It looked like she was not going to show. Again. Really, Velia was not certain why she was surprised as she stared at her laundry swishing about within the beat up looking washing machine.

Two weeks had passed since her near death incident. One week had been spent in the hospital rehydrating and recovering from the fight with Alatha. The next week she had spent every morning coming back to the Laundromat, trying to catch the pyrokinetic. Every day she was disappointed and irritated that she did not show. Certainly their mornings had been sporadic before but now this was getting ridiculous. It wasn't as though there was a massive manhunt after her; she wasn't the only Super to commit a crime after all. The police were still worrying over a possible league of them rising up.

Velia sighed as she placed her hands behind her head, staring up at the florescent lighting above. She wasn't even sure why she was bothering. What kind of crazy person looked for the person that tried to cook them alive? Likely she wanted answers; at least that was what she told herself. She wanted to know. Wanted to know why Alatha hadn't killed her. The opportunity had literally in her hand. She could have squeezed the life from her or continued to just cook her. Instead the villainess had let her go.

Her gaze turned to the door as she heard a little bell announce the entrance of someone. Standing in her normal sloppy looking attire was the queen of fire herself. Velia did not take her gaze off of Alatha as the woman stepped closer. She noted a pair of headphones shoved into her ears and that she was making a point of avoiding direct eye contact with her. There was no acknowledgement as Alatha set her basket of clothes down on the bench and started loading up the washer.

It wasn't the lack of acknowledgement that pissed her off, that was expected. It was how she even avoided eye contact. So much so that her hand curled tightly around Alatha's wrist as the other woman was reaching for more of her clothes. That was when the dark eyes she had seen shouldering with rage the other day met her own. They narrowed and Velia felt heat start to build threateningly beneath her hand, sending her mind back to the prison of flesh and the near death experience. Even still her fingers only curled tighter around the wrist, refusing to let go.

After a long moment of simply staring at each other Alatha finally took the headphones of her ears with her free hand. "What?"

Velia blinked at the question. "What? That's what you ask me? Are we just pretending like that whole thing at the museum didn't happen?" She demanded.

Alatha jerked her wrist away from Velia's grasp. "That sounds just fine to me. No need to dreg up past fights." She muttered, angrily tossing in a pair of panties into the washer.

The size changer locked her jaw and crossed her arms under her breasts, turning her gaze back to her own washer. She had never seen someone shove quarters into a machine with such force either, Alatha looked fit to actually break the thing. The villainess sat next to her, keeping to her silence as she stared at her own clothes as they were started in the cycle. If their first silence together had been awkward, this one was positively hostile.

"Why did you let me go?" Velia asked, breaking the silence.

For the longest time Alatha remained silent before turning a dangerous smirk to Velia, eyes flashing. "If you'd like, I could rectify that, Bug."

"Don't give me that bullshit; if you were going to do it you would have done it. Why did you let me go?" Velia demanded.

All the anger that was within Alatha seemed to just leave her in a single weary sigh. A moment later she chuckled. "You want to go out to dinner some time?"

A moment passed before Velia could actually say that she had heard the other woman right. The expression on her face must have certainly been comical as Alatha smirked and let out a little laugh. The size changer blinked one, twice before going over what had just been said again to make sure she wasn't going crazy. Alatha, fire breathing, destruction craving, battle hungry Alatha had just asked her to dinner. Of all the deflections she had expected, that was on the very bottom of her list.

"I-I, what?"

"You know, dinner? It's that meal after lunch." The pyrokinetic answered flippantly.

Velia scowled. "I know that! What does that have to do with anything?"

Alatha let out a long breath before shrugging. "Listen. I was standing there in the middle of that museum, holding you in my hand and was really thinking about just killing you. Thinking it over for a bit I figured I didn't really want you dead. So I let you go. Simple as that."

"Why didn't you want me dead?"

A roll of her eyes met that question. "I just gave you that answer, Bug. I don't actually mind your company after spending a few mornings with you and think you're attractive. So, hence, dinner."

That was another answer she hadn't been expecting. A flush actually came to her cheeks at that compliment. Velia would be the first to admit that Alatha pissed her off, she scared her and fighting with her could be both invigorating and harrowing. There were times when she wanted to just pound her face in with her baton. There were also other times where she wanted to fuck up against a wall. There was something to be said for hate mixing in with affection in some ways, though she hadn't expected a similar condition to exist within Alatha.

At the moment she looked inside herself and went over the pros and cons of a possible romantic relationship with the pyrokinetic. Well for cons... she was a villain, she was wanted dead or alive in several countries, she seemed to lack much of a moral compass, and the list went on from there. For pros... well she was probably one of the most attractive women she had ever seen. Other than that she didn't know much about her personally, other than bits of sarcastic humor that slipped in here or there.

It wasn't like she couldn't just try it out. Alatha didn't seem a very 'strings attached' sort of gal after all. She could go out for a date, see how it went and go from there. At worst she found out that she was indeed as soulless and shallow as she figured. At best maybe she'd finally have something to do with her Friday nights aside from beating the piss out of criminals. After a long while she turned towards Alatha, who had opted to return her gaze to her washer as though not expecting an answer.

"Alright. I'll bite. What place did you have in mind?"

_______________________________________________________________________

Velia stared at the flickering sign above the door to the restaurant two nights later on a Friday night, already quite regretting her decision to take Alatha up on her date. The place as a little dinky Chinese place tucked into an obscure part of the French Quarter. It looked rather like a place to get stabbed for her purse as much as a place to get a bite to eat. It was called "The Taste of Asia." Normally Chinese was not her fare but Alatha had talked it up quite a bit as a place she would regularly patron.

Noting that the 'e' in 'Taste' was dark Velia was not exactly expecting gourmet as she stepped inside of the establishment. She'd even gotten dressed up for the dinner, heels, a nice dress and she'd braved a curling iron to do her hair into gentle blonde curls that fell about her face just so. Her little pink Hello Kitty purse was clutched tightly as she looked around, half expecting someone to try and snatch it from her. However the inside was actually, pleasantly, much nicer looking than the outside.

The red and white tiled floor was clean and all but gleaming and the place smelled of boiled chicken and well cooked fish. A pretty, young Asian woman was at the front and smiled at her as she entered. The place looked rather full up tonight and snippets of conversation managed to escape the nearby tables. It hardly looked like what she had been imagining, just a nice and normal little restaurant.

"Can I help you miss?" The woman asked.

"Ah, yes, I'm looking for... Alatha." Velia responded, realizing she had no idea what her last name was.

"Ah, yes, Miss Dalal is expecting you. Please, right this way."

Well, that answered that question. If that was even her real last name, maybe it was just a cover of sorts. She would not exactly be surprised. Velia followed the waitress through the maze of tables before being brought to a booth. It was tucked in the corner and a little away from the tables around its general area. No one else was sitting nearby interestingly enough, though those details were forgotten as soon as she laid eyes upon Alatha.

A dress of red and orange shimmered as it clung to her form, reaching down to her calves and was split on one side for ease of movement. A pair of red heels held her feet, fake gems inlayed along the toe section looking rather like rubies to match the red she had painted her nails. Her hair was straightened and fell in loose black silky curtains around her face. Surprisingly she had bothered with eyeliner to bring out her dark eyes. She looked rather stunning if Velia was honest as she had expected her to show up dressed like she was during her crimes. Seeing her in more... womanly attire was quite enticing.

Velia sat down across from the woman, managing to keep herself from staring over long but the smirk Alatha granted her told her she had noticed anyway. "Any drinks you would like to order?"

Alatha turned her eyes to Velia. "How old are you again?"

"Eighteen." She said, slightly perplexed by the question.

"Ah. Well, I'll refrain from beer then. I'll have an iced tea." Alatha stated.

Velia lifted a brow before ordering herself. "The same."

Once the waitress was gone the size changer turned her gaze back to Alatha. "Why does the fact I can't drink matter?"

Alatha shrugged. "It's no fun drinking alone."

With that answer granted the younger woman shrugged it off and opened her menu, gazing over the entrees offered by the place. Sweet and sour pork was looking pretty good in her opinion; it came with a side of rice and cooked vegetables as well so that was what she opted to settle upon. For a moment at least until she took another look at Alatha and remembered what region of the world she was from. She was a tad concerned the line of thought she was entertaining was racist, then again it might be courteous. Was Alatha even one that worried over things like that?

"Umm... don't take this question the wrong way, but do you have any problems with pork?" Velia asked.

Alatha looked up from her menu, lifting a brow. "What?"

"I mean, you know, I heard that it's not something... I mean..." Velia said, getting a sinking feeling in her gut. Of course, dinner with a villainess and she was the one to offend the date.

Realization dawned upon Alatha's face and she laughed. "I've violated more than a few verses of the Quran just doing what I do, so no, pork isn't a problem."

Relief washed over the size changer. "Sorry for asking, just needed to be sure."

Alatha shrugged. "No problem. Their sweet and sour pork is pretty good so I recommend it if that's what you're thinking. I'll probably have their Chow Mein."

With that potential disaster thankfully averted their waitress returned bearing their drinks. With their orders quickly given the woman was off. Velia calmed herself down by taking a sip of her drink, still coming to grips with sitting across from the villainess in a restaurant. Thankfully it appeared Alatha was as easy going as she appeared when not in the midst of battle. Maybe this would be a good time to ask something that had been bothering her in the days leading up to this date.

She crossed her right leg over her left and leaned back, trying to relax a bit. "So, what brought you to that museum?"

Alatha lifted a finger and let out a tsk. "Now now, no business talk on the date. That's my policy whether I'm dating heroes or villains."

"You've dated heroes before?"

"Sure. Not in New Orleans yet, but I'm not one to discriminate on occupation."

Velia frowned, not quite sure what to make of that. One thing that was certain though was that business talk was indeed off limits. That kind of put a dent in her conversation topics. Most of them had involved talking about matters like that. It was rather difficult to think of what things Alatha might be interested in, as really she didn't know her too well. She knew she likely enjoyed fighting and what her powers were but little else.

"Well then, what do we talk about?"

Alatha tapped her finger against her chin. "Do you follow sports?"

So it was that Velia found herself in a nearly twenty minute long discussion regarding soccer, or football as Alatha insisted on referring to it as. She'd passingly watched it in the past but clearly Alatha prided herself on following it quite closely. There was an odd passion to her voice when she talked about what teams she liked and which ones she was not fond of. When the subject turned to the World Cup, the one time Velia reliably watched the sport often; Alatha snorted and turned her head to the side.

"Fucking FIFA has a way of ruining it." She grumbled.

Velia's brows rose. "What do you mean?"

The villainess leaned back in her seat, waving her hand. "You think I'm bad shit, but those bastards can really warp the sport with how corrupt they are. Grotesque doesn't begin to describe them."

For some reason the heroine found it somewhat amusing that a woman who committed arson by flicking her fingers found the actions of others deplorable. She was about to ask what made them so bad until their food arrived. Alatha's foul mood evaporated immediately and she thanked the waitress as her food was set down in front of her. Velia had to admit it the food smelled pretty good.

Soon enough she found it didn't just smell good but tasted rather good as well. The villainess hadn't been talking out her ass when she had complimented the place. She swished the first bite around in her mouth for a moment, flavor exploding over her taste buds as the pleasing aroma still massaged as her nose. This place was going on her list of places to visit now that she knew the food was actually pretty good.

Her gaze wandered from her own meal towards Alatha's, watching as she ate. The woman ate with much gusto and relish, focusing on one dish at a time before switching to the next. Using one's powers for extended periods tended to make a Super rather hungry, Velia had found. Likely the same was true for Alatha. Her gaze wandered over her full lips as they slurped up a fork full of noodles. She chewed for a few moments before her throat muscles worked, the size changer tracking the likely course of the food down her throat. The younger woman bit her lower lip and turned her gaze back to her own meal. Her little fetishes could make even simple things like this uncomfortable.

"So... when was your Awakening?" Alatha asked after finishing off a good portion of her food.

Velia paused mid-chew and swallowed, taking a drink of her tea as she considered the question. When a Super gained their powers it was called an 'Awakening'. Often there was no warning, it just happened. Typically the ages were anywhere from five to sixteen, usually the younger the Super the more powerful they would become. It was not something the heroine could see a way to use against her so she answered.

"I was fifteen. Shrunk to half my size in the girl's locker room when I was trying to hide from some bullies. You?" Velia said.

"Seven. I got caught outside in the snow when I was living up in Boston, heated up my body right quick." The villainess replied.

Not exactly surprising to Velia, Alatha was a fairly powerful Super. Her own powers were fairly specialized towards shrinking though they could obviously be used to good effect. Size changers weren't exactly rare and usually only worked one way. Some grew and some shrank. Shrinkers, like herself, were typically seen as getting the short end of the stick but the power had its uses. Elementals, like Alatha, were typically on the rarer side of the scale and thus more powerful.

"How small can you make yourself?" Alatha asked curiously.

"Isn't that pretty close to business talk?"

"Nah, I'll even tell you whatever you want to know about my powers. They are a part of us after all."

Velia looked around in the restaurant and didn't see anyone looking at them or coming this way. As such she shrugged and opted for a demonstration. She placed a finger in the middle of the table, not particularly afraid that Alatha would try something. The woman turned her focus inwardly and willed herself to grow smaller. Slowly she reduced in size and set herself on the table, the world around her growing larger and larger. She didn't stop until she had to start straining to keep going, which was her minimum size at the moment. Velia stood in the middle of the table, the size of a large ant.

The table was no longer just a table but a massive plain of obstacles and stray pieces of food. Her own plate towered above her nearby and the scent of her food upon it was enticing still. Her fork rested nearby and the size changer could easily see every bit of food stuck upon the eating utensil. She could quite comfortably sit on the thing and still have room to spare. Her gaze turned upwards as she held her arms out to the titanic figure sitting across from her.

Alatha's face moved to loom over her, dominating her sky and surrounding her in a waterfall of black hair. Velia could better see the smaller details about the woman's face, finding herself taken with her features once more. Those lips were probably so very soft to the touch and at this size she could probably touch all she wanted and still not admire them enough without some effort. She imagined trekking across her face at this size, paying homage to each inch along the way. An image that she tossed aside as she figured her demonstration done.

A few stages of growth later to avoid looking like she had stood on the table and she was across from an impress looking Alatha. "You know, you could probably make a good thief if you tried." She remarked.

Velia smirked. "I'd rather not be on the wrong side of the law. You've probably seen the cells they keep shrinkers in." She said.

"Yeah, not too roomy. Good point I suppose. Anyway, my heat has no upper limit as far as I know and my body can withstand most heat and fire unscathed. I'd offer you a demonstration but I'd burn the place down. Not exactly a good way to end the first date." Alatha stated.

"Wait, no upper limit? So you could go as hot as the sun?"

Alatha laughed. "I don't know about that, maybe. I'll try it one day; let you know how it goes."

From there the conversation mostly petered out into small talk about a few random subjects. Velia was actually pleasantly surprised by the whole affair. The woman was not quite the evil and heartless bitch she had taken her for. She hadn't quite decided if she was going to go on a second date with her, but this was not a waste of her evening at least. Maybe there was something too her sparing her simply for a chance at a date, she seemed whimsical enough from what she was learning.

After splitting a check and each contributing to the tip Velia walked out of the place at Alatha's side. They stood on the moonlit sidewalk and looked at each other for the longest time. Well, Velia looked at Alatha, the older woman was a tad busy scrawling something on a piece of paper. When she was finished she offered it to Velia, who took it and examined the set of numbers on it. This was pretty dangerous. With the right resources she could trace the number straight back to-

"The number is to a disposable phone. Don't bother with a trace." Alatha said, as though reading her mind.

"Anyway, if you think you are up for round two just give me a call. You can pick the place next time." She finished.

Velia looked down at the number written down in her hand. "Right so, how do you want to end this? A hug or..." She asked absently.

The young woman was surprised to find a set of lips over her own the next moment, an arm wrapped around her waist. She stopped thinking; all that existed at the moment was the set of plush and full lips over her own. She had imagined climbing over those plush surfaces, now she wished to explore them even more. Velia returned the kiss at the last moment, pleased internally by the show of confidence.

Alatha broke away, smirking. "I'm not a proper lady, Velia. No need to be chaste about things." She said with a wink as she departed, her heels clacking away on the pavement.

The blonde haired woman felt her tongue rather dry as she swallowed hard, licking her lips to find residual flavor left behind. It tasted like Chow Mein but the perfume she had been wearing smelled of strawberries. She had been so very close to her. Maybe this thing was worth giving a chance. Alatha had intrigued her so it was possible future dates might intrigue her further. Who could say what might come of it?