"Oh I understand. Just was calling a taxi. It should come any moment now." The Iranian responded to the man. It seems that the day MAY go without incident. Though Bahram did sense a comforting presence, he in his mind thought rationally and tried to deny that the person he spoke with was an angel. If the man was indeed an angel, perhaps he can befriend the angel and go on the journey to trace his lineage. Bahram did indeed fear being a "bastard from a basket" type.

Now, it's time to focus on the now and wait for the taxi. The task he wants is up to the professionals...

Nemuel belatedly returned to his Head Hound app, but he wouldn't be able to access its analysis of Bahram until the man spoke again. He opened a different app after a minute, and spoke while looking at the screen. "Should be here soon. Traffic isn't too bad."

"Ah good. Back where I am from, traffic is bad. People back there see roads like guidelines. I hope it is not too bad here." It was evident that Bahram is new to America. He did expect at least some aspects of Iran to be present. If not, America was truly a lion's den for the Iranian. Bahram also heard of rumors of ethnic Iranian enclaves in Florida.

"Oh I mean it gets bad here. Just it's not too bad right now in this area." He held up the phone (slightly smudged but without cracks or scratches) showing a road map with streets in a spectrum of shades from green through yellow to red indicating how fast or slow things are moving. An arrow pointed to their location on a greenish-yellow street.

"Understood that. I will still wait. I have to go somewhere soon." He didn't trust complete strangers for good reasons, but this man seems promising. Bahram has also heard horror stories involving "bad" Samaritans. It's not that he wants to robbed or fooled.

Bahram was still waiting for the taxi. The weather made it bearable to bide time.

Nem tucked his phone back into the pocket or fold inside his robe at chest height. He put his headphones back on his ears though nothing was playing through them. He looked around aimlessly, considering his next move. Suddenly he cringed and made a small noise: "Hnkh." His left hand reached awkwardly over his right shoulder. Unsuccessful. He sat down on the edge of the bench and tried again, leaning far forward and rubbing his right wing near the shoulder.

(Sorry this took so long. I was really busy this weekend. But if that wasn't enough, I had to post this using my smartphone. And, due to stupid smartphone SNAFUs, I had to rewrite this post 3 times! Thank god it's all over! XD)

Dan awoke from a relatively peaceful slumber. As he trudged his way to the dorm bathroom, he realized that only his neck was soul crushingly sore this time around. Huh... I guess my body's finally getting used to the changes... He thought. Fuckin' finally. He brushed his teeth, fangs and all, took a warm shower to wipe off the cold sweat, changed into a normal shirt and jeans, grabbed his backpack and headed out of the dorm building. He didn't have any classes today so he decided to take advantage of his free schedule and get some fresh air and a coffee. Even if fresh air has been having an opposite effect lately.

The midday sun beat down on him hard as he hurried toward the campus gate. The sun gives him an unbearable, unshakable itch all over his body. It's enough to drive him crazy. But he's found one way to deal with that problem, he just needs to make it off campus. His pace increased as he headed for the campus gate, each second like pure torture. The moment he stepped past the campus gate, he stopped dead in his tracks, grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his backpack, shoved one in his mouth and, with shaky hands, lit it with his Zippo lighter. He took a long desperate drag, feeling a mixture of relief and bliss as the smoke filled his lungs. He exhaled and took the cigarette out of his mouth, contemplating whether or not to toss it. "Dammit, smoking sucks." He said to himself with a sigh. He just shook his head and put the cigarette back in his mouth as he began walking down the street. Dan hates smoking, always has, but he's found that it's the only thing that makes walking in the open sun bearable.

Because of Dan's new habit, if he wanted a coffee or a place to just sit and think, he needed to do it in a smoke-friendly place, which are few and far between these days. Even in Miami. The only smoke friendly place nearby is this crappy coffee shop near the park. So he was heading there, taking a shortcut through the park.

A taxi driver gave Bahram a call. This prompted the foreigner to pick up his phone. "Hello? Oh good! See you soon!"

Bahram sat on a bench, observing and waiting for the taxi.

Nem sat up after a minute an muttered "Charley horse", though no one seemed to have noticed his pain anyway. He stretched his wings cautiously, out and up and then back down.

Matt was feeling a little miserable. He hadn't gotten the angel guy's name, number, or any real way of contacting him, he had lost the werewolf with the interesting rune after snapping only one shot at a crappy angle. Matt needed a pick-me up most definitely, so he went down to the local crappy coffee shop, and waited patiently in life for some sweet, sweet cocoa once again.

Bahram turned to Nemuel. "I was looking for a horse. Apparently there was none." He has taken the phrase literally. Although unknowingly so, Bahram had a rather comical element to the moment. He realized that the man he was speaking to had wings! With a mix of trepidation and curiosity, Bahram stepped forward to examine the wings. If they were angelic, the man could be a good ally, but demonic meant either doomed or defense.

"Excuse me sir, what do you call fereshteh? I mean those men and women from the sky with bird wings and light?" Bahram knew the concept, but was not sure of the word in English. Was it Angel or Angle?

After a quick shortcut through the park, Dan made it to the coffee shop in five minutes. He took his cigarette and shook off the loose ashes before putting it back in his mouth and walking inside. He immediately noticed the line of five people ahead of him. He let out a small yet disappointed sigh before taking another drag of his cigarette and taking his place in the back of the line. He noticed outright that the person ahead of him was Nephilim, mainly because of his exposed wings. Though he paid it no mind. He exhaled the smoke and stretched his neck in different directions to try and work out some of the strain and pain as he stood in line.

Nem smiled and turned toward him. "In English they say 'angel'. But your word is right, too."

Bahram was surprised that Nemuel knew. In fact, Nemuel seemed to be trustworthy. The texts he has read about for theology told Bahram that the angels were benevolent. "Sorry I'm asking. I'm from Iran and I got here some time ago. I'm also learning my English; I have a cousin and his family that lives around here. My name Bahram also."

The taxi would be here within ten minutes, as around five to ten minutes have passed. He has money in case.

Nem extended his right hand to shake. His skin is warm and dry and feels essentially like normal human skin. There can be a vague sensation of that golden glow as a tactile experience, but it might be psychosomatic. "Nemuel." After a pause he added, "your English is fine. I can't imagine my Farsi would be as good."

Bahram shook hands with Nemuel. He sensed the golden glow and was thinking that Nemuel could be an angel. "My pleasure to meet you." He looked at a reminder on his PDA. "Also, you can meet me later on, if you want, in a chelo-kebab place my cousin plans on taking me. Shiraz Kabab Cafe & Food Market. You can meet me there during dinnertime."

Nem is a little thrown by the abrupt invitation, but nods. "I'll uh, yeah, I'll see what I've got on. Sounds good."

"Sorry if I bothered you. I'd like to talk more, but my cousin is...what's the word? Repeating? To go meet him that is." The Iranian man was ready to meet his Iranian-American family. The taxi has just arrived. "I should not keep them waiting. They have no patience for too long."

Nemuel waves at the fellow who's heading for the cab. He feels and seems bewildered by the whole interaction. "See you..."

After grabbing his coffee, Matt took a glance at the line, and noticed some dude smoking and scratching his neck. The vampire probably saw the werewolf, right? It couldn't hurt to ask for a picture. Matt waited silently at a table.