Welcome to Gaia! ::

Andrea swung his feet from the tall seat by the window as he indelicately licked around the edge of his ice cream cone. He had to watch what he ate, but so long as he was not eating tons of ice cream every day, the boy figured he did not have terribly much to worry about just yet. His metabolism seemed to have picked up over the last year or so, too, which, at the very least, brought his parents to joke to him constantly about being a bottomless pit.

But friendship with Nora and ice cream just seemed to go together in a manner that rendered nutrition or lack thereof irrelevant, at least for a time. He would avoid exercise for an hour or so after he finished his Chunky Monkey in a waffle cone with chocolate sprinkles, and take care to perhaps lengthen his next jog by fifteen minutes, and all would work out. Or, well, his next patrol, most likely.

Being a senshi worked well into his exercise routine, at least.

"How's yours?" he asked Nora with a grin, glancing over at her. The air conditioner in the store cut on with a soft rumble, then, and Andrea shivered as the sudden cold touched the back of his neck. He laughed good-naturedly about it, though, and added, "I guess not melting as quickly, at least."

Lieutenant Richterite's uniform wasn't nearly as elaborate as some of the general Negaverse attire. The combination of grey and gunmetal were neutral enough and the splash of blue from his sash only seemed to catch eyes long enough for people to realize he was there before going about their business as if nothing had ever happened. It was incredibly useful when it came to moving amongst them; being so painfully average.

He was going to request a cape as part of his next uniform. Or a glowing orb. Or something that made him look like something other than a boy from a private school visiting from another town, knee high boots aside.

Another day, though. Today? Today had been set aside for an experiment in stealth. Richterite had powered up in a nearby alley before slowly making his way down the street before slipping into the ice cream shop, striding right up to the counter. He glanced over the menu for a moment as though he might actually be pondering placing an order as he called an energy gathering orb to his fingertips, making it look like a magic trick of some sort. "Hmm..."

"Ooooh, look at that, Andy!"

Nora was speaking in a hushed tone, leaning around her sundae so she could look her friend in the eye. She covertly pointed to the new customer in the ice cream shoppe, hints of delight sparkling in widened rose-tinted eyes. If there was anything ominous about the new arrival, she was none the wiser. "Is that a magician? Oh, I wonder if he has a show in town somewhere..." With a small shuffling noise she had started scooting her way up from the table, her intent most likely obvious to her long-time friend. "We should go ask. Maybe he'll show us a few tricks if we're lucky!"

The girl made a polite but fast beeline towards the person at the counter, uttering an excitement-bubbled "Excuse me..." before she was even halfway there. After just a few seconds she would be well within touching distance of the Negaverser, a primed and easy target from which the Lieutenant could gather some of his quota from.

The green-eyed boy liked being friendly. It was a good way to operate. He himself was not always the most outgoing, simply because he had been a target in school in recent years, but it was a quality he always admired in Nora. Nothing ever seemed to get her down. But now there were also higher powers at work in the city, all of them hidden, but not all of them kind.

Andrea nodded and opened his mouth as Nora also pointed out the fellow at the counter, and promptly realized that his look of concern would probably go unnoticed. And, sure enough, before he could caution her, his friend stood up and went right over to meet the stranger. Maybe his becoming a senshi had steeped him in paranoia, but he could not stave off a bad feeling.

There would be no harm in accompanying her to greet the stranger, at least. He stood up, as well, taking a few napkins with him in his free hand, and followed Nora over to the counter, a pace or so behind. A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth - one of those times that he could play up the possibility that he might look like a protective boyfriend to the casual observer.

He drew up behind Nora, leaning around her shoulder to study the orb for a moment before turning his gaze to the boy who had given it to her.

The effects didn't start immediately. No, it was a brief moment or two after the girl's fingers wrapped around the 'strange marble' before it began to glow. The light was dull at first, even and steady, growing bit by bit due to contact with a source filled with wonderful, enthusiastic energy.

"I think it likes you." He was smiling at the young woman, then, bright and broad, hoping to keep her distracted long enough for the orb to collect a decent enough amount of her energy. "The brighter it glows the happier it is, you know."