Fungus whistled to himself merrily as he walked down the road towards his destination. His attitude had become so much happier than it had been ever since he ran away when he heard about a shool of sorts that would be able to help him be rid of his horrible curse. Ever since that fateful day a year ago, Fungus had avoided all physical contact. It was driving him crazy, and he would do anything to be rid of that curse.

Reaching the gates and seeing them slightly ajar, Fungus walked in, looking about himself at the beautiful lush gardens he saw. As he walked down a well used path, a chrysanthemum peeking up through the ground caught his attention. Removing one of his gloves, he knelt to cup it in his hands, sighing as it rotted under his touch. The slight surge of energy he received smoothed away his aches and pains, but the natural beauty of the chrysanthemum could not be replaced.

"Well now, you would come in very handy in the kitchen."

A cheerful voice came from overhead. A dark-skinned woman perched in the branches of one of the trees lining the walk up to the Mansion proper. She peered at the young man from behind a pair of black sunglasses, munching on an apple as she took in his appearance. She took note of the white and black hair, and spotted eyes, as well as the odd spots covering his skin.

"That's a very interesting gift you have, m'friend."

At the voice coming from up above, Fungus jumped, dropping the now slightly steaming lump of foul rot to the ground and looking around wildly for a second before spying Neena in the tree. Chuckling lightly to himself at his nervousness, and at her comment, Fungus bowed slightly, replacing his glove on his hand.

"Ah, it is not a gift, but a curse, my lady. One I hope to be rid of in this place."

Neena hid a grin behind her apple at the youth's startled reaction to her sudden statement.

"Ah, it is not a gift, but a curse, my lady. One I hope to be rid of in this place."

"Sorry to hear that." She bit into her snack and held it firmly in her mouth, as she swung down from the tree. She landed with a soft, 'Oof!' She mumbled around the apple while she dusted off her jeans, then removed it to speak.

"I've always been of the opinion that it's the way you use it that determines a gift from a curse."

She returned the young man's bow amiably. "Name's Neena," she introduced herself. "Nice to meetcha....?" She trailed off for him to finish.

"Fungus, if you please. The pleasure is all mine." Fungus smiled, genuinely happy for the first time in almost a year. Here was the place where they could take his curse away, or at least help him control it. If he had known about this place earlier, he might have been able to prevent- No! Don't think about it! He mentally commanded himself.

His anguish no doubt briefly was portrayed on his face, but then it was gone, wiped away by another smile, albeit a slightly less enthusiastic one. "If I may be so bold," he said, phrasing his words carefully, "I was wondering what exactly your... gift was, and how long you have been here."

"Fungus, if you please. The pleasure is all mine."

Fungus? Now that was an intriguing name.... She cocked her head curiously when a distressed expression crossed his face. It disappeared in the next moment.

"If I may be so bold, I was wondering what exactly your... gift was, and how long you have been here."

Neena waved aside his unease with a smile. "Nothing so fancy as yours, I'm afraid," she replied. "I'm a sight specialist." She lifted her glasses momentarily, revealing her near-white eyes, squinting a bit in the sun as she did so.

"Welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Fungus." She replaced her sunglasses. "Are you looking for a place to stay for awhile, or interested in classes?"

When the seemingly always gracious and happy woman offered him a place to stay, and perhaps classes, Fungus almost jumped for joy. This is what he had come here for.

"By my reckoning, Miss Neena, you're power is much better than mine. Not that it's my place to say, of course." Again thinking of that fateful day and trying to force it down under a wave of happiness, and failing, another expression of pure grief crossed Fungus's face, this time not disappearing entirely with his next comment.

"As to staying here, that would be wonderful. I don't know about classes, it all depends. The main thing I'm interested in is controlling this thing I have, although..." Fungus paused, shy and embarrassed, but he had to know. "Do you have a gardening class?"

Neena watched the young man's face go through various expressions as he spoke, from deep grief to attempted cheer. Something obviously bothered him.

"By my reckoning, Miss Neena, you're power is much better than mine. Not that it's my place to say, of course."

She shrugged, still smiling. "It's all about perspective, m'friend." Then she added, "And please, no 'Miss'. Neena's just fine."

"As to staying here, that would be wonderful. I don't know about classes, it all depends. The main thing I'm interested in is controlling this thing I have, although..."

She cocked her head, waiting for him to finish, and added 'timid' to the list of emotions she'd counted so far.

"Do you have a gardening class?"

"Well, not a class, per se," she replied. "But there is a very large garden that is open to all of the residents."

Behind her glasses she mentally switched her vision to xray, and scanned for any hidden weaponry. It had become a routine lately; she needed to consult Tricity about the possibility of adding a metal detector to the gates. Although.... that could prove a bit hasslesome to some of the residents....

"Well, let's see about getting you a room then, shall we?" She turned to lead the rest of the way up the drive. "Forgive me being nosy, but how do you do that?" She indicated the decayed flower.

"Of course, Mis-.. Neena." He nodded his head respectfully. "A large garden, that sounds wonderful! I will definitely be spending some time there." He looked around as Neena checked him for weaponry, and really the only weapon he had was a swiss army knife in his pocket. His mutation was enough of a weapon for him.

Fungus loved the idea of a room, and at that point he was ready to fall into a bead. However.. "A room would be wonderfull, but the bed and sheets would have to be synthetic. You know..." He trailed off, looking over at the steaming plant.

"Not nosy at all. My touch can rot all organic things. Wood, cotten, flowers, meat. Human." Again a grimace spread across his visage, this time to stay completely. When he spoke again, it was softly, all levity gone from his voice. "I absorb the energy generated in the rotting process, and.." Trailing off again, he reached out wit one gloved hand and lightly tapped Neena on the shoulder, releasing the energy he gained from rotting the flower into her to generate a short muscle twitch.

"A room would be wonderfull, but the bed and sheets would have to be synthetic. You know..."

Neena scratched her head, considering that necessity.

"Not nosy at all. My touch can rot all organic things. Wood, cotten, flowers, meat. Human."

"Ah! I see. I guess that would present a problem, wouldn't it?"

The expression of pain returned, and remained this time. Obviously the use of his abilities sparked something inside, possibly a bad memory. That would explain his description of his 'curse'.

"I absorb the energy generated in the rotting process, and.."

She didn't move when he reached out to touch her shoulder, didn't flinch at all. Not until his hand made contact, that is. In that instant, she felt her muscle twitch involuntarily. She tilted her head, and scratched at her shoulder curiously.

"Now that felt odd." Sticking the apple in her mouth once more, she reached her arm into the air, and rotated it a few times. She didn't feel any numbness, or anything else for that matter.

"That felt almost like a static shock," she remarked, and her grin returned. "That has potential to be useful as well, ya know?"

The fact that Neena didn't flinch when he reached out to touch her comforted fungus, showed him that this house, this mansion really, was a place where he could find people to help him. He had to believe that, otherwise he had no life at all. What Fungus really wanted, deep down, however much he hid it behind a selfish facade, was to be able to love someone, to share with someone the only thing worth having, and his curse prevented him from doing so.

"Yes, it does feel quite odd. Now, I'm not so sure about useful, it depends on what you're talking about.." He let it go at that, not knowing of the other competing factions of NYC. "Now, if you don't mind, I feel like I could fall into a bed right now and sleep for a year." Though his mouth was smiling, it was a smile that never reached his eyes.

"Yes, it does feel quite odd. Now, I'm not so sure about useful, it depends on what you're talking about.."

"Well," Neena replied, "I don't know how much you've explored what you can do, but I'd venture to guess that, if you could make my muscle twitch like that, you could probably get the same effect from your own. Right? So that could give you increased reflexes, maybe increase your speed a bit. Or," she continued, "if not, another possibility would be deriving an energy boost."

She enjoyed speculating about the possibilities of the various mutations she encountered. There were so many interesting potential growths a mutant could go through in the course of their life, and Neena found the spectrum captivating.

"Now, if you don't mind, I feel like I could fall into a bed right now and sleep for a year."

She quelled her curiosity in view of Fungus's depression. Whatever memory or other problem had brought grief to his face, it was enough, a bit of sleep might very well prove beneficially distracting.

"Of course, m'friend. It'll take me a bit to find something synthetic for you to use, though. In the meantime, let's see if we can get a room set up for ya."

By that time they'd reached the front door. Once inside, Neena picked up a New Resident folder, and opened it up to the map in the back.

"This is where we're headed," she said, pointing out the second floor dorms, even as they began up the stairs. Since his earlier touch hadn't caused any damage to her skin, she assumed that his gloves kept his mutation quelled, so she extended the folder toward him to hold.

The enthusiasm Neena showed for thinking of strange new ways to use his mutation was interesting, but Fungus really was almost falling asleep where he stood. He smiled gratefully to Neena as she handed him a map and pointed to where she was taking him. "Thank you very much. You don't know how much this means to me." And Fungus doubted she ever could. Living on the streets and in the woods in a time of the mutant camps, and trying not to get discovered, and trying not to kill anyone else. He had killed enough, even though that mugger probably deserved it. Fungus had killed a total of three people, and he had no desire to repeat the experience.

"Thank you very much. You don't know how much this means to me."

Neena waved away the gratitude as unnecessary. "No worries, m'friend, its a pleasure. We'll talk later, after you have a chance to rest up a bit. In the meantime, though...."

She turned the folder to the first page.

"When you get a chance if you could fill this out, and I'll get it later. The information is confidential, so you don't have to worry." Since he'd already given her a power demonstration, albeit a short one, she didn't point out the questions of 'What is your power?' and 'Is it dangerous to others?'

When they reached the top of the stairs, however, she did pause and ask aloud, "How old are ya, Fungus?"

The silence between Fungus and Neena as they walked up the stairs was a comfortable one, and Fungus was beginning to relax. When they reached the top of the stairs, the question Neena asked sent waves of depression over him once more as he was forced to think back on that fateful day. He had turned seventeen then, and had been on the streets for... a little more than a year. That would make him eighteen.

"I'm Eighteen." He said simply. "Why?"