Marinov sits at their table with a built in Pac-Man machine that one can play right at the table,
currently not engaging with the game, and instead concentrating on their coffee instead. There are a
few people about who give the teen a look, possibly because of how conspicuous they are, and
possibly because of how obvious of a mutant they are. Even aside from the teen's generally felinoid
features, Marinov is wearing something appropriate for a sort of sci-fi looking outfit, with a semi-
reflective silvery pants and jacket over a black crop top. They wear a few accessories as well,
mostly braclets and a couple of necklaces. The youth watches the demo that's playing on the machine
with intensely focused eyes.
One set of eyes watching the teen belongs to a young woman in a grey sweatshirt two sizes too big
for her. Despite her attempt to conceal her most prominent features with the garment's hood, Paige
is very much aware of the looks she is getting as well. The fact that the people staring at her do
not avert their eyes as she glances around do little to make her feel comfortable or secure. It's a
completely different setting from Evolve and one she was hoping to avoid. Taking a deep breath, she
carefully walks over to the teen's table - freaks should stick together, right? Nursing a cup of
coffee in her hands, she hesitates a moment before trying to get their attention. "Do you, uh...Look,
my name's Paige. Do you mind if I sit with you?"
Marinov takes a sip of their coffee, looking up towards Paige from their seat. "No, I don't mind at
all, you can sit where you'd like." The teen sits up, smelling the air lightly, and then remarking,
"I hope I'm not supposed to recognize you, 'cause if I am, I'm at a loss at the moment. Don't mean
to be rude or anything, just wanted to be all upfront with that and not do the agonizing 'pretend to
know someone I don't recognize' thing. But if I am supposed to, maybe you can refresh my memory?"
The teen stops for a beat and adds, "Though I guess you introduced yourself, so that's looking good
for me. Call me Marinov. Taylor Marinov."
Paige breathes a sigh of relief, letting some tension slacken from her shoulders, as she takes a
seat across from Marinov. "Recognize me?" she replies. "I hope not. I mean, I wouldn't expect you to.
I'm pretty sure we've never met; I'm kind of new here. It's just that this place is kind of giving
me bad vibes and I'd rather not just stick out as a target...by myself at least. It's also kind of
settling to see someone wh--" She cuts herself off as she thinks better of the words coming out of
her mouth. "I, uh, a pleasure to meet you Marinov."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, some of these people have sort of stupid looking staring faces, and I
don't think they're admiring my outfit or anything like that," says Marinov, gesturing around to a
few such faces with a bit of annoyance. The teen glances up and down at Paige and says, "And someone
who what? Don't worry about saying what's on your mind, I guess, better you than one of them." The
teen takes another drink of their coffee and crosses one leg over the other. "It's a pleasure to
meet you too, Paige."
"Fine," Paige concedes. "Someone who looks odder than me. At least here. It's settling to know that
I don't have it so bad." The young woman winces and holds up a hand as if to ward off an argument.
"Now that you're...not that's there anything -wrong- with you. It's just these stupid freaking horns
on my stupid freaking head are pretty freaking obvious and even though I -hate- them, there's
nothing I can do about it. I'm digging my own grave, aren't I and I really wish I'd just shut up now."
"That's a pretty fucked up thing to say," remarks Marinov, "But yea, I look odder than most people.
That was sorta true even before this whole mutant situation that popped out a year ago, I've always
stood out a bit in a crowd." The teen gestures towards Paige's head and continues, "It sucks having
something obvious that sets you apart, doesn't it? I wish my mutant thing was just 'shapeshifting'
and not 'shapeshifting exactly one time without my consent into a single form forever'."
Paige blinks, surprised that she wasn't getting yelled at by the teen for she said and whispers a
quiet 'sorry' under her breath. She nods in response to Marinov's comment about her horns. "At least
you're done changing. And fur has got to have it's uses. I don't even -know- what is going on with
my body and I hope nothing wrong's going on -inside- of it. My feet are killing me and I'm really
beginning to wonder what the hell else is wrong with me." Sipping her coffee, she says, "Sorry. This
is all new to me. It's really only been a few months and I'm not...used to things. I'm guessing that
we should probably talk about something else before the people around here start flipping out or
something."
"Yeah, I spent awhile in the hospital while my body changed, 'cause it was breaking and reforming
for that time. I was on a hell of a lot of morphine, let me tell you. It was a real bad time. My
boyfriend broke up with me, 'cause of course he fucking did. It was a bad time all around," says
Marinov, sighing out deeply with a shake of their head. "I hope things are gonna be alright for you
and me. I'm not super happy with these election results, but what are you gonna do?"
"Wow. That's really...That just fucking sucks. I'm sorry that happened to you. That just sucks. Yeah,
I hope the same." Paige takes another sip of coffee before lowering her voice and approaching the
topic switch. "Do, though? I'm -- I've got nothing -to- do. There's nothing I -can- do. I'm just
trying to stay alive and stay low and these election results come through. I've heard of mutants
having powers and such, but I don't think I have any of those. I'm probably going to be carted off
to jail at the very least, since my registration isn't even up to date and I don't have anywhere to
go.
"You've got nowhere to stay?" says Marinov, grimacing a bit at that, which bares their pointy teeth.
"Sorry to hear that. There are too many folks that don't have a place to go in this town... Shit. I
go to a sort of boarding school, or else I'd offer you a place to stay or something..." They take
another sip of coffee and ask, "I'm guessing your parents weren't feeling super tolerant or
whatever?"
Paige flinches slightly as Marinov reveals their teeth. "Boarding school? Wish I could go to one of
those, but I think I'm a little too old. My parents. They don't even know I'm a...mutant." For some
reason, the phrase seems difficult for her to put together. "I ... had to cut ties with them. They
don't know where I am and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't know what they would have done and
I'm not sure I really want to think about it. How about you? Your parents send you to this school of
yours?"
"Yeah, my parents sent me to the school," says Marinov, nodding a couple times, "I think they're
still on my side. I've always been a bit of an odd case, so they've had to be understanding in order
to deal with all the shit I brought to the table." They headshake and shrug a shoulder lightly, "And.
.. yeah, you look like you're a bit older than I am. Not school age. Though I might look a bit
younger than I am..."
"You're...what? You look like you're fourteen, but the way you talk, I'm not sure. Either way, I'm
twenty and I'm pretty sure my college career is out the window. Just a freak and a screw up am I.
But enough with the stupid self-pity." Paige sets her mug down on the table. "You're lucky. Your
parents seem to actually care about you regardless of how you look or who you are. Try to keep them
around," she remarks with a grin.
"Yeah, my parents are back in Seattle, but I see them sometimes, they're good people," says Marinov,
nodding firmly. "And... I'm a bit more than sixteen, which is still pretty young and shit. I can't
get drunk or anything. But yeah, I think I look like maybe thirteen or fourteen, but when I'm old,
well... I used to say when I was older I'd look fantastic, but now, most people don't really know
how to be sure of the age what with the whole Rum Tum Tugger look."
"Eh. Drinking is overrated, although I'm not really one to talk. And looking young is a good thing
when you get older." Paige takes a moment to examine Morinov a little more closely. "But I can see
what you mean. The...yeah. At least you have an idea of -how- you're going to look, though." The
hooded woman glances around. "So, other than staring at us...what -are- these people doing here?"
Marinov slips a coin into the table they are sitting at, and starts to operate the controls to make
the table Pac Man move around. "Well, I dunno, it's like an arcade cafe thing. Seemed sorta cool
when I heard about it. Sorta neat little arcade games about. I guess that most of 'em come here for
that. I guess there's also laser tag, which seems like it'd be fun. But something about lasers and
cats, I don't want to be writing anyone's jokes for them."
Paige can't help but snicker at the teen's comment. "Ah, so that's what it's all about. I think I
was pretty tired when I stumbled in here earlier. By the time I was awake enough, I started noticing
the weird looks and paranoia kind of settled in." She leans forwards and stretches her arms out on
the table as she watches Marinov play Pac Man. "I've never really been to an arcade before. Not many
of those where I'm from."
"Yea, it's not really a thing much anymore. Usually they gotta be like this one. Sort of an arcade
mixed with something else," says Marinov, focusing on getting all those little pellets. The teen
looks around and says, "But that's the nice thing about arcades like this. People here are already
weirdos, so even if they're gonna stare, they're not going to start something." The teen glances
over their shoulder for just a moment to make sure of that. "So where are you from anyhow?"
"New Hampshire. Woodsville. Live free or die and all that. Very small town. Low diversity. People
who all seem to be at some point on the mutant-hating spectrum. At least it's betterhere despite the
looks - I guess I should really try to keep everything in perspective. I don't have any bullet holes
in me, so that's a plus." Paige pauses for a moment as she rubs her forehead. "Seattle, though?
That's pretty far. You like it here?"
"Yeah, it's definitely really far away... I like it here alright. It's different than home," says
Marinov, losing a life to that pesky Clyde. "And yeah, no bullet holes, that's a good thing too. I
attended a protest awhile ago, though, and boy did I feel like I was gonna get my head stomped when
those officers came out. So you still gotta keep your eyes open."
"Eyes open and head down. It's what I've been trying to do," Paige sighs as she watches the
yellow icon wither away on the screen. Tapping her fingers together, she turns her gaze to Marinov.
"I...don't really don't know any mutants. I met these two guys the other night, but my resources are
really thin. Aside from the boarding school, do you know of any other places someone like myself
could actually find a safe bed?"
"A safe bed? I dunno... I mean, I've got some money from my allowance I could spot you so that you
could just get a room in a mutant friendly motel or something... At least for a night," says Marinov,
apologetically, "I'll ask around the school, though, those people would know better than me. I can
give you my number, if you got a cell or something."
Paige blushes slightly. "I actually tossed mine. It was in a panic and I wasn't thinking straight. I
was worried my parents would be able to track me with it, even though they think I'm at college."
Shaking her head with a sad grin, she says, "I really appreciate the gesture, but you shouldn't be
offering your money to strangers like that. There are people in this world who mean harm, regardless
of how desperate they may make themselves seem. A word at the school would be amazing, however. I
would be eternally grateful if you could ask around and let me know how what you find out. If you
want to give me a time to meet you here, I should be able to do it." Paige starts standing up with a
genuine grin on her face. "I...it's been really nice to meet you Marinov. You've done a lot for me,
just talking with me. I should probably head out and find some real food, though -- my stomach is
killing me and I don't think that more junk food and pastries are going to make it any better."
"Yeah, you're probably right, I don't have a lot of money anyways, so I'm not sure how much help
it'd have been..." The young mutant writes out their phone number on one of the napkins at the table
and says, "It was good meeting you too, you can take that, so that if you do manage to pick up
another cellphone you can text me or call me from some kind of voip service or something. There's
another cafe, called Evolve, that I have been wanting to go to more. After I ask around? Could meet
there in the afternoon." The teen stands up and nods once, "But... I've gotta get going too. I'll
seeya later."
[OOC:] Paige says, "I'm just going to say that Paige takes the napkin and very sincerely and
gratefully thanks Morinov. She probably also lights up at the mention of Evolve and says that she's
been there and knows exactly where it is. And that the afternoon would be awesome for her. :D"
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