Weather: overcast. Temperature: chilly. Mood: Grumpy.

Given the setting and her attitude, it just wasn't proper for her to have left the school today. But something's you couldn't foresee coming, and she'd been dragged from her hid-y-hole by one of them. Mainly, there was an issue with her dress. Considering how close it was to the big day, this news didn't make her happy. Like all brides-to-be she was a bundled up mix of emotions, and currently anxiety was winning the battle between them.

With a long umbrella in one hand, and her purse clutched securely in the other, the Greek was marching determinedly down a semi-busy sidewalk toward her destination. Her attention was partially elsewhere, eyes blind to those waltzing past her, or the sounds of traffic beeping and whizzing past. It was a normal humdrum day for everyone else, but to her it had evolved into something else.

"... cannot even get a simple order right... hmph." Muttering darkly under her breath, she strode through a crosswalk with barely a glance at traffic, dodged a few people trying to pass her, and turned. Not having a license, or car for that fact, did have it's downsides. Having to walk from practically one end of the city to the other was one of them, and all because the bus she was used to taking didn't head in the direction she needed to go... And never mind trying to get a ride; taxi cabs were more dangerous than wildlife and natural disasters combined, in her opinion.

Something cold and wet splashed onto the tip of her nose, and the Gorgon paused to tip her chin to the sky. It was starting to rain.

Ember was wandering the streets of New York City, wearing his large, grey wool trench coat to keep out the cold, and he had managed to get himself completely lost. Again. He was used to his small town, but this large city was dissorientating. All you have to do is take a wrong turn somewhere and you could end up wandering in circles.

And then it started to rain. It started off with just a few drops, but it soon started to pour, soaking Ember quite quickly. Muttering a rather colorful littany of curses, Ember lifted his coat up over his head, but his mid-back length hair, normally a golden blonde color, was darkened and plastered to his coat, so it inadvertently ended up looking like some sort of large, bizzarre halo around his face. Ember suddennly snorted scornfully and muttered, "It`s pouring rain on the embers that refuse to be put out... How ironic."

Ember noticed a woman who seemed to be wearing a rather strange head-dress, but he didn`t think anything of it until he got closer, where he just stopped and stared. He couldn`t help himself. He had never actually seen a mutant before, other than on TV and the internet. She had snakes growing out of her head, for crying out loud! After his initial surprise, he wondered if they were poisonous, but his eyes soon drifted downwards, taking in her face, or what he could see of it around the large sunglasses, anyways. He quickly found himself smirking, then chuckling to himself. "She looks like that snake lady from the greek myths who turned people to stone with her gaze, Medusa."

Barely getting her umbrella up in time, the Greek peered up at the sky from under it with a deep frown on her lips. Of course... what was next, raining frogs? Muttering, she fished around in her purse for a moment for her phone, in order to check the time, but stopped when she caught sight of another figure in her peripherals. Behind her glasses she spied a male, young looking, staring at her. Blatantly, to boot.

Her frown deepened and she huffed, the little breath escaping through her nose. Sloth noticed the attention as well, and uncurled his massive body slightly from around her shoulders in order to get a better look at the male.

"... Can I help you?"

Her voice was soft as always, but held a tiny bit of an edge to it today. Perhaps because of her frazzled nerves, or maybe because of the smirk that adorned the guy's face. She missed what he had said, which was probably for the best as the Greek Gorgon was a bit of a touchy subject when it came to Andrea. She didn't care for being compared to her, considering most myths pegged her as a monster.

Ember silently cursed himself for saying that out loud, not due to it being rude or insulting, but because he knows that if he is too loose tongued, it could get him a world of frustration and trouble. He considered just walking away after that but then the snake woman spoke up. At first, her soft voice almost disgusted Ember. This is a person who likely had abilities she could use to overpower most normal people with ease, she shouldn't just let herself be pushed around passively! His smirk quickly faded to a look of disgust, but only then did Ember noticed that their seemed to be an edge of steel to her voice, despite her passive words, so even the look of disgust faded too, to be replaced with something almost akin to curiosity. His prompt insult stopped in it's tracks as he started to think what it's underlying message was.

Finally ember decided to just take it at face value, and replied, with only a small amount of sarcasm, and his general cynical smirk returning, "Yeah, you could get me some good food, a roof, and a long hot shower." Although there was also an edge of derision in his voice, but not because he thought badly of this snake woman in particular, but because all he expected from anyone was for them to just leave him in the dirt. Ember had long ago lost all faith in humanity, and so he tended to think badly of everyone, and always has the lowest expectations possible of them. To him, it didn't matter if they were mutant or human, they all fit the same into Embers view of humanity. Unfortunately, he was in dire need of finding a place to stay without anyone calling in child services or something along those lines, as well as a warm meal.

Although, was still the problem that Ember was lost, and as that thought started to wriggle itself back into his the forefront of his mind, he started scanning the area as if looking for something. There was no way he was going to admit he was lost, but how long would he be stuck wandering around in this blasted rain before he found somewhere he recognized? He new being out in this kind of weather wasn't good for his health, but where could he find a place to stay? Before he had figured out just how expensive his normal habits were, he had managed to blow through over half of his savings in the first few days, and he needed something more than the money he got from muggers pockets to supplement it as well.

She blinked.

Good food, a roof, and a shower? That was not the answer she had been expecting. A jeer... a snide curl of the lip or a sharp comment. Those were things she was more accustomed to when people stared at her. Not... that. Stumped temporarily for what to reply with she tilted her head at the boy and got a good, thorough look at him.

He looked young, though she wasn't too good at calculating ages, and from the kind of clothes he wore and his general appearance, she was reminded of someone. Matt. She was reminded of Mat. A frown graced her lips and the tension eased from her shoulders. If she was correct, he was probably homeless. No one in the city wore the kind of clothes he did while standing out in the rain on a city sidewalk. Though still wary, she let her guard down a tad and took a step toward him in order to lift her umbrella to cover the both of them.

"I can help with that." There, the proverbial olive branch, she extended. Be it a simple answer, it was an answer all the same. Her diminished mood didn't allow for much given the circumstances around it, but she forced a small smile nonetheless and continued.

"If you let me, of course."

'Why am I even talking to this woman? It's not like anything will come of it beyond something going wrong.' Ember silently mused to himself, standing under his coat, but the cold air was definitely cutting through the clothes underneath enough for him to think that wearing the coat normally would probably keep him warmer than using it to keep the rain off his head. 'Screw it, I'm out of here. There isn't any good that can come of this.' So imagine his surprise when, just as he was about to turn and walk away, The Medusa woman suddenly stepped forwards and put the umbrella over him as well.



Ember instinctively widened his stance, dropping his coat back down to his shoulders so he could move, and held his arms up, tensed as if for a fight. He relaxed his stance again after a moment and considered her words, "She can help with that? Whatever for?" Ember sneered slightly at this thought, standing tall as if to stare down at her. This woman had no reason to help him, and even if he did accept this gift, what would she ask for in return? Placing any trust in another’s hands was like begging them to hurt him. Putting his usual angry, snide grin back in place, Ember went to shove the umbrella away, none too gently.



He then jeered in response, his voice dripping with a self confident disdain and hatred, “I don’t need your d*** help, and besides, I don’t even know what you expect to get out of this little ‘gift’ of yours. And don’t give me any of that ‘kindness of your heart’ bullcrap,” He gives a disgusted chuckle here, “Because everyone expects something in return. That, or they just stab you in the back! I can do just fine on my own.” But he hesitated, a flash of doubt crossing his features before he quickly steeled himself and turned to leave without another word. ‘Putting any dependence on others is just setting yourself up to fall. The only person you can depend upon is yourself.’ Ember truly believed this, but there was a nagging feeling of that, maybe, just maybe, she was the real deal, which, in it’s own way, made Embers mood even worse.

Her umbrella dropped from her hand the moment he shoved it away, and she took a startled step back. The venom in his voice caught her off guard, but the idea that she expected anything in return was what really stalled her. What did she expect to get out of helping him? He continued on before she could get a word in, which only helped to worsen her mood and cause her to set her jaw stubbornly.

"Excuse me?"

He turned his back on her. Sputtering for a moment, she started to move toward him with determined steps. "Now you wait just one second! I do not offer help with the expectation of getting anything in return-" The Greek reached out to try and snag his coat sleeve with one hand, the need to explain herself overriding commonsense at the moment.

"-and I cannot just walk away from someone who needs help without at least offering!"

'Every time you open yourself up to someone, you take the risk of that person hurting you deeply. Only when you shut your heart away and learn to stand on your own are you strong! Dependency in any form leaves you weak, and if you can't stand on your own, get out of my site, because those you put your trust on will just cut and run, or worse, at a moments notice.' Ember thought this to himself silently as he turned away from this serpent lady, shutting his heart once more. 'I'm better off on my own. I grew up on my own, and that's how I'll live.' Yet he still couldn't shake the feeling of, 'what if...?'

The sounds of footsteps and her angry voice made him tense slightly, ready to turn and fight, but he kept walking as if none of that mattered. People tended to get angry when he shut them out, when he told them to bugger off, and it wasn't usually a big thing. Serpents didn't like it when their meals escape, and just the same idea with people. Mutant, human, they were all the same, no matter how much they tried to deny it. Mutants weren't some great superior beings, nor were they demons to be hunted and killed. They were just different, and people always have to find that someone a little bit different to demonize. The people in his home town picked him, society picked mutants, and mutants picked humans. They were all people, and what were people? Serpents. Monsters. At least this is how Ember viewed the world and it's inhabitants. So when the odd but seemingly typical snake haired lady snagged his sleeve, he didn't feel any remorse for his next actions.

Ember instantly whirled around, a snarl of rage and hatred marring his features. He sent his bare fist flying towards the woman's nose, a strike more aimed towards speed than damage, but still with a fair bit of force, then immediately went to jump back to put some distance between himself and the woman's snakes. He went to drop into a wide stance, bouncing on the balls of his feet for quick movement and his hands completely up, ready to fight. 'The snakes could be poisonous, so be careful with them. Try to focus on low kicks more than punches to avoid getting within their range.' He was quickly forming an ideal combat strategy for this opponent, dismissing his initial impression of Medusa, not taking the deadly gaze of legends into the equation. 'She seemed in a bad mood before, which may make her reckless. This could be an advantage and a disadvantage, so be careful.' All of this passed through his mind near instantly, before his feet even touched the ground again.