1963-08-01 - Summer Heat
Summary: Cecilia & Akihiro meet on a hot summer day.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
Akihiro Cecilia 


The sun beats down on New York today, it quickly having grown hot and uncomfortable for most people. Akihiro is clearly one of those people, the teenager shedding his jacket to reveal that he isn't all skin and bones and actually possesses muscles. Currently he's leaned up against a wall puffing on a cigarette, his hair slicked back and earrings shown off. "Get's much hotter I'm gonna have to go for a swim." he decides.

*

The young Latina was a vibrant rush of color and energy as she rushed down the street, pleated skirts kicked up against toned thighs and heels colliding with the pavement. Her curls were a tumble of chaotic frizz, tousled into disobedience by her athletic burst to catch her train home and further encouraged by the humidity. Spinning around the corner with a near comedic skip to catch her balance, she appeared for a moment to be in danger of twisting her ankle before an impossible reassessment of her weight saved the stumble, and she poured down the next avenue. Unfortunately, her second lecture had gone much too late to catch the usual train, thus she came skidding to a stop in front of the teenager lounging without a care in the world. If she saw him, she didn't bother to recognize it, his presence blending into the usual fray of New Yorker mob. She pulled off a shoe, glowering at the blister forming and the broken heel and swearing none too softly in a growling tone that could make a sailor blush.

*

"Woah there doll, you alright?" Akihiro asks as he sees Cecilia speed around the corner, concern evident in his voice. He tosses his cigarette down and crushes it under his heel, "You gotta be careful, we don't all heal as fast as I do, that coulda been trouble."

*

Cecilia pauses in the midst of her momentary indulgence in the profane, dark eyes moving to rest upon the man with a transitory attention. She would have likely dismissed him as either a drug peddler or a con man, especially this close to mutant tone and toting a jacket like that in this heat. His words give her pause though, and she raises a slender eyebrow, the sun catching against the lenses of her glasses and momentarily hiding her expression. From the way that her lips pressed into a tight line though, it didn't seem wholly amused.

"It is trouble. Now I'm late."

Looking over the other shoe for similar damage, she leveraged a nearby trash can lid to pop off the heel so that they were at least even; a poorly constructed pair of impromptu flats.

*

"Well damn. Which way you heading?" Akihiro asks, brows raising slightly. "And just try to breath a little bit, yeah?" he flashes an easy grin, "Last thing we need is you worrying yourself into a migraine. Want a cigarette or something to help take the edge off?"

*

"You realize-" She begins as she pulls a shoe back on, the other one following suit despite the blisters that the footwear would now rub against, "-that suggesting I catch my breath while having a cigarette is counter-intuitive? They kill you."

Her weight was distributed once again unflinchingly, breathing already slowed to a normal tempo despite the sheen of sweat on her brow. With the angle of her gaze shifted, he could see that she was weighing him calmly.

"So you heal?"

She finally inquired without any aplomb. After all, why would she care about his name? He had introduced his ability so quickly, and the nature of it intrigued the young medical student for professional reasons.

*

"Yup. Before you can tell anything was wrong. So, cigarettes won't kill me." Akihiro raises his hand that isn't holding the jacket over his shoulder, "Got claws too. Don't think I should pop them in public though."

His gaze moves to settle on Cecilia, head tilting slightly, "So you got a thing you do, or being pretty your power?" It's clear he doesn't mean anything by it, may not have realized he said anything at all.

*

All thin curves and a ferocity that some men found 'exotic', it was not the first time that she had been called pretty by a stranger, nor would it be the last. Sweating on this sidewalk though, with a train missed and a long walk home ahead of her, she wasn't feeling particularly magnanimous. There was a moment after he asked that she paused her sharp tongue though, a silence that hinted her response wasn't entirely honest. After all, she hardly feared him, nor was she particularly fascinated like a human may be at his transparent honesty.

"I heal people. At least that's the plan."

Tapping a full bag of books, she clarified with no effort at humor, "College and all that. You attend or?"

*

"Alright, don't say what I just did." Akihiro notes, clearly picking up on that much at least. "When my adoptive parents died I was sent to Canada, so I didn't get to attend high school." He clearly sounds bitter about that, "So I can fight and ride a horse, but if you ask me to do any math I'll freeze up." He starts to say something, but his eyes go wide, "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm Akihiro, introducing slipped my mind when you almost fell back there."

*

"You've gone through two sets then?"

There was a teasing edge to her voice, but not one that sought superiority. Perhaps she just didn't have the best reaction to emotional context, which was only to be expected with her chosen profession. As he spoke, she reached up and tied her hair back lazily, the curls spilling loose in such a mess that it appeared as if she had made no effort at all to tame them.

"Cecilia. Call me Cee-Cee though."

Her tongue pressed against her teeth for a moment as if she was holding back the offer before she sighed and continued, "I should uh Go. I'm late and all that."

*

Akihiro lifts his hand in a wave. "Alright then Cee-Cee. It was good to meet you, may see you around again. Who knows." He flashes a warm smile before fishing out another cigarette, though he doesn't light this one. "Pretty sure if I stand here any long the cops will think I'm some sort of criminal."

*

Cecilia pauses in turning to leave, shaking her head at his comment as she knew full well any man who wasn't white and in a suit standing that was loitering was a criminal. However, she glanced over a shoulder and offered up quietly, "If you should need help with your studies, I'm usually in the Columbia University Library on most afternoons, by the study tables. I know it can be hard to get your foot in the door if nobody is holding it open for you."

Despite the fact that the offer was floated in her usual tone that harbored no warmth, it was an effort at being kind. She didn't extend many.

*

"I'll come by and see you sometime then." Akihiro says with a smile. "It's appreciated. Not many bother to offer." He starts to head off now, "I got a good nose too. If I smell you nearby I'll stop in and say hey." Because that's not weird or anything, Akihiro.

*

Cecilia blinks but seems to accept that this is normal, a light sigh heaved that she had to accept such a reality. All the same, she shook her head and turned to depart in no particular hurry; a long and circuitous route taken to the Bronx she called home.

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