Ulysses bolted down the stairs of his apartment building, his every step causing the entire metal staircase to shake, resulting in a thunderous echo. As he flew past the front office an authoritative voice rang out from inside.

"Ulysses, get y'ur mail"

The voice was instantly familiar to Ulysses, it was none other than the building's general manager and Ulysses's land lord. His real name was Friedrich Brownstein, however most of the tenents got by just referring to him as "stein".

Ulysses quickly darted back into the main office. Stein was overall a diligent landlord and reasonable person but Ulysses knew better than to try his patience over even trivial matters.

"Stein, I'm in a rush, can't it wait?"

"It looks 'portant to me, got this weird black envelope for ya."

The slightly overweight man looked to be in his mid fourties. With far more dexterity than one would assume a man of his physique Stein picked something off his crowded, messy desk and offered it to Ulysses.

A black envelope could only mean one thing, although the timing was a bit off... Ulysses couldn't let himself get distracted this easily. Stuffing the letter in his pocket he bolted out the door.

It wasn't until Ulysses was nearly sprinting down the street towards his destination did it occur to him that the clothes he had hastily put on were his formal dress shirt and pants from work yesterday. For a one on one meeting with an old friend it wasn't the exact sort of aura he wished to exude. Surely she would be understanding.

Ulysses slowed down, this was the place. They had been meeting at Bernie's bar and grill for well over a year now, the food wasn't too great but it was cheap and they weren't too picky about people staying after they had finished their meals.

Ulysses glanced around, hopefully he hadn't been keeping her too long.

Ivy Moss, at least that's the name they gave her, was sitting on the truck of a friend's car, a cigarette between her lips.

"Any chance you know a guy named Leonard Parks?" Ivy asked, flicking her poor excuse of a flip phone shut.

"Ahh... Not that I know of, why?" Rachel asked, looking over. The red head had been Ivy's friend for a few years now and was someone she enjoying hanging out with on her off days.

"Eh, no reason. I gatta go." Ivy replied, hopping down. She lifted her arms and began tying her hair up as she looked over at Rachel. "I'm meeting that friend again today." She explained winking.

"Ohhh! So that's the reason for the nice geddup, I get it." Rachel replied, giggling to herself.

"Well, you're not completely wrong. But still, I don't need to impress him. I just... I don't get to dress up like this very often with my profession." Ivy explained, chuckling as she touched up her make-up in the mirror of the car.

"You mean... Being a painter?" Rachel asked, raising a brow.

"Yep! Can't get my nice clothes dirty, now can I?" Ivy responded, smiling. With a nod to Rachel, she turned and walked down the sidewalk with a bounce in her step. "See ya, Rach!" She called over her shoulder, raising a hand to wave at her. It was never easy lying to your friends and one day, she might have to leave Rachel. Things were getting a bit too close, too many questions. At least, with Ulysses there weren't any question.

As she rounded the corner, she noticed a suit and upon closer inspection found that it was the man in question.

"You know... I didn't take you for a suit guy." Ivy joked, patting him on the shoulder. She, herself, was wearing tight black leggings, a short frilly, flowery skirt and a pale blue top that was loose fitting and showed off her smooth shoulders. "'Sup, Superman? Save some lives today, or what?" She asked jokingly. She'd always called him that in jest because of how indestructible he thought he was. "Come on, let's sit down." She told him, smiling, waiting for the inevitable reaction to her choice of clothing.