisible. I can make my problems Go Away literally." He nods at the question though. "Oh yes. Actually, the father of the owner of this place was arrested for it...But he isn't even a mutant. It's like, if they're stupid enough to arrest humans for it, who knows what they'll do to someone who actually is." Jack just nods a bit. He won't pry on it. "Literally like...disintergrate?" he asks, curious about the choice of words. He's a little quiet for a moment before glancing to the ceiling. "I wonder why some of us get two things and others just one. And if anyone gets more," he muses aloud. Shaking it off, he perks up a little at the mention off the arrest. "Oh yeah...I saw something about that. They really got the wrong guy? Huh, I knew the cops tended to be idiots but they're seriously that bad here in NYC? Man," he shakes his head even if the gesture goes unnoticed. "I actually got to meet those guys. The owner and his fathers. They're really cool." "Er, more going, less disintegrating. Teleporting," Faelan says in a low voice. "And I honestly don't know. I mean they had some theories, that a lot of the things that we see as different are actually the same, just we might not necessarily see how they are." He doesn't quite know, but he was good at parroting. "And it wouldn't be that hard to get the wrong guy. I mean, if I made someone else invisible...well the cops couldn't really tell the difference between the guy doing it himself or someone else doing it to him. It's not like they have a detector or something." There might be a look of thank god on his face at that. "And yeah, I know one of his dad's more than the other. Jax is really good at baking." "Teleporting? Okay, that is seriously cool," Jack replies. He laughs a bit and rubs the back of his neck. "I'm not sure how what I can do is the same unless my real mutation is being fron some old black and white monster movie," he jokes again. "Science stuff goes mostly over my head," he says. He listens quietly, silently agreeing with that look of thank god. "I haven't tried his baking yet but he helped me out when I was having a pretty bad day recently." "Yeah...I'm still working on that whole aiming thing," Faelan looks a little embrassed at that part. "I can't figure it out either, I just remember what I had heard. I mean making something unseeable versus making something be somewhere else entirely?" He shrugs but nods at Jack's assessment. "Yeah, he's good at that. And well, he's gone through soooo much heinous stuff you'd think he'd be different. I mean, if I went through half what he did, I'd probably be just teleporting cop cars into the ocean left and right." It's another of those situations where Jack would offer a smile if he could. "Aim is a little hard to get the hang of," he admits, needing to focus a bit to make sure things he throws with his TK actually hit the intended targets. "Aww, I'd be all for taking the cops' shiny cars by why be so mean to the fish. And the whales, man," Jack tries for a laugh again. "I gues what you mean, I'd be pretty pissed off too. Might go on a rampage like the guy in the old movie." "Seriously. I mean they say visualize your end point, and it's like. Well how do you know someone hadn't changed where a chair is, or dropped laundry off," Faelan gestures with frustration. "And yeah... I read the book. I... want to be good. I don't want that to be my option. I'm going to college and getting training and everything." "That sounds like a pain. Maybe stick to like...places you set up ahead of time or something. Rope it off to keep people from messing around," Jack shrugs. "I read it too. Was dumb again, thought there might be something in the book or the movie that could held me..." he trails off. There's some silence from Jack as he thinks about things like school and a future but he shakes it off. "I don't think anyone wants that to be the best option. At least not anyone sane." "Or something. I'll have to try it out maybe. Or just not try and go places I'm not looking at." Faelan finishes off his coffee and shakes it abit to make sure it is all gone. "Is it just skin layer? Or is it like a field? I mean, there was the Chevy Chase movie. At the end, he was putting on a make up layer and just wearing sunglasses and he looked pretty realistic. Course, he was also in a winter place he could wear longsleeves and gloves and stuff all the time." He shrugs. "It doesn't work with my stuff, but well, ya know." "Good luck," Jacl offers. He makes a confused noise at that question and shrugs. "Not sure. I mean if you cut me, even that's invisible," he sighs at that. "The blood too," he mutters. "But my clothes and stuff stay where everyone can see them," he says, gesturing at himself with an empty sleeve. "I just thought...well I thought there might be some way to learn how to turn it off or get rid of it in there," he lets out a breath. "Like I said, dumb." "You might be able to. But if your blood is, then it's probably something at the cellular level. I could make your clothing invisible for a little while if you want, but its not permanent." Faelan offers though he knows its not particularly likely to be accepted. "But hey, never give up hope. I didn't think I'd be able to control mine ever, and I'm getting better at it with practice." "No thanks," Jack turns the offer down a little more quickly than he intended to. His shoulders slump a little and he's a little embarrassed at himself. Shaking it off, he gives a little chuckle. "Easier said than done but I'm not throwing in the towel yet," he replies. There's a pause before he grins invisibly. "Especially not when I still need it after the rain and snow," he jokes some more. "Well good luck. I hope you can figure out how to do it. But hey, at the very least no one knows if you have a bad hair day," Faelan says with a smile. "I should be getting back soon anyway. It was nice to meet you Jack. At least they can't arrest you for a permanent condition." He nods at that as he stands and picks up his empty coffee. "Stay warm." Jack pauses a moment then laughs. "That is a plus. My hair is terrible right now," he laughs some more, leaning back in his chair. He nods as Faelan stand. "It was good meeting you too, Faelan. Stay safe out there," he says, intending to linger around in the nice and warm cafe. "I will. At least I don't have to worry as much about muggers," Faelan waves as he makes his way towards the door, zipping and bundling up to be warm and protected against the horribleness of outdoors. "Wish I could just shortcut home." Grumble grumble cold cold.