Mark 5

 Of course the man drove a mustang.

She had never seen one close up before, and asked a lot of questions as he drove. He seemed pleased she was interested, and the time passed quickly. Before she knew it, he was pulling into a parking space alongside a busy street.

Hizashi led her to an upscale coffee shop in the better part of the city. It wasn't too far from where she worked but had never been due to the higher prices. They were seated and orders taken swiftly by a polite waiter that nonetheless looked as if he wanted to bring up a variety of topics, including their Marks, which were putting on a colorful display.

"How did you find out you wanted to be a DJ?" Elly thought that might be a good start on getting to know him better.

Hizashi beamed at the waiter, who handed him a steaming cup of the most sugar-laden monstrosity the place offered. He thought for a moment as she got her order.

"I really love music," he shrugged. "I mean, obviously, yanno..." He toyed with the rim of his cup, staring into the whipped cream and foam. "But I always did. It was a place I could go - still can -- when I felt like shit. Music always cheers me up."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I had a crappy childhood. But music - there's no way anyone can take it from you. It's everywhere and it can make your spirit soar."

Hizashi reached out and took her hand in his. He couldn't stop touching her, couldn't bear to be detached physically for more than a few seconds. Their Marks flared up again, causing a few of the patrons nearby to talk in low voices and even point, but he ignored everything but her.

"I feel the same way."

"Yeah." She allowed herself to become lost in his eyes for a long minute, gazing with such warmth that he began to blush, his ears burning.

"Did you, ah, look into Marks or anything?" He eventually looked away, directing his attention to their odd designs. They were thrumming gently to the light, jazzy tunes piped in throughout the shop, their glow noticeable due to the sun having set.

"I did," Elly confessed. One of her ears turned towards him as she tilted her head. "Did you?"

"It was the first thing I did when I could think straight!" He laughed, recalling it had been in his bathroom at home. "I fell down the freaking rabbit hole, Ches baby, let me tell you."

She wiggled in her seat, unable to completely contain her glee at the nickname. "Y - yeah, me too. We're not the first to have color marks like this, but it's rare."

"Uh huh. But the moving stuff..." He shook his head. "That's more vague. I never heard of anybody having Marks that move constantly."

"Maybe we're an evolution."

He snorted as he drank, and she was more than amused to see his upper lip, including the pointy mustache, had been covered in whipped foam. "Ha! If I'm a higher link in an evolutionary chain, I feel bad for humanity. Like, whoa."

"Zashi," she giggled, reaching out, "you've got whipped cream on your -" She wiped his mustache points off with a finger and he snapped playfully at her, catching the pad in his mouth and sucking it off.

She shrieked laughter and snatched her hand back, her heart beating far too fast.

"Uh oh. Looks like my antics didn't go unnoticed. " He coughed a little in apology. "Told ya."

Elly's ears flicked. "Paparazzi?"

"Uh huh. We just got snapped a few times. Marks on fire, too. Probably big news 'cause of how different ours are."

"Is big news okay?" Her eyes were so wide and vulnerable when she spoke that he wanted to kick himself for making a fuss about the magazine earlier.

Hizashi picked up her hand and kissed her palm softly. Her Mark flared up and actually <i>blushed</i>, a deep red color infusing it completely for a moment. "It's fine, babe. I get to show off, anyway. Let the whole damn world see my beautiful babygirl."

Elly sighed in relief and then added in a wry tone, "Good, because <i>that</i> was filmed on someone's cell phone, I think."

"Ah, <i>shit</i>," he groaned, pushing his cup to the side. "All right, we need to go somewhere more private. I know just the place." He dug in his pants pocket and took out his wallet, but she'd already put a tip on the table. Hizashi nodded, accepting her contribution though he made quite more than she did.

Elly liked that.

She liked him, too - more than liked, in fact. She was starting to come to grips with the fact that she might already be in love with this man she just met the other day.