New to New York?

Rebecca could not stay in the Mansion forever, as much as she might prefer staying in the safe confines meeting new mutant friends as opposed to venturing into the huge, intimidating world of New York City. The young Scot eventually needed to find a part time job where she could make some money. Nothing much, but enough to buy small things like room decorations and clothes. To get a new job, she would have to get more accustomed to the city, so she found a pair of jeans, a sweater, her jacket and a scarf and entered into the winter.

Today's goal was not to apply for jobs yet persay; if the opportunity was there, she would not overlook it, but she wanted to just get acclimated to the area. Surprisingly, the weather was not as bad as she expected based on what she knew of American winter, so she loosened up her scarf.

The sidewalks were busy with people, which was seeming expected here. She saw several nearby businesses, like cafes and shops and pubs. Rebecca was not sure if she would feel comfortable in a pub, nevermind working in one, but there were plenty of places to consider. She was walking by a professional building, her eyes starting at the glass doors with a large, classy lobby, but continued upward in amazement at the height of the building. She would never get used to the grandiosity of New York.

Her absent-mindedness led to her bumping into a man standing on the sidewalk. She bounced back and blushed. "Ah'm verra sorry, sir. Ah wasnae watchin' where Ah was going."

>> “Nah, it’s my fault for standing still. Are you ok?”

Rebecca brushed herself off, meekly replying, "Nae, Ah wasnae lookin'. Ah'm braw thought, thenk ye."

She looked up to see a taller, fit man with very short black hair and what seemed like vibrant orange eyes to accompany a welcoming smile. Her blush heightened at the sight of the man. She was, after all, a girl who spent most of her life with her family or in an all-girl's school. The only interaction she had with the opposite gender was silly boys from town and very limited exposure to movies.

>> “Just a tip, if you apologize, most New Yorkers will decide you have something to be sorry for. Are you heading anywhere in particular, I could help you find it. I’m Aedus by the way.”

The concept baffled her. How could apologizing seem suspicious? That was something people did when they were sorry, right? She heard his offer and was wary, if not flattered by his attention. "Um, Ah'm jist lookin' aroond. Ah'm new tae th' city an' wanted tae get a handle on it, mebbe find somewharr 'at might be hirin' help?"

She was uncertain of whether to trust the offer from a strange man to guide her; she was told horror stories by her parents before she even arrived about what that might lead to. She was unfamiliar with the area, however, and maybe if she kept her wits about her, she could keep herself safe in case he did something suspicious. Ah suppose some guidance couldnae hurt. Mah name's Rebecca." She did not offer her hand, but instead nodded politely in introduction.

As they began to walk, she asked, "Aedus, ye said? That's Irish, sir?"

>> “It’s nice to make your acquaintance Rebecca. You are one of the few to know where my name is from.”

Rebecca smiled, realizing a name like his was much more common across the pond than in the States. She was just fortunate that Rebecca was somewhat universal. "Well, mah ma is half-Irish."

>> “Well, I’d be happy to show you around, as for finding a job, do you know what you might be looking for?”

The girl shrugged at the taller gentleman. "Ah'm nae picky. Ah jist want a wee extra dosh, is all." She paused, realizing there might be a culture gap with slang. "Ah mean money." She could not tell if the man was American-born or a true Irishman. Based on his accent, he at the very least had been in the States for a long time.

>> “ So, Rebbeca where do you hail from?”

"Ah'm from Scootland. Ah jist came here fur school." There was a small break before the last word; no need to go into detail about which school or why she left in the first place.

It seemed to be a busy day in the streets, but Rebecca was unsure how to appropriately judge that in New York. To her, a slow day would probably still seem lively and bustling. Looking up at the towering buildings, she asked, "Hoo dae folk live here like it's normal? Thes place still makes me dizzy." Would that ever wear off? After enough time, would she be handling the city like a real New Yorker?

>> “That must be where you get that fantastic shade of Stawberry from.”

Rebecca ran her hands through her hair, pulling it to rest on her shoulder shyly. "Thank ye. It's nae that special, Ah'm sure." He was right to call it strawberry; so many people just called her a redhead, but it was nice to be recognized on occasion as a strawberry blonde.

The complimentary tone of the man's voice did pinken her cheeks slightly.

>> “ Oh are you here for one of our fantastic colleges?”

Colleges? Rebecca giggled. "Nae. Well, soon, mebbe. Fer now, Ah'm jist a senior in high school. Ah... needed a change of scenereh." She would rather not get into the true reasons for her lifestyle change with a strange man. This was not the Mansion; keeping her cover as a mutant was important out here.

>> “It’s perfectly natural to me, I grew up here, sometimes I wonder how I would feel without being able to spot the nearest sky scraper. For now though, try not to look up so much. Then you can just pretend they are two or three stories.”

She liked the tip; it was a simple way of keeping herself from developing a sense of vertigo. "Thank ye. Yoo're so clever." She kept her eyes street-level. That was where all the hustle and bustle was anyway.

>> “I guess we can just window shop to see if anyone has now hiring’s in the window. This strip is actually pretty good for shops.”

"'At's wha Ah planned on, actually." She looked around at the shops. She was not well versed in technology and brand names, but she could learn if it meant a job. There was also the possibility of working as a waitress or busgirl somewhere. "Any places round here ye like in particular?"

>> “I disagree, I bet a hundred to one if the girl’s hair is close to that shade its from a bottle, I mean imitation is flattery and all, but when its natural it’s so much better.”

The man certainly had quite strong opinions about dyed hair and natural beauty. Thankfully, she was on the natural beauty side of the argument. Some people could be so kind to an absolute stranger, and this man's friendliness was welcoming. "Well, Ah dunno about 'at, but thank ye..."

My, she was feeling hot under the collar now. She loosened the scarf more and unbuttoned the top of her jacket. In the future, she would consider checking outside before layering up.

>> “That shop isn’t bad. Have you had any jobs before?”

She shrugged, "Not really. But Ah can cook an' Ah woulds say Ah'm very polite an' hard working." She looked at the shop Aedus pointed out; if anything, it was a place she would not mind shopping at herself. "We could look to see if they're hiring, sure." She allowed Aedus to take the lead to the store, looking around at other places. There was some sort of club; it looked like a pub. Maybe she was old enough to work as a food server in a pub? It did not hurt to keep options open.

>> “Well that’s ok, that gives you a clean record, I don’t know if cooking will come up unless you are looking for restaurant work, which can take some of the fun out of it. Polite and hard working however are good assets.”

Rebecca nodded, looking at the large building. "Ah am nae lookin' fer much. Jist somethin' tae gie wee money." The jobs high schoolers could look for did not tend to require extensive foreknowledge, based on what she knew.

Aedus led her into the nice clothing store, navigating around racks toward the sales counter. He took the lead for her, which, while perhaps a bit commandeering, was well-intentioned and polite. This made it all the more unfortunate when the employment vacancy was outdated. She handed her an application just in case, and Rebecca bowed graciously. "Thank ye, miss. Ah appreciate this."

The busy woman did give her a second option. A comic store. Rebecca was not very versed in comic books, but one of her closer friends in Scotland was, and the fandom seemed interesting. If they were open to hiring her, she would be open to the new opportunity.

As they walked out of the store and back into the concrete wilderness, she folded the application and tucked it away in the pocket of her jacket. "Ah woulds be interested in a comic shop if they'd be interested in an eighteen year-auld wi' limited comic experience," she said with a joking grin. "Lead th' way!"

It was another slow day. The clientele at “One Comic to Rule Them All” seemed to dwindling but Akshay Malik did not seem to mind. Sometimes the best part of his days were the slow moments because the majority of the time the shop was filled with large, sweating, nervous, ill-smelling youngsters and mid-aged “men”. While Akshay identified himself with the nerds and geeks and dweebs, that did not mean he wanted to be constantly surrounded by them. Sometimes the smell of their mom-made bologna sandwiches mixed with their Axe bodyspray to cover up their lack of showers, could be a bit overpowering.

So, he decided to take advantage of the slow day. Sitting behind the counter, reading the latest issue of the Promise Avenger, he looked up at the empty shop. It did have some pretty damn good acoustics. It would be a shame to waste the same and not get any off his usual dance practice in.

After all, he did have plans to hit the “Hole in the Wall” club. He needed to always be at his best dancing shape.

Closing the issue of his comic, Akshay grabbed the remote for the store’s soundsystem, turned on his iPod and skipped through the tracks until he found the one that would serve him best for the space he had. A small grin crept over his face as he glanced at the title of the song before he stood, slipped out from behind his counter and stood in the middle of the large space of the deserted store.

A smart worker would have locked the door.

Hence the reason why Akshay didn’t.

Dressed in a simple pair of jeans, his Super Koala T-Shirt, and name tag, Akshay took a second or two to stretch and limber up. Once he felt that his muscles were loosened, the comic artist smirked (his back to the door), and hit “PLAY” on his remote before he shoved it into his pocket.

Head down, the song started with a rather deep beat that shook him down to his core as if filtered out through the speakers causing him to twitch his hips left and right. A smile on his face, eyes closed, Akshay slowly started his dance! A dance that one (or two) should never walk in on…