[Color=blue]Cora Dubois[/color] and [b]Henry Olin[/b]

Written in collaboration with [@UrbanEvolution]

Cora hesitated for a brief moment before reaching out and shaking hands with Henry, his skin felt dry and not at all unpleasant. She had never come across a meta with Reptilian features before and didn't know what to expect. But thus far apart from his size, Henry, seemed genuinely friendly and a little awkward. It made her feel a little better knowing that she wasn't the only one who struggled in these situations. 

She shook his hand firmly before releasing his hand and resting both of her hands on the bar, she took several deep breaths in an attempt to help calm her instincts. Her senses were working overdrive taking in every little thing around her in an effort to spot any potential threats. But at the same time her instincts were insisting that the big man next to her was her most immidiate threat. 

Determined not to allow those instincts to win she continued breathing in and out, in and out, the breaths slow and even. Gradually she felt her heart begin to calm and smiled, pleased with her efforts. She turned so that she faced Henry and smiled again.

"Well Henry, it's nice to meet you. I'ma struggling a little being around all these people, so I apologise if I'ma little distracted. But it is real nice to meet someone else like me."

She looked Henry up and down and then grinned her playful side showing itself a little. She gestured to her skin and then at his. 

"Well sorta like me anyhow."

She turned and caught the eye of the bartender, he walked over and smiled politely. She asked for a glass of juice before turning back to Henry. Jack had just gotten drinks for him and Elise and as she glanced at him he nodded in approval. Obviously trusting her to handle herself he and her aunt wandered away to mingle amongst the other guests. Cora told herself they were not abandoning her and pushed the re surfacing anxiety to the back of her mind. 

"So you here to raise money for us 'special people' too?"   

Henry sucked in a breath, contemplating his response.

This person didn't know him, which was probably good- considering NEST's reputation.

In one hand he could say he was here to raise money and a reputation. In the other he could lie, and just pretend that he was a civilian. He doubted Lihua would say anything to blow his cover. His eyes shifted to her free hand- instinctively looking for a weapon of some sort. A habit he had learned the hard way. He'd taken a bullet to the gut and while he had come out of it just fine afterward- the nickel sized scar was the source of many 'belly button' jokes onward.

Henry coughed, and finaly spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. Just... trying to do my part, you know?"

He was glad he wasn't carrying any weapons on him right now. Honestly he was glad he didn't really use weapons to begin with. Weapons were messy. And hard to cover fup. Claws and fists? You can hide those. Well, you can hide them better than you can hide weapons.

"I take it you're here for the same reason?"

Cora took a sip of her juice and then nodded in response . 

"Yes, though honestly I didn't want to come. I'm not exactly a people person and this is a lotta people."

She paused , wondering what he thought of NEST and all of the recent press it had received. Many Metahumans were angry about what had come to light and Cora could understand why. Yet she believed in NEST, believed that they were needed. If a Meta like her went on a Rampage they were the best people to deal with it. It gave her comfort knowing that and she chose to believe that not all of the organisation was corrupt, just a few bad apples. 

"But my family was right to convince me to come. NEST needs our support if it's ever gonna rebuild its reputation."

"I feel the people person part." Henry said, resisting the urge to call over more wine. He wanted to get drunk right now. Like, really badly. But then Lihua or Sonya or both would have to lug him home and that would be bad.

This NEST conversation though... Probably wasn't good. Conversations like this would inevitably lead to him messing up if he continued down the road. He was good, really good. But he'd met people that were better. Especially at picking up lies or deception. One mistake could lead to some bad stuff like distrust or something. So it'd probably be best to play it smart and reveal his occupation later. If he would even need to reveal it at all.

"That an accent I detect?" Henry questioned, turning and leaning back against the bar, which groaned against his weight once again. "I'm from Boston. Where're you from?"

Cora heard the bar complain when Henry leaned on it and smiled slightly. 

"You ever break stuff accidentally? "She gestured at the bar which, though solid, definitely looked to be bowing slightly under his weight. 

"I do all the time. I'm always having to replace my rugs and furniture." 

She realised then that he had asked her a question.

"Louisiana, New Orleans to be exact. I grew up in the Bayou's. Never been to Boston, do you miss it?"

"Constantly.  I constantly break things. I spend more money replacing things than I  do on  appartment annually." Henry said, looking down and glaring at the  bar as if doing so would whip it into shape. He picked up his wine  glass and held it at hey eye level. "See this? Think of it as an egg.  You know what? Just think of [i]everything[/i] as an egg."

Henry  snorted. "God no. Boston's a great place to be from. Not a good place  to grow up. Do you have any idea how many 'New York Sewer Gator' jokes I  got down there before I moved? Way too many." He said, his brow  furrowing.

"So why'd you move to California? And why Verthaven of all places?"

Cora almost choked on her juice as an impromptu chuckle escaped her throat. She tried to imagine everything being as delicate to her as an egg and the ensuing image was enough to cause more laughter to escape. 

"I guess that makes you an interesting house guest. Me, I'm always ripping things." She raised her hand and extended her nails briefly to emphasise her point. "My aunt's given up on expensive carpets."

Her smile faded as she remembered what had led her to come to Verthaven. Memories flashed before her eyes and she unconsciously hunched her shoulders trying to become a smaller target. Though the human part of her scolded her for her reaction. But the animal part remembered, and feared, her time in her parents lab.

She clenched her glass and was not aware that her nails had extended again.

"I...have family here and after my parents had finished they sent me to live with my Aunt and Uncle who live here." 

Needing to talk of something else, feeling how unstable she was, she said too brightly.

"I'm a freelance photographer, you might have seen some of my work with Metahumans. I'd love to photograph you at some point. You have a fascinating and oddly attractive appearance."

She looked away realizing what she had said. "Im sorry, I hope I didn't offend you." 
She clutched her glass tighter unaware of her nails scratching the glass. 

"I'm so bad at this." She muttered in frustration.