Mariusz winged over the city, his gaze directed on the buildings, streets, parks, and people down below as they worked on cleaning up the messes that had been caused by all the recent rioting. On the one hand it was nice to see people, more or less, getting along again. On the other it was somewhat disappointing that the riots had happened in the first place. As he winged over the city, devoid of his bow for the first time in days, he pondered over his own personal predicament.

That morning he had received a message from his father that there would, within two weeks time his father would be hosting the major event of the Summer at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel here in New York. A party that would be attended by all the movers and shakers in the political scene on this side of the Atlantic. Apparently there was even a rumor floating around that the President of the United States would be in attendance. Apparently they were going to be renting both the Grand Ballroom and the Starlight Room to be able to accommodate everyone.

This was one of those events that Mariusz would be expected to attend as well. Not that this was altogether out of the ordinary since he routinely attended the major events that his father hosted. The problem, this time, was that his father had told him to bring a date. Preferably an American date. No doubt his goal was to show that his family was adjusting to life in America, understandable of course. The problem was that Mariusz wasn't currently seeing anyone and, after his debacle with the vicodin with Evelyn he wasn't entirely sure his prospects of finding a date were all that good.

As he was pondering this he looked down at all the rooftops below as he floated overhead, doing a double take when he spotted a familiar blonde woman. Last he knew she had a boyfriend, still she was generally a good sport so he imagined she would be willing to go with him, even if only as friends. Of course, he knew he'd probably have to take her shopping to find something suitable, but that would be no problem.

Tucking his wings Mariusz dove before fanning his wings at the last moment and landing on the rooftop near the blonde woman in a whoosh. "It has been awhile since I ran into you, Tses," he said, rising to his feet. "I am glad to see you made it through all the riots alright, I was worried but did not know how to find you to bring you to a safe place to ride it out."

As fun as the riots had been, Tses was finally starting to settle down a little. She destroyed a few things, made a few enemies, embraced the 'bad girl' side she had lurking under the surface. But then party over, Maxine was gone, the group disbanded and she was back to just being the typical troublesome street rat. Not that she minded, in the end. Being a street kid was just as fun, and it was less likely to get her shot and or injured. Life on the edge was a little hard to deal with, and she wasn't really sure she was 'bad' enough to permanently be with those so called 'amazons'.

That put her back on the rooftops, wandering and occasionally dropping an explosive on the random pedestrian. She was bored.

Until there was the sound of wings and a voice called out from over her head.

"Hey Mari. Glad to see you." She looked a little surprised at his comment, and tried not to laugh. She shrugged her shoulders instead. "Nh, I can handle myself. I've got more than enough firepower to deal with the riots. What have you been up to lately?" She wondered momentarily if it was a good idea to engage him in conversation. Last time he dragged her into build-a-bear and she never heard the end of it.

"Yes, I imagine you can handle yourself," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I have been up to basically the same things as last time. In a month I have my citizenship exam and then, after that, I will announce my candidacy for Mayor of New York," he continued. "The riots have convinced me that now, more than ever, there needs to be a voice for mutants in the city. Who knows, if all the mutants vote maybe I will even be able to win."

"Today I have just been out looking over the damage and watching the clean-up. Nothing too exciting really," he said, trying to figure out a way to build over to the topic he wanted to discuss. "So," he asked finally, "how is Ty?"

Mayor of New York... that would certainly be a hefty title. Just the other day Tses had been talking about her lack of interest in all things political, and now she was going to know someone who was obviously quite involved in it. She gave a slight nod of her head and wandered to the edge of the roof, cat-walking along the lip of the building. "Mayor huh? So you're still going through with that. Well best of luck. I don't think I exist legally so I can't exactly vote for you but hopefully it works out." His reasons seemed legit enough, but it was beyond her mindset to really worry about it. After all, she was more of a problem mutant than one out to save society. Especially after the fiasco with Ty.

She was about to abandon that thought when Mari drifted over to it. Her frown deepened. "Psh, don't know, don't care. He dumped me. Don't give a **** where he is now." Green energy flared up her arms with her spark of anger then died again. She hopped over a break in the roof and continued walking.

"Sorry, I did not mean to trouble you by asking a question on a painful topic," Mariusz said quickly, following after Tses and giving a slight flap of his wings to clear the gap in the roofs as he followed the blonde. Of course, if she was no longer seeing Ty then it would make the next direction he wanted to take the line of discussion in much easier to broach. No one wanted to have to deal with the potential for jealous boyfriends.

"Actually, I am glad I ran into you today. I am having a bit of a crisis, of a personal nature, and I think you might be able to help me solve it," he said, still following after the blonde. If he could secure her for his date for the party then all his problems would be solved.

Tses shrugged her shoulders and kept walking. She was over being hurt by Ty, but she was just started being mad at him. Sure, he helped her when she had amnesia but he was the one who dumped her in the first place. Because she was mean. Well, he knew that when he started dating her. Dating was dumb anyway. Green energy flickered and faded like a fire feeding on her emotions. "I don't care. I guess I kinda agreed it was over." She pulled her memories away from that bitter place and listened to what he was saying now.

"Crisis..." She glanced at him, and his father spruced up nature, and smirked slightly at the word. "Never thought you would have a 'crisis'. Though by the sounds of it, not sure I will like what this entails. What trouble are you getting into?" In her mind, the only time one would ask for Tses' help was when they were looking for trouble. Well, he found her. Trouble with a T= Tses.

"No troubles, per se. I am sure I have told you that my father is the Ambassador to the United States from the Czech Republic," Mariusz began, settling the stage for what he was going to ask with a brief explanation. "Well, in three weeks he will be hosting the major summer event for the Embassy, something I will have to attend. A big fancy masquerade ball at the Waldorf Astoria. A veritable who's who of important political, economic, and military figures."

Mariusz paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to phrase his request diplomatically. "He has told me that I must bring someone with me to the party, preferably someone American. To be honest I have not found anyone to get involved with yet, at least not in that way," he said trailing off. In truth there was one person he very much wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure how to necessarily get ahold of said person and he figured his 'antics' while doped up on painkillers probably meant she would run screaming from the room if he asked her. He sighed and then continued.

"So, my predicament is this. I need to find a date for this event. Not necessarily a date in the implied romantic sense of the word but, rather, a date in order to please my father. Could you help me out?"

A fancy party. Tses stopped walking for a moment and faced the feathered mutant as if he'd lost his mind. Maybe he had. She pointed a hand at herself and let out a snort of laughter. "A fancy party and you think inviting me is a good idea? I hate to tell you twinkle toes, but I'm not exactly an upstanding citizen in society." She jumped up to a taller section of wall and felt the rush of watching the cars move several stories below her. She shook her head, glancing over her shoulder with another chuckle.

"As much as I'd love to, ya know, help you with your social problems, I think I'd do more harm than good. Last guy I went on a date with ended up turning to the dark side and all that shit." It was still a sore spot, even though the decision had been mutual. A broken heart was full of sharp edges to be cut upon, and he sure found that out the hard way. Or maybe, she did.

"Can't you get one of the mansion gals to go with you? they're a little more in the 'who's who' variety of class." She refused to admit she owned a dress for such an occasion, and a tiara to match. Chrys would have loved to see her pranced around the dance floor in formal wear. All the more reason to avoid it at all costs.

"And why would asking you be such a bad idea," Mariusz asked, his feathers puffing up a little bit. "As far as I know you are a perfectly fine person and maybe your issue has not so much been being trampled upon as it has been that no one has given you the chance to shine forth," he continued, stepping up to the edge of the building with the blonde. He had no fear of falling, what with having the large wings attached to his back and everything.

"Bob Nelson once said 'It is always easier - and usually far more effective - to focus on changing your behavior than on changing the behavior of others.' I have no concerns that you would be able to change my manner or behavior and I know, somewhere inside deep down, that you want the chance to shine. After all, is there any woman in all the world that rises from bed in the morning and says to herself 'I really want to be treated like dirt today'?"

"As for the Mansion girls, I have asked some of them. This is true. But, none has yet said that they wished to attend with me," Mariusz continued in a somewhat delicate tone. Why was it proving so hard to find a date? Usually women would look for any chance they could get to get all dolled up and fancy for a night. It wasn't as if he lacked for manners... could it be B.O.?

Talon was... something different, that was for sure. She slowly spun in a circle on the thin ledge and then looked at him with a firm gaze. "Let's just say, during the riots I doubt we were on the same side. I'm not really a 'good' person. I don't know if 'shining forth' will make me become one though. Maybe I'm just meant to be this way?" She shrugged, and then reached into her boot and undid a pouch that kept her valuables. After a second she pulled out a card, with some numbers scrawled on it and gave a shrug.

"I appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt, but I'll have to think about it. No yes or no from me. But take this, just in case. It's a number I picked up a while back in case I ever needed a body guard. If you start invitin' people like me to this shindig of yours, you might need it. But her name is Sara, and who knows, maybe you could have a pretend date if nothing else." She gave a slight chuckle, and began walking again. They were running out of roof, but it didn't seem there was much more to be said on the matter.

"We are all graced with the gift of free will. We choose the paths that we shall follow, for good or for ill. Unlike the proverbial zebra we all have the ability to change our stripes, to turn over a new leaf," Mariusz said, stepping closer to accepting the card from her. For someone that was afraid of flying with him she sure was taking her chances on the ledge. He fished in the pocket of his only clothing garment, at the moment, a pair of basketball shorts and pulled out his wallet. He slid the card into the wallet, as if he would ever need to use it, and drew out a business card of his own which he passed to Tses.

"Think about it. You can rise above whatever situation you find yourself in. But the only one that can make the decision to do that is you," he said. Once she had accepted the card from him, which had nothing more than a name and a telephone number her crossed his arms over his chest and jumped backwards off the building. Giving a half twist in midair he allowed his wings to open with a snap and soared off.