The World of Talents should remind you of many other fantasy worlds with superheroes, magic, and cosmic powers, except with a Krosis twist...

Joel Jones sat alone on the restaurant’s patio, protected from the sudden cloudburst by his table’s overhanging umbrella. The other patrons had gone inside, but he liked the coolness of the air, not to mention the solitude. Although, now that he thought about it, his solitary existence was currently his main problem in life.

Seeing a hand reach out to take one of his french fries, he grabbed the wrist and heard a shriek. As the wrist pulled back, he let go, and he was looking at a woman, a little younger than his 22 years, with long platinum blonde hair that looked gray from the rain.

“Hello,” he said, hoping he sounded friendly. She looked shocked at what he had done.

“You noticed me,” she said, shakily.

“You weren’t exactly being stealthy, standing right in front of me while trying to steal a fry.” The young woman just continued to stand there. He noticed that she wore a gray tracksuit that clung to her slim form due to its rain soaked condition. Her small nipples, obviously bra-less, poked out the front of her top in the cool air. Embarrassed, he quickly looked back up at her face. Sort of cute with a small nose and mouth, not wearing any makeup, but he favored the natural look anyway.

She still looked upset, so he gestured to the seat across from him. “I’m sorry for grabbing your arm. Please, get out of the rain. You must be cold.” He deliberately made sure not to look at her nipples again, preferring to instead be a gentleman. She sat down and leaned her head forward so that it was more under the umbrella, though the position made her seem like she was interested in him, which was silly. Women were never interested in him.

“Let me order you something.” He waved to the server, who hesitated only a moment before rushing out with a menu over his head to protect it from the rain.

“Yes sir?”

“You want a burger and fries too?” Joel asked her. She nodded. “Another of these for my friend, please.”

The server glanced around the table and then back to Joel with a strange look on his face.

“Is there a problem?” Perhaps the server thought that the girl was homeless, Joel thought. Well, maybe she was, but... “We are paying customers.”

The server paused and then responded carefully, “Another burger plate ... yes sir.” Then he went back inside.

Joel shook his head and then turned to the woman. “I’m Joel.”

“Grey,” she responded. “You can still see me?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be able to see you?”

She sat there, watching him and thinking. “Is there something special about you? Are you a Talent?”

He laughed. “I wish! No, I’m incredibly unremarkable, honestly.”

“Oh. I don’t think you’re unremarkable.” She stared at him and absentmindedly cracked her knuckles.

Soon the second plate arrived. Joel had to point to the spot in front of Grey when the server looked confused as to where to put it, and then the employee left, shaking his head.

The two of them ate in silence, Grey ravenously consuming her burger first, and then slowing down to enjoy her fries smothered in ketchup. “Thank you,” she said as she leaned back to pat her slim belly. The rain had stopped, but the rest of the patio was soaked so they were still the only ones out there. “Joel, I’m sorry, but soon you’re going to forget me. I’m surprised you still know I’m here.”

He gave her a doubtful look, half smiling.

“This is the longest conversation I’ve had in 10 years, I think,” she continued. “I don’t want it to end. Can I tell you about my life?”

He nodded.

“I was born ... I think 19 years ago? An only child. I don’t remember much of growing up, except for when my parents started to forget me. They’d set themselves plates for meals, but would ignore me when I came to the table. When I asked about my food, they seemed surprised that they had forgotten me. I thought that they were playing a prank, and then it started happening more and more often. Finally, it happened every meal. Outside of meal times, they just left me alone to do whatever I wanted. I didn’t realize at the time that they just didn’t notice me anymore. I eventually just ate the occasional bit of food from their plates.

I still went to school. I was in my early teens then, so I realized that if others weren’t going to help me then I had to help myself. By the time I would have graduated, if the teachers had remembered to put my name on a diploma, my parents had completely forgotten me. I had to put a sleeping bag down in what used to be my bedroom after my father remodeled it into a home office. One day I finally managed to get their attention again, but they screamed at me like I was an intruder and I had to leave or they’d have called the police!”

There were tears rolling down her face now. Joel didn’t know what to do ... whether her story was true or not, she was obviously upset. He reached forward and took her hand.

She gasped at the contact and squeezed his hand tight. “You can still see me?” He nodded. “Joel ... can I ... can I have a hug?”

He nodded, and they got to their feet. She melted into his arms, squeezing him hard and holding on as if he’d disappear if she let up even a little.

The top of her head came to just under his chin and he rested it upon her gray-silver hair, enjoying the first hug he’d received from a woman that wasn’t family.

Then he caught a whiff of her. “Um ... you’ve been living rough for a while, huh?”

She disengaged and stepped back. “Oh, I must stink. I’ve been slipping into people’s houses to use their facilities but it’s been a few days since I bathed.” Her cute face reddened with embarrassment.

“Well, I only live a couple of blocks away if you want to take a shower. I can wash your clothes too. Uh, if that’s not too forward!”

Her face lit up. “That would be great!”

He paid their bill and as they walked to his apartment he told her his story. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was unremarkable. I’m also an only child too, of a bank teller and an accountant. With those backgrounds you’d think I’d be good with numbers, but I got middle-of-the-road grades and barely graduated. When my parents passed away a couple years ago I inherited their condo. I get by doing editing and other boring online things.” He turned to her, but she wasn’t there. “Uh, where’d you go?”

“Right here,” she said from right beside him, and he jumped.

They entered his apartment and he gestured to his bathroom. She pulled her top off and revealed small but attractive breasts with tiny pink nipples.

“Um, Grey... !”

She quickly covered her chest with her arms, her pale skin turning red from embarrassment. “Oh, I’m sorry! I’ve just gotten used to undressing while people are around, since they don’t notice me!” She rushed into the bathroom, and then a moment later she threw her track pants and panties into the hallway, where Joel collected them and took them to his clothes washer.

As she showered, she heard Joel call out from just beyond the bathroom door, “I can’t turn on the washer while you’re showering, but I’ve put some spare clothes here.” Then she heard his retreating footfalls.

Grey felt a thrill that Joel still remembered her, even though she was out of his sight. How was this happening? she wondered again.

When he heard the shower stop, Joel put the clothes washer on. A few minutes later, Grey came out of the bathroom wearing the long t-shirt he had left her, but without the accompanying bottoms. “Sweatpants no good?” he asked.

“Too big,” she replied. “Plus, I only really wear clothes to keep warm, and it’s nice in here.”

He gestured to the couch, and she sat, tucking her smooth, slim legs under her.

“Dad always kept the temperature low. ‘You can’t just throw money away. Put on a sweater if you’re cold,’” he said, mimicking an older man’s fatherly voice. “Now that this is my place, I keep it as warm as I want.”

“It’s nice.” She noticed his eyes had moved to her legs again. “I hope you don’t mind, but I used one of your razors.”

His eyes snapped back to her face. “Oh, yeah, no problem, Grey. Mi casa, su casa.” She smiled again and he thought she looked pretty when she did that.

He needed to get the conversation off of her legs. “So, can I ask, what other things have you been doing since you went off on your own?”

She cracked her knuckles again, which seemed to be a nervous habit. “I’ve ... had to steal things to survive. I started doing it when I was still at home and growing out of my clothes. I would work, but you can’t make a living if people don’t know that you actually did labor for them, but they also don’t notice the occasional bit of food or clothing missing.”

He nodded, understanding.

“Sometimes I help people. I saved a cat that was trapped in a tree one time. It never even noticed me, so I was able to grab it and climb down. I’ve pushed a lady out of the way of an oncoming car.” She frowned. “The driver didn’t see me, though.” She held up her arm to show a healed scar. “I learned how to sew stitches that day.”

Joel kept silent. He didn’t know what to say.

She continued, “Oh, just the other day, I saw a sniper in an alley taking aim at The Sentinel as he accepted an award from the mayor. I managed to shove the gunman so the shot went wide, and then once The Sentinel knew where the sniper was, he made short work of him.” She smiled, self-satisfied.

“Holy shit! You’re like a superhero!”

She liked the way Joel was looking at her. “I ... never thought about it like that. I can’t fly, and I’m certainly not invulnerable...” She rubbed her scar. “My talent is more geared toward bad things. Can you imagine what a man might do if he had the power to not be noticed?”

Joel thought for a moment. Yes, the temptation to take advantage of people, of women especially, with that power...

Then he had another thought. “You know, if a man -- or anyone else -- did have that power, how would anyone know?”

Grey gasped. “They wouldn’t! Oh my God ... there might be more like me out there, slipping through the cracks in society, forgotten by everyone. I thought it was just me, but...” She reached forward and took Joel’s hand. “Thank you, Joel. Just the idea that I might not be alone ... it helps.”

She was smiling again. She smells nice, Joel thought, even though she was wearing his body wash. Then he realized how close together they were sitting and got self-conscious. He got up and went to transfer her clothes to the dryer. On the way back to the couch he was surprised to find someone sitting there. He gave his head a shake. Oh right, he thought, remembering her, she’s hard to notice.