Lilian, unlike the other two men, was entirely focused on his phone while he waited in line with a soft scowl. He paid no mind to those around him, and even as he approached the counter, he didn't look up from the device, keeping his gaze on the screen as he scrolled past a video of a guy with bleached blonde hair talking to himself as four different characters.

"Steak and cheese burrito, black beans, extra cheese, add guac and white queso..." a smile tugged at his lips for a moment, and then he added, "and go heavy on the chile sauce." That wasn't the order. Joshua hated spice. Li, however, hated Josh. Put simply, Josh was an ass. Josh had bit the hand that feeds many a time before. It was time for Josh to learn. Would he learn? Probably not, but that wasn't any problem of Lilian's.

The worker nodded and confirmed the order and read off the price, Lilian confirmed in return and used the company card that had been wrapped in the list of workers' orders to pay for the shitty ass burrito. It wasn't even authentic, and he knew for a fact that this place was absolutely foul in regard to sanitation. He had watched a whole essay video about the time the chain had been caught with traces of Hep C in their guacamole. Not exactly the thing you'd imagine a place coming back from, but, big chains were usually good at that shit.

As he stepped aside to let the next person in line make their order while he waited for his own, Li continued to watch his phone until the device started ringing. He had one of those ridiculous joke ringtones. It drove his co-workers crazy. A chaotic track of a guy scream-singing absolute nonsense.

Casually, as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening, Lilian answered the call, "For the last time, I can't do these runs as fast as everyone else. I don't have a fucking car and--oh yeah, my fucking bike was destroyed this morning when I got the first fucking coverage of Stag's and Gamma's battle," he paused to listen, "Oh shit, wait, really? She called for me? By name and everything, huh?" the slightest hint of a smirk pulled at his lips with the cleverly bewildered words, "Wild. I mean, I did get the chance to talk to King Stag this morning to ask about the interview, but I never thought he'd remember my name. The company's, sure, but me? Fucking crazy. Anyways, I'm down to take the interview, you know me. I'll do anything for a good story. Did you already get everything set or do I gotta call this lady?" again he waited for the response, "Alright, I'll get that situated when I get back to the office. Thanks for letting me know," a pause, "Oh yeah, sure, I'm almost on my way back. Just as soon as the magical cat bus comes and picks me up," Lilian waited again for the response and rolled his eyes, "It's from a movie, just forget it, I'll be back within the hour," and with that, he hung up and turned to take the food as it was brought to the pick-up counter, grabbing the bag and turning back to his phone as he headed out.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated the standing of the man behind him and ended up crashing right into Cricket, bouncing off the larger, stronger man and falling back flat on his ass, "Ow, fuck," he burst, then huffed, "Sorry dude, that was my bad."

Despite what he told himself, Lilian couldn't help but stare at the man standing over him. It wasn't out of any ill intent. He wasn't judging the guy at all. His attention was just...caught for lack of a better word. The pockmarks. It was the pockmarks. It wasn't something one saw very often, and suffice was to say, it was very eye-catching. Lilian hated himself for staring, especially since his gaze refused to meet the guy's gaze. All he could do was jump from one mark to the next and pray it wasn't obvious. He tried. He tried to focus on at least the guy's smile, but even that was awkward.

Is he pissed?? Li wondered, then decided to just close his eyes and reach out to accept the guy's hand in helping him up.

"Ah- Uh, no..." he murmured, "No, uh, it was my fault. I'm fine, really. I-" but his babbling was cut short at a new, intrusive voice entering the scene.

Just who the hell- Lilian stopped when he looked at the other guy, taking in his features. There was something...notable about him, and he wasn't just thinking about the feathers or green hair. No...something was...important about this dude, but what? It didn't matter, Li was still kinda pissed about this guy barging into this...interaction? Blathering about his views on hero interviews and questioning him and this other random dude like they'd done something wrong. It rubbed Li the wrong way, that was for sure.

"Get me a meeting with Karabasan where I don't immediately become subjected to horrific night terrors and I'll gladly write you a villain interview-- Oh, wait, that's right, villains aren't exactly crazy about sitting for an interview where they can easily be apprehended by the DNCC in the process. Damn, what a shame. Guess that's out. Maybe you should try minding your own damn business instead of criticizing the work of a guy you don't even fucking know."

Lilian was blown away by the sheer audacity of the green-haired man spouting off. The way he acted like he knew so much more than everyone around him really drove into Li. It was exactly that kind of behavior that he despised in guys like Josh and his boss and his fucking landlady. They all put off that disgusting energy that they were better than everyone. It was nauseating. Though not as nauseating as the guy wiping his fucking blood on his sleeve. All things aside, Lilian wasn't judging the guy for having an obvious condition. No, definitely not. If the guy was sick, the guy was sick, and Lilian wasn't the type to look down on someone for something medical or out of their control. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to judge the guy for not using a damn handkerchief!

His blood was absolutely boiling at how the guy talked to him, how the guy straight up assumed to know so much about him in the little interaction they'd had. He was wrong. So dead wrong about so many things. Those anti-hero interviews were only possible off the record, and the interviewers who conducted them were often charged heavily for aiding and abetting a perceived criminal. Something Li wasn't too keen to deal with, knowing full well the company wouldn't cover the cost of the fine. Aside from that, the only reason there were far more anti-hero interviews than anything was simply because there were far more anti-heroes than, well, anything. Literally anyone could be an anti-hero. All you needed was a crappy half-assed costume and the drive of absolute insanity to do something perceived as good and you were set to go. Over half the anti-heroes out there were college students, probably high on something, running around just for attention. If any kind of interview could be classed as 'a dime a dozen' it was, without a doubt, the anti-hero interviews.

Next to that, who the fuck did this guy think he was prying into Lilian's personal ability? So he survived a little radiation, big fucking whoop. That didn't mean that Gamma-Burn was harmless. It just meant the radiation wasn't as extreme where he was...or something like that. To be honest on that one, even Li wasn't so sure how he managed to get these shots of Gamma-Burn and King Stag without suffering serious afflictions, but...he just... chalked it up to the fact that things like that never seemed to bother him. As a kid the mothers of his peer group had hosted one of those stupid 'pox parties' where the parent of one kid hosts a party when said kid gets the chicken pox to allow for all the other kids in the social group to also catch it and 'get it over with'. Lilian was the only kid who didn't catch it, and in fact, never caught it at any point in his life. Though doctors would claim that was the shot. The point was, Li, as far as he knew, was just lucky.

That wasn't what bothered the reporter though. What bothered him was the guy's assumption that he wanted nothing to do with the villain-- who for some reason these guys couldn't fucking name? What was up with that? You'd think that people would remember the name of the guy who killed Donald Trump during his second year in office! Even if the news tried to cover that up as an accident, the evidence was obvious. --The guy knew literally nothing about him, and here he was, making bold assumptions, and trying to just walk away? Li wasn't having it, he wasn't having it one bit.

Storming out the door with the bag holding Josh's stupid shitty ten dollar burrito left on the ground, Lilian caught up to the green-haired guy, "You've got a lotta fucking gull speaking all high and mighty on shit you know absolutely fucking nothing about," he spat, "Reporters like me deal with a lot more fucking background shit than you'll ever know. Just know that. And for the record? I would kill for an interview with Gamma-Burn. And that's not a fucking hyperbole. Unlike some villains out there, Gamma-Burn actually has a legit cause. A cause many people overlook as liberal scare tactics when, in actuality, it's a plea. A plea to fucking change and make a damn effort to save not just the earth, but life and those who live it as we know it. Maybe if you actually paid attention to the shit you so eagerly bury your nose in, you wouldn't end up being the shit-faced baffoon you've made yourself out to be!"

When Sorrel was through with his rebound in the...not...quite a debate, Lilian was left in silence. Even he had to admit this guy had gotten one over on him...but...he...wasn't quite ready to let that be apparent, so instead of shutting up and taking the fall like he should have done, he just snuffed and scoffed and rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh boy, haven't heard that one before," he remarked on the insult, "No one has ever thought to compare me to a child. Bravo on that one, guy, truly, well-crafted insult, I applaud you," he unfolded his arms to give a sarcastic clap of his hands before giving another shake of his head and crossing his arms once more, "Look. You make good points. I'll give you that. But you obviously only think of this shit from an outsider's point of view. Sure. I can get a damn Geiger counter. Sure, I can wave that shit around until my arms get tired. It won't mean anything in the long run. For one thing, this is a city of over 250,000 people spanning across over 4,000 square miles, most of which is water--which, last I checked, kinda more or less completely separates Ground Zero from the rest of the city. Funny. For someone who plays off knowing so much about this shit, you seem to leave a lot of detail out in your judgment. Ground Zero is more secure than the fucking Pentagon. No one gets in. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure they'd have caught Gamma-Burn quite a few years ago. I doubt I could simply walk over there, ride a speed boat, and waltz on in. That place is a natural forest, and I don't very well see the residents being open about their involvement with a Grade-S villain, lest they too be apprehended by the DNCC and put through rigorous questioning to try and find the identity of said Grade-S villain and a means of getting into Ground Zero to finally apprehend him. So, all in all, dude, great ideas. In theory but horrible if you actually expect them to be put to practice."

He looked to the pockmarked man, and down to the bag the guy was holding, recognizing it as Josh's stupid fucking lunch order, and moved to snatch it away from the over-sized man.

"Now, if you'll both excuse me, I have a lunch run to complete," he said, then promptly turned on his heel and walked away.