The young woman was most deffinately in a hurry to leave the store and though it didn't really matter, Luke did turn his back towards her as she dressed. With his senses he still saw her moving about getting dressed but by not focusing in that direction it was more of an overall shape instead of a carefully defined figure. Suddenly, without a word the woman was up and making her way towards the doorway.

Standing still Luke was torn... he had helped the woman but should he really follow her? He didn't want her thinking he was a stalker or anything.

"Sir! Sir! I have your selections!" Helena's shrill voice broke through the gentle murmurs that had provided background noise for the last few moments.

Suddenly the decision was much easier and Luke swiftly made his way through the racks towards the door. Whether the young woman thought he was a stalker or not could be dealt with later but he had no desire to deal with that particular crone any more than absolutely necessary. Slipping out into the sunshine Luke paused just outside the door, immediately noting that the young woman had paused. Of course Luke could feel the sunshine on his face and he had heard how people's eyes had to adjust but never experiencing it there was no way he could fully understand it.

Choosing to hang back for just a moment Luke remained quiet just outside the door, sidestepping slightly so that Helena couldn't look out and see her 'customer' escaping. It seemed as though the young woman was looking at someone else but he couldn't be sure... perhapse there was a friend waiting out here.

Tris had strode out of the store triumphant after her dramatic speech and light show that had ended in darkness and confusion for the people left behind her. She laughed in gleeful joyful before turning to face her companion,
"Did you see that? That was just brilliant....."
She trailed off, brought up short by the fact that there was no companion with which to converse.
Tris's expression turned quizzical- but surely the girl she had helped, had just stood up for was right behind her, surely she now wanted to flee from such horrible people she had been working for.
....And yet surprisingly there was no vulnerable, brown haired girl following her out of the shop, even though Tris waited minutes for her to come out.
Thoughts raced through Tris's mind- maybe the girl hadn't been ready after all, maybe she was trying to find a precious belonging before she left, surely she couldn't want to stay.
But as the minutes wore on and there was still no sign of the girl, the excuses Tris had been making for her began to dry out- there had been plenty of time for the girl to emerge from the shop if she had wanted to by now.
It was then that Tris's emotions headed back towards irritation as she evaluated the evidence of her eyes- the girl wasn't comming.
~ that ungrateful bi*ch!~
Thoughts of this nature were the center of Tris's mind now.....followed by- but you know, fine! whatever! it wasn't like Tris cared anyway. She set off, stalking halfway down the street in a mood, when something occurred to her that stopped her mid stride- the whole thing about the girl getting into her mess in the first place by being startled which caused her to disintegrate...
But surely when Tris had blasted the lights the girl wouldn't......
And even if she did, she was right by the door, and there had been plenty of time to come....
Oh cr#p!
I'd better go just double check...
Tris retraced her steps to the darkened store, trying to peer in the door in vain and seeing not much- damn, the whole lights out thing had been fun, but she really didn't think that one through.

But thankfully, while she was still trying to decided whether to wait, go, or go back into the store with a torch, the girl in question appeared- though rather more ragged and uncomfortable looking than Tris remembered.
She laughed in relief,
"Well there you are.....And look at you- what happened?"
Was her next comments, all the while stepping up to the former shop girl and embracing her lightly, glad, even if she didn't know the girls name yet, that she was okay. Tris also couldn't help but help the poor bedraggled thing, flattening a lock of hair back into place, straightening up her clothes which had been put on all a skew in the dark.
There was a man standing nearby too, he had just come from the same clothing store, but for the moment, Tris's attention was focused elsewhere.

Victoria was taken aback by the laughter but she could see it was not unkindly meant.

"There was a flash and a bang and I went to pieces again." She stated matter-of-factly but then followed it up with a petulant, though somewhat rhetorical, "Why do I have to do that? Why can't I be normal?"

Victoria wasn't quite sure how to react to the hug or the adjustment of her clothing in the middle of the sidewalk. The young woman's actions reminded her of her mother fussing with her clothes and it made her feel ten again, a feeling accentuated by the height difference, Victoria not quite having managed to reach five feet, being four foot eleven and a bit. It was a good feeling though, a safe one, Victoria having felt very vulnerable in a big bad world on her own with no safe home to run to if it didn't work out.

The random acts of kindness from two people overlaying the sadness that the memory of her mother brought tears to her eyes and as the woman continued to adjust Victoria's clothing, the tears spilled over and rolled slowly down her cheeks. It was a gentle sadness and though the tears continued Victoria was still aware and thinking.

"When I came back together it was dark. I was frightened." Even to her own ears she sounded like a ten-year old, exacerbated by the relatively high pitch of her voice, "I was quite a way from my clothes and I didn't know what to do. Then a nice man distracted Helena and rescued my clothing."

Which reminded her; there was someone else. Breaking gently free of the young woman's attentions she approached her rescuer, surprised to see the dark glasses and the white cane. For a moment she thought she might have the wrong person but no one else had come out of the shop. Nervously, her heart fluttering, she hugged him, albeit a little awkwardly, not being accustomed to hugging strangers. She then had to stand on tiptoes and almost climb up the man to deliver a soft, chaste kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you very much for rescuing me." She said softly.

Luke stood still for several moments listening to the two women converse. Apparently the taller one had attempted to helped the smaller one and then slipped out epecting the other woman to be behind her. There were just a few very important items to take note of... the woman spoke of goign to pieces and then coming back together in the dark. By itself going to pieces could have simply been crying and breaking down but with the comment about coming back together in the dark it was quite obvious that she had been given powers of some kind or another although she was obviously still unsure how to control them.

Suddenly the girl turned and moved towards him, albeit cautiously. Returning the somewhat awkward hug Luke bent down slightly in order to accept the kiss on his cheek. It was a strange feeling for such a young woman to be hugging and kissing him but he knew that it was only for gratefulness because of his rescue with no strings attached or wanted.

"Thank you very much for rescuing me." She said softly.

A slightly bemused smile appeared on his face as he realized that the young lady must have lost her shirt or blouse... there was a lot of bare shoulder still showing if his sense of touch was any indication.

"A pleasure ma'am." The man replied gently, his left hand gently resting on her shoulder as he gently pushed her back just a touch, obviously showing that he was not looking for more hugs, kisses, or affection of any type. "I'm always glad to help those that are in need but I'm sure you could have handled yourself quite well once the shock had worn off."

Stepping away from her slightly Luke nodded towards Tris, "It's good to see you had a friend waiting for you when you got off work but where are my manners. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Luke... Luke Jacobs."

"I'm always glad to help those that are in need but I'm sure you could have handled yourself quite well once the shock had worn off."

Victoria simply shook her head in response, a little surprised at the hand on her shoulder pushing her away. There was nothing ungentlemanly about the hand, despite it being half on the cardigan and half on her bare skin, through no fault of Luke's. Victoria was of an age where hormones were rampant and of an upbringing that had prevented all contact with men, or boys for that matter; not because her parents were prudish or religious but because they so desperately wanted to keep their daughter's curse a secret from the world. As a consequence, the contact both shocked her and thrilled her at the same time, sensations exacerbated by the state of her clothing.

Victoria's flushed bright red as Luke stepped back. She could feel the heat rising and she was glad that Luke could not see, even though it was likely that her reaction had been seen by the young woman. Part of her wanted to flee but she fought to control herself and held her ground, finally stepping back a little herself so that she could address both of them, her gaze moving back and forth between them.

It's good to see you had a friend waiting for you when you got off work but where are my manners. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Luke... Luke Jacobs."

Victoria didn't bother to correct him on either the fact that she had been sacked rather than finished for the day or the fact that the young woman was not, at least yet, a friend though she had behaved in a friendly manner.

"I'm Victoria Llewllyn." She pronounced it the Welsh way, not the Anglicised way, despite being fourth generation American. It was the only bit of their Welsh ancestry the family had clung to. But it sounded pretentious in her own ears and in this context; she wasn't Welsh, she was American and trying to cling to a pronunciation that was awkward for others made no sense. Victoria made a snap decision, "Lewelyn." she amended. She felt a pang of guilt at having snapped one more tie that bound her to her late parents but she held to her decision, successfully resisting the temptation to reverse it.

"Can I treat you both to coffee, or lunch?" She blurted out, feeling as awkward as she sounded. She couldn't really afford the latter, particularly as she was now out of a job but she wanted to prolong the contact, frightened that they might go their own ways, leaving her on her own again.

Luke paused, unsure whether he should accept the invitation or not. While it was true he had helped the young woman he didn't want to take advantage of her, especially when he knew his salary would trump what she made here at the store at least three or more times and even more than that she sounded rather unsure about the actual invitation she had given. Did she really want company or was she just being polite?

"Coffee would be nice... I had the chance to eat not that long ago so I'm really not hungry." The blind man replied as he came to a split second decision, "But perhapse you would allow me to buy... it has been some timce since I've taken any young women out for a meal or coffee."

Turning his gaze towards the other young woman, he quirked an eyebrow questioningly, all the while focusing his senses on her as he tried to pick up some semblance of what her facial expressions were showing. Unfortunately the distance was still to great to get anything more than the briefest overview of her facial characteristics.

"I would be glad to buy for both of you ladies unless you have another appointment you need to take Victoria off to?" The man's voice wasn't accusatory or mad but he was giving the two of them an out if they wanted or needed to take it for some reason.

Hearing the girl talk of her experiences, Tris couldn't help but cringe- a flash and a bang had caused this.....caused by her.....oops.

She was therefore, as glad as the girl that someone, that .....Luke Jacobs as his name seemed to be, had been on hand to give some help and be the good Samaritan when one was needed.

And this introduction given seemed fortuitous indeed for the added reason of getting the girl to introduce herself as well, and so now, instead of just 'the girl', Tris had a name- Victoria Lewelyn to put with the face and the power.

~
"Can I treat you both to coffee, or lunch?" She blurted out, feeling as awkward as she sounded. ~
It was then the girl spoke, inviting them both out to lunch, but Tris, still with the residual guilt and gladness that all had turned out okay, wanted to voiced a slightly different option.
However Luke broken in before her-

~"Coffee would be nice... I had the chance to eat not that long ago so I'm really not hungry." The blind man replied as he came to a split second decision, "But perhapse you would allow me to buy... it has been some timce since I've taken any young women out for a meal or coffee."~

Tris was gazing curiously at the man, blind by the looks of things, yet still with that gaze that felt like they could look into your soul- Shougun had it too, though in his case from what Tris had heard and observed, with all his training and stuff, he probably could.
Tris endured a blind but quizzical appraisal from Luke as well- it seemed they might both be trying to working each other out. It was true of course, that Tris had originally intended to talk to Victoria alone so they could talk powers, but hey, if this dude wanted to come she could wait alittle, and wasn't adverse to more company.

~"I would be glad to buy for both of you ladies unless you have another appointment you need to take Victoria off to?" ~

Tris considered this;
"No, no appointment." she assured.
"but I do have alternate offer.....How bout I do the buying of the lunch for us all. And while I do find the irony of three perfect strangers offering to buy each other lunch, let me explain"
She said, issuing an open invitation to both parties, even though she didn't know the man from jack.
".....After all, I had my part to play in you, Victoria going to pieces that second time......and I am sorry bout that, but I just got alittle carried away with my dramatic exit.....please allow me to make amends allow me to foot the bill in getting you guys something to eat."
She ended her proposition here, before giving a rueful laugh a something she'd forgotten;
"Oh, and I'm Tris by the way, Trista Evans."
And, her introduction complete now as well, feel silent with a smile and a nodded hello to both.

Inwardly Luke froze as he finally made the connections. Victoria went to pieces... she lost her clothes in going to pieces and something had caused that. The exploding lights were what sent her to pieces and here Miss Trista Evans was claming that in getting carried away by her 'dramatic exit' as she had so poeticly stated she had caused the problems. "They're both mutants." He thought to himself, as all of the dots came together, "They're the same as I am."

"I suppose one of us has to simply accept the invitation for lunch so I may as well be the first one." Luke said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "I appreciate the offer Tris and deffinately accept."

While mutants were coming to New York in greater and greater numbers it was still rather strange for groups to meet together especially as strangers. Thankfully Luke's mutation was easy to hide from the world in general. In fact, because of his blindness, most would go out of their way to help in which opened doors for him that most mutants never had the slightest clue even existed.

Moving several steps forward, Luke closed on Tris, holding out his right hand in a gesture of apparent good will. "And as with Victoria, it is a pleasure to me to meet you as well Miss Evans."

With the distance closed Luke once again focused his perceptions, this time getting a firm grasp of what this second young woman looked like. A very attractive face with straight, shoulder length hair it looked like. Of course he had no idea of eye color or hair color but that didn't particularly matter to a blind man like him. "Two attractive women want to take me to lunch... I suppose this is where I'm supposed to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming." He thought to himself somewhat ironically, "And I still haven't gotten Miss Langstan a gift!"

"Coffee would be nice... I had the chance to eat not that long ago so I'm really not hungry." The blind man replied as he came to a split second decision, "But perhaps you would allow me to buy... it has been some timce since I've taken any young women out for a meal or coffee."

"But...." Victoria started to object, though her heart wasn't in it. Much as she would have liked to have carried through with treating them, not having to was going to make a big difference to her remaining funds which in the last couple of months had been dwindling with alarming speed.

Any thought of trying to object again was effectively prevented by the young woman speaking.

".....After all, I had my part to play in you, Victoria going to pieces that second time......and I am sorry bout that, but I just got alittle carried away with my dramatic exit.....please allow me to make amends allow me to foot the bill in getting you guys something to eat."

"You weren't to know." Victoria murmured quietly, not sure, having completed the phrase whether it had carried to the young woman.

"Oh, and I'm Tris by the way, Trista Evans."

Victoria was about to respond but Luke was faster, accepting Trista's invitation, which left Victoria feeling a little inadequate and wondering what Trista had, other than a useful mutation, a pretty face, wit, charm that she didn't. Victoria sighed. It summed things up fairly well, at least from Victoria's perspective, self-confidence being something she lacked almost entirely.

It took a little while for Victoria to summon up courage to reply and in the meantime Luke had spoken again.

"Nice to meet you, Trista." Victoria said shyly, not sure whether she should shake her hand or hug the woman.

Instead, she stood awkwardly, not sure how to progress matters. Victoria looked down and, reminded of the strain the buttons of the cardigan were under, wrapped her arms about herself. She wasn't entirely convinced that it didn't draw more attention to the cardigan, "But if it stops the buttons popping open it is a small price." she thought.

In the meantime her brain had managed to catch up with the situation.

"If you are sure, lunch would be nice, thank you."

"I suppose one of us has to simply accept the invitation for lunch so I may as well be the first one." Luke said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "I appreciate the offer Tris and definitely accept."

Tris had to laugh in appreciation of this Luke Jacobs comment. After all, the fact that they had spent the last few minutes inviting each other to lunch could be construed as hilariously funny.
"I thank you for breaking the stalemate we had going here Mister Jacobs."
Tris said with a smile;
"Otherwise we three might have had to stand here all day and never get lunch, and where is the sense in that?"

Luke moved towards Tris, and as with Victoria, introduced himself personally in a gentlemanly fashion, offering a hand which Tris took.
"And as with Victoria, it is a pleasure to me to meet you as well Miss Evans."

"And you Mister Jacobs."
Tris said, inclining her head graciously, and acknowledging Victoria as well.
"And you too, of course Victoria.

It was then Luke spoke again,

"Two attractive women want to take me to lunch... I suppose this is where I'm supposed to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming."

Tris chuckled at this statement, glancing at Luke with a speculative expression. She nudged Victoria, speaking in a stage whisper she knew Luke would clearly hear.
"We better watch this one Victoria, I've worked in a bar or two, and I've seen what the smooth talkers can do......blind he may be, but that wont stop him being a charmer."
there was a good note of teasing in her tone at this- let this man make of it what he may.

Victoria spoke up the, bringing them back to the topic at hand by agreeing to lunch.
"If you are sure, lunch would be nice, thank you."

Tris beamed;
"Excellent- I'm thinking somewhere quiet so we can talk, close and with great food.........And I think I remember a place that could fit this description a block or two up from us.......Alright troops, if there is no objection, lets move out."

Luke laughed softly to himself as he listened to the two women speak about his... charming manner. He hadn't meant to speak out loud about their attractiveness but the fact he had done so was no real loss.

"If you'll lead the way Tris I'll follow along." Sniffing slightly he nodded, a teasing smile appearing on his face, "You don't have to worry about losing me... the scent of your perfume combined with the scent wafting from Victoria will deffinately be unique."

How in the world he had managed to meet two mutants in such strange circumstances was beyond him to even explain... even stranger was the face that they were not in fact friends. Tris had said it was nice to meet Victoria meaning that they had just met inside the same as he had. "There must be a reason for it." He thought to himself as he moved to follow the two women, "Not that I believe in providence but I do know that I don't believe in coincidence."

There was no objection from Victoria, the girl having retreated into herself again. It was all too new and strange to her, having led an isolated life for most of her eighteen years and she felt she wasn't making a very good impression.

"You don't have to worry about losing me... the scent of your perfume combined with the scent wafting from Victoria will definitely be unique."

Victoria wasn't quite sure how to take Luke's comment, there being the suggestion that the smell coming from her was not perfume. She was far to polite, or perhaps shy, to say anything and she was reasonably confident he hadn't meant it to come out the way it had sounded. Nevertheless it did not act to diminish her feelings of inadequacy.

Victoria fell into step beside Tris, her arms still wrapped tightly across her breasts and stared unhappily at the sidewalk as they walked, avoiding looking anyone in the eye. She felt she should say something but.... she just couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound, in her own mind, trite or boring.

Twice she tried, but closed her mouth before making a sound. Finally she asked, "Tris.... Do you live in the city or are you...." She was going to continue with 'are you just visiting' but her courage failed her and she lapsed into silence.

"If you'll lead the way Tris I'll follow along." Sniffing slightly he nodded, a teasing smile appearing on his face, "You don't have to worry about losing me... the scent of your perfume combined with the scent wafting from Victoria will deffinately be unique."

Tris just raised her eyebrow at this comment, followed by a rather sarcastic;
"Uh huh."
She looked very pointedly at Victoria and mouthed; 'see.....charmer'

And since Luke had already given his permission and Victoria had no objects, Tris decided to get the show on the road.
"Alrightly folks, this way before we all starve"

They had walked around half a block when Victoria voiced a hesitant question;
"Tris.... Do you live in the city or are you...."

Tris was glad that Victoria had broken the silence, as she had been been looking for something not too pushy or not overwhelming to say, even though she was just dying to know the story behind Victoria......needless to say, she hadn't thought of anything appropriate, and was therefore, happy to answer the question.
"Yeah, I live here now- I'm from Australia originally, and planned to just stay awhile and keep on going.......but then I got lucky and met Hunter #at the mention of this name Tris's voice took on a warm and affectionate tone, her eyes shining in remembered contentment#, and now I have a cool job and meet cool people, and no plans to go anywhere else just yet...... So its worked out so far."

At the conclusion to her words Tris looked around, pleasantly suprised to note they were almost there- companion really did make time go faster....unless one of her companion was a time mutant or something, but that would be too weird.

The place she was taking them too was 5 restaurant type shops away, a nice little bar and bistro type joint with good food, dim lighting, and a homey feel, a place where you felt you could talk atleast semi privately without the whole world trying to interrupt.
Tris didn't even remember what it was called, she just remembered it being a nice place with nice food for her bar work days. Hopefully the others would like it too.

"Gotta lay off the flirting." Luke silently berated himself as he walked along behind the two women, "I'm not out to score a notch on my belt or anything! Just be friendly and leave it at that."

He was the first to admit that some of his earlier years had been a little bit on the wild side... having a handicap that made the women feel sorry for you make it so much easier to get things that you wanted and in his late teens and early twenties he had used that skill to his advantage numerous times.

"Something's wrong with Victoria though... still seems kind of uncomfortable." Luke continued to think to himself as he walked aproximately eight to ten feet behind the two ladies, "Of course! She lost her shirt earlier and is showing a decent amount of skin. But what can I do about it?"

Victoria and Tris' conversation drifted into his mind but at the moment Luke was focusing on something else... reaching out with his senses the blind man looking for clothing of some type. Settling on one of the small boutiques that had quite obvious dresses on the manequins Luke ducked inside and made his way towards the counter, half of his attention still tracking the two ladies down the street while he found a saleswoman.

"Can I help you with something sir?" A kindly old lady spoke from where she stood behind the counter.

"Yes... I'm looking for a button up sweather or blouse with say... elbow or forearm length sleeves. Um... maybe in a light blue? And I'm kind of in a hurry." Luke spoke obviously somewhat lost as to what would be best to get.

"Well... I have a nice half-length sweater here but only in white I'm afraid." The saleswoman began before Luke interupted. It was getting hard to track the two women as they walked farther and farther away and he didn't want to lose them after all his talk of smells and such.

"Half-length?"

"Yes... oh... i mean elbow-length." It was obvious in the saleswoman's voice that she had simply assumed he would know what that meant.

"White would be fine." Luke said with relief, as he remembered some of his previosu girlfriends having told him that white went with absolutely everything, "And can you go ahead and remove all the tags and labels?"

Only two or three minutes later Luke was out of the shop and jogging down the street, his mind focusing on the women up ahead and the fastest way to catch back up. He knew they would probably arrive at the restaurant before he did but hopefully he wouldn't be to far behind.

***

Thankfully it hadn't taken him to long to spirit his way through the crowd using the gifts he had been blessed with and Luke approached the two ladies just as they were grabbing the door handle to walk in.

"Victoria." Luke spoke up quickly as he held out the shopping bag to her, his breathing a little quicker than normal from his slight jog without any warm-up, "Maybe this'll help you feel a little more comfortable."

It was going to be even more obvious now that there was more to this blind man than met the eye but Luke was hoping that the two ladies would at least wait until they got to their table before asking how he could do the things he did. As he took in a deep breath Luke allowed his mind to focus on their scents for a moment... something kind of like roses and wine from Tris but he was willing to bet that was the scent of lavender coming from Victoria. Maybe it was from her soap or something.

(OOC: Feel free to make Luke completely wrong about your scents. After all, a good sense of smell is not his special power!)

Trista's brief summary of her history had taken them to the door of the restaraunt. Victoria was about to open the door when she realised that Luke had fallen behind. She was about to ask Tris if she had seen where he had gone when the man in question reappeared carrying a bag that Victoria was sure he hadn't been carrying previously.

"He must have left it behind somewhere." She thought.

"Victoria.... Maybe this'll help you feel a little more comfortable."

Victoria looked at Luke in surprise. If she were worldly she may have questioned his motives but Victoria was a veritable babe-in-the-woods and it didn't even cross her mind that Luke may have an ulterior motive.

"I couldn't... " She started to say but she was feeling rather uncomfortable and tentatively she removed one arm from around her chest and took the proffered bag.

"How does he do that?" She wondered,

"Thank you Luke." She said shyly, blushing a little, a combination of the unexpected gift and a realisation that she was a little more interested in the man, at a physical level, than she felt she should be. "I will be back in a moment." She added as she made her way into the restaurant and looked for the Ladies'.

Victoria was relieved that it was a largish cubicle complete with handbasin and mirror. The mirror was not huge but it was just large enough to allow her to see how the sweater looked.

It was clear, as Victoria removed the sweater from the bag that it was going to be on the large side and, lulled into thinking that she could wear both, Victoria pulled it on over her cardigan. It really didn't work. With a sigh she removed the sweater and then the cardigan, thankful that no one could barge in on her as she made the switch.

It was too big; or perhaps it was fairer to say that she was too small. The sleeves, which were supposed to be just above the elbows came well down her forearms and it was quite loose. She was going to have to be a little careful how she bore herself, but it was a definite improvement over the cardigan. It was also too long but that mattered not at all. Overall she felt the effect was acceptable, though not being overly vain about her appearance she was perhaps a little forgiving in that regard.

Victoria folded her cardigan, placed it in the bag and feeling a lot more comfortable, returned to the restaurant, looking for her two new friends. She may have lost her job but at least she wasn't alone. Victoria hoped it would last.