It’s a random Thursday afternoon and Jalen’s last scheduled patient left 30 minutes ago. There were no emergency patients currently in the office. Quite frankly, it was a slow afternoon and Jalen knew no one else was coming. Most of the emergency patients show up or call after hours. Jalen didn’t mind working the long hours because Patricia, the owner of this practice, was always so flexible with the morning hours... and hours in general. Literally, Jalen can’t remember the last time he made it in the office before 10 am. Best... job... ever.

Begrudgingly, Jalen was forced to delved into endless and boring paperwork. It’s the worst thing about his job. Given the opportunity, he’d gladly hand off everything related to paperwork to the clerical staff. Okay... let’s be real. He kind of does already. He’s pretty sure that’s why the desk staff give him death glares whenever he passes by. To be fair, this is Jalen’s first job and he is a really young. He didn’t know how to do all this stuff. At least, that’s what he told himself. For him, it felt like everything is happening at once.

How do I do this paperwork? I can’t keep giving my work to the desk ladies. I have to figure this out. Or they’ll hate me forever. Then, what happens when I ACTUALLY need something and I really need a favor from them. Arhhrrhhuu?!?! Mom, where are you? You’re usually right here in my head when I think too much. Big boy pants, his erratic thoughts continued to spiral down this rabbit hole.

A few hours later, it’s quitting time. He gathered his things and said, “Have a good night” to the desk staff. He was met with a quiet and snarky wave accompanied with a feign smile. Jalen placed his left hand over his neck nervously and fumbled out the door.

I suck! he scolded.

Jalen arrived home and took a shower. Afterwards, he ate some leftover lasagna and cut on the TV. An hour later, his cellphone hasn’t wrung. No emergencies so far. Jalen is supposed to be on call until at least 11 p.m. It’s currently 7 pm. He was already bored out of his mind. He couldn’t imagine doing this for 4 more hours.

“Screw it!” Jalen said frustratingly.

He got up, brushed his teeth, flossed, and threw on some body spray. He put on a green t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a matching pair of brown and green sneakers. Jalen bought a brown wood-beaded bracelet with a matching long beaded necklace a year ago that he has not had the chance to wear. He put that on too. If he was going to waste 4 more hours, he’d at least do it while drinking soft drinks at the local gay dive bar. Unfortunately, drinking was not allowed when on call. Jalen was off to the bar and ready to mingle. Upon providing his I.D. to the Bouncer, Jalen gives him an awkward point and half smile.

“Dude, come on. Not my type.” scoffs the bouncer.

Jalen places his hand on the back of his neck and awkwardly shuffled into the bar and headed immediately to the bar tender

“Hey!” Jalen spoke loudly over the music, “Can I have a sprite with lemon?”

The bar tender smiled and poured plastic cup with soda and pulled the lemon from underneath the bar.

“Thanks,” he said. Jalen turned around and leaned his back on the bar. People watching was his favorite past time. He was curious to see if anything interesting was going to happen.

3 more hours to kill....

Kimberly had turned the Dojo sign to closed, her body hurt from a long day of combat practice. She enjoyed it quite a bit as the combat regiment even without her power spoke to her mind. Aura had always had or had been mentally hammerd into her. It was tough to tell but she knew her mind tended to be drawn to and recall how people fought and their powers. Names on the other hand were always hard for her unless they were short.

It had actually been a full week since she had killed someone. Their were very few times in her life she could have of thought that and been right. She had been raised and made for combat. Nature has given her that path with her power and she excelled at it. The issue with not fighting all the time or being in pain from combat was it gave one time to think. The fact she avoided hospitals and had a nasty tendency to eviscerate human doctors upon waking, also meant she required certain care,

Still tonight she had decided to drink a bit, a dangerous idea, but she had a few demons to chase off. She watched on the tv, as a documentary came on about Mutant terrorists and the anti mutant gangs out there and how it might have been the reason SUPER had gotten made. They would show none of the actual violence of course as many of the victims were no longer in viewing shape. Instead she turned her attention to the bar and ordered a shot of southern comfort.

"That bouncer tells everyone that at first, wnats to make sure people don't use him to get what they should not" she said only vaguely knowing the guard. Truthfully though she just wanted some conversation. The brown haired woman, smiled. "It's really amazing people think they can change the world, simply by killing enough people. she said to him, partly because Auras mind tended torward the violent even when she trying to seem normal.

When entering the dive bar, a gorgeous women patted his a pride a bit. Jalen was appreciative, but it also meant this moment of rejection was made public. Other people watched this moment happen which flustered him. It caused his cheeks turn a reddish brown.

“Thanks,” he said to the woman, “I get that a lot actually especially in dating apps.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. He’d removed his hand from behind his and turned his head the woman. “I’m going to grab a drink from the bar. Wanna hang out and judge people from the bar?” he said with a smile on his face pointing toward the bar and five open seats.

His favorite past time of all time was people watching and shadily telling their stories with a friend. Reading.... is fundamental. She mentioned something about death but Jalen didn’t hear it. The music was so loud! That’s when he ordered his drink from the bartender and left an open seat for his new friend.

Jalen looked around the dance floor looking the first person to watch and tell their story to his possible friend if she wanted to take a seat.

He looked over at a group of guys dancing in the middle of the dance floor. One was shirtless and the others were scantily dressed. It was obvious they had a goal in mind. They were twerking, winding, and grinding to whatever beat the DJ played. The shirtless one happened to fall bashing into a daddy bear behind him. This was going to be interesting.

She nodded at his offer to go get a drink with him. Aura had never used a dating app or downloaded a game onto her phone for that matter. She in fact used her phone mostly for calls and sometimes text. It had simply never seemed important to her. "Sure, i like to watch people" she said honestly. Aura did like to observe people, Mutants actually but it could be hard to tell who was and was not a mutant unless one was a visible mutant.

She joined Jalen, beside him on the stool, and ordered a drink, it was light and fruit flavored, but Aura had never liked being totally drunk. Without inhibitions Aura would likely get herself killed or arrested and she knew nether was acceptable at the time. He seemed like an observant person which she could certainly appreciate.

"Been in the city awhile?" she said over the music as she looked out onto the dance floor as well. Her eyes looked over the floor, carefully going over each body. To some it likely looked like she was checking them out, and in a way she was, searching for mutations. Her eyes fell on the daddy bear at last however and while she was not interested n men, his skin seemed to have a strange, barely noticeable, blue tint. It never occurred to her it could easily have been the lighting."Think the big ones going to get angry?" she asked with a bit of a smile. she was curious to see what happened

She set her drink down as she watched, flexing her fingers to watch. She had to remind herself that mutant or human her cover came first and if one was a mutant she should not rush in to help. Part of her did hope for a fight as Auras mind was in a way wired to that train of thought, the other part hoped it would resolve itself.

Jalen was excited that he’d made a new friend that he could waste time with in the dive bar. He wasn’t all too sure about what she was looking for in a gay bar, but he didn’t want to dwell on the fact. That was her business and it would be rude of him to ask her. The music in the bar began to pound harder and harder with each minute, pumping more and more energy into the crowd. The side effect being Jalen was starting to naturally pulse his body to the music. Sucking on his straw, he took a sip of his sprite and leaned in to hear his new friend.

“Oh yeah!” Jalen began spoke just loud enough for her to hear. At least, he thought he was speaking loud enough. “I moved in to the city about... uhhhhh,” he stopped to count in his brain.

I was 18 when I moved to NYU dormitories so that would mean I would have been here for four years for undergrad. A few more for grad school. he thought.

“I think I have been in the city for about 10 years now. I move to Greenwich recently for a job. I love the city and how there’s always something to do if you look for it. What about you? Are you a New York native? How long have you been here,” Jalen responded.

The entire time, Jalen didn’t take his eye off of the scene he’d been observing. His new friend seemed to think the big one was going to get angry. Jalen chuckled messily.

“I like you,” he said playfully while biting down on his straw after which he took another sip of his sprite with lemon.

The small lad fell but his weight wasn’t enough to knock over the larger one. Even with the fall being unexpected, the larger male was able to maintain his constitution. The smaller one re-gained his footing from the larger one’s weight. Almost immediately, the larger one turned and laughed with the man who’d fallen on him. They laughed and began to dance together closely. His arms wrapped around the smaller one.

Does he even know him?! Jalen thought as he pouted.

“That s#%* would NEEEEVEER happen to me,” said the bitter Betty within Jalen.

D*^#, I wish I could drink right now. he thought.

The loud music was discomforting and Aura had wondered if she had picked the wrong type of bar. Aura tended to avoid place with loud explosive music. She had never grown much taste for it, not that she had much taste in music at all. Still she watched the crowd specifically looking for the Mutants she could see. Aura had always liked to see what other mutants could do. She took in her new friend had been in the city a decade. He seemed pretty excited about the city as well, which was good though it bothered her he might be human.

"I was born here and then....left for Canada for a few year at 8. Came back around 14 and been here ever since, despite the odd trip to Japan for a year once." she said recalling the time she had been knocked out and carried to japan on a cruise ship. Aura had left most of the details out because her past was streaked in violence and blood, the reason for her recent facial reconstruction.

"Work keeps me busy, The Dojo and some social justice stuff i do on the side" she went on as she saw the two guys who she had thought might start a fight laugh like friends. It confused her for a minute but she equated it mentally with how she saw people as different at work and their off hours. They started to dance and Aura then realized what their real intentions likely were.

He said he liked her and that did make her smile. She grabbed her own drink from the bartender. "You seem like a good person' she said trying to reassure she did like him so far to. He seemed nice enough anyway. Auras hang up was always of the person was human or mutant. Humans were animals after all and well one could love them as pets she had a hard time seeing them as anything more then mere animals.

"In my experience the best way to land someone is throw out as many lines as possible and see which fish bites the line so to speak and when does, sever the other lines on anything other then platonic" Aura said trying to give advice despite her mostly failed past. Their was Allison of course and their child Alex with it but Allison and Aura had kept their relationship mostly due to the kid.

Jalen was genuinely shocked! It’d been YEARS since he’d met a New York local. It seems like everyone in New York either lives in the rural areas or never went out at night, which makes total sense. If you have lived here your whole life, what else is there to see?

Hmph, I wonder why she’s here? But... I guess I’m one to talk. I’m here. Jalen thought curiously.

“I have always wanted to visit Canada. Between grad school and my fellowship, I’ve never even seen Niagara Falls,” he said shamefully joking. “Then, again, I did go to a school for gifted youngsters. I feel like high school took me all over the world for... humanitarian work,” he splattered.

Jalen didn’t feel any type of way about hiding his mutant genealogy. Jalen wasn’t sure if that was a little bit of arrogance or reckless behavior. On one hand, he knew there aren’t too many things that should scare Jalen because he is so durable, but he’s also gotten others hurt by being so boisterous. Tonight, it’ was just him.

“Thank you. I really do try. You’re pretty cool yourself. To locals,” Jalen held up his cup for a quick impromptu toast with his new friend.

“Chile please! Most men pass me by when I tell them I have an extra gene that makes me a super human freak-a-zoid! You would think that by now people wouldn’t care about super powers. What with super heroes flying around the world,” he vented.

Jalen looked around for weird looks. Arrogant he may be, Jalen was far from dumb. The institute provided him with all of the tools and smarts to survive in this world as a mutant. How important it was to maintain control of your emotions and abilities. They taught him to be aware of his surroundings at all times. And, finally, they taught him who his most dangerous enemies were.

This club definitely didn’t strike him as a friends of humanity target zone. And this space was too small for a sentinel.

“Okay, I have a weird idea. Maybe, I can practice my lines on you? Is that weird? By the way, my name is Jalen,” he said with a bright smile, “Please feel free to tell me to shut up when I word vomit too much.” He made a slight chuckle and sipped on his sprite.

Im definitely word vomiting. Argh! Why are you so weird?! he thought frustratingly.

When he mentioned the Mansion she looked over at him curiously. The interest was clear on her face. She could only imagine the things he did with them. Noble fools the X-men were indeed but one could not deny the good they did either. She had encountered more then one vigilante she suspected had ties to the Mansion over the past Decade in a half. "I have been to the Mansion a few times, Mama T made quite an impact on me. Still Sadly I had other help developing my ability" she said.

His words were a cold truth she was fighting. She put a hand softly on his shoulder. "I Keep my dating to Mutant woman get's around the issue and they share your experience and pain. I can't tell you the number of our kind i have rescued over the years. Anyway, why not take an add out at the Mansion? All ages go there and past members walk in and out all the time. she said trying to be helpful. "Sanctuary is a homeless shelter with many Mutants as well, i lived there for quite awhile" she said with a bright smile. She had loved Sanctuary but had stopped attending it after the Order fell and Haven took it up.

She was curious for his reaction. She ran a hand threw her hair a bit nervous like and decided to be mostly honest. "I don't think Humans will ever accept our kind not in full anyway. But i am a bitter woman" she said shaking her head. It was quite true, she was very bitter when it came to humans. Aura was a Mutant supremacist, her views almost litterly hammard into her mind

Pick up lines? She knew she was the wrong person for those. Aura hit on most woman she encountered but Aura's childhood and Teenage years had not been well suited to young girlhood. "I am willing to try My friend, But i warn you i am not so good at such things. I did not have much of a girlhood" she said not wanting to disappoint him. Aura was a weapon of war, brought up in the crucible of combat. Auras idea of flirting was combat or complimenting someones combat ability or power. Still she would try and help the guy out if she could she simply feared for her effectiveness.

She didn’t respond with her name, which made Jalen a little curious. If she was a mutant, there’s no telling what her circumstance was. Jalen didn’t feel like it was necessary to push for her name. On the bright side, Jalen seemed to hit a point of interest. She picked up on his less than subtle reference to the Institute. Jalen smiled at her comment about Mama T. He didn’t remember her, but, evidently, she meant a great deal this woman.

“I spent a lot of time in the danger room testing my limits,” he said scratching the back of his neck again. “I’m pretty tough. I’m sure the repair man hated me, he said chuckling a little bit.

Jalen turned around and asked for a refill on his sprite. He smiled warmly and the bar tender. In response, the bar tender shook his head and filled up his sprite again. The bar tender mouthed, ‘Soda’s free. It’sIke water around here.’ Jalen mouthed ‘Thank you back.’

Turning back around, his friend was giving him the run down on dating outside his species. Jalen has weighed a lot of his options in dating a flat scan versus a mutant. Could it work? Would he want it to work? Is it worth weighing the safety of both him and his significant other. Bills get passed all the time and it’s rarely in favor of mutant relations.

“I mean... I just didn’t see anyone at the institute as an option. I think I was too young when I started. Everyone I grew up with seemed more like siblings more than anything else,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “I’m very familiar with Sanctuary. I’m very interested in building a partnership with them. I focus on mutant mental health. I’d love some connects if you know anybody over there?” Jalen said flopping back to business mode.

Why did I say that?! God, I’m such a nerd. he thought.

She went on about being bitter about human and mutant relations, which Jalen understood completely.

“Sometimes... I feel like I’m one day away from joining up with mutant criminals. I get so sick of ‘playing nice’ when I could just take my self-respect with my own power. I don’t know. Sometimes, I don’t think things will ever be get better. I guess... I may be a bit bitter too, huh?” He laughed.

This conversation was dark, but dark is honest. For some reason, he feels fine opening up to this woman he’d only known for some time. Maybe, her being in the rainbow coalition AND being a mutant put him at great ease. The idea that she’s been to the institute and still has real feelings towards progress was helpful too. Oftentimes, Jalen feels guilty having graduating from the institute degree having these dark thoughts. Sure! He believes in the X-Men’s vision, but he had less belief that humans would change.

“It’s okay. I don’t think anyone is good at pick-up lines. I’m okay talking about our mutant experiences, he said with a smile.

A lot of time in the Danger room? Sounded a bit like her with its counterpart at sanctuary. She might of liked him more had he not been a mansion graduate but not every one could be perfect. "If it was that bad then one could argue his job was secure because of you. In the old days at least, sanctuary had a training area as well. I broke quite a few things myself. " she said with a smile. No matter her morality Aura was happy to find someone wanting to perfect what they could do.

"Sanctuary has a secretary you may have met named Lisa. Despite the changes there she has remained. Still it remains a place for the down trodden so it may be good for you mental health work. The god's know i certainly could have used someone when i arrived. " she said and well she had not known it at the time, looking back it would of been great. Maybe she would have figured things out quicker. "I made a habit of staying in the foyer to greet new arrivals to sanctuary when i was there and heard so many awful stories' she said recalling the long time she had been there. Their had been so many awful stories of those who found their way to the golden doors.

She looked at Jalen, a sad look upon her face as she glanced down at her hands. "Once you go down that path it gets harder and harder to turn back. What would you do with such respect? Would you oppose your family at the mansion? Or SUPER?" she asked sadly curious. Mutant criminals could mean a lot after all. Freedom fighters and actual criminals.

"I Have that respect my friend. It has it's benefits and it's flaws as well. I was in a fight with a girl when i was young, i discovered I was a mutant when i cut the girl's spine in two. I was then kidnapped and trained to be a weapon of war. The path you walk was never available to me, my friend. Sometimes though i wish it had been. " she said feeling a bit bad this had gone south conversation wise. She had a feeling he had other things on his mind.

"The x Men have made the police and mutant relations get better over the past few years. Still Their are no shortage of anti mutant hate these days. and their were the Camps, Mutant registration, the Police combat robots and now SUPER" she said having to admit the X men had done some good but she felt Humans would never see them as equals, they still had issues with LGBT people and between skin color, much less Mutants who could often be very dangerous.