He kept his chuckling to a minimum as they mentioned haunting him. "Eh, if it is a Casper style haunting then I wouldn't mind it. Gets boring in the middle of the night at times." Not that he had bothered to slow down in the slightest. "Quiet Knoll? That the American version of Baba Yaga or something? Baba Yaga ain't got sh*t on me." He had uttered plainly back. Frankly fighting something as legendary as the boogeyman or lady.. person. Whatever! Would be damned awesome in his opinion.

Once he had sat down in the diner and looked over at his transparent companion he chuckled and shrugged.

"Used to be the place they brought down parts for one of the original subway lines. Then during the prohibition it was a speakeasy. Now it is like a speakeasy for mutants wanting somewhere to hangout with their own kind. Usually the ones with more... apparent mutations. Like Bob." Erik mashed a bell a few times and there was a soft growling sound from a backroom off the kitchen area. "Finally! Bob get yourself in gear, I am starving." From the double swinging doors emerged a mass of purplish blue tentacles followed by a humanoid upper torso wearing a cook's uniform. Erik leaned over to Cassidy. "A bit like a merman.. only a merkraken eh?" Then turned to Bob as he approached from behind the counter. "Bob! Two breakfast specials. The works. Water for me and  uh.." Looking back to Cassidy. "You want a milkshake or something they are pretty good. He has juice and pop and all that jazz as well." Letting cassidy wrangle their mind through the options.

Bob gave a smile to Erik before looking to Cas "Figured it would be something like that. He is right though. Got all the usual breakfast choices as well as what you would get from any old normal diner." Behind him tentacles stretched to open up a fridge and pull out ingredients while another set about getting the griddle going and so forth. Based on the size of the tortillas and the amount of ingredients it was going to be one hell of a breakfast burrito. Erik sitting quietly and wondering how Cas would handle the appearance of the half man half octopus thing.

Cassidy wondered follow an underground business ever got enough business to stay in-business. Especially if only visible mutants frequented the establishment. Prior to taking up residence at the Sanctuary, they had only seen visible mutants once or twice in their life. They didn't imagine that there were enough visible mutants in the world to keep the business afloat.

Nothing prepared them for Bob. Bob... barely looked human. Blue, to start-- and with tentacles instead of legs. Perhaps being invisible worked to the teen's benefit, because they gaped at the mutant man that now strolled in. Their clothes rustled as the teen followed Bob with their gaze. Otherwise, they were both silent and vigilant while Erik did the talking.

>> "Bob! Two breakfast specials. The works. Water for me and  uh... you want a milkshake or something they are pretty good. He has juice and pop and all that jazz as well."

Cassidy cleared their throat, adjusting their weight in the chair. They really wanted a soda, but if Erik wasn't having soda, they couldn't either. They were raised better than that.

>> "Figured it would be something like that. He is right though. Got all the usual breakfast choices as well as what you would get from any old normal diner."

"Water would be great," Cas chimed-in, resting their arms on the counter and leaning forward, "Please."

They seemed to have finally found their voice, at least enough to place an order. Cas assumed that Bob would be too preoccupied with meal prep to converse with his patrons, however, so Cas turned towards Erik. The chair squeaked as it rotated.

"So what do you do?" they demanded vaguely, "Your mutation, I mean." He lived in the Sanctuary, a notoriously mutant place, and knew about an underground mutant diner, so he had to do something, "Cuz you already know mine."


The teen crooked one arm on the counter, resting their head upon their hand.

Erik shot a glance with an accompanying raised eyebrow at the similar choice of water. A part of him wanted to ask Cas about it, but settled on just the look before shrugging. Silently he wondered how Bob could control all the various tentacles without mucking things up. Erik knew his share of people who could barely walk and talk at the same time let alone how many ever appendages he had. Especially as he had grabbed two glasses simultaneously and filled them with a drink dispenser like one typically saw at a bar before sliding them in front of their prospective recipients. His mouth was practically watering as he spotted the bacon, eggs chorizo, and cheese all starting to cook and fill the place with the mouth watering smells of actual food. Almost missing the question as his eyes were semi glued to the back of Bob where he knew the food was.

"Hm?" Eyes sliding back over to the animated bundle of clothing as his brain replayed the last few moments of hearing. "Mwah? You know I wonder what the etiquette about these sort of things will be like when people finally get around to realizing mutants are here to stay." Musing aloud a bit as he got side tracked in his thoughts. "Right. Superpower.. er mutation." Giving the kid a wink before looking to Bob. "Bob! The kid wants to know what I do. Care for an assist? Butcher cleaver should do nicely I think." Rolling up the sleeve on an arm with a huge grin on his face.

Some tentacles continued to tend to their food as Bob turned, a serial killer style smile on his face as held up a cleaver in a human hand. "Hmmm?" Erik slapped a hand on the counter, "Go!" The words barely leaving his mouth as the cleaver came down to separate his hand from his forearm with a resounding shunk and Erik was about to say something when the gleaming and slightly bloody implement crashed into the side of his head sending him off the stool, embedded into his skull. Erik laid there a moment before sitting up and slapping the still attached hand onto the counter top and hefting himself back into the seat. Cleaver stuck in his head like some macabre halloween display. "Bob you a$$, suppose I earned that.." Fleshy little tendrils snaked out from the stump of his forearm to meet up with some from his hand and pulled them back together. Once completely back together he wiggled the fingers before reaching up and yanking the cleaver from his head. The little bits of brain matter pulled back inside in the same manner before his skull and hair fixed themselves up.

Bob deposited a bleach scented rag on the counter and Erik cleaned up what mess there was as he looked over to Cas. "That is about the extent of it for the most part. Sometimes I turn into a 9' red cannibal monster." Giving a little shrug as he tossed the rag back to Bob and handed back the cleaver. 

The teen murmured thanks as the water was deposited before them, watching in silent wonder at how precise Bob's tentacles were. The rose the glass to their lips and sipped. A close observer would note the condensation near the rim of the glass as the teen drank, and the marginally lower water level when the cup was replaced. Cas sighed. Even though it was freezing outside, the icy water did their nerves good. At least, for the moment. Erik waffled around an explanation.

>>  "Right. Superpower.. er mutation. Bob! The kid wants to know what I do. Care for an assist? Butcher cleaver should do nicely I think."

Would he make it disappear, Cas wondered? Absorb it into his skin? Throw it?  Maybe he'd transform into some cleaver-armed B-movie flunky? The teen leaned forward again, surveying Erik's arm for any indication of a mutation activating. They were so  Erik that they weren't watching Bob. At least, until Erik shouted, "Go!" And the cleaver made its downward arc into his splayed hand.

The horrified yelp that escaped Cassidy was as involuntarily as their backwards reeling out of their chair. The second blow to his head pushed the teen back further, out of the path of her friend as he was sent sprawling.

On seemingly its own accord, the teen's water glass shot off of the counter towards Bob. The cook caught the glass in one of his numerous tentacles, at the expense of a sip of water and a few ice cubes that sloshed over the sides.

The sleeves of the invisible teen's flannel shirt bent at the elbows, revealing that their hands had been clapped to their mouth. They were shaking every so slightly. Bob nodded wordlessly at Erik's motionless form. Cassidy's gaze followed. Erik stirred.

>> "Bob you a$$, suppose I earned that.."

The teen watched as Erik roused himself from the ground and, for lack of a better word, reassembled himself, clambering back into his seat. Bob, without missing a beat, tossed a bar rag to Erik. He set Cas's glass back down, noticed the blood spray that had tainted the glass, and went to retrieve a new one. Erik turned on the teen, who hadn't moved from their spot.

>> "That is about the extent of it for the most part. Sometimes I turn into a 9' red cannibal monster."

They lowered their hands from their mouth, watching as good head-trauma finally corrected itself.

"Th... There has to be less traumatizing ways of showing that," the teen said. They were trying to go for their usual droll tone, but a quavering note betrayed them. It had been a real, however momentary, concern that they'd watched their newfound friend get brained to death by a cleaver.

They shuffled back to their seat at the bar, and tried to laugh it off, but were noticeably shaken by the entire scene. Their seat was wiped clean, their water glass was replaced, and with a shaky hesitance the teen sat down once again.

Cas wasn't even sure they were hungry anymore.

"So you can heal yourself and shapeshift," the teen murmured, trying to talk their way out of their nervousness, "That's really practical."

Erik eyed the individual.. perhaps it had been a tad much, but it was best to get such things over with when one could. "There probably is less traumatizing ways, but if we ever get into a situation where I tell you to run for it I don't want you worrying about me." Shrugging a bit after his matter of fact statement. "Eh Bob better get the them a soda to settle their stomach just in case." Even he tended to forget that people didn't have the same upbringing as him and got squeamish over the sight of blood or worse. After a moment he intimated as much. "Not everyone has spent as much time around blood as me. Something that escapes me at times. My bad."

"Practical true.. but not very flashy light laser beams out the eyes or shooting fire." Plates slid in front of the both of them. Huge breakfast burritos dominated the plates. Without pomp or ceremony Erik took a huge bite of his and started munching down, hastily grinding down the first bite and swallowing before speaking again. "Being invisible is pretty handy too. You invisible to cameras and such too or just people? Hell are you invisible to yourself or just others" Taking the opportunity Cas had to speak to wolf down some more of the 5 course breakfast in a tortilla. How he wished he could have been invisible in his more active thieving days! At what cost though he wondered.. His own powers came at a price. Heck Erik was afraid to ask if they were a boy or a girl because if one couldn't see did it really matter? As he chowed down his brain branched off into too many different lines of thought before he focused on the present and what Cas was willing to share.