[img]https://i.imgur.com/1trNZ24.png[/img]
[color=orange]Location: Metahuman Youth Center, Taos, New Mexico
Interactions:[/color] NPC Metahuman

Kassandra split from the group without a word. She had taken the rest of her mission prep time to quickly dye and flat iron her hair. One minor illusion later, and she was a dark-skinned, green eyed redhead. Victor had been surprisingly generous in lending her one of his own hoodies, and she was wearing that and a pair of jean shorts that were chafing her thighs. A pair of false lensed glasses completed the look. 

One of the upgrades made to her weapon of choice had been something to make it more portable. On a truly covert mission like this one, she couldn’t very well walk around with a giant golden staff. With a few more runes carved in, it had been temporarily shrunk to the size of a microphone. It was neatly tucked away under the back of the hoodie, where she could reach it easily. Kassy knew they had done other things, but she didn’t know exactly what they were.

She wandered the center aimlessly with her eyes downcast, letting her ears absorb bits and pieces of conversation. So far, it all sounded normal enough. Chatting about other people, today’s lunch, rumors, tv shows. It all seemed so average. Some of them looked at her, but when she didn’t make eye contact, they left her be.

The summer heat was making her a touch ill, even indoors, so she found herself wandering to the cafeteria for a bottle of water. She saw Aleen’a getting stared at by one of the center teens, and decided to make a wide berth. They weren’t really supposed to know each other, after all. That, and she wasn’t sure that she was the best person to be around the empathetic Tamaranean. 

She snagged two bottles of water from a small drink station, and sat at a random cafeteria table, just observing.

[b]“Hey.”[/b] A voice startled her out of her spying. There was a girl at the table, dressed all in black. A black long-sleeved shirt, long black skirt, and very tall black shoes. Her hair was dyed a rich obsidian, though Kass could just barely see brown roots peeking from her scalp. The girl even had black makeup. It was a look that Kass hadn’t seen before. Interesting.

[b]“You must be new here.”[/b]

Kassy shrugged vaguely. That was their cover story, after all. [color=orange]“...how’d you guess?” [/color]

[b]“This is my table. No one sits here.”[/b]

[color=orange]“...oh.”[/color] She blinked, making to rise up. [color=orange]“I’ll leave.”[/color]
[b]
“Nah. No big.”[/b] The girl shrugged just as loosely as Kassy had. [b]“Just know that you’re probably already ruining your reputation just by sitting here.”[/b]

Kassy frowned, genuinely confused. [color=orange]“...my… I’m sorry, what?” [/color]

The girl leaned forward. [b]“Y’see. No one likes me here. They think I’m a weirdo.”[/b]

[color=orange]“Oh.”[/color] Kass stared off, then tipped her head. [color=orange]“Being metahumans, isn’t everyone a weirdo?”[/color] 

Was that a smile on the girl’s face? Kassy wasn’t sure. [b]“Yeah, you’d think. But somehow, people like me always get left on the sidelines.”[/b]

[color=orange]“Yeah?”[/color] That sparked Kassy’s attention. [color=orange]“I understand. You’ve got this power you never asked for, and everyone hates you for it. And you’d do anything just to be rid of it.”[/color]

[b]“Shit. You [i]do[/i] understand.”[/b] The girl sounded a little stunned. [b]“...I’m Raquel.”[/b]

[color=orange]“Eveline.”[/color] Kassy offered a hand, but Raquel balked, leaning back.

[b]“Sorry. I can’t really touch people. I’m poisonous.”[/b] 

[color=orange]“You’re literally poisonous?” [/color]

[b]“Yep. My pores exude a kind of neurotoxin. Or at least that’s what they told me. So… people stay away.”[/b] A defeated sort of sigh escaped her.[b] “All the others said they’re waiting for me to ‘go villain’. Like my power automatically makes me evil or something.”[/b]

[color=orange]“…”[/color] Kassy lifted her eyebrows. And then, for the first time in a while, she smiled.[color=orange] “Well. We might have lot to talk about.”[/color]