She nodded along. Noel had her issues with immortality. "The healing was nice, though..." She'd never accepted when he offered his blood and, as it had turned out, he was only handing out temporary immortality anyway. "He's a lonely person when you get down to it. Not that that explains or justifies what he's done."

Ah. And now it was time to spill about herself. It was easier when they were just scrutinizing Cafas. "I wish I could prove you wrong, but.." Noel shook her head. Would he have kept her around if she hadn't been mutant? Some of his first and most loyal converts had been human. "I'm the crappiest psychic you'll ever meet. I know when someone speaks truth. Or... at least, when they believe it's truth." She shrugged.

"I also can see others memories. I was his shadow because when we sparred, I matched him." She wasn't boasting. Just factual. "He let me see his training. I gained a lot of experience that made me think a lot like him in terms of strategy. Once we hammered in the technique of it, he may as well have been practicing against himself." It wasn't like a free level up. She still had to work at it. Which meant now she would be woefully rusty. Those had been the best workouts of her life.

"I don't know if he would have kept me around without my abilities, but it's not like it matters now." Another shrug. "I just work plain old private sector security these days." No swords. Guns only at certain locations. Rather pale by comparison.

"I'm the crappiest psychic you'll ever meet. I know when someone speaks truth. Or... at least, when they believe it's truth."

Dead useful in a protector really. Just need to ask them if they intend him harm and she'd know. He could see at least partly why she would be kept close.

"I also can see others memories. I was his shadow because when we sparred, I matched him. He let me see his training. I gained a lot of experience that made me think a lot like him in terms of strategy. Once we hammered in the technique of it, he may as well have been practicing against himself."

The ability to match him in combat, or at least match what he was willing to throw at her.

She could probably tell if he was holding back, if she'd bothered to ask anyway.

Really it seemed secondary. You don't keep a guardian around because they fight as well as you. Cafas suspected the power to detect lies was the greater part of it really. It's what he'd be keeping her for if he had the need for a bodyguard.

"I don't know if he would have kept me around without my abilities, but it's not like it matters now. I just work plain old private sector security these days."

"Doesn't matter what he'd have done if you didn't have your powers. Point is you do, and they add up to a brilliant guard. Heck, if I had any need for security I'd hire you, though I doubt I can match any corporation's pay check." Cafas was quite glad she didn't work for insane immortals any more. He could imagine she'd be hard to deal with. He wondered if he could even bluff her in combat... He wouldn't like to find out. He shrugged to himself.

Funny how reasonable you find the other side, isn't it? They don't come of insane enough to actually hate them. Maybe your mentality just isn't cut out for a soldier. Let's face it, that's all you are. A soldier for someone else's agenda.

"Wish I'd had access to thousands of years of training really. I learned most of my lessons the hard way." Then again, looking at it, he did have access to thousands of years of training... "Speaking of lessons, I'd really appreciate a training partner. It'd be nice to learn something new, I haven't had anyone above my level to teach me for a while." No one that actually used it as a lethal craft, not a sport, trying not to hurt people. No time for that when people are actually trying to kill you.

His compliments made her swell with pride. She tried her best in her work even if her access to memories gave her a leg up at times. "Without having sparred against you, I wouldn't guess my level is above yours. It's more than just knowledge that goes into it." But, he knew that already. "I'd guess you're more fit than I am. I haven't touched a blade in... months?" Months was a good guess. She'd lost a lot of time and hadn't practiced at all in recent memory.

"But there's only one way to remedy that." She grinned. "I'd be honored to train with you some time." Batons and guns were far more practical in her line of work, but there was nothing like steel on steel.

It was a rush to have those memories play out in real time with her body rather than Sebastian's. It was like seeing a puzzle and having all the pieces, but it wasn't satisfying until you got to actively piece it together.

"Wasn't I just telling you to get a bodyguard for when you go all Mutant SWAT?" Noel smirked too bad she didn't have any business cards. "Give me a call next time. I'll see if we can't work something out."

Cafas opened up a new contact on his phone and slid it across the table, again. "I'll call you for the training for sure, though you may need to fill that in so that I even can call you."

Random woman showing up in his contacts list, Calley ought to like that.

[/sarcasm]

Not that Cafas thought he'd actually bother going through his phone.

"And don't dismiss the power of knowledge. Battles have been won by inferior troops and less numbers with a brilliant tactician behind them." Not that Cafas actually thought he was going to be beaten. He had a habit of coming out on top. Probably something to do with his size. 250 pounds of weight behind even a blunt weapon tended to end poorly for people.

People need to learn to run when the bullets start melting against me...

A thought occurred to Cafas as he stretched his neck. Clearly he had been sitting too long. Stiff neck and thoughts. "So, do you have a name? Or will Rapunzel do?" Because seriously, how did you even get hair that long?

How do you get hair that pink?

"No prob." She was quick with phone typing. Like, texting generation quick. It was only a few seconds including a quick reference to her own phone for her number before Noel was handing Cafas' mobile back to him.

"I dunno. Big man smash can be rather intimidating too."

Her phone contact said Noel. No last name. It matched the plain tattoo on her wrist. Just Noel. "Definitely not Rapunzel." She checked to see if the bulk of her hair was dry enough to braid already. That was the worst part. That and how fast she went through shampoo.

"It's my super brain power. Makes my hair grow fast." She was teasing, but knowing that it wasn't true made Noel want to gag. Ugh. She cringed. The truth tasted so much better. "Teasing. But I like it." So much better. So, so, SO much better.

"I dunno. Big man smash can be rather intimidating too."

"Go ahead and ask the Gauls and Scots how that went for them." Still, couldn't complain about being referred to as "big man". Even if she did imply he was some kind of barbarian.

Her typing speed was rather enviable. Cafas' thumbs didn't lend themselves to the cramped touch-screen keyboard. He had his phone back in no time at all. He quickly checked the contact name. "Noel, not Rapunzel, got it." He fired off a quick text while he was at it. "And now you have my number too." A quick contact photo later (Taken while she looked at her phone).

People were weird about photos sometimes, but he had a lot of people to remember.

"It's my super brain power. Makes my hair grow fast."

That makes no sense at all. Your irises are mood rings.

"Teasing. But I like it."

The puzzled look must have been showing. Why had she cringed though? "It's cool, that's for sure. Liability in a fight, but then, I haven't exactly cropped my hair, have I? I'm still alive." Though it had been used against him a couple of times. A firm batoning in the head fixed that on most occasions.

Noel also snapped a photo of Cafas. Then she put in a note that, yeah, the hair was pink. She should just get over it because he wasn't a pink, fluffy kind of guy. Well, he was a little. Tiny side note about fluffy cop love. Blech~

"You know, I have yet to have it be a real problem in a fight." Sure, big red lady had picked her up by it, but it had left her arms and legs free and that was better than being picked up by the neck. "But I always braid it. Except when fresh from a shower. It's heavy when wet." Was she referring to her hair like a pet? Stop that. Don't be weirder than the pink haired guy!

"Uhm. Thanks for the gelato. I guess I shouldn't offer to pay you back since you're apparently rich." She should take full advantage of that, right? Why didn't he look richer? Maybe Noel just didn't know what rich looked like.

"You know, I have yet to have it be a real problem in a fight. But I always braid it. Except when fresh from a shower. It's heavy when wet."

"Yeah I can imagine." How her neck wasn't as thick as his was a question for people with greater minds than his. Heck, it probably wasn't wet all that often. Or maybe she just lay down when it was? It looked like it would make a heck of a cushion.

Did I just think that? That's a weird thing to be thinking about. Also you can quit it with the fresh out of the shower scene... No, really.

Had his eyes glazed over a moment? Maybe they had, he was only human... Well, he wasn't, but you take my meaning. Cafas made sure his eye line was at eye height. Yup, hadn't even managed to slip that far.

"Uhm. Thanks for the gelato. I guess I shouldn't offer to pay you back since you're apparently rich."

"No you shouldn't, ten bucks for the pleasure of your company is a steal; And rich may be overstating things. Then again I flat out own an apartment in NYC... So maybe I am... Huh, I should probably stop wearing crappy shirts and cargo pants. Nothing really matches the utility though." A musing for the next time he went clothes shopping. Whenever that was.

Next time a significant portion of my wardrobe is ruined by gunshots, or other miscellaneous crime fighting hazards.

Living ones life one hail of gunfire to another ended up with weird time scales. He'd probably have that shopping trip within the month.

I have to get a stylist for my day to day life at some point... Hashtag onlymoviestarthing.

She finger combed her hair back from her face and behind her ears. Well now she was all conscious about it. Did she even bring a hair band? Noel fished around in her pockets until she got one and then started the task of braiding. She had to run her hands from the braid down through the rest of her hair to keep it tangle free. The resulting motion was something like what it looked like to play a harp.

Noel blew a raspberry at Cafas. "Your own apartment? Like No rent and no roommates?" Dang. He was living the dream. "Next you're going to say you've got over 1,000 sqft and bathe in liquid gold. Yep. You rich." He could do that too, since, you know... his mutation.

He should open a spa for the rich and become even richer.

Sigh.

"Yeah, utility is hard to pass up." Coming from a nearly identical outfit, only plus boobs, Noel had no stones left to throw. She pulled her hair over her shoulder, only about halfway through her braid progress.

"Your own apartment? Like No rent and no roommates? Next you're going to say you've got over 1,000 sqft and bathe in liquid gold. Yep. You rich."

1000 square feet was a lot? He hadn't even bothered to check that... He'd just got a nice one. with a nice view and the rooftop patio bit... Not having to think about that stuff before buying a place probably made him rich. Well, ex rich really. If not for the additional movies and renegotiated contract...

Bathing in gold? I wonder how much that would even cost...

He quickly ran the calculations through his phone calculator (with assistance from the ever helpful google).

$127,687,611

Rounded, but still.

"Yeah I wont be bathing in gold any time soon. I most certainly do not have one hundred and twenty eight million dollars just laying about." Even if he did, it would not be being used for a bath of gold.

It would be awesome though...

Not that Cafas really thought he needed any more money than he had. He could live the rest of his life on interest alone and still be making more than a large proportion of America. "Well, I suspect Stephen is missing you by now. I wouldn't want to monopolise your company." Not that he had anything better to do. Though he was hoping to make a clean paparazzi free getaway. He figured he had a few more minutes though, if she didn't want him to go.

Ego much?

> "one hundred and twenty eight million dollars"

If she'd been drinking, it would have been a spittake. As it was, Noel snorted some air out in a weird way and ended up trying not to which caused a weird back up and more than a little coughing. "Oh, man." She abandoned her braid in favor of pounding her clavicle to knock loose the surprise.

"Maybe not that rich, but with your abilities you could if you the raw materials laying around." Or, you know, more money than Noel could imagine. "What does one hundred and twenty eight million dollars look like anyway? Besides the obvious bathtub full of gold?"

Breathing crisis averted, Noel went back to her braid. It was going to take a while even with her quick fingers.

> "Well, I suspect Stephen is missing you by now."

Ah. The old dismissal. Only, Noel found herself loathe to leave. "I don't work for some hours yet and the Stephen thing... uhm. It's complicated?" If he pressed, she was going to have to own up to the biggest downside to a mutant ability in the history of ever. Couldn't he just let her feel cool for a little while longer?

"What does one hundred and twenty eight million dollars look like anyway? Besides the obvious bathtub full of gold?"

"A fighter jet... It looks like a fighter jet." So maybe he had checked. Maybe he knew these things. Maybe he didn't have enough money and it was an extreme downer and OH MY GOSH YOU'RE SO INSENSITIVE!

What would you even do with a fighter jet? What possible use do you have for one? Looking cool? Pull the other one...

Other than that, he had no idea. Anything that cost that much probably never crossed his mind to purchase anyway. Though he suspected there were few things that cost just that much to start with. He thought about googling it. Ultimately he decided not to.

"I don't work for some hours yet and the Stephen thing... uhm. It's complicated?"

Lame excuse if he ever heard one. Complicated was the excuse you offered when you didn't want to admit you were doing something even you recognised as dumb or otherwise futile. "No one has ever mistaken me for anyone in my entire life of having ludicrous hair. So my guess is "complicated" like you clearly have no idea what he looks like. Strange, considering you clearly know him well enough, judging by how you started the conversation. Internet dating thing?" Tactful to a fault, our Cafas.

People are still weird about that? Seriously, it happens now. Eh, not my business.

"I meant like..." She made hand motions that were entirely ambiguous even to her. "cash." She lamely settled on her meaning. "I mean, in 100 dollar bills that still a million bills." Did they even go higher than $100 bills? She didn't even know. "I guess when it's that much, it's all digital so... plastic." She made her fingers into a small rectangle like a credit card.

> "So my guess is "complicated" like you clearly have no idea what he looks like."

She went back to her braid with a sigh. Yeah. She had no freaking clue what he looked like.

> "Internet dating thing?"

"Oh gosh, no." Actually... that wasn't a bad idea. "My bestie's a con man." Ah. Maybe she shouldn't be so proud of that. Noel looked around, but nobody seemed to care. Either way she quieted down some. "He often doesn't look the same as the last time I saw him and on top of all that... the memory thing. Remember? 'Cause I sure don't."

She was getting down to the end of her braid now. It was a great excuse to avoid eye contact. "The side effect to sucking up other people's memories is that there isn't always room for my own."

"Yeah I can't even begin to imagine what that looks like in cash..." Probably looked bad ass. He could probably melt his way into a bank and find out some time. The paperwork and court case wouldn't be worth it though. It was most likely a sight he'd never know. If he ever got that much money he would be sure to pull it out as cash some time.

"Oh gosh, no. My bestie's a con man. He often doesn't look the same as the last time I saw him and on top of all that... the memory thing. Remember? 'Cause I sure don't. The side effect to sucking up other people's memories is that there isn't always room for my own."

Foot, Mouth. Mouth, Foot. Good, now everyone's acquainted we can move one. Also... Con man? That's one to forget he ever hear. Boyfriend a cop, work with cops, he didn't know any criminals, never even heard of them.

Best crime fighter ever...

"The words con man never made it to my ears. That's gotta be super confusing. Changing appearance and a memory too full to hold everything it has... Actually on that note, how the heck do you manage day to day like that? My memory is standard issue human and I forget important stuff all the time..."

Explain your thought process here dumb ass. Far as I can see it goes 'Oh, she is clearly embarrassed by this. Let me focus the conversation on it!' Is that it? Did I get that right?

"Man I bet you just wanna not talk about it huh..." Face, palm, rub temples out of frustration with self.

>"The words con man never made it to my ears."

"I think he was dating a cop so... maybe he's reformed by now?" She shrugged again.

"I sorta accidentally deleted his contact info out of my phone. Which only further complicates the whole finding him... thing. You know you nodded at me. How I supposed to know we're not friends? This is New York for chrissake. You keep your head down and your hands to yourself. You don't make EYE CONTACT and BE FRIENDLY. That's for the continental south. Or, so I hear."

How did she manage? "Not talking about it doesn't make it go away. Technology helps me most of the time, but it can be tinkered with." Noel pulled up her short sleeve and moved her top around to flash her tats. It was nothing indecent, but she'd put them under her clothes for a reason. There were quite a few words on her upper arm and shoulder area. One was a list clearly labeled "Safe People," the other a shorter list of addresses "Safe Places."

A little further down were some choice tidbits on how she should lead her life, the most prominently featured was a tattoo that read DON'T DATE MARRIED MEN. Noel also indicated the tattoo on her wrist that was her name and rubbed her fingers over it.

Just four letters. That was her whole identity. The paperwork she used to get paid had a last name she picked out of a list. Probably shouldn't tell him that.

"I get by." Finally at the end of her braid, Noel pulled her hair tie off her wrist and wrapped it up so all her hard work wouldn't be undone. She then pushed the thick, snake-like braid over her shoulder.