Bob and Rosanne went to a small diner. Rosanne is the one that chooses this place. And Rosanne heads to the counter, seating herself and Bob by the counter and not in a booth, which is great. Bob doesn't think he wants to sit in the booth. It feels too intimate that way.
Only after they have done ordering, and the middle-age, mom-looking waitress walking away giving them an "Aw, you guys are cute together" smiley look, has Bob realized maybe he is giving off the impression that he is on a date with her. Worse, the impression of he has asked her out on a date. That was not his intention. Well, he does not want that to be what she thinks.
She seems to be quite at east though. She taps her fingers on the counter along the oldies playing through the speakers in this old diner.
Does she like old songs, the music for decades and decades ago? How old is she? She looks to be in her mid 20s maybe? But she said she was older than both Jack and himself.
Well, Bob, focus! Let's get down to the business, OK? You are here because you wanted to ask about the high school student and possibly about Nitte. Bob thinks to himself.
Speaking of Nitte, he quickly looks at his cell phone, making sure Jack hasn't contacted him.
"Checking your phone, huh? You have someone waiting at home for you?" Rosanne asks.
"Yeah," Bob says without thinking, but he meant the bottle of Chinese ghosts/spirits.
Rosanne hikes her thin red-blond eyebrows and says nothing in return.
"Well, I'd like to ask you about the high school student you say you know. Can you tell me more about that?" Bob asks.
"Why?" Rosanne crosses her arms.
"I'm curious. I think it would be cool to have a superhero high school student, wouldn't it?"
"But I told you I made that up."
"You had to make it up for a reason. And you must have based the story on something that's actually true."
Rosanne bites her lips, thinking.
Damn. She looks kind of... attractive this way.
"Well, he may have some superpowers. But I'd like to protect him. I don't know if he wants anyone to know about his powers yet."
"Why not? Isn't it cool to let people know about your powers?"
"Would you have let people know if you have superpowers?" Rosanne looks straight at him.
Bob pauses. He wouldn't. He can't. He cannot let anyone know how he always automatically self-heals and he never dies. If anyone finds out, they would go hunt down the source of the magic, and it would definitely fall into the wrong hands. Bob had only eaten the snow gathered by the ancient tree twice and he already had a good self-healing power. What if someone evil and ambitious asks to eat the tree or wants to take over the tree? And this evil person will never die.
Bob is not ambitious at all and honestly, he doesn't care about having his powers. But there are plenty of people in this world who wants uncontrollable powers. And that tree is out in the open in the mountains. Not fenced in. Not protected in a greenhouse. It's just being watched by a blind boy all alone. Oh. How ironic. Being "watched" by a "blind" boy. Bob cannot let people find it. His wish is to eventually go back to Yunnan and find the boy. He hopes he is still fine.
"I would. Why not? If I can fly. I'll fly in front of people. I can't be hiding, then I'll never be able to use the power." Bob lies. He wants to get her talking.
Rosanne sighs, "Flying in front of people, huh. You'd like that attention, then yeah, that might be fine. What if it's something else? Changing the micro-weather around you. Mighty strength where it can be used to crush you like you are just an ant? Ability to never get hurt? Would you like to tell people about that, Robert? So people could try to ask you to do stuff for them? And if something bad happens, people might think you did it?"
Bob's heart is racing. His mind is racing. His face is still calm and he even smiles politely. But he is anxiously trying to determine if Rosanne knows he will never get hurt? She has made a reference about it twice now. But Bob decides to not address it right now.
"So your high school student friend must have been able to do at least one of the things you listed. And what about the witch? Who is it that you are trying to find?"
Suddenly, a tall young man walks into the diner. He is so tall that the brightness of the diner changes as soon as he shows up by the entry way, because his height blocks the light from the outside.
"Rosanne, I got here as soon as I could." The young man walks over to the counter.
"Hello, my name is Leif Eiriksson." Leif extends his arm out to shake Bob's hand.
"Hello, I'm Bob. I've heard of your name. Are you named after a historical character?"
Bob can now feel Leif's handshake a little too firm. Bob releases his hand, hinting that Leif should do the same. But after hearing Bob's comment, Leif seems to be fascinated. So much so, he forgets to release his palm.
"Leif, you can let your hand go now," Rosanne reminds Leif, watching their hands.
"Ah. My apologies. I'm excited to have meet someone who has heard of my name. We should do something together, shall we?"
"Like what?" Bob asks.
"Like finding a girl who might be using her powers in the wrong way." Leif says.
Bob decides he is not going to beat around the bush. He is going to ask if they are trying to find Nitte. But there just one little risk-- if they are not trying to find her, would he accidentally then expose Nitte and put her on their radar? Like, they then suddenly think Nitte is worth to hunt down as well?
Well, but for Bob and Jack to try to protect anyone, they need to find out what is going on first.
"I have two guesses right now. I'm going to say them, and please tell me if I'm correct. First guess, you are looking for Nitte Hollow Horn. A tall, thin girl with gold/orange eyes, dark hair, known to be somewhat... mysterious."
Leif smiles and nods.
"Oh good. My first guess is correct." Bob then lowers his voice and leans in to keep this conversation just between them: "My second guess is, you were involved in killing the two people from New Jersey, weren't you? Maybe you used some superpowers? What kind if I may ask?"