His eyebrows quirked at her some as she mentioned she had never been in a fight before. Truly some people lived blessed lives to not have to deal with something like that. "Consider yourself lucky then. They are usually quick brutal things when they come at you unexpected. Can't say I have ever done anything official either." He stated to her with a bit of a wry grin. Now with his power he doubted any sort of 'official' fighting outlet would take him. He gave himself a moment to reflect on why he still trained and ended up shrugging before responding to her. "My uncle started training me how to fight once my family realized I was a mutant. Started homeschooling me too. I do enjoy the exercise, but I also suppose it goes beyond that to being impressed on me as a matter of survival." His face slipping from his usual semi smile to a far more serious one before relaxing and smiling back at her. "If you would like we could spar and I could teach you a few things?" Erik offered with a teasing tone in his voice. 

Listening intently to what she had to say about her own family he nodded thoughtfully at the appropriate times and blushed a smidge at the compliment. "I think people get so used to a routine that even when it is something bad they get used to it and miss it." That had been his own experience even regarding the relationships he saw in Russia and he doubted it was any different here. Humans were humans after all with all the complex feelings that go with them. Chuckling a bit as she mentioned his family. "Yeah we are a pretty close knit family. Helped raise a few younger cousins myself as I got older." Erik was unable to help a grand sigh as his mother was mentioned. "It was difficult, but I think anyone who is close to a parent wishes for more time with them regardless of how old they are. I just happened to be younger than most kids who lose a parent. Not that I don't miss her of course. I think about he all the time and try to do right by what I know she would wish of me." He felt like is was a dumb thing to say he essentially carried her torch on into the future, but that was how he felt. Stupid emotions or not. 

"They don't stick around? You don't have cooties do you?" Erik joked with a soft laugh. "Their loss I suppose." Then they had to go on talking about dating. Ugh. Of course not before showering him with compliments and innuendo that forced him to look towards the register to see what sort of progress was being made on that front. Not that he was blushing. No that was certainly not the reason at all. Once the heat in his cheeks subsided he finally looked back at her. "I never really had the time for one or the desire to put one in harm's way. Some of the circles I ran in were not the greatest for a person's health or retaining color in their hair if you know what I mean." Erik withheld the urge to sigh as he reached up to rub his eyes some as he was totally lacking in any sort of rebuttal for her reasons why he should get a phone. "I would not even know what sort of phone to get." He finally managed to think of something to fend off the series of precision guided reasons of why he should join the rest of the universe. "Dating apps?" Quirking a brow as his face was one of dubious concern. Now he was sure he was being set up for a grand fall of some kind. "Doesn't the government track everyone on those things?" he was more then a bit on the healthy side of paranoid towards anything that may be considered an establishment. Of course where he came from he felt like that particular flaw of his was more than well justified. It was his turn to checkout and he got all his items rung up and as just one more anachronism in the face of modern living he paid with cash. Thankfully the cashier was one of the sort that could actually count change so it didn't hold up progress in any notable fashion. Erik's mind still a whirl from the sudden influx of temptation as the idea of a smartphone and hot women sang to him like a siren's call. "Alright alright. You have convinced me.. but only if you help me. I don't want to get sold on a bunch of expensive crap I do not need." Stating in a fully decided manner a sthey moved off a ways. 

"Hmm, could you hold my bag while I go change? I don't want them to think I am stealing anything and the undercover theft prevention guy in plain clothes over there has been eying me." Pointing with his eyes in some small attempt to subtly point the man out for her. 

Emma listened intently as Erik told her about his unofficial (Emma took this to be a nice way of saying illegal) fights and how they were quick and brutal. Emma nodded saying, "Yeah, I've been lucky, but at least you know how to react when it's a real life fight. I'd have all the knowledge, but would probably freeze up and not know what to do." Then Erik talked about being trained when he was younger and fighting being a means of survival. "Wow, I didn't find out that I was a mutant until pretty recently. And then it was quite weird. I'm sorry you've had such a rough time and haven't been treated fairly. I hope that you have better experiences here. And I would love for you to teach me how to really fight and spar with you. That would be great.", Emma said and ended with a big smile.

Emma walked a couple steps as the line got shorter and got closer to their turn. She listened and nodded as Erik talked about his family and raising younger cousins. He sounded like the perfect man. And the way he talked about his mother was sweet and showed that he really respected women. How in the world did this guy not have a lady already? Emma knew he was young, but a guy like him she thought would have been eagerly snatched up by someone.

She laughed at his joke about having cooties and shook her head saying, "No, I don't have cooties. I don't know why people don't wanna stat around for long. For a while, it was because we moved around alot after she left my dad. We were always scared he'd come find us so we never stayed anywhere for very long." Then Erik talked about the reason why he didn't bring a girl around and she understood the severity of the kind of illegal things he had dealt with. But he was here now and hopefully being in a different country would be enough for him to start anew. Emma said to him in a hopeful tone, "Well, you're in a different country now and that should warrant an ability to safely date someone now, shouldn't it? I mean, those people aren't likely to try and follow you over here now, are they? Besides, you could probably protect your date if someone were to pull something crazy."

Then they started talking about smart phones. Erik talked about not knowing what to kind of phone to get and even was paranoid of the government tracking them. Emma chuckled and said, "Well if they are tracking us through our phones, then that's a hell of a lot of people to try and keep track of cuz almost everyone has a smartphone now. Also, I'm sure that's not the only way the government tracks people now a days. I think the only way for a person to escape being on the government's grid is to become totally Amish and have no interaction with electronics at all. But I'll definitely help you find something simple and easy to use without being overly expensive. We can even look into prepaid smart phones if you are that paranoid." Emma did notice the flush of color fill his face when he turned around earlier at the mention of dating. "If you'd like, we could go out to the bar or a club sometime and I could help you find dates if there's someone you seem to fancy. If you'd like for me to, anyway.", Emma offered.

Emma then took his bag and held it for him as he went to go change into his newly bought clothes. Emma glanced over at the guy who seemed to be watching them while they were in the store. He hadn't been exactly subtly about it. Emma had tried to ignore him the whole while they had been shopping. Emma stayed up around the register area with his bag and waited. Now she had to figure out what they were going to do next. Or would he want to go phone shopping this soon? She'd ask him his thoughts on the matter when he got back.

"Well if you have the training that is the biggest part and unless you go down on the first hit chances are it will get the adrenaline going and you will snap into action and fight on your training." Erik offered in a reassuring manner. "Ah it wasn't too bad. No One else knew besides my family, but my Uncle did not want to leave things to chance. Things in Russia can be shaky in the best of times." Sharing a bit before offering her a big smile back. "I don't see any problem with that. We will make it so you can kick the crap out of any creeps that get in your way hmm?" His eyes lighting up with a bit of a fire as he talked about fighting.

Her words made sense on a logical level, but somehow they still didn't hit home. "I mean I suppose that is true enough. Feel a bit behind the curve as far as dating goes and even more of a, i believe the expression is 'fish out of water' since I am not from here. I do believe I am safe from retaliation and yes I probably could protect my date if someone did something crazy." Pausing a moment to think how to phrase it. "I just don't feel it would be..." Floundering for a moment as he lost what he was going to say. "responsible of me to put someone else in harms way for my own choices. That probably sounds a bit silly.." Shrugging tinley as he couldn't think of any other way to put it.

Now she was offering to help him go shopping! What sort of strange twilight zone did he enter to find someone so nice out of the blue. "Amish? But, it sounds good. All of it. I wouldn't mind a wingwoman. As for fancy? They would have to be beautiful like you." Figuring it was his turn to fire back since she had peppered him with compliments earlier.

Then he disappeared to the bathroom to shuck off his damp clothes and spending what felt like an eternity to enjoy the warm soft warmth of a fresh pair of socks. The universe felt right again as he put on the rest of his new wardrobe and went out to rejoin his new friend and take his backpack back. "Well if you have time we could go shopping now. Or if you have other plans I do not want to disturb them. You have already been extremely nice. I would hate to impose." Moving back outside with her and leaving the area behind.

Emma chuckled as Erik spoke of training and fighting. She saw how his face lit up and was eager to spar and bond with him. This sudden stranger turn friend interaction was going well and Emma was enjoying his company. She sincerely hoped that he would continue to stay in contact with her and insisted on hanging out together often. He may have been on the young side, but he was very mature for his age and they had great chemistry.

She nodded her head as she listened to him explain why he hadn't really dated a lot before. Emma remarked, "That's quite respectable of you. Most young guys don't think the way you do, but I'm really glad that you are so responsible. Whenever you do date, you'll get the hang of it. You won't always be a fish out of water. I'll help ya out."

Emma laughed and shook her head when Erik thought the idea of being Amish sounded like a great idea. And then he complimented her. Emma blushed and to be honest it made her feel pretty warm inside. He thought she was beautiful. Hearing something like that from someone so young made her feel not so old.

Emma was still blushing slightly when Erik came back and took his backpack from her. She smiled and said, "I don't have any plans today so we could definitely go shopping. You wouldn't be imposing at all. I'm actually really enjoying getting to spend and know you."

"Well when you live life on the streets you have to mature quickly. Doesn't really benefit anyone to be naive." He had replied to the compliment. Typically he was the sort that enjoyed giving them and was utterly horrible at receiving them. When he returned he smiled thankfully at her and joked lightly, "Thanks for holding my purse." slinging the pack back across his back after stuffing his wet clothes inside it. "Well I can reassure you the feeling is mutual. This is looking up to be a promising and interesting day. Beaming a smile at her before walking with her out the store and back onto the street. Feeling and looking a bit lost as he looked both ways before turning to her with a sheepish smirk.

"So which way do we go? Or do all roads lead eventually lead to where we are going?" He was beginning in to see the wisdom of having a phone that could tell him nearby places he could go. He would still do his best to memorize as much of New York as he could so he could get around without one of the smart phones if he ever needed too. Old habits of being a stubborn self sufficient person were hard to break or at least bend in these sort of circumstances so he could enjoy himself. Once a direction was decided he meandered along side her with easy strides. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it again and walking along in companionable silence entirely unsure what to talk about.

Emma laughed at the mention of her holding his purse, and smiled as he confirmed the feeling of the growing friendship. They then walked back onto the street and Erik asked Emma which way to go. He even cracked a joke about all roads leading to where they wanted to go. Emma laughed and said, "As diverse as New York City is you would think that because it has lots of similar stores and options available, but you would be sadly mistaken. Quality is key and some of the knock offs that people try to pass off aren't worth a damn."

Emma motioned for Erik to follow her and walked up the street some. After 3 intersections, Emma crossed the street and went left. She walked 5 blocks and then took 2 more rights. They walked in silence for a while. She didn't know what to talk about either. But she was thinking about ths different phones available now and knew that he probably would want a prepaid one. He was pretty paranoid and prepaid phones didn't require the information that contract phones did.

They finally made it to the Horizon cellular store. Emma walked in and found the prepaid section for Erik to look over and choose from. She told him about the Cyborg and E-phone systems that different phones used and how the different systems affected price. Emma advocated a bit more for the Cyborg line and showed him a few in the medium price range. They had a decent screen size, good quality camera, and had a micro sd slot for added memory. She indicated a section with 3 phones, "I would recommend any of those. They are pretty decent, have a slot for expandable memory, and aren't overpriced like the E-phone line. Pick whichever design you like more."

"So it seems that every city is the same with people trying to sell, well junk for lack of a better term." Shaking his head a bit at the usual behavior of people when it came to capitalism. AS they walked it wasn't so much that he didn't want to talk to the woman. He wanted to be sure he wouldn't get lost as he attempted to keep track of the street names and various store that could serve as landmarks in the future if he had need to visit again. Which he most likely would as stuff had a tendency to break around him.

Then as they entered the storm the wash of air conditioned air was followed shortly by a shotgun blast of information about phones. He tried to remember it all as best as he could as the decision was finally left up to him. "Hmm, well black goes with everything." so he picked the dead middle ranged black cyborg phone and went to pay with cash and getting a month phone card with it. Bag in hand he motioned for them to leave and smiled over at her. "Thanks for the help. I am pretty hungry. Buy you lunch?" It was an innocent enough offer and he considered himself a good guy, but she wasn't taken yet and even if he had no chance for romance as it were it wouldn't hurt to bond further with his new friend and get his potentially future real estate agent in his good grace.

Emma agreed with Erik about there always being people trying to pass junk off for quality technology and products. They walked in quiet for a bit which wasn't bad. She assumed Erik was trying to keep track of where they were and how to find his way around here. Once they stepped into the store and Emma helped Erik find the right kinds of phones, she happily stood there as Erik made his selection in case he had any further questions. Since he didn't. he went to pay for it and a monthly phone card. She waited as he came back and then he mentioned that he was hungry and offered to buy her lunch.

Emma happily accepted his offer and blushed slightly. Such a handsome man as he was, even if he was a bit younger than her, offering to buy her dinner made her feel quite wanted. She was working on another relationship with someone else, but it still felt good to have such affections lavished towards her. It made her feel younger and like she was quite a hot lady, even though she was 30. It seemed like she was still in the game and could catch people's eye.

"I'd love to have lunch with you. So what kinda food are ya thinking about or have a taste for? I'm not picky and there are quite a few good options around here.", Emma asked Erik as they were about to depart the cellular store.