Cold & Colder [Open]

Most people wouldn't buy ice cream in the cold.

Most people wouldn't pile on the toppings until you couldn't see the ice cream.

Most people wouldn't dance their way to a small booth off to the side.

In fact, there's a lot of things most people wouldn't do that Nessa did after ordering.

It was cold out, and the teenage Super had done her best to dress in layers and what-not, even if they mismatched. Two shirts with a hoodie, covered up by a fleece jacket. She wore tights and leggings underneath her skinny jeans, one being the pair of white that she wore underneath her superhero uniform. She had thrown on her Converse boots from her costume, probably the only article of clothing she would actually wear in public without it being covered. A red and orange plaid scarf was twirled around her neck, the same general color scheme as the solid-colored brown hat perched upon her head. The flaps of the hat hung down, but weren't strapped together at this point. Had she pulled off most of the layers in a timely fashion, she could have easily run around as her other identity. A pair of purple fingerless gloves were wrapped around the cup of ice cream as she practically skipped over to find a place to sit among the faux-fancy, metal and red stools that littered the floor.

She beamed to someone walking past before she finally seated herself at a booth designed for two people. There was no point taking over a seat for four when she had wandered inside alone, now was there? She placed the overflowing cup in front of her - a mountain of mint chocolate chip ice cream covered in virtually every topping possible. She was able to isolate and detect flavors of each individual one, why not experiment with all of them? It was a gruesome looking dish, with one red plastic sthingy perched somewhere in it. She cast a glance around before taking the first bite, ignoring the looks of disgust from a few other patrons.

An explosion of flavors entered her senses, her mind telling her exactly what everything was.

It was perfect.

Sure, the ice cream shop had other, more festive things for the time of year. They sold hot chocolate in the winter, and there were even a few small teas and coffees they mustered together. Some employees jokingly sold something they called "ice cream soup", which was simply melted ice cream. She found it disturbing, it had the usual flavor but none of the consistency. There were seasonal flavors of ice cream, also, like peppermint and pumpkin pie. And yet, Nessa had decided upon some traditional flavor with a heap of junk on top of it. Within minutes, she had downed at least half of the frozen good, still getting mildly repulsed looks from other citizens who were there with their heated beverages and small children.

But it was worth it, she decided without hesitation.

Shade stood in the center of a crowd of people just outside the ice cream parlor. She rubbed her fingertips together, tingling with the chilling bite of winter. She looked around, dressed in a black turtleneck and dark jeans that covered her 'leotard.' She had looked in the mirror that morning, feeling that she looked a little bit too much like Steve Jobs. She added a white scarf to her outfit to eliminate the likeness.

Shade stared blankly ahead at a girl dressed in mismatched colors and patterns. She looked like - Shade decided to be festive with her simile - a Christmas light amongst dry, green branches as Shade watched her dance her way over to a small booth surrounded by dull people carrying presents or the arms of screaming children.

Shade blinked and walked over to the girl with a slight grin, feeling social. She wasn't exactly in the mood - or temperature - for ice cream, but she was definitely in the mood for a nice hot chocolate. Luckily, the ice cream menu sported just that.

"Excuse me," she said, attracting the attention of one of the workers. "Can I get a small hot chocolate?"

The boy nodded and she handed him a five, instructing him to keep the change. He smiled and thanked her vigorously, and left Shade alone. She turned to the girl, standing above her at the booth.

"Can I sit here?" She asked.

Nessa looked up, slightly startled. This other girl didn't seem like one of those people who were giving her silly looks, or if she had been, Vanessa hadn't really noticed. "Sure thing, no problem." Her tone was just as cheerful as ever, and she beamed widely. Vanessa had never been one to be rude. She reached up to pull the hat off of her head, setting it down on the table next to her strange cup of food, where she also placed her slightly ridiculous gloves. She smiled once more as she leaned back in the padded seat, shoving another sthingyful of ice cream into her mouth.

She quickly surveyed the other girl. She was certainly a good height taller, but for someone as short as Nessa, that wasn't really a competition. She looked slightly older, too, but it wasn't a large difference. Not that she was a very good judge, but it wasn't really a big deal. There was something about this girl's eyes - contacts, maybe? It made more sense than alternatives. She had met some people with strange eye colors, but those were normally fellow Titans or criminals she had the unfortunate luck to encounter. Nessa didn't dwell too much longer. After all, it was rude to stare, even though she herself was getting odd looks left and right.

"I'm Vanessa," she added after a moment. "I like your scarf." Nessa normally handed out her full first name versus the condensed version, people normally understood what she was saying better. And there were less Loch Ness Monster references. She also was never one to be quiet, apparently.

Shade smiled and sat down, thanking the boy to whom she had given the tip as he brought the hot chocolate to the booth. He dismissed himself with a quick grin and retreated back behind the counter to help an elderly woman and her grandchild. She let her cold skin sink into the plush seat and felt a surge of comforting warmth as the first sip of steaming hot chocolate passed her lips. She set down the cup on the table and leaned forward, resting her head on her elbows. In one hand she fingered her white scarf.

"You like it?" She asked, pleased. "I saw it in a store window and it just looked too warm not to buy. How about you? Aren't you cold?"

Shade looked up and down Vanessa's seemingly chilly outfit. She supposed that she must be wearing numerous layers, giving the outfit its boisterous and interesting appearance, but Shade would have frozen had she been wearing those fingerless gloves.

Vanessa grinned. "Well, it is cold out. But I've got tons of layers on. It's not so bad." She shrugged slightly, glancing down at the various winter objects she had placed on the table. Her clothing may not have matched and may have looked strange, but it was less bulky than a winter coat and still served the same purpose. Sure, sometimes it wasn't the best protection against the wind, but it didn't bother her that much. "I'm kind of an active person, so that helps." Active in a very minimal term compared to some of her peers, but she wasn't about to admit that.

After another moment, she had finished consuming the bowl of strange ice cream. Instead of getting up to go throw it away, she remained sitting at the booth. "I guess it is a bit chilly out to be eating ice cream," she mused, laughing slightly. Not that she really had a problem with it. She had done countless oddities in the course of her lifetime, more so while with the Titans than she had mustered in public. She glanced at Shade's cup of hot chocolate, pondering slightly.

"Is the hot chocolate good? I don't normally get anything here besides ice cream, and I haven't been in here since." She paused to attempt and remember the time. "August. I think."