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Four days 'til the Solstice. Ugh, and Mree can hardly wait. This whole sense of the night stretching over him like so much liquid rubber is— stifling, somnolent, leaves him lethargic— and cranky. Waiting for the day to start reclaiming what the night has stolen is best whiled away down the street from his office. It's the middle of the afternoon. The sun should be out. Instead it looks like midnight outside and the only thing making any of it OK is the large triple-meat pizza he's working on here at Mario's, gnawrming at it like he hasn't eaten in a year. His long hair's wrapped up in a loose ponytail, and his features are pale— almost white, rather than green, with hints of a fleshy pink below his eyes. Suffice it to say the plant is not wintering well.
*
Christmastime was just around the corner, that much is true. His shopping spree has been taken care of, thanks to some of Frank's money that the man probably won't miss — and even if he /does/ miss it, Tommy can't say he really cares. It could be put to so much better use in his hands than those of his (adoptive?) father's. Which is why the platinum-haired teen is here, dressed in his standard black leather jacket, blue shirt and jeans combination — and presently standing in line (the horror!) for his turn to come up in order to order some pizza. As he waits, his feet are tapping impatiently. Always moving. At least just a little bit. Someone's restless.
*
Classes are on break due to the Holiday, and Kimberly enjoying exploring her new home. New York City! The teen is bundled against the Winter Wonderland outside. Well, a few inches of snow. Still! Brr! A pink sweater dress with white leggings and comfortable and warm black boots. A white jacket is on over her pink sweater dress, and her brown hair falls past her shoulders, framing her pretty face. Her freckle-dusted nose is pink from the cold. She steps inside and stamps her feet a few times, before blowing into her cupped hands. She peers about the place curiously, and her tummy makes an audible growl when she smells the pizza. She trots over and steps into line behind the platinum-haired one, glancing up at the menu.
*
The meat on a slice of pizza threatens to weigh the slice down past itss point of structural integrity; he curls the slice in his hands like a pro, lending some renewed sturdiness to the crust and cupping all the toppings into the thus-produced curve before he inserts the tip into his mouth and bites as deeply as he can, one cheek bulging as he makes a half-hearted effort to chew. Tired eyes trail along the pathway from the door to the counter and the others lining up there.
*
Waiting in line is something that's equivilant to torture for someone who percieves the world in slow motion from the eginning, so looking around is definitely going to be required. Person in front of him? Some bald guy with a shiny head. A /really/ shiny head, actually. Tommy takes a moment to pop up on his toes and fix a couple hairs that were out of place, using the man's head as a terrible mirror. Then he's turning to the side, looking out over the customers and…
"Whoa."
Eyes fall upon Mree for a moment; but only a moment in real time. In Tommy-time? He was definitely staring. For way too long. Another advantage of speed.
So it's time to keep looking around to see someone that he /won't/ stare at and is better to look at than the bald guy in front… and that's when eyes fall on Kimberly. Pretty girl? Oh, that's a winner right there. After a heartbeat Tommy flashes a well-practiced smile, "Hey. Pretty cold out there, ain't it? Least the food in here'll warm us up. Might not be the /best/ in town, but they keep the pies coming hot around the clock and I can't really argue that one."
*
The girl follows Tommy's gaze to Mree and she peers curiously for a long moment, until his words to her shake her out of her curiosity. She blinks and flashes an easy smile. "We get more snow up north, but…it's pretty chilly out, yeah. I love Christmas, though, so I don't really mind." Her accent shows she's likely from Upstate New York, just like she hinted. "Hey, cheap pizza suits a poor college student just fine."
Kimberly glances over him at the menu again. "I think I'll get a slice of the vegetarian. All those veggies sound like they'd hit the spot right about now."
*
Mree is already moving in something like slow motion, himself— perhaps to Tommy he seems to be but a strangely shaped statue, slowly engulfing the meat-laden pizza. He swallows roughly and stares, himself, at his mostly-empty bottle of soda pop, mentally gaguing the amount of help he needs to swallow vs the energy expenditure of going up to buy another bottle.
*
"Hey, it's the most wonderful time of the year, right?" Tommy replies, winking a green eye in Kimberly's diection — and taking a step backwards as said balding man finishes his order. "Well, a veggie pizza doesn't sound half bad to me either… so since I've got some cash left over from shopping, how about I offer to share my good fortune with a pretty poor college student?" he suggests cheerfully. "I'm Tommy, by the way."
…and he can't help but occasionally glance over at Mree. Because the man (…that is a man, right? Tommy wouldn't bet money on it, but he /thinks/ so!) really is moving so very slow. Of course, it probably looks like he's looking over that way because of the inhuman features of the nearly soda-less fellow, but that's besides the point.
*
She arches an eyebrow at that and clearly weighs her options before she nods. "Sure, I'll take you up on that." She adjusts her purse strap and turns to glance around the place for a moment, including a short focus on Mree, before turning her attention back to Tommy. She smiles at the introduction. "Kimberly. It's nice to meet you."
She brushes her finhers back through her hair. "Are you a local?," the teen asks curiously.
*
Mree tucks away the crust end of the slice and looks down at the rest of the pie, now more than half gone, with a simultaneous hunger and severe lack of appetite. He's full, but is feeling less than nourished. His pale features twist with some dicomfort, and his long tail begins to wind beneath him, pushing him up from his seat while he seems simply to recline back against it. He picks up his soda bottle and swigs down the rest, the bubbles lending him a brief sense of vigor, enough to get him to the trash can to let go of it and send it toppling in.
*
"Hey, hey, blondie! You gonna order or what?" calls the man behind the counter, getting impatient at the teenager who's not placd his yet.
To which Tommy doesn't even look; holding up a hand and extending his index finger. That's the only response he's giving there for the moment. "Nice t'meet you, too." Pause. "Not exactly. I mean, I guess I am /now,/ but I grew up in Jersey." Tommy's own accent confirms that fact pretty well. "How long've you been out here? …guess I'd better order before Louie back there gets /too/ cheezed off, huh?"
Thus, Tommy turns around to do just that. "Alright chum, I'll take a large veggie pizza, a bottle of coke for me and, uh… whatever she's havin'." he trails for a moment, glancing over his shoulder. "You want anything to drink, Kim?"
*
"Only moved here last month. Still getting to know the area. I grew up in a kind of small town, so it's all pretty crazy." She steps up to consider what she is going to drink, and she nods. "I'll have a Coke too, please." Kimberly glances back at Mree again, peering curiously while she waits for the order to go through.
"Guess we should find a table while we wait, huh?"
*
Mree finds a napkin dispenser on his way up toward the counter. He's got pizza grease on every finger, and he rubs at them, wrapping the napkin around one at a time as he trails forward. The fellow behind the counter— one could assume he'd be irritated by the lethargic-lookng mutant haunting the place, but instead, after taking Tommy's order and sending it back to the guys working the pies, he looks past the pair of them and his expression grows concerned rather than angry. "You alright, Mree, there? You look like hell warmed over, you sick or somethin'?" Must be a regular. Mree's chin bobbles a little bit. "I'll be OK," he murmurs, voice as ambiguously gendered as his form, sweet and light, and almost frail, with a British accent. "I don't— just— I'm not quite well tonight, no. May I order another soda pop, please?"
*
"Lots of area to get accustomed to. Thankfully, there's busses and trains that run pretty much everywhere you need to go, and the places they don't? Not really worth it, or you need a fancy invitation." Tommy replies, tucking a hand under the pizza dish as it's brought to the counter, and snagging one of the bottles of coke that are brought along with it. "Hey — put Mree's drink on my tab, too… and you know what? It's the season, keep the change." Tommy tells the fellow behind the counter, then looks over to Kimberly, "Kimmy, mind grabbing the other drinks for me?" he asks.
…and with that said? He's making a beeline for Mree's table. Why? He likes attention. Mree, by nature, ought to draw it — at least from non-regulars, given the man's likely regular status.
"Hey chum. Mree, right? Mind if my lovely ladyfriend and I join ya?" he asks cheerfully, pointing his head in Kimberly's direction to indicate /which/ lady he speaks of.
*
Kimberly blinks when Tommy pays for Mree as well…and then moves towards his table. Huh. She considers this a moment before shrugging and grabbing the other drinks. "I've been sticking mostly to the campus so far. Big campus, so it works." She trails after him and stands to the side, glancing between him and Mree before setting anything down.
*
Tommy's moving almost too quickly for the sluggish Mree to keep up— his surprise lags behind the purchase of his soda and he's holding it baffledly for a moment before he manages, "Oh— thank you." A smile, a real smile for the man behind the counter and then he's following the pair back to the table where his heap-o-meat pizza is still chilling out. Literally. Getting cold and all. "You both want to sit with me?" he sounds a little surprised. Pleased, but surprised, like a little girl whose older sister suddenly said she wanted to play tea party. He's certainly not objecting, he's just a little slow getting back to the table. His tail's fast to the floor behind him, and it might be helping prop him up, yet.
*
"Which campus? Empire, NYU, Frost?" Tommy inquires of Kimberly, hooking his foot around a chair's leg and using it to pull the chair out for her, even while he's setting the pizza and his drink down on the table. Multitasking go!
Tommy's not loose with his own money. But this is /Frank's/ money, and honestly? Better spent on new friends than given back to that man. Plus, given the current anti-mutant climate? Tommy's more than happy to throw his lot in with the Born Different crowd. Yes, he's one of them. Yes, he could hide it easily. No, he's not going to play that game. He's fine getting into a scrap or two with the kind of people who were behind the attacks.
Plus, it ends up speaking volumes for Kim as she sticks with him even after the decision. Cute /and/ good people. Always a good thing. "You bet, chum. I know, the waiting list's gotta be a mile long, but Kim and I are regular VIPs around this joint; we cut to the front, yeah?" Tommy quips, grinning cheerfully before flopping down into a chair himself.
*
"NYU," Kimberly offers in reply. She nods her hair in thanks when he pulls the chair out for her, and she sets the cups down before she offers Mree a smile. "Hi there. I'm Kimberly." Unlike Tommy and Mree she is absolutely not a Murant…or Born Different. Sure, she -is- Different, but that came way later. She takes her purse off and sets it in her lap before she eyes the pizza.
"Wow, that smells good." She reaches out to seize a pizza slice, folding it to take a big bite before glancing at the other two.
*
Mree's tail curls sluggishly to one side, getting into the chair before he does, then he sort of sits on top of it, perched a little more on one hip than staight down. Until they make chairs for people with tails, this is the best way. It also lets him cross one leg easily over the other and push himself in toward the table, suddenly somewhat more engaged, happy that these strangers have taken an interest in keeping him company. Hell, he gets all teary-eyed, to boot, a wavery smile coming over him. "I'm Mree," which they already know, but he's too overcome with the feels to really care, duly charmed by Tommy's charming manner of speech— it draws some green color back to his cheeks. "I'm sorry I might not be best company to-night. These long nights— they're killing me."
*
"I've been thinking about making the college jump. Had a bunch on my plate, otherwise I probably woulda started in the fall… how do you like it so far?" Tommy asks, plucking up a slice of the pizza for himself and stuffing it in his mouth. Delicious, delicious pizza. Seriously, this stuff? Food of the gods. He's glad Billy didn't take them to a time before pizza, at least.
"Hey, nobody said you hadda be the /best/ company, just company. Someone to talk to. Or at least talk /at./ I do like to ramble from time to time. I'd say that it'd help you sleep if I keep oing and going and going, but that would mean I'm being /boring,/ and that's one thing I just can't do." Tommy offers cheerfully. "…and I'm Tommy, by the way. Good to meetcha."
*
She grins at Mree and shrugs a shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. We all have off nights, right?" She works on her slice of pizza as they chat. She glances at Tommy and nods. "It's fine. I got in on a gymnastics scholarship. Otherwise I'd have to work to get my way through. I might try to find a part-time job or something, though, anyways. Might be nice to have some spending money."
Kimberly glances between the two as she sets her slice down to pick up her Coke and take a sip.
*
Mree picks at his remaining pizza, pulling off a bit of sausage and just eating that, before he opens up his fresh soda and takes a small, savoring sip. "Thank you, both of you," he appreciates the freedom not to be entertaining or at all interesting, though he does put in the cognitive effort, anyhow, fumbly though it does come out: "I have a job. Never did go to school, though. Or, well, haven't been to school in a good long time. I know my boss would like it if I tried to go to a college, but I don't know. I'm just happy to have work, really."
*
"Don't think it'd be too hard to find something out there… lotta places hiring. Especially since those giants attackd it's like people don't wanna get out from under their beds in the morning anymore." There's a brief frown from Tommy as he realizes; changing homes means that /he/ might have to look into a job also.
Another bite of the pizza is taken. Good stuff! "No problem; and hey, it's up to you. People tell me it's one of those experiences you shouldn't miss out on… I dunno about all that, but it's definitely a good way to get out of the house, and /that's/ a big plus in its own right." Tommy admits. …and now he's going to focus on eating that piza and drinking that coke. Deliciousness!
*
Kimberly cocks her head to the side as she listens to Mree. "Well, I'm glad you're happy." She smiles and picks up her slice of pizza. She finishes it off by munching on the crust, and then sits back, likely full after one slice. She is not very big, after all. She turns to Tommy and nods. "Oh, I am sure I can find something else when it comes down to it!"
*
"I know Ms. Walters would—" Mree blinks. He already said that. "She's a lawyer," he half-starts over. "Learning is very important to her. Sometimes I feel she doesn't think I'm living up to my potential or… similar," he burbles. "But, yes, there are a lot of places you could work. Especially if you're just looking for some spending money," he encourages Kimberly.
*
She smiles softly and nods, sipping at her soda now and again as they chat. She sits back in her chair now that she is nicely full of pizza. "Oh, a lawyer. Interesting. Not too easy for a woman to be taken seriously in law these days." She sets her Coke town and idly turns it, glancing down at it.
"I'll find something at some point. Currently I'm working on settling in, you know? Still getting used to a dorm, and not being in Angel Grove." She pauses. "That's where I'm from. Small town up North."
*
Mree leans forward onto an elbow, listening to Kimberly and nodding his head with a droopy eyelid. "It's difficult for her— I know. And she's been so kind to me. Giving me a place to work, a place to stay." He's getting all teary-eyed again, and Kimberly has got a big sappy smile coming to her for the name of her hometown. "Angel Grove. That sounds beautiful."
*
Kimberly grins a bit and shrugs a shoulder. "It's alright. Small town that started as a mining town a long time back before the mines went dry. Managed to keep going, but now most people either work locally, or drive to the next town over to work at a bottling factory. But it's nice. It has been described as 'quaint'." Kimberly chuckles.
*
Mree shimmies a little bit further to his hip, letting his tail curl up behind his back, making it arc delicately where he squirms to get comforable in the chair so very not built for him. "What sort of mines?" he wonders. "The name is so lovely. Makes me wonder who saw an angel there to name it like that," he smiles dreamishly at her, the conversation at least distracting him from his winter distress.
*
"There are a tons of versions of how it got the name. No clue which one is true." She shrugs and eyes another slice of pizza, considering snagging it. "Copper. But the mine went dry a good thirty years ago. My grandpa worked in the mine, back then. They're all boarded up now for safety." She picks up her drink for another sip, and finally reaches out for another slice of her vegetarian pizza.
*
Mree's three remaining slices of pizza are just sitting there, at this point. He's still picking little bits of hamburger, bacon, pepperoni off of it to nibble on between sips of soda. His gaze is soft, gentle, and he seems appreciative of a long heritage of mine workers. "It must be lovely. When I first came to America I lived in West Virginia. It was…" he smiles and shakes his head all at once. "Lovely, all the woodland, and the meadows in the foothills. I miss the wide open spaces living here in the city."
*
Kimberly smiles softly at that and nods. "Angel Grove is in the woods and hills. Easy to get lost if you don't know your way, though. I spent a lot of time out there growing up, and then later on, too. Getting used to this big city is a bit rough. But so few people actually get out of Angel Grove, I felt that I kind of needed to." She pauses and furrows her brow before taking a bite of her folded pizza. "Does that make sense?"
*
"Yah," Mree' voice goes momentarily rough, scratchy, and he has to clear it, as though he'd been straining to see her point of view, but had finally gotten there. "I mean, in a sense— sometimes you want to make more of yourself than your upbringing would offer. Me? Leaving was never my choice. If my parents had been willing to keep me, I'd have been happy to stay at home," he contrasts his own situation, getting all moist-eyed again. He's just an emotional wreck, isn't he?
*
Kimberly winces softly. Oops. She nods slowly and takes another bite of her pizza before setting it down. "Aw, geez. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say something that'd make you sad. Well, you have people who care about you now, right? Like that…lawyer lady? Looking out for you? So it's alright. Not so bad."
*
Mree has been getting happy-tears and sad-tears and just tear-tears all night, it's not Kimberly's fault, and he smiles soothingly to her when she makes to apologise. "Oh, it's fine, it's just fine," he tells her. "Yes. I have friends here. People who like me. Even in West Virginia I had my foster parents. They—" he even laughs a little bit, "I think they were probably crazy people, but they were nice to me."
*
Kimberly grins a bit. "Well, we all think our parents are a little crazy.." She trails off and finishes her second slice of pizza. "Oh, I am seriously full now. It was a groovy pizza, but there is no way I can eat any more." She lets out a long breath and washes the bite down with soda.
*
"Mario's is the best in Brooklyn. In the city, even," he lifts his voice up so that the fellow behind the counter can hear him. He feels at home here, has been welcomed as part of the community, and that enhances the flavor of the pizza like anything. "But, yes. I don't think I can finish my pizza, either," he mourns, staring at the slices. "Oh, well. I'll take the rest home," he decides.
*
She arches an eyebrow at that and glances about, nodding. "Huh. Okay, good to know!" Kimberly smiles and peers at the remaining pizza, though no doubt Tommy is tearing into it as well. "I don't have a way to store food in my dorm room, really. So, whatever he doesn't take of our pizza you can take with you, I guess. Or I can take it and give it to some homeless folks I saw on the corner."
*
"I can find room for it in the firm fridge. Someone will eat it— unless you'd rather donate it," Mree give Kimberly latitude to choose what to do with her leftovers. "Some of the interns aren't too many steps away from the streetcorner themselves," he smiles.
*
Kimberly smiles at that and nods. "How about this. You take half of what is left, and I will take half. So your interns get food, and so do the homeles on the corner." The girl grins and brushes some hair back behind her ear. Her watch, then, makes a weird noise. It is a sort of 'Boop Boo Boodoo Boop Boo.' She frowns and covers it with her sleeve before rising from her seat. She reaches down to collect her half of the pizza. "But I really need to get going.."
*
"Good-night, Kimberly. Thank you for sitting with me. Thank you both," he murmurs. "You really made my night. Beautiful to meet you," he goes on, beginning to gather together his own leftovers, as well. Back to work!
*