Scaly Sunbather (Open)

Fine weather brought out all sorts of odd characters, and not just of the mutant variety. There was simply something about the change in the seasons that drew everybody out, Gina included. It was finally shorts and tank top weather, and so she was meandering around in such an outfit, paired with a thin jacket to block the occasional breeze.

Why she had gravitated towards Central Park was beyond her-- it was too crowded for her liking, but all of New York felt pretty crowded for this small-town native. Gina closed her eyes and enjoyed the walk, letting the sun soak on her wings as she ignored the attempts at furtive stares made in her direction. It was a nice day, and she wouldn't allow for some uneasy humans to ruin it.

Gina let her gaze wander from sunbather to picnicking family, and her stomach grumbled obnoxiously. Gina held her stomach. She should have brought some food with, or at least money with which she could have bought food. Damn.

A good deal off of the trail, something caught the young gargoyle's eye. At first, she thought maybe it was a man, whose legs were tangled in an abnormally long blanket. An unlikely notion, so she peered a little closer. Upon further inspection she noted that he actually seemed to have the lower half of a snake, and that it was his tail splayed out across the open lawn.

"Now, that's a tail," Gina murmured enviously under her breath, looking at her own tail. Some joggers were approaching, and were also staring at the snake-man, and so Gina stepped out of the way to avoid being trampled. They didn't notice her until they were practically on top of her, and veered to the other side of the sidewalk preventatively.

"Good morning," Gina greeted sweetly, giving them a sarcastic, toothless smile. They echoed the sentiment half-heartedly and quickened their pace, leaving the gargoyle watching their backs smuggly. She continued to wander onto the grass, but did not approach the snake-man, at first. He was sunning himself, seemed to be enjoying the sun, and probably didn't want to be bothered.

The snake-man lazily opened an eye, peering over at her. Gina stopped in her tracks, smiling apologetically with a, "Pardon me." Had she awoken him? He sniffed the air in a typical snakelike fashion, and then rolled over onto his side, offering her a greeting and surveying her more openly.

"'Allo to you, too," Gina smiled, studying him as she moved closer. He was scaled from head to toe, slender and muscular like an athlete. His face was distinctly snakelike, she made note of as she came closer, and hair like snake-tails wreathed his head. He was alternatingly cream-and-black over the entirety his body, spare his honey-gold gaze which lingered on her unwaveringly. Unlike when a human gazed at her so openly, Gina wasn't very shaken by his steady gaze.

"Yes," she admitted, when close enough to talk in conversational tones, "One can only stay inside for so long, and I was getting a bit stir-crazy, you know? But I'd have to wait until at least dusk to, you know--" she pointed skyward, to imply flying, "--Or else people panic, thus the walking... is it safe to assume that you're out here for the same reason?"

The man sat up, propping him self up on his tail as he coiled it behind him. So he was alright with talking. Gina smiled, and took a seat alongside him. Nothing like conversing with total strangers to mix things up. He beamed like a child as she explained her situation, urging her on with a sort of, "Yeah, yeah."

"Cold blooded-- I cannot leave shelter in cold weather for very long. I prefer to stay inside where is warm. There is only so much to take before the stir-crazy."

As he spoke, Gina couldn't help but realize the accent. Russian, she mused. It was nice to hear something other than New Yorker, for a change, but she kind of missed hearing that Californian twang. It would figure that a guy who was mostly-snake would be cold-blooded.

"That's too bad," she replied, "Being stuck inside all winter." She'd only been stuck inside when the weather was poor, but had ventured out, on occasion, when the sky was clear. She'd just return borderline-hypothermic from all the moisture in the air soaking and crystalizing on her wings, but at least she got out.

"I think daytime flying would only be problem if you make trouble. If no trouble, there is no reason for panic--" Boy, Gina thought, if only it were that simple, "--People are uncomfortable to see me move by. Does not cause me any bother. I mind own business, they do not usually mind so much. Police may speak to me, but I cause no trouble."

There was a serious difference between walking by someone and flying over their heads, Gina wanted to retort. It's much more of a spectacle when someone flies over your head, then when they just... slither by.

"I suppose so," Gina replied, smiling as if in thought, "It's just that I'm not used to that sort of attention-- back, in my hometown, there aren't many people, and everyone was used to me flying around. And now, in New York--" she puffed her cheeks out, looking for the right words. Let's not get too sentimental on the guy, he just wanted to talk, Gina warned herself. "--There are a lot more people." Who don't know me, Gina added on mentally. Who are uneasy about me. And there will always be a new person seeing me for the first time in this big city.

"Is not as bad as Russian winter, but would rather be warm inside than out in cold."

"But it's definitely much colder than a Californian winter," Gina countered, chuckling. Her hometown had been cool, courtesy of its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. However, the chill of Californian weather was small change as compared to the New York freeze. It had never snowed in Mendocino. However, apparently New York wasn't as bad as Russia. Gina shivered as she imagined Russia's winter weather. Now that would give her really bad stir-craze.

"Is not easy to be comfortable in mutant skin, but is not impossible," the snake-man countered in response to Gina's discomfort about the attention.

She chuckled, and agreed with a, "Yeah," She should know. She was a teenage girl, and as it was, she was genetically predispositioned to be uncomfortable in her skin every now and again. Being a visible mutant only multiplied that discomfort by tenfold. She gave him that. But, being as blindly optimistic as she was, she had a feeling that she'd grow somewhat more comfortable with the skin that she was in.

"Registration Act is long over. Mutants are more welcome in cities, nyeht? Humans are easy to scare, but they will be used to seeing flying if it happens often," the snake-man pressed on, offering more sage advice. Ooh, mention of the Registration Act gave Gina a chill, too. She'd been so much younger when it had happened, and it had left a bitter taste in her mouth. To maintain her freedom, she'd been pulled out of school and home-schooled for a long time. It was not a fond memory.

"You've obviously given this quite a bit of thought," she complimented, "I see what you're saying." But that didn't change the fact that she was so self-conscious. Her outgoing tendencies and her chipper mood was just her way by which she tried to hide that she looked like a demon. Actually coming to terms with this would take more than a simple conversation.

"Will take practice, da. You do not seem to be scared easily. Big snake man is more scary than any human and you speak to one. You will find comfort with time."

"Not scary," Gina countered. If she thought of him as scary, that would make Gina a hypocrite. She found him intriguing, as she did any other visibly mutated mutant, "Intimidating, perhaps, or cool, but not scary." And, call her strange, but he wasn't nearly as intimidating as a normal person. The only thing about him that really worried her was how immense he was. Even though they'd been sitting, conversing, Gina realized that they hadn't even exchanged names yet.

"I'm Gina," she said simply, "What's your name?"

"There was Registration scare in Russia when I live there. Was big time for pride in mutant community. I see many parades and rallies by mutants. Was easy to grow own pride in such places."

Gina listened attentively, reclining so that she was propped up on her hands. Her town had not been untouched by the Registration, but as most of the town's occupants and been mutant sympathists, nearly everyone had avoided being registered. Gina, having attended school outside of town, had dropped out and resorted to home-schooling.

The snake-man preaned as Gina denied that he was frightening, muttering something in Russian as he pretended to dust himself off. Gina chuckled at his antics, covering her smile with a hand. What a character, this guy was. He returned the compliment, commenting that, "I also do not think you are scary. Such lovely young lady should not be afraid to show off."

Gina laughed, faintly, holding a hand to her cheek to stop the blush that she knew was arising. She wasn't too accustomed to such compliments, but she liked them. But, then again, what woman didn't like getting compliments? Sure, her mother would often comment that she looked beautiful in this dress, or something like that, but mothers were supposed to think that. To get such a compliment from someone who was essentially a stranger was flattering.

"Thank you," she said simply, "You're too kind."

The snake man proffered a hand, introducing himself as Aleksandr, and Gina leaned forward to take his hand, with a humored, "Nice to meet you."

"If you do not mind question, why do you move form California?"

"Oh, that's easy," Gina answered, reclining once again. She curled her tail around her legs as she continued, " I came here for school. Xavier's. I was homeschooled during the Registration, and decided that I wanted to meet other mutants, so... I came to New York." She was certain that there were other, closer schools, but Xavier's was probably one of the best.

"You live in Mansion? I live in Mansion! I do not take classes, but I find is good place to live. I come to find more mutant activity and to escape Russian winter."

Gina smiled openly. Fancy that, he lived in the mansion, too! But how, had she missed a giant snake-man meandering around, particularly on school days when she was inside all the time. Oh, he didn't attend classes. But still, she would have liked to have met him in that context, too.

Aleksandr shifted, exposing different scales towards the sun as he inquired, "You are enjoying Mansion?"

"Yeah," Gina admitted, shifting her weight and moving into a cross-legged position. From here, she could comfortably toy with the grass that was beneath them. She sighed and truthfully confessed, "The Mansion's lovely, what with all the classes, and the other mutants. I don't think I've ever seen so many mutant kids my age in one place."

Even Mendocino hadn't had that many mutant children. Though the town was full of sympathists, only about 5-10% percent of the town bore the active X-gene, and less than half of that showed it. Gina had been the only visibly-mutated child of her age while she was growing up.

"Is nice to be part of such community," Aleksandr agreed, "Is like big family. I am hoping to make more friends there."

"Well," Gina commented, "You can add one friend to that list." She smiled toothlessly, letting her gaze train on Alexsandr's face once again.

Aleksandr explained the Russian mutant rallies, and how he was very well-known in St. Petersburg. Gina knew the feeling. She was one of the notorious mutants in Mendocino, and some people came just to see her. She nodded her head wordlessly, glad that he was willing to accept her friendship. He was about to say something, but then broke off quizzically.

Aleksandr gave Gina a funny look before slithering a short way over the grass, peering over his coils at something that had snagged his attention. Gina maneuvered how she sat, trying to get a better look at what Aleksandr had found so fascinating. She got on her knees, then stood up, spying the toddler that was toying with Aleksandr's tail.

Aleksandr glanced over and winked at her, before glancing back at the child, drawing him over with a flick of his tongue. Gina waited, standing and watching as the child moved away from the tail and began toddling towards the opposite end of Aleksandr's body. The child continued to touch Aleksandr inquiringly, much in the way that children often would with unfamiliar things. Gina settled down with the two of them, chuckling.

"You like children?" Aleksandr asked, as the child hit his stomach roughly. The child shrieked in excitement, and both Aleksandr and Gina chuckled. The little boy glanced over at her, laughing with an open, mischevious grin upon his face, as if to say, Did you see what I just did? Did you hear that funny noise?

"I love children," Gina confirmed. Kids knew no inhibition-- they asked the questions that most were too "proper" to ask, they approached the mutants that their adult counterparts avoided, and they were so cute. Kids were the future, the future of equality, and Gina liked that idea very much. The child toddled between the two of them, losting his balance and stumbling. Motherly instinct kicked in and Gina caught him, careful with her clawwed hands, as she righted him once again. She smiled as the boy giggled and began slapping her hands.

"I guess I got his seal of approval," she commented, releasing him. Someone else shrieked in terror, which led Gina to glance over her shoulder. A man and a woman were watching in muted terror as the two mutants, the two monsters played with the small child. They must have been the parents. The father was on his phone in a flash and looked livid, and the mother seemed aghast.

Gina looked to Aleksandr for some guideance, and saw that he was beaming as she simply said, "Parents do not like me so much."

"I'll say," Gina commented uneasily, laughing hollowly. The easiest solution would have been to take the child back over to his parents, but with how frightened the mother seemed and how furious the father looked, Gina was hesitant to approach them. The child propped itself up on Gina's knee for support, and grabbing for her miniscule horns. When noticing that one of those was out of reach, he opted for her tail, plopping down on the ground and closing her slender tail in his fist.

"What do you propose we do?" she inquired, maneuvering herself closer to Aleksandr and around the child, so that she could keep an eye on the frantic parents. Either way, the cops were going to get called on them, even if they returned the child anticlimactically.