Coffee of the Gods

The day had been absolutely insane for Alatea. At the start, she was a member of the Phoenix Force, a powerful, important member, if not a respected one. Now, she'd ditched the force after being assigned guard dog duty, with a guard assigned to make sure she didn't betray them. How insulting!
No wonder she decided to go back to the League. They would at least respect her. Not to mention the interesting new recruits. They seemed worth getting to know, even if one of them did let herself get caught by Ailele.
And so it ended up that she found herself going for coffee with Double Agent. She did like his style, in any case.
"So, do you have a real name? Or even a fake name you don't mind going by? Because calling you Double Agent all night is going to get a little old."

Double Agent smiled beusedly to himself as he walked casually down the sidewalk next to Alatea. The curious looks that her skin and costume were drawing from passersby amused him, although he himself found her exotic look quite fetching.

He himself was currently wearing as non-descript of an outfit as possible. A grey 3-piece suit and sunglasses covered a muscular but not overly toned frame, and his hair was a sandy blond and trimmed short.

"Well, to be honest I'm not used to being on a first name basis with people." he said with a grin as they rounded the corner heading to the coffee shop. "Besides, it almost seems almost laughable for someone like me to have a single name. I'll tell you what... what would you like my name to be?"

Alatea sighed. Such secrecy. It was a little bit ridiculous, to her mind. But then, not everyone was 4'5" blue skinned costumer's worst nightmare, so she supposed that for someone who could blend in that there would be some appeal.
She thought for a moment, then grinned. "Well, considering you're going out of your way to be generic, I suppose the only thing for it is to call you John Doe."
She smiled sweetly. "It is so lovely to meet you, John. You may call me Alatea, since we're off duty. The less Her name is used, the less likely it is She decides to peek in on my during my free time."
Being an avatar for such a notoriously fickle and short tempered goddess had left her with the understandable desire to avoid divine intervention whenever possible.
"So, did you have a specific place in mind for our coffee?"

Double Agent grinned as he pulled a cigarette out of his coat pocket and lit it.

"Well, Alatea, there's a nice bistro right over there, unless you had other ideas. Truth be told, I'm not really trying to be generic, or even secretive. It's just that when you live as many lives as I have... sometimes you forget which one is yours."

As they approached the cafe he reached out and held the door open, waiting for her to enter.

Alatea quirked an eyebrow at him, amused. "Well, I'd imagine that one has been around a lot longer than the rest. But I take your point."
She couldn't help but be a little impressed when he opened the door for her. For some reason, most people think that such chivalrous displays are unneeded when the woman involved has superpowers. It was nice to get such normal treatment for once.
"Well, thank you good sir." She entered, smiling as the smell of coffee washed over her. She hadn't been in this particular shop before, but it was bustling, and it smelled terrific, so she had no qualms when eagerly eyeing the pastries on display.
She wasted no time in ordering several pastries and a large drink drenched in whipped cream and chocolate, using a token she wore around her neck to send the bill back to the Phoenix Force. Might as well make the most of that before they nixed her credit.
Once she'd collected her food and drink, she turned to John with a smile. "Is there anywhere to sit around here that's not in the middle of the mob?"

Double Agent smiled charmingly at the girl behind the counter.

"Double Cappuchino. Extra foam." he said, paying with cash and leaving her a generous tip as it was delivered. He picked up the warm, wide mug and glanced around.

"There's a patio around back. You can't see it from the street. Follow me." he said.

He lead the way through the crowd to a small door in the back and held it open while she walked out onto the small deck behind the building.

As they stepped out they saw only one small table with two chairs, one of which was occupied by a young man with long hair in a cowboy hat, t-shirt and ripped jeans reading a newspaper. As they walked outside, the man glanced up at them and smiled, climbing to his feet.

"Ma'am." he said, with a smile and a distinct southern drawl as he tipped his hat to Alatea. He stepped towards double agent, and suddenly began to melt. He seemed to flow into the supervillain like a blob of liquid mercury, and within a few seconds they were again alone.

"I find it helps to make reservations in advance." Double Agent said with a smile.

Alatea followed John warily as he led her out back. There were quite a few people there, and all of them crowded around to check out the superhero slumming it in the coffee shop. She'd almost forgotten why she didn't go out in public much. By the time she reached the back door, she'd had to set a wind about her and John to avoid any spilled drinks or food knocked out of hand.
She blinked at the greeting of the man on the patio. She was impressed-she'd known he could make duplicates but she hadn't known that he could change his appearance that dramatically. "I have to say, that's impressive. And useful, at that. Can you change your appearance to be anything?"
She took a bite from a lemon tart before continuing. "You certainly are an impressive newcomer, at any rate. How IS it I never heard of you before?"

Double Agent turned briefly and swung the lock shut on the door behind him, moments before a curious onlooker tried the handle. He turned back to Alatea with a smirk.

"You've never heard of me because I'm very good at what I do." he said, sitting down opposite her and taking a sip from the hot mug. "And as for my appearance, there are limits. I can only do people, for a start. And they have to be more or less my size. I won't be impersonating Hervé Villechaize anytime soon. But other than that, it's pretty much limited by my imagination..."

He gave her a quick, charming half-grin over his cappuchino.

"...And I have a very vivid imagination."

He set his mug down and pulled out another cigarette from his silver cigarette case.

"Listen to me prattling on. What about you, my dear? That thing you did with the wind earlier this evening was very impressive. Faster than a speeding bullet, eh? I'm terribly sorry about that, by the way. Nothing personal, you understand."

Alatea nodded thoughtfully at his explanation. "I can see that. It's enough to make a body paranoid, never knowing whether the person they're dealing with is really who they think it is. And with with the ability to make multiples... that think as you do, based on that scene back at headquarters. And Oracle killed them..." She whistled, impressed. "Goodness, you're practically indestructible. Not to mention impossible to detect without a little extra help." She reached up and took off what looked like some sort of fancy bluetooth. "I have to say, your invisibility is quite impressive. I had to borrow this from Ailele to spot you."
She sighed and pocketed it. "Too bad she can turn it off and make it unusable."
She waved away his apology, taking a long drink from her coffee. "Oh, don't fuss about it. We were on opposite sides, you did what you needed to to get the job done. Besides, you didn't even touch me, so it would be really silly to hold a grudge."
She laughed, a slightly bitter sound that had a jarring effect out of the seemingly carefree woman. "Yes, my powers. The one good thing that came out of this ridiculous relationship with an insane power. Let me tell you right now, no matter what the alternative, never sign on with a god."
She busied herself with her pastries for a moment before continuing, looking a little shadowed. "As you've seen, I control the wind. I can use it to fly, manipulate objects, blow things out of the way, anything I can think of. I can also control the weather, and water. With water, though, I can only control actual water, if it's some other liquid I can't affect it. And then, of course, there's the inexplicable loss of a foot of my height and the blue skin."

Double Agent leaned back, exhaling a cloud of thick, grey smoke as he did so.

"You sound rather bitter, if you don't mind me saying. If you don't like the arrangemnet... why not just quit? Is it pretty much a one-way street?"

Calypso laughed again and shook her head. "If only! But no, I made an agreement. She saved the lives of my family in exchange for a lifetime of service from me. Ironically, I never saw them again. But, what can you do. I doubt you asked for your powers, either. That's how we get into this game, some kind of personal tragedy. At least the good ones. The ones who don't act like a kid in a candy shop with no parents to tell them to behave."
She snorted and took another few bites of her tart. "There's no good way to get into this buisness, and there's no way to ever really leave. We've just got to make the best of it we can."

"'Till death do you part, eh?" Double Agent said contemplatively.

"Well, far be it from me to disagree with your assessment, but I have to say I find your appearance... captivating. Speaking as a collector and connoisseur of appearances, I must say it's refreshing to find someone who breaks the mold... so to speak."

He leaned forward a hair's breadth, his emerald green eyes flashing dangerously.

"In fact, if you don't mind me saying, there's very little about you that I don't find captivating."

Alatea busied herself with her pastries, trying to suppress the beginnings of a blush. John was quite an interesting man indeed. Although, she couldn't say she blamed him-if you could turn into any typical human, it makes sense for them to seem uninteresting.
And he himself was such an interesting person. She didn't even know his real name, or what he really looked like, or any of it, but that was part of the appeal. He was a mystery she couldn't solve. And, as cliched as that was, it was also pretty hot.
"Well, I am flattered, to say the least," She replied teasingly once she could look up at him without a blush. "You're a rather intriguing enigma yourself. It's not every day you meet a man that would shoot a girl and invite her for coffee in the same night."

John laughed, amused at the slight purple color creeping into Alatea's azure cheeks. It was time to press the advantage. He set his coffee down and stared into her eyes.

"Well, as you said, no reason to hold grudges. I try never to mix business and pleasure. Besides, as rarely as I miss my target, I'm glad that I did this time..."

He reached across the table, gently taking her slender fingers in his and bringing them up to his face to softly kiss the back of her cerulean hand.

"...or else I might have been deprived the pleasure of your company."

Oh, he was quite the charmer. Her blush was back with a vengeance, but this time she didn't bother to make an effort to hide it. He noticed it before, anyway, and he didn't seem to mind.
This was a part of life that had been totally put on hold since the day she signed the agreement with Calypso. Even if she was interested, her... unique appearance was generally enough to dissuade any potential paramour. It was...disconcerting to suddenly feel like a teenager again, all nerves and no action.
But he was sitting there holding her hand and looking at her expectantly, so she had to do something. "I...um..." Oh, brilliant job, Alatea, keep it together now. "I can definitely say that I'm glad my Lady was bored enough to tell me to switch over."
The logical part of her brain was screaming at her, but she ignored it. "You're really something, you know that?"

John smiled. Alatea was clearly not used to this sort of thing. Either that or she was very good at pretending.

He softly let his fingers trail over her knuckles and away from her hand... but not too far away.

"So I've been told." he said, looking into her eyes, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Alatea's eyes fluttered at the feeling of his fingers trailing across her hand. For some reason, she was hyperaware of the sensation. Not that she was complaining, it felt nice. Very... different.
At his question, she shook her head vehemently. "Oh, no, not at all." She told him, pausing a moment before reaching for his hand. "It's just not every day someone makes a move on the four and a half foot tall blue girl."
She was starting to regain her balance, so to speak. She'd been in much weirder scenarios and had to adapt. It was just a matter of staying on her toes. She was no teenaged virgin, just out of practice.
"But then, you're not an everyday sort of man." She smiled a little more naturally, noting with amusement that his hand was much bigger than hers. "So, tell me. Do you woo every pretty newcomer, or just the ones that look like something out of a cartoon?"

John took a moment to respond, his eyes scanning Alatea. She was a very attractive woman, no matter what she thought. Strange, yes, but there was an exoticness to her alien appearance, a uniqueness that he found alluring.

"No..." he said quietly, "...only the ones who look like goddesses."

Alatea blushed so hard at that she thought there was a very real possibility of bruising. She wasted no time in busying herself with her coffee, downing almost half the cup before feeling steady enough to respond. Half a pastry after that, she finally came to a conclusion.
She did the only thing that seemed fitting under the circumstances. She pulled him forward and kissed him full on the mouth. There were no words that were fitting under the circumstances.

John watched as Alatea nervously drank the rest of her coffee in silence, her hand shaking as the color filled her cheeks. For a moment he wondered if maybe he had miscalculated; if he had somehow offended her.

When she reached out and pulled him to her, even he was caught off guard. It took him a moment to process what had happened, and by the time he did her mouth was pressed to his and he could taste the sweet cream of the pastry still lingering on her violet lips. He had to lean down significantly due to her height, but he put both arms around her, one holding her waist and the other running gently through her long, yellow hair.

He pulled her even closer, his arm very nearly encircling her small waist. She felt so small and fragile in his grip, he found it strange that so much power, so much energy could be contained within her. He could feel it just beneath the surface of her skin, in the faint electric tingle of the air surrounding her.

After a moment he relaxed his arms and pulled back slightly, his deep blue eyes fixed on her face.

"Shall we continue this conversation over a brandy?" he asked, with only a hint of a smile.

Oh, it had been a very long time since she'd kissed anyone, and the years had dulled the memory of the sensation. Or maybe she'd just never kissed anyone quite like him?
She found it hard to believe that anyone's lips could be this soft and evenly matched to her, tasting of coffee and just a hint of the cigarettes he smoked. And surely no one else would feel the same holding her tightly against him. No one else would be quite so gentle running their fingers through her hair. She didn't get a chance to warn him that there was probably some minor charge in her hair, it tended to soak up static electricity, a weird side effect of her power. He didn't seem to mind, and indeed, the air was so highly charged there was a chance he wouldn't even notice.
She smiled at him when he pulled away, her skin tingling pleasantly where she was still touching him. "Oh, I don't usually drink." she replied, an idea forming in her head. "But if you like, I can take you to my place." Her eyes danced. "If you don't mind a bit of a trip."

He took her smaller hands in his and stood up, his coffee forgotten on the table.

"Lead the way."

Alatea smiled mischeviously at him, leading him by the hand out through the back door. "Now, just relax. There's only one way to get to my place." As she spoke the wind picked up around the two of them, slowly raising them into the air.
"You're not afraid of heights, are you?"
Her home was built atop the tallest skyscraper in Genera, built as a thank you by the owner of the building, whom she'd assisted in the past. It was completely unconnected to the rest of the building, to ensure her privacy and security. She kept rooms in the Force and League headquarters, but since she bounced back and forth between the two, it seemed more practical to keep her own home.

John looked down as the air currents began to swarm around them, lifting them bodily into the air. His grip tightened on her hands for a split second as he realized that they were airborne.

As they slowly lifted up, over the buildings and streets, his eyes darted around him, his mouth half open in wonder. He'd flown before, of course, in planes and helicopters, and even a few times on hang gliders; but never like this. It was exhilerating and freeing, and although he knew he was in no danger even if she did decide to drop him, he coud still feel his heart skip a beat or two as they left the earth. It was as though he were falling upward; and as they lifted higher and higher, hand in hand, he turned back to Alatea and saw the smile spread across her lips. They were face to face now, and he drew her closer. His lips touched hers once again, softer than before, the air swirling around them as he held her tightly. For a moment the only sound was that of the wind rustling around their ears.

"Well... I can honestly say I've never been swept off my feet quite like this before." he said finally as he pulled back.

Once she knew he wasn't going to spook, she let the winds pick up faster, lifting them high above the street. She couldn't help but grin. No matter how much the rest of her service to Calypso sucked, it all seemed worth it when she went flying. Having John with her, seeing his reactions, just made it all the better.
She made sure to keep eye level with him, their height difference not mattering nearly so much in flight.
His kiss was a pleasant surprise, and she responded eagerly, letting the winds slow down until they were all but hovering, thus freeing more of her attention for him.
She laughed at his comment. "I am definitely one of a kind." The wind picked up and had them moving toward a distinctly odd looking structure on the roof of a building they drew steadily nearer to. "I'd be a little concerned if you had been out flying like this. With all these copycats roaming the city lately, you know."
The casual comment made it click in her head. "OH! You're the ones who took out that rogue, aren't you? The entire Force was talking about it, since the powers he picked up off of you guys were new, not something the League had in the past."