Melissa accepted the shelter from the umbrella and smiled at the man who had offered it. “Perhaps it will be educational, and perhaps even profitable for both of us. I'm Melissa, by the way. You needn't share your name with me now or ever, if you choose not to do so.”

She chuckled at the idea that she was part of the police. And she certainly wasn't a casual onlooker. “I'm more of a business woman. My current business being to follow that horned man up there. If you don't mind, I would like to continue to keep an eye on him. Not that it will be very exciting to watch him drink coffee.” She did not point, but he would know which man she was speaking about.

“I suppose you have heard of the two rival mutant groups here in New York City?” Certainly he had, unless he was very new to the city. Doubtful considering his manipulation of the muggers. “I work for the third group. We operate in the shadows more than the other two groups do, so most people haven't heard of us. Given what I have seen of your skills and your efficiency, I would venture to guess that you would be a valuable addition to our operation.”

She was young, but very professional. Having seen what he had done and still laughing, Melissa had definitely been around the block at least twice. The kind of girl Roland was used to. His charm was on, but not dead on, as it would have been had there not been silky white eyes in the back of his mind. He appreciated the consent for his anonymity, as it was the thing he held most dear these days. The price of surgery was really prohibitive unless death or a little box were the alternatives.

“I'm more of a business woman. My current business being to follow that horned man up there. If you don't mind, I would like to continue to keep an eye on him. Not that it will be very exciting to watch him drink coffee.” Roland's eyes pointed ahead at the second mutant. " I doubt it would be too difficult to track. Of course, with so many mutants afoot, there literally could be more than one horned man up ahead." She was Southeast Asia. Triads? Or perhaps something not as simple. Roland's latter estimate was realized when she spoke next. More illumination than a month of digging would have ever brought about.

“I suppose you have heard of the two rival mutant groups here in New York City?” Roland nodded. He had visited them both, in fact. Though he was glad to know there weren't more lurking under the surface."I work for the third group. We operate in the shadows more than the other two groups do, so most people haven't heard of us. Given what I have seen of your skills and your efficiency, I would venture to guess that you would be a valuable addition to our operation.” Roland raised one eyebrow, the only indicator of the shockwave of knowledge he had just received. Not only was there a third, but they wished to contract his services.

" Sounds mutually beneficial. You're on. Though, why would a mutant group enlist a human? My skills are well polished and practiced, but I lack the genetic edge that most do. I have to shore up said deficiency with even more skill and a killing streak. Either way, perhaps we can speak of it more afterward. I must take a stab at the thought that the man or the woman may know you. Perhaps I can further your confidence by having a warm cup o tea myself. I have my own wires, so no need to prep me." A phone came from his pocket, identical to the one he had taken pictures with. He handed it to her gingerly. " Press send to make the link with me once I am in position inside." He handed the umbrella off to Melissa and pushed ahead at a fair tracking pace towards the coffee shop, the mutants, and destiny.

“Warming up does sound good, at least to me. Perhaps I can coax you in out of your element with a cup of coffee? My treat.”

A small smile made its way onto Iris's mouth. "Sure, why not? I'll probably need it soon anyway." she replied.

Before they headed toward the street, she turned and gave the rainy eve one last look. She saw a couple standing beneath an umbrella a ways off; she wasn't the only one enjoying the dreary night. And somehow, seeing the pair together hit a warm spot somewhere inside. Why couldn't everyone get along that well?

She returned her attention back to Sebastian and caught up to him again.

"I hope you don't mind me being nosey, Mr. Csendes. I know why I'm here. But what brings you out on a night like this? Most people think nights like this are dreary."

The rain splashing on her face felt wonderful, but she thought he might not enjoy the drenching like she did. Since she didn't have an umbrella to offer, she did the next best thing. As they walked, she manipulated the falling droplets so that they fell around and away from Sebastian once more, leaving him at least partially dry.

Sebastian did not miss the small smile that played across Iris' lips. It was a nice smile, Sebastian thought.

>>>"I hope you don't mind me being nosey, Mr. Csendes. I know why I'm here. But what brings you out on a night like this? Most people think nights like this are dreary."

“Not in the least, you may ask whatever you like. I work as a healer at a homeless shelter not far from here, and the nurses rather insisted that I take the night off. They may have mentioned something about mother hens before shoving me out the door.” Sebastian smiled at the thought of the plucky nurses. They probably needed the time away from him more than he needed the time away from the infirmary. Before he had come along, the infirmary had been ruled exclusively by the fairer sex and his presence probably disrupted their gossip time.

“I figured I might as well stretch my legs and get some fresh air so long as I was exiled from the infirmary, even if the weather is a bit 'dreary'. The rain does make beautiful reflections, and the raindrops can be rather poetic. They cold just seeps into the bones after a time.”

As he spoke, the rain seemed to lessen, then cease falling on him once again. At first he thought the rain was stopping, but as he realized it was still raining elsewhere he gave a thankful smile to his companion. “Ah, thank you, once again. I greatly appreciate it.”

------------------

Melissa noted the raised eyebrow in response to her statement about the third mutant group. He had a pretty good poker face. She'd like to see him play against Charles Triggs, if she ended up convincing him to join. If information was one form of currency, she had just given him a fairly valuable nugget and he had taken it rather well.

>>>"Sounds mutually beneficial. You're on. Though, why would a mutant group enlist a human? My skills are well polished and practiced, but I lack the genetic edge that most do. I have to shore up said deficiency with even more skill and a killing streak.”

“My dear sir, humans can be very useful. We have assets that mutants sometimes lack, since we must rely on our wits and skills rather than on some special ability. Our group recognizes the usefulness of all special abilities. Of course, humans start at a bit less pay until they prove their usefulness.”

>>>“...perhaps we can speak of it more afterward. I must take a stab at the thought that the man or the woman may know you. Perhaps I can further your confidence by having a warm cup o tea myself. I have my own wires, so no need to prep me."

Melissa smiled, nodded, and took the phone that he handed her. He was eager to prove his value, which was fine with her. Neither of the two up ahead was likely to recognize her, but the less often she was seen nearby the less suspicious she would be. And he was already wired. Did she know how to pick them, or what? He was even a gentleman and had left her the umbrella.

Eyes down. Eyes up. Following a person required the remembrance of little details that one might practice should they only be walking alone. Staring at quarry was a fine way to get pinched. They were neither aware of him nor eluding him, so it was fairly easy to watch them.He removed an ear piece which was remarkably disguised as a Bluetooth device, so popular these days.He turned his streaming video on from the phone at his waist, securely fit facing forward, though easily passed off as the standard phone receiver. The ear piece with its forward pointing shape, was actually a laser microphone, a blue laser, increasing the quality of the conversations listened to. The laser itself was of a particular violet which made it only visible through a medium, such as smoke or fog. Night time use with weather made it fairly undetectable.

The image would be grainy at best with the weather as it was, but it was still preferred over silence. Silence might make Roland's footsteps otherwise more noticeable then they were now. ".....ask whatever you like. I work as a healer at a homeless shelter not far from here, and the nurses rather insisted that I take the night off. They may have mentioned something about mother hens before shoving me out the door.” A homeless shelter in the vicinity with mutants. Sounded like the place where Miss Duskmoor spent her time pouting and stomping like the petulant brat she was. So the Horned One was one of theirs. But who was the other one? Only time and surveillance would tell. Roland saw the coffee shop in question coming up. He diverted his own path off toward the side of the building, seeing a group of teenagers hanging out on the side of the building taking shelter under the awning of the shop's signage and awnings.

He approached them slowly, knowing teens' general distrust of anyone over 30."Any of you have a smoke?" One of the older looking ones, a boy in a leather jacket and sporting a classic Yankees hat offered him one. ' Here ya go. Got any money?" They didn't look the pilfering or thuggish type. Merely panhandlers. Or more than likely bored suburbanites who had spent Mommy and Daddy's cash on drugs and coffee. Pupil dilation confirmed this. " Sure I do. I'll give you a hundred dollars for that Yankees cap." The bill came out of his pocket, folded in half between his fingers. The kid's jaw dropped and he quickly pulled it off, greasy tendrils of hair falling in his face. " Hell, yeah. It ain't even mine!"

Roland inhaled the nicotine from under the brim of his new cap, shifted down to cover his eyes somewhat. He saw the two enter through the front and he waited for them to order and sit. Once he knew of the best place, he'd make his entrance and begin surveillance. Well, surveillance for Melissa. His had already begun.

“Not in the least, you may ask whatever you like. I work as a healer at a homeless shelter not far from here, and the nurses rather insisted that I take the night off. They may have mentioned something about mother hens before shoving me out the door.”

In her current state of mind, Iris didn't register the nearness of the Sanctuary, and thus didn't connect it with Sebastian's remark. Otherwise he might have found her mood abruptly chilly. As it was, she simply giggled a bit at the 'mother hen' comment.

“I figured I might as well stretch my legs and get some fresh air so long as I was exiled from the infirmary, even if the weather is a bit 'dreary'. The rain does make beautiful reflections, and the raindrops can be rather poetic. They cold just seeps into the bones after a time.”

"Poetic?"

She took a moment to part the water in front of her face, and to bring a single droplet up to her eyes. She examined it closely. Although suspended, she could see it still shifting shape, attempting to wriggle free from her grasp. Colors sparkled on its smooth surface as they passed underneath the lights of the streets. She could even see her own reflection in the tiny bit of moisture.

Iris smiled. "I guess it is."

“Ah, thank you, once again. I greatly appreciate it.”

She nodded, allowing her tiny drip to fall back to its path groundward.

They reached the coffee shop very quickly. Before going in, Iris gave her mutation a final workout, and pulled the excess moisture away from both her body and Sebastian's. As they walked through the door, a little bell jingling overhead much too cheerfully, both mutants were all but dry.

And Iris's hair had lighted considerable, going from dark and wet, to dry and blond. She reached out to hang onto the door, and seemed to wobble a bit.

"Sorry. Side effect. Just got a bit dizzy," she said by way of explanation, and looked for the nearest booth to slip into.

Hylonme had been prancing through the rain, all alone in the beautiful wonderland that is Central Park, when some voices with more than the usual amout of emotion in them drifted into her ears. Walking up slowly, her natural human curiosity fighting her natural horse common sense the entire time, she noticed that one of the humans was holding some metal, and another one held what she recognized quickly as a knife. 'This can not be good' She thought, watching as the scene played out.

Hylonme's eyes widened when a strange man with a tail walked into the scene, and attempted to negotiate with the other men. During the quiet conversation, Hylonme noticed that the man sported a small horn on his head as well as a tail. 'This just gets wierder and wierder.'[/color]

Watching as the woman seemed to control the water and disarm the man with the strange metal object, and scared the other one away, Hylonme had the strangest feeling that the two people still there where like her, in some way. Shaking it off, Hylonme was about to follow the two people when another entered the scene. Squeaking loudly and covering her mouth when he stabbed the mugger, Hylonme cried silent tears for the man's soul.

Still weeping a little, Hylonme followed the man and woman that joined him until he saw the two mutants go into the coffee shop. At this point, her curiosity overwhelmed her common sense completely, both human and horse. Staving off all mental concerns, Hylonme pushed open the door and, after a little trouble due to her size, squeezed into the shop.

Standing on the right side of the man with the tail, the odor of wet horse steaming off of her, Hylonme shyly said "He- He- Hel- Hello. M- My name i- is Hy- Hyl- Hylonme." A combination of cold, wet, nervous, and shy caused her to stammer.

Melissa made her way to a nearby book store that was miraculously open. She was the only customer, and the cashier only barely glanced up from her own trashy romance novel when Melissa entered through the front door. She left her new acquaintance's umbrella by the door so she wouldn't drip water all over the floor, then meandered her way to a remote corner amidst the shelves. She pretended to glance at the titles of the books, but as her finger ran down the spines she removed the cell phone from the pocket and hit the send button. She held the phone to her ear and waited to hear what happened next.

---------

Sebastian took a deep breath to inhale the aroma of fresh coffee just as all the water droplets made their hasty exit from his clothing and hair. His intended inhale became more of a snort of surprise, which caused him to smile at his own silliness and at his water manipulating companion.

Her hair had dried to a blonde color. He could have sworn it was darker than that. She also wobbled a bit at the doorway. Sebastian frowned and reached out a hand to steady her.

>>>"Sorry. Side effect. Just got a bit dizzy."

“I see.” The look of concern had not left Sebastian's face. He did not, however, feel any healing energy itching to flow into her, so it couldn't be any ailment that was not of natural origin.

“Perhaps you should sit down, and I could get the coffee.”

Mmm... coffee. It was an acquired taste, but once one had taken the small amount of time to get acclimated to the somewhat bitter liquid, they could enjoy it for the rest of their lifetime, which was well worth it, in Sebastian's case. Especially now that there were multiple varieties of coffee, indeed the number of varieties grew so rapidly that even Sebastian might not get a chance to taste every single one.

He was about to ask which of the multitude of varieties she would like, when a rather large individual appeared in the doorway at his side. She was so tall that the top of Sebastian's head barely came up to her stomach, in the exact place where her body switched from smooth skin to the coarse brown horse hair that covered the lower three fourths of her body. The scent of wet horse was a very familiar one to Sebastian, and did not, at least in his opinion, mingle unpleasantly with the odors of the coffee shop. It was just a little out of place.

His eyes traveled up to her chest, up to her neck, up to her face; up and up and up. She was very tall. As tall as a knight on their charger. He couldn't tell from his low vantage point whether she was closer to eight feet tall or nine. From what he could see, she had a nice face, at the very least a pretty chin. She did have nice legs, very well formed and most likely very fast.

>>>"He- He- Hel- Hello. M- My name i- is Hy- Hyl- Hylonme.”
Had she come into the coffee shop just to introduce herself or was she a customer interested in the hot drinks? Perhaps both. At least, Sebastian assumed that the centaur woman was introducing herself to Iris and himself.

Sebastian bowed to her, “It is my pleasure to meet you, my lady. My name is Sebastian.”

Usually when a well oiled machine is running smoothly, Murphy comes from the skies and throws a monkeywrench into the gears, grinning from up on high at your chagrin of the situation. Roland pointed his eyes upward, mumbling.'Thanks Murph.' as his particular monkeywrench came in the form of a female centaur. Yes, a centaur. No doubt that roland seemed as surprised as many of the humans who were quickly finishing their cappucinos or just leaving altogether at the entrance of the human/horse hybrid. She was huge.

Roland took the opportunity of the mass exodus to push his way through the people and shake some rain off. He had noticed that a young couple and just been seated and a steaming hot cup of coffee remained near the exit, in a small booth , virtually untouched. He slid into the seat which faced the general seating area and grabbed a nearby newspaper, putting it in front of him .He moved the video monitor over to his left side, facing the main area of the shop and his microphone was firmly planted in the opposite ear.

He could no longer see Melissa as he scanned the dark and rainy exterior of the shop. There was no doubt that she was somewhere out there, though. He simply read his paper and sipped his coffee, waiting for his quarry and their giant companion to sit. He grinned a bit imagining where the centaur was going to sit. He hoped she didn't block his view or his hearing. 'Get up a bit earlier before trifling with me, Murph.', he thought to himself.

“Perhaps you should sit down, and I could get the coffee.”

Iris smiled gratefully. Switching back and forth between gems and her normal self often included her passing out. Simple lightheadedness was an almost delight change in pace.

”Thank you,” she replied as the door jingled again. ”That would b-“

"He- He- Hel- Hello. M- My name i- is Hy- Hyl- Hylonme."

Iris couldn’t help herself; her eyebrows shot up in surprise and a surprised squeak left her throat. ‘Hylonme’ was huge. And half horse. Did she mention huge?

It is my pleasure to meet you, my lady. My name is Sebastian.” The horned mutant didn’t seem to share the Iris’s shock, which was a good thing since she couldn’t yet form any words to say. She wished her mutation was still active, so she could take the appearance of a centaur in the same stride as the attempted mugging a few minutes earlier. She settled for waving and stammering out her name.

”I-I-Iris...”

The mass exodus partially brought her out of her amazement, and a frown crossed her face. She could understand surprise and shock; centaurs were not exactly an everyday appearance in the modern world. But this was New York. Gathering place of the Strange and Unusual.

She only vaguely registered the one man entering the café behind them, rather than leaving it.

“It is my pleasure to meet you, my lady. My name is Sebastian.”

The sudden rash action and nervousness fading, as well as the cold, Hylonme's voice no-longer shook, and a lofty scowl, as par her usual expression, once again covered her face. Only the slight swishing of her tail betrayed her nervousness and surprise of the horned man's calm acceptance of her. Not missing the questing looks around her body that Sebastian gave, and slightly taken aback by them, Hylonme responded calmly, if a bit bluntly. She just didn't do subtle.

"Well met, Sebastian. The pleasure is all yours." Despite being out of human contact for much of her life, Hylonme had a natural talent of disuading both ladies' men and even the casual male observer.

Almost ignoring Iris, as Sebastian did seem the more talkative and interesting of the two, Hylonme responded with a slight nod.

(ooc: I accidentally left Melissa's part out of Seb's last post, so I have now put it back in. It's nothing earth shattering or plot changing.)

The sound quality through the cell phone was impressive, for such a rainy day. Normally short-range transmission signals were all but useless in this kind of weather. Melissa couldn't wait to see what her new acquaintance could do once he he was on Mondragon's budget.

>>>“It is my pleasure to meet you, my lady. My name is Sebastian.”
>>>”I-I-Iris...”
>>>"Well met, Sebastian. The pleasure is all yours."
Her new acquaintance was quiet. That was to be expected.

Whomever this “Hy- Hyl- Hylonme” person was, she definitely had an attitude, despite her stuttering. Then again, Iris was stuttering now, too. Perhaps it was chilly in the coffee shop.

Melissa picked up a book off the shelf and flipped it open to a random page. Slowly she meandered her way to the window at the front of the shop and positioned herself at one of the bistro style tables, facing out into the rain.
-----------------------------
He had no idea that his attempt to see her face, towering three feet above his own had been interpreted as him checking her out. Nor did he realize that his attempt to be polite was interpreted as a pickup line.

So, Sebastian was a bit taken aback by the lofty centaur's reply. Considering she had interrupted them and introduced herself, and he had been as polite as he possibly could have been, he was a bit confused. He thought to himself that perhaps this was one of those New York cultural things that he still wasn't used to. Or perhaps she not being as rude as she seemed, and was merely using some sort of slang that all today's youth were using. At least, on the scale of rudeness, she was less rude than the people exiting the cafe simply because a unicorn, a centaur, and a tired young woman had come in to warm themselves up with a cup of hot liquid.

The short unicorn man was unsure of how to proceed, so he defaulted to politeness, as he usually did.

“We,” he indicated himself and Iris, “were about to order a cup of coffee. Would you care to join us?” He wasn't sure if she would want to sit or stand, but he knew Iris needed to sit down, so he steered her gently towards a small round table next to an aisle that already had three chairs around it and an empty side of the table facing the aisle. How ever the centaur wanted to do things, she was perfectly welcome to join them.

Setting up had been easy enough. The appearance of the centaur had caused plenty enough distraction. It had been a boon to his work to have things work out like that. Many times he wondered if he wasn't blessed by Lady Luck Herself. Too many things had either gone wrong or worked entirely in his favor in his career to not at least entertain the possibility. The three were exchanging courtesies, so to speak. Roland took the opportunity to cover his mouth and whisper, his hand cupping toward the microphone."Hylonme is a nine foot centaur."

"Well met, Sebastian. The pleasure is all yours."

Iris blinked, and looked down. She'd been staring at Hylonme, wide-eyed, which was almost as rude as the actions of the retreating humans. It was probably the reason the giant mutant had ignored her.

“We were about to order a cup of coffee. Would you care to join us?”

She looked up again and nodded, determined to redeem herself. "Yes, please do."

She moved to help Sebastian arrange the table appropriately, and waited for Hylonme to choose her seat first. Oddly enough, the 'wet horse' smell made her slightly homesick. Mentally she made a note to visit the Equestrian Center within the next few days, and spend the day riding. May Katrina would want to come along, and possibly Calley. She still owed the pair for saving her life back at the Labs.

“We were about to order a cup of coffee. Would you care to join us?”

Following Sebastians gesture, Hylonme saw an empty table with only two chairs at it. Almost perfect for their strange party.

"Of course, thank you. but I do have one question. What is coffee?" Hylonme said, confusion lining her face. She had neither heard of nor encountered this strange word, and was interested as to what it was.


(OOC: Sorry it's so short, don't have much time right now.)