It was a nice, New York afternoon, and Jay had nothing better to do, so he found himself in his favorite park, not far from his apartment. He was in his favorite shift, doing his favorite thing: running. Well, his favorite thing next to playing bass, drinking beer, and..."quality time" with Zelda. But running was definitely in the top five. He'd found a less populated area of the park, and left his bag under a park bench, mostly buried except for the straps so he could pull it up easily. 

The golden retriever looked perfectly normal as he ran; his fur rippling as he sprinted, then turned and dashed in the other direction, basically doing laps around his own remote portion of the park. His heart began to race as his muscles tensed and relaxed with each step and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. 

After awhile, the blue-eyed mutant in a golden retriever's body slowed to a stop, lying on the grass to relax as his shaggy tail wagged idly. He then rolled onto his belly, his ears flopping onto the grass as his blue eyes looked up at the sky, the afternoon sun beaming down on his white belly. This...was as perfect as it could get. 

Svetlana was still getting over her awkwardness about going out in public alone. Ever since her kidnapping, she had multiple worries about it: One, that SUPER would somehow spot her and kidnap her again, and two, that her bad luck about running into people would come to haunt her, and she'd accidentally bump into someone and set their powers off. She knew that this was statistically not as bad as it felt, and yet she was not as comfortable going around in public as she used to be.

Parks were definitely better. There was space in parks to avoid the crowd, and fresh (ish) air, and pretty things to look at in any season. In order to keep herself from turning into a hermit, Sveta took walks at the park. She even considered getting her own dog, or borrowing Noel's, so that she would have an excuse for the walks. Dogs were nice. And they were safe to touch.

Like the retriever that decided to run up and roll around nearby. Sveta was sitting on a bench, and the pup just ran up, tongue lolling, enjoying the day like only a dog could. Sveta smiled as she saw him, and glanced around; there was no owner in sight.

"Hello dere" she wiggled her fingers at the pup "Want some belly rubs?"

He was enjoying the day and the sunshine so much, that he wasn't exactly paying attention to his surroundings anymore. That wasn't always a bad thing, but it wasn't always good, either. However, he didn't exactly care today; the sun was warming up his doggy-belly, the wind was gently caressing his long, golden fur, and his tongue was lolled out of his mouth.

And then he heard a voice, and rolled to his feet, tail wagging as he looked up at her. He gave a playful bark before rolling over on his back again, exposing his white-furred belly to her as she wiggled her fingers. The human in Jay didn't know why, but for some reason...pets were nice. Even as a guy who just looked like a dog, he enjoyed it. Maybe it was just the attention, or maybe it was just the doggy version of a massage. But if there was one thing Jay couldn't do, it was turn down being pet, especially from someone so pre--Calm down, Jay. Remember, you're taken. And currently a dog.

The pup was a very friendly one. At Sveta's voice he jumped up and came closer, tail wagging. Not all pets were this friendly, even in New York City, but this one certainly was, in true retriever fashion. Fluffy and excited. Sveta chuckled as he rolled on his back, as if he understood exactly what she was asking. Getting off the bench, Sveta crouched down, extending a gloved hand to rub the soft belly of the dog. She hoped that the owner, whoever it was and whenever they showed up, would not be offended.

"Who's a good boy, hmmmm?"

His tail wagged and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Part of him wondered if it was weird that he kind of having his belly rubbed or his ears scratched by pretty women. His current verdict was no. Besides, most of these women wouldn't give him the time of day otherwise. And this was perfectly normal, right? Of course.

But when her gloved hand touched his fur-covered belly, something suddenly seemed...different. She looked bigger all of a sudden, as did his surroundings. He thought maybe it was a mutation thing, but he wasn't sure what was going on. Then he looked down; his legs were shorter, skinnier...and he wasn't as furry...Did he just change shifts? How was that even--

The golden retriever had turned into a black and brown chihuahua in the blink of an eye, and once Jay realized what was going on, he let out a yelp of shock, rolling to his feet, but then sitting down in front of her and looking up with his head cocked to the side, almost as if to say 'What the hell, lady?'

Sveta gave a friendly pat on the golden retriever's fuzzy belly... and the next thing she knew, there was a sucking sound as if space suddenly had vacuum in it, and the retriever folded itself into... a chihuahua?...

"What de..." Sevta blinked. Was this some kind of a joke? She glanced around, trying to see if she was being watched, or filmed. One of those prank shows, maybe? Was the dog a projection, or some kind of a clever robot?... Hesitant, Sveta reached out a gloved hand again, and booped the tiny dog on the nose.

The little chihuahua blinked at her, still looking at the stranger with his head cocked sideways. Okay, she may have been pretty, but there was something very odd about this chick. And unlike most times...he wasn't sure he liked this. Whatever the hell was going on, this was most definitely not kosher.

When the hand reached out to touch him again, he closed his eyes, bracing himself. When he was brave enough to open them, his point of view changed again. This time, he measured maybe a foot and a half to the shoulder, while standing, and was covered in red fur, with a long, bushy tail. Jay was now a fox. In the middle of the park. He knew it felt different, and he gave the woman a more freaked out look, along with a soft cry of confusion. It was somewhere between a whimper and a bark, though he tried not to draw too much attention.

Granted, anyone passing by would probably just mistake the whole thing for an elaborate magic act.

At the boop, as an immediate reaction from her touch, the chihuahua turned into a fox. Sveta blinked. That was... definitely not normal. She glanced around again, then waved a hand in front of the fox to see if it was some kind of a tick. It had felt solid enough, but Sveta was not sure what technology could do these days. Especially with the rip still open.

"Well... dat's weird." she muttered, staring at the fox. "Um... hi?"

She reached out on instinct for a pat on the head. She realized a second too late that it was probably a bad idea.

He still looked at her, a bit of a fear in those icy blue eyes as he looked at her in shock and confusion. However, when she spoke, he not only gave her a slow nod at it being weird, but he also raised a paw as if waving 'hi' back to her. And then, she touched him again, and holy**** it was happening again.

This time, he was more of a medium sized dog, but the breed was more of a mongrel, than the rest of his...more identifiable, shifts. This time, his ears pinned back and he let out a whine, his demeanor obviously saddened, and scared.

He lay on the ground, his still icy blue eyes focused on her in a 'what is happening?' kind of stare.

The fox had raised a paw, as if in greeting, before her accidental touch turned it into a... dog of no definite breed. Sveta yelped and pulled her hand back as if it had been scorched. This was definitely not normal, and from the distressed look and flattened ears of the dog, she could tell he was not enjoying it either. Not a trick then, probably, or something that this... creature did often.
That left one semi-reasonable explanation.

"Uhh... are you a mutant?" Sveta ventured, trying not to feel silly talking to a dog.

Did I just give some random guy a belly rub?...

He tried to relax as she asked him a question, and he sat up, looking at her. He was still shaking a little from the shock. But he did manage a nod to answer her question before briefly walking away, coming back with a gym bag in his teeth, which he sat by her feet before looking around.

Once thinking they were alone enough, he shifted back, completely naked for a moment, and cursing at the biting cold that suddenly assaulted his skin as he quickly opened the gym bag and got dressed, pulling his jacket closer as his face was red from the cold, and the energy loss. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow and his heart was beating rapidly.

"Okay....that was ****ing weird," he finally murmured, his voice shaking a little. "Cool, when I think about it, but weird."

The dog nodded.
Mutant. Great. Sveta sat back on the bench, rubbing her temples. She should have been more careful... even animals were not safe to touch all the time. She should have known better, especially in Central Park. She muttered some Russian curses to herself as the dog jogged away, and returned with a gym bag. Was he gonna...

"WHOA!" Sveta flailed as the canine turned into a guy - an admittedly good-looking, but holysh*tbuttnaked guy. Sveta covered her eyes with both hands and turned a bright shade of red.

>>"Okay....that was ****ing weird. Cool, when I think about it, but weird."

"You think?!" Sveta grumbled, still not looking up "Do you usually go around getting belly rubs from people? It could have been a lot worse!..."

He noticed her reaction--it was hard not to--and honestly, he didn't blame her. It wasn't every day a dog turned into another dog and then a naked guy.

"Not as often as people would assume, no," he jokingly answered to her rhetorical question, then, he sat on the ground in front of her before answering the actual question.

"Well, yeah. I mean it's innocent enough. Feels kinda nice, actually...though it isn't everyday someone's physical contact makes me involuntarily change form, though I did spend a considerable amount of time with a woman who siphoned energy..." Then, he shook off that thought and continued. "Though I can't actually go from form to form like that, and it usually takes a lot out of me," he wiped his brow.

Sveta peeked. Okay, he was dressed now. Still weird, having just turned into human from a dog, that had technically been all naked when she pet him, but she was not going to dwell on that right about now.

>>"Not as often as people would assume, no... Well, yeah. I mean it's innocent enough. Feels kinda nice, actually...though it isn't everyday someone's physical contact makes me involuntarily change form, though I did spend a considerable amount of time with a woman who siphoned energy..."

Sveta decided not to go into a debate over whether or not it was innocent for a dog, that was technically a person, to get belly rubs from random strangers. It was one of those grey areas that would have never existed without mutant powers. Someone else might have enjoyed the dilemma, but she really did not want to get into it.

>>"Though I can't actually go from form to form like that, and it usually takes a lot out of me,"

"Yeah. Dat was me." Sveta raised a gloved hand "I boost mutant powers by touch. Yours probably freaked out because I pet you."

"I've seen some cool powers over the past while," Jay commented, "But that is trippy as hell," he said, giving a low whistle. "I mean it freaked me the **** out at first, but now that it's over and that rush of holy **** wore off...that's kinda cool."

He looked up at her from his spot on the grass, noting that she had her eyes covered until she was sure he was dressed; some people were so funny when it came to nudity. His only real problem with it was when it was cold as hell outside. "My name's Jay." He smiled, then added partially jokingly; "I'd shake your hand, but...let's say we're even."