Collisions - Riley, Open Tag

[Riley Adams]

His thoughts were elsewhere as Riley pushed his cart along the expansive aisles of the supermarket. He was quite a ways away from home but this supermarket was the only one that sold the things he wanted so once a month, he would make the long trip from his home to Pilot Ridge just to get his cheeses and other groceries.

Living alone, Riley didn't really buy much but as he pushed his half full cart to where the gourmet cheeses were, he wondered why he was buying so much stuff. Scratching his head, he looked down and scanned his groceries. Maybe in his absent state of mind, he had picked up things he didn't need. Being slightly anal about certain things, he looked down at the carefully placed items which were organised according to where they would be placed at home.

Nothing was out of place nor were there additions. Odd. Maybe he was more out of it than he originally thought. So he just pushed his way to the deli before he could decide on replacing the items on their rightful shelves and doing his shopping all over again. In his state, he didn't even realise someone was in front of him until he heard the yelp.

Blinking rapidly at the floor then moving his eyes upwards, he frowned before realising what he had done. "I am so, so sorry. I didn't even see you!"

[Paulo Ortiz]

Usually Paulo would be the last person in the world to be found in a grocery store. Between his difficulties with directions, near illiteracy, and the store's tendancy to move aisles around to make things harder to find so you will shop longer, it wasn't an easy place for him to maneuver. However, the deli didn't move, and Penny hadn't picked up salami the last time she went shopping. So Paulo decided he could do this himself.

There was a bit of a line, and only a pimple-nosed teenager working the slicer, so Paulo just put his order in, then started wandering through the rest of the section, always within earshot. He was rather proud of himself for managing this task.

And then some old guy nearly hit him with a shopping cart.

After letting out a rather undignified yelp and jumping to the side, Paulo surveyed the man. Older than him by quite a bit, currently apologetic, and--after a small-area scan--a meta. Perfect. A meta-human man that age who lived in Pilot Ridge almost certainly had some sort of connection to the Institute. Maybe it was a bit outside his purview on his current mission, but any information he could get would be welcomed.

So Paulo turned on the charm. "No, sir. It's fine. No harm done." His voice still had a slight Cuban accent, but that was intentional now. Years of multilingual instruction had taught him how to turn it on and off, if he wanted. "They make these places distracting, so you'll stop paying attention and spend more."

[Riley Adams]

The younger man obviously just turned his charm on. Riley knew because Michael had done exactly that when they first started dating. He didn't know why though. The guy didn't look like the kind of guy who would be interested in a fifty year old guy shopping for himself. His comment certainly put things in perspective for Riley. He checked his things once again for any doubles and found a few microwave dinners he didn't need. He tutted to himself and took them out of the trolley and pushed them in front, trying to remember where he'd gotten them from.

He looked back up at the younger man and smiled sheepishly. "I have to agree with that." He said quietly, one hand moving up to the back of his head to run it up and down through his hair. Nervous habit. One that Michael had deemed sweet when they first met. Why he was thinking about his dead boyfriend now more than before, Riley had no idea. The handsome Irishman had been gone from his life for close to ten years now.

"But...I wasn't distracted by that. I mean, I didn't see you because I was uh, thinking about something else but really I am very sorry," Riley repeated his apology once again, trying to maneuver his trolley around the Cuban. Or so his accent told Riley he was Cuban. Riley worked with a lot of South Americans. Most of them had distinct accents that Riley took quite some time to differentiate between them all.

"Um...a lot of people want meat today huh?" He tried to maintain small talk with the guy he had practically run over. His eyes darted from the younger man and the cheeses screaming his name. Maybe he could quickly get his cheese packed and return to the Cuban? No...would be quite rude.

[Paulo Ortiz]

"Yeah, they do something with the lighting too, like casinos. Try to make you forget that you're inside, in a store, and there's a whole other world just outside of it." He said, but he honestly didn't remember where he had picked that tidbit of information up. With a carefree shrug, he added, "But I think I learned that from the internet, so I may be wrong."

Usually, Paulo wasn't this chatty. But he wanted to put the older man at ease. He wanted information from him, after all.

"No, really, it's okay." The man seemed nervous about something. So Paulo just kept smiling and graciously stepped to the side, out of the way of the trolley. There really wasn't a problem, as he hadn't actually been hit, and he was probably the M.S.A.D. member with the most even temper. He was rarely angry, over anything. And when he was, he didn't show it.

Paulo shrugged again at the question. It seemed enough like filler that he knew the conversation had reached its natural end and was in danger of dying. And he wasn't okay with that. So he shook his head slightly, as if realizing something, and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Oscar Mendoza." He offered his hand for the other man to shake, "I've just moved into town." There, friendly enough, and once he knew the man's name, he'd be able to track him down anywhere in the world. So if he worked at the school, Paulo would know.

In the very back of his mind, he was smiling more genuinely. Gabe didn't send him on missions often, because of his impairments. But when he did, he did them well.

[Riley Adams]

Riley couldn't help but laugh at the younger man's assessment. He didn't share the fact that he had never been to a casino before, having never had the urge to gamble on anything let alone on money. With the addition of getting his information over the internet, Riley frowned slightly before smiling sheepishly. "Maybe," the older man shrugged with that small smile of his still intact.

Despite knowing that the man was trying to be charming, Riley fell for it anyway. How could he not? The man definitely knew how to work his way into someone's good graces. Just like Michael.

With the extra assurance, Riley nodded with a smile. There was only so much apologies one can take before it gets grating anyway so Riley stopped with the apologising. When the younger man offered his hand, Riley couldn't help but find it suspicious. He wasn't normally like this, second guessing other people but there was just something really weird about the man he was talking to right then.

Nonetheless, Riley gave the man...Oscar, his own hand to shake. "Oh," Riley grinned sheepishly at the revelation that Oscar was new in town. "Really...welcome to Pilot Ridge, I guess." He dropped his hand to his side and moved his trolley away when a little girl zoomed past them with a mini trolley in her hand, followed by a frazzled mother who had a crying baby strapped to her front as she spoke hurriedly into her cell phone. "I am so sorry," she quickly apologised to Riley before yelling at the little girl to slow down.

Riley looked rather apologetic at the lady's back for a bit before turning back to the Cuban he had been engaged in conversation prior to the mother daughter incident. "I'm sorry, I must appear completely rude. I'm Riley." He offered. "I'm actually not from Pilot Ridge." He explained. "I only come here to shop for the cheeses." He pointed to the deli with its' different types of cheese they sell by the wheel at a really discounted price.

[Paulo Ortiz]

"Well, thank you," Paulo kept smiling as he shook Riley's hand firmly. A good handshake was invaluable when it came to impressing people and winning them over, and he had a good handshake. The Cuban man knew that odds were against him when it came to coming across as impressive, or even effective. Though he was multilingual, he could barely read anything, and his writing was iffy at best. If it wasn't for the wonders of computers and screen-reading programs, he wouldn't be able to do half as much as he did. So he had learned to be charming. It was really his only option.

The man smiled fondly and shook his head slightly as the kid raced by, followed by the mother. He wasn't a family man, and never wanted to have kids of his own. Nor did he particularly like other people's brats either, but he had to keep playing charming, at least until he got the man's name. With a name and his face, Paulo could track him anywhere.

And there it was. The name. Perfect... Except the older man had to add on that he wasn't actually from Pilot Ridge. Paulo hid his disappointment well, and nodded, keeping up his false smile. "Oh. I didn't know they were good here. Since we moved here, my wife has done most of the shopping."

Paulo wanted out of this conversation, though he hid it well. He had no use for this man.

[Riley Adams]

It was clear that Riley was just not a good conversationalist. Especially not while shopping and he truly hoped Oscar didn't think he was being anti-social or impolite since Riley was far from those things. He was extremely friendly with the people who knew and he was rarely, if ever, rude to anyone, even strangers. Why the other day he could have just told the suit to get off his manicured lawn and shove his cancer stick where the sun don't shine. Josh Bernstein, was it his name? But Riley had been polite about it, even struck up an awkward conversation if it was actually a conversation at all.

Riley was completely unaware of Oscar's tracking powers and didn't realise his name had been a weapon against him. Although Riley didn't see how his life could ever be in danger, seeing as his connection with Hammel had ended the moment he graduated from the life-changing institution. Although he should have at least sent the place a thank you note or something but he severed ties with the institution and had moved on with his life. He was a sentimental old man for sure but he knew when it was necessary to dwell in the past. Or not to, perhaps.

The revelation that Oscar was married saw Riley sighing with relief. Better late than never, he presumed. Why he had thought that Oscar was interested in him in that way, Riley had no idea. But whatever it was, he was thoroughly relieved that he didn't have to put up any kind of facade. Not wanting to delve any deeper with the whole wife thing, he once again subtly looked at his cheese and willed the guy to call out his name.

Just as he was about to mention how amazing the cheeses were, miraculously his name was called. He nearly jumped but a raised hand to the deli guy and a sheepish grin to Oscar, Riley wondered if he should just extract himself completely from the Cuban's presence or get his cheese and come back. Oh decisions. Why are you so difficult to make?

Finally, Riley decided Oscar was probably just being polite by making small talk with the old guy who banged into him with his clumsy trolley maneuvering. So he relieved him of the awkward position and reached his hand out again to the younger man to shake.

"It has been a pleasure to meet you Oscar and do send my regards to your wife. I'm so sorry to cut this short but my cheese is calling me and uh...I gotta run some other errands so...it's really nice to meet you and I'm terribly sorry once more for crashing into you." He backed away with a sheepish grin before turning to grab his cheese, almost immediately forgetting about the man who kind of gave him a sense of discomfort when he took a whiff of the aromatic blue cheese.

"This is a good one, Keith. Thanks." He dropped the cheese into his cart and turned to go to the counter, waving at Oscar once more. "Bye!"

[OOC: Wrap or tag to? Thanks very very much for jumping in my open thread and SO sorry for being so bloody boring to you. I promise, I'll do better next time!!]

[Leila Gold]

Leila had a handful of fliers she kept in her oversized bag, just in case. And as she headed into the store to pick up a few groceries, she reached in to pull out one of the papers to hang on the main door.

"Blue and Gold Law Firm," the papers read, displaying yet another piece of Leila's artwork. This time she'd drawn two people shaking hands and put the picture on the front of the flier. It wasn't a colored flier, but it was on bright yellow paper, and she supposed that would have to do.

She reached into her bag and rifled through the piles of pill bottles and old candy wrappers, looking for the sheets of paper and for her tape. A slight breeze tugged on a piece of her hair, then darted into the bag and started rifling around.

Athena, Leila's pet corgi, was sitting outside the door, waiting patiently for her mistress to finish shopping. Leila hadn't checked the leash laws in town, but she hoped that nobody would say anything. She hadn't brought the dog into the store with her, at least. And Athena was a good dog--she wouldn't run away.

Just as Leila had managed to find a slightly-wrinkled flier and some masking tape, she looked up and realized that she was still blocking the doorway.

"Sorry," she said with a gentle grin. "Guess I held you up a while, huh? If you want, you can hire me to sue, for ten percent of your winnings." She flashed a smile again.

[OOC: Mind if I cut in?]

[Riley Adams]

After paying for his things, Riley got distracted by a stack of pamphlets boasting about cheap flights to Florida and Easter Island. He was so consumed with reading one of them that promised him a week of non-stop action when a voice cut into his deep trance. He skidded to a halt just in time before his cart could even touch the small blonde standing in front of him.

Blinking a few times, wondering how this happened twice in a day at the same place to him. He was like a little kid sometimes, going into his own world with no regard whatsoever for people around him. He grinned sheepishly at the woman. "You weren't holding me up. I would have barelled into you if you didn't speak up."

He noticed the fliers and what she said made him chuckle. "I don't do well in court. I once had to do jury duty...that was a bit hectic." He shrugged. Why he had to mention that, he didn't know. No one needed to know how he almost flaked on the whole thing. Especially not a lawyer. He grinned once more at her. "I could use some company to get something to drink over there." He offered, pointing in the direction of a juice bar across from where they were.

He had some time to kill and who knows, he might get a friend out of this woman. He needed those.

[Leila Gold]

Leila briefly wondered about the comment about jury duty but decided it wasn't important. She considered the man's proposal.

"Well, I wouldn't be opposed to running across and grabbing a drink, but maybe we can start at the beginning." She thrust out her right hand, realized it was full of fliers, stuffed them in her purse, then thrust out her hand again. "Hi, I'm Leila Gold, new attorney in town, partners with Mr. Cobalt Weaver."

After introductions were made Leila grabbed another flier out of her bag and made her way across to the juice bar. Maybe, with a tiny bit of luck, she might have met someone to talk to who wasn't old and cranky.

[Riley Adams]

"The beginning sounds nice." Riley nodded before grasping the offered hand in a warm shake. "I'm Riley. Uh...I don't exactly live here but I do landscape every here and there. I just normally go to this place for their produce." He offered a small smile. Finally, someone he knew outside of his workforce. And that insanely adorable suit he had met at the old folks home. Josh...hmm.

Riley excused himself to put his groceries in the car before heading to the juice bar, ordering a green apple and celery juice while asking Leila what she wanted. Once they've made their purchase, Riley escorted Leila to an empty seat to wait for their juices. "So...are you just new at being an attorney or actually new to this town?" He asked politely.

Looking down, he noticed a tiny corgi obediently at Leila's heel. "That dog seems to like you." Riley chuckled, not knowing Leila was indeed the owner.

[Leila Gold]

"I'll have a strawberry and raspberry mix, thanks." That should be sweet enough, Leila figured. She shuddered a little at the idea of celery in a cup, but figured it was just one of those old people things.

She sat down at the table and pulled out another flier, wondering already where to post it. "Actually," she said, I'm kind of new at both. I've only been working with Blue--er, Mr. Weaver, for about a year now. But we just moved to town the other day to start up here. We wanted to work in an area that would provide more opportunities to form new meta-human standards."

Looking down at Athena, she smiled. "I'd hope the dog liked me. Since I raised her from a puppy. This is Athena. Say hello, Athena." The dog obediently shuffled over and laid her head down at Riley's feet, waiting for a pat on the head.

"So," Leila said, "You're a landscaper? What kind of stuff do you do? Like, do you tend to work on bigger plots of land, or on a smaller scale? I love looking at nature and seeing some of the outdoor artwork, so I think it's cool that some people can actually make plants do things and go into cool shapes and whatnot."

A quick breeze blew the fliers off the table. "Oh, shoot!" Leila shouted, then stood to run after them. "Darn it, I really need to figure out how to make sure stuff blows back to me after it goes running off."

[Riley Adams]

Nodding at her explanation about being new, Riley smiled as she talked about meta-human. He knew the word was uttered freely in the communities but hearing it firsthand made him shudder. Was she an activist or was she a meta-human herself? He didn't want to ask despite the growing curiosity building in him.

Instead, he focused on the dog. "Oh! I didn't realise she was yours. Hi Athena." Riley bent down slightly, pushing his chair back to pat the dog, scratching her behind her ears which she seemed to like so he continued on. "Uh, I mostly do backyards but right now I'm working on the old folks homejust a few hours from here." Riley smiled widely at Leila's love of nature. "I don't make the plants do anything perse. But I love seeing it go into different shapes and whatnot." He teased lightly.

Riley pressed the ashtray in the middle of the table on to the stack of fliers still on the table before grabbing the ones that were flying. Her choice of words made him realise that she might also be meta-human herself. Or maybe she just wishes things would go her way...hmm. After scooping up some of the fliers off the ground and stacking them neatly into the pile on the table, Riley waved at the juice bar cashier who was bringing over their drinks.

"Thanks." He paid the cashier and sat down on the chair. The corgi pawed his leg and he continued to scratch it while drinking his juice. "So Blue and Gold huh..." He thought it was adorable that they used their own names for their firm. Much like him with Patch Adams. It was silly on his part but he thought it was cute because the Blue half of the firm was named Cobalt Weaver. "How long have you been working with your partner?"

[Leila Gold]

"Thanks for helping me track these down," Leila said once they'd retrieved the fliers. "Everything just keeps blowing away around me. One of these days I'll figure out what's so great about having my own personal breeze, anyway."

Leila took her drink from the cashier and fished out some cash to pay for the juice. It was nice and sweet, just as she'd suspected. She smiled as she saw Riley scratching Athena. Only one person so far hadn't liked the corgi. Just her luck, of course, that that one person would be her partner/boss.

"I've been working with Cobalt for the past year or so, ever since I got out of law school. Basically, he didn't have anyone helping him, so I figured he could use the assistance, even though I didn't have any experience. He hasn't kicked me out of the office yet, so I guess he doesn't mind having me around." She shrugged. "He's not the most agreeable person, but maybe one of these days he'll actually make friends."

Suddenly, Leila's eyes opened wide and she smiled wide.

"Hey," she said, placing her juice on the table and leaning across to look closely at Riley, "how would you feel about meeting Cobalt? I'm trying to put together some sort of game night, probably poker or something, and I want to invite some people from town so that we get some nice connections set up. You wanna come?"

Athena rolled over again and came to sit by Leila, patting her leg. Leila reached down to pat the dog on the head. "Tell you what," she said, "I'll send you a formal invitation, and then you can decide whether or not you wanna come. Deal?"

[Riley Adams]

"No...problem." He shrugged. Now Riley was definitely convinced that Leila was a meta-human. Which made sense, he supposed. She had a law firm for meta-humans. Either she was one of them or she really loved them. Could she manipulate the air? It didn't seem polite to ask so he didn't.

"Oh, so you and Mr Weaver are good friends I assume?" Riley took another sip of his juice as he continued to pay attention to the corgi who looked quite content with his fingers scratching the back of her ear. If dogs could smile...

Riley chuckled quietly at Leila's description of her friend. He personally didn't know anyone who was not agreeable but he was sure they were able to make friends. With people who probably shared the same disdain as they did, perhaps. Weirder things have been known to happen.

When Leila moved forward in her seat, Riley was taken aback and despite not minding people invading his personal space, he was actually quite surprised at the sudden scrutiny he was under. But he relaxed when she invited him to a party. He was good at parties. He may be shy and uncoordinated when it came to people but he always made good dip. And partied need dip.

"Oh...um...sure I'd love to come. Just include the address to the party. I'm actually not living here. In fact, I live an hour away from here but anything to get some connections." Riley smiled a little awkwardly. Okay, he was still trying to get over his shyness and he wasn't exactly doing a bad job of it!