This corner was his castle. Day in and day out, he sat, legs stretched out in front of him. Worn paper cup in hand, a smile for anyone who dropped a coin into it.
To everyone else, this was an ordinary corner on an ordinary street. To him, it was the perfect place to sit, think and play. Caleb often wondered how his powers felt - did mutants who were randomly scattered through out the city notice when he was around? Did they feel their powers buffer and stop, or did they simple not notice it?
It was all very fascinating to him since of course, his own power to dampen mutant abilities didn't work in reverse. And he'd tried. It came in handy when confronted by mutant trouble-makers, ones who boasted about trying to beat up a homeless person with their powers. It was disgusting, but he always found that once that advantage was gone, they went away. Several passerby were familiar faces; ones he greeted with a bright, cheery grin only to get a sneer back.
A faint clink as someone put a few more coins in the near empty cup. He looked up with a polite smile and a nod. "Thanks."
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