[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + wearing

With Claire's assurances still fresh in her mind, Alice had decided that it was time to add another member to their impromptu Justice League. It was all Dom's idea, Mason was with her now, and Claire was accounted for. That left only Will and Persephone. Will still seemed to have no powers, whereas Persephone definitely did. They might be a little odd, but who knew what else she could do? After all, Poison Ivy was one of Batman's biggest villains and her power was basically the same right? She was vaguely aware that it wasn't quite a fair comparison, but was also without the information to make any other sort of judgement, so Poison Ivy it was for now. She'd texted Persephone , asking for her address, but received no response. It was fair enough, Alice had gotten to know the others fairly well over the few days of imprisonment in the hospital, so her immediate assumption was that Persephone was at work. The other girl worked a lot, she had two waitressing jobs, one in a diner, and one in a restaurant. She felt a little like Benedict Cumberbatch as she sleuthed her way to the conclusion that in the middle of the day, Persephone would be working at the diner. Grateful for her prepaid bus pass, she collected Mason from Will's apartment, not seeing the enigmatic detective when she popped in. They were sat at the back of a mostly empty bus, Alice apparently selfishly taking up two seats. She turned her head towards the window, feeling a little like a spy as she whispered to her invisible friend. "So she hasn't texted me back, but I think she's probably working at the diner right now, so we can go and check there?"

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[Mason Warner]

Recruitment Drive

Mason’s penny had taken up permanent residence in his pocket. He’d lost track of the time he’d spent in front of the mirror, spinning it through the air and watching with dismay as it appeared to materialise before him each time before disappearing back into his closed fist. It didn’t seem to need full coverage, however, so he hadn’t completely failed to make any progress in understanding his ability. It had taken him a while to notice, but sometimes the coin would disappear even when his hand was closed only loosely around it and, after a little experimentation, he noticed that it should have been possible to peek at. He decided that meant that there was some hope for deliberately extending his power beyond the boundary of his skin after all.

The coin was becoming more of a token than anything else now. It was a symbol of his on-going personal development – that intimidating quest to make himself useful. It was something to focus on that wasn’t hopelessly trying to turn his ability off. By now he was certain that it was a permanent part of him.

Claire had had plenty to experiment with, as had Dom and Alice, so he was excited to see what Persephone had come up with. Surely she couldn’t have resisted the draw of her powers. Maybe they’d walk in to find her chatting with Treebeard. That’d be pretty badass. Mason had to admit that he didn’t really understand what her power was – just that it was some form of super gardening. His mind automatically went to sentient trees.

“Sounds good,” he mumbled quietly, drawing so close that it would have been awkwardly intimate for any onlookers. Honestly, Mason was just trying his best not to be overheard by any of their fellow passengers – his whispering still needed work. “This it?”

The bus had pulled up to a stop and Mason could see a greasy looking diner in the near distance that seemed to match his expectations. It was definitely not somewhere that you’d find in the reviews section of a newspaper; small, characterless and strangely devoid of that “diner charm” that Mason had come to expect from such places. He imagined it probably struggled by on a steady supply of regulars-by-convenience and did little to attract anybody else.

They swiftly disembarked – Mason trying his hardest not to take up any space or collide with passing pedestrians – and made their way to the uninviting diner. It didn’t look particularly unpleasant, he had to admit. It was just that it didn’t look particularly pleasant either.

“I think I see her!” he said excitedly, fortunate that there was currently no one nearby who could have picked up on the sudden bodiless outburst. “Al, wave!”

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Persephone Dean + wearing

Alice left the bus rather awkwardly, not wanting to lose Mason in the crush. Not that it was that busy out here. The diner was… interesting. Mainly because of its ability to be one of the most soulless looking places she had ever seen. The diner she worked in was small, and cheap, but it was old fashioned, the kind of place you might see in an 80s movie. It had its own personality. It probably wouldn't rate on any list of places to eat in San Francisco, but it was a nice enough place to grab your breakfast, no matter what time your breakfast might be. The diner Persephone worked at seemed to lack that personality, no matter how positively Alice tried to look at it. It wasn't that it looked like a bad place to work; just that it lacked any features to recommend it whatsoever. She glanced around instinctively at Mason's outburst, then looked towards the windows of the diner, seeing their friend appear at a table there. Almost on command she waved excitedly. Then lead the way along the sidewalk. They crossed the road and only a moment later were pushing through the slightly grimy glass door that served as an entrance. It was slightly easier to catch Persephone's eye in here than it had been outside. She whispered to Mason, "I guess we should get a table and some food. I'm kinda hungry. Then we can talk properly when she finishes work." She grinned broadly as Persephone approached, resisting the urge to wave again, "Hey!"

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[Persephone Dean]

Recruitment Drive

“Why does this guy always ask for so many eggs?”

The younger cook, Eric, was attempting to make conversation as usual. Persephone tried her hardest to seem amused, but it was very difficult to find anything funny about an old German dude ordering half a plate of eggs with his bacon. He always ate it, always paid for it, and always tipped for it, so frankly Persephone couldn’t care less how big his greasy portions were. His English was awful. He’d moved here five years ago and spent those five years relying entirely upon his wife to communicate on his behalf. She didn’t come into the diner, just dropped him off on her way to painting class, so Persephone had never really talked to the guy.

“Maybe eggs are a German luxury,” she quipped eventually. “He probably thinks he’s robbing us blind.”

“Ja.” He laughed and returned to his station, apparently satisfied with Persephone’s response. She waited until he was occupied before rolling her eyes. Just fifteen more minutes of this shit left to go…

Persephone hovered in the doorway a moment longer before it became apparent that there weren’t going to be any completed orders for her anytime soon (Pablo currently had his hand stuck in a jug) and wandered back out into the diner. An instinctive, customer-pleasing smile spread across her features as she approached the first table (“Everything okay here, folks?”) before moving on to the next, assuring the egg-enthusiast that his lunch was on its way.

Then she looked up to see Alice from the hospital making her way over.

It was jarring – work was a whole separate world for Persephone that she did not let bleed into her personal life. Yet here was somebody who was very much a part of her personal life, whether Persephone liked it or not, and she was here! Why?

To her credit, the smile on her face stayed firmly in place as it became apparent that Alice was intending to sample the delights the greasy spoon had to offer. She marched over quickly, mask firmly in place.

“Welcome, please, take a seat wherever you’d like,” she said cheerfully, extending her arms. “Menu is on the board, can I get you a coffee?”

If she treated Alice purely as a customer, maybe she could get through this without having to make any more pointless conversation. Her patience for such things was close to maxing out – if Eric tried to make one more dull comment about eggs she would probably lose it. Alice didn’t seem surprised to find Persephone here so she’d probably been looking for her. Maybe there’d been some new developments in tracking down the doctor? Eager as Persephone was to hear such information, it could wait the fifteen minutes she had left of her shift. For now, she was just a waitress and nothing more.

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Persephone Dean + wearing

Alice looked about, and promptly chose a booth by the window. The stools at the bar would have made it too easy for someone to bump into or accidentally sit on Mason. She might look a bit like an asshole, but at least it would mean Mason could relax a little. "Uh, coffee… yeah… can I get some half and half as well though…" Persephone was really business like, and Alice had been caught off guard by how brusque she had been. She'd responded as she would have automatically. She caught herself before she actually sat down, turning to Persephone with a smile, but taking the hint, just, and avoiding a hug. "You doing OK?" Then it clicked, Persephone was at work, maybe her boss was one of the cooks behind the counter or something. "I uh… I guess we'll wait till you finish your shift, got some stuff we wanted to talk about." She did her best to signal that Mason was present, pulling the kind of face that might have led to someone inquiring about her health if they could see it.

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[Mason Warner]

Recruitment Drive

Honestly, Mason was half-convinced that they had the wrong person. An outsider could easily be forgiven for thinking that Alice and Persephone had never met before – there was a geniality there, sure, but it was an impersonal one which cemented their roles as server and client. It was a change from how Persephone had been in the hospital. There she’d been in unfamiliar territory and had seemed uncertain for all her outward confidence. She seemed much more in control here.

It was hardly fair to criticise her for being professional though. He actually admired her tenacious pride in maintaining this image even when the environment didn’t really call for it – it was hardly the picture of fine dining here. Mason always approved of people working hard.

Alice was visibly thrown by Persephone’s act but did well in recovering. Mason had been on the verge of asking for another coffee before remembering his invisibility. He sighed lightly. Maybe he could steal some of Alice’s when nobody was looking.

They sat down at the booth in the front window, which suited Mason perfectly. They were a fair distance from other diners and there was far less chance here than on the bus that somebody was going to want to take Mason’s seat. Alice’s mention of “we” was subtle but hopefully caught, as Mason didn’t fancy being ignored completely for the rest of the afternoon. The weird contortions of her face were apparently supposed to add to this message but in all honesty it just made Mason let out a gentle, audible snigger.

“Stop being funny,” he hissed as Persephone went to fetch the coffee. “You’ll get us in trouble with the plant lady.”

He was still grinning though.

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[Persephone Dean]

Recruitment Drive

It was a relief when Alice didn’t make any obvious objections to being treated like a stranger who’d just walked into a diner for the first time. She just smiled. Obviously she was feeling uncertain, but that was fine. Lots of first-time customers weren’t really sure when they walked in – it was hardly the nicest of food places. Persephone was going to just keep on playing her part until her shift was done and Alice could be patient for now.

“You sure can,” she said breezily in response to Alice’s coffee requests. “Great choice!”

She blinked when Alice asked if she was okay. She was fine, obviously, she was at work. Besides getting slowly driven mad by her co-workers, everything had gone pretty well today. The owner wasn’t in which always made for a more relaxing shift, and the flow of customers had been more of a gentle trickle which was just how she liked it. Persephone eventually decided to just nod curtly and move on.

“I should be done in fifteen,” she said, checking the time as though she hadn’t just been watching the clock. “Are you planning on having food – oh.”

It had just registered that Alice had very carefully stressed that “we”. She narrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment before finally realising what Alice was going on about. Unfortunately, she realised too late, and had to endure Alice’s theatrical indications of the invisible man’s presence.

“I see. Well I’ll be right over with your coffee to take your order if you’d like anything else.” She addressed this in the vague direction of where she assumed Mason was sitting, glad that none of her customers could see her talking to an empty seat. Distantly, she heard a loud announcement of the eggs having finally been cooked, and Persephone took her temporary leave from the super-powered table of two to serve the old German and fetch Alice’s coffee.

The coffee here was terrible – bitter and weak simultaneously – but Alice could find that out for herself. If she put enough half and half in, it could even be tolerable…

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Persephone Dean + Mason Warner + wearing

Alice couldn't help but giggle at Mason's 'plant lady' comment. Doing so attracted a strange look from the couple she was passing, but she waited until they sat down, away from the other customers. It made things easier, both for Mason and for her. He didn't have to worry about his voice emerging from thin air and terrifying people, and she had to worry slightly less about people thinking she was mad. Of course they could still see her, but at least they wouldn't be able to hear what she was saying to thin air. "Wait, I've got an idea." She scrabbled inside her bag for her earphones, then plugging them into her phone, put one in her ear. Nothing was playing, but hopefully anyone that looked over would just think she was talking on the phone instead of to herself. "Maybe people won't think I should be committed now. We should just be able to talk normally now. I mean… as long as you don't get too loud. We'll just have to keep an eye out for anyone walking past." They sat, and she glanced up at the wall, she was actually a little hungry, but had to consider rent and bills. She glanced at where she thought Mason's face was. "You want anything? I'm not really that hungry to be honest. If we order something and just put it in front of me you can just sneak stuff when people aren't looking, make sure you can eat something at least."

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[Mason Warner]

Recruitment Drive

At least Persephone wasn’t putting on such an act that she was prepared to pretend that Mason didn’t exist. She gazed just past his left shoulder as she informed them that she’d be coming back to take their food order which was a pretty good attempt at acknowledging him, to her credit. Then Persephone moved swiftly across the restaurant to continue doing her job and Mason and Alice were left alone momentarily.

For a second, Mason tried to figure out a noiseless protest against Alice’s decision to sit and listen to music while she waited. He was just about to rap his knuckles against the surface of the table when she suddenly explained herself.

“Ohhh…” Mason whispered with relief. “Good idea!”

He followed Alice’s gaze, taking a quick look at the menu. It was your standard greasy spoon fare – not much choice but enough to have a few tempting options for the average consumer.

“What about some fries? I can probably keep those hidden.”

Mason’s stomach rumbled approvingly. “Maybe a large fries. You can share but please let me pay, to thank you for ferrying my invisible ass around everywhere.”

It was something that Alice probably hadn’t even considered to be a kindness. She probably didn’t even realise how much Mason appreciated the time and effort she sacrificed to keep him company while they tracked the other survivors down to join their new team. He could have tried to do it alone, but it was so much easier with somebody else. Much more fun too. It was like they were on an important mission together – saving the world one diner trip at a time!

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[Persephone Dean]

Recruitment Drive

The mountain of eggs was pretty well received by the elderly German man. Eric had slopped them haphazardly onto the plate, however, and Persephone watched with the mildest fascination as the guy carefully arranged them into a wobbling, greasy tower of stacked fried eggs. She’d never seen him do that before, and could only assume that the quality of presentation today was just too sloppy to be to his satisfaction. He smiled at her as he did it though, and thanked her in his thick accent before turning his attention to his meal.

The other tables were happy and Miranda had just sauntered in through the back, ready to take over once Persephone’s shift was over. They’d been surprisingly short-staffed recently and Miranda was quite possibly the least reliable co-worker Persephone had ever known, so it was nothing short of a miracle that she was here early. Then again, she seemed to have a tiny crush on Eric at the moment which may be fuelling her motivation to actually show up on time. Persephone couldn’t care less about their personal lives but if it meant she got to finish work on time then she was all for the budding workplace romance.

She brought the coffee with half and half over to Alice and Mason’s table, placing it hesitantly right in the centre of the table. She was fairly sure Mason wasn’t capable of covertly sipping his own coffee but she didn’t want to assume. Persephone had made great strides in understanding her own power after all – maybe Mason had done the same.

“So did you decide on anything to eat?” she asked cheerfully, plucking her notepad out of her pocket, pencil poised. Her eyes flickered across the table to where Mason was sat before fixing them on Alice. “We do some great burgers here.”

She lowered her voice, dropping the act temporarily. “So is this just a social call or…?” She couldn’t help it, she was curious. Surely there was some kind of important information they wanted to share – something safer said in person than via text. After all, this new super-powered world they’d stumbled into didn’t seem entirely welcoming regarding the doctor’s actions. If only she could meet somebody who was part of that world already… she had so many questions!

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Persephone Dean + wearing

Mason's stomach was absurdly loud, and Alice was glad there was no one in the booths next to them, luckily enough. She would have struggled to play that off as her own stomach. If Mason had suggested something larger than fries and insisted on paying, then she probably would have argued. There was something about a plate of fries that transcended charity and pride. Besides, if someone ordered fries it was expected that they would be sharing them with everyone else. "I don't mind, it's quite nice to have a bit of company to be honest. And fries sound good, I'm not that hungry but I might just steal a few." She looked up as she realised Persephone had returned, the older girl playing the part of a waitress once more. "Uh… just a fries for… me… a large one." When Persephone grew conspiratorial Alice couldn't help feel a little more excited. Persephone had dropped a little bit of the curtain in her curiousity. "I mean, you could say that, but we've sort of been… uh… testing things out…" It was becoming increasingly obvious that Alice was not entirely at home in the realm of subterfuge. "And well… we thought that maybe… you could sort of… join in..?" She left the question hanging, not entirely sure where to go from here. She certainly hadn't planned how this encounter would go, or what she would say.

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[Mason Warner]

Recruitment Drive

“Thief!” Mason hissed through clenched teeth, pointing an accusatory finger. He’d made a perfectly civil offer to share his fries and here Alice was talking about stealing them! Outrageous behaviour!

He waited a couple of seconds for his accusation to really sink in before letting out a gentle snort of laughter. “No seriously, you’re welcome to my fries. Just don’t coat them in ketchup – that’s a deal-breaker.” Mason was a strictly sauce-on-the-side kinda guy. If he wanted his fries to be soggy and drenched in tomato sauce he’d order a bowl of soup and dump them in there.

Persephone had done a quick circle of the diner and was back with coffee, armed with a crisp little notepad juxtaposed by an old, chewed black pencil. It was still odd to witness her in her professional role, regardless of how much it made sense, and Mason was starting to be both seriously impressed and a little nervous of her acting ability. Of all the survivors, it seemed that he knew the least about her. Details of her life had been few and far between – the fact that she’d revealed the name of her workplace was enough of a miracle. Maybe he’d need to get on Google Translate and pull out some Russian to find out if she was a spy. Or maybe he was overreacting and had been living in a complete mental fantasyland since superhero-ing became a tangible reality.

Whatever. She probably wasn’t a Russian spy. …Probably.

Alice verbally tripped and stumbled her way through a response to Persephone’s enquiry. Alice was definitely not a Russian spy. Or she was very good at hiding her spy skillset.

“We can explain properly later,” Mason added quietly. “Just the fries, thanks!”

ψ

[Persephone Dean]

Recruitment Drive

We’ve been testing things out? So Alice had clearly developed powers. Either that or she’d attached herself so firmly to the group that she was now a limpet speaking on their behalf. Persephone shrugged internally. She was sure that Alice would reveal such information in due course. Right now, she still had a shift to finish.

“Sure,” she said succinctly, trying her best to keep the tone warm and friendly despite the dismissive nature of her reply. She hadn’t wanted Alice to start her conversation here and now, simply confirm Persephone’s suspicions that their patronage wasn’t a "pleasant" coincidence. Her talk of tests and joining in could wait.

Persephone nodded appreciatively at the empty space that Mason seemed to occupy. At least he seemed to have remembered that Persephone was still at work. “Coming right up!”

Sometimes it was really hard to remember to fake a dazzling, Broadway smile. Other times, she was barely aware of doing it until she caught sight of her reflection. When moments like this occurred, blurring the line between personal and professional lives, the smile was definitely an effort. However, if anything could be said for Persephone, it was that she wasn’t afraid of making an effort when she needed to. Her mind practically stockpiled motivation, just waiting for it to be given an aim.

When she came in to pass on the order, she found Miranda hovering by Eric’s station chattering away in the voice which she usually only brought out for customers she found attractive. It was a rare occurrence. Persephone watched as Miranda suddenly grew serious. “I think it’s really important that a guy knows how to cook,” she confessed.

Eric cast a look at Persephone. “Uh, yeah. You got another order, Persephone?”

Hopeless. Miranda was never going to keep showing up on time at this rate.

Fries didn’t take long at all. She popped out briefly to sort out a final table and check in on the German egg fan once more before running the fries over to Alice and Mason. She checked her watch. Just a few more minutes now.

“Here’s your large fries, miss,” she said, placing them carefully in the centre of the table. “Do you need anything else?” Condiments were already on the table, but it never hurt to ask. “By the way, my colleague will be taking over in a few minutes, so we can talk about all this,” she gestured vaguely, “in just a moment. Enjoy your meal!”

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Persephone Dean + wearing

Alice couldn't see the accusatory finger, but she was certainly imagining it as his accusation hissed out of the air. Then she realised that he was joking and rolled her eyes. Fortunately, to any casual observer it would look like an instinctive reaction to the person at the other end of the phone. She resisted the urge to hold up her hands in surrender. "Don't worry, I won't be drowning anything in the red sea. You can trust me." To Alice that was as great a sacrilege as well done steak, it simply shouldn't be done. Anyone who did should be tossed into the pan alongside it as far as she was concerned. Alice was grateful that Mason stepped in, she had been trying to explain what had been going on without giving anything away to eavesdroppers, Mason's approach had been much simpler. She smiled as Persephone took down their order and turned to go. "Thanks!" She turned back to look towards the seat opposite, still talking as though to someone on the other end of a phone. "Do you think that she'll want to get involved? I mean, we all got our powers the same way, it would make sense. I hope she does, it wouldn't be the same otherwise…" There was clearly some doubt in her voice, Alice didn't handle rejection well, and now that she was finally part of something special, she was desperately worried that it would all fall apart at the last minute. She glanced up again at Persephone's return, smiling. "That's uh… everything I think…"

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[Mason Warner]

Recruitment Drive

What a good way to describe it: “drowning in the red sea”. Mason made a mental note to steal it for future objections to the crime of covering fries in ketchup. He had a couple of buddies from the bar who would sometimes order fries for the group and then smother the entire thing. His joy and gratitude became tainted by resentment at being forced to endure soggy fries. The horror!

“’Course I trust you, Chef,” he affirmed. Mason felt pleased that she – a culinary pro – was on his side.

It was strange, but he knew that Alice was just one of those endlessly trustworthy people. She was just so earnest, forever wearing her heart on her sleeve, that there was no way that you couldn’t trust her after spending more than five minutes in her presence. There was also no way that you couldn’t pick up on her sensitive nature. Her concern that Persephone might not want to join their team was very much etched onto her face.

“I won’t lie, I don’t really get her power,” Mason confessed quietly. “But I bet it would come in handy, and I feel like we should all stick together and I’m sure she does too.”

He wasn’t sure about this, not at all, but he felt slightly more optimistic than Alice seemed so it was his job to spread the false positivity.

Persephone dropped off the fries – which smelled surprisingly delicious – with a particularly jarring “miss” thrown in Alice’s direction. He wasn’t sure there was quite the need for such formality. Then she dropped a little of the act again and he felt slightly more at ease. At least she wasn’t just flat-out pretending that she had no idea who they were. That would’ve have been mean.

He decided against thanking Persephone for the fries in case they were overheard. There was no way Alice could pass his voice off as her own – although it would be funny to watch her try.

He turned his attention to the fries. Maybe he was just hungry, or maybe these did actually look as good as they smelled. Only one way to find out how they tasted… Mason reached out and closed his fist around a large fry on the edge of the plate, taking care not to disrupt the pile in the process. Okay, so it was probably invisible now. He lifted it up a little and waved his closed fist around to check Alice’s reaction. No floating fry. Good.

He then manoeuvred the fry into his mouth, keeping it as tightly contained as possible throughout. There were no screams from nearby diners so he assumed that the mission had been a success. Mason chewed happily for a while (it was an okay fry, nothing special) before swallowing and letting out a soft, satisfied burp.

“Fry obtained!” he hissed happily, reaching for another. “And you thought I wasn’t stealthy…”

He continued in this manner for a while, getting bolder with how much coverage he gave the fry but never letting it just sit in his open hand, trying his best to develop a good technique of covertly dipping the fry in ketchup. For all its disadvantages, at least his ability was a fun mental exercise at times. And he’d always been told to pace himself better while eating anyway. At this rate of consumption, Alice actually had a chance of having her own fair share. Which, of course, he insisted upon.

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