It wasn't really something she needed to do, but Sarah had decided to take the day and go back to her artist's roots. New York's Parks and Playgrounds. She couldn't begin to count the number of hours she spent sketching random people while enjoying the sunshine.

Her most recent inspiration came in the form of some neighborhood kids playing baseball. With them in mind, the brunette moved towards the playground area of the park. Children were always active and happy. It would probably be a good idea to keep her subject material light and happy. It would probably help her mood.

Armed with her sketchpad and several artist's pencils, Sarah got to work. She picked a bench with a good view where the path moved behind her. Experience had taught her that some parents would try to figure her out by walking behind her and looking over her shoulder. Sometimes there were parents who worried about the stranger watching the children. Most of the time they settled after realizing she was one of New York's artists.

She currently had her eyes on a couple of girls on the monkey bars. The way their knees moved and the way they held themselves up. It was a perfect opportunity. One of the girls hung upside-down with her long black hair hanging below her, shorts bunched up around her thighs.

Yes. This was a lot better than keeping her focus on older figures. The joy of the children easily caused a smile on Sarah's face.

Pick pocketing in Central Park was NOT on the menu. Neither was anything illegal, or anything blatantly obvious. If he had had a mission, he would have been on it, but right now, he was taking a break from Cerberus missions and deliveries like that.

It wasn't like he had anything against doing a mission or delivery. He just needed a break. Wanted a walk. And had a free day that he was going to take.

Central Park was beautiful this time of year. He figured it was beautiful most days of the year. That much green in that large an area was a little bit mind bending. Normally, he did not get into the whole parks and green scenery scene. He kept to himself, and walked the streets and back alleys. Then again, he hadn't been living in New York most of his life. It's one of a kind. Sometimes you just need to take in the scenery.

With this much people, pick pocketing would be oh so easy. But again, no, he was not doing that. It was tempting. He was over that. Instead, he bundled up in his light blue and black striped hooded shirt and felt too hot. The weather was too warm for hoodies. Green skin and antennae are a bit obvious, though, and he wasn't doing obvious. He walked the sidewalks with no direction in mind. He would go that way until he got out of the park or found something that caught his attention. If nothing did, he'd hop in a cab. They took cash. Then he'd go home.

He saw some cool statues. He saw some people playing board games. He saw a pretty woman with a sketch pad, sketching some kids on playground equipment. He paused. She really was quite pretty, wasn't she? Maybe he would say hello. Not in an overly creepy stalker in the shadows come to say hi kind of way. More a polite 'hi, nice weather we're having, how are you? Ok bye' way. The kind where he was just being friendly and polite... Ogling a woman in the park. Christ, he was awkward. Whatever. There was zero harm in talking about the weather.

Elliott approached the woman from behind cautiously. She was smiling. He couldn't see it from the angle, but he could sense it in the way she sat and drew. There was a happiness to it, a simple artist's joy. He had none of that. He was just a guy in a hoodie in hot weather approaching an artist in the park. She was an artist and he was not, but he could appreciate what she was doing. Nobody could appreciate what he was doing. You don't hang out around playground equipment to pick up chicks. He would make this brief because even he could see how paranoid parents might react. The jokes practically wrote themselves, and no, there was nothing funny about alien abductions outside of a brief bout of dark humor that passed through his head.

He dropped a glance down at her sketch pad, and momentarily lost control of his voice box. To his horror, he realized he'd just said "Wow, that's really good!" out loud. Great, just great. No weather comments as planned. Just honest compliments, like some kind of heathen. What could she possibly think of him?

He stood there feeling like he stood out like an alien in Central Park. all that was missing was his chrome suit.

>>"Wow, that's really good!"

Sarah jumped a little at the sudden voice, only her hand stayed still. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted the hooded figure. "Thanks," she responded. She took a moment to finish the sketch before turning back to the person, male from the voice most likely.

"Kids are probably the best models nowadays. Though you got to be quick if they're playing," she smiled, pointing towards the girls that were now racing to the slide. "They never stay still for long."

He had spooked her. Fantastic. That made him feel great... He kept silent about that, and just let things play out how they would. If he surprised her enough to make her ruin her sketch, that would make him feel real good. It seemed like she'd kept a steady hand, though, which was good.

She thanked him. He nodded in acceptance. "No problem," he said quietly, mostly to himself. No problem at all.

Her smile was a nice one, and she was talking about kids now.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Way more energy than they know what to do with. When I was their age," his mouth ran on autopilot. "I probably couldn't have done half the things they're doing now. Did that one just do a cartwheel? Or was that a backflip." Maybe it was a very special young mutant who could do both, at the same time.

He'd grown up largely in foster care. He couldn't have done most of what they were doing because they didn't have the money for playground equipment. And most of his foster parents had not wanted to take a little alien to the park. But she did not need to be told that.

A hand went up to toss the hood back. Eff it. He was just too hot for a hood. People could be responsible for their own damn reactions.

"Elliott," he introduced himself. " You?"

>>"I probably couldn't have done half the things they're doing now. Did that one just do a cartwheel? Or was that a backflip."

Sarah laughed. That was a good description of kids. "Could've been a round off. They're half a cartwheel anyways," she chuckled. She could remember the tumbling she and her female cousins did when they were little. Cartwheels, round offs, somersaults, hand-springs. The list went on. "It's nice to see kids being active and not indoors online, though."

She looked back up to see him push back his hood. Her artists eyes took in the smooth planes and different texture of the man's skin. There weren't a whole lot of mutants who got close to artists. Most mutants the brunette had met didn't like being drawn. Not when their mutation was so visible.

>>"Elliott. You?"

"Sarah," she smiled. "And, not trying to be rude here, but do you think i could sketch you? Just a little one." Asking never hurt anyone. Though she wasn't exactly expecting a 'yes' from Elliott.

He smiled at her comment, jagged teeth and all. Cartwheels, round offs. She knew gymnastics better than him. If they'd been talking about different kinds of kicks and strikes, he'd have floored her with his knowledge. He settled for silent assent.

"Yeah," he agreed. "People spend too much time on their phones and computers these days. I don't see the draw." Technology is amazing, that much is true. Communication is so simple. But Elliott mainly used burner phones and stolen cellphones, and he didn't own a computer. He did not play video games. Any game knowledge he had were from past friends that did, and current friends that do. Cable television costs less and there's usually nothing on, so you have an excuse to go out and work or free run.

She replied to his introduction with a name of her own. Sarah. A nice name. It suited her. He opened his mouth to say 'charmed,' but she kept talking and from out of nowhere asked him to be her model. The open mouth turned into a teasing smile. "I hope you don't take this Titanic quote the wrong way here, but," he put out his hands at his sides in a small flourish and bow. He glanced up at her at the end, smirking lightly, still bent. "Draw me like one of your French girls?" He asked.

He stood back up and awaited a reply to that cheese ball bit of dramatic flair.

>>"I hope you don't take this Titanic quote the wrong way here, but, draw me like one of your French girls?"

Sarah laughed a little. Most professional models didn't quote things at her. But it was nice that Elliott was calm enough to joke. "I don't think the parents would appreciate that. So rain check?" she teased right back.

She was a girl. She knew the movie. She also knew that nude modeling was best done indoors. Flipping to a new page in her sketchpad, she started a rough outline of Elliott's face. "Sorry if my question was a little sudden, you just gave me some inspiration for my next project. If you're okay with me using any sketches of you, that is."

Sarah wasn't afraid to admit that her artist brain sometimes went ahead before she had permission for something. The idea buzzing in her head would end up as a great success or have some very bad people after her. But it was something she was passionate about. If she could find a few old numbers she might do some paintings of some old friends.

Rain check, huh? He chuckled, and converted what would have been a sly smirk into a simple smile. "True enough. Rain check," Elliott agreed. The girl was clever, and funny, and smart enough not to take his jokes the wrong way. Were clever and smart the same thing? No. Clever meant she could be witty and make jokes. Smart meant she could understand references, and knew things about stuff. Either way, he thought she was probably an amazing person who had plenty of friends (unlike him). Probably a boyfriend, too.

Elliott stood still enough that she could sketch him easily, and he adopted a natural pose. No The Thinker or Crouching Gargoyle. A natural pose. A neutral pose.

>>"Sorry if my question was a little sudden, you just gave me some inspiration for my next project. If you're okay with me using any sketches of you, that is."

Sketches of him, used professionally? He arched a hairless eyebrow. "That's actually really cool." He said. He had no warrants out that he was aware of. A simple sketch couldn't do any harm. "I inspired you? Really?" That, he couldn't quite get a handle on. His tone wasn't offended. It was more surprised than anything. "Yeah, you can use me." He added, with a self-conscious laugh. He realized he'd been leaving her hanging. "If it helps you with your inspiration for your project."

>>"That's actually really cool. I inspired you? Really?"

Sarah nodded with a smile. Poor guy. Probably didn't hear things like this often. People could be cruel.

>>"Yeah, you can use me. If it helps you with your inspiration for your project."

"Thanks so much! Finding people willing for this idea is probably going to be hard. The political climate might make this a hard project to do." Sarah winced. It wasn't something she liked to talk about, the political issues surrounding human/mutant relations. But it probably would be hard to find willing people to model.

"People seem to see danger when they see something they don't know. I'm hoping I can relieve some of that fear. Just a small thing can make a lot of difference. Showing that we're all people is something I've always been passionate about too." She was rambling, she knew. But talking to her model was kind of part of her process. She liked them to know where her mind was while she worked. Though sometimes her thoughts didn't seem to be connected. She should probably warn him. "Sorry if I'm rambling. I do that when I work, just say what's on my mind that is."

Political climate, yeah. Elliott nodded. Here was where he'd usually talk about how he paid attention to that, even if he wasn't human or mutant, but he didn't say anything like that in front of the complete stranger. "No problem," he said.

She kept talking. He kept nodding.

"We're all people," Elliott agreed gladly. That was something he could latch on to. "What you want to do is a good idea. So many people say things like that, then do nothing. Go on about their lives, drinking expensive coffee and being all talk. I don't usually talk about politics, but I've seen how rough it can be. I'm glad I escaped the brunt of that whole 'mutant human registration' act. That would have been a really weird conversation to have. Anything that can be done to prevent that sort of thing from happening again..." He found himself being more honest and relaxed with her than he usually would have been with a stranger. Maybe it was the 'pretty' thing. Maybe it was simply that she'd extended the honesty his way, first. Trust's a two way street, they say. "I would hate to see history ever repeat itself," he finished strongly. "People do need to be more aware of the issues. They need to see all sides of the argument, human, mutant, and other. No reason for all the hate."

>>"...then do nothing. Go on about their lives, drinking expensive coffee and being all talk."

Sarah laughed a little at the coffee comment. Yes people did do that. She hoped she didn't end up being one of those that said something then did nothing.

>>"People do need to be more aware of the issues. They need to see all sides of the argument, human, mutant, and other. No reason for all the hate."

She smiled a little wryly at that. "Unfortunately people don't seem to like to learn new things. I'm hoping I can get enough people to model for this project. That's the only way I can think of for me not actually doing it," she admitted. "I'd like to do a large show, but if I can only do a few pieces, that's fine too."

She paused in her sketch to talk about this next part. "I knew the girl that was beaten. The one that started the riots. I had met her before." Gina. Such a sweet girl. She didn't deserve all of that. No one did. "I didn't have the best first reaction to meeting her. I regret my actions every moment since. I'm hoping we don't have to do anything as drastic to change things though. Everyone deserves to live their life without fear."

"A show would be pretty cool. Gets more people thinking, and seeing your work. You'll have to show me what you have when you're done sketching," Elliott smiled. His teeth were a lovely jagged line that reminded people of zippers. Pearly white zippers. "I hope you got my best angle." He wasn't so vain that he cared about best angles. Well, not entirely so vain. He had some pride. Ladies love a good smile and nice skin.

He wasn't smiling at her next comment. Sarah was talking about a different set of riots. He'd been thinking of the mutant registration act. It stood out for him as a recent event on par with everything that had happened in the United States during World War II. Concentration camps were ugly, any way you looked at them. He had not been paying that much attention to the news from New York when the riots she had spoken of had occurred. The details were sketchy for him, but her point was strong.

"That's awful. A girl was beaten, and it kicked off that." He grimaced.

Her reaction to this girl she spoke of was something she regretted, and he had to wonder why. Maybe she had a visible mutation that set her apart from the crowd, something similar to his alien appearance. Except unlike him, she was a mutant and it wasn't something she could could control. He couldn't control his appearance either, and he got his fair share of hate, but... He didn't have a solid train of thought for this. But he could agree with her. "We all have moments we regret." He said. "Because I'm alien, people treat me badly. Even when I was an innocent kid, they thought I was a monster." He went and proved them right. And saying he was alien sounded different than saying he was an alien. The comment might simply make it sound as if he was saying he looked different. He did. "A few of my friends back where I was before I moved here reacted like that. But they got to know me, and felt like you do. And with a bit more knowledge, people can learn to be less fearful of differences, I think. I agree with you. Nobody should live in fear. Of being judged unfairly, or hated because their different. You know what I'm saying?"