Hello company! {open}

[Edward Scott]

It was dark and gloomy outside and Edward sooo needed warm and dry at this point to make it worth studying at all. His roommate had awoken him early and it was now only 10 in the morning. Because it was thursday, he had late classes and he had an exam tomorrow so he was just a little stressed out right then. On top of that, he and Drew were still not getting along which was unfortunate since he was missing some company, currently and the only company he had was the early morning workers coming in and out through the door and annoying the ever living crap out of him.

Bling. Bling. Bling. Every time someone came in and left making him growl low at each entrance. It became almost a distant sound in the background when he got heavily distracted by some new notion about Meta's. His eyes widened and he quickly shoved his Bio book aside to make room for his note book which he pulled out so fast it knocked over his coffee.
"Shit!"

Edward jumped to his feet ignoring the looks he got for his outbust holding his laptop in the air as he stared at the coffee soaking into his books and papers and--
"Help! Help... I need a cloth..."
God! He was gonna use his train of throught. Edward turned swiftly to the table behind him, grabbed his chair with his free hand and pulled it out so he could sit down much to the surprise of the occupant at the taple.

Then he began to mutter as he typed into a word document.
"There has to be some chemical in the mind that links their powers to their emotions. Like adrenaline or something..."
Something new for him to research... Edward's eyes flicked to the person across from him at the table and he gave them a cheesey sort of smile, the sparkle in his eyes hidden behind strands of stray hair.
"Hi. Mastermind at work here....Sorry for dropping in. "
Edward nudged his head back to get the hair out of his eyes. Hello company!

[Lucy Holiday]

Lucy sat quietly at the trendy little iron work table. Her head bent greedily over the cup of coffee cradled in her hands. Coffee. Oh dear, sweet coffee. Lucy loved everything about the earth colored liquid. The aroma of it was strong enough to cover up the smell of alcohol swabs and iodine without overwhelming her. The taste was bitter enough to erase the chemical sting and sweet enough to satisfy her steroid induce sugar cravings. Yep. Coffee was her new best friend and Kali's had the best coffee around. Lucy cradled the cup and gave it a few delicate swirls before taking a sip. Kali's was her first stop on chemo recovery days. This was her first time making the stop on her own. A bit of alone time with her coffee sounded good at first, but now she was feeling a bit awkward sitting there with no one to talk to.

To the eyes of those around her, Lucy appeared to be a dark haired girl with thick healthy locks that spilled past her shoulders and fell across her Hershey colored eyes. Out of habit, her hands occasionally lifted to brush the fake locks away from her face. To push past the awkward silence, Lucy concentrated on the taste and texture of the cream cloud garnishing her mocha. The distraction absorbed her thoughts until a commotion near by snapped her back to reality. Her hands twitched in response, causing a bit of her drink to slosh out and dribble across her fingers. Apparently the dude sitting at the table over had just made a pretty major mess. After a moment of delay, Lucy sprang into action.

"Cloth, right! With no cloth in sight, Lucy began desperately snatching napkins. Before she could even through them at the guy she found herself face to face with him at her table. Crap. He was cute. The thought rambled around in her brain for a split second before he threw her into confusion once more. Lucy's dark brown brows knit together as she cocked her head to the side and gave him an odd look. "Chemicals...powers...what's that gotta do with spilled coffee?" With a shake of her head and a wry grin, Lucy looked over at the mess that the dude had left behind. "The waitress is so gonna hate you for that."

Lucy's eyes flickered over to the counter to see if anyone had noticed the little drama that had unfolded. She was on the verge of getting up to clean the mess herself when the guy spoke again. The cheesy grin and even cheesier introduction pulled out a giggle. "Ah, I see. Well, Mastermind - drop in accepted as long as you promise not to do that to my table." Lucy countered his cheesy grin with an amused smirk. The word power finally sunk into her brain and altered her to the fact that Mr. Mastermind must have been talking about metas. This could get interesting.

[Edward Scott]

Edward was in the middle of a break through so when she spoke he didn't notice. He was muttering allowed which showed his interest in the whole subject of meta-humans. Maybe if people who decided to read his book, knew that Meta's never meant to be dangerous in the slightest and were only scared or filled with homones when their powers developed, then maybe it would make accepting them easier. Sympathy always made things just a little bit easier. He wondered faintly if maybe he could try this out on Drew then he reminded himself that Drew and he weren't talking.

Of course, the giggling girl made it all that much better and his smile became just a little warmer, aimed directly at her. She seemed young. And sweet. And for some odd reason, really breakable. This quirked his interest instantly. Edward had a soft spot for the breakable sort. She definitely did seem like she was breakable. At her words, he glanced over to the table, tucking stray strands of hair behind his ear before flashing her a new smile. He lifted his right hand, placing his left over his heart.

"Scouts honour."
He agreed before he got to his feet and took her hand full of napkins from her.
"Those were for me right? That's really sweet. I'll clean that up."
Edward leaned over slightly to see what she was drinking and how far down the contents of her cup had gone.

"And how bout a refill?"
"Oh Edward..."
Edward turned to smirk at the waitress coming over to clean his table before he edged toward it shooking an awkward glance at the girl by the table.
"I'm sorry. You know what's it like when I hyperactive child spots candy? Well that's what happens to my body when it spots a link between Meta-humans and their power usage."

The girl groaned as she started cleaning shooting him 'the look'.
"Don't start that again."
Edward's shoulders slouched. Damn it! Just ONE person he could speak to about his research that wouldn't scoff or shoot him down, would have been wonderful.
"Black Coffee and what ever she ordered, on my tab please."
Edward gathered his soaked exam notes and held them up before the new girl he'd met and sighed, eyeing the notes.

"Hmm. Professor Noafields? Well you see. I failed because I spilled coffee over the notes that took me a whole year to compose and now they're illegiable..."
He peeked out behind the paper at the giggler and shrugged.
"I'd buy that. And you?"

[Lucy Holiday]

It was a good thing that Lucy was used to spastic people because this guy was all over the place. As the mystery hunk remained too absorbed in his work to address the mess he made, Lucy just shook her head and kept the napkins out in offering. Once he finally responded, her smirk faded into an honest smile. She had always had a soft spot for Boy Scouts. Of course he might have just been throwing the phrase around because it was common - but Scouts honor had always earned points with Lulu. Must be something to do with her brother and the countless scouting events she had been to with him."I hope you don't throw that phrase around lightly."

Of course Lucy refused to entertain the thought that her soft spot had anything to do with the guy being drop dead gorgeous with a smile to match. Lucy was able to keep her flirting instincts under control by reminding herself that the whole hair behind the ear move totally reminded her of her little brother. "Yep, they're for you. But I think you're already busted." Lucy's eyes drifted to the agitated waitress about the same time that he noticed her approach. Instinctively, Lucy leaned in and tipped her cup his way as he peeked over. It took her a moment to remember that she didn't really have any hair to flip flirtatiously over her shoulder. The luscious locks were only an illusion. "Umm...sure." Lucy accepted his offer with a light blush on her cheeks.

The waitress caused a momentary distraction. The curvy teen smiled up at her apologetically and tried not to laugh at the dude's excuse. He definitely seemed a bit hyper or overeager when it came to his work. The banter between them was all pretty amusing until the guy dropped the meta word. Lucy bit her lip gently. Now that was a topic she'd love to get lost in! Holding back her enthusiasm, Lucy responded to the order request as the waitress looked her way. "It's a mocha. No cream this time, please."

As the waitress walked away, Lucy let her curiosity get the best of her. She openly eyed the papers spread around them and tried to see if she could read anything through the paper he was holding up. "Probably. But I'd give you a hard time about it anyway just to see how flustered you'd get. Please tell me you've got a computer file with all that lurking around somewhere." Of course she tactfully refrained from asking if Professor Noafields was a woman that would fall for that smile of his. Curiosity finally getting the best of her, Lulu reached across the table and tapped his paper. "So that's all about metas, huh?"

[Edward Scott]

Edward smirked at the girl warning him to not throw that around lightly. She looked a little young, not that he minded. She was beautiful all the same. He quickly shook his head at her question and straightened up to show of a slight pride at the whole scouts thing. It was totally an American thing, these cub scouts. He was born and bred in North Manchester and aparently only the South had cubscouts which he wouldn't have been able to join anyway. Regardless of that he pressed a hand to his forehead in a little salute and straightened a little more before answering her question.

"Of course not! Youth learning some manners. Wish my home country had some of that."
And he did. He was pretty sure he'd have been happiest among a cub scout pack. He was always busted so at the mention of it he rolled his eyes like it was completely NOT news to him. He gave an added little sigh and watched as she tilted her cup to him accepting his offer of another drink. He totally seemed to be getting on with this girl no matter what her age. So unlike Miranda, she was talkative, sweet and she blushed.

He loved blushing! It made him feel like hugging the blusher. He tried very hard to ignore that feeling most the time except when he was with a friend or with Drew. Edward watched the waitress as she disappeared before he quirked a joke about his papers and the teacher, mainly to relieve the tension that had been created by the anti-meta waitress. Edward smirked as she teased him back and let his eyes roll to the ceiling then back at the paper like he'd forgotten to think about what she'd just said to him.

"Damn... that's the reason he lets us have 'puters in class?"
He put a mock horrified look on his face for a few minutes before grinning and sitting down. He could just get some notes for Steven. Fellow frat brothers had to help one another out at some point. Edward glanced down at the paper she was tapping then burst out laughing only stopping when the waitress brought their drinks. He shoo his head.

"God no. Academies would never approve the actual study of Meta's to help with integration. "
He gave another short burst of laughter.
"That's all about brain surgery and after care techniques as well as patient experiences. Male nurse in training. Your turn to laugh now."
He flashed her one of his warm charming smiles then held out his hand to her.

"Forgive my manners. I'm Edward. Edward Scott and I'm a metaholic."
Edward inclined his head.
"Next week at my MA session we're learning about keeping from fantasizing about Meta's. That's supposed to be the hardest step in the twelf step program they say."

[Lucy Holiday]

The answer seemed to be an honest one. Lucy laughed lightly at his inexperienced salute and shook her head. "Fair enough. Despite the absence of actual scouting experience, I'll buy it. Good answer." Her voice held a teasing air of superiority as if her approval really mattered to the bloke. Of course Lucy knew she held no influence over him, but that wouldn't stop her from having fun with their bantering. Even though he'd made an awkward - and messy- entrance, the older guy was quickly earning points with little Lucy. Those points doubled when he offered a refill. Not even the sourness of the waitress could dampen the blush of approval on Lulu's cheeks.

That hint of pink finally faded as Lucy became distracted by the papers that he kept going on about. It must be a really important project! Of course the fact that he had been muttering about meta related issues added to the importance in Lucy's mind. She absent mindedly laughed at his little quip about 'puters and gave a quick response. "I dare say so! The words were barely out of her mouth before she let her curiosity take over and started poking at the coffee soaked papers. His laughter caused her to pull back her hand and tilt her head at him with a quizzical look. As the waitress set down their refills, Pandy felt the disappointment start to swell. She muttered a polite word of thanks before the other girl scurried off with a harassed look on her face. As soon as the waitress was out of sight, Lucy stared him down and waited for an explanation.

The one he gave actually caught her off guard. "Oh...umm..." She felt herself slightly confused. It always irritated her to be reminded of how little effort was put into human-meta integration. She had led a perfectly peaceful existence with her little integrated family. Before the anger could rise, Lucy heard the dude laugh again. The short burst of chuckling caught her attention. Lucy was caught off guard once again. "There's nothing to laugh at in that. Nursing is a very noble profession. You should be rather proud." Something very open and wistful crept into the petite brunette's tone. For a moment her voice held wisdom beyond her years. Of course Lucy loved her doctors, but the chemo nurses were the ones actually down in the trenches with her - watching over her like bodyguards as they administered the drugs. And yes, several of them were males. The blush returned much brighter as Lucy realized that she had thickened the mood. To lighten things up again, her trademark smirk returned to her lips. "Besides, the whole warm and caring thing just ups your hotness quotient."

There. That should lighten things back up! And that smile of his certainly helped. Lucy's honest smile returned as he held out his hand. All of her disappointment was thoroughly erased at the end of his introduction. Aha! So he was interested in metas. Hmm...so was he really studying to be a nurse? Lucy's return shake was firm and eager but she kept her voice soft and low. "Hi,I'm Lucy Holiday and I'm the crack that you should avoid. The little hint at the end was practically whispered as she leaned forward flirtatiously. Her long lashes fluttered as she closed her eyes in a brief second of concentration. As they opened, they glowed a rather daring shade of purple. Lucy pulled her hand back with a cat ate the canary grin. "Although, I'm probably not the sort you fantasize about." Her eyes returned to their natural shade of brown as she looked down at the table between them. Inside her chest, her heart started pounding a bit more quickly than usual. Oh, crap! She had forgotten to find out if he was the good sort of metaholic or the sort of metaholic that fantasized about dissecting her! Stupid Lucy eagerness!

[Edward Scott]

Edward found the girl in the seat across from him adorable cute. She was bouncy, bubbly and good God, did she ever have a sense of humor. If he'd known that she had cancer, if he'd just known that he'd have to treat someone like her one day in the near future, he'd have stuck to her like Glue rather then just finding her just slightly more amusing then was naturally possible. She was one of the first people so far to make him completely forgether that he was depressed about still not hearing a thing about his fiance which meant that, either Drew had meant what he'd said in that e-mail, or that Drew died in some horrific accident.

Time to sort our his emotions? Space to decide what was right for him? He didn't need these things! He needed Drew to accept that he adored, simply adored, meta humans more then anything else in the world. Couldn't Drew just intergrate a little. Edward failed to comprehend what was so wrong about meta's. To him they were the next phase in humon evolution and Drew really needed to respect that. If he ever met a meta-human being there would simply be no way he'd let them go at all but he knew the dangers for Meta's.

Why, even if he had met one, they would not come out to him, without feeling that they could trust him completely. Edward was completely distracted from his silent thoughts when she spoke about nursing being a noble profession. He slowly started to smile softly back at her. Once that blush came again, he instantly sat forward a little more watching her as she blushed. She was beautiful when she blushed and he knew he wanted to see her again. He gave another little laugh as she said that he just became hotter.

"Noooo, you sitting and chatting with me makes me hotter, sweetheart."
He purred at her when his laughter had died down. The sweetheart came with a real cockney accent making it obvious that he was from England. After the introduction she mentioned that she was the crack that needed to be avoided. Edward slowly shook his head. Yeah, he'd heard cause he was already hanging on her lips like he was glued to them and as he stared at her he shook his head. How could she possibly find faults with herself.

She was cute, funny, energetic and Edward hadn't felt this good in weeks! Did she know what she did to people around her? Edward was about to speak, about to flirt back when she closed her eyes. Did she want him to kiss her? Her eyes opened and they were purple. Edward gave a yelp and with wide eyes yerked back into his chair staring at her. Edward's heart was racing as he continued to stare. He felt hot and cold at the same time. His breathing was a little more rapid then it had been before and he could really hardly keep his mouth moist as it had become a desert in the process.

Oh God Oh God Oh God! Every theory he'd been working on for the last 5 years... the last FIVE YEARS could be tested! Tested on this remarkable, beautiful, exceptional young girl. Okay, cool, calm, steady, smooth. Don't act like a freak. He could tell she was already interested in him. The way she flirted, and to be honest, even if she'd kept secret what she was, he'd have been hellishly interested in her too. She was beautiful and funny and had all the ace cards lined up for him. So if he worked it that way... Edward snaked his hand across the table between them and took hers in his.

He intertwined their fingers then reached out with his free hand to slip under her chin, tilting it so she looked into his eyes. He kept his own eyes soft, understanding, comforting.
"You... even without seeing what I just saw in your eyes, I've been wondering just how to ask this beautiful girl out cause she makes me laugh so much that I can't believe she's real. You are exactly the type I fantasize about, Lucy. Please allow me to get to know you. Maybe a date?... everynight... for the next oh... say... eternity?"

Edward quickly lifted her hand and kissed each finger unable to contain himself. He was soooooo excited! Finally a meta-human! His very own meta-human being!

[Lucy Holiday]

As always Lucy was speaking without stopping to think. Lucy simply had the gift of gab and sometimes that got her in trouble. Like it possibly could at the moment. Here she was, chatting away, openly flirting with some random - and rather handsome- stranger. Apparently Mrs. Holiday was right to worry about her little Lulu hitting the town by herself. However, the hint of trouble in the situation didn't dawn on Lucy Holiday. She was too caught up in the adorable dimples, heart breaking smile and charming accent. Lucy was too distracted to wonder how old the boy dude was.

The sound of that thick cockney accent calling her "sweetheart" was practically enough to make the dizzied teen swoon. The bad idea alarm in the back of her head was slow to action as she batted her eyelashes and giggled. Her? Make him hot? Now that was quite the ego booster for the girl who was used to being called cute. "Sweetheart? I'm not all that sweet, but I love the way you say it." Lucy laughed along with him before moving forward with her introduction.

Still drunk with his charm, Lucy showed off her power eagerly. Her soaring confidence crashed abruptly as Edward yelped and pulled away from her. Oh crap! He was the afraid of metas and want to carve them up sort of obsessed guy! In the few moments that he spent simply staring, Lucy's brain flew into overdrive. It only took her a few seconds to imagine a handful of horrible things that might happen to her because of her big mouth. The bad idea alarm in the back of her head finally went off! If she had heat vision, there would be a whole burned through the table. Lucy kept her head down as she waited for him to speak. The hand reaching across the table practically made her heart jump out of her chest. In the mix of emotions, Lucy had difficulty controlling her ability.

The stress of the situation combined with the effects of the chemotherapy loosened her control. Lucy was struggling against her natural instinct to hide. It took a lot of self control to stop herself from creating walls around her. As he lifted her chin, one eye stayed brown and the other turned an odd shade of green. It was only a small transition, but at least it released some of the nervous energy. Lucy released more energy by lengthening her fingernails. As his voice washed over her, the frightened girl could feel her panic fade. Once again, a blush returned to her cheeks. Clearing her throat lightly, Lucy replied. "And here I thought I had scared you off." With another flutter of her eyelashes, both eyes turned an emerald green. "I don't believe in eternity, but a date is definitely doable." Smiling at him softly, Lucy tried her best to hide the school girl eagerness that fluttered around in her mind.