There were no complaints to be heard from Quinton when Tanya decided to come that little bit closer to him. In fact, he welcomed it. It had been quite some time since he too had been able to enjoy such proximity. Albeit not for the same reasons. He'd been pushing others away purely out of fear that one day they might see him cut a finger only for to to heal up right before their very eyes. He didn't need to worry about such things with the young woman. She already knew who and what he was and that didn't bother him in the slightest.

As Tanya chose to settle closer to him, the young man would move to slip an arm around her shoulders unless she saw it fit to complain. There was something nice about the normality of it all and being able to trust another with his secret. It was more than he'd ever been able to find the courage to do since the event. Not even his family knew. Having another he could put faith in was a relief he hadn't realized that he needed.

"I'm sure you'll find a way. If you're brave enough to fight your way through college, I reckon you can do pretty much anything." 

Quinton gave the matter only a brief amount of thought, keen not make things awkward. The alcohol and overall relaxed and comfortable feeling that had overtaken him right now made him inclined to agree without a second's hesitation. The only slight issue was that he did have work tomorrow but that was something they could work around, right? It had been so long she'd he'd been able to pretend that everything was normal in his life... "That doesn't sound like a bad idea." He would answer quietly, with a gentle smile.

His drink was finished. He was good to go as soon as Tanya was.

Quinton huffed with amusement as he raised his bottle to his lips, pausing before taking another sip to ensure that he didn't unintentionally make a mess of himself. Tonight was going quite well, he would rather not ruin it by spitting out the contents of his drink on his... Was she a date? He wasn't entirely sure if they'd officially transitioned to that stage yet and so, in the presence of doubt preferred to err on the side of caution. "Okay. Spilled scotch then." He responded.

Quinton certainly didn't object to a little bit more proximity. In fact, it was welcome. Again, all of this was contributing to allowing him to forget about his troubles and what had been on his mind these past few months. He would give Tanya a little smile as she chose to come a bit closer, letting her know that right now it was very much welcome. 


"I was." He assured the young woman. "Nothing wrong with that. Simple's nice sometimes. Back then, a few months ago, if you'd have told me that I'd be here, like this, the way I am with you. I'd have said "Nah. No way. That stuff's for Hollywood" but guess there are a lot of people right now out there wondering how they got here." He glanced down at the young woman he was sitting next to, hesitating for a few seconds before - perhaps slightly spurred on by alcohol - he spoke. "Not that I'm complaining." 


It took Quinton a few seconds to realize just what it was that she was talking about. "SATs?" He gave an intentionally exaggerated and overdramatic shudder. "Yeesh. You're a braver woman than I am. Well, I'm not a woman but uh, you know what I meant." 

Sitting there, Quinton found himself to be pleasantly distracted by it all. He allowed his mind to drift away from the subject of his powers and what he was going to do with himself in the long term. Instead, he allowed himself to enjoy the moment and to shake off his fears and concerns. He considered Tanya discretely, watching either out of the corner of his eye or through tentative but occasional  longer glances. He didn't want to appear to be freaky by staring extensively. 

For a moment, he contemplated send a little message back home to let his brothers and sisters know that he was out on a date - that's what this was right? It would be a kicker for them and he was certain that he would find himself on the receiving end of a good amount of teasing. He even went so far as to reach for his phone but thought better of it. He'd let them know how things went at a later date, for the time being, he would concentrate on tonight rather than by allowing himself to be distracted. Tanya deserved his full attention.

Quinton accepted the drink willingly. He was no longer particularly thirsty but accepted it as more of a distraction than anything else. Much like a date, it had been too long since he'd last been out for a drink. Well, anything more than sharing a can of beer at the end of a day of hard work around some construction site around the city. "It's great. Thanks!" He would accept the bottle once more, raising it jokingly. "Cheers. Again." 

"Been a while for me too." He confessed, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat there. He had to cast his mind back, doing what he could to recall just when he'd last been on a date. It was before the Event, that was for sure but when exactly? A year or so, at least since he'd had a proper date. It had been a long time at any rate and perhaps not exactly something that he'd been expecting but neither was it entirely unwelcome. It was very much one of those "normal" things that he found himself missing terribly from his past life before all of this madness. It occurred to him once more of course that things were a little bit different now. "But then you knew that." Of course, she would know everything about his past life. It made things... Just that little bit more interesting. Thankfully, he wasn't the sort to be terribly bothered by such things.

He would let her respond to that little statement, more of a tease than anything else. "It was a surprise." He declared, taking a swig of his drink before offering the young woman a knowing little smile. "-But then I like surprises." 

Quinton considered arguing. Tanya had the advantage here, in that she knew most of what there was to know about him thanks to her power. Inevitably, that left him guessing where she was concerned. He assumed that she didn't have a job and that she was relatively poor. He based that assumption on a few of the things that she'd said and her dorm accommodation. His natural instinct, as well as all of those lessons are politeness and chivalry demanded that he be the one to foot the bill. On the other hand, he was aware that not all women appreciated such treatment. Some liked to feel a good deal more independent. 

From what he'd seen so far, he was inclined to say that Tanya belonged to that second category. 

So he didn't object, at least not for one round. "Thanks." 

The country boy smiled as Tanya spoke, hoping that she actually meant what she said and intended to enjoy herself a good deal more. It must have been a stressful life; trying to balance studies and powers. Heck, he'd had a hard time scraping his way through high school whilst also helping out from time to time round the farm. University, was, as a result a decidedly intimidating notion for the man. It had to be said, he admired her courage.

It took Quinton a moment to notice that something had changed. He recognized her tensing up. Whilst he hadn't entirely been expecting her to touch him, he didn't object. He frowned momentarily, perplexed as he tried to understand just what it was that could have caused her to react in such a way. "You, alright?" He would ask tentatively. 


Her next words came as a relief. Under other circumstances, he might easily have breathed a sigh of relief. As it was, he managed to maintain his composure and brush it off behind his own attempt at humor: "Probably. I've only had one drink. Usually takes a few more before my head starts to go." 

His next grin was a good deal more sincerely, feeling some genuine joy for the young woman. He was more than capable of imagining just how much of a relief it must have been. "Congratulations. You're free." He spoke keeping his smile.

Quinton leaned against the table, relaxed. It had been too long since he'd been in an establishment like this, with a girl - or anyone else for that matter -just doing something plain old normal. He laughed when she mentioned their names, not mockingly although he was somewhat relieved that she poked fun at the name that she'd come up with for him. 


Eidetic? He would probably have looked it up at home afterwards if he'd thought himself capable of spelling the word. Not wanting to come across as a fool or a country bumpkin, he held off of asking her just what it meant. "You're better than me." He assured her. "Best I'd have is the Human band-aid." He paused for a moment, considering her words. "You ever think about using your powers like that? I mean like those people you see on TV?" In truth, he couldn't quite see how she could. At least not out in the field, maybe to interrogate someone afterwards? 

"Dunno." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders, one which marked uncertainty more than indifference. "I'd like to think that most people wouldn't care. Be nice and all..." His voice trailed off, his gaze briefly travelling towards the rest of those sitting around the bar. Perhaps there were other metas in here, taking care to conceal themselves from the rest of the world. "I reckon there's some people out there who'd want to help, others who'd want to hurt and a few to use us." He took another sip of his drink, leaving only a few dribbles left at the bottom of the bottle. 

"But then that's not much different to the rest of the world, is it? I mean, it's one of the first thing your Ma teaches you, right? Be careful with strangers... I hope that in a few months, this'll all have calmed right down and metas and humans, well there won't be much of a difference anymore."

With one final swig, tilting his head right back, he downed the last of his drink. Feeling it's cool refreshment running down his throat, he felt himself shake off whatever philosophical thoughts might have momentarily gripped him: "Least that's the way that I like to see things." 

The young man was somewhat relieved when they changed subjects to focus instead on something which was a good deal easier and less thorny to talk about.

Quinton couldn't help but smile as Tanya spoke of her plans. He didn't know much about the law, other than it was something best kept on the right side of. What little he was aware of was that not everyone could be a lawyer. "Studying the law, that's not for the faint of heart. You're braver than I am." There was a clear note of humor but also admiration behind the statement. 

"It's fine." Quinton assured her, raising his hands to emphasize the fact. "It's good to be passionate about something." Perhaps that was a regret of his. He'd known people who had a real drive, a motivation which made them continue getting up in the morning. It was more than just a purpose, something to make them go forwards and hopefully to drive forwards others from time to time. Somewhere along the line, he knew it was more likely to be people like Tanya who changed the world than others like himself. He'd just stand by and watch.

Quinton was sort of aware that there weren't any laws to protect them. It was why he was careful but at the same time, it wasn't a subject that he'd ever given any considerable amount of thought. "You'd think it would be something that they wanted to get their hands on. I mean..." He glanced around only briefly. "I've been being real careful. Even back in my hometown, there were some people that didn't like the idea of metas. Sort of feels like they're waiting for something bad to happen before they do anything."