Morning Person (open)

The sun was up bright and early that morning as was Vance Dallas. Even before his power of control over light matter made itself known, Vance had loved to be awake in the morning. He hit the ground running in high school with all of his activities but now crime fighting woke him in the mornings. Sure, most of the big stuff didn't hit until at least noon but there were still the little crimes like purse snatching to stop. Mostly morning's were Vance's time to get in time for himself before sharing the rest of the day with friends and family.

This morning was no different. After a rooftop patrol, Vance hit the apartment to change into a pair of jeans and a loose shirt. Work wasn't an issue for the day since it was Saturday, a day of the week he actually had off. He'd try some shop therapy, so he decided to check out the mall. Even if he didn't run into anything he wanted to buy, there was at least a chance of running into someone he knew was a friend or maybe even running into a case to solve as a hero.

A smile on his face, Vance entered Hollister with a prayer that today wouldn't be boring.

Dante sighed as he looked around the mall his adoptive father had brought him to, having decided the young mutant should try and see where others his age liked to hang out. He looked at the different stores that filled the mall as he walked around, he made sure he still had the money Bishop had given him. He decided to enter a random store which had a strange name, Hollister.

As Vance looked around, he realized why he didn't usually come into Hollister. It was all surf clothing and something that he wasn't interested in. Sure, there were a few nice shirts but all together they were shirts that he wouldn't normally wear. His brother, on the other hand, would and Vance made sure to pick out some of the darker toned shirts. He was heading out of the store when he bumped into a young man.

Accidentally dropping his things, Vance bent to pick them up, "I'm so sorry man!"

Dante had decided that this place wasn't for him the moment he walked in, the styles of the shirts were nothing he'd wear and he hated shorts. He had decided to turn around when he bumped into a another man about his age or a little older. He managed to keep his balance as he replied. "Its okay... Sorry..."

Vance finished picking up the shirts that he had bought his brother and looked at the man. He had to be somewhat his age, maybe a little younger. The thing was, Vance had never seen this man before and in the mall this early you usually knew everyone you ran into. With a smile, Vance stood up straight and extended his hand, "Hey I'm Vance Dallas. What's your name?"

Dante looked at the outreached hand the man held out, people in this time seemed to be much more friendly. He slowly shook the mans hand before replying, "Dante Bishop..." He wasn't sure what else to say, he just hoped he didn't seen to much out of place.

Vance smiled and shook his hand before gesturing to the store. "You come around here often? I don't ever see you around this place. It's early, everyone here is a regular."

"It is my first time here... My father said I should come to this place and see if I could meet others my own age." Dante answered softly as he pushed his hair out of his eyes.

Vance smiled, "Well, if you wanna meet people our age, older teenagers hang out at the mall usually." He smiled and looked him over, "You wanna hang out?"

Dante nodded slowly, that was what his father had wished. "Okay, I'd like that." He answered softly, "I don't know what others do to hang out though...."

Vance was intrigued by this young man. It seemed as if he belonged in this world but the way he talked about "others" was different. If he had to guess, he would say either this boy was living in a home where he was not let out to do a lot or he was a mutant. "Well, I like to go get breakfast this early in the morning. Wanna go somewhere and eat?"

Dante nodded as he pushed his hair from his face, "Yes I'd like that, I've not eaten yet." He normally didn't eat before training, but Bishop hadn't let him train this morning and so he hadn't eaten that morning. He hoped he was not standing out, he hated not knowing what to do.

Vance smiled and nodded, "Well we can grab something in the food court if you want or we can go to one of the resteraunts around here. I was still hoping to do some looking at other places here at the mall."

"The food court will be fine." Dante smiled softly as he gave a nod. He was not a picky eater and he was grateful for the help the other guy was offering, he felt very confused trying to act like a normal teen.

Vance smiled and nodded, "There are some good things out here. They have a breakfast burrito there that tastes great."

"What's a breakfast burrito?" Dante asked as looked around the nearby food court, he hadn't heard of breakfast burritos before. He wondered what they were made of and if they were good.

"You've never had a breakfast burrito? They're like normal burrito's only using like eggs and sausages and stuff." shrugged Vance, "Pretty good but other than that, I don't eat em too often."

Dante nodded slowly, he felt stupid and wished Bishop hadn't made him come. He knew he stood out and he didn't know what to say or do, "I'm sure I'll like it..." He said with a small if unsure smile.

Vance shrugged, "Some people don't eat buritto's. It's okay, my older brother Kip doesn't like things like that. Why'd you come to the mall today? Which stores do you like?"

"My father thought it would be a good idea to go, maybe get some new clothes... Most of my old stuff... Is really old, so he though it would be good idea to find some like what I would wear." Dante asked leaving out that most of his other clothes didn't fit in with the want people wore now.

Vance nodded, understandable. "Maybe you need to go to a cheaper store. The mall is so damn expensive. Retail outlets have pretty much the same stuff but for less."

"Are there any retail stores in the mall?" Dante asked, he hadn't thought shopping might turn out to be more then he could handle. He looked at the different food places to choose from, so many places that served different things.

"Not usually," Vance shook his head as he sat down at the table. "You can eat anywhere you want. I'll pay for you."

Dante looked at the man, "Are you sure? I mean my dad gave me money for breakfast..." He shyly ran his fingers through his hair as he stood there.

Vance nodded with a smile, "Consider it my apology for running into you okay? Besides, I make decent bucks so it's really no problem at all."