day without night

“Well, obviously,” Emerie stressed in the perfect ‘duh’ tone, though there was a slight grin slipping across her lips. Not everyone was a thief. Hell, not everyone broke the law. Most people were normal, upstanding citizens who abided by the rules and lived their lives in their perfect little houses on their perfect little streets. “That’s why you can’t get caught when you steal one of those. One of anything, really. But especially one of those.” She lifted an eyebrow at him, lips pressing into a thin line before she let out a slow shrug. “Maybe a few stories, yeah. I’m not much of a sharer, though, so sorry to disappoint.”

She let out a light snort, head jerking back with a laugh. She turned her attention out past him to across the street, eyes scanning and watching. “Haven’t planned that far ahead yet,” she said. “Though I doubt I’d go that route. I’ll probably just head back home if this gets too boring. People deserve to live their lives the way they want to live them. I’ve got no right taking any of that away from them just because I can do something they can’t.” His admittance was enough to give her pause and she turned back to look at him. “You don’t seem like the villain type, though. How often do heroes think they’re heroes, anyways?”

Emerie paid no attention to his clamoring into the cab–he was still moving and still active and she had no right to judge him on how fast or smooth he could do that. It wasn’t her place and it wasn’t anyone else’s. She all but slide in behind him, a smooth motion that was both elegant and calculated at the same time. “Haven’t been to many places outside the tower,” she admitted with a shrug. “I just like to walk around most of the time. Places are too crowded. Too confined. But if it’s any better than the stuff they serve at the Tower then I might have to pay it visit.”

“Ah, got it,” he said with a slight nod. Dan understood the weird limbo they all seemed to fall in where, by virtue of their admission, they were forced to be together and act at the very least cordial, yet lots of people were still essentially strangers to each other. It was bizarre at times, but Dan wasn’t going to question it, and he let that thread go without comment before moving on, even if it was just to something as weighty.

“Careful not to let some of those goody-two-shoes inside hear that talk,” he said with a grin formed with irony. “After all, we’re supposed to be the good guys. Whatever that really means anymore.”

As they rode, Dan couldn’t help a glance at the driver - being able to drive a car seemed like a pipe dream at this point, but he wouldn’t admit it. He wanted the independence, yet everytime he even sat in the driver’s seat, he began to feel overwhelmed with panic. To distract himself, he focused on the conversation instead, nodding along to her sentiment. “Sucks for you we’re right in the middle of the city, then,” he said matter of factly, along with a hint of sympathy. “Privacy here is, like...I dunno, just not much of it to go around. Especially at that damn tower. Feels...weird, y’know? I mean, some of those guys get fan mail, can you believe it? And nah? Dude, we’ll have to go sometime, okay?”

“True,” he shrugged. “I just hope the sun engulfing, earth destroying part was shown in a really cool way, or else the movie sounds like a waste of time,” he crinkled his nose at the thought. “Speaking of movies, got any recommendations for me? I haven’t watched one in ages – plus I’ve been way too bored lately, so movies sounds pretty tempting to me right now.”

“Oh, hell yeah it was! It was sweet.” Dan nodded with a grin, half at the other guy’s expression. “Recommendations, yeah? Hmm...Hey, do you like the Transporter films? I have the whole box set back in my room.”

She matched his eyebrow raise with one of her own, offering a slight nonchalant shrug. “Not particularly, no.” She let out a scoff, waving a hand. “Oh, please. Stealing a panda car? That’s nothin’. Anyone can steal a car. Panda cars just have lights on the top. They’re no different.” She might have been just a little impressed–especially considering his situation–but she wouldn’t let him know that. Besides, she believed her words. Things that weren’t physically on people were easy to steal. A slight distraction and you were in. Watches and purses and wallets on the other hand? Those were things physically on people. They were much harder to take. And Emerie took pride in being one of the best thief’s in London.

“But yeah,” she let out a sigh, almost bored, “This place loves tellin’ you what you’re capable of doing and your potential and all that shit.” Not that she particularly minded it. It was just a bit irritating being told how much of her potential she’d been wasting doing the wrong things. They hadn’t seemed wrong to her–people had different opinions. Something that was wrong to one person might be right to another. And it wasn’t like she’d killed anyone. It had been just harmless fun. A majority of the time, at least.

Emerie shrugged again. “I couldn’t care less, to be honest. I don’t even know why I came here. All the rules and the bands,” she paused, eyes flicking to the bracelet that was snug against her wrist, “it’s not really my style. Being treated as an experiment isn’t either, and yet here I am. Willingly letting someone take my powers away and labeling it as training and learning control.” There was a slip of bitterness to her words as she followed him to the curb, hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jumper. “I hadn’t had them since coming here,” she admitted with the slightest hint of a smile. “But they aren’t bad. Probably one of a few things I’d eat here without complaining. That and pizza. Which aren’t even American food.” A cab pulled up a moment after he’d flagged for one and Emerie wondered distantly if they hovered around the Tower just itching to pick up someone interesting. “Ladies first,” she smirked at him, opening the door and motioning for him to slide inside.

“Just because anybody can doesn’t mean everybody does,” Dan pointed out, wiggling his eyebrows before laughing. “Lights on top, yeah. Good way to put it. Still felt like me and my mates were, like, on top of the world ‘til we got caught. Bad thing about those is that everyone knows what they look like, so yeah. But what about you? You sound like you got some stories.” He looked at her curiously - just by looks alone, she was not the first person he’d suspect to be a thief, but her words suggested otherwise.

“Yeah, that they do,” he echoed, his happy grin fading somewhat. Dan wished that he wasn’t always being pushed to do more, to achieve more. Wasn’t it obvious he’d never be half the force anyone was? He didn’t understand why the teachers couldn’t see that. When she spoke more, especially of rules and the wristbands they wore, Dan shrugged. “Hey, if you’re thinking about starting a super villain league or something after we graduate, just ring me up. I’m not too sure about this whole hero thing either,” he confided, stopping just long enough to get in the cab when she gestured.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said as he struggled into the seat. The act was probably awkward to look at, but Dan managed to seat himself in the far seat, crutch held between his knees as he waited for his new companion to get in. “To the shop - er, the supermarket,” he said to the driver, then turned to resume the conversation. “Pizza’s good. Depends on the place, sorta. Have you tried Angelo’s? It’s this little place, like, three streets from the tower. It’s pretty good.”

Thankful that he hadn’t been reluctant to have someone else join him, Sienna sat down and found herself chuckling lightly as soon as he spoke. “Ah, the age-old icebreaker, eh? To tell you the truth, first time here. I’m new to the city, though maybe the accent was a dead giveaway,” Sienna replied easily, trying to think back to any times she’d seen him around the EPTP, on one of the various days she’d visited the facilities. “You seem to be in the same boat as I am, accent-wise, that is. Though, I can’t seem to place it. Can I ask where you’re from?”

“Age old? I literally just thought of it ten seconds ago!” He teased. “And don’t worry - I feel like most of us are not from here. We’re like a second-rate UN or something.” Dan grinned, then turned to look at the skyline. No fireworks yet, but he felt less bad about waiting now that he had company. “South Africa. Yourself? And be careful, because if you say South Africa too, we might just have to be friends.”

“Think of it this way, better raisins than say..prunes, right?” Isla reasoned with a laugh. Head tilting slighty as he leaned in, Isla quickly mimicked zipping her lips when he said if she could keep a secret before waiting to see just what this secret was. Head not having to tilt, her expression took on a quizzical look to rely her momentary confusion. Biscuits…she hadn’t detected a British accent… Although, now that she thought about it, he definitely had an accent of some sort and despite her occasional love of the British culture, her well-read mind reminded her that England was far from the only place that used the term biscuits for things like cookies and the sort. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Isla confirmed she would keep it a secret in her own little way before she studied him for a minute. “You aren’t from around here, are you?” It was a dumb and not really hard to decipher question but Isla felt like it left it open for the other Super to reveal where he was from without her having to point blank ask. She herself knew how annoying questions like that could get if asked fairly often. “Were you in the States before or are you here just for the Tower? If so, I imagine it must be rough to be here so far from home dealing with all of this.” Her voice held a hint sympathy, knowing what it was like to leave home to come here even if her home was just a few hours plane ride away.

“Prunes? Eugh. When I was a kid, one of my foster mums used to threaten me by saying she’d send me off to work in the plum farms if I wasn’t good.” Dan wrinkled his nose at the memory, but he smiled again when she agreed, in her own quirky way, to keep his biscuit stash a secret. As far as he was concerned, he had shared its location with the right person.

“No, not at all,” he said, shrugging one shoulder as he answered. “I’m from Pretoria - South Africa. And yea, came for the program, stayed for...well, the program. And the tacos, delicious little things.” His joke was an attempt to sidestep her sympathy, but Dan decided not to be a douchebag, so he offered an awkward smile. “I - um, thanks. It’s a little bit much, but...dunno, I think this whole EPTP thing would be a lot for a lot of people, yeah?” Rubbing at the back of his neck, he cleared his throat. “What about you? You from here or no?”

“Right? And the other way around. I always end up craving chocolate whenever he’s mentioned.” Sean glanced to the side, shrugged, and took another handful of chocolate cereal into his mouth. “I’m gonna have to ask Felix about that,” he told himself, clearly impressed by the image the other Super was painting. “He’s a nerd,” he stated matter-of-factly, “…I think. But wait, so that was it? The movie started, the sun engulfed the earth, and then everyone died? As cool as that sounds, it also sort of sucks if that’s all that happens, right?” 

Dan nodded - half the people here were nerds, so he wasn’t surprised at all. “Well, I mean, no. There was, like, science shit in there, too, but who pays attention to that? Besides the nerds.”

“Well, lucky me,” Sienna replied contentedly, glad to know that the other person was nice enough to inform her. The smile that graced her countenance pulled downwards ever so slightly as she noticed the twitch in her gloved hands, fingers aching to control the presence of new life - and therefore, new blood. She cleared her throat, grasped her hands behind her back, and asked the boy, “ Mind if I sit here, then? I mean, if you’re not waiting on anyone, that is.”

Turning over to look at his new companion, Dan tried to remember who she was but they hadn’t spoken before, so both of her names refused to come to his mind. He shrugged it off mentally, and still smiling, gestured to the space around him. “Yeah, no, you’re all fine. Take a seat wherever.” He waited for her to do so before asking, a clearly joking grin on his face, “So...come here often?”

“Actually, I was just wondering how many times Eminem has been confused with M&Ms – the chocolates – in conversations since he began his career, but you got my interest. What movie are you talking about? Sounds awesome.”

“That’s...something, I guess! Might explain why he’s so popular. We literally can’t forget about him as long as M&Ms exist.” Dan nodded, trying not to crack too large or obvious a grin. “Uh, I dunno, bro. Some science movie one of the nerds put up in the lounge. I thought it was going to be boring as shit but then the sun started, like, engulfing the earth and all that.”

A bowl of dry cereal in one hand, Sean turned towards the other person in the room. “You know something I’ve been thinking about lately?” he asked, before popping a few Cocoa Puffs in his mouth.

“The inevitable heat death of the universe? Did you catch that film too?”

Emerie tilted her head at the comment, curious. She didn’t know why she was so surprised, but the admittance (and the confidence) made a smile grow across her lips. He’d make a bloody good thief when it came down to it. If he was telling the truth, after all. “You had days of crime?” Her interests were rising by the second and she couldn’t tell if he was just baiting her or if he was telling the truth. But, really, how could his life of crime compare to hers. That was the main question.

She waved a hand vaguely, pulling a face. “I won’t be giving any soundbites or quotes,” she said seriously. “They wouldn’t want me talking if they know how to use me. But that is the main question isn’t it? Do they actually know what they’re doing when it comes to the lot of us?” Emerie had accepted the fact that she would, more likely than not, be a shadow for whoever she ended up working for. While her powers were anything drastically impressive–invisibility, phasing, manipulation of any kind–she was rather good at getting out of sticky situations. “Oh, brilliant,” she said sarcastically, nodding her head at him for holding the door for her. “Gotta love American take out. Honestly, though. I’m pretty sure they’re the only ones who think it’s actually bloody good.”

Dan grinned at her tone, quirking his eyebrows as he spoke. “What? You don’t believe me when I saw I pulled off the most epic shit ever? Like the time me and my mates stole a cop’s car right under his nose? Yea, I did, but you know how it goes when they dragged us here. ‘Blah blah clean up your act, blah blah, no more second chances, yadda yadda’.”

Truthfully, it’d been the accident that had caused him to sober up, but he saw an opportunity at a connection and took it. And it wasn’t like he was lying completely either - his crimes had never been anything serious, generally consisting only of minor escapades the vast majority of the time, but his unwise choice in friends had landed them all in hot water a few times. He didn’t get in trouble now and hadn’t in years, but that’s what you got when you didn’t actually have friends to hang out with.

“Eh, jury’s still out on that one,” he said to her question. “I’m waiting to see if some grand plan or what the hell ever is going to, like, fall into place or if this is some bad experiment.” He was telling the truth, but Dan’s tone was light. It wasn’t something he gave serious thought to too often; his thoughts were turned inward. “Hey, some of it’s alright. Like Mexican! Had you ever had a taco before this? I’m convinced I wasn’t living before I tried one.” Dan had walked to the sidewalk as they spoke, and he leaned one arm on his crutch as he waved to flag down a taxi with the other.

“If I ever try passing off raisin cookies as chocolate chips you won’t ever have to worry about turning me in because I would bust myself. If I know I’m biting into a raisin cookie, everything is good. But if I think it’s chocolate chip and it’s a bite of raisin in my mouth, there’s nothing worse. I’m not even the biggest fan of chocolate myself but I like it in moderation and ooey gooey soft chocolate chip cookies definitely make the cut.” 

“Eugh, it’s still bad even if you know it’s coming, but as long as we can agree on chocolate, it’s enough of a pass.” Dan looked contemplative for a moment, but leaned in conspiratorially shortly after. “Hey, if you can keep a secret, I have, like, boxes of biscuits stashed in my room. Just knock if you ever want one - but don’t tell the others. I’m not wiling to get super-jumped over them, yeah?”

“What about I just offer you a batch of fresh cookies and a high up position in the new world order be it chaotic or good? Would you look the other way on any potential wrongdoing that may or may not go down?”

“Depends on the cookies if I’m being honest. I only willfully ignore evil if there are chocolate chips involved. If it’s raisins - you’re totally busted.”

“They probably could but isn’t that the fun of it?” She tilted her head at him, flashing him a mischievous grin. “Besides, they’d only punch you in the face if they knew you were to one who snatched their stuff. Just don’t get caught.” It was fair easier to say that than others. She’d considered the whole stealing thing a few weeks in–not to steal to keep but to steal to see if she could get away with it. The gym could only get her so far in regrades to honing her powers. She’d have to find more practical measures to really get good.

Emerie scoffed then, waving a hand and rolling her eyes. “Everyone’s so concerned with their bloody image, hell. It might cover some people but definitely not me. I’m not going to be some TIME Magazine’s Top 10 bloody Heroes of the Year. That’s not what they’ll use me for if they know anything at all about putting Supers in the places that’ll best suit their powers.” Incidentally, Emerie had no idea what they’d actually use her for–or if they’d use her for anything at all. Three years from now she could be back in South London with her father and the boys. “Alright, walking’s a no. Don’t really like small spaces, but I’ll make due.” It wasn’t the best of options, but she figured suggesting that she run there and he take a cab would be in bad fashion. “Emerie,” she said after a short moment of consideration. “I’m Emerie.”

“Believe me, the one thing I’m not worried about is getting caught.” Dan shot her a bit of a cheeky grin; unfairly, he supposed it was a unnecessarily cryptic statement when he didn’t offer anything else. “Gotta admit, though - my days of crime are long gone. My sister would kill me if she found out I did, like, anything wrong, probably.”

Listening to her, he also found it hard to imagine her on a TIME cover. She seemed far too cynical, but he didn’t mind it. Dan didn’t much care for those of his peers who seemed to take this too seriously. Then again, they could actually be heroes, and what would Dan ever be good at? “It’s okay,” he said, “If they get the front page, you can join me on, like, the second to last page of the article. They’d probably be nice enough to give us a quote or a soundbite or something before moving onto someone else.” He smiled more genuinely at her second part of the response. “Thanks. I owe you one.” He began to move towards the door, making it a point to open it for her. “Besides, American cabs are nice. Sort of. If you don’t mind the smell of day old take out.”