Against her better judgment, Alma had gone to the City. Of all places—she could have high-tailed it to L.A., gone to Vancouver, or Chicago… could have ventured to a small town in the middle of nowhere, slipped into obscurity until things died-down. She could have, and probably should have, but New York City had felt the safest. If her uncle’s reputation didn’t save her, here, the tight-knit mutant community would, so long as she broadcasted the fact that she wasn’t exactly human.

Alma had caught a bus away from the airport, snuck onto it through the back door, got a ride to a hotel that she couldn’t afford. Alma had found somewhere with lower costs—a hostel where beds were twenty-five dollars a night, with amenities including an in-room locker for her to stash her things in. There were obvious priorities—find another place to go, if she decided to go elsewhere, or get a job and find a place to stay, if Alma stayed. But having flown-in to New York City the day before, Alma wouldn’t bother with the more serious matters, yet.

Today’s goal, scope the comic book stores. She’d already been to one, thus far, and was now venturing towards “One Comic to Rule Them All”. As she strolled across the parking lot, the smaller shadowy creatures trailed after her like ducklings, bustling into one another and occasionally stumbling over their own to feet, only to get up and continue to follow their master onward. Somewhere in-transit, the larger ones had been lost.

As she stepped into the air-conditioned store, Alma pushed her sunglasses up onto her forehead, looking around shrewdly. It was clean in here. Professional. No extraneous boxes, or as she could tell so far, no bizarre stains on the thin carpet. These were surroundings that Alma could grow accustomed to. But what sort of selection do they have? Sure, the store was big enough to do any nerdy heart—however secretive it might be—proud, but were there as many books as there seemed to be?

The short, wooden heels of Almas’ knee-high boots gave muffled clicks as she strode towards the far wall, eyes skimming the shelves for a series with which she was familiar. She stuck-out like a sore thumb—fashionably-oversized blouse over fitted black jeans, brown leather boots, well-kempt hair and a face that was adorned with make-up seamlessly. She wasn’t exactly the image of your stereotypical comic-book nerd, nor did she look the part of a homeless person, either. Alma hummed, and began picking through what seemed to be a familiar series.

The bodachs preoccupied themselves clambering onto the lowest shelf, near Alma's feet, pushing off other bodachs that tried to cross into their territory. Alma did her best to ignore them as she continued her search.

Another successful promotion day! Akshay was actually a little happy that this day turned out well, especially considering that he was now the new owner of this fine establishment. It was funny, when he told his fellow workers that he was buying the store, there was a collective sigh that finally the costume wearing was going to come to an end. But, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Akshay, being the experienced cos-player that he was, kept the promotional day costume wearing! And he did so with gusto.

Today, Akshay had decided to dress as one of his favorite heroes… Red Raptor, and damn was he able to ROCK the costume.

He had toiled and spent in order to make the costume as accurate and true to comic as possible. The fine, molded leather, the exact colors, the correctly seemed pants, even the cape was made from scratch but looked professional enough to be in a movie. Yes, even as the owner of this store, he was not a man that was going to go cheap with any of his costume makings. Yes…he perfectly embodied the vigilante hero that took on the name of a bird.

Akshay had his collapsible staff tucked safely into the utility belt while he hauled out another set of boxes that was bustling with new issues for the month. Now that the crowds had died down after the initial opening, Akshay could start bringing out some more inventory to replace those items that were sold or given away. It was time to take a breather and restock for the next possible wave of people…

…but as he stepped out from the back room, he suddenly came to a halt when he noticed that there was someone else in his comic shop. At first he couldn’t see them clearly because he was trying to keep the boxes in his hands from toppling over. He did notice that the person was female, which of course required his utmost attention….

“Sorry! Be right with you,” he said lightly as he turned to set the boxes down. Once he turned he turned back the woman, puffed out his chest to seem more superhero-like and sauntered over. “Welcome to One Comic to Rule Th—“

He paused, tilted his head, and peered at the woman through the mask cover his eyes. She…looked so familiar for some reason…

One of the stores’ employees circled-in on Alma and welcomed her chipperly. Merde, Alma breathed mentally. Couldn’t a girl just… look at books casually without getting attacked squirrely comic book store people. When she looked up, she wore a hesitant smile, and came face-to-face with a guy in perhaps the best cosplay she’d ever seen.

“Tom Blake’s Red Raptor costume,” Alma murmured with a flash of a smile, allowing herself a moment to spew her opinion on the cosplay, “For the new game that’s coming out? I’d wager, the costume is far more comfortable than the conventional Red Raptor costume.”

With the mask on, she didn’t have that same instance of recognition. Rather, there was a momentary pause when she saw that the boy was inclining his head at her. Her own eyebrows inclining. Perhaps he was baffled by the fact that a girl with her looks was rattling-off so much knowledge.

“Or Darien Lane’s costume,” Alma murmured, “At least he gets to wear full-length pants.”

She cleared her throat awkwardly. She was digging herself a deeper hole, and was feeling a touch embarrassed. The bodachs watched inquiringly, chirping at their master's unease.

“Either way, the costume’s great,” she mumbled, “Totally spot-on.”

She turned back to the bookshelf uncertainly, beginning to thumb through the comics that were already on-shelf.

There are few moments when Akshay is a truly stunned man. The first such incident was when he found out he was being adopted as a kid, then it was the discovery of his powers, his last was when Emerald kissed him for the first time. Since then, though, Akshay had been pretty easy going go and took a lot of things in stride. But today, was just another day to add to the stunned list. He didn’t know why, or what was the reason, all he knew was that as he stood there, staring at this young woman, he found himself speechless.

Yes, she was beautiful, but it was more than that. There was a familiarity there that he just couldn’t quite put his finger one. There was something about her face, her hair, her eyes that rang with a sense of knowing. He KNEW her; at least…that is what he thought. For whatever reason, there was something about this woman that seemed connected with his past.

But how? He shook his head back to reality as he tried to listen to her talk, as well as place her face. If he couldn’t, he knew that it was going to drive him crazy.

>> “Tom Blake’s Red Raptor costume...For the new game that’s coming out? I’d wager, the costume is far more comfortable than the conventional Red Raptor costume…Or Darien Lane’s costume…At least he gets to wear full-length pants.”

…yeah…he was in love.

Well, not really! But yeah, kinda sort of.

He shook away the foolish thoughts as he began to giggle almost like a shy school girl. It was just so odd hearing such beautiful words from someone as young and attractive as this woman here. Most the comic nerds that he knew, were either A) not that well versed in comics but were pretty, or B) knew absolutely everything about comics but kind of lacked in the visual department. Not that it matters! All people are beautiful in their own way, but for Akshay it was just so rare to meet someone like this woman here.

But it was the realization of that that made him question her identity again. Just, who was she? Why did she look so familiar?

>> “Either way, the costume’s great…Totally spot-on.”

“Thanks,” he finally managed to choke out. But as he took a quiet step closer to her, he suddenly felt his heart sink into his stomach. He was getting flashes, images of a young girl that he once used to know. Her eyes, her hair, it was connecting the dots to someone that he used to know…someone named…

He blinked as he narrowed his eyes to her.

“S…Sophia?”he whispered…

Alma fussed with her hair, still thoroughly embarrassed by her nerdy little outburst. She could hear her mother’s grating voice grinding in the recesses of her subconscious—it was shouting that women should never read comic books, nor should they play video games. Such endeavors were frowned upon. Of course, Alma never listened. She just internalized her tirades whenever possible. The costumed boy gave a sputtered thanks at Alma’s hasty compliment, and a faint grin touched the girl’s face. Sometimes, it was highly amusing to interact with her fellow-nerds. Highly amusing, indeed. Alma finished thumbing through one stack of comics, moved onto the next, shifting her gaze towards the clerk uncertainly.

He was still standing there, staring, as if he expected the girl in front of him to vanish on the spot. Alma looked around in mild confusion, then at her own feet. Nope, she was still there.

>> “S…Sophia?”

Now that made Alma pause. Almas’ eyebrows leapt up inquiringly, before she gave a funny, quirked grin. That was more than just a coincidence—of all the names to drop, the clerk had dropped her sister’s name. Either they’d attended school together, which seemed more probable than the second idea that Alma entertained—that she should have known this guy, too. Or perhaps it was just a lucky guess.

“No,” Alma said lightly, her hazel eyes dancing in amusement, “My sister’s name is Sophia, but the mistake is totally common. We have been mistaken for twins.” Contrary to the two-and-a-half-year gap that split them up. Alma was a taller, thinner doppelganger of her sister, though not personality-wise. She shifted her gaze at the guy, as if trying to discern the face beneath the mask. She didn’t want to be too hasty about asking questions of him. If Alma was supposed to know him, but asked how he knew Sophia, she’d look like an idiot. But if she pretended to recognize him, and wound-up not knowing who he was, she’d still be an idiot. It had been ages since Alma had seen Akshay’s face, so it would be a stretch for her to recognize him, particularly with fifteen-or-so years added onto their faces.

The best route would be introductions. Besides which, she was relatively certain that the guy was cute under the mask, so exchanging names didn’t sound like a horrible idea.

“My name is Alma,” Alma said simply, extending a hand towards the clerk, “I’m going to be in-town for an undefined amount of time, so saw fit to look about for potential haunts. Such as comic book shops.”

Akshay just could not shake the thought. As he stared at this young woman he saw someone from so long about that she seemed more like a dream now than an actual person. The odds of this being the same person were so astronomical that they simply couldn’t be true. As a matter of fact, the young wordsmith was beginning to chastise himself for actually calling her that name. What right did he have to assume that she was someone else? She was just another paying customer, that was all.

He took a breath and tried to shake away the thoughts. It was time to get his head back into the game and selling comics. After all the customer always came firs--

>> “No…My sister’s name is Sophia, but the mistake is totally common. We have been mistaken for twins.”

There was a moment at which Akshay felt a bit of relief. He was wrong and then he could simply move on from this. It would be awkward for a second but then they could move on to talking about comic books and then a possible sale. But, just as he was settling into this train of thought…she continued.

Sophia…was her sister. Instantly that sent Akshay for a whirl. And it was such a bad whirl that he almost didn’t hear the rest of her statement.

>> “My name is Alma, I’m going to be in-town for an undefined amount of time, so saw fit to look about for potential haunts. Such as comic book shops.”

Alma…Sophia…the dots and connections were coming so fast that the wordsmith could scarcely keep track of them. He wanted to say that it was all just a coincidence, or that maybe it was just a figment of his imagination, or even that he was just having a dream…but no. All this, all of it, it was reality. His world spun as he felt his memories momentarily overtake his vision…

***

A twelve year old Akshay nodded as Sophia ran off to play with some of the other girls from the neighborhood. Akshay always thought that Sophia was so pretty and tended to be her slave and do whatever she asked of him, even if it never garnered her genuine attention. According to his twelve-year old logic, so long as he did what she asked then he was her friend! And “friend” was only one word away from “boyfriend”!

But…his actions were not completely selfish. As he walked across the park, he smiled as he watched the young Sophia clone, her 7 year old sister, sitting under a tree by herself holding open a comic book. It was last month’s issues of “Raccoon Man” that he had lent her. He liked talking to Alma. Even if she was young and quiet, she was actually pretty fun to talk to…for a girl. At least she was pretty open to comic books that he was teaching her, unlike her sister.

He beamed when she caught sight of him and plopped down next to her on the ground, back against the tree.

“Hey Llama,” he beamed as he eyed her comic. “Wow, already finished huh? Well, good thing…” he said as he produced another comic from his backpocket. “I already got this month’s issue! Want to read it together?”

He smiled as the smiling face of Sophia’s younger sister nodded eagerly and leaned in eagerly to read…

***

Akshay blinked twice as he suddenly returned to normalcy. He remembered to breathe as he peered at the woman who seemed to be standing there, a little uncomfortable from all the attention. There was simply no way that it was her, just…none at all! But…damn she looked like a grown up version of her sister so what were the odds that she weren’t? No…he had to test this…and there was only one way…

Reaching up, he grabbed the edge of his eye mask and slowly pulled it off. As he did, he revealed his true face to her. Gently he moistened his lips, took a breath, and called her the one thing he knew that no one else in the world called Alma…

“Llama?” he inquired…

Alma was quite patient when it came to people who stared awkwardly at her—she was actually quite used to it, because it happened to her with an alarming frequency. But… this guy really took the cake when it came to awkward stares. He seemed to space-out for a few spells, as if about to come to an incredible realization, and Alma began to retract her hand. Weird, weeeeird guy.

Alma turned stiffly back to the bookshelf, wondering if this was a store she’d come back to in the future—or if she did, if she’d have to wear some sort of indescribably modest outfit, or a disguise. This would be a difficult selection to part with—the comic store was a total goldmine, she could already tell—but would Alma overlook the weirdness of the costumed clerk for the sake of comics.

The guy came around after a few heartbeats, prying off his mask. He was about to speak. Alma looked at him hesitantly, eyebrows raising into fine arches.

>> “Llama?”

Llama, Alma echoed mentally? What in the big, wide world did llamas have to do with anything? Or was her name Alma pursed her lips in confusion. Slowly, gradually, the pieces began to fit together, until the lightbulb seemed to flick on in the young woman’s head. Now that she thought about it… his face did look vaguely familiar, if not older than she remembered… Alma inclined her head.

“Akshay, is that you?” she inquired, a grin touching her features. It had to be him. No one else in their right minds would call Alma that unflattering name—nobody else did, “No way! It’s good to see you!”

No wonder he’d be staring at her so strangely! Alma found herself pulling the young man in for a hug, her excitement spurring her forward. Okay, maybe that was a little too intense for a guy you hadn’t seen in over ten years, but Alma was too pleased to care. Alma quickly released him, and inquired, “How have you been? What have you been up to?”

God, he had changed so much-- no longer was he the gangly, goofy-looking boy from Buffalo that Alma remembered. That kid who'd crushed on her sister (in a way that was overt, even to a seven-year-old), but ultimately wound-up spending more time with the younger of the two Elizondo girls. In fact, it could be safe to say that he was entirely at-fault for Alma's persistent obsession with all things nerdy, as they often spent many a-day reading comics together. They were good memories, happy times that were a stark contrast to how insane things had become recently.

For a moment Akshay felt like maybe he was wrong. He had tested his theory, by calling this young woman the name that he had always known Alma as, and it seemed to be proving wrong. The lady looked confused, as if he were accusing her of being a llama or something. Nah, there was no way that Alma would have forgotten that name. Obviously, this woman was not her.

With an apologetic look he started to open his mouth to say how sorry he was. But, there was a flash of recognition across the woman’s face. Puzzle pieces were coming together and suddenly Akshay knew that he was not wrong. This was Alma.

>> “Akshay, is that you?”

He suddenly grinned, wide, and nodded his head eagerly. His mind was whirling as her began to realize exactly who this person was. Alma, a friend from before he actually came to New York; a person he never thought in his wildest dreams he would see again; Alma, his only real friend from when he lived in his foster home. She was actually here, standing before him, in the flesh and blood.

If he were not in more control of himself, Akshay would probably be bouncing on his heels! And, thankfully, that enthusiasm seemed to spill over onto Alma.

>> “No way! It’s good to see you!”

“Llamaaaaa!!” he laughed heartily as he accepted the hug.

Though it may have seemed weird for these two grown ups to act like this, especially since they barely recognized each other, Akshay didn’t mind in the least. To him this was like unearthing a sister that he had long ago left behind. Though, at twelve he could have sworn that he was in love with her sister, in reality he actually cherished the time that he had with Alma. There was a vast difference in their ages but she was still considered one of his best friends. That was why it hurt so much when he did get adopted and had to leave.

He truly never thought that he would see her again! And yet…here she was!

Finally his arms loosened from hugging her and they pulled away from each other. He was still all smiles as he looked down at her. He couldn’t believe that the little seven year-old he knew in Buffalo actually grew up into a young woman! It was ludicrous thought!

>> “How have you been? What have you been up to?”

“Haha! Fine! I’ve been living here since I was adopted!” he grinned wide. “This is actually my comic shop you managed to wander in! As in, I own it.” he beamed proudly! But it still looked funny considering that he was still in his superhero costume. But the puffed chest and the demeanor of pride slackened a bit as he turned the attention on her. “What about you? What’re you doing in town? Have you moved here?”

He hoped so. They were a good friends. And people could always use good friends in their lives.

The grin confirmed it—this was Akshay. That Akshay. Alma listened as he spoke excitedly, wearing her own delighted smile. After all that had gone on recently, it was such a pleasant change of pace-- such a lovely surprise-- to see an old, friendly face.

>> “Haha! Fine! I’ve been living here since I was adopted! This is actually my comic shop you managed to wander in! As in, I own it.”

“Ah, that’s amazing!” Alma exclaimed, “And so you.”

It really was quite the predictable job for Akshay—it would seem that he hadn’t changed a bit since he’d been adopted. How very fortunate for him. Alma’s smile grew more subdued as the conversation turned back towards her, and she adjusted her hair coolly.

>> “What about you? What’re you doing in town? Have you moved here?”

“Possibly,” Alma said cryptically, her grin returning, “See, after you were adopted, Dad accepted a job up in Quebec and we’ve been there since. And… I decided that I missed the States, so I’m looking to see if there’s a way for me to come back.”

Alma shouldered a shrug. That wasn’t a total lie, nor was it the exact truth, “So for now, I’m just visiting, but that could change. I hope that it does.”

The second part, however, was wholly factual.

>> “Ah, that’s amazing! And so you.”

“Isn’t it, though?” he chuckled in response.

Akshay beamed proudly.

For anyone that knew him, including this young woman, there was obvious truth him her statement. Even since he was a kid, Akshay had been addicted to comics, and most things nerd related. He loved it all and reveled in it. So it was of little wonder that he would fall into this type of career. Alma knew this side of him since he was a kid; she knew that he loved comics to such a degree that he would somehow make a living out of it.

But, enough about him. He turned his attention onto Alma and smiled as he waited for a response. This was sincerely the last place that he would have ever expected for her to be.

>> “Possibly…See, after you were adopted, Dad accepted a job up in Quebec and we’ve been there since. And… I decided that I missed the States, so I’m looking to see if there’s a way for me to come back…So for now, I’m just visiting, but that could change. I hope that it does.”

Akshay arched his brows as he listened to Alma talk. Quebec? She had moved up to Canada? Was she a Canadian now? There was nothing wrong with that but it just seemed like such a change for someone so young. What, she had to be at least eighteen or nineteen by now, right? And suddenly she wanted to come back to the states? Well, obviously America would be only too happy to have someone as beautiful as her back, but still it made him wonder why she seemed so distant about the idea.

Her smile, though, disarmed him enough to let the expression disappear. He grinned as she explained that she was ready to come back. He hoped it was true; he genuinely did love having her as a friend.

“Well, I certainly hope you do decide to stay,” he smiled warmly. “We have loads to catch up on!”

Alma kept careful eye on Akshays’ expressions, though her eyes maintained their sparkle. He seemed perplexed by the move up into Quebec, as well as Alma’s sudden return. That was a subject upon which the young woman would not touch. Not now, anyways. The look quickly left his expression, though, as Alma confessed that she hoped to stay.

>> “Well, I certainly hope you do decide to stay. We have loads to catch up on!”

“Definitely,” Alma agreed, grinning broadly, “Perhaps we could get some coffee, some time?”

It was an innocent request, and something normal that Alma would often do with friends, in her most recent years. Her gaze wandered past Akshay for a moment, tracking a few meandering bodachs with her eyes. They were milling about absently—and, thankfully, not toppling things over or causing too many problems. Her attention returned to Akshay.

“Or, you know—something,” Alma said casually, “I don’t know too many good places to eat around here.”

God forbid that they get fast-food.

>> “Definitely…Perhaps we could get some coffee, some time?”

Akshay was ecstatic! There was absolutely nothing more that he wanted then reconnecting with his old best friend. Though they didn’t know each other for the entirety of their lives, they had still formed a strong enough connection that just being in her presence again made him giddy. Not that he was attracted to her (even though she was rather pretty), but she was a friend from his past, a part of his life that he barely connected with anymore.

Sometimes it was good to have a reminder from where you came from. Akshay was only too happy to have Alma back in his life, for however long she managed to stay this time.

>> “Or, you know—something…I don’t know too many good places to eat around here.”

He nodded enthusiastically!

“Of course! I know the best burger joints in town!” he beamed. “But if that doesn’t catch your fancy, I know plenty of other places too. Just…so good to see you.”

Akshay grinned as he suddenly hugged her again. There was something to be said about hugging someone from your past, one of the only people to ever make your past worthwhile. He happy to have her back and hoped that she would stay.

A smirked crossed his lips, though, as he leaned away from the hug and eyed her closely.

“So, PLEASE[/b] tell me…you ‘re going to start reading my own comic,”[/color] he said with a grin. “Otherwise, I may have to disown you.”

Alma smiled winningly, nodding her head as Akshay excitedly announced that he knew where some of the best burger joints were around town, and they could go elsewhere if Alma wanted—it was just so great to see her. And then, he went to hugging her again.

Burger joints were kind-of hit-and-miss. Some of them were really disgusting, but there had to be at least one or two in-town that weren’t absolutely horrendous. Besides which, spending time with perhaps her only friend in the city was worth stomaching your way through fast food.

“Burgers would be lovely,” Alma agreed, her tone betraying no degree of her apprehension about fast food.

>> “So, PLEASE tell me…you ‘re going to start reading my own comic. Otherwise, I may have to disown you.”

Alma adjusted her weight, sliding free of the hug and smiling, “Well, before today, I didn’t know you had a comic—show me, show me.”

Alma looped arms with Akshay, ready to be led wherever it was in the store that his comics were.

“Are you in the indie scene?” Alma inquired conversationally.

>> “Well, before today, I didn’t know you had a comic—show me, show me.”

“Of course! This way!” he beamed as he turned to lead her down the length of the comic shelves to where he usually kept his comic books up. Being a little biased, he always tended to set them up in the featured section.

Akshay was just loving this. Meeting up with an old friend, getting to know one another again and sharing such triumphs with one another. He did notice that she was being rather secretive about herself but he was not going to say anything on the matter. If she didn’t want to talk, that was fine! He was not going to make her.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t wear her down a bit until she eventually began to reveal just a little more about herself. There was so much that they missed out on in their lives that it was only right that they get to learn a little more.

But, all in due time…

>> “Are you in the indie scene?”

He nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah, so far I still haven’t heard from the Big Three, but it’s all good! I like being indie; I get to meet more fans up close and I pretty much get to set my own deadlines.” he nodded as he stirred her towards a fantasy looking comic with a fiery redhead print on the glossy cover. “This…is my baby…’Slaggathor’” he said as he presented her with a comic. “And, since you know the artist, you get to keep that issue for free.”

They walked arm-in-arm towards another section of the store, Alma smiling placidly as they did. Perhaps she should have asked, because it seemed common courtesy that if your best childhood friend was a published comic book artist, you would purchase their book. What if she didn’t like his work? What if Akshay didn’t write a genre that appealed to Alma?

Well, it wasn’t like she was committing to the series. Here was to hoping that it was half-decent.

Akshay spoke chipperly about his work—he was an independent artist, and hadn’t been picked up by any of the popular comic book publishers, but he was fine with the indie lifestyle, or so he stated. They turned to face a wall of “featured” books, and Akshay fished one particular one off of the shelf.

>> “This…is my baby…’Slaggathor’. And, since you know the artist, you get to keep that issue for free.”

Alma took “Slaggathor” into her grasp, surveying it with a smile. Scantily-clad women were an unfortunate yet alarmingly common aspect of comic books everywhere, but it was a scantily-clad woman drawn by Akshay. And boy, did she look tough. Akshay even offered his cohort the kicker—she could keep the issue for free.

“Aw, Akshay,” Alma sighed, hugging the comic to her chest, “Thank you!”

There was an uncertain pause. He was in the indie scene, so it might be uncouth to take part of his livelihood for free, “Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind paying for it—“ Alma paused, looking at the cover, “It’s very well-drawn.”