ArchivedLogs:Sheer

Sheer
Dramatis Personae Jack, Rasa
In Absentia	2015-06-20 "Transparents might help people see you a little better." Buzzkill
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to plentiful artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. While the caffeine crisis rages outside, inside Evolve, things seem to be just about the same as usual. Mutants gather to get a meal or enjoy a beverage because they can, not necessarily because the beverages provide that much needed kick of energy. The takes up their usual seats, enjoying their sandwiches and iced coffees, but with a lot less relish. Half the people occupying tables seem to be cranky, nursing hot coffees with scowls at the dark liquid, their shoulders hunched and their heads low. Rasa is slipping in the door, hir head wrapped in a pink and orange scarf, a billowy shirt of lemon and orange covering hir from neck to wrist, long black trousers swishing around hir lower half. Dark blue fingers start to peel off the scarf once ze is a little further into the room and draws in a deep breath, half of hir mouth pulling down in a scowl. Ze glances around before heading to the counter and ordering a frozen coffee treat and a club sandwich. The caffeine crisis is likely made worse by the fact that its summer and the heat and humidity are out in full effect. Jack isn't one of those people too bothered by the whole thing. Sure, he likes some coffee but he's never really depended on caffeine. He is at Evolve though, sitting at a table when Rasa arrives. Missing him is forgivable though, Jack just wearing a pair of jeans and sneakers right now. He's got a light sweat jacker draped over his chair but after wearing it outside, he's taken it off to cool down. He looks up when someone entering catches his invisible eye and he smiles as he takes a guess who it might be. Picking up his smoothie, the animated pants head over towards the counter. "Hey, Rasa," he greets. Rasa blinks over at the pants with a raised eyebrow, hir eyes a silver gray today. "Oh, hey, Jack. How's it going?" Ze leans against the pick up counter, sticking hir hands between the slits on hir shirt into the pockets at hir side. "Having a good summer?" Ze has a crick forming at the base of hir neck and a knot between hir shoulders, from the way ze stands, glancing over toward the entrance and studying some of the faces in the club quietly. Jack takes a sip of his smoothie before answering, the liquid just vanishing once it reaches the tip of the straw. "It's going okay. What about yours?" he asks. "Summer's...well, aside from whatever is messing with everyone's buzz and the almost cooking alive when I want to come out here, I am. I don't think I've ever seen people in here looking this uh..." he trails off, trying to think of a good word. "Grumpy." "You know, there are lighter weight fabrics than the ones you seem to use, right?" Rasa points out, matter of factly. "You could wear tee shirt material hoodies, or silk and linen." Ze looks him over for a moment then glances back at his seat. "Oh, this summer is different. I don't have classes coming up and no homework to really get started on yet. I'm not trying to cram in a bunch of visits with people in a small window of time. Kind of free." Ze turns around when hir glass is delivered, wetting hir lips as ze peels some paper off of a straw and sticks it in the blended drink. "It... kind of messes with people's patterns - this strangeness. I don't think people like to be messed with." Looking as lost as empty walking pants and a floating smootie cup can, Jack looks over his shoulder. "Silk and linen? I'm...probably gonna need help figuring that stuff out sometime," he admits with an awkward chuckle. "I just got the thinnest possible one I could find. Really, I only bother wearing it because its easier to cover up the whole...not here thing with that than shorts and a t-shirt," he explains. "Good to be free. I'm glad summer's going well for you," he says, tipping his cup slightly for a little 'yay for summer' toast. "Yeah...I can't really think of anyone who would like getting messed with. At least not like this...wonder what's causing it..." "I suppose. It's different. It's definitely not as structured as I am used to." Rasa does lightly touch hir glass to Jack's before turning and picking up hir sandwich. Ze then starts heading toward Jack's table, slipping out a chair with a hooked ankle before ze settles into the seat and sets hir lunch down. "What are you doing in your free time? I can probably help you pick out some clothes. I tend to stay covered - outside of the school - so I've had some experience. Granted, I am not sure you'd be into some of the lighter gauzy things I put on to keep people from touching my skin." Jack follows Rasa back to the table and sits down as well. "I've been reading through some books I wanted to. Got a head start on my summer homework," he sighs slightly at that activity. "That new teacher Julio offered to help me get some extra training with my powers in so I'm working on that too," he says. "Been having fun with your free time too?" he asks. "Oh man, thanks. I don't know much about fabrics but something I can wear out during the summer so I don't get people uh...not seeing me so quickly would be great." "Eh. Fun isn't really... well. I got a job. You know? Getting out of high school isn't well, fun. It's the sudden realization that you're on your own." Rasa drinks a little before picking up a sandwich half and takes a big bite, giving hirself a break from speaking before pulling hir phone out of a thigh pocket and waking up the screen. Ze pulls up a web page that recommendations for lightweight fabrics -- pausing to close out a pop up ad. "Here. It shows some of the options, but keep in mind that the sheer stuff may not necessarily be... well, to your purpose." "Yeah, I kind of know what being on my own is like," Jack replies quietly. Of course the prospect of going back to being on his own after school is a little terrifying to him but he's trying not to think about it. He takes another sip of his drink as he watches Rasa. "What's your job?" he asks. When the phone appears, Jack leans over to peek curiously at the screen. "Thanks," he says, looking over the suggestions. "Sheer stuff is kind of uh...see-through, right?" "Yep. Exactly. See-through. Sheer. Transparent." Rasa takes another bite and chews quietly, high lighting some of the lightweight cottons and linens on the web page. Ze swallows a little early and then notes - "well, I wouldn't be too concerned with some of the sheerness factor. It's possible that people won't be able to tell that it is completely transparent because no one will be able to see anything underneath it. You could probably wear nylons on your legs and maybe your arms too - flesh tone transparents might help people see you a little better." "Me," Jack makes a little joke. He doesn't linger on it though. He looks at the ones highlighted and hums thoughtfully. "I like how this one looks," he gravitates towards one of the red ones almost right away. Its his favorite color after all. "Nylons? I didn't think of those," he admits. "Might be nice for the colder weather. "There are tights for colder weather. Nylons - er... generally considered women's skin toned hosiery - they are supposed to be breathable. If you need to add something so you can be seen, they would do nicely without making you too warm." Rasa is still trying to rush through hir sandwich, eyeing what Jack scrolls to and nodding quietly. "I wouldn't fix too much on the colors. Most things come in whatever color you want." Jack listens quietly, trying to memorize this information. "I wasn't even thinking about trying to get people to see me this time," he admits, smiling invisibly. "Oh...oh yeah," he sounds a little embarrassed. He's not done a lot of online shopping. Or shopping in general. After a moment, he finds a nice lightweight linen hoodie jacket. "This looks good, right? I says its lightweight and breathable. And its not sheer." "Yeah." Rasa looks a little confused by his comment but refocuses on hir coffee and sandwich, trying to get everything finished up, switching to hir second sandwich. "Suppose I could take you shopping some time. Apologies, I just start work soon, so I'm trying to eat up in a hurry. Hope you don't mind." Jack glances up and offers an unseen smile. "It's okay. I was going to be leaving soon too. Want some company on the way to work? I could walk with you," he offers. "Er. Well. That'll be hard." Rasa frowns, eyeing hir sandwich before taking another bite and getting hir mouth very full as ze almost finishes. Ze chews and chews, glancing at the time on hir cell phone before looking back to Jack. It takes hir quite a long time - at least it feels long to hir - before ze is able to clear hir mouth and shrug. "I work here." Jack is quiet a moment before laughing. "Or incredibly easy," he says. "It's all good. Congrats on getting a job at such an awesome place," he says. "And thanks. For the help and hanging out with me." "Well, it helps when you know the owner." Rasa nods and pops the last bit of sandwich in hir mouth and doesn't verbally respond to the statements of gratitude, simply nodding. "Don't worry about it. I should get going though. Shane's probably the type to fire his friends just as much as his other employees, so I try to be good." Ze gets up and pops the last bit of sandwich in hir mouth before picking up hir dishes. "Uvidimsya." Jack nods. "I'll see you later, Rasa. Have a good time at work," he offers, picking up his smoothie to finish it off.