Honey, I'm home! (Attn:Shin)

~~ “Be right there.”

The voice sounded a little upset about being disturbed, or perhaps it had just had too much to drink or smoke recently. A twinge of fear at the thought that flitted unbidden into her mind- perhaps they had a dragon-mutant guarding the gates. Somehow being charred to a crisp when she finally had a friend and a job after three years of nothing seemed a bit of a shame. Wriggling her fingers to keep circulation happening (nothing quite like the stiffness of chilled body parts to kill a good mood.) she inspected the gates. They looked sturdy enough, but would they really keep out someone who was determined. Especially if said determined someone had wings? It seemed unlikely, and she idly wondered why there wasn’t a giant dome surrounding the whole area. Besides the fact it would be insanely expensive, of course.

~~ “Hello. Hold on a second.”

She gave her fingers one last wriggle as she waited for the keypad to decide if she was worth admitting. She passed. She followed the man with a curious crinkle of her nose. On a day like this coffee or hot chocolate, or pretty much anything warm seemed better than ice, but she was inside now, and if- as well as ice- the kitchen had a table, she could get this man to have a look over her paperwork. Surely with as many issues that the general population had with mutants there were lots of potential residents who couldn’t put details in certain areas.

Following the man quietly she looked around as they made their way up the steps to the doors, she had been here once before, and the lighting had been much better in late afternoon, rather than early evening, but she had been distracted by fits of nerves about attending a wedding where she didn’t know anyone. The grounds were huge, from what she could see and she touched her pocket, double checking that her paperwork hadn’t run away from her.

She pondered why he would want ice right after meeting her, and after careful contemplation of everything he had said and done from the moment he stepped out of the doors and made his way towards her, she still wasn't sure why. The man touched the back of his head tenderly and she decided it was for himself. He had, after all, been rubbing his head when he said it as well. He must have hit it on something.

“Are you alright?”

Surely whatever had happened to him wasn’t her fault…

Surely.

Verdigris was no stranger to dyed hair, her own green-tipped locks were a round-about by-product of her mutation. Not that her mutation made her hair any different, just that she had dyed it to change how she looked so she could disappear until she figured out her mutation. She had never expected to be gone for three years. She smiled at the pair, perhaps they too had picked the mansion as a safe-house. She watched as the young man rummaged and dug before wrapping the ice triumphantly in a tea-towel. He suggested his office and she nodded, with a glance again to the two students she fell in behind the man and followed quietly.

~~~

Verdigris slipped into the chair, paying careful attention not to swing on it. She ran her fingers over her pants, it kept them warm, and kept her occupied.

“My name is Verdigris, lots of people used to call me Verdy, but you don’t have to, whichever is easier, nice to meet you Shin.”

She glanced at the ice laden hand, did he want her to get rid of it? Ah, no, it would seem he had merely forgotten about it. She shook the cold, slightly wet hand with an awkward smile.

“I, uh, have been living in New York for three years now, I had heard rumours and mentions of a mansion for mutants, but never took any action. I could look after myself I guess was what I was thinking.”

She smiled a little as she remembered the slap-dash way she and Andrea had met.

“I met a girl, and got a fright from a mutant at a safehouse she tried to show me. I ran to the park and hid. I started feeling really guilty, so I promised myself the next obvious mutant I saw I would go out of my way to be friendly to. That’s how I met Andrea, maybe you know her, she’s kinda… green. She invited me to come here, and I said I would if I got the paperwork.”

She fumbled in her pocket and retrieved the folded and re-folded pages.

“I picked these up a while ago, there was a wedding here and the groom invited me. This is the first time I’ve been back here since then.”

She lay the paper oblong on the desk, tilting it so it was perfectly parallel to the edge, it just looked better like that.

She wiped nervous sweaty palms across her pants, the amount of times she had read and re-read the questions before carefully wording answers on a napkin to get them perfectly right before she wrote them on the actual form. It would be terrible if they still weren't satisfactory.

~~"Looks good,"

Relief flooded through her and a easy-going smile flittered across her face, if the paperwork was in order it was a big step in the right direction, huge even, and all the time she had spent seemed well worth it.

~~"So, you've met Sebastian then? Nice guy... saved the bride twice, actually."

She nodded, the horned man was by far one of the nicest people she had met since coming to New York City, most people- she had realised quickly- were far too busy to care about a lost teen, no matter how hungry she looked. Sebastian was different, even without knowing her he had invited her to his wedding so she could eat freely for an evening. The fact that he had saved his bride didn't surprise her at all, he seemed the type to help anyone he could.

~~"You... shoot marbles?"

Ah yes, the most tricky question to answer 'mutation description' she had opted for an example as she was yet to really find a description besides "wormhole hands" that even started to describe what she could do.

~~"Neat. I make sharp point triangle shaped barriers with my mind."

She raised her eyebrows, now that was something a little different, not that she had had much experience with those carrying the X-gene. Well, perhaps it was a bit of a tit-for-tat.

"Cool, and yeah, kinda. Marbles, paper clips, pens, keys, pretty much anything that is small enough to fit in your hand and shorter than wrist to elbow." She gave an awkward grin "And yeah, I haven't worked out how to make them come slowly yet, so they sorta come flinging out at high speeds..."

She fidgeted a little, as he fiddled with the computer in front of him, it seemed rude but, well, she couldn't resist an opportunity when one arose. "Can I see? Sorry, I mean, if that's rude." She hesitated for a moment "And Andrea said I could share a room with her when I ended up coming, if I came at all, if that helps."

She bit her lip to keep from blabbering more, when nervous she had a irritating habit of saying too much in too little time.

~~"Uh. Sure."

She cocked her head as he shuffled a space for her and turned the computer so she could see. In an instant she realised that her question of mutation had been mistaken for that of curiosity for the rooms. She decided not to say anything rather than embarrass one, or both, of their two-man party. She cocked her head a little. Some of the room numbers were in the high hundreds, the place must have been massive to hold that many rooms even remotely comfortable. And this coming from a girl who had slept under park benches or behind dumpsters. She remembered that Andrea had offered her own room and said so to Shin, who after a few moments rummaging handed her a key.

She stretched her neck a little as she considered his offer. While it was helpful to know where everything was, somehow it seemed that bed was a far, far nicer thing to be heading towards.

“I’d love to look around, this place is massive, but I think I might have to take you up on that on another day, probably best if I remember where things are.”

Because, of course it is far easier to draw an internal map when you’re wide awake.

~~~"If you ever need help practicing that ability of yours, ask me, or someone on staff. They should be able to help you out."

She smiled, a true smile, one that made her grateful eyes sparkle with joy and, admittedly, a little victory. She had made those forms work and got what she wanted. Now to just see if Andrea would still have her. Rash promises made in the sun with no one to witness and no binding contract could be easily forgotten. She hoped not.

“That would be really nice, I’ll keep it in mind.”

Pocketing the key quietly she stood. Forward to the middle corridor!

“After you.”