The initial paperwork to go through to be able to actually donate blood was long and tedious. She understood why they had to go through everything, probably better than most, but that didn’t really make the process any better.

Juliette sighed and sat back in the long chair that she had been directed to and glanced around the room. Usually, she would be on the other side of the stretcher, sitting in the rolling stool and preparing the needle, like the woman beside her was doing. She breathed deeply and relaxed her arm as the needle went in, trying to make it as easy as possible.

Unfortunately for Juliette, the nurse taking her blood wasn’t exactly the talkative type. That made for a rather awkward time. Ten minutes felt like almost forever when there was nothing to do except for look at the white walls of the blood donation centre or the syringe sticking out of her arm.

She sighed and closed her eyes again, trying to remember the lyrics to the song that had been stuck in her head all day, but was unsuccessful.

None of the nurses really seemed to be all that chatty that day. In fact, the place was almost silent.

Juliette turned to the woman next to her, figuring she might be as bored as she was. “Have you ever donated before?” She asked her curiously, trying to start up some sort of conversation.

Even if she didn't have her power, Serena would still give blood as regularly as she was allowed to. It was important, there were often shortages of the rarer bloodtypes, and you could never have enough of the O types. As it so happened, Serena's blood was one of the rare few that was applicable to pretty much everyone, she wasn't sure if it had always been that type, or if it was something to do with her mutation, which would also make a fair amount of sense.

Serena could have just done this herself, far faster than the nurse was able to, but that would probably weird a few people out so she simply refrained and let the needle drain her blood into the small pack. She had a few of those herself scattered around the apartment, and a thermos with more. She smirked to herself at the thought of someone who didn't know she was a mutant rooting through her drawers.

The people taking the blood this time weren't particularly talkative or friendly, she made a mental note to mention that to one of the managers that ran this on her way out. It would bring in more donaters if they were more friendly.

Serena smiled at the woman next to her who started a conversation, thankful for the engagement. "Yes I have! I am a regular." She responded softly. "How about yourself?"

"I've donated a few times," Juliette told her, grateful that she was willing to talk to pass the time. "Whenever I can get off work, these days." The fact that there were only morning appointments was a bit of a pain, especially since she always seemed to be working or volunteering in the mornings lately. It was a tricky thing to fit in, but it was worth it.

"I try to do it as often as I can, though. It would be a bit hypocritical if I stressed how important it was and then didn't do it myself," she shrugged. It really was important, though. It could save so many lives, and it only took about an hour out of hers.

The little sac beside the chair was almost full, it seemed. She was just about finished.

Serena smiled pleasingly at the other woman, she seemed to be fairly pleasant, and at the very least quite willing to converse to pass the time while the blood drained from their systems. Serena was always amused afterwards when the nurses sat them down and made them drink orange juice and eat cookies, and inform them of what it would be like to be down a pint of blood in their system.

She'd lost more blood than most people did in their lifetimes just in the use of her power, so it was quite amusing.

"That's lovely, It's always nice to see more people that like to do it often." She had plenty of free time to do it recently, but most places had a restriction on how often you could donate. There really shouldn't have been a limit to how often Serena could do so, however she didn't feel like going into the specifics of her power with the staff every time she came here to donate.

She nodded with a slight grin. "More people do seem to be doing it these days, which is good."

Juliette nodded. It was good. Very good, actually. The more people that donated, the better. That way, more lives could be saved. And it was good, more and more people seemed to be willing to do it. Those that weren't afraid of needles, that was. "It's very good," Juliette said in agreement.

There was something that she hadn't initially noticed about the woman, though; her accent. It was strong, and definitely not American. It sounded English, but she couldn't be entirely sure. The only other English person she had met so far in New York had been that pompous 'angel' guy. The woman didn't really seem as horrible as he was, though. 

"I'm Juliette," she introduced herself. "I couldn't help but notice your accent, though. Where about are you from?"

Serena smiled in greeting as the nurse came back over and took the needle out of her arm and gave taped a cotton bud to the vein to stop the bleeding. Serena wished she could just use her power to stop it immediately, but she would probably weird out a lot of the people around her with the glow, so she refrained. Sigh, she really did wish that things were different sometimes.

New York seemed to really be a melting pot for all kinds of cultures and nationalities, Serena couldn't even recall all of the different origins she'd met people from over the years here. She'd met a surprisingly high number of French and English people though, all things considered. And quite a few people of Asian descent.

She smiled at the woman softly. "Well, originally I was born and lived for several years in London, I've lived here since I was a teenager though. I just kind of cling to my accent stubbornly." She chuckled. "What about yourself? Are you a new yorker?" She asked with a friendly tone.

London made sense. It fit with the accent and her demeanor perfectly. It was somewhere Juliette had never been, but always intended to visit.

Was she a native New Yorker? Hardly. She had a long history of being places that weren't New York. But, the past few months had seen her growing rather attached to the city, and had already stayed much longer than she had intended to. Now she couldn't really imagine going many other places.

"No," Juliette told her, "I was born in Trinidad, and I spent a lot of time in Georgia as a kid." Simplest way to put it. 

The nurse beside her removed her needle and put a band aid and cotton ball over where it had been. Then, she directed her towards a table with juice boxes and piles of packaged cookies.

Juliette stood up and started to make her way to the table, her head feeling significantly lighter. She turned back briefly to see if the other woman was following.

Serena smiled at the other woman as she responded. Sounded like she'd seen a lot more of the world than Serena ever had, she really needed to get out more at some point. She'd really like to visit Canada, and some of the more southern areas of America, more of Europe too. Italy was somewhere she needed to go to at some point, because the place and the food just all looked so beautiful.

The blonde dusted herself off and stood from the chair, she stretched out with a little yawn and walked perfectly lucidly over to the table with the snacks and drinks, she knew she'd get moaned at by the nurses if she didn't partake in some of it, so she would if only to avoid the hassle of an argument. She smiled at the other woman as she walked to the table and grabbed a cookie, nibbling on it gently.

She leaned softly against the edge of the table still smiling at the other woman. "You feeling alright?" She asked.

"Yep, just a little light headed," Juliette nodded. That was a bit of an understatement. Her head was spinning, along with the rest of the room, and she was having to blink her eyes open. She would probably be fine with a little bit of sugar, though.

She reached into the centre of the table and grabbed a packaged cookie and an orange juice box. She took a bite of the cookie, already feeling a little better, and then a sip of the juice.

"Are you not bothered by it?" She asked the other woman curiously, noticing that she looked just as fine as when she walked in. It made her a little jealous, really. It would have been nice to be able to do it and not feel any side effects.

She smiled at the other girl sympathetically. She did know what it was like to have a low blood sugar level like the other girl was probably feeling right now, she just didn't really get it at this level anymore. "It gets better fast once you get something to eat, don't worry." She chimed helpfully.

Serena smiled as the other girl began to refuel herself, she continued to nibble on the cookie in the meantime. She grabbed a carton of orange juice more out of thirst than anything else and began to slowly sip it. She was feeling tired more than anything else, she'd had a long night previously, and she'd then gotten up early to come to the blood drive to donate. She really was a bit crazy in terms of the amount she tried to fit into her day.

With a quick nod she responded. "It doesn't really effect me as much as others, and I do this pretty regularly so I'm used to coping with it." She smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Much," Juliette nodded quickly and set down the newly emptied juice box. Her head had stopped pounding, and the room was spinning much less. She also didn't feel like she was going to snap at any second.

She sat back in the short plastic chair and glanced at the woman across from her. She was slightly more pale than most people, but not horribly so. Not like the winged girl she had seen on the news a few times.

"I didn't ever catch your name, I don't think," she pointed out to the woman.

She smiled sweetly at the other woman. "Well that's good." It was never nice to feel dizzy or out of it. Serena sometimes wondered what it was like to be well and truly hammered. Her only experience with drink had ended with being blackout drunk and not remembering any of the following morning or previous night, so she wasn't exactly well versed in the subject.

She finished her cookie and put the wrapper in the bin, quickly finishing her drink and doing the same. She yawned a little and stretched out. What would she do with the rest of her day? Coffee felt like it might be in order at some point, but she wasn't quite sure. She supposed she could do some work on the edits that she still had waiting. But she still had plenty of time to get on top of those too.

Serena blinked in surprise. "Oh my, I'm sorry. I'm usually much more polite than that. I'm Serena, it's a pleasure to meet you." She responded, slightly flustered.

"Don't worry about it," Juliette laughed quietly. It really hadn't been a big deal, she was just curious. "It's nice to meet you, Serena."

She glanced at her empty wrapper and juice box. There really wasn't any reason for her to stay there, but she was really enjoying the conversation. Plus, she really didn't feel like cleaning or doing anything productive that day. She had done enough the day before.

Coffee seemed like something accomplish-able. It was slightly awkward to ask, but at the same time, she liked talking to Serena. "Hey, uh, do you want to grab a cup of coffee?"

The blonde smiled, somewhat embarrassed. She was usually the one who opened conversations with introductions, and here she was being shown up be Juliette. Obviously as a big literature buff, her mind first went to a classical play when she heard the woman's name. It was a lovely name though, she was just a little flustered that she'd completely forgotten to respond with hers in kind!

Serena quickly checked her phone to see if she had any formal plans on the calendar for the day, noting that she did not she remembered that she'd specifically cleared her plans in case the blood drive was busy as she didn't know how long it would take. Of course with the way that life tended to be, she was now free for the rest of her day, with nothing planned to do.

She grinned as the other woman offered to go and get a coffee. "Well that sounds like a great idea, I'd love to, Juliette." She responded enthusiastically.

"Perfect," Juliette smiled at Serena. She had feared that the blonde would think she was totally insane and leave. Luckily, she seemed fine with the forwardness.

She stood up and grabbed her bag off of the back of her chair, waiting for a minute so that Serena could do the same. "I think there's a place a few doors down, unless you have somewhere else in mind." She didn't want to steam roll, after all.