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Colin and Sarah caught a matinee of the movie, and Colin suggested they have lunch afterward.

The Minou Cafe and Bakery had some of the best pastries in all of Illinios, and they also had outdoor tables and a lunch menu that was impressive.  Colin suggested an outdoor table to take advantage of the last of the nice weather.  The two got their food and proceeded to chat.

Colin is in a very good mood. He loves the movie, laughs loudly at Fred and George's war against Umbridge, and nearly sheds a tear for Sirius Black's demise. He hopes and prays his da... his lunch with Sarah to be totally different from Harry and Cho's one.

There's sun outside, and a lovely breeze. It could a day perfect for biking, but the subject never even crosses his mind.

"Sarah, everything is on me today. The Tribune gave me a hundred bucks for the picture of the water man. So... "
Panic. A topic, an interesting topic for conversation in room two! Now!
"What did your mom say about the party? You haven't told me much of your family. Have you any siblings? Pets? House-elves?" he tries with a shy smile.

They only gave him a hundred bucks for an exclusive photo???  Shut up brain he's being really nice.

"That's really nice of you Colin.  I mean the movie was more than enough, honest... but I appreciate it.  I'll uh... buy you a drink of punch at the party or something?"  She shrugs and smiles a little.  Sarah was wearing mostly her usual style of clothing this fine Saturday afternoon.  zipup sweatshirt, logo tshirt of some dark color and in deference to the weather and the occasion a dark blue plaid skirt.  She even pulled her shoulderlength red hair away from her face and back in a ponytail.  Turns out she has a neck.  Go figure.   

"The party?  Well I told them Dave was going to be there and probably Greg and maybe even Rob and so I think they basically assumed that it was going to involve punch and continual star trek or gaming references.  I didn't try and change their minds on that.  Dave and Greg are like older brothers and my parents long ago got used to the fact that my best friends have been boys.  Rob is like.. well Rob is Rob and I don't think my parents ever worried about him.  Good thing they haven't seen him in the last week.  We never got to talk about that did we?"  She thinks about that for a second. 

"Let me answer about my family before I forget though or you'll think I was trying to ditch the question which I'm not, I just get focussed on stuff and totally forget that other people want to know stuff to."  Takes a deep breath, "So...  My mom's name is Diane and my dad's name is Robert.  Mom teaches rich kids west of here and Dad does something with math for an insurance company in Chicago so I honestly have no idea what he does.  I've got one little brother, though he's not little any more.  Mart.  Well I call him Mart.  His full name is Martin but only Mom and Dad call him that when he's in trouble.  Mostly its Mart because thats about all you have time to say before he's disappeared or crashed into something.  What else?" 

She thinks for another minute,  "No pets.  I'm just as happy visiting other peoples pets.  I would so not want to clean up after them.  I have a really successful Animal Crossing farm?  Does that count?"

As they're chatting a man comes up and sits down at their table.  He's dark skinned and muscular.  His eys match his skin, dark, yet they have a shine to them that makes you think he's smiling even when he isn't.  He's dressed in a t-shirt and beat up denim jacket, faded but still blue.  His jeans show the same wear, as do his cowboy boots.  The staw cowboy hat on his head has seen a lot of miles, and you get the impression he's worked hard to train it to sit just right.

"Hey."  He says simply.  "You two mind if I share some space with you, I'm just waiting for a phone call."

Colin listens to her very attentively, all the while looking in her eyes. It takes him a moment to figure out what she means with an "Animal Crossing farm" but when he does he chuckles.
"Well, then you're more skilled than me. I have two cats. Well they're really Mrs. Walters' cats, but we sort of adopted them. But I should go in order. My mom's name is Alexandra, but everyone calls her Alex. She teaches too, american history at a universe in the city. I've got her eyes and her talent for drawing.
My dad's name was Jonathan, and I'll tell you because everyone sooner or later has to ask, he was not a Crow, he was an Oglala Sioux. Which is Crazy Horse's tribe, though daddy always called him with his indian name, Tashunka Witko. He was a Chief Petty Officer in the navy, and his job was... well he was a fireman and a paramedic. He even got a medal of honor because he risked his life to rescue four men trapped inside a sinking ship. He died in an accident when I was five, and left me his nose, his skin and his glasses.
That would be all of my family, but fortunately we got Mrs. Walters too. She's our landlady, she lives on the floor below us, and she pretty much adopted us. She's got a huge family, that nearly every sunday meets for lunch at her house, I think because they're quite scared of her. She's the grumpiest and sweetest old lady in the world.
And.. there's Chris. You've seen him. Detective Christopher O'Brian, Chicago PD. He's cool..."

He's interrupted by the man that sits at they're table. This never happened to him. He takes a look around to see if really there's no other place for him to sit down.
Why? Things were going wonderfully.

"Ehm... we kind of mind..."

The man looks at Colin as he gives his answer to the interruption.  The smile that crosses the stranger's face make a dramatic change in his looks.  He looks at Sarah, then back at Colin.  "You'll have time."  Just then the man's phone rings, and he takes it from his jacket pocket, "Hello."   He listens for a moment, then nods.  "Well, that would be nice, but I'm kind of in a rush, how about now?"  He listens again, "Hold on."  he hands the phone to Colin, "It's for you."

"What the...?!"

This is absurd. It must be a joke or something. That or he's a loony. Let's play along and see if he'll go away.

Colin takes the phone with a condescending smile.

"Hello?"

"Colin?"  Colin's mother's voice from the phone only added to the suprise.  "Honey, I thought you were at the movies?"

The stranger looks over at Sarah, shaking her hand, "Hi.  I'm Bobby."

"Mom?!!! We-We just came out and went to lunch. Who is this... Bobby? You sent him here?"

"He's."  Colin hears her sigh, and hears Chris in the background asking if anything is wrong.  "He's supposed to be able to help you, with your gifs.  He came to see me, well, I was calling around looking for someone that might be able to help and he just showed up at my office.  He told me to check him out with a policeman that Chris knows, and I was calling him to say that I had done that and we should sit down with him, but I guess he's already doing that."  Colin can hear the confusion in his mother's tone.  "If it maes you uncomfortable, we can come get you.  You don't have to talk to him alone honey."

"Oh. I see. Well, thanks, mom, but the timing is really, REALLY wrong. Can't we do this tomorrow?" he pleads with both his mom and Bobby, but he's looking at Sarah, his eyes full of apologies.

"Give him back the phone honey."  Colin's mother says.  Once Bobby has the phone he listens to Colin's mother, who seems to be yelling.  He nods a few times, his smile never leaving his face.

"I understand ma'am.  You're absolutely right, but should and need are slightly different.  Don't sweat it, I'll wait to hear back from you then."  He hangs up the phone and looks at Colin.  "I said you'd have time.  Patience is something you'll have to work on I'm guessing."  Bobby gets up, touches the brim of his hat toward Sarah, "Young lady."  and then walks off.

Patience?!! He breaks into my life like this and I gotta have patience?!!!!

"Hey! Bobby!" he shouts as gets up, throwing his napkin on the table.

He rushes after this man of mystery.

"Why? Tell me -why- it's supposed to be -now-, and not later today or tomorrow? What's so important that can't wait? I'd really like to know."

Bobby looks down at Colin, that smile coming back to his lips.  "You aren't the only person in the universe.  You think I want to be twenty-five hundred miles from my wife and kids?  You go back to what you were doing, and keep something in mind.  You are an instrument of forces you will never fully undersand, and will never control.  This little interruption, this was nothing.  I'll see you around Colin."

Everything he wanted to say, his rage too, dies in Colin's throat, swept away by a huge cold wave of fear.

You are an instrument of forces you will never fully understand, and will never control.

What? What's that supposed to mean? What the hell is happening to me? What the hell are these forces? How can he say that to me and smile?

He remains as paralyzed for a moment, and when he comes back to his senses Bobby is gone. So he looks at his hands, as he did after zapping Seth.

What the hell is wrong with me?!!

He goes back at the table, and falls on his chair. He looks broken, and he doesn't quite look in Sarah's eyes anymore.

"I don't even know where to begin to tell you how sorry I am. This... wasn't supposed to happen. I... I am sorry."

Sarah's been sitting quietly through this bizarre conversation.  Staring open mouthed when she realized that this stranger knew Colin's mom... and knew it was her calling on the phone.  Did he glance at caller id?  I didn't think so.  Was that the help the Colin's mom was looking for? 

She smiles warmly at Colin, "Don't worry about it... I think finding out about yourself is a little more important than learning the names of my Animal Crossing critters."  She looks at him sideways. "Or should I be fuming that we were so rudly interrupted?  Nah.  Just not in me.  The more you know, the better you'll feel.  Well, maybe.  At least you'll know more and that's probably a good thing."

Colin finds the way to Sarah's eyes again.
"But it is important. At least to me. Being here with you, learning about the things you love, is really important to me. I don't understand, how can he come here and tell me "You'll have time" like that? I-"

He stops, as something begins to sink in. He shakes his head, and quickly wipes away a tear.

"I'm an idiot. I'm a bloody idiot. That's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to learn about this thing so I could help people, so I wouldn't have to stay and watch people die like I did with Rory, and guess what? If you learn how to help people, then you have to help people. Like a fireman. When they call you, you have to go."

Colin smiles. It's a bitter smile, but it's a smile. His hand slides across the table, looking for Sarah's hand, to feel her, to hold her.

"It just came back to me. My father got back from some sort of mission, and he was terribly tired, he looked awful, yet he insisted to bring us to the zoo like he promised, and when we came back he wanted me to show him I had gotten better at reading, and he fell asleep as I stammered through some fairy tale. The Ugly Duckling. Well my mom asked him why he did that, and he said that he had no time to sleep, because every minute with us was the most important thing in his life.  He got little time with us, so every minute had to matter. He died a couple of months later. I had forgotten about that."

This time the tears are two, but he wipes them away before they can fall.

"Gosh, I feel like I did nothing but cry this week. You see how wonderful you are? You just say a word and you put my life back on track. Now, what do you want to do with the rest of this very important time?"

Finally a shy, but genuine, smile.

Sarah gives Colin's hand a squeeze along with a another smile.  "Thanks.. but I'm not wonderful.  Dave and Greg will attest to that.  I beat them all regularly with whatever objects are close to hand when they act like fools... or just generally annoy me.  I tell people what I think for good or bad.  I laugh at stupid stuff and I even ignore people when I get lost in something like a book or my own thoughts.  I'm totally self absorbed... did you notice how many times I just said I?  I I I I...so you'd be better of saying I'm an idiot."

She looks at Colin more seriously, "It's amazing to me how much you care for people, even the ones you've just met.  You leaped in to help all those people at the lab.  You run around school trying to help people.  You try and find Kirby's deathray to keep people safe.  It's pretty amazing."

She takes a drink of water from the table, "As for what we should do...well, we've got to eat and you have to tell me about what's up with Rob and what you think is really going on around here.  For a start.  I'm sure we'll figure something else to talk about along the way." 

Colin cocks an eyebrow at her.
"Uh-uh. Totally self absorbed. You know, in the labs, there was a lot of smoke, so when I was lying on my butt after jumping down, it was surely another girl I saw soaring over me and making a perfect landing. And at the Tasty Dog, when Bruce got sick, there were plenty of girls around but you. Oh-oh I have another one: I try and find Kirby's deathray, and guess who is already there? Not you surely. But I don't care. I could go on and on listing every reason why I think you're wonderful, I haven't even mentioned your looks yet after all, but you'd still try and sell yourself short, so let's not do that. You are wonderful to me. That won't change."

"Uh, Rob. Well Sylvia tried to talk to him, and he had not one but two girls swooning all over him. They talked a bit and for a moment, Sylvia totally thought he was Brad Pitt or something like that, like... instant attraction. Then she snapped out of it and he was... well... Rob again. She thinks that he may really have some powers, and that those girls weren't in it on their own will. Also she wondered if he has anything to do with what happened to the cheerleader and that other boy, a sort of Cupid effect. At the paper they asked me if I can go shake his hand or something and see if I catch any vibe from it. Rob's your friend, would you be okay with that?"

"If... nothing happens, and I don't have to be elsewhere, can I... take you to the party? I mean, I'll still have to ask Dave to pick us up, because Chris is probably taking out my mom, they have to talk,  but... you know..."

"If Rob is being an idiot you have my permission to do whatever you want.  I can't believe that he would take advantage of people like that.  If he's developed a power then maybe he just believes he is suddenly Don Juan.  He can be a little dellusional and he's certainly been hormonally fixated lately.  Maybe this power is leaking out without his intention?  I'm saying that because he's my friend and I totally want that to be the case because I don't want to think that anyone I've known for so long could do something awful.  But if he's just being a weasel...  I don't know. "  She sighs at that thought. 

"You, via the Dave express, can definitely take me to the party.  I don't think I'm going to change unless I spill something over my clothes.  Do you think everyone is going to dress up?"

"Well, that was only Sylvia's impression after all. It may be nothing. And it's not like the handshake of doom is that reliable. Just... be careful around him, OK? I wouldn't want... you know..."

"About the dressing code... well it's Lisa Janusch' party. I thought people were somewhat expected to dress up. I am planning something that will sweep you off your feet." he says with a smirk.



___________________________________________________


Later that day...

Colin had been looking into the drugstore for five minutes now. He was sure the woman at the counter noticed him already. He took a deep breath, gathered all his courage and went in.
"Good afternoon, son, how may I help you?"
"G-good afternoon. I was looking for a box of these." he pointed to a rack on the counter.
The woman looked at the boxes, then back at Colin.
"You know how to use them, right?"
"I-I think I do, thanks."
This was feeling really awkward.
"Oh, well. Pick the ones that are right for you. Just be careful and you'll have fun. They work very well for me." she said with a smile and a wink.
"Uh, thanks."

((OOC: Safe to archive this and assume you guys have arrived at the party?))

"The thought of falling for Rob is a little disturbing... really only because I've known him a long time.  I mean, he's a pretty nice guy usually.  I wonder if Rob feels the same way and that's why he's been avoiding our table?  I better give him space.  As for the party... you're dressing up?  Well then I suppose everyone is going to.  Man.. I'll have to go diving in my closet for a while."  Sarah sighs dramatically and puts her hand across her forehead. 

"Hey, you don't have to dress up to be lovely." Colin takes a chance and caresses, ever so lightly, her chin.
"Of course, you could take that as a challenge and show me how really lovely you can be, and find out how much I can make a fool of myself for you." he smiles, his imagination going wild.


OOC:  green light to archiving. I'm going to post in the party thread how I arrive to the Rollins' Manor.