Cactus shot a quick glance down the street when he noticed the uniformed men and guys from the neighborhood milling on the corner, all facing north. Oh--a car was on fire. That explained it. He was momentarily impressed by the height of the flames, then he sped through the intersection.
He pulled into CopyCopy's parking lot and walked the rest of the way to Media Vita. If this was going to be a typical Wednesday, he knew what crowd would greet him at the coffeehouse. The Fox would already be there, perhaps even Shy, Retiring Sort (some called her Shy, others called her Sort), and so would Anna and Natasha (who hadn't earned any nicknames yet). Puncshal would wander in around 8 or so, despite the fact that he was guaranteed the worst assignments this way. There were some rare, blazing comets whom everyone loved who might not show up at all, and one or two nasty individuals he rather hoped were gone for good. And then there would be new blood--always there was new blood. A potential acolyte was standing just outside the door, in fact.
"They call you Cactus?" the stranger asked. He was a tall, lean young man, he looked to be about college-aged, and he wore a fedora over black hair.
"They call me Cactus," he confirmed.
The stranger nodded, slouching forward a little and resting his thumbs in the pockets of his black jeans. "So...why?"
Cactus shrugged, wondering why he was bothering to explain. "Because a cactus is prickly and tends to stay in one spot all of its life."
"And that's what you're like," Fedora-Man cut in. Most people did; Cactus talked slowly and there was much impatience in the world.
"No. I'm easygoing and I never stay in town very long."
Fedora-Man blinked. It may have been for the first time. Cactus shrugged again.
"Names are meaningless. Like for you, if you were on the staff of the 'zine, I'd call you Blondie."
The stranger chuckled and stood up straighter. "You looking for any new recruits? A friend of mine works for you; said you might be."
"You're welcome to try out for it. 'Matter of fact, you're just in time for the assignments meeting." Cactus pulled open the door and the two plunged into Media Vita's dark interior.