[PRIVATE 4/4] Sweet meet

(Guess who's lame enough to have a reply she typed out, forgot to save, and then lost through a computer update? *meeeeeee* Sorry this is so late by the way--BUT FINALLY AFTER 84 YEARS~)

"Turn left here."

The artificial intelligence google maps provided chimed from Rayen's phone, giving it's fifth piece of advice that day. She kept her eyes downward, fixated on the shiny screen to watch as the little cursor (she learned was her) move slowly along the dotted pre-determined path set out for her, head bopping up and down every few minutes, cautious to not run into a building or a pole, which so far-so good. Nifty little things like this are what made the young woman interested in keeping her items--what little there were--up to date. An app here solved a difficult math question and another app there determined if a food would trigger your allergies or not.It made Rayen slightly curious and a bit reminiscent at the thought of what if things like these were present back in her time. A lot of world problems would be solved for sure and yet if that were the case then there'd be more pieces of technology created today and--

HOOOOOOOONK!!

Rayen yelped, jumping back onto the curb she nearly teetered off of as the car that just honked, whizzed by with equal fervor. Everyone around her remained patiently at the crosswalk, which revealed to Rayen that she hadn't been paying attention at all, not to the signal to cross the street and certainly not to the blaring green street light signaling cars to come through without any pause. Even in death, succumbing to a collision-splat accident was not on her to-do list, nor was the curiousity to find out if she could "die a second time".

No, her itinerary consisted to meet her new teammates. It had been quite some time since she was last assigned to a team, the first group she was with didn't last very long to make a good impression. Not that she was in any warm spirits with any of them either, keeping to herself, wallowing in despair. With passing decades she learned the hard way that even though they were all paused in time now with their respective "death Ages", it didn't mean those very same people would be around forever. She had recently learned that it would be best to make the most of her surroundings now to give it a shot, and maybe this time around, she'd find some inner peace with her new teammates. Rayen wasn't ready back then, but she nodded to herself that she definitely was now.

Hopefully she would meet them without causing another accident to herself.

Eyes forward, but still attentive to the little app in her phone, Rayen crossed the street and turned down onto the next block. She glanced ahead for any crossing signals or heavy traffic roads, and with none in sight, her eyes wandered back to the phone.

Forward, forward, left, right, backtrack to the block you just passed, the phone continued offering more of it's useful tone, chiming finally after an hour of meandering through the back alleyways leading to the ice cream store. Rayen looked between the phone and the sign of the shoppe before finally tucking her phone away.

It was...quaint. Definitely low-key, open and friendly. It reminded her of a few shops back in her old hometown years ago. The small woman couldn't help but quirk a little grin at the familiarity. With the clear open window giving obvious view to the street beyond the store, Rayen cupped her hands around her eyes, pressing her nose up to the glass-pane to see if she could spot the few physical descriptions of whom she was to meet.

A woman with a mole under her eye; A woman with a decorative headdress (and no shirt nor bra on); and a man with green hair.

Green was definitely the first thing that caught her eye, it was definitely eye popping among the sea of strangers inside. Perhaps following that neon-bright-top would help lead her to where the rest of the group was residing. Upon entering inside, however, was a different story.

She was used to being short, grew up remaining the same height since elementary school--that never bothered her any. What had always bothered her, was where a huge crowd was concerned. With the growing line towards the cashier counter, it made it hard to find anyone she was with or supposed to be meeting. Naturally, the other party found the same problem, though she was easier to spot being mostly hair and legs herself. Not wanting to attract attention from the living folk, she weaved her way through the line, hoping that if any noticed, she'd pass for a small child running back to their parent. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it cost her a longer glance than needed from a curious human. However, she never stayed long to find out if the person did find something truly off about her.

Indeed, seemed like the more the time passed, the more the store were getting full. That amount of people was making Mirella feel unconfortable. She shifted on her seat and fingered her bracelet that had another panda on it. Not that she was a fan of panda, but they were pretty cute, she couldn't deny it, besides on Japan there were such adorable things of them. Well, back to the place, she forced herself looking up since she had just smiled sheepishly at her teammate then looked down. She hoped she didn't give a bad first impression, she was just a little uncomfortable for being there just with him.

Soon a small figure appeared next to them, it was their other teammate. So just one was missing. She blinked again and smiled as the girl came around. Mi nodded not knowing what to say and, prefering to keep weird words to herself, she kept it like that.

//Are we really going to have ice cream? I wonder which flavor they could have here. I probably will go to some fruit one, yea, that's a good try.//

She was really out of there on her own world.

Some apprentices gave off the same air of the decade that they died in. Others, seemed to easily assimilate themselves within the times and threw away their past lives with ease, embracing the new fashion trends with eager fevor. It was always the first thought to cross Rayen's mind each time she met someone, wondering what time period they had lived in and possibly, how long they've been within death's plane.

Since the new meeting today, there wasn't much that was said when she was assigned to her roommates aside from physical descriptions and names. Nothing like a few ice breakers to get started right? Right. Looking down towards the table as though it would give her some answers, Rayen began to open her mouth....

And promptly closed it shut tight. The newcomer to their little group had arrived, swiftly sitting down next to her and leaned in close. Instinctively, she tensed up, worn down nails gripping the edge of the table, unable to face him directly. She leaned a little aways, keeping her head down until the ginger-mohawked man went back into his own personal space. The entire ordeal, while now gone as soon as it came, still left her rigid, and her voice went up a few octaves.

"S-should we begin with our names, then?"

At some points in time back in HQ, Lincoln would be looking in the mirror to adjust his hair. At that moment in time, he wondered why exactly did his living self decide to have that kind of hair. Was it an act of defiance? It must have been one, considering the colour it came in.

When their fourth and final teammate approached, Lincoln expected a man but not one of his stature. He had a vague recollection of biker movies, a few pictures Salnae had shown him of tough men in studded leather jackets, wearing gloves, boots, sunglasses, smoking cigarettes and round biker helmets. The newcomer smelt strongly of a lit stick as he leaned forward, and the words that came out of his mouth were certainly those versed by rednecks or ones who had a fighter's life. Lincoln raised a brow at him as he sat back into his seat next to the dark lady, who was pretty much at squeaking point at the moment. The girl next to himself, the quiet brunette, made vague movements. He was surrounded by two meek women and one man with a problem that is not quite clear to all of them.

"Well, yes, hello *sshole," Lincoln responded, raising his hand in a half-hearted greet before dropping it on the table. He had to try to be civil. They had to work together, after all. "Considering you spooked the young lady and seem to be in a huge hurry, why don't you start with your name?" He leaned forward slightly, his arms tucked near him with fists clenched.

"Explain yourself in ten words or less," Lincoln tilted his head slightly, "Also state your ice cream of choice," he continued, squinting at the other mohawk before nodding at the other two ladies, trying to indicate to them to pick their choices as well. He waved over -with some difficulty- a waiter and placed his order.

It was hard to tell if the others had came to her defense. The other brunette girl (from what Rayen could sneak quick peeks away from the table she currently stared at) had remained silent during the exchange. A faint glimmer of malicious intent passed over her eyes but nothing more. The green-topped boy, on the other hand, replied with just as much fevor as the boy next to her, not seeming to back down from the ginger's off-putting personality. At least one of them was brave enough to say something.

Rayen groaned inwardly; She was supposed to be making a change within this decade, but already minutes in she was falling back into her own habits.

Small steps first, though, she later added, while listening to 'Kehinde, age 28' talk. At least look at your teammates.

Everything he said and anything he didn't want to add pretty much confirmed most of her suspicions about him. The very notable one being that he was very scary. Wanted dead or alive wasn't something a normal person would brag about unless they lead a criminal past life and were definitely proud of it. It gave her some memories back to the chapter of the Black Panthers she used to run with, there was always both sides to a story. Even those who were deemed criminals in the police department's eye.

Curiosity began to grow in her mind, wondering if the others had such a past too. Maybe that's why the four of them were all partnered up within the same team?

"Your turn niña".

Another thing Rayen noted about him, he had a weird sense of humor. It wasn't at all remotely accurate, and frankly it was just as about as off putting as the eyes he was giving her. She decided to ignore it for now, speaking up for her turn.

"_{M-mi nombre es R--ah!!}" She literally blanked, all the mental power she gave into building confidence had neglected the other part of her brain to speak in english. Perfect way to start the introduction. She took a small deep breath, and tried again.

"_{H-hello. I am Rayen..}" Small as her voice was, an attempt was made. "_{I am..er..I was? I had turned 20 about a few months ago before I died.. Right in the middle of the summer too. U-uhm..}" Wait. Was that more than the ten words the other male had suggested? She stopped, trying to count. Welp, it was well over eleven for sure, so it was better now not to say anything else. Let the other two speak their turn. She glanced towards the menu, reading over all the flavors, eventually settling over the category of spicy-and-sweet desserts.

"_{I-I'd li-ike the ah, the Cinnabon Milkshake, por-favor?}" She asked to the waiter.

Lincoln ordered a Rocky road, narrowing his eyes at the man (Kehinde?) in front of him for being lewd. The girl (Rayen?) was certainly getting squeakier by the minute, and he sensed some sort of movement from the other girl(Mi...Mirella?) to his left. He wondered if he should help poor Rayen, but then some women could handle themselves. He'd give the punk one more chance before he starts getting cold things to chill the hotshot down.

"Wanted dead or alive huh? Guess they have only one option now," Lincoln replied with a scoff, crossing his arms and leaning back in his bench seat. "Name's Lincoln," he added, leaving his age out. It was just a number, after all. Especially now that they were 'dead', there would be no additions to that number. Forever 22. He shrugged and waited in silence for their orders, observing his teammates. He could ask their jobs, he supposed. It was supposed to be an introductory to all of them, after all. Lincoln wondered if he should mention that he was switching to the Police division in the Headquarters right now, or maybe tell them when they are in less testing waters? Kehinde didn't seem to be the kind of guy who would take kindly to law enforcers of any kind, and the girls were pretty meek to begin with.

"I'm a full-time Reaper," Lincoln said instead, stating his previous job at Headquarters. "And if you don't f*ck with us," he continued, leering at the punk sizing up Rayen like a lion over deer, "then we won't f*ck with you."

It would probably take ten to twelve minutes to have an order of ice cream for four people to be ready, more time for the fact that as Apprentices, Humans would tend to forget their presence. After saying his piece, Lincoln turned to look at the crowd instead, ready to flag down any waiter that happened to be carrying their desserts.