Gah! He was late!

Ravi sped just a little down the road to the coffee shop. He was late for a hair appointment, but there was no way he could go without coffee for the morning. He had to make time for it. There was just no way that he could sit in a chair for the next hour, listening to a bunch of women talk about how fluffy his hair was if he hadn’t had just a little bit of a caffeine boost first. He wasn’t even a coffee drinker on normal occasions - that’s how bad it was.

Every single time he went in there, it was always a gong show. The hairdressers would gather around him and touch his hair and comment on it. Without fail. All he wanted was a simple haircut! Maybe he needed to look into a barbershop or something. 

He could nearly see the shop from where he was. It was just a matter of getting around the giant truck in his way. Seriously. A giant truck was going to make him even more late. Eventually, it moved out of his path and he was able to speed forward.

Oh! There was a parking spot!

It was so close and convenient, too. Ravi pulled his motorbike into it, not looking at the signage posted up about who the spot was meant for. He was too late to worry about that. Instead, he turned the keys to turn the bike off and swung his leg over the side. He ran inside of the shop without a second thought about where it was that he had just parked. It didn’t really matter, anyway.

Ravi ran into the shop, his wallet already pulled out to pay for whatever sort of fancy drink was on special. 

Javier Martín Moreno

Javier noticed the motorbike parked in an illegal spot as he walked to his shop to open it. It was out of place, and in a place that it had no business in being, right in front of a garage door that was frequently used by the residents of the building. It clearly did not belong to any of them. Javier could tell that much. If it did, they would have known better than to park it there. Javier also knew that some of the residents were about to leave for work, and with the garage door blocked, there was bound to be a fight. Right in front of his shop. Where he would hear it. Being on a tight schedule in New York traffic, it was gonna get heated. Or maybe someone was gonna get shot. Motorbike people carried guns, didn't they?...

Javier really, really did not want to listen to people fighting. It was the next worst thing to being in a fight. He did not want to get involved, or get yelled at, or have to listen to someone being angry at someone else.
And there was a solution to all of that.

Javier also did not like to touch other people's property. In New York, it was too easy to be seen doing so, even with the best of intentions, and then be called a thief or a vandal. But was that a worse risk than the fight outside his shop?... It was hard to tell Every risk was the worst risk.

He opened the shop, then turned back from the door. The bike was still there. He looked both ways. No one was hurrying back, or even standing nearby. He walked into the shop, then out again, and approached the bike. Someone came running. Javier sighed in relief... but the person got in a car and drove away. The bike stayed in the illegal spot. Javier turned back, then back again, realizing that he was beginning to look suspicious. If anyone was secretly looking.

This will only take a second.

Walking over with two long strides, Javier carefully lifted the bike, and moved it towards the empty, legal, spot nearby.

Ravi nearly dropped his coffee cup.

He had rushed through the line as quickly as possible, managing to swerve in just in time to avoid a particularly difficult customer, and it had paid off. The line had only one person in front of them and they had order a black coffee and a premade muffin. Clearly, someone upstairs was on his side that day.

He had even tipped a little extra and asked the barista to hurry as much as possible. It didn’t hurt that it was a cute guy behind the bar that had given him a little bit of a wink after he’d asked. Sure, it could have been for the tip, but Ravi hoped that it was for other reasons as well. He had ended up with a venti soy caramel mochaccino and a warm fuzzy feeling. Barista’s name was Brandon. Maybe he would be back to that location.

That warm fuzzy feeling had left him feeling high and happy when he left the shop. It was good. He would make it on time, he had a great coffee, and he had been winked at in a not-so-subtle way. What more could a guy ask for?

Maybe for his bike to stay on the ground?

”What the hell?” he squawked. He hadn’t been aware that that was something to hope for. Ravi stood on the sidewalk in complete awe as he watched a man pick up his bike as if it were nothing and set it down in a spot not too far off. What was the point of that? Also, HOW?

Mutant, no doubt. Ravi wasn’t the biggest fan of mutants. In fact, he had been known, on occasion, to dislike them. It wasn’t as if he was actively seeking them out, but he tended to run into them, and that tended not to end well. But what had he done to piss this guy off? Or was he pissed off? It was difficult to glean from just his actions alone.

Ravi stepped over to where he bike was now sitting and stared at the man. That was his bike! He loved that bike! It had been expensive! Plus, he had only been in the store for a few minutes. It definitely wasn’t enough time to warrant a ticket for being parked illegally. Had everything gone according to plan, he would already have been out of there. No harm done. Instead, there was some random mutant carting his bike around the parking spaces.

”Why would you do that?” Ravi sputtered, walking up to his bike to make sure that there was nothing wrong with it. He set his coffee down on the pavement and began to inspect it closely.

>>”What the hell?”

Oh sh*t. Sh*t. Sh*t. Sh*t.

Javier had really thought he had more time to move the bike. That was the entire reason he did. There were so many people in the shop! How could he know how fast the bike's owner would get out of there?...

When he heard the stunned voice behind him, Javier quickly released the bike. It had been a few inches above the ground still, so it bounced as it landed, but at least did not fall over. Javier held up is hands in an apologetic gesture, but the guy with the fabulous hair seemed too annoyed to notice. Javier felt a wave of guilt and embarrassment wash over him. Not only was he caught in what looked like him stealing someone's bike, he also pretty much put up a neon sign saying MUTANT.

>>”Why would you do that?”

Javier swallowed hard.

"Your... bike... was parked in an illegal spot." he said weakly "Not that, you know, it's fine by me, but the people who use that garage, they are about to go to work, and they would be really upset... You know, morning rush and all that, and I just, didn't, want that..." he trailed off. Was any of this an acceptable explanation?...

Ravi fumed. His bike had bounced when this guy put it down. Bounced! That would probably wreck something. Tire pressure or something. He wasn’t a mechanic, clearly. Still, it couldn’t be good!

He knew that his bike was parked illegally. Well, he knew now, but that was besides the point. There were no cops around and he had been in and out of the coffee shop in under ten minutes. It hadn’t been the most legal thing for him to park there, but it was unnecessary for this guy to go around moving his bike without asking! What was he expecting to do? Just move someone else’s vehicle and then call it a day and move on? That was the thing with mutants - they were always doing whatever they pleased and everyone else had to adjust to their whims.

”Look! I’m out! I would have just taken my bike and gone!” It could have been that simple. ”You can’t just go around and pick up other people’s vehicles! Not even super strength gives you that right.” That last comment was a little more biting.

He was getting worked up now. He wanted very much to punch something. That was not a good way to deal with things, though. If he punched something, then he would be the one at fault there, not the other guy. Besides, who would even believe him that this guy had picked up something that heavy? He would be the crazy neurotic guy on the street yelling at some stranger.

Ravi ran his hands through his hair, dropped them to his side, and then balled them into fists. Deep breaths. Think of something good. That was something along the lines of what his old therapist had told him to do, anyway. He needed to use his words or something.

”Okay,” Ravi said with a deep, long sigh. His teeth were still clenched and the vein was popping on his forehead, but he was doing everything possible not to get any angrier. ”Let’s start again. I’m Ravi. That’s my bike you just moved.”

The bouncing was bad. Javier felt bad about it. He had no intention of damaging the bike, in fact he really had been careful, but when he set it down, out of fright and because suddenly he was not sure of his own strength, it did not touch down as smoothly as intended. Javier could tell that the look in the other man's eyes was positively murderous. People tended to be protective of their vehicles. Javier was more of a public transport kinda guy.

>>”Look! I’m out! I would have just taken my bike and gone! You can’t just go around and pick up other people’s vehicles! Not even super strength gives you that right.”

Javier winced at the veiled accusation, and looked around. The last thing he wanted was for someone to start yelling about his powers. You never knew who was listening, and he preferred to be humiliated for only one thing at a time.

"I really didn't..." think it was his right. He was not that kind of a person.

>>”Okay. Let’s start again. I’m Ravi. That’s my bike you just moved.”

"I'm Javier." Javier answered, with his name as a meager peace offering "I didn't mean to... I was not going to damage your bike. It was just, people around here are particular about their parking places, and I..." did not want to have to listen to you being yelled at "... I'm sorry. You are right, I should not have moved it. I just wanted to help. I apologize."

The bike had bounced. That really wasn’t good. Ravi sucked in air and ran a hand over his jaw, trying to calm himself down a little more. No, he wouldn’t lose his temper on the sidewalk in front of some random stranger. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

But man, this guy was really asking for it.

”Okay, Javier,” Ravi started, ready to stop himself if he got too into ‘talking’ to this guy. Seriously, who did he think he was? ”Listen; thanks for caring about where I park, but I really didn’t need you to do that. I was being quick, and even if it had been an issue, I can handle myself. I would have dealt with it if it had come to that.” Random strangers intervening was not necessary.

”In the future, it might be good to think about whether you really need to do something, yeah?” He was snapping. It wasn’t needed, but he had been caught on a bad day when he was already late. He wasn’t having any of this bull****.

Ravi lifted his left arm and checked his watch, his face falling when he read the time. ”Great. Now I’ve missed my appointment. Thanks a lot, dude.” Now he was going to have to reschedule and mentally prepare himself for the ordeal a second time, all because some mutant had felt the need to get up in his business. He had thought it a thousand times and he would think it again. Some mutants really needed to learn some manners or basic human decency.

His explanation, however hasty, was supposed to help the situation, at least a little. He only meant well, right? It could have been worse, if the cops showed up, or someone from the building wanted to drive out of the garage and made a fuss, or hit the bike, and...

It was not making anything any better.

>>”Okay, Javier. Listen; thanks for caring about where I park, but I really didn’t need you to do that. I was being quick, and even if it had been an issue, I can handle myself. I would have dealt with it if it had come to that.”

"Yeah, but..." He should have given up. He should have taken the defeat, he had already apologized, he should have chalked it up to a bad encounter and walked away. Except, Javi was not able to do that. He had been misunderstood, his motives had been misunderstood, and he really just wanted to explain to the mean guy with the glorious hair that he was not that kinda person and that he did not usually make trouble like that.

>>”In the future, it might be good to think about whether you really need to do something, yeah?”

He snapped at Javier. Javier winced visibly and somehow seemed to shrink smaller than his normal size as he recoiled from the confrontational tone. Javi absolutely hated to be yelled at. It was the worst feeling in the world. Especially when he had really made an honest mistake at the most. There was no explaining it. He suddenly realized that the handsome man was going to leave, any moment now, and think about how Javier whom he had just met was a Bad Person. And that story would never change.

>>”Great. Now I’ve missed my appointment. Thanks a lot, dude.”

Uh-oh. Things just got a million times worse. The guy was already angry, and now he had missed something important as well. Javier felt like the skin was burning off his cheeks, and despite his best efforts, he felt his eyes tearing up.

Oh. Oh no. No no no don't do that don't you dare do that...

"I'm sorry." he muttered again, defeated, as he looked for a way to walk around the man so that he could run and hide in his shop, possibly forever.

Ravi had a bad habit of getting carried away in a moment. He had been angry that this guy had moved his bike, angry that there could have been damage done to it, and angry that he had missed his appointment. He hadn’t bothered to consider the fact that he was actually being really awful to this random guy. Yes, he had touched his stuff and violated a whole bunch of personal space rules, but he probably didn’t deserve what Ravi was dishing out.

The man was tearing up. Actually tearing up. There were tears in his eyes.

Great. Ravi felt like absolute crap. He let out an uneven breath and ran his free hand through his hair while he thought about the situation. Hindsight was 20/20, wasn’t it? If he could go back and be a little nicer to the guy, then he would. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the actions that had already passed.

”Look, dude,” Ravi said through a heavy breath, ”I - uh - I’m sorry for losing it like that. I mean, I’m a little pissed that you did that, but you don’t deserve to be yelled at. Sorry.” In typical Canadian fashion, he had apologized more than once. Apologies were the bomb.

He really didn’t know what else to say, though. He had nearly made this guy cry and there was nothing he could do about that other than try to backtrack. He didn’t want to backtrack too much, though; he was still angry and it would be weird to get that close with this stranger. Hopefully Javier would react better to what he had just said, though. He was trying to make it at least somewhat right.

Javier hated tearing up in front of people. Even people he knew, but especially people who already had a bad opinion of him. He did not believe that men were not supposed to cry, but tearing up as easy as he did, many situations just got a lot worse the more he tried to fight them. He could see in the guy's face that his reaction was unexpected, and the idea of being pitied just made Javi feel even more like crap. He was going to be beating himself up about this encounter for a very long time...

>>”Look, dude. I - uh - I’m sorry for losing it like that. I mean, I’m a little pissed that you did that, but you don’t deserve to be yelled at. Sorry.”

Well, there. Now he was apologizing too, and Javier did not know how to react to that. Which made him feel even worse. So he did what he usually did.

"It's okay. I should not have touched your bike. I don't... handle conflict well, so I just... assume that others don't, either. Sorry."

There. It was an apology (always good), and an explanation (debatable), and he did not even have to disclose things about metal illness to a total stranger. Hopefully, it would be enough.

>>"It's okay. I should not have touched your bike. I don't... handle conflict well, so I just... assume that others don't, either. Sorry."

Ravi breathed out heavily through his mouth and then stuck his hands on his hips. He was sort of hoping that the guy would just take what he had said and run rather than keep making him feel bad about it. Seriously, the guy knew how to make someone feel guilty, when really, he was the one at fault. There he was, just using his mutant powers to destroy other people’s property. Technically, Ravi could probably sue him.

That wouldn’t be the case, though. He felt bad enough as it was, and he definitely didn’t need to add needless legal expenses to the list of things he felt guilty about.

So, Ravi stuck out his hand, offering it to Javi to shake. ”Yeah, alright,” he nodded with a bit of a sigh. ”I get it. Just… do me a favour and don’t do this to someone else, alright?”

In the very least, hopefully the guy wouldn’t do it again.

Well, the worst was over. Javier was not silently panicking anymore about being yelled at, and the guy had obviously spent his energy raging at someone having touched his bike. Not it was just horribly awkward, as Javi had no idea how to gracefully exit the situation. The whole thing was a mess.

>>”Yeah, alright. I get it. Just… do me a favour and don’t do this to someone else, alright?”

Javier looked at the hand for a moment before he accepted the handshake, paying extra attention not to make it too strong. The last thing he needed was breaking the guy's hand. Unintentionally. His worries were unfounded though, since he felt exhausted from all the emotions at the moment.

"I won't. I... I promise." it sounded lame, like something out of the movie "And sorry again. I hope I did not make you horribly late..."