The Universe's Mixer

She probably should have expected to be fired when she made an entire coffee shop full of people hallucinate and took off with no notice. It still stung, though.

Megan let herself have one day of full-time moping, where she didn't even change out of her PJs and bathrobe and ate cereal and ice cream and watched movies. It didn't really make her feel better, and the sugary cereal and ice cream made her feel sick at the end of the day, so one day was really all that was needed.

What she really needed, she decided, was to actually cheer up. With friends. A friend. She hadn't seen Rufio in a while, since she'd been busy with work, but--well, it wasn't like that was a worry right now, was it? Fanged sniffy guys, on the other hand, were. She doused herself with Febreze just in case and teleported from her living room to Rufio's fort.

"Hello?" she called the second she was fully there. Outside, because she didn't want to just 'port directly into somebody's house with no notice. She knocked on the door. "Rufio? Are you home?"

"Sihal Novarum Chinoth."

With the usual flare of pink light, Megan vanished from the park and reappeared behind the library. She looked around, nodded to herself, and took out a small notepad and a clicky pen from her pocket, scribbling notes in it before returning both. She took a deep breath, bracing herself and threw her hands out in front of her.

"Sihal Novarum Chinoth."

Another flare of bright pink light, and she was gone, off again to continue her teleporting experiment. She reappeared just outside the botanical gardens, and started scribbling again.

Megan's cozy third-floor flat was clean.

Of course, this resulted in two bags full of dirty laundry that had previously been tossed everywhere. She frowned down at the bags, hefted one, grunted, and put it down, staring doubtfully out the window. The nearest laundromat wasn't that far away, but...

A little cheating was useful sometimes. And with the streets staying put, she didn't even have to worry about ending up somewhere completely weird. One Sihal Novarum Chinoth later, and she and one of the laundry bags appeared inside the laundromat in a halo of pink light. She dusted off her hands, satisfied, and dragged the bag over to the nearest empty machine.

Being more used to, but not even remotely tired of, being in the sun, Eric had taken to exploring more of the shops that he didn't normally have access to. There were stores and restaurants that opened only at lunch. He did make a point to stay clear of Dinah and her shop, as he had promised her, but he felt that the rest of the City was fair game.

Not truly intending to buy any, Eric stepped inside a coffee shop and took in the smells. It was a strong, powerful aroma that covered pretty much everything within. It was almost overpowering to the point of causing him an inability to smell the underlying scents. Eric had no idea why humans would enjoy such a harsh thing, but the place was filled, so he must be missing something.

He was going to turn and leave when he saw the girl working the counter. Her pink hair wasn't really extraordinary to him. He'd seen wilder dos at his bar. But the wings. Now, those were something special. And it only took him a moment of watching to see that they were the real thing, not just some accessory worn by a pathetic wanna-be.

Eager, he stepped into the line. Part of him wished to push to the front, but he knew that it would only cause a ruckus in the shop. He waited as the line slowly inched forward until he was the one at the front.

He beamed.

He could smell her. Oh, it was covered with that odor of the coffee, and not as strong as others he had encountered. He was willing to stake a bet that she wasn't a full blooded fairy. But she didn't have to be, did she?

"Hello." He didn't wait for her to speak. "I'm entirely new to coffee. I'm hoping you can help."

She'd put off doing anything while she decided what exactly to do about it, but Megan had come to a decision. She needed to look for these Justice League people.

Really, how hard could it be? If they were anything like the superheros back home, she wouldn't be able to throw a rock without hitting one. Or a person who would complain about how a one hadn't been there to stop the rock from hitting, or how superheros were nuisances who ruined lives and threw rocks everywhere. She kept an ear to the ground, metaphorically speaking.

And then she just started asking people who came into the House of Coffee if they'd ever heard of the Justice League because patience was overrated.

So all right, it weirded some of the customers out, but a few were happy to give her all sorts of opinions and tell stories of where they'd been when a giant monkey or something attacked (and seriously, how had she missed that? It sounded... well, memorable, if not actually awesome, since the giant monkey sounded kind of freaky) or assorted other run-ins. She actually started skimming the newspaper that was left out for borrowing on the counter every morning for mentions.

Maybe she should just put out a personal ad, she thought. "16 y/o former superhero seeks current superheros for q&a. No funny business." Except that was probably just asking for disaster. Like, Craigslist personals disaster.

No personal ad, then. She kept asking around at work and flying instead of teleporting, because seriously, you'd think wings would be like a big beacon of "Hi there, please talk to me!" to people with superpowers.

After her visit with the mayor--okay, if she was being perfectly honest with herself it was more like after being caught spying on the mayor--Megan had things to do and questions to ask. She'd need to find these J-whatsit people Mayor Heart had mentioned if they had powers because she needed to find out more about what things were like here for others like her outside of the six-block radius she'd been mostly sticking to for home and work.

Also, and top on her list, she needed to find Rufio again. She'd almost accidentally ratted him out. Stupid big-mouthed Megan. She flushed almost as pink as her hair at the thought of it as she flew along, high up in the air. But she might have got some information, provided it could be trusted, and if she could just talk to Rufio she might be able to piece together a better picture and maybe figure out what to do.

God, she hated being the one in charge of figuring plans out. She wished any of her teammates from back home were here to think things over and just tell her what to do. Ugh.

Megan kept an eye out for what she'd remembered about Rufio's fort-building-house-thingy: that it had a hole in the roof and a painting of a tree. It took the better part of the rest of her afternoon, but she found it, tree and all.

He'd said something about the hole in the roof and traps, hadn't he? She couldn't remember if it had been go in or don't go in, and decided to play it safe. She landed on the roof with a thump--flying all afternoon almost nonstop was tiring--and peered in to yell. "Rufio? It's Megan. Are you home?"

If anyone could say that he had taken to life in the City without batting an eyelash, it was Toot. He had friends, he had a steady flow of work Harry, he had his fellow fae to look out for, he had pizza, and donuts, and even the occasional coca-cola. Life was good.

In fact, he was quite sure that it couldn't get any better, as he sat on the rooftop of Harry's office building, munching on leftover pizza and sipping a caffeinated soda--couldn't get any better, that is, until he noticed a young lady heading down the block, with wings and hair as bright pink as his own were sparkly purple. Win!

"Hey, Lady!" he called unabashedly as she passed by. He was just caffeinated enough that he could probably fly into a wall, and explode in a shower of Skittles. "I like your hair!"

Snooping was hard when you stood out. A hat and sunglasses kind of helped cover her hair, ear, and eyes, but Megan hated covering her wings. It was uncomfortable and it made her nervous, since she liked being able to fly at a moment's notice. But it needed to be done.

She needed to investigate. Who was the mayor? Why had Rufio decided that he needed to be fought? Did the mayor know anything more about the city that she did? (She hoped so. He ran the place, after all.) Megan couldn't very well know how to defend herself and her friends--current, future, whatever--if she didn't know anything about this threat. Or if he even was a threat. Stupid lack of information.

Which was how she ended up in oversized sunglasses and her hair tucked mostly under a really snazzy fedora being all inconspicuous just outside of Mayor Heart's window, trying to peek in all spy-like. Hovering. Because the stupid coat was uncomfortable and too warm and people never looked up anyway, right?

Jo had started to explore the City about since her arrival, though she'd spent just as much time in the Roadhouse. Having it here was incredibly surreal, but it was a comfort. It gave her a home base, and something familiar. That was good, considering that she was as lost as ever in this City.

She still hadn't decided whether or not she was dead. No other theory made sense, but this wasn't like any kind of Heaven or Hell she'd ever heard of.

In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, she'd started to notice signs and flyers everywhere she went. It was lucky that she noticed these, because they were advertising drink specials and New Year's Eve entertainment at the Roadhouse. All Ages Accepted, bracelets for those over 21 to drink.

She knew she hadn't planned that. Hell, she hadn't even really been aware of what time of year it was when she got here. She didn't exactly know who to talk to or how to undo the advertising that had be done.

So New Year's Eve found her in the bar, which had been mysteriously decorated and was currently filled with the sounds of a live band. Which was really odd, because there had never been anything more than a jukebox in the Roadhouse, and Jo most certainly had not hired a live band.

All the same, she couldn't exactly complain about the flood of business (she was thankful for the employees that had apparently come with the place, who were fielding drink orders alongside her) or about the tips that she was raking in at the moment. And at least she wasn't spending New Year's Eve alone in some bizarre alternate dimension, so she supposed that was good. Assuming, of course, that she had time to think as she bustled around filling drink orders.


OOC: feel free to throw your character in for a little bit of New Year's Eve fun. Don't worry about taking turns, and feel free to branch off into random interactions threads or whathaveyou.

Maybe there was something to this whole "the city gives you a home" thing, after all. Megan had found a really cozy apartment on her first day of seriously looking, and they seemed completely willing to rent to her without her even having to break out her fake ID. And... okay, so they stared at her wings, and the ears, and everything else, but she was used to that. She got a room with a view that was high up if not exactly scenic and she could use her tiny balcony as a second entrance if she really wanted, so it was all right.

And, she'd found a part-time job! It was a nice, normal job, even. No weird bulletproof outfits required. Just an apron over normal clothes, and she could deal with that. She could definitely get used to being a barista.

Or, she could once she got the hang of the espresso machine. She might have stretched the truth during her interview--her previous experience had been more like "dump grounds in the coffee pot, turn on, remember to empty when done" than what she'd let on.

She'd figure it out eventually, she was positive.

Rufio left the hospital still a bit dizzy from giving his blood to the doctor, but otherwise wide awake after eatting that yellow cake thing Hank had given him. It had been pretty good, and did help somewhat with the dizziness.

The young man decided to go get more, so dropping his skateboard to the floor he hopped on it and took off down the street, winding up at a small convenience mart where they sold sodas and snacks. Heading in he ignored the owner who gave him a withering look for bringing his sword in the shop, and instead went to search for the little cakes.

He found them fairly quickly and grabbed a few, paying quickly and then heading out front to sit on the curb and enjoy his treat, his board resting next to him as he tried to work out how to open the plastic wrapper without hurting his hand too much. Even grabbing the whole thing was making the cut on his palm pull and start to bleed a little bit again.

He looked at the bandage and the red straining the center of his palm, but then shrugged and let it go, picking up his sword and carefully using the tip to slice through the plastic wrapper. Overkill? Yes. Oddly satisfying to watch the sword nearly cut through the entire package in under a second? Definitely.