He almost rolled his eyes when she apologized. He held back because in her position he would have felt just as guilty. While the two girls talked quietly by the sink Andrew picked up the remainder of the glass shards that could be gotten by hand. He dropped them off in the trash can while grabbing the broom and dust pan to sweep up the rest. Hearing Amber's statements he glanced over at them and then looked back at his work. He didn't want them to see the frown playing over his features and reflected in his eyes.

Andrew was tired of running. He'd gotten tired of that months ago. Running, he'd found, didn't solve the problems. Yet a lot of the problems mutants faced had no easy answers and so they had to run until the answers could be found. It was annoying to say the least. Realizing with a start that he'd swept the glass shards into a small pile while buried in his thoughts Andrew grabbed up the dust pan and the rest of the glass shards joined their brethren in the trash can. He left his thoughts unvoiced. If the girl was comforted by the idea of running then it would suffice.

With the glass swept up Andrew crossed the room and grabbed one of the chairs at a table and dragged it out into the middle of the space between the kitchen and the dining area. He sat down and watched the two of them quietly.

>> "You d-don't need to apologize, I'm the last person to judge for irrational outbursts."

Agnes had said nothing in response. To each their own. To be honest it did not matter who it was but everyone needed to have an outburst every once in awhile. If anyone ever said they didn’t, they were obviously lying. Agnes new the truth about the world, she knew about the dark side in everyone and the fact that they really just needed to let it out. It was only a matter of when and where they decide to do it.

The runaway remained silently as Amber leaned down to begin to clean and dress the wound on her finger. She wanted to tell her no, that it was okay and she could take care of herself, but she knew the fruitlessness of the matter. Besides, she really was not in the mood to argue with anyone else tonight.

With a small smile, she remained patient and let Amber do her work.

>> "Sometimes vanishing is the only thing one really can do…The world is a harsh p-place, especially when you're a mutant. It’s n-nice to be able to escape sometimes."

Agnes nodded in understanding. She definitely knew about the harshness of the world. She hated it so much, that she had to learn about it the hard way. Before her mutation, she was ready to see the good in the world. And those that couldn’t, well, she could offer them a gentle nudge in the right direction. But, all that was thrown out the window after her parents attempted to exorcise her. She learned quickly how cruel a parent could be their child that was different.

It was a definitely a slap in the face.

“Trust me, if given the chance, I’d vanish for awhile. Especially right now,” she whispered gently.

As she toyed with the thought of running again, she turned and saw that the boy, Andrew he was called, took a seat nearby to watch him. He seemed to be waiting to be included in the conversation…that or he was simply irritated with them being in the kitchen. Did he own it? Either way, Agnes felt embarrassed again since she had not introduced herself to him. He seemed nice enough.

She gently excused herself from Amber and walked over, holding out her hand to shake his. It was apparent that she was starting to calm down after her ordeal. She smiled softly to him and waiting for him to shake her hand.

“My name’s Agnes. Thanks, you know, for helping clean up my mess.” she said. As she did though, a pair of flies buzzed into the room and began to crawl about her hair. She sighed as she shook her head. The flies clung on and refused to leave. “Sorry,” was all she could say, in reference to the flies. If that did not make him leave, she didn’t know if anything could.

Amber knew that she wouldn't be able to run from her life forever, nor did she particularly want to. There were some things about her life that were very good, after all. She loved studying at the Mansion, and her new family in Abyss and Aura was everything she had ever wanted a family to be, even if it wasn't exactly how she imagined things while growing up. A vacation from life was what she really needed, just a few weeks of peace to get away and re-establish herself. A vacation and, following that, training from Aura to truly be able to defend herself and thus take the first steps to taking back control of her life again. She was determined to no longer be the victim and as much as she disliked violence, if humans used violence against her, maybe it was about time she learned to respond in kind.

“Trust me, if given the chance, I’d vanish for awhile. Especially right now,”

Amber thought about the statement and how she might be able to help her friend when it occurred to her that, perhaps, they didn't need powers in order to vanish for a while. Maybe all they needed was a secluded spot in the woods far enough from human civilization to not be bothered. It was getting warmer out every night and she had enough money through her adopted father to purchase any sort of camping supplies they might need. Food could also be purchased or, failing that, she was fairly confident in her own hunting skills and she could at least provide enough meat for sustenance.

"I think I have an idea," Amber announced. She spoke loud enough to include both Agnes and Andrew in the conversation, just finishing up on bandaging the other teen's hand while she did so. "M-maybe I'm crazy but it seems like I'm not the only one that could use a vacation from the world. I was thinking, maybe camping. In a f-forest somewhere, away from anyone to bother us. J-just for a little while, j-just long enough to maybe forget our problems for a little while." Of course her skin might make camping a little more tricky, but she could deal with that, even if she had to be shifted during the daylight hours.

Amber looked expectantly from one to the other, hoping they might see the advantages of such an idea. It really couldn't be that hard to arrange, could it? She wouldn't even mind if they choose to bring someone with them, as long as the people brought were laid back enough just to enjoy it as the vacation she hoped it could be.

Once the girl was bandaged she walked over to him with a hand forward. Andrew gave her a small smile as he shook her hand during the introduction.

"Andrew Leroy. I live and work here in the mansion and between you and me I spend most of my nights in here. It was no trouble to help you clean up and there's no need to apologize. I don't think there is a mutant out there that doesn't have some issue or another."

Andrew glanced over to where the glass had been.

"Think of it this way, better to break a glass than to hurt someone else. Glasses can be replaced. People can't."

Andrew looked over to Amber as she made her suggestion. It sounded like a good idea. Just the thing to get Agnes' mind off of whatever had set her off tonight.

"I'm pretty sure we've got the fixings for smores in here somewhere."

Camping was among the activities that Andrew hadn't done since he'd gotten his mutation. Going again but with other mutants did sound like a good idea.

>> "Andrew Leroy. I live and work here in the mansion and between you and me I spend most of my nights in here. It was no trouble to help you clean up and there's no need to apologize. I don't think there is a mutant out there that doesn't have some issue or another…Think of it this way, better to break a glass than to hurt someone else. Glasses can be replaced. People can't."

Agnes smiled and nodded that she was happy to meet him. The introduction was nice and he definitely seemed like a nice enough kind of guy. Plus he did seem to be rather insightful. He was right, at least she did not take her frustration out on someone innocent bystander that just happened to be going by. That would not be right at all.

He was also right when he stated that many mutants have their own issues. Just like people, she guessed. Everyone had problems and not everyone dealt with them in the most healthy of ways. At least Agnes never went down that road of being a complete and utter monster towards everyone. With her powers, she definitely could have been. The only time she came close was when she was attacked by that bug manipulator at the bug show. That was definitely a scary moment for her…and the only time she ever truly let loose against another living being.

God…sometimes she really did just need to get away. A lizard form would be helpful…

>> "I think I have an idea…M-maybe I'm crazy but it seems like I'm not the only one that could use a vacation from the world. I was thinking, maybe camping. In a f-forest somewhere, away from anyone to bother us. J-just for a little while, j-just long enough to maybe forget our problems for a little while."

>> "I'm pretty sure we've got the fixings for smores in here somewhere."

“Camping?” Agnes asked as she looked at the pair of them, just a little dumbfounded. Did they really suggest that?

For a second Agnes really did not know what to think. Why on earth would she want to go camping? It really did not seem like the escape she was thinking of, but…slowly she warmed to the idea. Just packing up, being away from the world that had sprung up around her, connecting with a few people she did not know. It would be a nice break of pace for her. Never before would she have done anything like this because it simply was not her. She did not connect with strangers, nor did she ever really have the want to do so. But things were different now. She had to change her life from what it was. She simply had to.

Camping definitely sounded like a good change.

“O-okay,” she finally managed with a resolute nod and a smile. Classes were over and she really had to interest in hanging around the mansion everyday for the rest of the summer. Maybe a nice little outing would be nice. Will be far nicer than when she used to live out in the alleys every day of her life. “I like the idea. And smores sound great!” she beamed.

First step to a new Agnes…complete.

Amber hadn't been aware that Andrew actually worked in The Mansion, but it did explain why he seemed to know his way around the kitchen so well. She was rarely there at night, preferring to either roam the streets of the city during the hours of darkness or to return to her true home in Sanctuary. As much as she loved The Mansion, it wasn't home for her.

"Think of it this way, better to break a glass than to hurt someone else. Glasses can be replaced. People can't."

Amber looked sadly upon Andrew and frowned. "What if th-those people do horrible things? What if they k-kill or torture people?" Almost instantly she regretted her words. Aura had told her that many in the Mansion wouldn't be quite so understanding of such sentiments. She had actually said more than that, alluding to the fact that they were pretty much universally pacifist and might even take action against a mutant who was not. She still wasn't sure what to think about the idea of violence used to defend onself and one's fellow mutant, but she wasn't sure she could truly be considered a pacifist any longer either. Pacifists were the victims and she would no longer be a victim.

"I d-don't think I've ever had smores." Amber's cheeks reddened in shame, remembering the sort of life she had lived before being adopted by Abyss. She hadn't exactly been sheltered as a child, being sheltered would mean that someone actually cared enough about her to make the effort the shelter her, but no one had cared enough to allow her to experience things like camping or smores either. Or maybe it was just lack of funds in the orphanage and she was just being cynical, but somehow she doubted it.

"I think a trip away will be g-good for all of us," Amber stated, pleased with her idea and pleased that the other two were open to it. And she would bring her sister Aura along too, because if anyone needed a bonding experience without violence and a general peaceful escape from the world, it was Aura. Her sister had promised to help teach her to fight and so she would return the favour and help teach her sister that there was more to life than fighting.

Andrew heard Amber's response to his attempt to console Agnes. He fixed the girl with a look that said that it wasn't the best time to bring that up. He had after all been trying to make Agnes feel better. When he responded to her query it was slow and slightly cold.

"Then they deserve what they get. I wasn't talking about people that would do that. I was talking about the innocents here in the mansion or out in the city that Agnes could have hurt instead of taking out her frustrations on a glass."

He wasn't the sort of fool that believed in pacifist solutions to everything and that every person should live. He'd taken a life and though he regretted it he wouldn't change it. He might have been that kind of fool at one point but he wasn't anymore. Thankfully they seemed to move on to the topic of the proposed camping trip easily enough. The smile came back to Andrew's face as Amber admitted to having never had smores before.

"Well then we'll just have to fix that on the trip won't we?"

Agnes agreed to go and Amber said that she thought it would be good for all of them. Andrew had to agree. He could use a few days away from humanity right now. They were making him angry and bitter and he wasn't sure how he felt towards the normal folk anymore. A chance to relax in the middle of nowhere with only fellow mutants around would give him the opportunity to try and sort that out.

>> "I d-don't think I've ever had smores."

>> "Well then we'll just have to fix that on the trip won't we?"

>> "I think a trip away will be g-good for all of us,"

Agnes still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that she was actually going to do this. She was going to go camping with a group of fellow students whom she knew nothing about, only that they were kind enough to not call her a freak for breaking a glass in the middle of a dark kitchen. Still though, she was also a little excited by the prospect. She had never really done camping before and judging from the talk between the two of them, it sounded like a great way to just escape for a little while.

If there was anything that Agnes desperately needed right now was a means to escape. To get away from the world and just try to have a normal experience or two.

She nodded resolutely as a small smile spread across her lips. She was liking the idea more and more as she thought about it. Going on, communing with the wilderness that did not include a trashcan or slimy gutters. Living out in the wilderness of trees, soft grass, the stars above, it would be a whole new perspective compared to what she knew.

“I can’t remember the last time I had smores,” she said a little louder than she meant to. She shrugged as she looked over at them. “B-Bible commune,” she whispered in response to their looks. “I think we had smores then.”

God, everything always came back to what her parents and their fellowship did. She was really beginning to dislike organized religion now. With a sigh she shook her head as she turned back to face them. She looked eminently better and more relaxed when compared to earlier.

“D-Do either of you know where I can get a sleeping bag? My…My last one is…it disappeared…” Actually it was left at home but there was NO WAY she was going to go back and get that.

"Then they deserve what they get. I wasn't talking about people that would do that. I was talking about the innocents here in the mansion or out in the city that Agnes could have hurt instead of taking out her frustrations on a glass."

Amber nodded, satisfied with Andrew's answer. Really, there was nothing else to say after that. An individual's actions determined what sort of fate they were deserving of, nothing more nothing less. Or at least, that's the way the world should have been. That was the world she wished she lived in and if the world was not that way in truth, which it often was not, the most she could do was try to fight to make it that way.

“D-Do either of you know where I can get a sleeping bag? My…My last one is…it disappeared…”

"Leave supplies to me," Amber answered with a grin. Sometimes it payed to have a rich father that was willing to give you money for almost anything. Abyss would surely approve of their little expedition, as long as no one was kidnapped by evil scientists this time around. "Um...just to be clear, any evil s-scientists come around we d-defend each other right? Not, uh, let anyone get kidnapped?" Because being abandoned to evil scientists and forced into live combat with bears once was enough, she wasn't about to risk it happening a second time.

"I think I sh-should probably start heading home now," Amber stated, stretching her tired muscles. "Are you going to be all right Agnes?" She didn't want to leave before making sure her friend was all right, but with dawn approaching she knew she had to get back to Sanctuary soon.

(OOC: Posting with Andrew’s permission)

>> "Leave supplies to me…Um...just to be clear, any evil s-scientists come around we d-defend each other right? Not, uh, let anyone get kidnapped?"

Agnes tilted her head at the odd request. Evil scientist? They were all going someplace where they might run into an evil scientist? Where the hell was this camping site? Agnes mentally shrugged but nodded in acceptance of Amber’s promise. She knew she was going to do her best to not let anything happen either to her or the new boy Andrew. After all, mutants needed to stick together, right?

“Of course,” Agnes squeaked and nodded. “No one will dare mess with us. One wrong move and they’ll get a face full of wasps.”

Agnes was a little surprised at herself for talking so casually about her own abilities. Normally she utterly despised them, but if there was one thing they were good for was catching bad people off guard and leaving them pretty injured. At least it would be enough time for herself and new friends to run away.

>> "I think I sh-should probably start heading home now…Are you going to be all right Agnes?"

She was touched. She was touched that Amber would take the time to make sure she was okay before she returned back to wherever her home was. Agnes was surprised though, she always figured that Amber lived here at the mansion but apparently she lived elsewhere. Maybe she mentioned that at some point but Agnes could not remember. Either way, she was thankful for the well-wishes.

A deep breath and Agnes smiled reassuringly at Amber. “I’ll be fine,” she announced. “Just…was a bad nightmare. I’ll get over it, I promise I will.” she managed another smile as she attempted to shake the tears that wanted to return. Clearing her throat she beamed a little more hopefully. “Besides, I’ll have a camping trip to look forward to. No getting out of it now.”