Walking the streets, Mael started to reflect on his situation, he was a runner for Nikita and Itachi, bringing them cash and informing them of the ongoings on the streets, nothing big, but enough that he had gotten some nods of approval and felt like he was proving himself well. He found himself staring across the street, watching a couple goons eating at a diner, these men worked for Nikita, obviously. It was only the way they held themselves that grated on the nerves of the teenager, wondering if this was the way they were with everybody. 

He shook his head, heading across the street, he hailed down one of the waiters, who looked at him with a friendly, offering him a nice seat outside, considering that everyone considered him a nice kid that helped out around the neighborhood, to which, he was. He was a kid of many things, but being cruel and unkind? That was not and would never be him, he looked up at the waiter with a toothy smile. 

"Can I please get some orange juice, sir? I think I can afford it!"

He teased, before looking off towards the flower shop that decorated the neighborhood, it seemed that the City of Roses was a good name for it, knowing that Nikita was a fan of the flower, he, on the other hand, never found that much interest. He waited for his orange juice, wondering what else he could get up too in a time like this. 

Megara was new to these streets and still had her trouble navigating around, even though she certainly was improving immensely. She had decided to use this day to get to know the lay of the land a little better, and to catch a breath of fresh air. Megara walked down one long street after the other, and looked everywhere for signs and names to help her out a little, when she finally stopped by a lovely flowershop, one that she had passed three times already. She was ready to move on to get something to eat, when her eyes caught the most beautiful bouquet of roses she had ever seen. The assortment of the different roses and colours caught her eyes immediately and she had this feeling that the bouquet would look even more dashing, adding some life and glow to her home, which was not yet decorated.

She felt grateful for her boss Nikita and all the opportunities she had gotten thrown in her direction, after starting to work for the wonderful lady and she would always do whatever it took, no matter what. The thoought of being able to buy flowers to decorate her very own apartment was a new one, and she had never thought of doing anything so humane like that, considering where she used to be.

Megara gently grabbed the bouquet and lifted it up to take a quiet whiff of the scent, and felt both corners of her mouth lifting up as she did. 

"Hello there, ma'am, do you need help with anything?"

The young worker looked at her and Megara nodded smilingly and handed her the flowers.

"I would love this one, how much is it?" Megara handed the lady the bouquet to hold for a moment, while she grabbed her purse and took out the money needed. She insisted that the young woman could keep the rest and then she got her flowers and went further on her way through town. 

The day suddenly seemed very bright, the weather was not too bad either so Megara decided she would sit than and have a drink, just to enjoy herself to the fullest. Nearby the flowershop was a small cafe, and she quickly went over there, got seated and lit up a cigarette. She looked around, waiting for her cup of tea and saw a face she had seen running around before. She sent a kind smile to him and gestured for him to come join her.

He noticed a woman, she smokes a cigarette, causing him to arch an eyebrow with a little bit of disgust clouding his features, yet he did not allow it to stop him from standing and walking over to the woman, making sure to turn away as he did not want to inhale, secondhand, the deathly smoke. He sighed, smiling in thanks towards the waiter that had gotten him his orange juice, he sipped it calmly, allowing it to dance on his tongue before gulping it down. 

"Hello Ma'am, it's nice to see someone else enjoying the Los Angeles weather."

He started as a conversation opener, his eyes darting from her to the other citizens that had come here, enjoying the fine that was made by the cafe. He noticed that she continued to smile kindly towards him, causing his face to relax, almost trusting her a little, not too much, but enough that he would let his guard down a little. He sat down in the seat, knowing that it would be disrespectful not too. He had been taught manners, after all.

"And my apologies, I did not mean to offend you, I was simply curious of you, I have not seen you around here that much. I'm intrigued is all."

He rambled nervously a little before he took another sip of his orange, effectively shutting himself up, allowing the woman to take control of the conversation, knowing that she would be better versed than him at it. 

Megara chuckled softly at his display of disgust of her smoking, so she did them both a favour and decided to trash it in the ashtray that the waitress had been so kind to go get her. She looked at the cigarette while tapping in down, careful not to burn herself, but then left it to dye out by itself and returned to take a look at the young boy.

"I must admit, it's nice to be the one who gets to enjoy it for once." 

Megara had not talked a lot with the boy before, but she already enjoyed being with his cheeky personality, and she found herself studying his face. His traits felt familiar to her but she could not put her finger on the exact why. Had they had encounters before? She wondered where it could be but her mind could not put the pieces together.

"Are you hungry?"

She wanted to get to know him, she felt sorry for him in some way, but she did not want him to feel belittled because of his age, so she did her best in showing that he could talk with her despice the age barrier. Megara did not know much about him but she did know that he had that look in his eyes sometimes when he was not aware she was looking, which showed a feeling of doubt, maybe even a little pain.

"Tell me about yourself please, that is, if you don't have anywhere to go at the moment." She smiled at him and leaned a little back in her seat, opening up in her body language aswell as her mind. 

"Yes, it's quite nice to enjoy the weather and city life for a change, one that I am slowly becoming accustomed too."

He watched her, noticing that her face seemed to be one of thoughtfulness, she was looking at him like she knew him. It was possibly his Father that she had done business with, or some other time, he refused to speak of his Father though. He noticed that she had now dabbing it out in an ashtray, causing him to smile gratefully towards her. 

"Very much so, I would enjoy whatever you're having."

He leaned back, not that comfortable, he was used to being by himself and when he noticed her, he found himself becoming vulnerable oddly, almost magnetic. He wondered what this was, he coughed uncomfortably, looking at her with a closed eye smile before shakily releasing a breath and opening his eyes.

"Is that necessary? I just don't know you all that well, but I do not mind getting to know you...I'm sorry, I don't know your name, we never formally introduced ourselves. I'm Mael."

He stuck out his hand to her, wanting her to shake it, of course, he did want to be friends with her, hopefully, this would be the first step.

"I'm sorry, I'm probably sounding a little forward."

She sighed and sat upright and looked him straight into the eyes, searching for any signs that could tell her how he was feeling. She did not find anything, and she admitted to herself that he was quite decent at it, but then the sorrowful thought that he was good at it hit her, because he was still young and she found it unfair for him, that he had to go through what he had. Megara made the smart decision to keep quiet about her thoughs though, in the end, he was still involved in the life of crime, and she was sure he would end up a very powerful man someday. She found no reason to get him bothered already, this soon in their to be blooming friendship.

Megara took his hand and shook it, giving a kind smile in return. 

"Hello Mael, I am Megara. Megara Verratti." 

Megara looked as the waitress passed by and got her attention. After a small talk with her, and with the waitress suggesting maybe trying out the Chef's Mystery Meal of the Day, Megara let out a small laugh and thought why not. She ordered two of them and awaited eagerly for the food to arrive.

"What an interesting concept, don't you think? What do you think will arrive?"

Megara's eyes started shining as a kid's when the very same waitress walked towards their table with a batch of bread loafs. She told herself to ingore the bread on the table, but decided to give in and have a piece, and just casually nibbled at it while talking with Mael.

"No worries, you were curious and that is all. I do not take any offense, nor do I believe that you were trying to offend me."

He felt a bit nervous as she looked straight in the eye, clearly, she was wanting to see how he was doing in such a position, he was not uncomfortable and felt calm around her, possibly the way she presented herself and how she seemed outgoing. He never knew that he could feel this much calmness, yet it felt a bit too easy for him. He kept up his blank face, allowing himself a small smile before leaning forward and drinking more of the orange juice. 

"Megara? It's a nice name, for a nice person. Thank you though, you are one of the first to pronounce my name correctly and not use it in the wording of a more, effeminate way."

He chuckled, noticing how the waitress had discussed a little of the meals that had been going on, the chef's mystery meal, oddly enough, he felt like he was going to be served slop and was preparing himself to dash down the street, possibly finding another restaurant entirely to dine at. He would try it out though and see what it was about. 

"Heh, who knows? I think that was the entire reasoning behind the meal, although, I think it might be worthwhile, plus it might be tolerable with such fun company like yourself, should the meal prove to be less than the quality standard that people like us are used too."

He raised his glass of OJ in mock cheers before arching his eyebrow mischievously and awaiting the meal that was no doubt being prepared by the chef.

"How would some pronounce your name differently?"

Megara wondered for a second before a huge smile on her face declared that she had come up with a load of different combinations, she hesitated for a second and stopped to think about it. He seemed to have gotten enough of people not being able to pronounce his name, and she has heard it all before with her own name, so it would be a jerkmove to tease him with it, but then again, she was not known for ever holding back her mind, if she ever got the option be annoying.

"Thanks for the nice words Mayelle, oh sorry.. Meant Mael." She grinned, but immediately caught his eyes in his, to make sure she had not crossed any boundaries with her little joke.

As the waitress walked by with their meals, she paid close attention to what in the world it could be. She was never one to be very particular about the food she got served, in the end she was grateful that she got to get what she desired, so she was in for a big surprise when the meal arrived. She could not even figure out what was in the dish, other than what looked a little like some barely half cooked chicken, and she did not know what Mael was thinking about that, but she knew with herself that she was not exactly in the mood for diseases today.

Without hesitation she got the attention of the waitress, smiled sweetly and asked if the chicken was supposed to be this way. The waitress shook her head, and looked as if she felt ashamed of it, which made Megara wonder why.

"Don't worry we are not mad at all," Megara said with a small smile, "Okay then, how about you take these back, get them cooked throughoutly, have yourself some food, you look a little pale, and then if you could bring us some bourbon?" Megara smiled and watched at the waitress took away the plates and Megara figured they were sent back in to cook, so the waitress could grab a bite for herself.

The waitress quickly returned with two glasses and a fancy glass bottle filled with the heavenly drink she was about to enjoy, and her eyes lit up as she poured the glasses, handed Mael the one and cheered.

She took a sip, and then another, almost finished her drink before realizing she was getting a minor drunk.

"Ohh, right. About that.."

"Oh it's happened many times, I've gotten used to it. Our Boss has taken quite the shine to it, she seems to enjoy tormenting me with such a fate."

Mael teased, his eyebrows raising with humorous intent as he chuckled for the first time between them, something that he found quite genuine, due to the simple fact of his name being teased, it was quite the moment. He turned his eyes to her, filled with the humor of before as he watched her, noticing how she purposefully stated his name incorrectly, causing quite the embarrassed blush to stain his cheeks before he coughed and settled himself.

"Ah, Mayelle? Where have I heard that before? Hm? One would think that you speak of my sister, even though I have none or rather I do, just that I do not care to speak of her."

He brought his glass of Orange Juice to his lips before taking a sip, allowing what he thought to be an awkward silence fester between them. He noticed the exchange between the waitress and Megara, he sat back, watching and curiously noticing how the woman opposite her did not once call out the waitress on her lack of smarts, perhaps being raised as an orphan or a disappointing to her parents, she did none of that. She was kind and simply being herself, something he admired oddly enough. 

"Hm, you continue to surprise me, many others would have yelled at her, possibly until she was reduced to nothing but tears. Hm."

He looked elsewhere before noticing that the waitress had come back with the bottle of bourbon, he watched as she placed a glass in front of him, causing him to tilt his head with an odd grin. 

"Oh I won't tell anyone if you won't, did you not enjoy the throes of rebellion when you were my age? Drinking at the odd hours of the night? Then again, I've never had a sip of alcohol."

He smiled brightly before taking another sip of his orange juice, finishing it completely.

Megara sighed as a nostalgic look grew on to support her eyes. She looked down in her now empty glass and took the bottle to have another round. His upbringing of how her young self could have been was slightly true, but she felt a lump forming down her throat thinking back on it. 

"Ah, Mael, I would never do that."

She sent him a mischievous grin while eyeing the glass in her hand but did not even notice herself, when the bottle of her glass ended up in the air. Megara slightly tapped her fingers onto the table surface, and reminisced to the old days.

"Okay joke.. I admit it, that was a lie."

"Back in Firenze, we did lots and lots of drinking." Megara pronounced the name of her city the way she had always done, in Italian and with an accent. Some would say she sometimes spoke with an accent, but she had practiced a great deal to make it as non-existent as she could manage to.

"I used to sneak out after bedtime, to meet up with my friends. From there we would all meet in front of the local grocery store, buy our wine and other alcohol of choice, and head off into the night. None of us were old enough to go anywhere that would matter even the slighest bit, but we gathered on the old Ponte Vecchio, daring each other to jump into the arno." Megara shook her head, small smile on her lips.

"Well, I must say I jumped in one night, it was terrifyingly cold. But the struggle with that night, was explaining to the don why I was drunk, soaked and not in bed."

She looked at the young boy in front of her, and finished up her glass. Again. Memories of her life in Italy flooded her and she did not want to get emotional in front of him. That was not something she could do and then be able to look at herself in the mirror, ever again.

"Well this is enough storytime for today. The time is getting late and I got some work to do. I do hope it is alright that I take my leave?"

"I've had a great time talking with you, Mayelle. You are a kind boy, please, if you ever need anything, let me know."