Feeling was once again being lost in Austin’s legs. If he didn’t find somewhere to rest soon he didn’t know what would happen. Actually, he did, and he did not want to run the risk of triggering another accidental shrinking to further ruin his day. Stress, tiredness, all these things made it harder for him to suppress his mutation.

He didn’t know the time, but the sun had set hours ago, and if he were in a more central part of the city perhaps the streets would be lit better. That was not the case. Austin was beginning to develop a bad feeling about the whole situation. Being lost in the wrong part of New York on his first night was not the fairytale he had intended.

His hands burrowed deeper into his jacket pockets, doing little to provide warmth as they were still damp from the day’s earlier burst of rain. “I thought New York was filled with mutants.” He mumbled to himself. At this point, he didn’t even care if they seemed to be a stand up citizen or not. “All I’m asking for is a mutant. Any mutant.” And he continued to walk, unsure of where he was headed, his only objective being to find someone who could help him. He looked up to the sky, shivering once over as the temperature continued to drop. "Soon, please."

There was something about sitting on rooftops with her legs hanging off the side of the building that was incredibly appealing to Astrid. Sure, her dresses tended to get caught on the rough bricks and occasionally she was bothered by a bird or two, but for the most part, it was perfect. Especially when the sun had set and the smell of the earlier rain of the day still hung in the air.

Astrid breathed in deeply as a gentle breeze blew over her black feathers. Munching on a bag of grapes, she watched the passersby make their way in the intricate streetways of the city. Every once and a while, someone would catch her eye and she would throw a grape at them, causing them to look up at her. Astrid would then cover her body with her black wings, causing her to blend into the dim lighting.

As much as she refused to admit it, she sort of wanted someone to notice her. Sure, it felt good to be evil and have people fear you, but it also meant she didn't really get much conversation. Especially since there were very few people she could actually comfortably converse with. The last person she remembered speaking to in French was that bratty boy with the velcro wallet, and she wasn't exactly going to call him up for a cup of coffee. So, throwing grapes at random strangers seemed like a better option.

As her black eyes scanned the crowd, they fell on a young boy that looked rather antsy. He kept shoving his hands in his pockets and mumbling to himself. Astrid chuckled. At least she didn't look like that.

She reached deep into her bag and tossed a little spherical grape at him, watching as it bounced onto the pavement. It was unlikely that he would even notice her, but it was almost more fun just to cause confusion. He looked like he need confusing. Plus, it wouldn't even hurt if he did notice her. Then maybe she would even get to talk to someone.

Y'know what? He was feeling pretty good. He couldn't put a finger on when he'd last been in a mood like this. It had certainly been a few seasons. Maybe last summer. It felt like it had been a summer. Not hot, but pleasant, with food and easy shelter and so much less stress.

Maybe that was part of what was going on here? Too much thinking - he was fed and his mouth didn't hurt and his ribs didn't hurt and his energy coiled under his skin, swarming around his bones like rats on a fresh pile of discarded food with nary a layer of plastic pretending to hide it from those as called it dinner.

Adder prowled around the mansion for a while, then around the grounds, then slipped out through the back trees as the sun crept low in the sky. The lingering light was more than his eyes craved, and he even felt he could handle running into someone like that fire guy again, especially one without fire. After all, he could just go to that sharp-clean-heat guy and anywhere he hurt would stop hurting. It felt more reliable, more powerful, than knowing when and where his next meal would be and that he'd get it without competition.

Hey, he had that too! If it weren't for the crowdedness and overwhelmingness and weird social stuff that quickly lost its edge in memory as he darted through the streets on two feet or four, living in that place was honestly somewhere on the scale with warm-food-bed-quiet-no smell-soft-reliable

Well, without the quiet and no-smell.

Whatever! Adder raced a street cat along an alley for the heck of it, tail a pale plume as his gleefully open jaws laughed silently at the lean tom, and then tumbled onto human feet through the streetlights of the main street. No traffic, not here, not now, but he could hear it in the distance. Whatever, whatever, whatever!

He wandered, he prowled, and his energy barely even settled into a confident hum. Sometimes he passed people, or pockets of cafes and bars and stray animals that either scattered before him or ran alongside for a while. Perhaps his energy was infectious.

A person was talking about mutants. Adder cruised to a more pedestrian-speed walk, ears flicking about. Not a violent tone. Not conversational. Very odd.

Movement drew his eye, and his vividly yellow eyes tracked the little shape falling from the sky for a moment before his head shot up along its track. Someone dropping something from a window? No, higher. He tilted his head back, nostrils flaring to filter the myriad scents. So many people, but the wind wasn't streaming down the face of the building. The warm air of the day still rose; he'd be better off smelling the street from the top of the building than the reverse.

Well, he could caaaaasually amble over to the random people getting things dropped on them. Grapes? Kind-of-food, not good food. He'd rather have rats. He tilted his head back again, peering up into the grey at the figure more apparent to his eyes than any human's.

Enough was enough. One could only wander the streets of New York lost, cold, hungry, tired, and fighting off an impending shrinking stint before reaching their breaking point, and Austin was definitely beginning to reach his breaking point. He was starting to lose hope of finding help tonight, and the prospect of just curling up in an alleyway was starting to sound disturbingly appealing.

Splat. If he had the energy to do so, Austin would’ve jumped back a considerable amount and screamed a slightly less manly scream than he would’ve admitted. However, all he could manage was a hesitant step backward and to open his mouth silently in surprise. After that, unfortunately, a bit more exertion was required of him, as the shock triggered some sort of instinctual response in his mutation, causing him to feel a swell of energy rise in his body. He recognized the feeling all too well. Every time he was about to shrink, his body seemed to surge with energy, only to quickly see it flee from him, taking his size with him. It was about to happen again.

Taking another step back, Austin squatted low, gripping his head and allowing only deep breaths to pass through him as if it were nothing more than a bad stomachache. He felt the energy linger in him a moment longer, swimming around just below the surface of his skin like it was waiting to make a decision. Then, slowly, it receded. He didn’t know how he had done it, but something had worked in fighting off his power. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back up to the scene of the crime.

Looking down, Austin saw that something small and mushy had splattered across the sidewalk just in front of his feet. He paused for a moment, processing what had just happened slowly through his exhaustion just to double check that what had just happened was, in fact, not normal. What was it? A grape? Yep, that was definitely unusual. He was in no rush when he stood, still cautious of his mutation showing itself. Glancing around him to see where the grape could’ve come from, Austin found the street uninhabited save for himself and what appeared to be another teenage boy a little ways down from him. The other boy, however, was looking nowhere near him. He stood facing the wall of buildings to Austin’s right, his head tilted up to observe the tops of the buildings. His posture and attentiveness suggested that he saw something. Austin followed his gaze up, but saw nothing but blackness over the roofs of the skyline.

He lowered his eyes once again to the other boy, and watched him stare at the building tops with his ears twitching. Hang on. People’s ears don’t twitch. At least, not like that. The way this boy’s ears moved reminded Austin of a dog, jerking subtly as they listened for things unheard by his own ears. Austin leaned forward, squinting slightly. Now, looking closer, his ears looked nothing like normal. His eyes widened as he put the pieces together.

“Hey!” He yelled, waving his hand as he jogged forward to meet the boy. “Are you a mutant?” In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the most friendly of introductions, but Austin didn’t care. He was desperate.

Adder watched the shadowed shape for a while, but there didn't seem to be anything more going on than some bratty kid tossing grapes. Probably a bored street kid who'd had enough food lately to be more concerned by entertainment. A relatively recent street kid. There didn't seem to be any particular threat from them, though, so Adder decided he'd just keep wandering onwards.

Footsteps from the guy the grapes had been tossed at. Adder pivoted sharply, bare toes bracing against the street, and flattened his ears back at the guy's words. Some greeting, that. He narrowed his eyes but didn't bare his teeth. Then again, the colour of his eyes ought to be answer enough.

He was about to snarkily ask if he'd never seen a mutant before, or maybe say something about how he could handle himself against who thought they could get rid of mutants on their own, but he wasn't looking for a fight right now. He'd come out to run and wander and be free for a while, and he'd been in a good mood. An unusually good mood. Besides, this kid didn't smell like he was itching for a fight, and he looked more miserable than anything else. Miserable and stressed.

Had he just been kicked out for being a mutant himself, perhaps? Adder had come across that a lot before. It had taken him quite a while to sort out both that most people came to their powers in their teens and that some parents were useless enough to kick out their children. Well, and some kids were bratty enough that Adder totally saw where their parents were coming from.

"What's it to you?" he asked quietly, eyes on the guy but an ear cocked for the rooftop stranger. If any more grapes were going to be tossed, or anything else, he'd not be getting struck.

Austin could only jog a few steps before slowing again to a walk, his legs threatening to give out beneath him like gelatin. The boy pivoted sharply, his strange dog-ears flattened back against his head. Austin hesitated for a moment, slightly taken aback by the boy’s change in stance, unsure of how aggressive he was feeling.

“What’s it to you?” Was all the boy responded, his voice just loud enough to reach Austin’s ear. One of the boy’s ears cocked back up, again listening for something inaudible to Austin.

He slowed to a stop a short distance from the boy. Close enough to converse, but far enough away so as not to put the boy on edge. He raised his hands before him in a gesture to show that he had no malicious intent.

Now that he was in better range, Austin was able to get a cleaner look at the kid. And speaking of clean, this guy was not it. His clothes looked as if they had just been thrown together from the floor of his bedroom…or a dumpster. Despite the slight chill of the night there were no shoes covering his feet. He looked to be about Austin’s age, give or take.

“Sorry, I-I just need some help. I thought the only person I could trust would be another mutant.” He paused, trying to read the boy’s reaction. He continued. “ I’m not from around here. I’m looking for the Sanctuary…or that mutant school, the…Xavier’s…Sister School? Or something like that. I was wondering if you knew the way to one of those.”

He watched the boy’s eyes, trying to read any emotion when he noticed something was off. The moonlight illuminated the area ever so slightly as a cloud passed and the light glinted off of the boy’s slimmed yellow eyes. That was new.

Another mutant. So the kid was indeed one. Kicked out? He'd heard people say 'not from around here' to mean everything from neighbourhood to country, however far away that might be. This city stretched far enough to be everywhere, so really...

His ears flicked up automatically at the mention of the mansion, then back to check on the figure. Okay, nothing going on there. Maybe whoever it was couldn't even see them down here. More of his attention shifted towards the non-visible mutant kid.

"Last recommendation I heard for the Sanctuary came from a mass murderer," Adder said flatly. He did his best not to flinch at the memory. He'd had worse ones since then, but the wariness that had been so strong as to drive him, near-lifelong stubborn street resident, to live among other people and actually willingly (grudgingly) leave record of his existence? It hadn't faded out of existence any more than he had failed to exist before there were papers with his name on them.

"The mansion's a better bet, if you aren't looking for somewhere to cause trouble." Did this kid know how to cause trouble, or how not to cause it? The only people Adder had ever come across that looked or smelled like him were fancy-dressed athletic sorts from the really rich schools he avoided. Too many people who loved to punch, and even more people who couldn't stand to be on the same city block as someone like him. Sure, he raided some of them for food once in a while, but only at night, and only with extreme caution.

Was he ready to go back yet? Hm. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his back a bit as he thought, idly scanning the area. It was late enough that the kitchen would be empty by the time he got back. He could have food before heading back to his room to curl up in the closet. Should he just show this guy to the grounds and then ditch him, let him do whatever? Or he could bring him to Cafas, and then ditch him.

Or the not-cop sometimes-girl-sometimes-guy with the birdbrained dog. Serve them right, getting saddled with random people.

Adder smirked a touch to himself, then let his attention slide back to the kid. He flicked his head slightly, and then padded off in the direction he'd come.

The boy’s ears flicked up when Austin mentioned the Xavier school thing, then came alive again to monitor the rooftops.

“Last recommendation I heard for the Sanctuary came from a mass murderer.” He said flatly. Austin could’ve sworn he saw him flinch slightly at his own words, but quickly dismissed any thought of this aloof street-mutant showing vulnerability. Austin opened his mouth, then closed it again, afraid he had offended the kid somehow, or at least put him off enough to remove himself.

“Oh. I’m sorry I didn’t know that.” Austin said, backpedaling. The boy continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

“The mansion’s a better bet, if you aren’t looking for somewhere to cause trouble.” He said. As he did, Austin noticed his eyes glaze over somewhat, as if only part of his attention was with him. The rest was off elsewhere, uninterested in his plight. The present half analyzed Austin intently, seeing what information he could glean from his appearance and their five seconds of interaction.

The boy smirked subtly, fully returning to the present, then flicked his head slightly and turned to walk off.

“Wait, where are you going?” Austin called after him. He tried to run to catch up, but found himself unable of doing so. The sudden attempt at exerting himself made Austin once again aware of a pool of energy rising up beneath his skin, but this time he didn’t have the energy or attentiveness to make an attempt at fighting it off. He slowed to the fastest walk he could manage and followed the boy down the street, accepting the possibility that he may be getting very small very fast. “I’ve been on the street for half a year and could use some help. Can you take me to this mansion?”

The grape thing seemed to be working well for Astrid. She had managed to freak out the boy she had initially throw the grape at, making her giggle when he dropped to the ground. He seemed even more scared than most people, actually. The majority of the people she had hit prior to him had just looked around for a moment and then brushed it off like nothing had happened. The boy, however, looked as though someone had tasered him from behind. It actually took him a full minute to compose himself.

What Astrid hadn't expected, was the attention of a second boy with strange movements. While the first boy's eyes had sweeped right past her, the second boy looked as if he could see her. While she was confident that her black wings would block any recognizable features (such as her skin), it was still a bit unnerving to have someone focus so intently on her. Yes, she had sort of wanted the attention, but now that she had it, it was... Strange.

Astrid kept her eyes focused on the two boys as they talked to each other just below her. The entire time the second boy was talking, his gaze never seemed to waver from Astrid. It made her want to squirm in her skin as she tried to make out what they were saying. Unfortunately, the distance between them was too large for her to do so.

The boys had started to move down the street. Astrid panicked. They were the first interesting thing to happen all night, and the second boy was the first one to ever spot her when she sat like that. As much as the feeling unnerved her, she didn't want to lose it.

Astrid croutched on the edge of the building and inched along with the boys, doing her best to keep pace. If they started to move any faster, she would be able to take off.

Kid was so out of place here, but at least he knew it. Heck, he looked more out of sorts than Adder remembered feeling when he first walked into the mansion behind Cafas!

That was surprisingly long ago. Whatever. Not what he intended to think about right now.

When Adder started moving and the richling guy was slow to follow, he could have just kept going to see how things would play out, what he would do out of desperation. Would he even become desperate?

- except Adder had felt the ragged edge of desperation too much to enjoy giving it to another for mere amusement, and he paused. He even turned back, although movement caught his eye briefly. That little figure on the rooftop. Had it moved? He squinted, but if it had moved it had paused again, or was more shadowed at this angle.

Half a year? Adder's ears flicked to attention at the kid with renewed interest. That was a winter on the street, at least. Only one, but not something he would have expected from someone who looked so much like those braggart jocks he avoided.

"I'm going to the mansion," he said drily. "A couple of seasons is hardly a record there, by the way." He didn't mention that he probably held that record, or was at least close to it. It would be easier to hold it if he could put a number to his not-with-parents life, but defining time never seemed to work.

When not-jock caught up, he resumed walking, though at a subtly easier pace. He could stroll for a while; he'd run much of the way here, simply because he could, so he could put up not running for a while. "I haven't seen you around before," he said after a moment, vaguely gesturing to the streets around them with his chin. 'Seen' was such an awkward term. People didn't understand much if he said he had smelled them before, but that was what he did far more than seeing people.

“Wait, where are you going?” Austin called after him.

Austin continued to speed walk after the guy, but still he lost ground. The kid just continued to walk, until he seemed to develop a sudden hesitation in his step, before stopping and turning back all together. Austin stopped with him, honestly surprised that he had stopped. However, his attention still did not reside with him. For a brief moment, he faced the rooftop, squinting at whatever he saw up there.

“I’ve been on the street for half a year and could use some help. Can you take me to this mansion?” Austin said, a little more desperation creeping into his voice. The kid’s ears flicked in his direction. Austin could practically see the thinking playing out on his face. After a moment, he opened his mouth with lackadaisical normalcy.

“I’m going to the mansion,” he said drily. Austin couldn’t help but smile as the weight of six months left him. He was going to make it. After a pause in which neither of them spoke, Austin took his cue to join the kid. Now rushing a little less, he made his way over to his side. “A couple of seasons is hardly a record there, by the way.” He said with a knowing look on his face. Austin scanned him up and down briefly. Judging from his looks, it could easily be inferred that it was himself to which he was referring, probably in an earlier life, before he himself found his way to the mansion.

When Austin reached him he began walking as well, reducing his pace such that Austin could keep up. “I haven’t seen you around before.” The kid said after a moment, gesturing to the streets surrounding them with a nod of his chin. Austin sighed and surveyed the streets around them as he responded.

“Yeah. I just got here today, actually. I’m from Trenton.” He paused, unsure of whether or not this kid knew where that was. “Trenton, New Jersey.” He added, just to be safe. They continued to walk, and the absence of stress allowed for the energy beneath his skin to dissipate. “I’m Austin.” He said, looking back to the kid. He thought about extending a hand, but decided against it as handshaking didn’t strike him as being part of this kid’s style. He waited for him to respond. “So…what’s your…mutation?” Austin asked tentatively. “I’ve never met another mutant before.” He said, eyeing the ears on the top of his head.

Astrid had caught the second boy's attention again. He definitely had a good eye if he was able to see her movements. She smiled slightly to herself. Maybe she could make things interesting.

Astrid stood up to her full height. Anything the boy hadn't been able to see before, he would definitely be able to see now. She stepped lightly along the side of the building as she watched them, using her wings to steady herself. It was sort of exhilarating to walk like that, just on the edge of falling, but not quite.

She beat her wings behind her a few times and took off, soaring through the air only to land after just a few seconds. She did her best to make the most intimidating entrance she could manage, but it didn't turn out exactly how she wanted. She had meant to make a huge noise and she landed and end up in a cool action pose just like in the movies, but the noise was almost silent and she wobbled on her heels.

"Where you going?" She asked the boys, growling through her accent. That sounded right. Her English was getting much better (in her opinion, of course). Astrid threw in a smirk at the end. While it might not scare the second boy, she might end up making the first boy miss a heartbeat or two.

She didn't really want to scare them, though. That wasn't the ultimate goal. What she really wanted was to know where they were going. Things had been getting a bit boring lately with the few places she knew to go in the city.

Trenton didn't sound like any of the neighbourhoods Adder knew- oh. Other city. Having never been able to run beyond the sprawl of New York City, the idea of an end to it was more hazy theoretical than fully understood knowledge. He knew that many people were from other places, and that there was world beyond the city, but he hadn't experienced any of it for himself.

Not-jock from Trenton-New-Jersey was Austin. Adder barely filed the name away, since he was more than comfortable identifying people by smell and it wasn't like he expected to talk about this guy to anyone else, so it didn't matter if no one else could pick up on the same scent or that he couldn't really describe it well.

Oh fiiiiiiiiine. "Adder," the wolf shifter said, not muttering his name as much as he usually did but still hesitating a little bit. He liked being a vague, overlooked shadow that no one noticed or reacted to. Then he could just do his thing and not be bothered. But today he also had energy and was far more open to doing things that caught his attention at the moment.

Even if this kid was getting chatty. Adder rolled his eyes before glancing sidelong at not-jock-Austin. "You've met plenty. You just didn't notice," he said drily. "Although they might not have noticed either." And he just wasn't going to answer the other question. If not-jock-Austin couldn't figure out the gist from the shape of Adder's ears, and his teeth and his eyes, then he didn't deserve to know at all~ but mostly Adder just didn't like giving out information about himself, especially to people he'd only run into once.

His avoidance may have been covered by interruption, though, so he might even get away without defending the lack of answer. He followed feather-rustle behind them with his ears, and simply blinked slowly at the young girl who landed nearby. She smelled sharp-edged, not like the clean-heat-sharp of the mansion healer but more like a weapon. A small weapon.

A very small weapon, though still sharp. One that could double for general use, like a small knife weighted well enough to throw with reasonable accuracy. Hm. He was going to get out of practice at throwing pointy things. He shouldn't let that happen.

Regardless of what not-jock-Austin was doing, Adder yawned at little-pointy-weapon with zero attempt to hide or disguise it. "Somewhere that notices when people sit on the roof and throw things at people."

Okay, maybe he was going to take the one kid back, but two seemed extra weird and unbelievable.

“I’m Austin.” He said, looking back to the kid, waiting for him to respond. The kid was hesitant to respond, to say the least. However, after understanding that Austin was set on obtaining his name in turn, he responded reluctantly.

“Adder.” He said simply.

“So…what’s your…mutation?” Austin asked. “I’ve never met another mutant before.” Adder rolled his eyes before glancing sidelong at Austin.

“You’ve met plenty. You just didn’t notice.” He said drily. “Although they might not have noticed either.” Austin looked forward, taking in what he had said. Maybe he was right. He probably was. Not every mutant had dog-ears on their head like Adder. Who’s to say anyone wasn’t doing exactly what Austin was doing and desperately hiding their mutation from the world’s view?

Austin glanced back at Adder. He didn’t receive an answer to his second question, which he was slowly learning might be to be expected with this kid. It didn’t matter; he had only really asked to make conversation. Judging from his dog-ears, and upon closer inspection, his sharp teeth and yellow eyes, it could easily be inferred that he was some kind of dog/man hybrid.

Austin’s inspection of Adder’s features was interrupted when he thought he heard a fluttering behind them. He turned in the direction of the sound, but saw nothing. When he looked back Adder had stopped. Standing in their path was a younger girl, maybe 14 years old with white skin, long, tangled black hair, and empty black eyes. Emerging from her back were a pair of massive black feathery wings.

“Where you going?” She said through a painfully heavy accent. French? Maybe. A few seconds after finishing she put on a forced smirk that only struck Austin as a weak afterthought, but he overlooked the girl’s question and her strained attempts at looking suave.

“Woah! Nice wings! You can fly?” He said in awe. The teenage boy in him was taking over, and all he could process was likely deteriorating to something along the lines of that’s sick, bro!

Adder seemed far less impressed with the flying demon-looking girl. Austin watched him for his reaction, but all he did was yawn.

“Somewhere that notices when people sit on the roof and throw things at people.” Austin furrowed his brow. Was this what Adder had been watching on the roofs? This girl? Wait, Austin thought, throwing things at people?

“You’re the one who threw that grape? You almost made me shift! You know how much control that takes when you’re this tired?” He said angrily, taking a step in towards the girl. He was over her wings. For all he cared she could sell them to KFC to be fried. It was hard enough being pleasant with passive-aggressive dog-boy, but he managed because he was the only thing helping him at this point. This girl? She hadn’t made any friends.

>>“Woah! Nice wings! You can fly?”

What kind of stupid question was that? Astrid had understood it, though, which had been nice, but it was still stupid nonetheless. Was it common for American people to ask such stupid questions? If Astrid could manage English sarcasm, she would have, but instead she just gave him a look that would have read 'well duh'.

The second boy had been just as rude to her as she was expecting. Well, with cool powers came the right to be rude, she supposed. She knew that law well. The way he phrased it sounded like he did have a destination in mind, though, which meant she could follow them.

Apparently the second boy's comment had made the first one angry. Very angry, in fact. Though he kept the same stupid, naive tone that he had carried before. Didn't he know that every mutation came with concerns and difficulties? The world wasn't exactly going to cater to him. Especially not the world of winged teenaged girls.

Bah, whiny Americans.

She wasn't even entirely sure what had made her want to come to that country in the first place. It certainly wasn't the food. Or their taste in music. Or the fashion. It was mostly the villainy, really.

"Much sorry," Astrid did her best to stretch out the words she used and to roll her eyes at the same time. It probably didn't come across as rude as she would have liked, but she was proud of what she did manage. "I going along you," she then told the second boy determinedly. It she didn't pose it as a question at all, actually. She made sure that it sounded like a statement that they were just going to have to deal with. Astrid was prepared to put up a fight if they didn't.