So, they'd decided to go out for coffee. Not that their hands weren't shaking enough already, thanks to the clones ... Aurum had decided on where. He would have left it up to the lady, but she was frazzled, running on emotion fumes. He figured right now, he'd let her settle down. Asking her to contemplate directions and location so soon after a traumatic experience like that would have just been rude. And rude was exactly what Aurum wasn't.

It hadn't taken long to find a location he'd deemed 'acceptable' for brewin' and broodin'. He'd been to the location many times before. They always had good service, and their mochas weren't half-bad. Kealey might have remembered it from a previous visit, but there was no way Aurum Mellitus could have known that. It was a nice little coffee shop, with an enclosed area off to the right of the building surrounded by light bushes and friendly decor. Metal tables sat with their feet curled in the courtyard, not too-far off the street. Aurum strolled up to the front counter, and looked the woman on duty in the eye.

"One mocha," He emphasized his order with a smile. "Medium." Aurum glanced to his blond accomplice, curious what she'd ask for. It was on him, either way. She'd been carried around like a sack of potatoes today. That was real tough. Buying her coffee was the least he could do.

Frazzled was the word a normal person would have used to describe the way they felt after something traumatic happened. Like a bank robbery. Frazzled was the way someone felt when their emotions were just on the edge of teetering completely out of control. Their hands shook, their breath hitched every time they tried to make a deep inhalation, and their vision swam occasionally. That was what frazzled meant to a normal person. Kealey Quinn was not a normal person…and that had not been a normal bank robbery.

There was only one place Kealey could remember feeling balls of emotion that intense, that focused, and that…centered. Venus, and later Mars. Abyss had been a little different, but then again, he was the center. The blend of them all. Who had these two been? Kealey filed away the information for later, her interactions with the brother who lived in her apartment building has been limited, but this would be worth checking out. Definitely. They had done things to her, those emotions, and mixed in with the panic from the other bank patrons, she’d probably almost gotten herself killed. Salvation had come from an unlikely source. A very unlikely source. The coffee boy, Aurum, had truly been concerned, and had really put himself in a dangerous position to protect her. Now she was numb.

It was almost like it had been after the fire, only Kealey didn’t have Jacen’s innately calming presence to buffer her from the everyday emotions of the outside world. She was numb, but the emotions of everyone else in the world flittered in and out of her consciousness, making her jump. Aurum was still shaken. Kealey felt bad for him.

She’d been quiet as he’d led her….somewhere. Coffee? Yes, she realized as she took a deep breath and looked around. There was something vaguely familiar about the shop, but it wasn’t registering in the blonde’s mind, there were also two people looking at her expectantly, the barista was getting impatient too. ”Same.” she said automatically.

They got the coffee, and Kealey realized too late that Aurum had paid for her drink. She frowned, that had been the last thing she’d really wanted. They were going somewhere now, being led by the barista and Kealey sighed a little with relief when it was a quiet corner of the shop. Proximity always helped, here she’d only have to deal with Aurum’s frayed nerves instead of the everyday mess of the New York populace. They sat, Kealey stared at the tabletop for a few moments before raising her eyes, a tight smile curving her lips.

”I owe you a big thank you…and a big apology.” she said softly.

>>”I owe you a big thank you…and a big apology.

"Don't mention it," Aurum tried to sweep the matter under the table. He'd had to. It was his duty as a man, so really. Putting his life on the line for a woman? It was fine. He was just glad things had turned out as positively as they did.

... Not that letting a bank robbery go on in front of their faces was a good thing...

But none of the hostages in the bank had been seriously hurt, at least. The workers the men had gotten to first, though... Aurum took a distracted sip of his coffee, and retreated. He didn't want to think about that. It certainly wasn't a subject polite coffee conversation allowed for. His nerves were shaken up enough, as it was. Like taking a beehive, and tossing it into a washing machine. There was rattling. There was buzzing. Another calming sip of coffee-meets-chocolate. There were drowning sorrows, bees getting washed away.

He smiled weakly at the blond again. He remembered the look on her face at the robbery. She'd been so scared. Abnormally so. More than the rest. And now...?

"How are you holding up?" He had to know. Right now, the number one thing they had in common was the after-robbery adrenaline high of 'fight or flight' and fear. It was times like these where connections were made, and they laughed about them... because laughter was better than crying, or keeping it bottled up.

She had mentioned it, and she probably would again. It was just the way Kealey did things. Another way she did things was getting herself into situations where men had to save her. The blond wondered for a moment if she had a damsel in distress complex, then cast it aside. It wasn’t like she ever put herself in these situations on purpose. It just so happened that she always ended up in the middle of them, and lucky enough that someone was always there to save her…and help pick up the pieces afterwards. That brought a shock of misery and the dull throb of the hangover headache back and Kealey sighed, taking sip of the mocha that had been sat in front of her.

Aurum really was shaken up, and as she sipped, Kealey looked over the edge of her cup at him. She’d gotten too used to being around Jacen. Normal people didn’t react to trauma the way that SWAT team people did. It made Kealey even more grateful, and sheepish. She’d really misjudged the man sitting across from her…even if he was a lecher.

He pulled himself from his thoughts and Kealey winced slightly at the question he posed. It was legitimate considering the way that she’d acted in the bank. It was still difficult to answer, though. After what had happened, would Aurum even want to know about more mutant powers? Kealey frowned and thought, though, he worked in a bookstore owned by a mutant and with several. There was no way the guy was a bigot, so the blond shrugged her shoulders.

”We’re not in a crowd of panicked people, so I’m okay. After all of that, I almost feel lonely inside my head.” She looked across the table again, ”What you did was really brave…I could feel how scared you were. That’s what I do, I feel emotions. You‘re still shaken., I can help that, you know.”

She was a mutant. That explained it. Aurum met her eyes gently. "I understand. Glad I picked a place like this, then." He'd just wanted to be alone with his thoughts (with company). Who knew she'd of wanted something similar? So, she was an empath?

Wait.

His mind lit up like the snap of a flash bulb, producing pictures of each and every time she'd been short with him, and he'd been smug. That, uh. Really did explain it. He chuckled sardonically at himself.

Way to go, guy. Wandering eyes, meet empath.

The flash of self-deprecation dimmed. She'd probably felt that too, huh? Aurum bowed his head for a second, to hide the faint smirk. When he looked back up, it was gone. "I had to. I really couldn't let you, or anyone, get hurt. I'll bet you felt that, too... believe me. I was kicking like a baby as my legs carried me up to the guy." He chuckled to himself. He'd be the first to admit his own weaknesses. "But still. Had to. And look what it earned me," He paused to take another sip of the mocha, then jiggled the cup. "Chocolate."

"... I'll bet you didn't know this about me, but my dad? He's... sort of an empath, too... except, instead of reading the feelings of the people around him, he absorbs everything a book has to say. Just one touch, and he takes it all in." His eyes hardened emphatically for a moment. He could understand. "Whenever he's done with a really heart-wrenching one, he always has to take a moment to compose himself... the raw emotion of the piece..."

He took it completely in stride. Kealey would have known if he hadn’t, he was digesting it though. Concentrating. A flash of understanding moved through Aurum and Kealey tilted her head slightly waiting to see what would happen next. It was like this for her sometimes, like reading a book or watching a television show. The play of emotions across a persons face as she felt the emotions themselves moving through them was almost transfixing. He felt guilty….no, not guilty….just more aware, in a slightly sheepish way? Kealey didn’t know what was going on, and she didn’t ask. That was something else she’d learned. Emotions were like a diary, just because she got to read them by her very nature didn’t mean that people necessarily wanted to explain what everything meant. Not at all.

He pointed out his inability to let anyone get hurt and Kealey’s head righted itself as she looked back at the man across the table from her. ”I’ve felt that way before. All it got me was stitches and a burned out apartment. I‘m glad you were there, though. Between the panic and the aggression from the robbers I couldn‘t get a handle on myself. It was just too much. I don‘t know what would have happened if you hadn‘t physically stopped me. He could have snapped me in two.”

Aurum kept talking and Kealey kept listening. Talking helped things, it always had. Putting words to the things that swirled around in her mind seemed to vent some of them, to pull them into sharper focus so she could deal. Aurum’s dad was a mutant, his powers made Kealey’s eyes widen. Reading a book just by touching it? She felt the empathy from the man. That was strange…feeling empathy….about empathy. She reciprocated.

”Does he lose himself in it sometimes? In the emotion?

He hadn't said anything to her offer to help with his frayed nerves. Kealey didn't now if it was because he didn't want her help, or if he simply hadn't understood. He'd calmed a bit though, probably in tune with the change of subject. Kealey left it alone, mood alternation was always better if it came naturally.

Stitches AND burned. It sounded like she had a pretty tough past. Again, the woman thanked him for being there. "I'm glad I was there to help," Aurum added thoughtfully.

With all that fire and fear and rage, he didn't have to stretch his imagination to envision how hard it must have been for her. He'd been there to see it first-hand. Really, Honestly, he was glad he'd been there to help. Because once again, Hey, Chocolate~ And bonus chivalry points, too.

It felt like a good moment to share something personal, since she'd just opened up about all the emotions she'd felt, so he did. He told her about his father. That man who'd raised him, and taught him more about mysteries and literature than he could ever repay.

Her eyes widened, and she asked.

>>”Does he lose himself in it sometimes? In the emotion?"

Aurum nodded. "Sometimes. Or he gets so ramped up about the end of the book he can't contain himself. It makes it real difficult avoiding spoilers." Aurum paused as an amusing thought struck him. He did his best not to hide the smirk. "Sometimes, he'll read a book, and after he's done, just sit there, silently, with this stupid grin on his face. My mother takes one look at him, clicks her tongue, and mutters 'I'm going to have to read it now, aren't I?' He looks her dead in the eye, and replies daringly. 'It's that good.'"

All the empathy from such an unlikely source was starting to throw Kealey for a bit of a loop. He was surprised by her tale of being a good Samaritan, and Kealey chuckled and shook her head. People had a tendency to underestimate her life experience, that and her ability to take care of herself. It wasn’t really all that surprising, if she was honest with herself. Especially after episodes like today, but Kealey knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. At least most of the time.

All the empathy was getting a little strange, though. Kealey hadn’t ever expected to find that she had so much in common with someone she’d so completely disdained. Aurum was explaining situations that Kealey had felt. Not through books, of course, but she’d gotten lost in the emotions like that too, it was just too easy sometimes. The last story made Kealey smile, the numb mask falling away in favor of a broad grin and a chuckle.

”I can understand that. Sometimes, I find myself doing the strangest things based on the feelings from people around me. In my old apartment, the people above me had a baby…I would get so upset sometimes…for no reason…or hungry. I couldn’t figure out why. Then I’d hear the baby crying.”

Kealey shook her head, then tilted it slightly, looking at Aurum, ”So you’re not…special? No hidden talents?”

>>”I can understand that. Sometimes, I find myself doing the strangest things based on the feelings from people around me. In my old apartment, the people above me had a baby…I would get so upset sometimes…for no reason…or hungry. I couldn’t figure out why. Then I’d hear the baby crying.”

"That's intense," Aurum replied. "You were feeling what the baby was feeling? That's gotta be... something." Entirely self-indulgent emotions, all 'me, me, me'. Babies had wants. They got what they wanted. Otherwise, they screamed.

In a related story, Ami had screamed. That's how he knew. Come to think of it, she still screamed sometimes. That probably had less to do with being a baby now, though, and more to do with being a teenager.

Strange.

Kealey eyed him. Aurum's right eyebrow crept upwards on his brow.

>>”So you’re not…special? No hidden talents?” She asked.

A single 'heh' escaped him. Aurum shook his head. "Not unless you count being able to juggle soccer balls, or cooking one heck of a meal." Or reciting legal precedents, he reminded himself. He left that last one out.

Kealey nodded her head to Aurum’s observation that being around a baby was probably intense. Intense hadn’t really been the word to describe it, the baby had been why she’d called Jacen that first time. They’d eaten a hamburger, then gone to the top of the Empire State Building, then to the docks…the smile died a quick death on Kealey’s lips. ”Very intense. In my experience, babies can really only feel one thing at a time. They’re easy that way…nothing conflicting. Grown ups are much more difficult…especially if they’re feeling something that’s in direct opposition to my own feelings. I can’t help but echo it. It’s….upsetting.”

He seemed to squirm a bit under her scrutiny and Kealey looked back steadily as Aurum answered her question about his genetic make-up. It was her turn to be surprised, though Kealey didn’t really know why. Aurum looked athletic enough. Soccer skills weren’t an incredible stretch of the imagination. The other ,though, that was interesting.

”You don’t exactly strike me as the culinary type.” Kealey said, the smile back and tugging at her mouth as she took another drink of her coffee. At some point the headache had abated, that was a welcome change, ”Maybe wings and TV dinners…but what did you say? ‘One heck of a meal?’ I‘m skeptical.”

"I could always demonstrate," Aurum replied confidently. "I'll have you know I take great pride in my cooking abilities. Growing up with a mother in catering, and a family-owned restaurant, it'd be far less realistic for me to come out without a single in the realms of cooking." He held up a boasting finger as he elaborated on his family's role in preparing him to prepare tasty treats.

Then a thought struck him. He paused. His eyes opened to focus on her, seriously. "Wait a minute... you're telling me you haven't tried any of the coffee I've made, in all your times at Full Circle?" She'd been in and out of the shop often. Practically all the time. Aurum held a hand over his heart in mock-pain. "I'm hurt," He grinned.

There it was, that confidence that Aurum simply oozed that Kealey had found so repulsive in the past. It was almost shocking how utterly sure the man was in his abilities. Was it possible that he really was that good at cooking? He had to be at least decent if he was willing to demonstrate. Demonstrate. Kealey raised an eyebrow and tilted her head again, studying the emotions on the other side of the table. Pretty much just the confidence. Then, slightly startled disbelief.

As Aurum explained that he came from a family that apparently harbored many culinary artists, Kealey smiled. People always talked about their families like that, like there was something inherent in the skills they got from one another. ”You’re lucky. I didn’t get a chance to learn about my family legacy.”

The coffee comment gave the blond pause, though. She’d been in the coffee shop loads of times while Aurum worked, surely she’d had his coffee as often as she’d had anyone else’s. Obviously this was going to be a sticking point. The smile on his face said he was joking, but Kealey could feel the underlying pride in his work. Even if it was only coffee to her…the designs she put together were probably only clothes to some people.

”Coffee is an entirely different thing from food.” she said a little defensively, then continued with a sheepish admission, ”Besides, in the past, I’ve had a tendency to avoid the coffee bar when you’ve been there.”

>>”Coffee is an entirely different thing from food.” She defended. ”Besides, in the past, I’ve had a tendency to avoid the coffee bar when you’ve been there.”

And then, there was the arrow. Aurum sighed. "That's right... really. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to come off like a pig." Though, had he ever actually said anything rude to her? It wasn't like he'd been thinking anything indecent, just that she was attractive. And he was a guy. Could he use the 'guy defense'? ... It was probably a fallacy, he concluded. If he'd known anything he thought or felt could, and would be held against him, he'd have zipped the metaphorical lip. "Do I get a lawyer on this one?"

He was misunderstanding. Kealey had meant it when she’d said that not only did she owe him a thank you, but an apology as well. She shook her head, surprised at the fact that he was actually apologetic as he explained what had gone on in his head. Now it was Kealey’s turn to blush.

”Don’t apologize to me. Really.” she said, dropping her eyes to the cup she held between her hands and raising it to take a slow drink while she tried to puzzle out exactly what she wanted to say.

”It’s just that…I’ve learned to associate certain feelings with certain types of people. Even if those feelings are….normal.” the blond fumbled for words, sighing and reaching up to run a hand through her hair. Her cheeks colored even more and she looked up, ”Can you imagine what it’s like to know what a person’s first impression is of you? And then everyone else they meet? ”

Kealey sighed, they were edging towards dangerous territory and her already frayed nerves steered her stubbornly in a different direction.

Hmm. It seemed that they were both sorry. Aurum took another sip of his coffee, neglecting to think the stray thought of the narrator, 'sorry fools'.

>>”Can you imagine what it’s like to know what a person’s first impression is of you? And then everyone else they meet? ”

"I'd imagine it would be pretty tough," Aurum replied, turning his cup distractedly in his hands. "Like reading minds. It's one of the reasons I've never wanted to be a 'mind-reader'." And for those on the receiving end of that 'mind-reading'... Aurum imagined they'd feel cheated, or that it were 'unfair'. Heck, if he were pettier, he'd have stomped his foot and pointed 'foul move'. He wasn't. His emotions never went there, either. He realized they were getting into deep issues now, and they were already both sorry and tense enough.

"So, coffee..." He changed the subject. No use putting the poor girl in a tough place. "It is different than dinner. Or lunch. You hungry?" He looked up from his coffee cup at her. The butterflies were finally receding in his stomach. That meant an empty belly. He really could go for something good...