“So this is going to be super awkward then? Awesome.” Sam smiled, “just hope he doesn’t try to hit me, I’m not going to tell him bout the kiss but you should at some point.” Sam stood up and did a jump shot with his now empty water bottle and sunk the shot right in the recycling bin.

Sam sighed, “Yea let’s go I told you I would help you out.” He turned and headed for the door and then stopped and turned, “What kind of abilities does he have? He’s not going to sneeze and blow off my head is he?” Sam had a concerned look on his face he was a little disappointed with himself, why didn’t he ask this question sooner before he agreed to it.

"I doubt he'll actually try and hit you," Lee told Sam as she watched him stand up, smiling a bit at his little show as he got rid of his water bottle. But then the smile faded as she continued speaking. Lee didn't think this was exactly the right thing to be saying with a smile on her face. "If he does try, well, I'm sure you'll not only deserve it, but he'll have to beat me to get at you first."

Standing, her coffee in hand, Lee followed Sam from the building. But he stopped suddenly just short of the door, and Lee only just avoided running into him before she was able to stop herself.

"No, nothing like that," Lee told Sam, then inclined her head a bit to remind him about the people they were blocking in by standing right at the door, not moving. His question did strike her, though. Tarin would probably view his merging as just as dangerous, sudden, and unexpected as the power Sam had just asked about.

Finally, Sam continued his way through the door out onto the street, and Lee followed him. Only once they had gone a few feet down, away from the people who had been immediately behind them in the coffee shop and possibly had heard at least part of what they had been saying, did Lee actually answer Sam's question.

"He's a medium," Lee told Sam quietly as they walked along. She hated when Tarin told people they were mutants, and, while Sam did already know, who knew who could be listening to them as they walked, so she made sure to keep her voice low. "Nothing for you to worry about, but that's not the part he needs help dealing with."

Lee took a deep breath, then glanced over at Sam as she turned them down another street at the corner, leading him to the shop. "I'm not going to be able to explain his other power out here, but," and here Lee's expression turned extremely serious, trying to get the importance of this across to Sam. "If I ever tell you, very suddenly and urgently, to leave, do it? He's not exactly....safe when that other power kicks in."

“And I am a large, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Sam smiled in his own stupid joke, “so he channels dead people?” Sam paused “that’s a pretty cool power but I could see how it gets annoying.” Sam let Lee pass him and he followed her after all she was supposed to lead the way to the shop.

"If I ever tell you, very suddenly and urgently, to leave, do it? He's not exactly.... safe when that other power kicks in."

Sam scratched his head “safe?” Sam asked. “Could of sworn I told you I was to stubborn to die, and I wouldn’t be a good friend if I left you to deal with something that wasn’t safe, while I run and hide.” Sam put his hands on his head and said, “if it gets dangerous I will be careful, hell can’t be much worse than you.” Sam finished this with a smile as he was again teasing Lee.

"He can see and hear the spirits of those who haven't crossed over or whatever the hell people normally do," Lee corrected. If Tarin really did have the choice to 'channel' the spirits whenever he wanted, he'd never have headaches, and who knows what else would have been different about his life.

But then Sam went on to be a stubborn male, feeling like he needed to protect her. "Tarin would probably thank you if you actually took me with you if that situation ever arose," Lee whispered. How many times now had Tarin told her he wished she had simply run when she had a chance when he was merged?

Sam seemed to like the whole teasing and joking thing. Normally, that would be good, but not when talking about Tarin's merging. Sure, he didn't know the details, didn't know just how serious it could be, but that didn't mean Lee liked it any more.

"It's worse, believe me," Lee whispered. At least it felt worse, the fear, the terror, the pain...

Swallowing, Lee stopped walking and turned to look at Sam. They were just a few doors down from the shop now. "You're sure?" She asked, looking up at him. Even if she had her boots, she wouldn't have been anywhere close to being level with him, no where near being able to actually look him in the eye. "We're almost there. If you want, you can still leave."

"We're almost there. If you want, you can still leave."

Sam was a little curious Lee did want him to help out Tarin so why was she making it seem like it was a bad idea? “I already told you I would, I don’t want to come off as a someone who doesn’t keep his word.” He then looked down on Lee “Your making it seem worse than it probably is, unless he contacts someone from my past I probably won’t be freaked out.” He said this as casual as he could, he was telling the truth unless Tarin communicated with someone that Sam had killed in his past Sam wasn’t to worried. “So where is this place at?”

Lee couldn't help the small smile that flashed onto her face when Sam pointed out that he had already agreed to help. "It's just such a strange situation that I wouldn't blame you if you changed your mind," she told him, then gave him a slightly bigger smile. "Thanks."

So Sam would only be freaked out if Tarin contacted someone from his past? Lee wasn't sure what that meant, exactly, but she nodded anyway. "He tries to block them out most of the time anyway," Lee told Sam. Hopefully this would reassure him about Tarin's powers. "He really only connects with them when he's doing a session, but he'd only be able to see them if they're there with you. He can't go searching out random spirits that aren't near him."

Sam was asking where the shop was. At least it wasn't far, she had only stopped them a couple doors down. "It's just down here," Lee told him, starting to walk again, and opening the door once she got to the shop.

Stepping in, Lee glanced around, seeing Garrett there but not Tarin; he must have been in the middle of a session. "You can head out, Garrett," Lee told him as she made her way over to stash her purse under the counter. "We're going to be closing up early today. You can grab a seat there, Sam," Lee continued, indicating the recliner that was still sitting in the back corner of the shop. "Tarin's just with a customer right now."

Sam sat down where Lee showed him, the recliner was pretty comfortable. Sam glanced around the shop, and didn’t understand a lot that was around the room. Most of it came off as spiritual stuff; Sam kept his mouth shut till he saw someone he recognized from the mansion. It was Garret.

Sam raised his hand in a wave “Hey Garret, didn’t know you worked here. How is everything?” At this point Sam was a little worried, Garret lived in the mansion to, so why did Tarin need to talk to Sam? Sam was a little worried now; his calm and cool demeanor was replaced by one of a bit of nervousness. Sam really hoped this wasn’t a trap of some kind; Sam took a deep breath and went on edge a little.

Sam turning to Lee, “So how long do you think he will be?”

Another day at the shop. Things had been going slowly, just the occasional client and a few browsers. Garrett was going to stand out front and have a look, but as he began to stand, Lee came in. With Sam, the guy with the ice control from the Mansion. Though he didn't believe in coincidences, this was an amazing string of events. Lee abruptly told him to leave. They were closing up early, but apparently, with the customer still inside. Who knew what this was about?

Didn't really matter. Boss said go, so he went. As he was making his way out, he stopped and replied to Sam's greeting. "Hey Sam. Small world, huh?", he said with a smirk. "See ya back at the Mansion. He flashed a look at Lee and then back at Sam. He then gave Sam a little wink. Whatever was about to happen, he hated he had to miss it.

Sam was moving to the recliner to wait, Garrett was gathering his things up to leave, and Lee was just waiting there nervously behind the counter for Tarin to finish with the customer.

And then Sam was saying hi to Garrett as if he knew him. And then it clicked. Why wouldn't Sam and Garrett know each other? They both lived at the mansion, it wasn't surprising that they knew each other.

And then Lee had a horrific thought. They knew each other, and now knew that they each knew Lee. What would Garrett think about her now, with her having gone out with Sam not that long ago.

But Garrett was leaving, so at least she wouldn't have to deal with that till the next day. Which, based on what Garrett said right before he left, she would be having to deal with the next day.

"He really shouldn't be too long," Lee told Sam with a shrug. She didn't know when the customer had come in, so she had no clue how much longer the session would take. "The sessions don't normally last all that long."

OOC - I'm going to go ahead and post...if it's wrong to do so, let me know and I'll throw a fit and delete my post. *wink*

Tarin was getting irritated with the woman sitting across from him. Another fortune hunter trying to exploit the death of a 'loved one' for money. The thing of it was that there weren't any spirits with the woman. Tarin was already a nervous wreck because Lee had gone to get the guy she'd gone on the date with and this just wasn't the time for a scammer to mess with him.

Tarin was kind of just going through the motions at this point, following the woman's questions and pretty much just telling her what she wanted to hear. The session was over soon, the woman would only pay for the minimum amount each time. Tarin couldn't help but wonder if Lee was back with the guy yet...Sam or something she'd said his name was. Tarin pulled himself together, he wasn't going to get jealous...he was going to show Lee that he could act like a human being in front of a man who was interested in her.

The egg timer on the table dinged and Tarin stood up so fast the woman frowned deeply at him. "Well...that's it for us tonight. I'm afriad I've got to close up shop."

The woman protested, saying she wanted a longer session on that particular day because they were making progress. Tarin disagreed and said that the spirit was becoming weary and the lady bought it, standing up and making her way to the front of the shop.

Tarin stopped in the doorway, he hadn't been expecting Mr. Universe to walk into the shop with Lee...but there he was sitting and waiting to talk. Talk because Tarin had asked him to come over and talk. Tarin took a deep breath and calmed himself, he was the one who'd asked for this.

The woman paid, then left the shop and Tarin locked up behind her. "Welcome back." he said to Lee, flashing her a quick, reassuring smile, then he turned to Hercules, "You must be Sam..." he said, reaching out a hand to shake, "I'm Tarin, thank you so much for this."

Sam’s gaze shifted to the two that just entered the front of the shop. Sam didn’t really know what to think as he saw the guy, he seemed tense and worried, and Sam immediately picked up on that as the guy walked over to him. Other than being tensed Tarin gave off a somewhat laid back personality, which Sam always liked about certain people. Sam flashed a smile at the guy as he extended his hand for a shake.

"You must be Sam..." he said, reaching out a hand to shake, "I'm Tarin, thank you so much for this."

Sam took the hand and shook it with a semi firm grip, that’s how he always greeted people. If the grip was less people would walk over him and if it was stronger people would feel to intimidated. Sam dropped his hand to his side and said, “It’s my pleasure.”


Sam then said to Tarin with a raised eyebrow, “Heard you have a little problem, care to share?”

The handshake was fair, it wasn't meant to intimidate or impress, and the guy wasn't gloating, he returned it in like. Tarin decided that he was going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, after all, he assumed Sam hadn't known that Lee was engaged...in fact...Lee hadn't been engaged at the time.

Tarin stopped thinking about all of that when Sam spoke again. Tarin tilted his head to one side, considering just how much he could tell this guy. Casting a look to the side because he didn't know how much Lee had told the guy, but he was asking, so Tarin figured he'd explain...some.

"Well. One of my talents is a little...reactive...I've had some trouble controlling it at times." Tarin paused and clenched his teeth, then took a deep breath and continued. "The most recent time resulted in some illegal activities. I'd like to get some help for this...and I've been told that your mansion is the place to do it."

Tarin moved to lean on the door frame, crossing his arms across his chest, "I've heard that some of you guys over there at the mansion are enforcers of the law, and fighters of evil doers, and things like that. What I need to know is if I go there, am I going to be in danger of repercussions because of the things my powers have caused me to do?"

Tarin paused again, regarding the guy, hoping that he'd get a straight answer, a succinct straight answer. "Again, I really appreciate you doing this for me."

Almost as soon as she had told Sam that Tarin shouldn't be much longer, there he was, making his way back to the front of the shop with the woman he had been doing the session for. Lee thought the woman looked familiar, but that didn't necessarily mean anything; she had been gone for a few months, surely most of the regular customers Tarin had had would already have moved on by now. But one thing that didn't change was the expressions Tarin wore when he finished sessions he didn't like.

Still, once the woman had left and Tarin had locked the door behind her, Lee saw him flash a smile at her before addressing Sam.

Ok, seriously! Lee didn't know what was going on here. Before she had broken up with him, Tarin had freaked out, gotten jealous, if another man even looked at her, and most of the time she hadn't even noticed till she saw Tarin's jealousy. But now, when he found out that she had actually gone out with Sam, there was no jealousy that she could see at all. He was even shaking Sam's hand!

While her worries about Tarin starting to act jealous diminished, her worry about what Sam would say about Tarin's problems increased. Tarin did need some sort of help, though she wasn't sure what kind of help that could or would end up being, but knew that what his powers had ended up making him do could end up causing trouble.

So Lee sat there on the stool behind the counter, waiting for Sam's answer.

“Before I will answer your question there is something I want to know.“ Sam hesitated thinking about all the questions that he thought of when he came here the first was why Sam? “From what it looks like you already know somebody from the mansion, so why do you need me?” Sam asked this with his head tilted to the side a little.

He then laughed changing his tone from serious to jokingly, “I have been there only for a few weeks, the place is welcoming, and they don’t ask much about your past, so if you wanted you could just go there and ask for help. I am almost positive that they would accept you. From my understanding there are a few there with a shady past.” Sam didn’t mention the fact that he was one of those with the shady past, or possibly the shadiest. He waited to see how Tarin and or Lee would respond to his comment.

He wanted to know something...well it wasn't like he hadn't already asked enough or anything. Tarin was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable with the situation, this guy was nothing like he'd expected...he looked like the star quarterback of the football team and Tarin frowned at the thought and the memories it brought back.

Tarin closed his eyes for a second, reminding himself that Lee had never really wanted to bring the guy into it, it was he who suggested it, and he who pushed it. The question didn't turn out to be all that complicated either.

"Well." Tarin said, running a hand through his hair, "I like to hear things from more than one angle before I make a decision." here it was, the penultimate moment in the conversation, "If they're going to snag me up as a danger or a threat and lock me up somewhere or try to put me down like a rabid dog I'd obviously like to avoid the situation, six weeks ago it wouldn't have mattered, not one bit." He paused infinitesimally and his eyes moved to Lee, "I've got too much to lose now."

The explanation that the guy gave sounded fair enough. Tarin knew there had to be a lot of mutants out there with a shady past, and his brief work with the resistance had shown at least them to be very accepting of things like that. Tarin nodded slowly.

"I think that sounds fair enough..." he said, "Is it something where I need to set up an appointment with people there before I attempt some contact...or do I just walk up and ring the doorbell?" It was easier this way, Tarin couldn't help but thinking as he continued to speak. Seeing this guy without thinking about the fact that he'd gone on a date with Lee made it way easier to speak to him...but why did he have to be so good looking...and tall. Tarin sighed and tried to get his mind back on the topic at hand...there was nothing else for it.