Cooking Lessons

"Of course it is," Ranna said, like bad food from her was a concept so incredulous. "What else would you expect?"

"Don't let her fool you," Trea said, showing up beside Aden. Nora hadn't noticed her come in. "When she first started cooking, she was terrible. I taught her everything she knows."

"Lies," Ranna countered, shooting Trea a disbelieving look. "All lies."

Irrational

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm acting so stupid," she laughed, embarrassed. "I'm not doing this. I told myself I wouldn't do this again, and here I am doing it again, and over a guy that I have no idea if he likes me -- he doesn't like me, I just know it."

"Nora, you're being irrational again," Ranna said, a small hint of amusement at the corner of her mouth.

Nora clutched her hair, then smoothed it out and sighed. "You're right. I'm getting all worked up about nothing. So he didn't come today. Big deal. It wasn't because of me. He didn't not come because of me. Am I right, Ranna?" Her eyes begged Ranna to tell her she was right. The coffeeshop doorbell clang as someone walked in.

"Why don't you turn around and ask him yourself?" Ranna asked with a lopsided grin.

Odd

"No I haven't seen him. And he hasn't walked by the shop either."
That was strange. Ranna had been able to hear what Aden thought about Nora.... He wouldn't just not show up for her.
Nora bit her lip. "Can I just have a cookie?"
Ranna raised her eyebrows then walked away silently, coming back with a cookie.
"I'm sure he'll be in tomorrow."

Anxious

Ranna was there, scratches and bruises all up her arms, a cut lip, and a bruising face.

"What happened to you?" Nora gasped. Ranna shrugged casually, as if this were the way she looked every day.

"I'm a little rusty. We had a situation in the South Pacific, and the guys need my help. Well, the guys and Trea."

"That still doesn't explain what happened to you."

Ranna looked at her like she was stupid. "Nora. Superhero, remember?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Hey, I haven't seen Aden all day. He hasn't come in while I was gone, has he?" Her fingers tapped anxiously on the countertop. She didn't notice. Ranna did.

My Best Friend's a Superhero

She dropped Nora's bagel-in-a-bag in front of her. "You're late, Nora. Better run."

Nora, in a way that Aden was starting to get accustomed to, ran out of the coffeeshop. He watched her until she was inside the building, away from his sight. His hand still tingled from touching hers.

xXx

The next day, Ranna wasn't there when Nora came in. Thorn had taken her place at the counter. 

"Hey, Thorn," she said. "How's Loki?" 

"As rambuctious as ever," he said with a sly grin. "Haven't been able to take her out in public for a month now."

"Where do you guys live?" Nora asked. She wouldn't be fit to go out in public, either, if she'd been kept in her tiny apartment for a month. 

"A cabin out in the woods," he said, not noticing her expression of horror."Loki runs around all the time up there. All my hard work at civilizing her gone to waste," he joked. 

"Wow, it must be amazing out there!"

"It is. Now, let's see, Ranna left a list of your regulars. Have a seat, and I'll get it right to you."

"Where is she, by the way?"

"I think she said something about a mission with some of her friends. Saving the world...something like that."

"Oh. I forget she's a superhero, sometimes," Nora said. "She'd better bring me back something cool."

Hurricane Trea

Aden's eye widened.
What?
"What!"
He got panicky.
"She wouldn't really poison me, would she?" He took Nora's hand over the table in his nervousness.

The bell rang as the door opened.
"Raaaanna!"
A smile caught on Ranna's face.
"Trea?" Ranna turned around.
Trea barreled into Ranna hugging her tightly.
"Hey, Ranna, I never asked if you would be my Maid of Honor! will you?"
"Of course." Ranna said pushing Trea off of her.
"Oh good!, I was thinking Red would be a good color for your dress, or orange... no red. Definently Red. Well, don't kill anyone today! Off to tell Topher! Love You Ranna!"

And then she was gone.
It was as if a whirlwind had swept through the store in the seconds Trea had been there.
Slowly, talking began again and then the coffee shop sounded just like normal.

Ranna brought Aden his hot chocolate.
She smirked as she read his thoughts and expression.
"You're lucky Trea came in."

Poisoned

"She's going to get you what you ordered last time. You should sent a mental shout-out if you want that changed," Nora advised him, then a smile crawled across her face. "And hello."

Nora knew when Aden had sent the shout-out. Ranna let out a sharp string of expletives, spinning around and looking first at Nora, who was giggling. Nora wouldn't giggle if she had done it, Ranna knew. She would be running, and it hadn't sounded like her voice, anyway. Which left Aden, because no one else was stupid enough to shout that loud at her in her head.

A sly smile curled up at the corners of her lips, reaching her eyes and making them squint.

"Uh-oh," Nora whispered, humor still in her voice.

"Uh-oh, what?" Aden asked, panic starting to accumulate in his throat. What had he done? Ranna was sure to kill him!

"You probably don't want to drink what she brings you," Nora said. "More likely than not, it's poisoned."

Excitment

Aden walked into the coffee shop feeling excited.
He wasn't used to this feeling.
He was normally just content.
He knew what was coming and what he was going to do about it.
But now... he had no idea. It was all new.
And Aden loved it!
The sight of Nora's face sent his heart pounding in his throat.
He sat down across from her at her table.
"Hello." He smiled.
Ranna gave him a glance then walked away, probably going to get his order.

Hero

"Do you ever think that you're in the wrong job, Ranna?" Nora asked glumly. "That there's something, anything, better out there for you?"

"Me? Personally? Yeah, I know for sure that there is. But I don't want it," Ranna said, cleaning mugs. "But in general? I don't know. Guess it depends on how willing you are to fight for it."

"What do you mean you could have something better?"

Ranna gave her a sly grin. "C'mon, what superpowered hero wants to be caught dead working at some place like this? No, they want all the glory. The kicking bad guys butts, saving the day, falling in love...well, I guess I like that part. But that's about it. Superhero life just isn't for me."

"What's the point of having powers if you don't use them to save people?"

"I do some freelance stuff. Some group missions with a couple of pals of mine from school. Warren and Trea and Topher, you remember them. But I've had enough of that life. I'm ready to take it easy."

"Why don't you want to be the hero, Ranna? Why don't you want the spotlight when you do amazing things?"

Ranna stopped drying her mug, setting it down on the counter. She looked past Nora, almost like she was watching her past behind Nora's curly hair.

"I used to want that. And it ended up hurting my friends, and killing me. I'm lucky I'm alive after that."

Nora looked down at her hot chocolate, her spoon making circles, mixing chocolate and whipped cream together. "You never did tell me that story."

"And it's a story for another time," Ranna said. "Your boy's here."

"Aden's not 'my boy'," Nora protested. "He's just a friend."

Ranna gave her a knowing smile. "Well, then, you'd better get a move on it, hadn't you?"

Busy Day

Ranna nodded and handed Nora a cup of hot chocolate.
"When does he leave?"
"Next week."
"At least you won't have to help for much longer, and the week is nearly over."

Aden spent the whole of his day thinking of Nora and moseying all over town filling some orders at his comfortable pace.
It was a relief for him to finally come up to the Coffee Shop and see the familiar faces in the window. He sighed as he opened the door and the smell of happiness wafted over him.
He came in and sat at the bar, looking around for Nora

Job Troubles

Nora was first to the coffeeshop. She sat at the bar, chin on her arms, watching Ranna work.

"What's wrong, sunshine?" Ranna asked as she came back around the counter.

"I don't wanna work today," she moaned. "Yesterday Gerard had me running all over the place on top of writing his new resume. He's quitting, you know."

"I didn't know that. Will you have to find a new job, too?"

"No. Enough other people want me to ensure that I keep my job. But still, y'know? He's making me do all the work for him leaving. He should just go if he's really quitting."

Bolting

"well... I guess... I'll have to see her again tomorrow then!" He said hesitantly at first but then much happier as he realized he would get to see her again!
Ranna nodded. "Yes yes, don't you have a job as well?"
"who me? Well yeah, but... oh, i should be collecting more items!" He gently placed the ppaers in his bag, downed his orange juice and grabbed his bagel.
"thanks, Ranna!"
He ran out the door.

Nora's Job

Ranna came back with his order. "No use. Once she goes into the building of doom, nothing from the outside world can come in to meet her. I've tried."

"You couldn't even get in? Even with your...powers?"

She looked at him like he was stupid. "Of course I could have gotten in with my powers. The point of them is to not use them unless I have to, though. So I didn't."

"What does she do there, anyway?"

"She's a secretary for a big business guru."

"Oh, so she runs errands and stuff?"

"More like she has underlings to run the errands. She writes up most of his documents. Memos and stuff."

"Is she a good writer?"

Another look. "The best."

Forgotten

Aden sighed.
"Just some Orange Juice, please."
Ranna walked away and Aden slumped in his chair.
He shot up again.
"Nora!" he called, knowing she was already gone.
He scooped up his drawings.
She had left them!

Late

"Good choice," nodded Nora, then saw her bagel on the table. "Oh, crap, I'm late! Have to go! Bye!" she called over her shoulder, running out the door.

Ranna watched her go, then looked back down at the pad of paper in her hands.

"Anything to drink?" she asked routinely.

Mumbler

Aden didn't know what he wanted. He didn't think he wanted anything.
He couldn't take his eyes off of Nora.
her cheeks flushed red and he couldn't help but smile.
"I'll just have a raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese." he murmured.

Surly Waitress

"She thinks you're fantastic, you think she's fantastic, can I take your order now?" Ranna sighed from behind them, dropping Nora's bag with bagel on the table.

"Look at this, Ranna! He even drew you!" Nora held the paper up, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.

Ranna looked down, searching for her face. It was drawn under a dark cloud, a surly expression on her face. Ranna suspected it was meant to be comical.

"Spectacular," she said dryly. "Order?"

Telepath

"Let go," she snapped, jerking her hand free.

"Nora, wait, please!"

"Why should I?" she asked angrily, blocking the door. He didn't answer quick enough, and she stormed out.

"Next time," Ranna said from behind him. "Don't be so quick to treat her like a ditz."

"But I didn't!"

"Yeah, you did. You didn't believe her. She's got enough of that coming from everyone else."

"Well, of course I didn't believe her! What she was telling me is impossible! There's no way you can read minds."

"If it's so impossible, why are you doubting that you're right?"

"I'm not."

"You're wondering if Nora was right. After all, this is an odd place. Anything could be possible. The sooner you accept the impossible here, the happier you'll be."

"What are you doing?"

"Reading your mind."

"Then what am I thinking now?"

"Mashed potatoes are better with...peanut butter? Ew."

"That's impossible. There's no way you could have known that."

She tapped her head. "Telepath, remember? Apologize to her tomorrow."

Doubts

She turned and headed towards her table. Aden was there, frowning at the napkin holder. She pulled out a chair.

"Hi."

He looked up quickly, the frown disappearing in what Nora thought should be nominated for Olympic-winning time.

"Oh, hi," he said, offering a smile. "I didn't see you."

"It's crowded today," she observed. "Hard to see the counter. I've been there a while."

"Oh, I see."

"I didn't see you here, either. Ranna's the one who told me you were here."

"She was?"

"Yup."

"Does it scare you when she does that?"

"Does what?"

"When she knows everything?"

"At first it was a little weird, but now I sorta depend on it. Telepathy is very useful in a friend, you know."

"Telepathy?"

"Yeah. Ranna's telepathic. And telekinetic. And she can control fire. She's pretty epic."

"You're...You've got to be joking."

"Why would I joke about something like that?"

"You can't be serious. That kind of stuff doesn't exist."

"The first thing you should know about this place, Aden, is that nothing is at it appears. And neither are you, I guess."

She got up and left the table, leaving the shop without her bagel.

Monday Morning

"He came here on Saturday, you know," Ranna said as she filled Nora's order. Nora looked surprised.

"He did?"

"No, I just made that up to mock you," Ranna said sarcastically.

"Well, what did he want?"

"To see you. Duh."

"Oh. Why would he want to do that?"

Ranna gave her an exasperated look.