It had been a few days since the last couple fights she had had with Tarin. But that last fight, after Tarin had revealed himself to the man who had come into the shop with all those spirits and left Tarin with a gift card as payment, seemed to have changed things. Yes, Lee was still scared, almost terrified, about being caught, but at least her and Tarin didn't seem to be snapping at each other almost constantly any more.

And with that, Lee was happier than she had been in weeks. Since the Mutant Registration Act had been put in force, actually. And with feeling better, and worrying just a little less, Lee was starting to feel cooped up in the shop. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with Tarin, wasn't that she didn't want to be around the shop, but fact was that Lee had never been an indoor person. So Lee told Tarin as she saw a customer entering the shop, that she was going for a walk.

Throwing her leather jacket over her white blouse and knee length black skirt, Lee left the shop, and walked the few blocks to Central Park, the heels of her three inch boot clicking on the sidewalks. Once she was there, she started making her way slowly along the paths there, thinking about the dinner Tarin had cooked for her the night before, a happy smile on her face.

Acheron was curled up amongst the debris near the spiritual-medium shop. Across from it, actually. The smell of incense emanating from it was too strong for him to sit near it. It made him sneeze. From this vantage point he could also vaguely see into the shop, noting the shadowy figures moving within. His eyes were half-closed when someone entered… and someone exited.

Oh shoot. It was that female.

Quickly he got up, shook himself off, and followed her. Discreetly of course. He didn’t follow behind her like a dog on a leash, no sir. Acheron took to the opposite side of fences, tops of fences, under parked cars, dashed across streets, investigated scent marks, and leaped on and off of windowsills that held some interest.

And he had followed her into Central Park. His favorite place in this mad city - full of noise, cars, and humans. Acheron was watching the woman now, from a bit of a rise at the base of a tree. He’d gone ahead of her as she took to a path, and watched her as she sauntered closer. Looking around, and sensing as well as scenting no humans in the nearby vicinity, Acheron made his way down the small – what could only be described as a hill – to the pathway.

There he sat, in the middle of it directly in the female’s pathway, in the form of a large rusty-colored domesticated Bengal cat. What he was going to do now he really had no clue.

The park was rather empty today, it seemed. To Lee, that seemed rather strange; it was actually a really nice day for the time of year. Though, she realized after a few moments of thought, maybe the reason was that everyone had to work. Like she really should have been doing, in reality, but then again all she really did at the shop was sit there...

As she was walking, coming up to a slight bend around a small hill, Lee was somewhat startled to see a cat walk down and sit in the middle of the path in front of her. Not only did she feel that was kind of odd, but the fact that the cat seemed to be looking straight at her.

Lee slowed as she approached the cat. She really wasn't sure what to make of the animal, but she figured it was probably best not to startle it; she still had more than enough small little cuts from the night the spirit had tried to take Tarin out the window for her liking, no need to add more.

What was he going to do now? This was definitely not a well-thought-out plan. He had seen the woman do something that was certainly not human. He had seen a man throw himself out a window, but this woman saved him with what seemed to Acheron to be superhuman speed. Not to mention the strength it would have taken for the woman to not only pull the man in, but to stop his path of destruction. Acheron had been astounded by what he had seen and as a result, he had been watching the woman for some days, and it seemed to him like this woman was possibly a mutant.

If he was wrong, he was so dead.

Still without a sign of humans nearby, and hearing what could only be described of as normal chitter chatter of the animals in the park, Acheron shifted to a form he barely used.

That of a human, crouched and poised as the cat had been. His green eyes locked on the woman’s.

“Hello.”

Lee had just decided that this was a strange animal, simply acting weird, and was just turning her eyes away as she moved to angle around the cat when something very strange happened. Much stranger than a cat sitting in the middle of a path and staring at her.

And since she was only about six feet away, there was no mistaking it when the cat transformed and became a man, crouching in the middle of the path, green eyes locked on her.

Lee stopped dead and looked back at the cat, man, mutant in front of her, shock clearly written on her face. Obviously this guy wasn't registered yet, or he would have had a collar or bracelet on, and would have been shocked when he transformed. At least according to everything she had heard.

She might be feeling slightly more relaxed, might be trying not to worry as much, but this was a little much. Backing up a step, Lee's eyes darted all around, looking to see if anyone or anything was around. She hoped that no one had seen this guy change, hoped that there was no stalker anywhere near here. She was not going to be sent to the camps because this guy wanted to be stupid.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lee asked, her voice low, as she took another step away.

“Saying hello,” Acheron answered, slightly confused and a little annoyed.

Obviously it didn’t pay to be nice in New York. Not even in the park.

She stepped back and Acheron wondered if she was going to run. Was she afraid of him? Before he’d even completed the thought, he’d spoken, “We’re alone, you and I. Can’t you hear them? They don’t have a care in the world, nothing to fear at this time.” Well if she was, he probably just freaked her out.

He stood, hoping his quickly waning trust wasn’t misplaced, and decided that now was the time. “I saw you that night,” he said, also hoping to cut off her thoughts of running, “with the man that threw himself out the window. I saw how you saved him.” He looked meaningfully at the woman.

The guy, despite how unintelligent using his powers in the middle of a public place like this was, he seemed to be rather polite and kind. But still, Lee couldn't get over her fear that at any moment someone would come along and capture the both of them.

And it didn't matter that this guy said that it was safe, that no one was around. She didn't know him, how did she know that she could trust him?

But then the man said something stopped Lee's very slow movement backward, and an even greater look of shock appeared on her face before she was able to wipe it off, leaving a blank look. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, her voice low.

Acheron saw the look of surprise flash across the woman’s face. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Understandably, she denied it. If she wanted to play it that way, so be it.

He shrugged. “I just figured I’d show myself to you since I’ve seen what you can do.” It dawned on him that his fingers were freezing… that in fact, his entire body was freezing. He shivered. The frigid air was going through his clothes. He didn’t wear clothes in the winter, but a nice furry coat of some cat or other.

“I thought maybe…” He trailed off and waved a hand, “nevermind.” Acheron shoved his hands under his arms.

The man simply shrugged when she claimed not to know what he was talking about. Right, cause she had been oh so convincing when she had said it. But the fact was, he seemed to really have seen what she had done the other night. Or at least somehow he had found out about Tarin having gone through the window, and Lee didn't think that Rupert would have told him.

But it had been days since that had happened. Why had this guy waited this long to reveal himself, if his reasoning was simply that he knew what she could do, so to let her know about him? It wasn't as if she hadn't come outside in the meantime, afterall.

But then he continued speaking, and Lee couldn't help the confused and slightly curious look from crossing her face as he said 'nevermind'. "You thought what?" Lee asked, her voice still hesitant as she noticed the man putting his hands under his arms, and realized he was wearing nothing but jeans and a tshirt, and ratty looking ones at that. Was he really that stupid?

Acheron looked at the woman, then dropped his gaze as he shrugged. “You seemed nice. I thought maybe you could tell me what was going on, on a semi-regular basis…” Again, he shrugged. She wouldn’t agree to it. It’d be too suspicious. Meeting with a cat? Then again, he could come to her… or… He really didn’t know.

The man looked at her for a moment after she asked her question, then dropped his eyes with a shrug as he answered. She seemed nice, Lee wondered? How long had he been following her, because if he had seen the window incident and then was talking to her now, he had to have followed her at least some of the time. What else had he seen? Who else had seen Tarin go out the window that night?

Glancing around again, wanting to make sure that no one else had come near while they had been talking, Lee looked at the man again. "Like what?" Lee asked. "I don't know anything that I could tell you."

Again, Acheron shrugged. He was shivering, and he needed to get back to feline form soon, before he froze to death. "Anything, really... I tend to stay away from large human crowds. I don't live in the city, and I don't get to watch a lot of TV." He looked thoughtful, "Though I really like TV..."

"Ah, well, that's not important." A small part of him wanted to make a connection with this woman, owing to the fact that they had a common link - their abnormal genetics. He looked away, at the trees around them. Stupid birds never shut up in New York.

Lee watched the man standing there, shivering, as he answered her. Though, he didn't have much to say that clarified what he meant. Simply that he stayed away from people, so he didn't hear much in the way of news.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea," Lee said, her voice low and slow. "With how things are, I'm not sure it'd be safe. Can't have you chang--"

Lee cut herself off sharply as she saw the man look away, looking over at the trees off to the side. She turned her eyes there too, scared that someone was approaching.

The woman stopped mid-sentence and Acheron returned his gaze to her. "Sorry, nothing there. Just noisy birds." He glared at the trees to make his point, and turned his attention back to the woman. "I wasn't thinking of changing every time. I was thinking along the lines of staying as a cat and visiting you... Being a cat that visits you every now and then perhaps." He shrugged, then realized he hadn't introduced himself.

He stepped forward and held his hand out. "By the way, I'm Acheron, also called Scorn."

Lee kept looking around, just to be on the safe side, even though the man was saying that no one was around, that he had just been looking toward some birds. She didn't know him, after all, how did she know he'd tell the truth here. But she didn't see anyone coming.

Turning back, Lee saw the man stepping forward, his hand extended. Lee continued being cautious, simply looking at Acheron for a couple moments before she moved. Yes, he had guessed that she was a mutant based on what he had seen the other night, but that wasn't her whole power. She didn't want him to know her whole power. Taking a breath, Lee tried to will herself to take as little energy as possible, though that had never really worked thus far. "I'm Lee," she said simply, shaking his hand then stepping back again.

"A cat that visits me every now and then?" Lee then repeated Acheron's idea, not sure she liked it. Though, to be honest, he really hadn't done anything bad so far other than scaring her when he changed.