This time Iris was paying attention, and saw the flinch. “Technically speaking, that would be a ‘no’. To you being wrong. ...Yeah.”

Well then, that explained volumes. She'd rehabed several abused parrots just before they started the Ranch. With one it took four years before she could actually stick her hand in the cage to feed him, without him drawing blood. Another screamed and cowered in the corner every time she passed within five feet of the cage. That took two years to deal with. Now she knew what to expect from Calley. Ninety-nine percent sure....

“Next up: the library! Home of books, twelve year olds studying studiously on occasion, and tiger-boys who’d rather not sleep in the luxury accommodations provided by Hunter.”

She glanced inside, this time her interest unfeigned. "Any gardening books? Or butterflies?"

“Has anyone ever told you your smile is sort of unnerving?”

She turned to see if he was serious. "Um.... no.... Can't say they have. What do you find unnerving about it?" Hmm....

<"So his fur's not totally unruffleable.">

"Any gardening books? Or butterflies?"

Calley nodded, pausing just past the doorway. “Yep! Gardening books, four isles in, on the row closest to the wall, left side, starts on the second shelf up from the floor. Butterflies not so much, but butterfly books pretty close to there, bordering on the section with all the critter guides.” He noticed this was a stunning opportunity to blush. “Umm, I spend a lot of time in there. The library, not the gardening section. Do you want to go in?”

"Um.... no.... Can't say they have. What do you find unnerving about it?"

Calley gave a one-shouldered shrug: the shoulder opposite the lime green squeaky hedgehog’s perch, it should be noted. “Dunno,” he answered, because ‘it’s too nice’ sounded like an even worse answer. “So, umm, what’s this mission that you and Hunter are going on?”

“Yep! Gardening books, four isles in, on the row closest to the wall, left side, starts on the second shelf up from the floor. Butterflies not so much, but butterfly books pretty close to there, bordering on the section with all the critter guides. Umm, I spend a lot of time in there." She simply nodded, leaving her 'unnerving' smile in place. "The library, not the gardening section. Do you want to go in?”

She nodded, with considerably more enthusiasm than the Training Rooms had recieved. "Sure."

Once the proper section was found, she began browsing titles. She immediately spotted on of her favorites; Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit Encyclopedia, a work compiled by three separate authors. Another one about flower language also caught her eye.

“So, umm, what’s this mission that you and Hunter are going on?”

Iris paused. After a moment she said, "I'm going to be honest and say I can't give you all the details. It's supposed to be an undercover mission to give the pro-mutant groups a louder voice and, hopefully, help overturn the Registration Law. Hopefully." She wasn't convinced it was going to work, so she couldn't give any more conviction to her tone.

She flipped through the book, not really seeing anything. Finally she sighed. "I just hope the Camps are done away with. I'd be happy for even that much."

She closed the book, picked out another about garden pests and home cures, and looked about for a Librarian of sorts.

"What are you planning on doing while Hunter's away? Besides eating and annoying the guards." She flashed him another 'unnerving' wink.

Calley watched Iris browse for a moment, but she seemed quite capable of finding things without him. He briefly disappeared around the edge of the shelf, then reappeared with a book from the other side. Poisonous Snakes of North America. They’d known where it was. He leaned against the wall a little ways away from her, flipped open the book seemingly at random, and started reading. Well, Slate did. Calley kept their ears on Iris. They were in the middle of a conversation, after all. It would be rather rude to suddenly start ignoring her as much as he was currently giving the appearance of.

She was just as vague as Hunter had been about their mission, and she made generic comments about the camps. Yep. He was paying attention. Since his nose was buried in the book, he missed her looking around for a Librarian, or he could have told her that there wasn’t one. She’d figure it out.

"What are you planning on doing while Hunter's away? Besides eating and annoying the guards." He also missed the ‘unnerving’ wink, or he might have begun to suspect she was being friendly on purpose. The horror.

“Reading and annoying our fellow refugees,” he answered simply. “So, why did you leave the Mansion?”

“Reading and annoying our fellow refugees. So, why did you leave the Mansion?”

Again Iris was caught off-guard. She sighed a bit in exasperation. "Well, it sure doesn't take you long to find which buttons to push. And I seem to recall answering that question back in the canteen. Didn't I?"

Hadn't she? She thought back a moment. Once Syn had appeared all she was intent on was leaving, so now she wasn't sure what she had said.

“If you did,” he said, flipping a page, “I didn’t catch it. Same question.” Score one for Calley versus the Unnerving Smile of Pleasantness. He didn’t have to be looking at her to catch her exasperated sigh. On that note: he was pretty sure he’d found a new game.

"Uh huh. Just like you didn't catch those earlier 'technical-truths'." She raised an eyebrow at his nonchalant stance. "Somehow I doubt you miss very much." She set the books on a nearby table and leaned against them.

"All right two things. One, I didn't leave, I took a vacation. Two, I took the vacation because I can't control my mutation very well, and needed to come to grips with that fact. By the time I decided to go back, there was no Mansion to go back to."

She observed him for a brief minute, going over some of the answers he'd given her already. A thought came to her. Assuming he was telling the truth, or at least the 'technical-truth'.

"You're trying to find your boundaries with me." It was a statement, spoken again in a neutral voice. "You're trying to see how far you can push me before I snap at you.

"Am I wrong?" she mimicked her earlier questioning. "Technically speaking of course."

...Somehow, Calley got the impression that he really should pay more attention to what his own words were giving away. Not that it was anything vital, just some basic personality information: but it was grounds for future suspicion. This is what came of talking to people. He’d learned a little, but she’d learned a lot. Stupid double-edged swords.

She had put down her books. That meant that both of her hands were free. Her voice had lost the friendly edge, and was now into the realms of neutral-unreadable. She was leaning against a table; a relaxed pose. The table was close. And Hunter rather liked those relaxed poses, himself.

“Probably,” he answered, feeling quite bad that he’d probably be dropping this book very soon. He didn’t like mistreating books, but he was faster as a tiger. Not to mention more intimidating. Better to drop the book than try and hold onto it with two paws full of claws. From there, he was relatively confident that he could growl his way past her into the halls. And unless she was blatantly deceiving him—which was a very, very real possibility, given how confident she sounded about handling the Boss Man—then she didn’t know the hallways as well as he did. He could lose her. After all, it wasn’t likely she’d developed super speed since her stay with the Order. “So. Is this it? Your snapping point, I mean.”

“Probably. So. Is this it? Your snapping point, I mean.”

The long pause likely would be mistaken for her calming herself down, in an effort not to lash out. However Iris wasn't upset at all; a bit irritated since she didn't like talking about her mutation, a tad annoyed that he kept pushing the matter anyway, but far from upset.

Finally she spoke up. This time her voice was softer, an a bit on the sympathetic side.

"Calley, unless my mutation is active, the only snapping I do is with words. And how and when I snap all depends on the subject. If you're worried about getting hit, or something tossed at you, then you're worried for nothing right now."

She paused again, considering her next action. It was probably a stupid idea, letting herself in for more irritation and annoyance from this kid she'd just met. But then again, Iris's actions were more often than not guided by emotion rather than common sense.

She turned her right palm upwards, just enough so he could see she wasn't holding anything.

"See this? Watch close." In the back of her mind, she pictured the tanzanite. A moment later the stone appeared, embedded in her hand, and her eyes changed color. "That's part of my mutation. If you see that in my hand, my mutation is active, and it's probably safer to steer clear of me for an hour or so. If its not," and she deactivated it, letting the jewel disappear, "then all you have to deal with a normal person who might throw a water balloon or a pen at you once in a while, depending on her mood."

She picked up the books with a slight sigh. "Not everyone in the world approves of violence Calley. For your sake I hope you find a way to figure that out, preferrably without pressing buttons." Her smile returned and she tossed him a wink.

"Ready when you are."

She still didn't see a librarian, so she figured that removal of the books wasn't a bit issue.

"All right, my turn, huh? Let's see..... Um..... well, since we're talking about snapping points, do you have any brothers or sisters to torture, or do you have to stick with guards and current residents?"

Long pause. Long pause was fine. Calley didn’t mind long pauses: she seemed annoyed but clearly she hadn’t snapped. Snappage came with sudden movements and pain, not long pauses. Lucky little book: it wasn’t about to get hastily dropped, after all. When she spoke, he couldn’t quite place the tone of her voice, but it didn’t sound like this-is-your-last-warning. Excellent. So, to answer his own question: no. No, her snapping point was still a while off.

"Calley, unless my mutation is active, the only snapping I do is with words. And how and when I snap all depends on the subject. If you're worried about getting hit, or something tossed at you, then you're worried for nothing right now."

Yep, he’d figured that last part out. As for the first part: clearly, he was dealing with an idealist. That was nice, actually. She’d probably stick to that, as long as he himself stuck to verbal pokes. Which was hardly a problem, since he rather liked keeping things verbal, himself.

When the palm turned up, he was fairly confident no harm was impending, so he did indeed watch close. “Ooo,” he complimented, dragging Slate away from the book to lean in a bit closer towards Iris. “Neat trick.” And his unspoken compliments at those water balloon and pen-throwing threats. He was amused, but there really wasn’t any reason to show it. She’d already figured out enough about him through his big mouth. He really didn’t need to give her any more material to work with.

"Not everyone in the world approves of violence Calley. For your sake I hope you find a way to figure that out, preferably without pressing buttons."

And if he replied to that, he’d be expressing opinions, which was even worse than just letting his mouth run. All he did was give a shrug. It was sort of nice that Iris could still believe that. Calley had tried to believe it for awhile, but he’d since seen the error of his ways. Everyone had their snapping point. For some people, it was insubordination. For others, it was someone sitting on the floor minding their own business, or someone trying to be friendly. For him, it was other people snapping on him. Iris sounded very sincere in her beliefs. Calley relaxed a bit—if she had found her snapping point yet, then chances were good anything he could throw at her wouldn’t do the trick. That was a lot more reassuring than anything she could actually do or say.

As she went to leave with her books, he put his back on the shelf randomly: he’d remember where it was. For now, he was still curious about her, and he’d just learned the charming fact that she wasn’t going to hurt him.

Heh. If that wasn’t blanket permission to ask whatever he wanted, then he didn’t know what was.

"All right, my turn, huh? Let's see..... Um..... well, since we're talking about snapping points, do you have any brothers or sisters to torture, or do you have to stick with guards and current residents?"

As he rejoined her side this time, he didn’t bother to stay out of easy grabbing range. “One sister! But not exactly a mutant, so not exactly here for my torturing convenience. S’okay. I seem to be finding substitutes.” He grinned over at her.

“So. What was all that between Syn and you?” Considering he knew exactly what ‘all that’ was, and since she clearly was still shaken up over it, this wasn’t a very nice question. But since he was asking about everything else, it might strike her as a bit strange if he left this lone topic untouched.

“One sister! But not exactly a mutant, so not exactly here for my torturing convenience. S’okay. I seem to be finding substitutes.”

Iris sighed and looked up toward the ceiling. "So I've noticed." Well, she'd asked for it.

“So. What was all that between Syn and you?”

"I was wondering when you'd get back around to that." She snorted. "Syn is sneaky, coniving, manipulative little....." She bit her tongue, then continued, "Syn had similar plans for my mutation that Hunter did at first. Again I don't remember, but I think she managed to push me far enough to lose control. I'd rather not let her have the chance again. Speaking of which, thanks for sticking up for me back there, but I wouldn't try it again around her."

She noticed he was walking much closer to her now, and grinning. He must have believed her then, that she wouldn't hurt him.

<"Why am I so concerned about how he feels?"> Well, why not? He sure seemed like an off-the-wall kid; why not ask him an off the wall question?

"So, why do you think I'm letting you ask me all these questions?"

"Syn is sneaky, conniving, manipulative little.....”

“And she smells funny!” He interjected, mostly because he could. Actually, she didn’t. But that wasn’t the point. He shrugged off Iris’ thanks. It hadn’t been any skin off of his back. “Don’t worry about it. I really don’t like her. It was sort of fun to say that stuff to her face instead of in my head.” The lime green squeaky hedgehog migrated to the top of his head again. Another thing that was fun: trying to balance a relatively round object on your head while you walked. He stood up straight, stuck his hands in his pockets, and walked along with perfectly balanced pride.

"So, why do you think I'm letting you ask me all these questions?"

The lime green squeaky hedgehog took a nosedive. “Gah—!” He skittered down the hall after it, caught it in a quick grab, then straightened up and returned it to his head as if nothing had ever happened. “Good question,” he nodded (catching the lime green squeaky hedgehog as it jumped again, and returning it to its perch with a great air of I-meant-to-do-that), “I’m going to go with ‘because you’re pitying poor li’l abused me’.” Yep. That was his final answer. His tone was light, and full of a rather shady kind of amusement. Change-of-subject time!

“If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”

It seemed her question surprised him slightly, and the toy went rolling, with Calley right on its tail. “Good question. I’m going to go with ‘because you’re pitying poor li’l abused me’.”

She gave a non-committal, half-shrug half-nod. Everybody considered pity a bad thing; in her mind it only was if you didn't do anything to help. She couldn't think of anything to help Calley, other than to let him talk. Then again, Iris was beginning to find herself becoming narrow-minded as of late.

“If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”

Iris leaned her head back to look at the ceiling, slowing her walk slightly.

What did she want? Peace. To be able to protect her friends. To not have to fight. For there to be no need for the Registration Law. To be back home with her Tia and Tio. To have a normal life. To have had a normal beginning. To have had.... normal parents. To not be a mutant. So many things she could never have.....

"To be happy."

<"Hmm. Now who sounds like they need pity? You sound like a Miss America candidate....">

She looked forward again, and resumed her pace. Her eyes glazed over a bit, even though she was smiling slightly. "But then again, don't we all?

"What about you? What would you want?"

"To be happy."

It was a very cute answer. Judging by how much thought seemed to be behind it, he was guessing that was just the summarized version.

"What about you? What would you want?"

“Easy!” Calley intentionally flicked the lime green squeaky hedgehog off of his head, caught it, and started tossing it ceiling-wards. His eyes and head followed its every leap. “I want go everywhere, meet everyone, learn about everything, and not have anyone be annoyed with me for any of it. Oh! And I never want to be hungry, except for when I haven’t eaten for awhile.” That last one sounded deceptively simple, really.

“How did you end up caring for a tiger?”

“Easy! I want go everywhere, meet everyone, learn about everything, and not have anyone be annoyed with me for any of it. Oh! And I never want to be hungry, except for when I haven’t eaten for awhile.”

She chuckled. "Sounds fair. Though it would help if you were a psychic. Or knew a friendly one."

“How did you end up caring for a tiger?”

"I foster and adopt out animals. The zoo in my hometown had a tigress that abandoned her kits, so I raised one of them, until he could live on his own at the zoo. I've done the same with wolves, owls, falcons and ravens. I guess I have a thing for cats and birds."

His reply gave her an idea for another question.

"So, why are you so skinny? Even with a fast metabolism, you were eating enough back there to feed a small army. Shouldn't you be a bit thicker?" She took a small risk and moved to give him a sisterly poke in the ribs.