Logs:A friend when he needed one

A friend when he needed one
Dramatis Personae Tomas, Avery	2023-08-06 She definitely was not the person he needed, but was the person he got.
Location <NYC>, East 23rd Street, Manhattan
Avery was meandering about on her Saturday evening. She just got a one-dollar pizza slice and just wanted to wander around Manhattan, like in old times. She was near the School of Visual Arts, where Keith went to college (and where she had a few inklings to go herself). Occasionally, she would just hang out in the lobby to look at the art they put up, and when Keith went there she and Arthur would visit and be the annoying younger siblings. Avery didn’t go inside on her jaunt through 23rd because of the lack of new art, but the flag of the school was enough to boost her mood up and make her pick up the pace if she was tired. She had her earbuds in, listening to a Will Wood song, trying to imagine herself in tune with the music like it was a movie, Pascal-and-Miller-style. A light flickered here and there, and that wasn’t too noticeable. A building’s light would go out, and then another, which definitely caught her attention. Jokingly, she just thought it was the power companies going on strike or the end of the world, not thinking much of it. It had been a little over a week since Tomas had discovered his abilities if flicking lights and frying electronics could be considered abilities. Tomas had decided to wander around 23rd street, he had taken the subway from his aunt’s apartment, he didn't have school the next day, his aunt was letting him take some time off, she was very understanding. He walked down the street shuffling his feet, looking down at his phone, he had his earbuds in listening to chillwave music trying to calm himself, he couldn't get over the anxiety of feeling even more like a freak than he ever had. He stopped and looked up at the lights flickering, to most it would indeed seem like a fluke but he knew better, it was him. He leaned against one of the street lights, sulking down, as he got closer the light got brighter, the light shattered as he leaned against it. He let out a frustrated noise with this noise Avery hears loud static over the music in her headphones. Avery’s eyes widen a bit at the kid who had probably unintentionally done something bad. She put two-and-two together and blinked, trying to figure out if she should help the poor sob. She put her earbuds away, sliding them into her back pocket, and against her better judgment approached the kid. “So… uh… that you?” She asks, gesturing to the broken light and then to where the static was coming from. “Not judgin’… or asking if it was you just for an excuse to beat someone up for only reasons bigots can fathom… Just wonderin’, y’know…” Avery bit her lip. Oh, c’mon, ya badger… do better than that- she thought, rubbing her forehead. “Y’know, y’ should probably get outta here before anyone smart gets here…” She suggests, just digging herself further in the hole of failing to be nice. “Actually, never mind that,” Avery looks to the shattered glass surrounding his feet. It’s miraculous that this kid didn’t get a shard of glass stuck in his dome. “You want me to leave you alone…? Or talk about it?- Look, man, I don’t fuckin’ know… I’m terrible at just talkin’ to randos on the street. The only reason I even bothered is ‘cause you might be a mutant in the same sitch I was.” Avery explains with an exasperated expression at the end of her rant. It was pretty apparent she didn’t know what the heck to do, and was most definitely not the person he needed, but it was the person he got, and that may, or may not, say something. Tomas looks dead-eyed at Avery while she talks, he then looks down for a few more seconds. He takes out one of his earbuds carefully putting it back into its case and then back in the leg pocket of his cargo pants. He pulls out his phone and begins typing on it the phone speaking as he types. “ Yes, It was me. It has been happening for a while. Do not worry about judging me I am used to being judged. I do not care if you leave or go” A bit of static comes out of his phone it plays “should I stay or should I go now” for a second Tomas taps the side of it and it stops, he sighs then resumes typing. “Talking is nice, I do not know what to talk about. About how I can blow up lights and make electronics frizz out. There is not much to talk about. It is stupid.” He shrugs and looks down at the ground kicking some of the broken glass. “Huh. Neat…” Avery nods, taking his hand. “C’mon. I wanna show you something. It’s about mutations.” She continues, glancing around the street for an escape. She found an escape across the street, near the bagel shop and tailor, and past that to the alley to that alley near 28991. She waited for his response, trying to sweep the glass on the street and away from the sidewalk. “Look. I’m like you. A mutant.” She whispers, trying to blow the hair out of his face with the winds. “I may be a petty criminal, but I ain’t a murderer… I mean, what teenager is a serial killer of their own group?” She jokes, trying to bring levity to the situation. “Wait… Scratch that, take back what I said. There have been cases like that…” She pauses. “All I’m saying is that you aren’t alone, and you shouldn’t be in survival mode, ‘cause you look like you’re in survival mode.. You got anyone you can trust? Anyone who could take care of you?” Tomas flinches and pulls his hand away from Avery He shakes his head a bit. His phone says “No touch” Without him typing he rubs the back of his head at this embarrassed at the involuntary noise. He continues typing as his phone dictates: “Sorry I do not like being touched” he lets out a small grin at Avery saying she's a mutant and blowing his hair out of his face. “ Like me? I see, you can like blow air? Odd. I do not mind that you are a thief it is okay. And yea you should not kill people.” “Yes, it is good to run into another person like me I have never met a mutant, and yea I live with my aunt she knows I am a mutant, I blew up my computer and several apartments a week ago, she is nice, she knows that I am in the city wandering clearing my mind, our apartment isn't too far from here. She is a lawyer, civil rights lawyer.” He smiles a bit more looking down. He notices Avery looking across the street, he looks at the bagel shop for a second “Do you want to get a bagel, sandwich, or something? Over there?” he points at the shop. “Nah. I wanna show you my powers. And maybe get some food.” She tells him, checking the time on her phone. 8:43 PM, just past rush hour, there were a few stragglers here and there. “C’mon… They got really good croissants. Me and my brothers would go here all the time.” Avery pushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ears. “You listen to Will Wood?” She asks, pulling out her phone and looking through her playlist. “Or… Mac DeMarco? Sublime? Days N Daze? Any of those? Sublime’s on the radio a lot, so that’s a yes. But the others are real outsider music. Wesley Willis is really funny, if you like dying of laughter. The Dresden Dolls are just a good classy rage band. Coin-Operated Boy is a great song by them. So is Alcoholic Friends.” Avery stops, hitting her face with her palm. “Sono a idiota…” She mumbles slowly, pulling her hand down her face. “You ah… got a name? A first name or a nickname at least?” She put her hands in her back pocket. “Name’s Avery… If you don’t want me to bug you anymore I’ll just leave.” Tomas simply nodded and began walking to the bagel shop. Tomas smiles and types: “Days and Daze, I like them. Sublime is cool. I like ska. I also like old punk. Ramones, black flag, Dead kenedys” He opens his jacket to show a Ramones skull shirt “Oh yes Amanda Palmer, she is good” he softly grins nodding his head as he walks with Avery. “Oh my name is Tomas, and no I do not mind you are interesting. Talking is good I may be clearing my head, but it is as clear as it can get. And we can get food and talk hang out, I have not eaten dinner yet, my Aunt gave me some cash for food so yea, I should do that. Maybe food will clear my headache” he rubs his temple a bit. “My way of getting food is the ‘be gay, do crime’ way. Because I am broke 3/4th of the time. I live off of one-dollar pizza and walking it off.” She says, gesturing her hands around as she talked. “My favorite pizza place shut down a few months ago… so that’s something… Nunzio’s Pizza had the best anchovy pizza I’ve ever had. Annd now it’s dead.” Avery stopped by the bagel shop, walking to the alleyway near it. “Nice phone by the way. Mine’s all scratched to hell and has a broken case on the edges.” She smirked putting her phone back in her pocket. Avery put her arm up, looking normal until the sickle came out of her wrist. She clanged it against the other sickle hand for fun. “I can’t be the only person who thinks of Twelve Angry Men when I look at my hands.” She laughed, her sickles turning into flesh molds in the shape of sickles with the metal retracing into her skin that quickly turned into hands in a disturbing manner that could be seen its own form of body horror with it widening out and shrinking. Tomas let out a chuckle at Avery’s statement. Before continuing to type. “Oh if you need food I can buy, it is okay my Aunt wont mind, we do well. You do not need to do the crimes. Oh oh, I am also gay. I like pizza I have never had anchovy, but my favorite pizza is pepperoni and onion, with stuffed crust, I do not like normal crust. I will dip the crust in ranch” Tomas followed Avery into the ally a curious look on his face. “Oh your phone I could look at it if you wanted me to, I may be able to fix it.” He looks down for a second and sighs, he had forgotten for a moment what his new abilities might do “But I am unsure if my powers may make it worse, but I can try, I could take it to a shop if I make it worse, like I said my Aunt wont mind, she will like knowing that I made a new friend. I do not make many” His eyes widened and a big grin came to his face as he was shown the sickles. His phone involuntary saying “Wow, wow, sharp” he shrugged and typed. “I mean yea Wow sharp, that is so cool dude. I have not seen that movie so I do not understand.” He smiled and nodded. “Would you like to get food now?” Avery was staring out into space, looking at all the graffiti on the walls of the tiny side-alley. “Huh?” She snaps her head in his direction, awkwardly strutting towards him. “Sorry, yeah… Just… the graffiti’s neat.” She said, looking at his phone again. “You ever get asked why you’re mute? And if you ever get tired of it? Cuz I sure as hell would… my second oldest brother Oliver… he’s got Cerebral Palsy… mild and hemiplegic… he sucks at walking, and you bet he goes red in the face when you mention his gimpy leg.” She rambles, opening the door to the bagel shop, properly named Pick A Bagel, and digging through her wallet for 10 bucks. “Whaddya gettin’? I’m getting a cinnamon roll or a croissant. I got 10 bucks on me and I’ll probably cost 2 to 5 bucks. So… take that as you will. I’m just trying to be frugal because, again, I’m broke.” Avery spoke in a hushed tone, being quiet out of fear of being made fun of for not having a lot on her or to not make a scene and get the both of them kicked out. Tomas let out an annoyed sigh and glared a bit at Avery before rolling his eyes and then typing on his phone. “I am on the autistic spectrum. My brain just kinda can't work out how to make words, I can understand what people say just fine, mostly, but I can not talk. I have gotten used to it. But yes it is annoying to be asked. You really should not ask random disabled people why they are disabled it is insensitive.” Tomas followed Avery into the bagel shop ignoring his second question and focusing on reading the menu. He walked up to the counter waving at the cashier. “Welcome to Pick A Bagel, what can we Pick for you.” he said in a dull tone. Tomas pulled out his phone and began typing “ I will have a pizza bagel sandwich and a fountain sod and whatever she wants” he gestured to Avery, to order what she wanted, pulling out his wallet ready to pay for her food as well. “Uh… cinnamon roll, please.” Avery says with awkward stints in her speech. “If they start singing because of the tip, I swear…” She mumbles to Tomas, shuffling to the tiny table for two. “Thanks, pally… You have a real high tolerance for bullshit.” Avery has an expression of relief, just happy someone was doing this basic human kindness for her. “Also about that thing about you being mute. I wasn’t asking if you were mute, I was asking if you were sick of people asking you that. People asking you the same thing over and over is the definition of insanity, only your own personal hell.” Avery looks over at the counter. “I just didn’t wanna add on to that bullshit you gotta deal with every day… Wanted to ask how it made ya feel… y’know?” Avery turned her head back to him, leaning back in her chair. “You’re a cool guy. For a stranger I just met in one of the most dangerous-yet-gentile cities in the U.S. definitely cool.” She fires a finger gun at him, letting a subtle breeze pass by him. Tomas follows Avery to the table. Letting out a small chuckle at the “singing because of the tip” comment. Tomas nodded, now understanding what she meant, he then paused to think, he was never good at talking about his feelings, after a minute of very awkward silence he pulled out his phone once more. “It makes me feel angry. Annoyed. There is no reason to ask someone such a thing. People should just listen to me. As far as I see it this phone is my voice, so to me, it is no different than you talking. Hell, I really do not think about it, it is just the way I interact with others. But yea people will get impatient. They interrupt me. They try to talk over me. They think they are helping or want to appear to themselves to be helping. It is…” His phone stops dictating and emits a static before speaking without Tomas’ input “Stupid! Assholes!” He taps the side of his phone and the static stops as the phone shuts off. He lets out a groan and rubs his forehead. He weakly finger guns back before grabbing a bottle of Tylenol from his bag and tossing a couple in his mouth without water and chewing them up seemingly unbothered by the taste. “Wow. You are badass too.” Avery smirks, clearly impressed by the dry-swallowing of Tylenol. “I normally use Midol, but still… dry-swallowing is dry-swallowing. Also, do you ever think they just sell you the same thing but with a different label?” Avery rested her head on her hand, which was resting on the table via her elbow. “They taste the exact same. It’s godda be like some conspiracy theory or something, ‘Big Pharma’ I dunno… I don’t believe any of that conspiracy, tin-foil, pazzo stuff. Just something weird to chew on.” Avery got up from her chair at their order, walked over to the counter and grabbed the bag with a simple “thanks” and went back with food in hand. The cinnamon bagel was completely covered and had several napkins to go with it, while Tomas’ pizza bagel was toasted with cheese and sauce all over with large pieces of pepperoni sprinkled across. Both looked good, in a small business kind of good you could only get in places like this. “So anyways… You fine with exchangin’ numbers to text or something? You’re kinda like… the only person like me who… actually tolerates my stupidity, so I’ll take it. Y’know? One person in survival mode to another.” Tomas smiled at being called a badass, to his recollection none had ever called him that, he then put both his hands to his hip and looked up “heroically” before chuckling and going back into his satchel. He sat slunched back down into the chair and set notebook and pen on the table pivoting to these to communicate, his penmanship being fantastic, thou his spelling and grammar were lacking, hence his preference for digital communication. “I do not know it may be a conspiracy” he shrugged and continued to write “I have never had migraines before my powers. But I will ask my aunt to get some Midol see if that helps more. Honestly, the Tyonal only helps so much.” Tomas showed the notepad to Avery and dug into the bag taking a bite of his pizza bagel. He then wrote his phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Avery with a nod and a grin. It was nice to find someone like him, someone who might understand him, a friend. Maybe this fellow mutant would be the person he needed.