"Ehm...Carragail?"

Aadi's voice shocked Kara out of her thought bubble, drawing her attention to the three items she was setting on the table. One was a simple hand cream that (according to the label) provided superior relief to burns and sores. The other two were what smelled like hot chocolates.

Kara waited until Aadi's hands had cleared the area before going for the items. Burn Cream first. Pain took priority over warmth (not the best set of priorities). She calmly dribbled a little onto her sunburned palm, and immediately began feeling a coolness wherever it dribbled.

She sighed loudly with pure relief. "Th--Th--Thank you for helping m--me," she stammered out to Aadi, the wet chill making her stutter even worse.

Finally, she reached for the nearest hot chocolate and took a sip, nearly burning her tongue, but quickly relaxing and reveling in the warm chocolatey beverage.

Times like these are the reason hot chocolate was invented.

Setting the cup down, she stammered out a quick (if hesitant) apology to Aadi, "L--Look, I'm sorry I--I...freaked out...a lit--little. I k--kind of have...issues...with touching." She hung her head a little, still worried that she'd completely blown it. "M--M--My apologies."

>> "Th--Th--Thank you for helping m--me," Carragail was saying, Aadi smiling and shaking her head a little. No thanks had been needed, it was her fault the younger girl was in this whole mess to begin with. She got too carried away sometimes. Watching the burn cream be applied, Aadi was glad that at least seemed to be working fine. She picked up her cup of hot chocolate, blowing on it softly. Just because she was frozen from the rain didn't mean she wanted to burn her tongue, and just holding the cup in her hands was warmth enough.

>> "L--Look, I'm sorry I--I...freaked out...a lit--little. I k--kind of have...issues...with touching. M--M--My apologies."

Blinking at that as she translated it in her head, Aadi frowned in understanding. Ahh...that would explain more. At least she knew what she was doing wrong now: Aadi could cling to people all day and would be no worse for wear, she hardly noticed the simple things like holding hands or bumping shoulders anymore. She must have terrified poor Carragail.

"No, I am the one that is sorry, I didn't realize," Aadi shook her head. "I did not want to scare you. Can you forgive me my...ehm...not understanding?" She'd forgotten the english word for what she wanted to say. Ah well. Hopefully her sincerity would get across either way.

"No, I am the one that is sorry, I didn't realize. I did not want to scare you. Can you forgive me my...ehm...not understanding?"

Kara chuckled slightly, adding, "I think the word you're looking for is misunderstanding. And...I most certainly do."

With another soft smile, Kara indulged herself in a long sip of hot chocolate. Yeah, it might have been slightly powdery and impossibly fattening. But it was working wonders on her stress levels. She was even relaxed enough to let a soft, warm glow emit from her skin.

"So...why N--New York?" she asked spontaneously. She wasn't really curious, she just wanted to have some casual conversation. "I mean...I'm sure there's plenty of ot--other cooking schools...out there. Why here?"

>> "I think the word you're looking for is misunderstanding. And...I most certainly do."

That was a relief, Aadi relaxing. "Thank you," she murmured with a smile. Besides the fact she didn't have many friends here in New York yet, she didn't have any friends like her, with strange powers. She didn't want to mess this up, at all.

There was silence for a moment, Aadi continuing to cool down her hot chocolate with soft blows. The steady thrum of rain against the window was a little soothing, and she was finally warming up a little. How long would the rain continue though? She didn't have an umbrella (stupid mistake), and didn't want to get soaked again on her way to the subway.

>> "So...why N--New York?" Aadi looked up at Carragail's question. "I mean...I'm sure there's plenty of ot--other cooking schools...out there. Why here?"

The young woman tilted her head slightly to one side, thinking about that. "I got a scholarship for the school here, so it made it easy. I just wanted to go somewhere outside my province." Away from her family. "I can also practice my english," she chuckled. That was when she noticed the soft glow emitting from Carragail's skin, coaxing a gentle smile out of her.

"I wanted to ask before, but...when did you first do that?" Aadi motioned slightly at her glowing skin.

"I got a scholarship for the school here, so it made it easy. I just wanted to go somewhere outside my province. I can also practice my english."

Kara nodded, chuckling slightly at the comment on learning English. Seemed like a legitimite reason enough. She of all people could understand the need to get away from home.

"I wanted to ask before, but...when did you first do that?"

"D--Do what?" Kara asked, glancing down at herself, which was when she first noticed that she was glowing.

She mentally swore, forcing her skin to stop trying to light up the city. To be fair, it wasn't very strange or annoying for Aadi to see her glowing. But Aadi wasn't the issue. Kara nervously glanced at the counter, noticing no bartender in sight. Still, it put her on edge.

"I...um...High School," she finally responded, turning back to Aadi. "That was when I first noticed it. I...changed schools...n--not long after...that." She took another long sip of hot chocolate, trying desparetly for the relaxation it offered.

No such luck.

Aadi watched as Carragail seemed to panic at noticing the glowing under her skin. So it wasn't completely voluntary then, just like her gravity field. Obviously Carragail didn't want others to know about what she could do any more than Aadi did.

Nodding slowly at the answer to her question, Aadi thought about that. So this girl had gotten her ability...mutation...whatever, younger than Aadi had. She'd only gotten it herself at 18, and she'd been fresh out of high school...Quebec high schools finished a year earlier than the rest of North America.

"I was eighteen when I got my power," Aadi smiled at her, hoping continued conversation could help her calm down again. If she kept stuttering, Aadi would need a translator to understand what she was saying. "Do you know of other people who can do like us too?" She was curious now. They couldn't be the only ones.

Kara simply nodded at Aadi's response to her question. In all actuality, she was barely listening. She was still pretty intent on keeping her glowy-ness under control. Which was why, when Aadi asked a question of her own, Kara almost didn't notice.

"Do you know of other people who can do like us too?"

"Hm? Oh, um..." She drew out the 'm' in 'umm' for as long as she physically could, trying her best to both retrieve the question and generate an answer. The broken English wasn't helping.

'Glass houses, lady,' she thought to herself. 'You're probably pretty hard to understand, too. Especially when you get all blubbery.'

Kara cringed slightly at the thought of her own stuttering problem, not to mention how she probably looked to this girl. Bedraggled, panicky, drenched, cold, with hair that was trying to be a Mohawk and a constant need for assistance.

Now that she was thinking about it, though, that description could kind of fit to Aadi as well.

And just like that, for just a moment, Kara realized exactly why she was so comfortable around this girl.

Then she remembered that questions are supposed to be answered.

"Um...." she moaned, before starting suddenly, "Y--Yeah. The school...I go to. It's a mutant-only school...so I'm told. So there's...like...a hundred people right there. G--Give or take."

Aadi was beginning to wonder if she would have to repeat the question when the answer finally came. And when it did, she had to do a double-take to make sure she translated that properly in her head. "Y--Yeah. The school...I go to. It's a mutant-only school...so I'm told. So there's...like...a hundred people right there. G--Give or take."

A mutant-only school? Such a place existed?

"...Heh?" Aadi's eyes must have been as wide as saucers. "A school for people like us? That is real? Where is it?"

Others like them, in the city. Not just that, but a whole school of them. Aadi felt her mood lift just like that. She wasn't alone.

"A school for people like us? That is real? Where is it?"

Kara couldn't help but chuckle softly as she watched Aadi light up like a Christmas Tree (no irony intended). She had to admit, it was kind of funny.

Oh...wait...she'd asked a question.

Kara mentally slapped herself for having done things like that quite a bit now. Her therapist kept calling it a defense mechanism. Whatever it was, it was annoying.

"I--um...it's at the end of...P--Pay--Pay--" She wasn't stuttering because she was nervous. She was stuttering because she'd completely forgotten the street name.

So she came clean. "I...don't remember...the street name. I'm sorry."

She nervously grabbed her hot chocolate and took a long sip. As she pulled it away from her mouth, she noticed a thin trail of gobules of hot chocolate bobbing softly in the air for a moment, before they all came cascading downward.

Some of them hit the chair she was sitting on, but most hit her pants. She jumped a little, but it didn't hurt that much. It actually felt kind of nice.

Not that she was paying a whole lot of attention.

She was too busy staring into the hot chocolate, blinking and muttering, "Wh--What...just happened?"

(( OOC: Sorry for my long absence >< School's kicking my ass right now ))

She didn't remember. Aadi's shoulders slumped at that, the hopeful expression turning into disappointment. If Carragail had been able to remember where it was, Aadi would have gone to visit as soon as she could. But there wasn't even a name.

Looking up from the table to ask if Carragail at least remembered the name of the place, Aadi was just in time to see the floating hot chocolate drop back to the table. "Estie tabarnac de câlisse—" She jumped when she saw some of the hot liquid land on Carragail. "Are you okay? I'm so, so sorry— I was just happy, and I didn't notice—" She stammered, accent garbling half her words as she got napkins out of the table-side dispenser for Carragail. "I'm very sorry, are you hurt? Here."

((OOC: It's fine. I'm almost there, too. :/ ))

Yeah, watching hot chocolate suddenly decide that gravity was a stupid idea before falling onto Kara's lap was pretty startling. At the very least, it made Kara's eyes go as wide as dinner plates.

But Aadi's sudden outbursts made her jump a lot more.

She barely snagged half the words flying out of the Canadian's mouth, seeing as her accent was really kicking in and messing everything up. She didn't exactly have to understand Aadi, though, seeing as she could figure exactly what she was saying. Especially when she started throwing napkins at Kara (throwing being a hyperbole).

"U--Um...I'm fine," Kara muttered, grabbing the napkins and wiping off the table. "R--Really. It's just...odd...is all."