Alex had just sidestepped a skateboarder after finishing his small speech, when he felt the energy he had built up lump down his arm towards Lori. Well, that answered the question of whether or not it was consiously controlled. Damn, and he had hoped that she really was interested in him, if only slightly.

He debated his options as they approached the street, only half listening to her reply. She was giving of the air of one defeated, but the insistent tugging on his built-up charge told a quite different story. Alex steeled himself as the steped of the curb. The Candle was just on the other side of the street. He felt her falter slightly as they left the sidewalk, then he acted.

Alex cut off his power, stopping the slow but steady build-up of power in his nervous system, and let the remnants jolt down his arm and into Lori's. He didn't feel any drain on his now-normal level mental impulses, and figured that she couldn't drain them through his skin and the telekinetic energies they carried.

When they reached the other side of the street, Alex turned toward his companion, wincing as he felt the light burns that marked where the energy had left his body. "Are you still up for lunch, or was 'that' enough for you?" He didn't try to hide the bitter tones in his voice. Ah well, he could still pop into the Candle for a bite. His brow furrowed. He would defintely need some Asprin.

The most fundamental problem with lies is that they have to be heard to be believed.

Unfortunately, Lori had the delicate control of a blind whale. What she thought might pass as subtle was apparently so obvious to Alex that the power struggle was foremost in his mind. More so than the lies. The snack of current was abruptly shut down behind an iron will. What a waste.

They took several steps together in silence before Lori noticed the difference in texture beneath her fingers. Alex was turning toward her with an angry air about him, but all she could see were the burns. The slick puckered skin on her palm itched.

"Are you still up for lunch, or was 'that' enough for you?" [/color]

"You're burned." She was starring at his forearm as if it had just appeared at the end of his elbow. She hated stating the obvious, but it really had surprised her. Such a drastic flaw in his design. She almost reached out to touch the skin again, but stopped herself. "I didn't mean to..." and she really hadn't. Her crystal bright blue eyes trailed up his arm as if the longer she took to meet the glasses, the easier it would be. "I didn't think..." It was as close as he would get to an apology, and much more of an admission than she normally allowed.

Burns were the worst of all injuries. They just F***ing hurt... and kept hurting long after they were treated. Lori moistened her lips with real nervousness. If she hadn't been so recently burned, she probably wouldn't have been so apologetic. "Wait... you still want lunch?" Now that was a real head scratcher. He was apparently still hooked. What? Did she have to stab him to send him running?

Alex's eyebrows furrowed as she pulled away, examining his burns. She didn't even seem to be aware of his question.

"You're burned...I didn't mean to...I didn't think..."

He was a bit taken aback by her sudden apology. She seemed regretful, but was she? Alex sighed. "Yeah, I'm burned. While my nerves can stand the extra current, my skin and flesh can't. Thus, when I push my charge out anywhere except my eyes..." He gestured at his arm. He ran his fingertips together. The tips of them had almost permanent callous-like burns. He no longer really felt pain when he pushed the current out of his fingers, but he sure felt it elsewhere.

"Wait...you still want lunch?"

Alex looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I haven't eaten anything since I asked you to lunch, so I am still hungry."Alex shrugged, letting his coat settle on his shoulders. "I am willing to give people second chances." He then lowered his voice to a whisper. " The atmosphere will be quite a bit colder, though." Through all of this, he kept his face impassive.

"...While my nerves can stand the extra current, my skin and flesh can't. Thus, when I push my charge out anywhere except my eyes..."

Lori pushed the fingers of her hand into the freshly scarred palm as she thought about what he'd said. He'd said nerves were his main capacitance, if she was understanding him correctly. Nerves. That was interesting because Lori just felt a sort of well of energy. Dip the bucket in and get what you need. That kind of thing. Alex's power just sounded more delicate. Perhaps it wasn't a grievous flaw, but a different manifestation. Lori knew that it was harder for her to keep her store of power in check where her moist and fleshy bits were concerned, though usually the current arced through her mouth, not her eyes. All this passed through her mind as she nodded along.

"What about taking power?" She was all shop talk and no remorse now. "Can you absorb anything safely? Maybe though the eyes..." She pondered to herself. When she next looked up at him he was arching his brow over the rim of his glasses.

"Well, I haven't eaten anything since I asked you to lunch, so I am still hungry... I am willing to give people second chances."[/color] Lori shrugged right back at him and reached for the door.

"Your loss." She could drop most of her pretenses now that he was cautious enough to try to see through the lies. He lowered his voice to a secretive level and only their relatively close proximity allowed Lori to hear what he was saying. "The atmosphere will be quite a bit colder, though."[/color]

Lori couldn't help it. She laughed. She laughed and it was hardy and sultry, yet somehow still slightly derisive. "Honestly, that's probably safer for you."

Lori was through the door and telling the maître d' that they would need a table for two before he could get much of anything else out. If nothing else they could have a pleasant conversation about power specifics now.

Alex followed Lori into the cafe and followed the maitre'd to a table. He glanced at her as they sat down. Lori hadn't seemed to be very apologetic for long. He shook his head as he looked at her and then glanced at the menu.

"To answer you question from outside, no, I really can't absorb any outside energy. I think the only reason I can stand the charge I generate is because I generate it." He glanced at her, especially taking note of her arm. It showed no signs of having had an electric charge surging into it. "What about you? Do you generate, or merely absorb?" He had never met another mutant with the ability to control or harness electricity.

Alex kept one eye glancing over the menu. The cafe's BLT variant looked to be rather promising.

A table for two is always a short wait and the cafe was slow enough that even in this close to the park, they got a seat almost immediately. Amazing. Miracles do happen. They must've slipped in between crowds.

Lori settled a bit uncomfortably into her side of the booth. She didn't typically blow this much cash in one spot. There was just something intrinsically wrong with paying 18 dollars for a sandwich that you could make at home. She felt a tenseness building between her shoulder blades. Well, if she'd had a home she could in theory have made a sandwich. That was a stupid thought. Okay, so she'd fork over the money, but she didn't have to be happy about it.

Lori busied herself with the flimsy plastic-coated menu, eyes scanning every word not just things that may have been of interest. "The glasses, Alex." She reminded him without even looking up. "People will think you're hiding a black eye if you keep them on indoors." She flipped the menu. She was an incredibly fast reader.

"To answer you question from outside, no, I really can't absorb any outside energy. I think the only reason I can stand the charge I generate is because I generate it... What about you? Do you generate, or merely absorb?"[/color]

"Absorb." She answered distractedly in a voice that clearly sounded like her mind was otherwise engaged, though as soon as she came to the end of the menu where the drinks were listed (4 dollars for a freaking Coke-a-Cola. These waiters had to make a pretty good haul judging by the prices.) a thoughtful look crossed her face. "Hmm. Actually now that I think about it, I may produce a very minor amount, but it would be negligible comparatively. For the most part, I must absorb it."

She'd worded it just perfectly so that it was not a lie and it did not necessarily exclude or suggest her other specialities. Lori pushed up her metallic bracelets so that she could rest her arms at the edge of the table while she examined some of the silverware and thought about the menu. It was a subtle hint at how she actually produced her energy. Major points if he got it, no big if he didn't. Most people had no idea about the intimate relationship between magnetism and electricity and Lori didn't exactly feel like giving a physics lesson.

The silverware didn't feel like real silver, but... it wasn't that nice of a restaurant. She lay the utensils beside the plate making sure everything was perfectly aligned before glancing up at Alex. She was tempted to stick out her tongue and blow him a raspberry, but that was entirely too childish for this place. It was nicer than that, but not nice enough for real silver. They actually had a live pianist playing Debussy's most famous. Not even Lori could hate that. When their smiling, bubbling waitress appeared for drink orders Lori ordered a water no ice, no lemon.

Alex sighed at her reminder about the glasses. He had hoped that she had forgotten. Alex reached up and popped the catches that kept the sunglass frames attached to his regualar glasses. It had cost quite a bit to get sunglass lenses that didn't look like they were clipped on.

"There you go." He looked at her for a moment so she could see his completely pale purple eyes, but she was studying her menu.

He glanced back down at his own menu. Yeah, he would have the BLT and a Sprite. He never could get into the taste of either Coke or Pepsi. He looked back at his companion as she 'explained' her power. She glanced up at him and fiddled with her metal bracelet. He wondered briefly if the metal was there to help her channel electricity as she absorbed it, but set that thought aside. It really didn't matter.

"I would like a Sprite, with ice. Thank you." The waitress left and Alex turned back toward Lori.

"So..." He let his voice trail off. He wanted to ask why she had suddenly seemed so enthusiastic about coming in, but felt that it would be rather rude. He settled for letting his shoulders drop and falling back against the booth's side.

Lori didn't bother acknowledging when Alex took off his glasses. It was one of her requirements. There was no need to reward a sluggish response to her demand. Lori like prompt obedience when it came to submissive personalities. He would learn. He would learn or he would leave.

He ordered a Sprite. A Sprite, the little girl of all carbonated beverages. Lori put her hands near her mouth to keep the grin from plain sight. It was around then that she caught his eyes. They were the faded color of the sightless, except that this man was obviously not blind. Interesting. Perhaps he'd had one too many a laser beam shoot out of the soft tissue.

"So..."

Lori chuckled against the fingers still held loosely to her lips. "My, my. Well, aren't we fascinating?" She leaned forward putting her elbows on the table as she waited for the waitress to return. "I suppose I could mention the obvious about your eye color if that would make you happy, though I don't think you should bother hiding it. Faded lavender is as good as any other as long as it gets the job done." Lori moved her hand back and forth watching the light reflection carefully to discern movement as he naturally changed to look at the gesture. She knew that he could see from his actions earlier, but a pure expanse of whitish eye was hardly a better read than the glasses. "... which it apparently does whether I can see it happen or not." Here came the tease, "Besides, I hear purple is very "in" this year."

The waitress returned and Lori frowned at the drink set in front of her. There was ice in it. No lemon, but that wasn't the important part. Condensation was not her friend. She edged the glass toward the waitress and away from easy spilling reach. She waited patiently for the bubbly girl to find her notebook and get all organized before she opened her mouth. Usually Lori was more understanding to people in service jobs because she had been there and done that. Except that she did make a special request.

Her eyes were unfriendly enough that the girl actually cringed a bit when she asked what Lori would like to order. "I would really like it if you could get me that water, no ice, no lemon, like I originally asked and for lunch I'll be having a Reuben." See? That was nice. She didn't even insult the girl's intelligence with anything more than her eyes and her tone. She'd been tempted to spell it out, R-E-U-B-E-N, but the waitress hadn't earned that much derision... yet. Hopefully she was nice enough or intimidated enough that there would be no spit in Lori's food. If Lori found a loogie there would be no more "nice" as far as she was concerned.

Alex laughed at Lori's obvious tease. He was glad that she wasn't freaking out over his eyes. He wasn't even sure why he thought she would be.

"Purple is in, huh? I'll take your word for it. I really don't keep up with those sort of things." He gave a small smile then turned to the waitress who had brought their drinks, and was waiting fo their order. Alex rolled his eye, though it wasn't really noticeable save for a raising of his eyebrows. The girl seemed to be very startled by Lori's biting response.

"Yes, I would like BLT with the Garlic-Blend sause on it. Thank you." He gave the girl a small reassuring smile, but she looked just as unnerved as before. Too late, Alex realized that his shades were off and she could see his eyes.

"Right sir. If you could hold your menu out to your left, I will take it for you." Her voice got a bit louder, as if to compensate for his supposed lack of vision. He sighed and held out his menu, which she took daintly, then headed to make up their orders.

Alex groaned after she was out of ear-shot. "And that is why I leave my glasses on in public areas. I hate being treated like a cripple." He shook his head and turned to look back at Lori. "So..." He smirked lightly and looked her right in the eye. "I must disagree with your early sentiments. Vibrant blue is most definitely the color of the season."

Lori waved off Alex's worry. She wasn't being nice, she just wasn't being stupid. Lori watched with growing contempt as the waitress belittle her companion with her ignorance. It was one thing to spew your idiocy all over the place. It was another to spew it specifically on someone. Lori narrowed her eyes at the waitress. The tip was definitely out. In fact, Lori was wondering how much she was willing to blow her status of laying low. Was it worth it just to see the Candle go up in flames? Not yet... unfortunately.

"And that is why I leave my glasses on in public areas. I hate being treated like a cripple."

"If people took the time to actually watch you, how you move and interact with your environment, they'd understand you aren't blind."

Alex was shaking his head though. He did, however, turn his full attentions back where they belonged with a smirk. His face was turned straight toward hers, but really it was hard to tell if she was maintaining eye contact or just looking into an expanse of purple.

"I must disagree with your early sentiments. Vibrant blue is most definitely the color of the season."[/i]

That earned him another short, barking laugh and more solid eye contact. "Oh, look who is playing it cool. I compliment your eyes and all sins are forgiven? Gee, not a single hail Mary required before you goes right back into flirting. It's rather refreshing, actually." Lori used her fingers to spin the knife against the table cloth underneath her hand. A flick of the wrist and it went spinning again. It was something to do while they awaited the return of their dim-witted waitress.

"Oh, look who is playing it cool. I compliment your eyes and all sins are forgiven? Gee, not a single hail Mary required before you goes right back into flirting. It's rather refreshing, actually."

Alex laughed and shook his head. "Like I said before, I believe in giving people a second chance, emphasis on a. You complemented my eyes, I returned it. Not to mention," He grinned wickedly, "that eye contact gives me a better shot if you do try and 'work your magic' on my powers." He winked to show he was joking.

He then frowned and steepled his fingers. "About what you said about people noticing I am not blind. It wouldn't be that big of a problem if people didn't have such a mutant paranoia around here. They see that I look blind, but can see, and think 'Oh my God, it's a mutant. He can see. I bet he can see through stuff. How dare he look at my girlfriend like that?' and it spirals downhill from there." He spoke from painful experience. During the registration, he couldn't use his powers, so when someone saw his eyes and figured out he was a mutant, he really couldn't do much except run. The people all seemed to forget that he couldn't use his powers, or maybe they just didn't care. Alex leaned towards the second explanation.

He shrugged and then smiled again. "But enough about that. I am sure you didn't decide to eat lunch with me to hear about my 'troubled past'. So...what..." He let a small dramatic pause break up the sentence, then finished it. "...is your favorite color?"

"Like I said before, I believe in giving people a second chance, emphasis on a." Lori seriously doubted the singularity of his forgiveness, but she let it slide. "You complemented my eyes, I returned it. Not to mention... that eye contact gives me a better shot if you do try and 'work your magic' on my powers." And to top it all off, he winked. Was this guy for real? Was she being set up? Lori looked around just in case. No one immediately suspicious jumped out screaming 'candid camera' or anything like that. No, apparently, people like this did actually exist outside of parody movies. Did he think himself smooth? Did she wanted to burst his bubble? Or enjoy his delusions?

She was so confused that she only had time to open her mouth for a witty remark before he was barreling on with more self-loathing dialogue. Because that's what it was, a sort-of self rehearsed bit on the sad state of his eyeballs and how obvious his mutation was. This one clearly needed some perspective. The way that he was droning on about himself and his woe was too much, she had to say something even if it wasn't what he would want to hear.

"I think you should count yourself lucky that you look at human as you do." 'and then get over yourself.' She added in her mind. "I mean... you could be red or half horse or something. So what if people think you're eyes are a little off? At least you're getting eye contact. You think if you were scaly that you'd even get that?" Lori was actually pretty shallow in her personal tastes, though not in the usual respects. She was rather indiscriminate about what people looked like as long as the displayed a certain amount of intellect and ambition. Alex obviously had some deep seated issues about how he was perceived (probably all mutants did since the Registration Act), but Lori wasn't here to babysit or bandage up his emotional boo-boo's.

"But enough about that. I am sure you didn't decide to eat lunch with me to hear about my 'troubled past'." She had to keep herself from exclaiming an 'Oh, thank God.' because she was just that relieved that he was dropping the topic. It was too heavy for a first encounter, too easy to pick a fight. "So...what..." He let a small dramatic pause break up the sentence. "...is your favorite color?"[/i]

"Yellow." She answered simply.

She smirked and spun the knife on the table cloth again, leaning back as the waitress returned with a more acceptable glass of water. Lori asked for a straw. A look of disbelief passed over the waitress's face, but after a moment of harsh eye contact she realized that Lori was indeed not joking, she passed that to Lori too. Finally, Lori assembled the necessary pieces so that she could safely imbibe her drink. None too soon. After this much walking and talking she was actually quite thirsty. Hopefully when someone refilled the now half-empty cup (yeah, yeah - so she was a pessimist), they would remember the no-ice rule.

Alex kept eye contact with Lori for more reasons just a quick target, or admiration of the varied colors of her eyes. He kept eye contact because you could always tell through eye contact when someone was interested, indifferent, or just bored with what you were saying. When he talked about her eyes and winked, her eyes narrowed and her saw suspision and confusion in them. When he talked about the reaction his eyes got, her own practically glazed over and then sparked with anger. She tore into him, though lightly, about how he was lucky to have such an obvious mutation. He nodded his head. He agreed with her points, but didn't feel that those mutants who looked vastly differently from humanity were worse off than himself or those who looked more human.

He did not try to argue his views with Lori, however. He was in no mood to try and alter someone's perspective, and knew it would be futile in anycase. Instead, he sat still and nodded again at her answer to his question. He waited until the waitress had left, looking more flustered than she had before, and then turned back to Lori.

"And mine is purple. Now, honestly, why are you here? What are you getting from this? You obviously aren't here because you are interested in me or my life. You aren't getting a free lunch or quick meal from it. So what is it you are wanting?" Alex was tired of trying to beat around the bush. He had tried to be polite. He had gotten haughty disdain and amusement. He had tried to be charming, or as charming as he could when his experience came from movies and overheard conversation. He had gotten suspision. He had tried to be open. He had gotten irritation. Alex folded his arms, trying for the life of him not to look like a petulant child, but he was getting nowhere. Lori had shown no indication of wanting to do anything but get some form of amusement from watching Alex stumble.

Alex winced for a moment as his vision distorted before returning. He had a rapidly increasing headache from the use of his powers. His vision was blurring, which was making him antsy. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He wanted nothing more now than finish the lunch and return to his apartment. Whatever he had hoped to do before by asking Lori here to lunch was forgotten.

Did he ask about colors because of the psychology behind them or was that just a vague Monty Python reference? Lori eased back in her chair and wondered about the man behind that expanse of lavender. It really pissed her off that she'd gotten him to take off his glasses and then the eyes beneath the cover were hardly more readable. Just her luck. Though the waitress was sufficiently thrown off balance yet again. Lori spared the girl's back a glance as she stalked off. Good to know Lori was at least ruining someone's day, someone who deserved it. Petty as it may be, it made her feel just a smidgen better.

"And mine is purple. Now, honestly, why are you here? What are you getting from this? You obviously aren't here because you are interested in me or my life. You aren't getting a free lunch or quick meal from it. So what is it you are wanting?"

Lori turned slowly back to Alex and gave him a long, slow blink that let him know that she'd had a barrage of information all at once and her mind was still processing it. Purple. The color of luxury and kingship, but also the color of his eyes. Did he like it for the creative and refined connotations? Or just for the eyes? He was displaying the sarcastic aloofness of a threatened purple person. Hmm. Color psychology was such a kick. She settled into a look that was less than friendly, though no where near as venomous as the eyes she had shown the slow-witted waitress.

"First of all, asking a woman if she knows what she wants is one of life's most futile ventures." She smiled. It was true. Hell if she knew why she liked picking on the weak willed. "Second of all, someone invited me to lunch." Her expression wilted around the edges and gave him doe eyes. She hadn't done anything bad enough to merit such ire. "And here I thought we were getting to be friends... can't a girl eat lunch in sociable company?" Yeah, so he had caught her lack of physical interest. But, honestly, she didn't want to baby sit him -- so if he would stop being such a baby, they could continue to have a nice civil lunch. Lori twirled the dull butter knife again watching the play of light reflect off of the shiny surface before looking back up to her lunch companion. "Wouldn't you rather we keep things civil here?" She smiled sweetly but the subtle threat was layered there in the friendly eyes. Friendly, blue eyes that were just a little too dead.

A different waiter brought out their plates and placed them in front of the appropriate person. He also refilled Lori's drink completely correct in its lack of ice. It was so nice when people complied. Even better when her simple requests were carried out efficiently. Perhaps this one would get a tip. She smiled to the man as he walked away before snatching up her pickle off of her plate and turning back to Alex.

Alex winced again as she stared at him. His headache was getting worse. He was going to have to power up again, regardless of whether the people around him saw or not, if he expected to get through this lunch.

"First of all, asking a woman if she knows what she wants is one of life's most futile ventures."

Alex blinked at that, trying to figure out what she was saying. He knew men didn't understand women, but did women not understand themselves as well? He shook his head, trying to clear it.

"Second of all, someone invited me to lunch. And here I thought we were getting to be friends... can't a girl eat lunch in sociable company?"

Okay, now he felt bad. Unless she was being sarcastic. Had they really been being all that sociable? Maybe. Alex shook his head again to try and clear his rapidly jumbling thoughts.

"Wouldn't you rather we keep things civil here?"

Now that was a threat. Alex could definitely tell that. But what was it a threat of? Was she going to attack him? Alex noticed that she was almost glaring at him. Was there some sort of message he was supposed to be getting? Maybe he should read her mind. But he couldn't do that. Could he?

"Arrrgghh!!" Alex slammed his forehead onto his bunched fists and called on his power. Sparks raced through his brain, staving off his building headache and clearing his muddled mind. Alex pinched the bridge of his nose to get rid of any residual hazyness, and then looked up at Lori, schooling his features to a more impassive tone. Sparks danced across his eyes, which he averted when the new waiter approached with their orders. Apparently, Lori had scared off the last one.

After the waiter left, Alex turned back to his companion. He gave a small, apologetic smile, but it probably came out more like a grimace."I am sorry. A drawback of hyper-charging the electric currents in my nervous system is a rather large headache and a great deal of disorientation afterward. The only was to clear it is to reactivate my powers or take nap. I doubted you would appreciate me falling asleep right after you finished talking, so I choose to re-start my powers." Alex took a deep breath. He was most certainly going to have to head straight home after this.

"Now, what is it you would like to speak about?" Alex idly picked up his sandwich and noted that they had added mustard and mayo to it. He sighed and took a bite anyway. This was the price of ordering a generic meal.