It had been a few days after his somewhat awkward talk with Vega and Kaz found himself looking down on the Mansion, from nearly 300ft in the air, as he stood and hovered on the silver board. It wasn't often he used the thing, but it allowed him to get away from others and be alone easily, the only other way he did so was to sit at the bottom of a pool for hours (with an oxygen tank of course).

Kaz cut the board's power. Immediately he began to fall, he and the board pitched downward, sliding his foot forward along it's surface he leaned into the fall. He felt the cool air zip past him as he descended. He wasn't exactly sure why he was above the mansion, he didn't know what he was doing, but he did know something Vega had said or done had wedged itself into his thoughts, like a dull thudding in the back of his mind. He was nearing the ground, he closed his eyes.

He let his body choose his next move. If he pulled up and away he'd leave it all alone and be on his way; If he pulled up and stopped, well, he didn't know what he'd do exactly, but he knew he'd stay. He knew what would happen if he didn't pull up, the residents of the Mansion would have a nice red stain on the ground, Have fun cleaning that up. He thought to himself with morbid humor.

It felt like an impossibly long stretch of time before he felt his hand twitch in specific patterns while his legs pulled, pushed and thrashed in a controlled manner. He went nearly flat against the board at one point while he brought his decent to a halt, throwing up some grass and dirt and gouged the ground in some places. When his eyes opened fully, he was standing upright on the board while it hovered at a slightly inclined angel in front of the Mansion doors.

He sighed a bit and stepped off the board, put his right arm around it and carried it into the Mansion. Apparently his near suicide stunt hadn't gone unnoticed by some of the students/residents. He picked out one, a young girl between the ages 13 to 17, he couldn't be sure, and asked who would be the one to speak to, besides Tricity. She looked at a few of the others around, who had started to move away, before pointing down the hall at a fairly plain looking wooden door. He nodded and thanked her as he began a quick, steady gate to the door.

Once, twice, thrice he rapped his knuckles against the door frame. He laid the board against the wall vertically as he waited and ignored any odd and/or strange looks those around sent in his general direction. The girl had said it was Sam's office. 'This'll be an interesting conversation.' He thought to himself as he waited for a response.

Things were finally starting to pick up for the team, he was currently going through the exam session teams and had made little to no headway, what was the best way to balance out the powers and experience. It was clear that no matter what there would be two teams better off experience wise, the teams with Shin and Fade leading were indeed going to be better off when compared to the other teams. Racking his brain as he wrote out possibilities he crossed off the current team and then threw it on the ground in a pile with the rest of the paper wads. This was anything but an easy task for him was he going to have to call another meeting and do something similar to a team picks? No, that would take to much time, and with the rate missions had been coming it he didn’t have that time.

Setting his pen down and taking a sip of water Sam leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily as he looked to the corner of his desk at his tabby cat who was purring lazily as her tail swayed this way and that. Reaching forward and petting Cammie on the head before retreating back to his work Sam herd a knock on the door to his and Streak’s office. ”It’s Open!” said Sam loudly enough so whoever was on the other side of the door could hear him.

Cammie’s head perked up as a man entered the room her purring stopped abruptly as she sniffed the air trying to figure out whom this person was. Sam however knew the familiar looks of the long silver hair and the pointy elf like ears, ”Ahh Kaz,” Sam said as he stood up and walked over to the elf looking man with a smile out and his hand extended, ”Was actually just working on some things involving tryouts,” Sam paused and gestured towards the seat sitting across from his desk as he turned and headed towards his chair, ”What can I do for you?”

As he sat in his chair Cammie worked up the courage to walk on the desk and sit directly in front of Kaz, she sniffed the air trying to determine if he was worthy of talking to Sam, ”Mew” Sam smiled and said, ”Kaz this is my cat Cammie, somewhat protective of who I talk to…” grinning Sam looked from Cammie to Kaz waiting to see how Kaz would respond to Cammie.

Kaz clearly heard Sam's voice through the door which caused him to raise his eyebrow a bit. He opened the door without haste and stepped inside. He set the board against the wall in the room as Sam moved towards him. He took the man's hand with a firm grip. "Sam." He said a bit oddly, unsure if he had gone to the right room or not. Tryouts? Not the wrong room then.. With a mental shrug he shut the door before he sat in the chair across from the man.

Kaz noticed the feline move cautiously towards him before it sat and looked directly at him. While he had never owned a pet, unless one counted Demi, he understood the expected greeting. "Hmm, I thought that's generally what dogs did." He looked at the feline skeptically, his head pulled back from it slightly, one eyebrow raised in it's direction. If CS hadn't been in the room, Kaz would have had no problem picking the cat up and removing it from the room, either out the door or into the trash bin and out of the building, or a window could work. Cat's always land on their feet, right? he asked himself with an internal smirk as he thought of the cat in front of him and then Sara. Instead he decided maybe polite was the best route. He held his hand out, palm up and fingers extended so the feline could give him a bit of a sniff. He'd give it a couple quick pats on the head before turning his attention away from it. Though not all of his attention, he'd still keep an 'eye' on it, just in case. Just in case of what? He didn't know, but just in case...

"Shot in the dark, the tryouts aren't for the local football team are they?" Right after the words left his mouth he figured the X's could almost be considered the Mansion's football team, the thought nearly made him chuckle. Even so, he couldn't remember anything about tryouts to join the X's, though the way he said it made it seem a rather routine thing. He thought of the number of kids that he saw briefly in the halls and realized they probably wouldn't have a big shortage of volunteers.

He let out a slow breath, he hated admitting certain things to himself, but out loud and to certain people even more, Vega had become one of those people and so had Sam. With Sam, he wasn't sure why, it could be due to his relationship with Vega, with the X's, or the position Sam was in at the Mansion, possibly all three. It was somewhat awkward to him. "To answer your question Sam, I have no idea honestly. I don't have a tangible clue as to what I'm doing here. Vega's not some sort of telepath is she?"

Eyes flickering between the pointy eared man and his Cat as he waited for the initial response that could trigger events that could either be in his favor or not in his favor. Cammie approved of him the meeting would continue without any problems however if Kaz ignored Cammie not only would Cammie have to show her displeasure by attacking the pointy eared man but Sam would have been a little more cautious when dealing with him after he had to get Cammie under control.

A small grin etched its self on Sam’s face as Kaz extended his hand and allowed Cammie to sniff his fingers. She did and let out a small meow and nudged her head against Kaz’s fingers making it seem that Kaz was petting her to begin with. After a moment of this Cammie turned around and trailed across the desk and made an attempt to crawl into Sam’s lap.

”Foot Ball?” Sam asked curiously as he leaned back and accepted Cammie into his lap and started to pet her as she started to purr like a small motor boat, ”Never been to a tryout for foot ball but from what I understand of the sport it shouldn’t be anything like that. Yes you’ll be tested physically but mentally as well.” Sam shifted his weight back a bit more as Cammie sprawled out on his lap, ”But I as well as other team members pick and choose the candidates that have proven themselves to the team.”

Vega, there was that name again, why was it he always had to think when ever someone mentioned that name, he could never put a face to that name. Maybe it was because he never used that name on the mutant Kaz was talking about, maybe because Sam just knew her as Ghost? ”Not that I know of, she just has a way with words sometimes…” said Sam as he smiled a bit as he looked to Kaz, ”Can I ask what she talked to you about that has you here? I might be able to help shed a little light on the situation if you’re so unsure to why you are here.”

Kaz had quite nearly ignored Sam's presence as he dealt with his cat. The man came back to Kaz's mind as soon as he spoke some odd words. Well, Kaz thought they were odd, especially with how Sam looked. He looked like he could have played the game in Jr. and Sr. High and done well at it, but he sounded like he didn't have a clue about it. "Yeah, Football. You don't know it?" He said quite curiously. "Hmm. You, and others, pick people you feel worthy. On what basis? How does someone qualify or prove themselves?

"That's a relief." He said to himself quite softly and under his breath. If she was, that would complicate things for him, seeing as it feels like a freezing fist is gripping his insides when he thinks about someone being inside his mind. "Sure, I don't see why not. She had asked me what I thought of you X's and I told her. That whole mess at KP, was just like the time before when Tricity lead the charge. Headstrong, no planning, no defense at all, completely rushed, and no thought once of diplomacy. Though granted I doubt they would have listened. The humans got involved, made things worse for both sides, and young, inexperienced people got hurt, nearly killed." He didn't say it but he was sure Sam would know who he meant.

He shrugged and let out a short, quick, sharp laugh, "Then she said," He thought back for a moment to make sure he had the words and tone right, " 'If you think you can do better, why don't you change things with your own two hands?' " Kaz looked at Sam and lifted his hands up a bit.

It was obvious to some that the more subtle things that everyone knew as a kid were lost on Sam seeing as he didn’t have the most productive childhood. Things like sports were either studied for a mission or pushed off to the side to ‘more important’ things such as gun assembly, or how to hotwire a helicopter things Sam often had a difficulty with. ”I know of it, just never thought of Team tryouts like that.”

Sam shrugged slightly his finger rolling across Cammie stomach as she continued to purr, ”I’ll agree with you that things done at KP were messy, Tricity and Neena both were unavailable and seeing as at the time I didn’t have any authority other than seniority all I could do would dish the orders I thought were good at the split moment of the situation. Some more than others listened to what I said and performed to the best of their abilities but the fact of the matter was it was a heat of the moment decision and what happened had to happen. Would I change things if I could knew?” Sam’s focus was now on Kaz as he continued, ”Absolutely, teamwork for starters then I would have left the inexperienced at home. I wasn’t ready for the position but now I think I am.”

As Kaz raised his hands after his words Sam smiled slightly, ”See what I mean, a way with words…” lifting up Cammie and setting her on the desk Sam leaned over her as he rested his arms on the desk all the while staring at Kaz his eyes scanning and taking in each feature, ”Tell me Kaz, what do you expect to bring to the table for the team, your strong yes, our first meeting proved that and from what I could see your fast, but what we are looking for is more than just brawn and at least now we are, I want to see more in possible members of the team so tell me what you can bring to the table.”

He needed more than a grunt hell half the team could put up with not asking questions but when he wanted the members to think for themselves to have a moral compass he expected questions, why for example was one of his favorites.

”I know of it, just never thought of Team tryouts like that.”

Kaz gave Sam a slight nod and shrugged a shoulder a bit. The two would obviously be different and he had made the reference to make it easier to explain. That had sort of backfired on him. It was fairly obvious Sam didn't quite make the connection so Kaz dropped it not having anything else to add to it.

He listened to Sam as he said his peace about KP. It seemed as if the X's had been depending on Tricity and Neena too much without knowing what to do in their absence, and it had nearly cost a young girl her life, and others as well. Sam had been to aim the gun and pull the trigger, except he had gotten lucky and missed. It had been rash and foolish, but he knew it afterwards. The man's words held that little splinter of self doubt, not the suffocating kind which breaks a person's mind, but the type that lets one question them self, and learn and grow. Kaz looked into Sam's eyes and nodded, "You think you are? That's good, don't loose that Sam." It wasn't much and could easily sound cryptic, but it was just as he said.

The cat was placed on the desk while Sam leaned over it, Kaz couldn't help but eye the feline with suspicion. He wanted to grab it and throw it out side, away from him, but again, he resisted the urge. Sam seemed to take Kaz's words to a whole different place, at least that's what Kaz thought. Join the X's. The idea hadn't even surfaced in his mind, or had they? Kaz leaned back in the chair, though the legs of the chair never left the ground, while he listened to Sam and mulled it over silently.

Shrugging, "Don't know Sam. You're right, I am, and it may be presumptuous of me, but I'm willing to bet you've no one faster or stronger currently. Though I'm nowhere near Abyss' strength." Kaz smirked and lifted and rested a hand on his left shoulder, Saturn's reprimand and revenge for what Kaz had done. "I don't know what I could bring and contribute, except for experience. Other than that, I suppose you'd have to be more specific in what you want, or I'd just have to show you at some point." He fixed the man with a steady gaze and a smirk.

Speed and strength, if that was all the X-men were about they wouldn’t be any better than the order all he could do to this comment was smile and give off a small quick laugh that ended sooner than it had began. ”I have seen what you can do or at least a small percentage of it.” Sam lifted his arm in Kaz’s direction and smiled, ”Not easy to forget someone’s strength after they broke every bone in my arm.” lowering his arm and placing it on Cammie he scooped up the cat and started to pet her in his lap.

”What we are looking for, is difficult to explain, normally I ask you what your looking for, anyone can follow orders, I however want to know what exactly you want out of life.” Sam smiled and then continued, ”Strength, speed, and experience aren’t what we are all about, though they can be useful they aren’t everything.”

”So Kaz, please tell me what you think we are about and what exactly are you looking for, and i can tell you if your in the right place.” Sam wasn’t the one being interviewed, Kaz was the one who had been asking about the team so he figured he give Kaz a few questions about her views before he gave him a bunch of information that he could possibly not even need.