Sweaters and Summer (Anyone)

Snow weaved her way through the crowded parking lot. Many people milled about, everyone talking in their own conversations. Cars were constantly pulling in and out of parking spaces, and there was a bit of traffic for the exits and entrances to the parking lot. The smell of car exhaust hung heavily in the air, mixing with the smell of an approaching ocean storm. Snow glanced up at the blue sky. Sure, it seemed clear now, but the horizon was black with storm clouds. Snow could tell the city was in for a bloody storm later on.

Lost in thought, she didn't paying attention to where she was going, and subconsciously switched over to the right side of the road. A loud car horn pulled her out of her thought and she quickly jumped over to the side of the road. "Bloody right sided lanes," She muttered, once again crossing the road, this time to get to the left side. She'd only been in America for a few days, and everything was still completely new to her, especially the driving on the right side of the road. America is very, very different. She thought. Still, she couldn't complain much, as different and alien, no pun intended, was exactly what she had been looking for. Anything in Europe still would have been too much the same.

She shook her head to clear the thoughts of the past, and turned to walk into the mall. She was there to buy clothes and supplies. She didn't have to worry about money, as on the first day in America she had pawned some jewels for the American currency, about five thousand green paper things they called "cash". She'd been told how to use it, and had started to get the hang of things. Now it was time for the real test; buying clothes.

Upon entering the mall she was overwhelmed by the seemingly endless stores. Of course, London had been extremely crowded and busy, but she had gotten used to the quiet and small town areas of Scotland and Ireland she had lived in. Snow took a deep breath, and began walking down the main walkway, scanning into the stores and waiting to find something that caught her eyes.

Sadly, she couldn't find any stores that had long sleeved shirts. Everything they had was short sleeved or no sleeves, as it was still the end of summer. Surely somewhere has to have long sleeved shirts! She thought. She searched around for another half hour, but still came up empty handed.

Frustrated and defeated, Snow sat down on a bench near a potted and fake plant, ready to cry.

The mall was usually packed. Always filled with people young and old with wallets burning holes in their pockets, looking for something to spend their hard (or not so hard) earned cash on. Be it the latest fashion or newest electronic toy that everyone had, everyone was here to spend spend spend.

All except for Cook. Having no job and no actual living quarters to call his own, he was technically a homeless bum. It wasn't always like this however. He was sharing an apartment with Lisa, who was a server at the same restaurant he was employed at. However she sent him packing after she discovered he was spending time with a few of the other servers on the side. And the hostess.

Neeedless to say that she sent him packing and HR fired him, so he spent his time now roaming the mall oogling at the beautiful women that graced the mall and looking for a quick source of legal tender.

During his patrolling his eyes befell a lady who's beauty seemed to call out him. Her pale skin and silvery hair immediately grabbed his attention. She had a distraught look about her, her body language told the tell-tale signs of someone in need of a shoulder to cry on. And Cook wanted to be that shoulder.

He sat himself down next to her a few moments after she did, turned his head and beamed a joyous smile towards her. "You know.. you're much too pretty to be looking so glum, chum."

Grace had received a few strange looks from people. She was, after all, wearing a black cloak and carrying a sword on her hip. The hood covered her face and long black hair, and her icy blue eyes seemed to shine out from the darkness. Still, in Jump City, people were used to seeing stranger things, so they tried to ignore her.

There was a girl looking like she was about to cry and a man sitting next to her. Grace stopped in front of them. "Is he troubling you?"

Snow felt the presence of another person on the bench, but paid no attention to them until a voice called out.

"You know.. you're much too pretty to be looking so glum, chum."

Snow turned around abruptly, and saw a young man, a little older than herself, sitting next to her and smiling broadly. She smiled a little hesitantly, not really sure what was going on. Was that how all Americans greeted each other? She was confused.

"Thank you?" she asked, her British accent thick. "Um, I am Ei---Snow, I am Snow," she said, and silently reprimanded herself for almost saying the name she had been trying to forget. As always, with her breath came a puff of cloudy air as the temperatures within a foot or so radius about her were around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). She shivered a bit, her sweater in dire need of replacement, which brought her back to the whole reason she was there in the shopping centre with this guy.

However, soon a new voice entered in.

"Is he troubling you?"

The woman who spoke was dressed in a long black cloak with a sabre strapped to her side. Her bright blue eyes seemed to pop out of the hood, which although may be discerning to some, wasn't very odd to Snow.

Snow had no idea how to respond to that. Was he bothering her? She didn't know. She had no idea how anything in America working socially. Not that she really knew how it worked in Europe either, but it was more confusing here. Trying to stick with what she knew, Snow answered as best she could.

"I do not...think so," Snow said, looking at both of them, "I'm just trying to find warm clothes." she added, hoping that it would lead to some directions on where to go.

Snow.

Snow.

His smile faded and he narrowed his eyes at her. He began rubbing the short hairs on his chin and slowly nodded his head, looking as if he was a sommelier tasting fine wine. Her name kept whipping around in his skull until it finally sunk into the gray matter he called a brain. His eyes widened and his smile returned twofold, wider than before if it was even possible.

Just from those few words he learned so much about her, but it was no skill because they were painfully obvious the most untrained of observers could have noticed. Her accent was as heavy and thick as the cold air she puffed out. A Brit meta huh? I swear this city attracts us like flies to honey... he thought to himself.

But her being a meta-human from across the pond was icing on the cake for Cook, he loved foreign chicks."Nice to meet ya sweetie, Name's Cook.' He extended his hand out for a handshake.

a harsh voice made his way to his ears... a harsh tone insinuating he had caused this pretty young thing harm? He wasn't capable of such things. Unless they were into that. After a brief inspection it was clear to him the owner of new voice wasn't a mall cop but some odd girl with a kimono. He hoped she was just some overzealous cosplayer and not one of the various overzealous meta-vigilantes that seemed to be everywhere in the city.

"Me? He pointed to himself with innocence. He had to get away from this katana chick quick, before she messed up his chances. And Snow, as if on cue provided him with a by. "Yeah, warm clothes, I was just tellin' her all the best places to get some threads at. You know Ol' Man Winter's just around the corner."

Grace threw back her hood, revealing her long, black hair, which shrouded her shoulders and fell to her hips. "Well then, I'm sure we're going to the same place. So, where are we going?" Grace looked at the man, amused.

This girl had gained Grace's interest. She had seen the cold puffs of cloudy air. Combined with her appearance, Grace was willing to bet she was an ice mage. Having such a power made Grace feel close to this girl, even though they had never met before.

"And we'd better hurry. Old Man Winter is a harsh master."

The guy's smile faded and he looked at her, rubbing his chin. Snow felt a moment of panic. Had she said something wrong? Was that not how people greeted others in America? Was he confused or suspicious of her name slip-up? However, it was only a mere moment later that the guy's smile returned, this time seeming twice as wide.

He seemed to think about something for a moment, and Snow felt self conscious and a little afraid. She knew that with one look anyone could tell she was different. If they stared a little bit longer, they could see the puff of air every time she exhaled. And if they watched for a while, they would know she was obviously not from America. Her eyes flickered downwards, and she wondered if he could tell she wasn't from there. There, being Earth.

"Nice to meet ya sweetie, Name's Cook." He said, holding out his hand. Snow let out a mental sigh of relief. He seemed not to be bothered by it. Snow hesitantly held out her gloved hand, knowing that the second he touched her, he would be able to feel the cold radiating off of her skin and through her glove. It was the reason why she avoided contact with people at all costs.

Cook had heard the woman and turned to her.

"Me?" Cook asked, pointing to himself. "Yeah, warm clothes, I was just tellin' her all the best places to get some threads at. You know Ol' Man Winter's just around the corner."

Snow was confused. There was an 'Ol' Man Winter's' clothes shop around the corner? She scanned the area quickly, but she could see no such thing. What was Cook talking about?

At Cook's words, the woman threw back her hood to reveal long black hair that fell to her hips. "Well then, I'm sure we're going to the same place. So, where are we going?" The woman asked, a smirk on her lips. The woman seemed nice; probably one of the nicest people Snow had met since coming to America. She almost reminded Snow of Ariantan...

"And we'd better hurry. Old Man Winter is a harsh master." the woman added, leaving Snow still confused. Who was this Old Man Winter they kept talking about?

"I thought that I had been through here, but I didn't see any Ol' Man Winter shop," Snow said, her confusion coming through her voice.

Cook was about to make a snide remark to the crazy katana lady (You had to be crazy to carry a katana around a mall after all.) until she pulled down her hood. But to Cook it was more like she were a bride being unveiling her beauty for her groom to behold. Suddenly he forgot about any plot he had to rid himself of what was once a nuisance. Now he wanted to get closer to her, so much closer.

"How rude of me. he shook his head almost in disgust over his un-genleman like behavior. He rose to his feet and gave Grace a small bow of his head.

"My name's Cook, name and profession. And this..." He pointed back towards Snow. "Is my new best friend Snow. She's not from around town So I have taken it upon myself to help this poor, young, beautiful chick here become accustomed to good ol' Jump City. after his mini speech was over he moved back to Snow and petted her lightly on the shoulder to try and ease her confusion. "Ol' Man Winter's not a shop, it's an expression. Except for THE Ol' Man Winter the wrestler. He's real. And he's got bad halitosis. "

Noticing he was begining to ramble, he stopping petting Snow's shoulder and smiled at the two pale ladies and rubbed his hands together. " So how's about we go shopping?" The things he would do for a date...

OOC: I'll post soon. Sorry, I've been busy with work.

OOC: Sorry about the wait.

BIC: Grace smirked at the man, amused. Then she looked at the woman. "Your name is Snow? I'm assuming that you have ice powers, then. It's not that hard to figure out. Don't be concerned, I'm a friend. You don't seem to be from around here, and believe me, I know how you feel. My name is Grace Dore, and when I first came to Jump City, I was just a lost ice mage. If you want, I can help you find friends to keep you safe."

She looked at Cook. "But first, I need to buy some nice warm clothes."

Snow watched the conversation unfold between Cook and the woman. She heard him mention about his profession, and gathered that he was a cook. She was confused when he mentioned her being his best friend. Did people in America call people they just met 'best friends'? When Cook came over and patted her on the shoulder, she jumped and drew away. Her sweater was thin and worn, and she knew that his hand would be blue with cold in a few moments if he continued to pat her shoulder. It would be like patting well, like patting a block of snow with a bare hand.

"Ol' Man Winter's not a shop, it's an expression. Except for THE Ol' Man Winter the wrestler. He's real. And he's got bad halitosis. " Cook explained. Snow was still confused, but she was glad he had at least tried to explain.

"Your name is Snow? I'm assuming that you have ice powers, then. It's not that hard to figure out. Don't be concerned, I'm a friend. You don't seem to be from around here, and believe me, I know how you feel. My name is Grace Dore, and when I first came to Jump City, I was just a lost ice mage. If you want, I can help you find friends to keep you safe." The woman, Grace, said.

Upon Grace guessing that Snow had powers, panic took over. However, her fears were calmed when Grace reassured her that she was a friend who seemed to have similar powers. I bet they aren't like mine though. Snow thought, thinking that there was no one like her; how could there be? She was an alien.

"Well...yes, I do have 'ice powers', if you would want to call them that," Snow said,

Grace then looked at Cook. "But first, I need to buy some nice warm clothes."

"Yes, warm clothes. You know where to find them? I have money to pay for some," Snow said eagerly, shoving her hand into her pocket and bringing out a wad of about $1,000 cash.