ι נυѕт ωαηт тσ вє ησямαℓ αgαιη [¢яуѕтαℓ σηℓу]

[~echo~]

Calida gazed at him with a small smile before covering her eyes with one hand and pointing to something on the menu. It was a chicken salad sandwich. "That sounds yummy," she commented.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"See? Works every time." Jonathan chuckled quietly to himself and did the same, smiling at his choice.

[~echo~]

Calida smiled. The waitress came back and took their orders.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

(I think someone should come after them. Either ANEW agents or the Reverters (both of which hate mutants))

[~echo~]

(That sounds good. Would you want to start it?)

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

(Which group would you want? ANEW would have them facing humans and mutants, but they'd want to take them alive. The Reverter's goal would be to kill them)

[~echo~]

(ANEW sounds better to me )

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

(Okay)

Jonathan's smile disappeared in a flash and his eyes snapped toward the door. A second later, two people entered--a man and a woman. They didn't look at Jonathan and Calida, but Jonathan was still tense. "We have to go," he said quietly.

[~echo~]

Calida watched them with mild interest. "How come?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"ANEW is here," Jonathan whispered. "We're going out the back." He stood up, plastering an easy smile on his face, as if they were simply getting up, maybe to use the restroom. He started back toward the restroom sign, keeping up the illusion.

[~echo~]

Calida narrowed her eyes and followed him, keeping her face neutral.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

A second later, the two at the counter noticed them. Jonathan picked up his pace, grabbing her arm and dragging her forward. They darted out the back door, ignoring the surprised looks from employees.

[~echo~]

"Hey-!" she protested but ran after him. When they were outside, she exclaimed, "We could have stood and fought! I can turn myself on fire, you know!"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"You don't want to fight them," Jonathan said. Before she could respond, he pushed off the alley cement and they shot into the sky, unhindered by gravity.

[~echo~]

This time, she managed to bite back a scream as they flew upwards. However, she let out a short stream of curses under her breath bevause she was relatively afraid of heights.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

They touched down on a rooftop at the edge of the city. Their toes brushed the building lightly and then they settled down as Jonathan gradually returned their gravity to normal.

[~echo~]

She breathed hard, sitting on the roof and hugging her knees to her chest. "I'll never be used to you doing that."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Sorry," Jonathan said, and he sounded like he meant it. "I had to get us out of there quickly."

[~echo~]

She felt her breathing slow down. "So, what is ANEW?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

An organization formed by humans who want to 'contain' the mutant 'problem,'" Jonathan said bitterly. "Over the years, they've coerced some of our kind into joining them. They hunt down others and either kill or imprison them. They're dangerous and impervious to reason."