[Social] Nothing Says Lovin'...

[Will Stanton]

Will Stanton needed to keep busy.

This, in and of itself, was nothing new. An inactive Stanton was an unhealthy Stanton, and even when 'normal', Will had been all over the place. A ball of energy, barely restrained, always getting into trouble. If something wasn't afoot, then something was wrong.

Now, in a new world as a gestalt consciousness, that in and of itself had multiplied -- a theoretically infinite number of Wills needing a theoretically infinite number of activities to keep themselves occupied. And so, Will had found ways to keep themselves busy. Working for ASHLIE as an administrative assistant, hooked up to the campus network, was fascinating, and the Wills in the mirror eagerly awaited their regular reports on what that was like. Another was a regular in the training room, working with the X-Teams and demonstrating various techniques they had picked up in literal decades of experience as a person (the millennia of experience as a rock, somewhat less useful. Fifty years as a couch was more of a toss-up.) A Will had gone to Wales to break into the BBC; several Wills had been drafted into work setting up the Mutant Town interdimensional portal thing, and the rumours about Will and Miriam were widespread and libelous. And that was just for the mobile, talking, interactive ones! The log-sheet Will dutifully carried out, establishing how many Wills were out and about at any given time, was lengthy indeed, with some Wills being gone for weeks -- months, even -- before returning with news from afar, and experiences to share with the group. It was, truly, a tremendous opportunity for the man with the never-stopping brain.

And still it wasn't enough. And that's why he was here, in Mutant Town, looking up at a new sign which read Kneadful Creations. As part of the outreach towards the local Mutant community, Will had setup a bakery, conveniently located near the portal to the university proper. The smell of fresh-baked bread and freshly-brewed coffee already spreading over the town. Straightening his apron and brushing some crumbs off of one of the tables, Will worked his way back towards the counter. The true dream of any billion-year-old questionably-human lump of sentient clay -- a service-industry job small business.

((open))

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah is fresh off of her own out-reach program. That is to say, she spend her night gliding silently across the rooftops of Mutant Town on the search for the shadier side of things. She hasn't made a dent in the more ingrained, organized parts of the criminal underbelly but she sure has a knack for being a pain in their butt by showing up to disrupt their bigger dealings and getting their mooks arrested. She liked to think they saw her white and gold costume and spread out wings and called her something cool and cheesy with hushed breaths, like Sphinx, Bird of Prey or something. In reality they mostly called her 'that winged bitch' and had a small bounty on putting her out of commission. She, however, is blissfully unaware of this and has started not bothering to try and hide her identity. It's ultimately pointless anyway considering her very identifiable mutation and while her choice of colors can be rightfully called a little full of herself, at least she's ditched the golden tiara and is backing up her whole vibe with results and a clear willingness to get her hands dirty.

So she's in full getup when she's lured to the doorstep of Kneadful Creations by the smell of freshly baked goods early in the morning. She lands gracefully on the sidewalk and lets out a small chuckle at the name as she strolls inside.

[Will Stanton]

"Morning, morning! Up early, I see," Will smiled. "Or perhaps a bit of a night owl, judging from the looks of things."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Crime never sleeps." she nods, followed by a big yawn she tries to hide behind her hand. "I didn't know you were this big into baking and stuff. How long have you been working on this place? It looks great."

[Will Stanton]

"Crime quite frequently sleeps, though that typically means they're not actively criming," Will laughed.

"Oh, me? I've been into baking for...well, a long time, let's say. Little bit of a passion of mine -- I know most people associate me with sweetness, but savory works too. It's just not something I often have time for, but, well, I'm mostly made of time now. So why not? Something new and interesting to take a crack at."

"Been setting this up for...oh, a month or so now. Had to get the permits and the support from the university, but I've fortunately got an in with the guy Ashlie brought on to handle that sort of thing," he joked.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Convenient." she chuckles. "Can you get me a frappucino and... whatever you'd recommend for a good breakfast snack?"

[Will Stanton]

"Well, that depends," Will said, walking over to the coffee machine and pulling some into a blender. "Are you looking to be up more, and need something to shoot your blood sugar up? Something filling to regain the calories you burned with your exercise? Or something light so you can sleep things off?"

He walked over to a small pot on the back counter, and ladled in some fresh caramel sauce, making a show of watching it dripping from the spoon before stirring it in with the coffee. "Because we've got something for you whatever you need, believe you me. I always went straight for the sugar, but, well, I've got a sweet tooth."

[Nailah Weaver]

"I mean, seems too late to get the proper amount of sleep in so might as well push through, yeah? So fill me up with sugar." she grins.

[Will Stanton]

Will nodded, shoveling some ice into the blender and setting it to frappe the Frappuccino.

"Well, how about a nice warm cinnamon bun, then? I tell you, it's a favorite of the science nerds; they're trying to figure out just how I fit that much sweetness in such a limited surface area," he joked, taking a piece of wax paper and pulling out an overly-large cinnamon roll, practically dripping with frosting. He gingerly tucked it into a wrapper, and slid it over to Nailah.

"Kind of thing I wouldn't give to my daughter, or she'd be bouncing off the walls. Literally," he joked, flashing a grin. CustomerServiceWill activate!

[Nailah Weaver]

"You had that whole spiel at the ready, didn't you?" she asks, taking the bun and taking a generous bite out of it that leaves frosting stuck to her nose, prompting her to wipe at it with the back of her hand while she chews. "Iff goo 'ough!" she says, giving Will a thumbs-up.

[Will Stanton]

"A good sales pitch is important," Will grinned, finishing blending the frapp and sliding it across the counter towards Nailah. "I mean, not as important as the food being good, but you gotta get people hooked and coming back somehow. Napkins on the counter."

"Fighting the good fight working out alright for you, then?"

[Nailah Weaver]

"It's... yeah." she says after swallowing down a mouthful of sugar and cinnamon. "Sometimes it feels like it's barely doing anything and a lot of people are kind of giving me the stink-eye but it's something to do, yeah? I mean I guess I could go home for the Summer, but I don't really know what to say to them..." she says, trailing off. She'd been pushing herself, probably too much, but it helped to fill the time. If she sat still for too long she seemed to feel fuzzy around the edges, restless like her muscles wanted to move. Like if she slowed down the image of her parents in the hospital would catch up to her and start yelling about how they told her nothing good would come from going out there.

[Will Stanton]

Will nodded, listening, letting Nailah get it off her chest.

"Couple pieces of advice from someone who's been around the block a few times. You gotta know your limits and when to take a break every now and again. But also, at the end of the day, you only have to answer to yourself, y'know? You have to do what makes you feel good in here," he said, patting his gut. "Because at the end of the day, you're the only one you've gotta come home to, y'know? As long as you feel like you're making a difference, then you're making a difference, right?"

[Nailah Weaver]

"Right! Yeah. I mean... it'd be cool to get a thanks. You know, occasionally. And I know, I read the community service brief thingie the head-mistress send out and how we should expect people to be dubious and all. But still." she huffs a little. "Well, at least I got cinnabuns and coffee to keep me going, right?" she adds. "How much do I owe you?"

[Will Stanton]

"Eh, dubious is part of the name of the game. It comes and goes and ebbs and flows -- and it's always seemed a little harsher in this neck of the woods than it did back home -- but, you know, it happens. That's why we got to stick together; even in the down times, we've got each other.

You aren't going out there only alone, are you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Sometimes Haley tags along, especially now that we got the portal but yeah, I do." she says with a shrug. "It's not exactly super-villain territory here." she says as if she hasn't taken her fair share of licks from 'regular' mutant crooks.

"Besides, I'm getting pretty good!" she says and pulls out a ten pound note and some coins from her pocket. She folds the note in half and for a moment her hand looks like she has a tremor of some sort as she pushes with her power and tries to find the right 'groove'. Then she flicks the folded note into the air, letting the coin dance over her fingers to flip it through the air in a rapid spin that arcs right into the crease of the falling pound note, bringing both down onto the counter with the coin perfectly sitting on it's edge on top of the 10 pounds.

[Will Stanton]

Will whistled, watching Nailah's display.

"Wow; impressive! ... Your suit has pockets!"

He grinned, picking up the coin, and sliding the note back to Nailah. "We'll call it here for today; first time special. But in return, you've gotta listen to one more piece of advice. Don't go out alone too much. Not for safety reasons; no; you can handle yourself, I can tell. But just for the morale stuff; it can get depressing when people don't give you the flowers you deserve. Haley's good people. And when she's not available, I'm sure you can find a can of pepper spray or something in the armory that wouldn't mind being taken for a spin; those Stanton-brand products can be fairly good to talk to," he smiled.

"Or, at least, you could stop by the bakery when you need a snack."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Har har, very funny." she chuckles as she pockets the money again. "But thanks, maybe I will. Cheer-squad in a can, huh?"

[Will Stanton]

"Most convenient place to have one, I find, though alternative are always available," Will smiled.

"Just remember to take care of you first, ey? I've never been much for seeing Nailahs struggling."

[Nailah Weaver]

"That will never not be weird. There's a whole other me out there being all mystical and spooky? What's up with that." she shakes her head.

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, it will really cook your head when you realize there's probably an infinite number of yous out there being all mystical and spooky.

Life's too short to worry about that. Eat more cinnamon rolls."

[Nailah Weaver]

"You might be on to something there." she nods and takes another bite of cinnabun while grabbing the frappuccino with her other hand. "Ah'll 'ee you awoumd." she mumbles around the pastry. "'anks 'or thu innon'un!"

And with that she's out the door. Her wings snap open, much to the dismay of the immediate passerby's, and she takes off in a gust of wind mid-run.

[Will Stanton]

"We're going to have to put in a policy about excess limbs, aren't we?" Will sighed, blowing some hair out of his face, while a second Will emerged from the back and began tidying up from the gust of wind Nailah had left behind her.