Some nightmares were more realistic than others. One recurring experience of such a scenario for Javi was dreams that started out nice; dreams in which he was comfortably lost in a world of shapes and colors and nice cozy feelings, until his brain happened on a fragment of information that somehow caused everything to crystallize into a public space. A space, crowded with people, who were not only aware of him, but they also all had a plan, some plan that no one bothered to tell Javier about, or rather, they did, but he completely forgot, and now he was stuck in the middle of some elaborate scenario furiously trying to summon up the script, the class schedule, the speech... These dreams usually resulted in very grumpy mornings, and copious amounts of coffee.

Except this time, it wasn't a dream.
Anxiety equals worries about reality. Worries about reality equal a higher chance of one of your nightmares actually coming true.

Javier was walking across Central Park, on his way to his shop. It was a nice, clear autumn day, which seemed to have drawn a crowd a little larger than usual to the park; people with bright smiles, colorful knitted hats and cozy sweaters, and... music?

The music came out of nowhere. Javier paused, glancing around, as the song suddenly started up. Most people did not seem to bother, while others smiled, and tapped their feet. And then all of a sudden, someone on Javier's right began to move with the rhythm... and then someone else on his left. They were moving in sync, in a way that was clearly choreographed, and in a few moments, others joined in too.

Javier realized, with a growing sense of dread, that he was stuck in the middle of a flash mob.

@siobhan

It was a nice day and rehearsal had ended a little early, so Siobhan had taken the long way through the city on that Saturday afternoon. It was a nice city, after all, and there was one bus route that gave her a little time to walk around and enjoy the sights. Since she had the extra time to do so, there was nothing that would stop her from doing so. Plus, she got to stop at the sweetest little ice cream shop on her way.

She walked through central park, licking one of her favourite flavours of ice cream, a creamy mint concoction with lots of extra chocolate chips, and humming some of the songs from Heathers as she went. It was such a nice day that she figured it deserved a little bit of a hum.

The cold ice cream had been a bit of a weird choice, considering it was mid autumn and she was cold, despite being bundled up, but she didn’t really mind all that much. It was a nice cold, for whatever reason. Plus, it kept her walking at a nice pace, since she wanted to get somewhere warm and stop her hand from feeling so numb.

It had been such a nice leisurely walk. So nice. Then the music had started.

At first, Siobhan hadn’t thought anything of it; music sometimes played in public spaces. It was probably just someone being a bit of a jerk, she figured. They would eventually turn their music down and it would be nothing to worry about.

Only… then people started to dance…

They were all in sync. Siobhan knew exactly what was going on. It was a flash mob. She was in the middle of a flash mob. That meant that everyone was staring at the area near her, and there was probably someone filming it. She was going to be on film! She hadn’t prepared for it!

The young girl squeaked and started to move away, but she was blocked by a twirling dancer. There were so many of them and they all seemed to be closing in on her! What was a young, anxious girl to do?

Javier tried to blend into a situation that was totally, completely unblendable. In a terrifying replica of his worst nightmares, everyone else around him seemed to be in on the flashmob. More and more people joined the dancing, stepping perfectly in sync; ice cream sellers, little old ladies, jogging men and women, even the kids. Javier turned, trying to look for a way out of the crowd, but the dance was too enthusiastic and unpredictable to offer a clear path for the bushes. He felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. All the people seemed to be facing the same way; turning Javier noticed that there was a young woman, looking both excited and embarrassed, at the front of the crowd, with a young man nearby, and several guys with cameras.

Cameras.

This was not just a flashmob; it was a proposal.

Javier backed away from the general direction of the cameras as fast as he could; he bumped into someone. He apologized. He felt the need to at least try to make an effort and move with the dance, but dancing in public was a thought that froze his blood in his veins. There was only one way to go; suck it up and get out with minimum collisions. He turned to do just that, and bumped into someone else; a young girl, standing a little frozen.

"S'cuse me..."

Siobhan retracted her limbs into herself as people twirled and kicked around her. It was incredibly overwhelming to be standing in the middle of it all and she didn’t know what to do with herself. Everywhere she turned, there was someone doing something in front of her. She couldn’t see a way out of the area and she didn’t know where to go. Maybe if there had been a path, things wouldn’t be as bad, but there wasn’t. There was nothing that she could see. It was all just dancing as far as the eye could see.

>>"S'cuse me..."

Siobhan squeaked again as someone bumped into her. It was a man that looked to be in his twenties, but he wasn’t dancing. He was someone like her who had been thrust into the situation against his will and stuck between throngs of people.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, unsure of what to make of the situation. She was just one more bad feeling away from going invisible, but the situation could be salvaged. Maybe. Just maybe.

So, she broke a cardinal rule. She spoke to a stranger. In a dangerous situation. Siobhan felt her throat go dry even before she’d opened it, but she forced herself to continue. She had to do something. ”How do we get out of this?” she asked in a distressed voice. Immediately after saying it, she regretted it. All she wanted to do was shut it all off and go invisible, but she knew that she would lose her only way out if she did that.

Out of all things, he had bumped into a girl. A young and pretty one, none the less, as if the thing he really needed right now was to accidentally scare a teenager, or come off as a creep somehow. Javier froze as she looked up at him, alarmed, and it took him a few seconds to realize that she was not, actually, scared of him.

>>”How do we get out of this?”

She was not dancing either. In fact, she looked very uncomfortable, and a little bit terrified. Javier could relate to those feelings, and somehow it made him feel less awkward that he was not the only one unwittingly stuck in the middle of someone else's big and elaborate flashmob proposal.

"This way." he nodded towards the edge of the path that was lined with bushes. It was not exactly elegant, exiting through shrubbery, but at least they could be sure that no one would follow them there, or that they would run into more dancers somehow. Javier moved, as gracefully as he could manage among people wildly jumping around, and breathed a little easier the farther he got from the front of the scene. He glanced back, making sure the girl kept up.

The idea of talking to a stranger was usually the worst thing that Siobhan could conjure up when thinking of being anxious in the middle of a street, but that was no longer the case. Instead, the worst thing was now officially being trapped in the middle of a flash mob. Worst thing in the entire world.

Siobhan was beginning to lose her breath in all the panic. She had managed to successfully ask a random person who seemed to be in the same position as her for help, but after that, she felt her voice slip away. She would not, however, let herself go invisible and be trampled by a bunch of dancers, or fall into a panic attack. Neither of those things would happen.

...hopefully.

She followed the man through some shrubbery out the other side. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was better than being twirled and whipped around by a bunch of random people in the street. In all honesty, Siobhan would have taken having to raise her hand in class or answer an important phone call over any of that. It was awful.

The man stopped to wait for her and she caught up behind him. She was able to breathe a little easier since they were out of the thick of things, but they weren’t out of the woods just yet.

They were out of the crazy dancing crowd and behind some shrubs. It was far from being a perfect cover, but it was room to breath, which Javi sorely needed, and apparently so did the girl, who looker positively terrified. She did not want to be a part of the impromptu proposal any more than Javier did. At least they had that it common.

"It looks like a proposal" Javi noted, glancing through the shrubs "And they have cameras. And it is only a matter of time before some TV reporter shows up."

Flashmob proposal in Central Park? That was definitely going to make the news. Maybe it was someone famous.

Javier really wanted to be as far away as possible by the time the TV got there. He turned to walk away, but it felt awkward just leaving the girl standing there. It would have been read as rude. Or simply careless.

"Um... I'm going this way." Javier pointed in the direction of the path that led to the edge of the park closes to his shop.

Yep, it was definitely a proposal. Siobhan leaned a little forward to poke her head out of the shrubbery for a second. From there, she could see that there was a man teasing a woman in front of the crowd. He was involved in the dance number, but he kept bending to one knee for a split second, pretending to break from the formation for just a minute. The woman had her hands in front of her face, clearly crying at the whole scene. It was clear from her eyes that she was smiling, though. At least she was having a good time.

In Siobhan’s humble, third party opinion, proposals were supposed to be sweet and romantic and intimate. They weren’t supposed to be some huge thing in front of a thousand people that they didn’t know. What if she wanted to say no? What then? There was nowhere for her to go.

One day, Siobhan knew, she would propose to someone in an intimate setting that was special to just them.

Wait… no, she would have to be proposed to. By a man. She needed to keep that straight. The young girl felt her cheeks get hot as she pushed all thoughts that she wasn’t supposed to have from her mind.

Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to sit there and think about her future, she had to live in the present, and that involved getting out of the street. They had made it most of the way out, but there was still the matter of going somewhere that wasn’t there. From what she could see, most of the subway entrances were blocked off, and there wasn’t anywhere accessible that was close. If she stayed on the street, then there was a high chance of her getting pulled back into the action.

>>"Um... I'm going this way."

”Wait!” Siobhan called out quickly, immediately regretting it. She wasn’t supposed to do that. They were strangers and he had just helped her. She couldn’t ask for more things after that!

She did anyway.

”Can… I come with you? I don’t want to get caught by the cameras…” she finished quietly. Ugh. She was shaking, standing there in the street.

So... that was it. Like an almost normal social interaction. Get in, get out. Say goodbye. Don't imagine you owe more to random strangers than you actually do while you are also trying to get...

>>”Wait!... Can… I come with you? I don’t want to get caught by the cameras…”

She sounded like she was pleading. Javier could understand that. The presence of cameras literally made his skin crawl. She was probably in the same boat, given how uncomfortable she looked. He really wanted to help her.

"Um... my shop's just across the street" he pointed "If you want, you can stay in there until the crowd breaks up?"

Did this sound weird? It probably sounded weird.

"It's a tailor shop." Javier added, then he hesitantly began moving again, showing the way, making a beeline away from the crowd (still dancing) and the cameras (still moving), hopefully getting out of the line of vision as fast as possible.

It had been a strange thing for Siobhan to ask to go with the man. She knew nothing about him, and for all she knew, he could be totally dangerous. Desperate times called for desperate measures, though. Once she was safe from the cameras, then she could deal with whatever fallout she had caused. Worst case scenario, she had to turn invisible and get away.

But what if he grabbed her! Or what if the door was locked! Oh, no her mind was spiralling. It would be alright. She just had to convince herself of that. Simple task, right?

”Um. Okay, thank you,” Siobhan mumbled quietly despite herself. She tried to give him a thankful smile, but it came out more as a grimace. He was being nice to her, so she had to try to be nice back, but it was getting difficult. It was all a little much.

She followed him through the crowds, around the various people dancing and singing to the song. The cameras had arrived, just as they predicted, which meant that she had to get out of there. It wasn’t a question or an option now. The tailor shop seemed like the best option by far, when she was really thinking about it. If he turned out to be dangerous, then she would have to deal with that. For now, she had settled her mind. He wasn’t going to hurt her.

Hopefully.

She really hoped.

The tailor shop was within view by that point. Siobhan stepped up onto the curb and scurried toward it, waiting for the man to join her there. It didn’t look so bad. At least he had actually been truthful about that. Now he had two points in his favour.

Javier was keenly aware of how awkward it was to invite a young girl back to his shop with him. There were a million ways his invitation could have been taken the wrong way, and a million and one to make the whole encounter awkward under the best of circumstances. But she seemed just as uncomfortable in the flashmob as he was, and he did not have the heart to leave her to her own devices. He was going for cover in his own nice quiet shop, and he felt like he at least had to offer her the same chance, even if it meant they would both feel uncomfortable for a while.

Javier pulled his keys out and opened the shop, leading the way inside and flipping the lights on. There were clothes and fabrics scattered around, so he cleared some of the chairs for her to sit.

"Well... this is it." he glanced at her shyly "You are free to stay as long as the flashmob lasts... Umm... I don't have much stuff in here, but I can make coffee or tea if you want?"

Was that acceptable? Hopefully? Maybe he could make it in front of her so that she didn't think he was trying to drug her or something. Javi walked to the other side of the counter and rummaged around to keep from standing around awkwardly. After all, they barely knew...

"Oh. I'm Javier, by the way."

Siobhan quietly followed the man into his shop, closing the door behind her. The noise faded out as the door closed, so much so that they could only hear the bass of the music thumping through the numerous stereos. Seriously, could they not lower the volume just a little bit? It was a little absurd.

He hadn’t been lying about being a tailor, though, which was good. There was no denying that the shop they were in was a tailor’s shop. There were clothes and bits of fabric covering every surface, so Javier had to clear off a place for her to sit down. Somewhat awkwardly, Siobhan whispered a polite ‘thank you’ and sat down in the chair. She smoothed her skirt down behind her, suddenly a little self-conscious about the questionable quality of her clothes. Hopefully he wasn’t too observant.

”It’s very nice,” Siobhan complemented through her Irish accent. It was a very cool shop. She actually couldn’t really remember being in a tailor shop before; she had always just bought new clothes if they broke and had gotten them from box stores.

She was nervous being in there. He was trying to make her comfortable, which she was grateful for, but it was strange. She was sitting in there with some man that she’d just met, and while there were windows, they were still the only two people in the shop. It had been that or stay out in the flash mob. She was going to take her chances in there.

”Tea would be very nice, thank you,” she nodded. ”And I’m Siobhan. I’m… very grateful for being able to stay here.” It really was better than any of the other options she had been presented with.

She took a seat, and Javier made sure to give her space to get comfortable. He offered a drink instead of aimlessly hovering, which was a pretty good idea, in retrospect. Keeping busy would probably get them through the awkwardness until the flash mob was over.

>>”Tea would be very nice, thank you,”

"Sure." Javier put on the water kettle and dug around for the box of tea filters he had stashed somewhere.

>>”And I’m Siobhan. I’m… very grateful for being able to stay here.”

"No problem, really" Javier smiled, handing her the box to pick from "I mean, that flashmob thing was pretty awkward..." he shrugged. He did not like sounding like a grumpy old man who was against all kinds of fun, especially if the fun involved two people getting engaged "I mean, I'm sure they enjoyed it, it's just... I don't do well with crowds. Or cameras. Or... you know. I kinda have anxiety about all that."

Siobhan took the box from Javier and began to sort through the teas available. Most of the options were pretty basic, but she wasn’t particularly picky about which she drank. Both of her parents were big tea enthusiasts so she had grown up drinking all kinds of teas. From green to earl grey, she was a fan.

>>"I mean, that flashmob thing was pretty awkward… I mean, I'm sure they enjoyed it, it's just... I don't do well with crowds. Or cameras. Or... you know. I kinda have anxiety about all that."

Siobhan looked up. Could it be? A kindred spirit? Someone who hated crowds and loud noises and anxiety-inducing situations as much as she? What were the odds?

The girl stared at him for a moment with wide brown eyes. Sure, he was much older, they were nothing alike, and he was even her type to begin with, but she felt as if she had just made a connection with someone on a deep, soul level. Anxiety was the worst.

”I’m the same way,” she admitted, ”I can’t stand big crowds and I get anxious around people sometimes. It… makes me act… strangely. Sometimes.” She got quiet after that and looked back down at the tea selections. That was a near mutation slip. She never did that. Perhaps it was just the excitement of feeling like there was a possibility of someone understanding her and what she was going through. If he was nice about the anxiety thing, then maybe he would be nice about the mutation thing…

There was a chance that that would make him anxious too, though. She understood that. Better safe than sorry.

With that decision made, she reached into the box and pulled out a packet of jasmine tea. ”I’ll have this one, if that’s alright,” she said quietly, setting the box back down on the countertop. Tea would make everything better.

Javier expected a lot of reactions from the girl to his admission... but not really the hopeful look he received. She looked like she suddenly felt a lot more comfortable around him... or maybe she had just finally decided that he really posed no threat.

>>”I’m the same way. I can’t stand big crowds and I get anxious around people sometimes. It… makes me act… strangely. Sometimes.”

Javier nodded with a small smile. Now, that was something he could relate to.

"Yeah. Me too." Strangely, in a way that included suddenly losing his superpowers and dropping things in embarrassing ways. And then there were the everyday, run-of-the-mill awkward moments as well.

He waited for the girl to pick her tea, then gave her a cup of hot water. He filled another for himself.

"It is... not easy, navigating a big city like that, huh" he added. Crowds, people, and surprise proposals were a lot more likely in places like New York.