A Terrible Encounter

Emerl found herself carefully walking in the city. Since her last encounter with that weird flipper, her life has gotten worst. This morning she woke up with two sensitive red antenna sticking out of her head. Even worst, she could not smell anything with her nose. Then she walked by a public bathroom and nearly vomited. She had obtained another hindrance due to these accursed powers, an enhanced sense of smell. The final kick in the gut was that she could not make these new amendments go away. In order to keep her secret, she had to break out her old headband, which was just big enough to keep her antenna in her hair. In fact, buying a new headband is what sparked this painful trip to the inner city.

Her feet burned despite not wearing socks and only flats. Most of her long sleeve attire was useless now and she was forced to cut or retire her collection of pants. Ashley would have been so proud to see her wardrobe become more feminine. Today she had on a sleeveless dark blue blouse with dark purple frills coming off her skirt. It was one of her prettier outfits and she added short leggings to protect her in case something happened to the skirt. Lastly, she had a black beanie fused rim cap, which would add another layer of protection from any wandering eyes. At last, she found it difficult to walk without taking a breaks.

Another thing about her new "gift" was that she could smell all the food around her. If there was nothing like a bathroom to make her want to throw up, then that her senses wanted to report on. Other interesting smells to note were the dozen sweaty people standing in the sun, people whom over used their perfume or cologne, and sweets. Every cafe or candy stall yanked her attention like a coyote being dragged by a falling anvil. The amount of focus it took to just not mindlessly walk into those shops was exhausting. Add burning feet and you have a nearly mentally beaten girl. It was a nightmare. She found herself on a public bench outside a cafe panting as if she had just ran a marathon. It was the last straw. The shop could wait. Right now, she needed to get her shoes of and rest and maybe even get something to eat to please her new urges.

Victor was lead through the restaurant by the attendant.  It was a nice day outside, if a bit hot, so he decided to take one of the outside tables.  They made their way to the back and pushed open a door leading to the outside area.  All along the way, people looked their way, eyes on Victors not so subtle appearance.  Light poured through the door as the sun greeted them.  There were eight tables, all situated with a place for a parasol.  Half of the tables were already occupied, and they all had theirs open.  The area was fenced off from the streets, but it was only about 4 feet high and it was easy to see between the bars.  The attendant led Victor to the table nearest to the locked gate in the fence.  He sat down in his seat and was offered a menu.  He smiled up at her, "Thank you!"  She was obviously trying, and failing, to look at the markings all over him.  "O-of course.  Your server will be with you shortly."  She began walking away, but made one final peak over her shoulder before going back inside.  All the staring might bother anyone else, but Victor had long since grown accustomed to it.  He had been living with it for almost a decade now.  He began flipping through the menu, trying to decide what he wanted.  He knew he was going to order a lot.  It was rare that he got the chance to eat at a place like this.

Emerl's antenna had picked up numerous smells but the closest came from a restaurant in front of her. As she wondered what they served, an aroma of charred meats, sweet creams, frying potatoes, and steamed vegetables assaulted her mind. This was just the immediate smells she recognized. There were dozen's of smells she could pick out if she put anymore thought into it but she was quickly losing her mind to the powerful sensation and her stomach was growling relentlessly.

Emerl slipped into her shoes gritting at the return of the burning itch. She dreaded walking into the establishment given how strong the aroma of food was. She could easily loose herself if she left herself unchecked. Lucky for her, another source of the overwhelming scent came out of the side of the building. She noticed outdoor seating and a waitress sitting down a weird man. Blue painfully tattoos made his skin scream in her eyes. What was he? Her eyes trailed his beaten up clothes picking out his lack of personal image. She thought the tattoos were not flattering anyway and nothing could make that any better. Then she got an idea.

She rushed to the gate after seeing the waitress return inside the restaurant. Scaling the wall and landing with a quick roll, she brushed off the dusk and walked up the the man's table and pulled out a chair.
"Hi ya Smurf Nerd, any one sitting here? Thought so. Hope you don't mind me sitting here!"
Emerl dropped into the seat, kicking off her shoes. A blissful smile grew on her face.
"Whats on the menu? I'm starving. Hope its not Jello hehe."

Victor was just browsing through the menu when he noticed something fly over the fence into the restaurant area.  Closer inspection revealed it to be a small girl with bright green eyes.  He watched her inquisitively as she strode up to his table, pulled a chair, and sat down as if she owned it.  Victor chuckled at the girls insult "Smurf nerd.  That's a new one."  He waved his hand at the chair she had already occupied.  "By all means, join me!  The more the merrier.  This place seems to have a huge selection on their menu.  I wouldn't doubt it if there was Jello."  He finished with a pointed laugh.  Despite the girls abrupt intrusion, Victor was being completely nonchalant, as if her appearance wasn't at all unexpected.  He continued flipping through the pages of the menu before finding the drink selection.  He scanned it, looking through the various alcoholic beverages.  It was unfortunate he didn't own any form of ID.  

He flipped back to the food and then looked back up at his guest.  "Go ahead and order whatever you want.  My treat.  I'm feeling like having a feast today!"  He smiled, genuine and pleased.  "My name is Victor by the way.  Just Vic is fine too.  Whatever pleases you more.  The girl was an interesting one, walking up to a strangers table to eat with him.  Especially one so obviously strange as Victor was.  Most people were completely off-put by his appearance, so it was a nice change of pace for someone to come up to him without trying to mug him for a change.  Whatever her intentions were didn't matter.  Victor always appreciated the company.  He returned to his menu and started taking mental notes of all the things he wanted to order.

Emerl watched as the man laughed everything off. He was a good sport and not offended. It was a little off setting, but she got what she wanted. "Thank you, Smurf. Hard to find nerds with taste, even if you're old." She leaned in hiding her face as if to tell a secert, "I hope your not a lolicon though Vicky. Pops said I can't talk to blue tattoo pedos. I'm not sharing my name, Sorry I don't like sharing with weird strangers but I guess you can call me uhh. Jane. "

The girl quickly fell back to her seat giggling. If that did not make him uncomfortable, then he really wasn't a jello spine, though he could have armor skin under those blue tattoos.
"If your offering. Don't expect me to say thank you, or do you any favors."
The girl looked around, seeing no menu's to order from.  This guy hogged the menu to himself, a little rude for a nerd. She got on her knees and reached over the table to pull his menu down.
"I don't have a menu so you have to share yours."
She quickly scanned the items available, "Okay, I know what I want now."

Emerl leaned back into her own chair pulling out her phone. She had no real interest in talking with the tall smurf. She just wanted something to eat something and get on with her day.

Victor gave a casual laugh.  "Right?  Listen well to your dad.  Talking with strangers can be dangerous.  Well then, Jane, I suppose I am getting old.  Over two decades is a long time.  Especially from your perspective.  But you know, at least that means I'm that much closer to dying.  Gotta look at the positives, am I right?"  He waved his hand, speaking without a care, as if he were merely speaking of the good weather.  Immediately after, his hand moved to his chin.  "Speaking of, you seem to be about the age where you could suddenly awaken a power."  His smile remained, but his eyes were much more serious.  Almost inspecting her.  "Look forward to that!  Or perhaps not."  Victors hands seemed to be indicating to himself, even if his words weren't.  The seriousness also disappeared from his eyes.  

The girl seemed quite amused with herself, which was excellent.  Joyous moods were always much better.  Though she certainly seemed like a child, acting selfishly and saying she wasn't going to thank him.  "That's fine.  There's nothing better than a good meal and a good conversation in my book.  Having those two together is even better!"  He had neglected to notice that there was only a menu for him until she pulled on it.  "Oh! Sorry sorry, here."  Just as soon as he was handing it over, she already declared she made her choice.  "You really know what you like, huh."  As he was saying that, she was already bringing out her phone and doing her own thing.  How unfortunate.  

Not long after the waitress showed up.  It was a different person than the one that escorted him to the table, so she didn't seem to question the sudden new customer sitting with Victor.  She did still wearily look over his swirling azure tattoos with a hint of caution.  "Hi, my name is Angela.  I'll be your waitress today.  Are you two ready to order, or do you need a little more time?"  Victor lifted up the menu.  "I think we are both ready."  The waitress took the girls order before moving back to him.  He opened up the menu and started pointing to various things throughout it.  "I'll have one of this, and this, and one of these too.  Oh, and can I have this, with extra cheese?  And can we get these pot sticker things as appetizers?"  She looked at him even more strangely than before.  "Are you expecting more people?"  She asked hesitantly.  "Nope, just feeling REALLY hungry today.  And I feel like having a treat."  He laughed it off as she took down the order, obviously weirded out.  "Alright, I'll put those in for you and be back soon with your drinks and appetizer."  She walked off back inside.  Victor nonchalantly returned his attention to his guest.  "So what brings you out into the city today?  Doing anything in particular, or just passing the time?"

"Wait Smurf, Did you say being close to death is good? Are you suicidal?" Emerl exchanged her mischievous smile for a fake one. This man was weird. Had she not been affected by the smell of food, she would have just left the table and fled inside. She returned to her phone choosing not to add any more comments or insults.
Then the man made a comment about powers. Her skin jumped, causing her to nearly drop her phone. "Haha no. Powers are a trap. It just another way for big brother to put a leash on us. I hope I never get powers. Ever!" the girl exclaimed while staring at her phone. Her fingers bounced around but she was not tapping anything. The topic was nerve racking and she became more aware of her antenna. The twitched a little but not enough to shift her hat around.
"Powers are stupid. Anyone who enjoys them are just slaves of their environment. The topic of slavery is beneath me." Finally the girl started boosting her signature frown.

After the waitress arrived, Emerl gave her order: 3 piece tenders with double fries, one special sauce and one ketchup. For a drink, the girl craved a sweet tea mixed with lemonade. When the man ordered, she was a little startled. He really wanted a feast. She could not dream of eating that much food. Plus that had to be expensive.
"Uhh... Smurf. I can pay for my own meal. It looks like you have your plate full, no pun intended."
The man did not seem like he was rich. In fact, she thought he was more lower class base on the fact that he was wearing beat up clothes. Free food was free food in her mind so she did not question it any further. After that monster order, the man tried to open another line of conversation.
"I need a new headband... stuff. Buy stuff..." The girl was so fazed by that order, that she accidentally revealed a little too much information to the man. Before she could take it back, it was too late.
"Look Smurf, I don't like talking about myself. Why don't tell me what bet you lost to get those stupid tattoos?"

The girls frantic attitude involving powers was quite noticeable.  Victor smiled knowingly to himself but didn't press the issue.  "You're telling me, huh.  A lot of times you can get really unlucky with those.  Not only is that Superhero Foundation a bunch of slave drivers, corralling the powers folks into their inner circles, but even the school itself is corrupt.  Pushing ideas of peace and justice that don't really work when put into practice.  It's like a reflection of the so called stability of the world but on a much more blatant scale.  Plus, you sometimes hear about powers up and backfiring on the owner!  Scary stories at that.  I've heard some back ones in my day.  It's a good idea not to get involved with them."  

After he ordered his food, Jane looked at him strangely.  Though that was to be expected considering the smorgasbord he just ordered.  "Really, you sure?  If you insist."  Victor smiled.  What a pleasant and considerate girl.  She took the initiative to pay for her own food after all.  When she eventually addressed his question she seemed to stutter to a stop and amended herself.  "A headband huh.  I see, I see."  He would have continued, but her mentioning she didn't like to talk about herself prevented him from digging further.  "Ah, sorry about that.  I was just trying to make conversation with a new and interesting person.  If you want to know about my tattoos,"  Victor indicated the ones on his arms, "well, to use your example, I guess you could say I lost a bet with life."  

Victor gave a carefree laugh as the waitress returned and set their drinks on the table.  He took a sip of his before continuing.  "Remember what I said about the unlucky ones with powers?  Well, that was neither an exaggeration, nor conjecture.  I speak from experience.  These,"  He waved his want in front of his torso, "happened when my own power appeared.  It was like someone was drawing a picture on me with a hot piece of metal, but i couldn't run away.  It was quite painful.  Though I gotta say, not the worst experience of my life.  If I have to say one thing about it, it certainly makes me unique in a way."  Victor took another drink as his gaze drifted to a couple birds in a nearby tree.  His gaze was tranquil and relaxed.  He appeared unfazed by what many others would consider a traumatic memory.

Tsk.
Emerl fought to break out in laughter. She agreed with everything the man said about that organization. Even though she had no proof herself and was actually more fearful about her parents influence through it, she had to agree. Anything bad about SF was good in her eyes, good enough to be true that is. She could not completely hide her excitement, so she allowed herself to encourage the smurf a little, "You say it Smurf."

She was not shocked the man agreed to let her pay. After all, he looked like a bum, with offense. In regard to her headband, she did not care for his lack of comment. This just left the reason for having stupid tattoos. His answer was unexpected. Apparently the god of powers carved them into his body but he was smiling about it. A complete weirdo this man was. He probably enjoyed pain like that bi polar kid. Then he started drifting off into space.
"Hey Captain, earth to smurf! Are you there?" Emerl loudly snapped a close to his face as she could reach, "Dont start getting off to your stupid childhood pedo."

Hopefully the food got here soon. She really wanted to eat, before her antenna's started over reacting again.

While Victor was off in his own little world, recalling various things in his past, Jane called for his attention.  "Oh?  So you actually want to talk to me now do you?  You seemed to be enjoying yourself much more while on your phone, I'm surprised you bothered to get my attention.  Or what, are you that curious about my tattoos now?  If you want to know ask away.  I'm happy with a good conversation.  What's with your sudden change of mind now?"  His eyes were playful.  She was a curious one.  He was honest in that he expected she would go back to doing her own thing.  As had been the case, her callous insults had done nothing to phase Victor.  Having been used to that and worse, such a thing meant nothing to him.  

That's right.  It means nothing.  Just like everything else means nothing.  There is no meaning in life.  There is no meaning in existence.  Everything lives just to die.  In the end accomplishments crumble.  Even the great works of the world fade with time from wear and fade from the memories of the living.  If that's the case, then why not just end it now?  It should make no difference.  Yes, if I could just end it, then-

"Alright, here is your order."  Victor had not noticed the waitress approach with the help of two others.  He also did not notice the rather frightening look he held on his face before being broken from his reverie.  Victor was instantly bright and cheerful again.  "Oh fantastic!  It all looks so good!"  He waited patiently as food began filling up almost the entire table.  After the waiters finished, they left to return back inside.  Naturally, not before giving one last curious glance towards Victor.  As well, the other patrons were looking at the table with curiosity.  Who would order so much food?  Victor paid them no mind.  

"Alright, time to dig in!"  Victor began almost ravenously devouring the food.  His mannerisms weren't so tactless that he'd be kicked out, but certainly someone would likely think he needed better table manners.  He quickly went through the first plate of food like it was nothing and he set the empty plate off to the side.  "Woo, that was good.  I knew this place looked like it'd have quality!"  He grabbed another one of his plates and relentlessly began digging into that.

This man was something else. Be it ignorance or just wisdom, he continued to be a tough opponent. Also, he proved to be annoying. "Stupid Smurf. Nobody cares about your stupid tattoos are your crummy childhood. If you want conversation. Go talk to your papa smurf or something." Emerl pulled up her phone and returned to ignoring the man this time putting the "L" symbol above her head. She did not care about him. She just wanted to taunt him more but it was pointless. He just did not care or flip it back onto her. Emerl hated to say it but she lost.

Shortly after, the waitress came back with the food and it was a lot of food. This was not even the worst of it. The man was about to eat all of it, at least this is what Emerl believed. He was scaring down the plates. The man was not fat, he definitely acted like one. It was disgusting. Emerl barely managed to finish one of her tenders before being fed up with it.
"Ugh. You are such a pig. I think Imma get a to go box. Don't touch my food while I'm gone Smurf pig."

Jane was clearly agitated when Victor called her our like that.  From the sound of it, it was likely just an attempt to derail the conversation from what it was.  "Papa smurf?  Well, I can't exactly do that.  I wouldn't know him even if I saw him.  And I think he is someone I'd rather not talk to if I'm being honest."  She gave a rather typical rude gesture and resumed immersing herself in her phone.  While it was unfortunate his guest was not very talkative, it was still better than being alone like usual.  Things also wouldn't work out as easily if he was by himself.  At the very least it would be sure to sow a little chaos.  Victor continued to scarf down plate after plate.  It had been five days since his last proper meal after all.  He had to make due with a couple stolen food items here and there or whatever was left over in the trash cans.  Apparently Jane did not enjoy the sight of him wolfing down the food.  She left the table, aiming to grab a to go box, likely wanting to leave.  Not that he blamed her.  "No problem!  I've got plenty of food left here."  He gave her a pleasant smile with a wave as she walked off.  

Not good.  It would have been interesting to keep this going a little longer.  Maybe next time.  As she went inside, he picked up his pace, finally feeling full with two plates half eaten.  Gotta try everything at least once, right?  Victor wiped his hands on his napkin and got up from his seat.  It was time to head out.  Victor made his way inside, watching out for Jane.  She seemed to be busy talking to a waitress about getting that to go box.  Victor slipped into the bathroom.  Whether or not Jane noticed him at this point was irrelevant.  Once inside, he entered the last stall and closed the door.  He faced the wall, and walked.  His body slipped through the brick as if it weren't even there.  When he emerged from the other side he gasped for breath.  "Wooo.  Never fun when I do that."  He made his way down the alley away from the street, satisfied with his meal."

Returning to the table, she saw that everything was gone except for her plate. The guy could at least follow instructions. She folded her arms and fell back into her seat. The waitress returned after a couple minutes with the check in hand.
"Yes we are going to split the check. Just waiting for him to get back."
The woman nodded and left. Emerl packed her meal and waited but he never game. The waitress returned asking if she was ready to pay. Much to Emerl's dismay, she dropped the bills and stormed out the restaurant.

Furious, she walked into a dark alley and pulled out a fork. That man, he was not going to get away with this. She lacked the funds for a new headband but now she had the whole day to hunt down some homeless people. Maybe if she caught him, she could smelt him down into gold.