Little Bugger [Squirt]

[Kinetix]

Now this was just unacceptable. Michael would have to complain about this to someone. He wasn't going to stand for this anymore. My god, it was almost as bad as all the shit he got for being a mutant. What kind of government organization only allowed for a half hour lunch break and no cafeteria in the facilities?

It was a moot point since he had just launched himself all the way to Coney Island to enjoy the pier and a sandwich. His favorite little food place was in the area. They understood his philosophy on sandwiches. He bought a BLT. The L and T were merely an afterthought compared to the plentiful crispy B. He bit into the sandwich and let out a satisfied noise.

Michael drank his soda and leaned back. The Division was suffering from a lack of manpower. Some days it felt like he was the only one actually doing any work. He gave himself a mental shrug and took another bite. At least he got some peace and quiet for lunch. No furry mutants causing trouble around here.

[Melissa Hashaway]

Melissa was down at this pier for a quick swim. Her human friends had work and didn't want to risk the water still being cold. Melissa didn't mind if the water was a little cool, the day was too hot to care. She'd brought a few of her little friends though, squirrels. They were her own little gang of riff-raffs. They smelled the Bacon and heard the crisp lettuce.

Normally squirrels were afraid of humans, but these five or so squirrels had grown use to the public. They'd been introduced to multiple people through Melissa. They were taught how to sneak lose bills and steal small food. This man had nothing to steal, but the chance of a lifetime was at hand. Scraps. The group watched from a distance, but then a simple flake of bacon fell from the sandwich.

Like swat given the order to swarm or make entry the squirrels pounced. They quickly raced each other to the scrap. The first one there would nibble it away, the rest lining up in front of the man. They all put on innocent faces hoping for pity from the man. They'd bobble back and forth in unison like some sort of street acting group.

Melissa had gotten done doing some laps and shook her tail off. She was drying herself off when she noticed her gang. She didn't know they'd just recently gathered and feared they might of caused of the man trouble. She dropped her towel then cupped her hands in front of her mouth before calling out to the man.

"Yo, sir! My friends aren't bothering you are they?" She said with a slight giggle. She was hoping he wouldn't be one of those angry New Yorkers and attack her squad. She'd run up as to make sure the conversation that might unfold wouldn't be through yelling. She also hoped he wouldn't be one of those mutant haters Renard mentioned. She and her massive fluffy tail were dead give aways of her race.

[Kinetix]

Michael ripped off a bite of his sandwich. He didn't bother chewing anymore. Five seconds of ripping the sandwhich pieces to shreds with telekinesis later he swallowed the fine mush. Unfortunately focusing on his mouth meant he didn't pay attention to the rest of his sandwich, which dropped a sizeable piece of precious bacon, disrupting the delicate B:LT ratio.

A few seconds later, he noticed a group of squirrels eating the bacon. What surprised him was the orderly and courteous manner in which they devoured the meat. Michael was honestly disturbed. Sentient meat-eating squirrels? And he thought mutants who could shoot lasers were bad.

He would've gone back to his sandwich, but then the squirrels began to stare at him, hoping for another stroke of misfortune to strike the constitution of his sandwich. "Devious ill-wishing little-."

Just then he heard a girl's voice from the water. Looking over and down to the beach, which was about four feet below the boardwalk, and noticed a young girl drying herself off. Then he noticed the fluffy tail sticking out in the open.

Squirrel girl! And the little buggers were obviously her cronies bent on striking at the heart of his precious sandwich...during his equally precious lunch break.

That was unfair. She seemed nice enough. Michael pulled off another bit of bacon, this time smaller, and tossed it away, letting the squirrels rush off. He wiped his hand on his jeans and pulled out his phone. One picture later and the girl's face was being run through the mutant registration database. It took a few seconds, but a match came back, 007-69-9001. That was good. He didn't have to apprehend someone over lunch. He waved to the girl. "It's no problem."

Michael then turned back to continue eating, only to discover the squirrels had invaded his table. The stood in a straight line, ready to attack the Blt that occupied his hands. This might be a problem.

[Melissa Hashaway]

Melissa couldn't help but giggle at her squirrels actions. She enjoyed the animal she was affiliated with. They'd always been a sort of guardian angel to her. She was glad they didn't bump into a bigot or animal hater. On the contrary the man had even thrown them a little extra scrapes. Yet squirrels have a quick metabolism and they were already on the prowl for more it seemed.

"Still, sorry." She spoke with sincerity before letting out a system of squeaks and clicks. It was an odd noise but the squirrels immediately reacted. All of the squirrels on the table retreated over to Melissa surrounding her. They clicked back as if begging for her approval. Most likely they just wanted to stay in hopes of more BLT.

"Hehe, Oh... They say they saw you take my picture? Mind explaining that to me? Hehe, and don't go saying you weren't, squirrels don't lie." Melissa said with a subtle blush. She was surprised that the man had taken her picture. Not many people were interested in documenting mutants. More so not many people were interested in having images of freaks on their phones. Apart of her hoped for a compliment like Renard had given.

[Kinetix]

Michael raised a measured brow when the girl, who was named Melissa since that was the name on her file, started clicking and whistling. The squirrels marched out and returned to her. They were in cahoots with the girl! Michael suddenly felt a lot less hungry and a lot more suspicious.

Somehow she returned the favor by asking him why he took her picture. He glanced at his phone and figured there wasn't really any point not to tell. Slipping the cell back into his coat pocket, he pulled out his wallet and showed her his Division ID. "I'm from the Division. The name's Michael. Sorry about the photo. I was checking to see if you were registered. I kinda have to."

He waved her over and pushed out one of the other seats with his telekinesis. "Here, take a seat. Your little friends can have my sandwich. "

He needed to go on a diet anyway. His wife was suspicious of his eating habits at work, though had the spousal courtesy not to ask but instead give him a variety of disapproving signals. Michael put what was left of his sandwich on the ground and finished his drink before floating it over to the trash cans. The humans around the pier all looked a little worried, but were unable to figure out which one was a mutant so they all slowly emptied the place.

Michael had grown used to the way people treated mutants, including himself. Granted people couldn't figure out he was a mutant unless he used his ability, but he could still feel the aggrivation and prejiduce focused on him.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a group of men, around thirty to fifty years old. They were just talking in hushed whispers at the moment, but they clearly meant trouble. Michael shrugged, unconcerned and returned his focus to the girl. Time to be polite. "So what's your name?"

[Melissa Hashaway]

Melissa took the seat provided by the mans magic. She could guess he was a mutant, but had absolutely no idea what his power was per say. She simply assumed invisible hands of some sort. Anything else was beyond her knowledge and not worth the time it probably took to explain. The squirrels didn't hesitate to attack the sandwich and fight among each other for the better parts.

"Oh, thanks! I'm Melissa Hashaway." She said with a kind smile she'd come accustom to at work. It was false slightly since she was now secretly jealous of her squirrel friends and there score. Although they'd brought her attention to a division man. This had some significance in her life right? It was smart to have friends with some sense of authority or at least be on good standing with them. In other words character witnesses for a future trail.

"So Micheal what's Division all like anyway?" Melissa shot her question at the only piece of information she really had on the man. She hoped it wouldn't seem rude or be one of those confidential topics. It was obvious she wasn't some sort of evil mutant spy or something wasn't it?.

[Kinetix]

The girl was curious. Like those squirrels. He glanced at his watch. He still had ten minutes to spare. Shoving a cigarette in his mouth, but not lighting it, he began to speak, "The Division is...it's a good place to work for a mutant. The pay is good, the people nice for the most part, and the work is good. It's for the good of all mutants."

That's what he told himself every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. He needed to believe that all he was doing was worth it. Unlike the rest of his kind, he was hated by everyone. Humans distrusted him for being a mutant, and mutants hated him for hunting them down. But that didn't matter. This was something that had to be done.

An idea suddenly popped into his head. "You should come back to headquarters with me. I could give you a tour. Would get me out of having to do actual work."
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