Silently eyeing the monolithic chain bookstore across the street from her,
Vesper stands beneath the row of trees at the front of Union Square. What
sort of look is that? Hungry for the books inside? Disgust at the fact
that, well, it's a Barnes and Noble? Amusement at the fact that Amazon.com
almost beat it at its own game? God only knows; Vesper's already
forgotten. She flips her long hair back behind her and lights a cigarette,
then stuffs her hands and her Zippo back in her coat pockets - looks like
she's in a contemplative mood. Which is good. Ain't good when she's antsy,
no siree.

Longshot is walking about. He seems to be looking around, wide eyes
absorbing all the sights around him, a mix of a kid marveling at the
sights over at Disney Land and then looking for something he just can not
find.

The tall girl - seemingly fixed to her spot, like some kind of bizarre
art-nouveau punk statue - turns her attention to the guy who looks like
he's utterly and completely lost. Mmm. Entertainment. Vesper wonders,
idly, how long before he's either mugged or hit by a car; either outcome
would probably result in her involvement. Well, that's good, too - any
trouble she's involved in that she doesn't start is okay, is a good
adrenaline drainer. She reaches up to remove the cigarette from her mouth,
taps ash to the ground, and replaces it.

Longshot keeps onto his march until he notices the eyes on him. Rather
than be intimidated or whatever reaction normally apropriate, he seems to
not at all to notice the slightly bizzare appearance. Instead, he plasters
a slight smile and steps forward "Beg you're pardon Miss, I was wondering
if you could help me...?"

Huh. Well, this is a new one. It also goes to illustrate exactly how new
this guy apparently is to the Big Apple. Vesper raises her eyebrows, then
pushes her glasses up on her nose. "Sure thing. What can I do for ya?"
Good thing the chick's rooting for the home team, here.

Longshot smiles widely, a look of comfort formed on his face. Yup, he
really is this naive it seems. "I am still in the place called New York,
correct?"

Vesper blinks, obviously even more taken aback than she'd been before:
this reaction actually registers on her face. "Uh...*yeah*. Where did you
*think* you were, Hoboken? This is Union Square, pally." She frowns
slightly, a rarely-evident look of concern passing across her features.
"Are you okay, man?"

Longshot takes a second to examine himself to make sure there are no
bruises, even briefly moving his arms and such to make sure he's alright
and didn't get hurt without realising it. "I think so, yes. The
hospitality seems great here.. and to be honnest, I wasn't sure where I
was though this is right where I wanted to go, although this town is
bigger than I thought. It might be more difficult to find my friends
here."

Studying Longshot silently for a moment, Vesper finally drops her
cigarette and grinds it out. She puts her hands in her pockets, clearly
trying to figure this out. "Nnno," she says at last, concerned expression
growing deeper. "New York City, first off, isn't a town. It is *New York
City*. You are /very/ lucky," she stresses, "that you approached me. The
hospitality here is *not* the finest in the land; I'm extrordinarily
surprised that you haven't gotten beaten senseless and robbed, or at least
ripped off." She sighs, hand going up again to rub her forehead lightly,
half exasperated. "I don't suppose you have an address for any of these
friends, do you? Or at least their full names?"

Longshot finally lowers his head, the smiles slipping abit "I really tried
really hard to remember, but I can't even remember what they looked
like..."

Vesper sighs, but doesn't look at all surprised. This guy is excessively
weird; let's try a different tactic. "Do you remember if these...friends
of yours...could do anything interesting?" She pauses. "Or would
they...hide for any reason?" With any luck...

Longshot ponders this carefully "I don't know if they like to hide or not,
though living here would be a very good place to hide. As for interesting
things, I think so, yes, else, I might have forgotten them too."

Vesper thinks about that. She ponders Longshot's hands. "Can they do
anything as interesting," starts Vesper calmly, "as this?" At that, the
girl abruptly disappears, leaving a terribly bright floating dot in the
air where she was standing. Oh, yes, attention hog. Anything for a
display, anything to show off.

Longshot watches as his eyes go wide, just like a child at a magic show.
He doesn't answer right away, just watches.

The dot just kind of hovers there, bobbing slightly in the air currents.
"Well?" comes a rather pathetically small voice.

Longshot stares at the dot "That's very pretty!" he replies before
answering the question "I think they may have had special gifts too though
I can not say for sure, but most likely, yes."

The very tiny person responds to Longshot's first comment with a very tiny
facepalm. She floats silently to the ground, then grows back up to her
normal heightt, gradually dimming. "Okay. Well, that makes things a little
easier. Not *much*," she frowns, almost as an admonishment, "but some." It
looks like Vesper's got herself another Samaritan quest. She fishes a
piece of paper and a pen out of her coat pocket, and scribbles something
down, then looks at Longshot. "Do you have money for a cab?"

Longshot shakes his head "No, but I am very good at walking."

Vesper frowns. "Walking gets you lost real quick." She fishes in her
*other* pocket, coming up with a twenty; the girl hands both the slip of
paper and the money to the blond guy. "Here. This should get you there
with no problems. We'll get you in a cab, and you just show the driver
that address, and he'll take you there, a'ight? The people there won't
give you any problems."

Longshot looks at you, amazed at such a friendly gesture "You described a
bad place, but I must be even luckier than I thought to find such a nice
person as you. Are you sure you won't miss the money or the paper?"

Vesper nods, cheerfully now. "I won't miss 'em, no worries. I'm a slack
student. My mom and dad still send me cash." Doing good deeds always kinda
makes you feel warm and squishy inside. And besides, as soon as he's in
that cab, he's no longer her problem. Let the haven folks sort him out.
She jumps lightly down the steps and goes up the the curb, hailing a cab.

Longshot follows obediantly, taking the given items, a sincere smile
returning to him "Thank you so very much. You are a very kind person. I
will try to send good thoughts your way."

Vesper blinks back at Longshot. . o O (Hippie!) and shakes her head
slightly. "No worries." With that, she turns and sticks two fingers in her
mouth, letting out an ear-splitting whistle. Right on cue, a yellow cab
pulls up to the curb, and the girl opens the back door. "Here ya go. Have
a blast. And don't let anyone hassle you, okay?"

Longshot nods, smiling and not wasting much time as to not keep the cab
waiting "Thank you again, and have yourself a very good day. I hope to get
too see you again someday! If not, it was very good meeting you!"

Vesper grins, and tosses off a mock salute. When the car pulls out of
sight, she just shakes her head, laughing silently...and heads for the
subway.

Longshot shows the paper to the driver and is off.