Seriously!? Another one? Adapteds needed to STOP COMING TO TOWN. Noel fumed at the situation as she got ready to, yet again, kill a guy. Only this premeditation had been harder to pull off. This was no assassin. This power-canceler was a pretty normal guy so they'd had to get creative in how they trapped him. She didn't like this 'go on a date with the guy you need to kill' thing. It was, for the record, a really, really bad idea.

She'd never thought about an outfit so hard in her life. If Panu hadn't helped, she never would have decided on a dress. He made some strong, Finnish arguments.

Noel had to both be attractive enough to lure the bad guy to somewhere secluded and keep weapons hidden on her person so that when the time came to pull the trigger, she'd have a trigger to pull. The dress had to be tight enough that she wouldn't worry about it slipping off if she had to run, and loose enough in the legs for the same reason.

She ended up with something red and nearly backless since it went over the shoulders at the top. She was disturbed by how well a gun fit into her tiny handbag.

He was supposed to wear a blue shirt to this blind date. That was how she was supposed to find him. Only, when she got to the right restaurant at the right time, there were more than a few unattached individuals with blue shirts. She got out her phone to angry text Panu and call the whole thing off when one of those men happened to glance up toward the doorway with a hopeful look in his eye. Hopeful, like, blind date hopeful.

Well. If he was an adapted, she would know as soon as she got into his range, right?

Noel approached until she felt the tell-tale throbbing rip in her head. Hooo yeah. There was definitely an adapted around here. She smiled at the man and let herself look as nervous as she felt. This was all incredibly new for her. She didn't do blind dates. Heck. She didn't do regular dates so murder dates were a whole new experience.

"Hi, I'm Mieli. Are you... uhm... for the date?" Her Finnish accent was flawless and just as exotic as Panu's. Actually. It was exactly as authentic as Panu's accent because it was his accent that she'd absorbed from his language files. She actually couldn't access those files now in the way that she normally did, but the memories were there if she absolutely had to speak some Finnish tonight.

It was a weird thrill to pretend to be someone else and not taste dumpster. "I'm sorry, I don't usually do this. How's it supposed to go?"

This was going to be an awkward date. If she showed. Sure, they were all awkward, but this would be more awkward than usual because, for the first time he could remember...Manfish was wearing actual clothes. His outfit consisted of a dark blue dress shirt, black pants, and black shoes. All were acquired at a big and tall type store, because his build was weird and not exactly human, and underneath it all, he still had a blue wet-suit.

But he had a theory, maybe every girl was crazy about a sharp dressed man, so he thought he'd try it out this time. However, this time, his e-mail didn't contain any real information, or any sort of picture to go with it. So, as he sat in the restaurant, he was on his own.

He was so focused on the date at hand and praying he wasn't stood up, that he at first, didn't notice the adapted in the area. His features slowly and gradually turned human, and his whiskers disappeared. His sight got better, while the rest of him got worse.

After a moment, he did notice, and removed his goggle-glasses. Now, he really hoped she showed because at least for a moment, they'd have a...nice, normal date. Then, a gorgeous woman walked in...and walked straight to his table. Yes. Neptune smiles.

"Hi, I'm Mieli. Are you... uhm... for the date?"

"Why yes I am. My name is Caleb. Caleb Fishman, but you can call me Cale," he said, also thanking Neptune that his voice--the one part of him the girls seemed to swoon over--remained the same.

"Well, as one who's been at this game awhile, we just have dinner, talk, see where it goes from there." Granted, it usually didn't begin with him being...human, and it surely didn't end with him getting lucky.

And as soon as he and the adapted that was somewhere nearby grew apart...it likely wouldn't end that way today either.

That voice was not what she'd expected to come out of that face. Noel blinked at Cale, stunned for a moment while she resisted the urge to touch her aching head. Touching never helped. It was just a natural reaction to how an adapted made her feel when he jarred all her memories forcibly into place.

Dinner. Talk. Murder. Sure. Easy as cake. "That doesn't sound so bad." Actually it sounded terrible. What did she have in common with a power null? But a smile spread across her lips all the same because she'd said a lie. And she got away with it. Nobody knew. Not even her.

Mieli slipped her phone back into her purse since that seemed the more polite course of action. It scraped against her gun.

And then, suddenly, she was supposed to make small talk. "Uh." Oh God. She was bombing this already.

"It isn't. If you get the right date," Man--Cale replied. Since he was human for the time being, he was going to use his perfectly sexy human name to go with his sexy human body. She seemed nice, and she was beautiful. And...she was sitting across from him! And she wasn't grossed out or running away or making bad jokes! But...at least one of those three were likely to come later. However, he was determined to enjoy this while it lasted.

"Well, we've already got names, so I'll tell you a little about myself. Dr. Caleb Fishman. I graduated from college here in New York City, recently got my PhD, and when I'm not teaching biology to teenagers, I spend a day a week volunteering at a local aquarium. Along with that, I juggle looking for a potential Mrs. Fishman." He gave a polite nod.

"So, tell me something about you. And, if you don't mind me saying, you look gorgeous this fine evening."

"Congratulations on your recent graduation." For some reason that embarrassed her. She didn't want to know what he did for a job, that he worked with kids and volunteered. Even worse, she hadn't prepared a whole persona to go with the new name.

Mieli rolled her lips in on each other as she thought. Or tried to think. Oh God. "Uh. Thanks." She didn't know what to do with the compliment so she tried to retaliate in kind. "You look... I mean, you have a shirt that's nice." Crapcrapcrap.

"Mieli is short for Mielikki." She blurted the words. And she could feel a dam of more words building up with so little time to brain filter them. "I work in private investigations and security. It's more like bodyguarding lately. And tutoring, I guess, but I didn't ask for that part. I recently picked up escrima sticks because they're non-lethal and they are just nuts. You should see them in action." She'd almost brought them tonight except, you know, non-lethal kind of wasn't the point.

"Thanks," he said with a nod, then had to chuckle at her next comment. He found it odd that despite the fact that he spent 99.99% of his time as a giant fish-man, he wasn't socially awkward. And here was a girl who'd had his attention from the moment she walked through the door, and she was stumbling over her sentences and having trouble finding what to say sometimes. Then again...he was human right now, and he had to admit, he was rather charming...

Is this what it's like for a girl to be into you? he wondered silently. If it was, he could get used to it.

He nodded, listening intently as she spoke, hanging onto every word. "Sounds like you lead quite the busy life. It's very interesting," he answered, chuckling again. "Maybe next time, then."

Busy. That was all he had to say about the whole bodyguard thing? Sheesh. At this point maybe she could admit to wanting to assassinate him. He probably wouldn't mind. "You are way chill, aren't you?" If she'd had to guess when she first saw him, she would not have painted him in this light. Maybe a more evil light. "Most guys kinda freak out or go macho when they hear what I do."

Although, he was a bit full of himself to assume he was getting a second date, let alone more time to live. Maybe because he looked like that. And he sounded like that. "What makes you think you're getting a second date?"

A waitress came around and Mieli realized that Cale had distracted her. She ordered a Diet Coke out of habit, but she didn't actually need it since she couldn't actually taste any lies. She didn't need the flavor to wash out the ambient lies.

Huh. Except for the headache that had settled down to a dull roar, adapteds weren't all that bad for her. Uh. Not that he wasn't still supposed to die.

He gave a shrug. "I guess I could be described that way, yeah. In this day and time, though, I see nothing wrong with a woman in your line of work. Times are changing; it's time to get past the women do this, men do that, mutants do this, normals do that, and visible mutants in their own category. If it makes you happy, do it," he replied with a small smile.

He felt an odd feeling when she called him out on the second date thing. His face was growing...very warm. Hot, even. Why was it so hot all of a sudden? In his normal form, he couldn't blush, nor did his blood rush to his face. But now...he was beet red, almost purple even. "I didn't mean...' he stammered. "I mean to say, if we meet again, that is..." He didn't know why that slipped. He'd never had a second date in his life. And here he was being stupid. Great...

"Ah, yeah. I mean, I don't mind you not flipping out. It's kind of a nice change of pace, really." She raised a shoulder in a single shrug and then stopped herself. Uh! Not that it mattered! Noel needed to turn on the charm and get him to leave with her so she could get to business. All this yammering was just a waste of time.

Only. She'd never tried to charm anyone before.

Meili put her hand along the back of her neck as she embarrassed Cale further. She just kept putting her foot into her mouth. Okay. She had to get this straight in her head. Pretend to like him. Push for a second date. She had to put the murder out of her head if she was going to really sell it.

Did she want to sell it?

Ugh. Deceit was difficult.

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really bad at this. That wasn't fair, but we've known each other for like 5 seconds." Meili reached across the table, but hesitated and ultimately chickened out before she actually touched him. She veered her hand over to grab a napkin instead. Because, she apparently needed a napkin. Her mind reeled for a change of subject.

"So, uh, did you pick this place for the food or...?"

why was he red? This feeling in his face was so weird! It was a big neon sign telling the entire world he was making a fool of himself. And the neon sign was on his freaking face! Maybe looking like a fish had more upsides to it than just better senses, and not having to worry about being mugged...

"Yeah, I understand. It's sort of a weird predicament, isn't it?" He gave a dry chuckle. "I'm not assuming that I'll get a second date from you, but...well, to be honest, you're interesting so far, and hey, a man can dream, can't he?" he said softly, attempting to lay on some level of charm. Sadly, unlike a certain blue-eyed ginger-headed Fish we all know and love, Caleb Fishman had all the charm of a chainsaw and none of the grace therein.

"Yes, the food here is great, at least the fish is. Usually that's all I get from here, but today...I think I'll try something a little different. One life to live, take a risk every now and then, and all that, right?" Usually, his stomach wouldn't take much more than fish, or very light, subtle and gentle flavors. He smiled softly, running a hand through his hair.

Oh GOD his hair! It was so soft! And...rubbing his chin, he realized he had stubble! not barbels! Maybe today wouldn't go so bad after all.

"I guess there's nothing against dreaming." That was flirting, right? Yeah. It felt weird. She didn't know him from Adam.

The waitress brought their drinks, but Cale didn't seem to notice. Meili begged for a little more time to look over the menu and then looked at Cale.

He was... feeling his face. Noel looked around to see if anybody else was seeing this. Was anybody else seeing this? A girl two tables over caught Noel's eye and mouthed 'oh my god' to her with a casual eye flick toward Cale. Noel had a moment to wonder at the unsolicited female interaction.

'I know right?' Noel didn't even try to hide her mouthing the words to the other woman. She hazarded a quick glance at Cale, not really seeing his expression, but checking that was, indeed who she was talking about.

'So hot!' The woman fanned herself and her friend leaned in and giggled with her.

Hot? Meili turned back toward Cale and assessed him without the filter of inevitable murder. His hair did look soft. And his scruff did look scruffy.

"Are you gonna share?" She laughed. She'd meant to tease, but... well, she wouldn't mind if he let her.

Topic change! Meili grabbed her menu and tried to read through her embarrassment. "The fish is good, huh?"

He smiled, placing his hands in his lap and resisting the urge to feel his face some more. After all, he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention. No one needed to know that he wasn't always this hot. Well, they would eventually, but no need for anyone to find that out prematurely, right?

"Are you gonna share?"

Her question sparked him out of his daydreaming state; he hadn't noticed the mouthed conversation between Meili and the other girl, but he did finally notice they had their drinks now.

"If you want," he answered, somewhat caught off guard. Usually people wanted to feel his face for different, teasing reasons.

"Yes, the fish is excellent. But today I think I might go with something different...Bourbon chicken sounds pretty good. As for you, get whatever you like~" he said with another smile.

> "If you want."

Meili let her menu dip low enough that her eyes peeked over the top at Cale. Just because his hair looked soft, didn't mean she had an uncontrollable urge to crawl across the table to do things with it. However, if she liked him, what would she do? Her eyebrows knit momentarily while she decided on a compromise between over the top RomCom hair molestation and getting closer to her target.

She glanced at the menu and picked something at random from the fish selection, since he'd mentioned it. Fish wasn't her favorite, but she knew in theory it was good for her. "Bourbon chicken sounds good, but, oh what about this one?" Meili slipped from her chair into the chair next to Cale so that she could show off her menu choice of... what was that? Some kind of salmon something? On a salad? Sheesh. That was chick food.

Noel glanced at the burgers, but... no. She needed to be Meili. And besides. A free meal was a free meal. Noel wasn't so far removed from some of her hungriest days in memory. Being jobless and homeless kind of put a damper on meal planning.

"Would it be weird to split? I haven't been here before and it all looks so good." Noel couldn't decide if that was over the top. Did normal people share on a first date? She moved her purse closer, nervous that someone might snatch the clutch for the cash and run off with her gun instead.

Manfish chuckled softly as she slid next to him, and eventually asked about splitting. Meili was actually kind of amazing; this was so fun and relaxed and...natural. It wasn't even the least bit awkward. Granted, he had the nearby adapted to thank for that. He knew as soon as he left the aura, things were likely to change. And...to be honest, he dreaded this, because he was sure as soon as Meili knew what he looked like...well, she probably wasn't going to give him that second date. And to be honest, that really sucked. Visible-mutant equality wasn't easy, but it was easier to apply in businesses and corporations than it would be to what women found attractive.

"No, it wouldn't be weird to split. That actually sounds like a decent idea," he replied as the waitress came back.

"We'll have the Bourbon chicken," he told her, and with a nod she scribbled it on her pad and walked back to the kitchen.

For a moment, he just sat there with this dreamy, yet cheesy-ass smile on his face, just enjoying the rare moment that he was getting here. No matter how it ended, he was going to savor this for as long as he could.

Okay. The smile on his face was a good sign. It was so wide and goofy, Cale was even making her smile just by looking at it. Crap. Now she was smiling all stupid-ly.

"What?" The waitress had already run off with their orders. He couldn't be that happy just because they were both here. He certainly wasn't going to be that happy when she pulled her gun on him.

Crap. That was right. She really needed to figure out how to lure him away from all the people so there would be fewer witnesses.

"Look," Meili leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially, "I don't want to be too forward. I mean I'm not that kind of girl, but I was..."

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and hesitated as she locked eye with Cale. 'I was just hoping you would come home with me so I can murder your adorable face.' Noel shook her head and tried to think like Meilie. She turned all her appreciation back on. "I just mean that I hope we don't end the night here. That's all." She smiled. There was a lot of that going on, right? Yeah. Smiling was good.