Regan was feeling pretty sleepy after her busy day. The tour with Vincente and that horrible video on the computer had left her feeling a little drained. After wandering around a little bit to find a quiet place to rest, Regan found the Living room empty, and the couch looked so inviting.

Strolling in softly, Regan took a quick glance around the room and confirmed that right now it was free and clear for her to have a pleasant little catnap. She made her way over to the large couch in front of the television and sat down with a sigh. Her long tail curled up over her lap and she pet it softly with her clawed hand before a yawn crossed her mouth and revealed her sharp fangs.

Regan stretched her arms above her head before lying down on the couch, her head resting softly on her hands. She curled her legs up to her chest and her tail curled right up around her form. Quickly she drifted off to sleep on the couch with a soft purr.

Miles was feeling pretty sleepy after his busy day. The tour with Vincent Valentine in that awesome Final Fantasy videogame on the playstation had left him feeling a little drained. After wandering around a little bit to find a quiet place to rest, Miles found the Living room empty, and the couch looked so inviting.

Strolling in softly, Miles took a quick glance around the room and confirmed that right now it was...

... Holy Mother of Mercy, what the heck was that!?

There was a life sized, clothes wearing, white tiger thing lying on the couch. It had a red haired wig on its head, its eyes were closed and it was all in a curled up position over most of the couch. Someone must have brought it over and completely forgotten about it.

It looked so realistic.

The boy was tired and in serious need of a nap. Unlike his dogs who had just made it into the living room, Miles did need to sleep, but he didn't feel like bothering any of his school friends to bunk on their beds for a bit when a cushy sofa could do the job just as well, and this particular couch was as comfy as they could get.

There was a smaller chair no one was using where he could throw this giant plush toy thing in and no one would really mind, so without thinking it over too much in his sleep deprived state, he put his hands behind the thing's back and heaved to get it off the couch.

The fur felt as realistic as it could be. The skin, muscles and bones behind it instantly made him do a double take, specially when he felt the warmth and the weight of a real body underneath his fingertips, instead of the soft fillings of a plush toy.

Uh oh...

Regan was sleeping soundly when she suddenly felt hands on her body. Her dark emerald eyes snapped open and she jumped up off the couch with a roar, “MMMEEERRROOOWW!” she flipped backwards over the back of the couch and skittered across the floor, running on all fours, until she reached the other end of living room.

Almost running into the wall, she skidded to a stop and turned to face what or who had touched her with a hiss and a low growl.

Her eyes darted around the room trying to focus on who was there; she could smell several creatures in the room. There was a human, and that musty dog smell, though it was slightly off.

Finally her feline eyes locked onto a figure by the couch she was just laying on. Her tail whipped around angrily behind her. She was blinded by rage and fear, her sabre tooth teetering on the edge of shifting.

Miles stumbled backwards when he heard the 'thing' come alive and growl itself into a dangerous frenzy. Like a wild animal, the tigress scurried off to the wall, then turned her head to lock her green catlike eyes with his, still growling and very, very angry.

Miles was as pale as paper, his sleepy behavior evaporated and his throat was completely dry... for however long it would remain attached to his body. There was a tiger in the living room and he had just rudely awoken it. His instincts kicked in and he switched into a 'fight or flight' response.

Flight! FLIGHT! A THOUSAND TIMES FLIGHT!

His feet felt like lead but he immediately put them into motion as he dashed into the hallway, forgetting both dogs behind. They stared with curious eyes, remaining quite obedient to an old order Miles had given them months ago that pretty much stated "You will never attack anyone in the mansion, unless otherwise commanded" so they stood rooted to their spot awaiting further instructions... that weren't really coming. Miles voice could be heard from the other end of the hallway now and quickly growing fainter as he fled.


"AAAAAAaaaaaaaahhh! There's a tiger in the living roooooom....!"

At the sight of the younger boy fleeing in utter fear and the scream of panic down the hall, Regan snapped out of her frenzied state of mind and realized what had just happened. Her eyes noticed the two black dogs with glowing red eyes just staring at her and it made a shiver run down her spine.

She sat down on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest and her clawed hands over her face. She had scared the living daylights out of someone. “Dammit Regan, you fool!” her Irish voice was muffled by her hands. She was so angry with herself, the one thing she wanted to do was try to fit in here at the mansion, but once again she had messed that up.

Pulling her hands down from her face with a sigh, she looked up to find the two dogs still sitting there and staring at her. Regan grumbled to herself before she spoke, “What are you two staring at?” she hissed, “Oh right, you are staring at the bloody monster in the room!”

Huff! Puff! Wheeze!

Was she after him? Was she close!? He couldn't hear her, but tigers had footpads, he'd read that in a Calvin and Hobbes book of all places and they could be sneaky.

Miles turned a corner and stuck his back to the wall, his chest and lungs working overtime as he tried to decide what to do. He... he... wait a second... of all the things he'd done, the last he tried was to give this some thought. He'd just reacted to the threat but now that there seemed to be some distance between them and rational thinking was trickling back to his brain, he noticed there were a few strange things in this picture. What was a tiger doing in the mansion? And... his DOGS! He'd left them behind and totally helpless! They'd probably be mauled or fighting the creature!

One of the perks of Miles mutation is that he could sense his thralls location and he felt them a few rooms away, surprisingly still alive. The boy closed his eyes and linked his senses to those of his dogs.

His visual perspective changed to that of a three feet tall creature, where colors were off and grayish and where scent and sound ruled supreme, he expected to see blood and violence since she was so angry but all he found was... the tiger, curled up on the floor, her hands over her eyes, her voice muffled... and talking...

She was still angry... but apparently at herself. She even had an accent when she talked and everything clicked in the boy's head. She was a mutant, one of the newest ones apparently, since he had never seen this one before.

>>“What are you two staring at? Oh right, you are staring at the bloody monster in the room!”

Aw man...

His legs still had the remnants of the shakes, but he now realized what had just happened and couldn't help but feel guilty. He HAD woken her up suddenly, so of course she would be angry and scared. It still took him some time to summon the courage to return to the room, specially since he didn't know what kind of reaction she'd have at seeing his face a second time. Then again... he still had two someones in the room who could help him figure out if she was harmless or still angry.

"Astor, Tinaker... shake your heads from side to side."

Both dogs did as ordered, as if denying the tiger's last statement.

"Now Tinaker, lower your head and stop looking at her, then approach her slowly. Play it tame. If she attacks, run out of the room, but if she recoils, stop and walk back. If she tries to pet you... then let her."

The smaller dog started to do as commanded while the larger one kept on staring, letting Miles watch her reaction. This should be interesting...

Regan put her face back into her furry clawed hands and shook her head. She just wanted to crawl under a rock and vanish. “Stupid cat instincts!” she grumbled before wiping a hand over her feline face. She looked up and noticed the dogs still standing there in the living room but they were shaking their heads at her.

She tilted her head to the side and quirked a brow at them, “What? Think I’m pathetic too do you?” she sighed and watched the dogs.

Suddenly the smaller dog bowed it’s head and slowly started to step forward. Regan flattened her pointed feline ears back on her red hair; her hooped earrings clinked slightly as they knocked against her studs. She watched the dog closely as it approached her, it didn’t seem to be threating her, but she kept a slight guard up, she was a cat being approached by a dog after all.

As the smaller dog got just inches from her she slowly put out her furry hand for it to sniff. Regan had read a lot about dogs in books and they always said to let a dog smell your hand before you do anything else.

Once the dog had sniffed her clawed hand she gave it a gentle pat on the head and let out another soft sigh, “For a demonic looking dog you sure are nice.” Regan glanced over at the larger boxer dog and chuckled to herself, “He on the other hand looks like he wants to have me on a slice of whole wheat with cheddar!” She giggled and gave the smaller dog in front of her a scratch behind the ears with both of her clawed hands, her fingers coming up under his chin with a soft purr.

Well, this was a game changer.

The tiger girl blamed her cat instincts out loud and even called herself pathetic, to the point Miles felt a little embarrassed about eavesdropping like this on her. Then she turned out to be quite gentle with Tinaker, calling him nice. When she mentioned the slice of whole wheat with cheddar, he couldn't help but laugh. She even had a sense of humor it seemed.

His initial fears quickly dissipated and he started to walk back to the living room. He could understand mutations suddenly going out of control, specially where emotions were concerned, plus the fact that she could actually talk and joke made him feel confident that she was not the 'wild and uncivilized' sort of mutant. This had just been one biiig misunderstanding and he kinda sorta needed to apologize, though maybe he shouldn't mention he confused her with a giant plush toy.

The teenager peeked his head in first, though he knew exactly where she was, he just didn't want to spook her again.

"Hello?"

Just letting her know he was back, that he was harmless, that he wasn't afraid anymore, hi there and stuff. She was still with his dogs and he waved his hand at her for added harmlessness.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but geez, you really scared me back!" he started, a hand on his heart and a smile on his face. "I had never seen you before around here and I'm pretty sure I would have remembered you if I had. Are you all right? The dogs mean you no harm, specially the big one" he added, pointing at his boxer dog.

Regan continued to scratch the small dog under his chin with her cat like claws. Her ears flicked forward as she heard footsteps coming down the hallway back towards the living room. She slowed her scratching as she sniffed the air and kept her eyes on the doorway.

Suddenly the head of a young man poked around the corner with a greeting. Her emerald eyes locked onto the boy and she watched him carefully as he waved a hand at her in a harmless gesture. She waved back awkwardly with a wiggle of her fingers, her other hand still scratching the small dog slowly under his chin.

Slowly the boy came into the room with his hand over his chest apologizing for scaring her, but explaining that she had scared him in return. Regan frowned and looked down, still curled in a ball on the floor in the corner, “I’m sorry about that,” she sighed heavily and refused to make eye contact with him, “Some first impression I’ve made huh?” Her Irish voice trailed off softly.

Regan sat silently in the corner a few moments before realizing that the boy had asked if she was alright. She nodded in response to the question and looked at the larger dog when he mentioned that the dogs meant her no harm. “I assume that these two belong to you then?” she asked, still not making eye contact, she was rather embarrassed by her behavior earlier, damn cat instincts.

Well, that didn't go as smoothly as he would have wanted it. He pretty much embarrassed her and he already knew she had a few self esteem issues, from overhearing her comments through his dogs. She kept her eyes down, almost too ashamed to even look at him.

"Don't worry about it, I mean... you're not the one who ran off squealing like a girl" he said, trying to spread and share a bit of the shame, then remembering she WAS a girl. "Not to say all girls run away squealing, it's just... it wasn't exactly one of my proudest moments."

He got on the couch again, his knees on the seats while placing arms and elbows on the back rest. There was an awkward silence, but she soon broke it when she asked about the dogs.

"Yup. That's Astor over there, still looking at you creepily, that's Tinaker in your hand and I've heard their fraidy cat master is called Miles" he joked, then remembered she was part cat. "I mean, not to say all cats are fraidy, it was just... again, not my proudest moment."

He then tried to make her feel at ease, maybe dropping a compliment or something, but since she had some self image issues, it wasn't proving easy. He couldn't go the 'You look so fearsome!' route since it could backfire badly, so... How do you compliment a tiger lady?

"You've got a nice accent" he said, noticing her english was a tad different from his, then demonstrating his youthful ignorance. "Is it scottish?"

Keeping her eyes lowered on the dog in front of her, Regan’s ears followed the young man’s footsteps to the nearby couch. She looked up at him from under her eyelids and started to chuckle softly as he backtracked over his words. He was trying to make her feel better and yet stumbling over the right words to say, she knew that her appearance made people uncomfortable, but this boy was trying his best to make it better, that was nice of him.

Regan smiled softly to the smaller dog and shook her head at the boy, “Really it wasn’t that bad, I’m sure I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes.” she looked up at the young man who was now propping himself on the couch, “It’s not every day that you wake up a snarling beast after all.”

She waited a few moments in silence while she waited for her question to register with the boy on the couch. She kept scratching the dog under the chin and finally got an answer. Regan started to giggle once again as the boy, now known as Miles, had to back pedal over his words yet again.

She nodded to the two dogs and then finally looked up at Miles, her feline eyes ever focused on his face. With a slight laugh Regan replied to his “fraidy cat” comment, “Again, it wasn’t that bad Miles, but it was most likely the smartest thing you could have done.” Her tones were soft and she frowned pulling her eyes down to the floor again, “I could have really hurt you and your dogs if you hadn’t screamed and snapped me out of it when you did,” she sighed softly, “There is much more to me that just,” she waved a clawed hand up and down in front of her body, “This.”

Regan could hear the slight sounds of Miles shuffling on the couch; she could hear the soft breaths that were slightly off normal, and the faint beating of his heart, slightly nervous. She smiled as his questions verified that he was a little nervous as to what to say. “Thank you, but it’s Irish not Scottish.” Regan looked up at Miles once again, “I’m from Ireland. My name is Regan, but people call me Shamrock, you know, because I’m striped green.” She gave a small smile to Tinaker and patted him on the head with another small sigh. “Where are you from Miles? Are you a student here?” she inquired politely.

It was difficult to imagine that the girl who was talking to him right now was the same he had woken up so rudely moments ago. So wild and furious a while back, so tame and ashamed the next. She called herself a 'snarling beast' and she had used that same word when he eavesdropped on her through Astor's eyes. A beast. It was sad that she saw herself that way and yet... he knew first hand what she was talking about. That moment when you lose control of yourself and become... something else. He was no stranger to it.

"Yes, I'm a student, though I don't live here. I'm from Virginia Beach, though I obvioulsy don't live there either" he said. "I live in Sanctuary. It's a mutant Shelter down in Brooklyn. Nice to meet you, Regan."

He got up from the couch and approached her, crouching in front of her and next to Tinaker. Petting the dog's back, he tried to tell her his point of view on the 'beast' thing.

"There is much more to everyone than just... this" he said, imitating the hand motion she had made, in front of his own body. "You say you're a beast, but apart from our initial mutual scare, you seem pretty civilized to me, regardless of the way you look, and besides, looks aren't everything. Sometimes pretty people can be awful monsters and weird looking ones can be kind souls."

He then scooted over and sat next to her, trying to prove to her that he wasn't scared anymore and that he trusted her not to act beastly like in the least.

"Take Astor, over there. He looks creepy, they both do actually, and people are usually afraid of him, but he can be the kindest soul you've ever met" he said, not finding it necessary right now to tell her that the dog was more a slave than a creature with a will of his own. He didn't even know if the animals had souls anyway, but as long as they obeyed, he could make them look tame and behave as well as he wanted. "If someone attacked him, then of course he'd defend himself and maybe look quite scary along the way. If someone attacks you, then of course that a little 'cat instincts' are to be expected, but that doesn't make you a 'snarling beast'."

Regan was having a hard time digesting everything that was going on right now, her own mind felt like a jumbled mess. Mere moments ago she was ready to shred Miles and his poor dogs to pieces, and now there they were just chatting casually. Sometimes sharing your mind with a primitive animal was so unnerving.

Lost in her own thoughts, Regan jumped slightly when Miles started to answer her questions. She smiled softly at him, making sure to keep her fangs covered as much as possible, “I’ve never heard of Sanctuary, but then again I haven’t been out and about the city much. It’s nice to meet you too Miles.”

Regan’s eyes locked onto Miles as he got up and started to make his way towards her. She stopped scratching Tinaker’s chin and wrapped her fur covered arms around her stomach, curling her knees in tighter to her body.

Her soft emerald eyes darted down quickly as Miles crouched down in front of her and started to speak, like a true tiger, she was never really comfortable with eye contact. With a small giggle Regan looked up at Miles for a moment after he had mimicked her hand gesture, “You have no idea what I am capable of Miles, but I appreciate your kind words. I wasn’t always this civilized and I still am not as civilized as I would like to be. That’s why I’m here, but I’m afraid that one of these times I’m not going to be able to keep control of myself and really hurt someone. I am dangerous to be around.”

Regan’s eyes watched Miles’s every movement with suspect as he sat down beside her. It wasn’t that she was trying to be rude or that she felt like he was up to something, she just didn’t trust anyone right now, not even herself.

“They do look a little creepy, I’m not going to lie, but other than the eyes they look normal to me.” Regan giggled softly, “I quite like them though. I would have felt just awful if I would have hurt them or you for that matter Miles. My “cat instincts” are not exactly that of a tiger’s let alone a mild mannered house cat. When I say I’m a snarling beast, I do mean it, I’m not exactly alone up here.” she tapped the side of her head with the tip of her index finger’s claw as she spoke the last sentence.

She was shy and it didn't take an expert in body language to notice. She was also afraid, though not of other people, but of herself. She feared what she could have done and Miles realized he had gotten only a glimpse of the whole package. When she tapped the side of her head, she pretty much let him know that he was talking to her 'nice' side, while her 'dark' side remained dormant and appeased, unless awakened.

Yup. This sounded too familiar for his taste, and yet, she had the common decency to warn others about it. Miles disliked talking to others about what his real mutation was, letting them assume he could control creepy looking dogs. He had been a bit of a blabber mouth about it though, and several people already knew the dogs were not exactly alive while a few knew how they came about and pretty much no one in the school or Sanctuary had seen him turn into that... thing... again. He had successfully kept it bottled up this far.

His own personal inner monster.

What would happen when he turned and no one around him knew he could do that? He didn't hand out warnings Like Regan just did, trusting that he would be able to control his emotions and keep them locked up tight so his dark persona would never come out, but there were no guarantees. It seemed almost irresponsible of him to keep this to himself, when others around him could be in danger if he ever lost control.

He always feared people wouldn't understand. That they would shun him or fear him if he told them what he could really do. In his eyes, it was a vile, vicious thing, a curse that could raise abominations and enslave them forever. Would others treat him the same way if they knew the full range of his mutation?

Then again, she was in the same boat as he was. Who could understand better than someone who's living through something similar?

Miles kept his buttocks and feet on the floor, his knees were up and his arms rested on top of them. He sighed.

"I know what you're talking about. Really, I can relate to it" he said, trying to explain himself. "It's not the same as yours. I don't have cat instincts and I don't lose myself to some other person in my head but... when it happens, it's like... I change. My way of thinking changes. Things I care about seem worthless and things I despise are... alluring. Ecstatic even, when in fact, they're horrible."

He knew he was not making much sense to her, but this was difficult for him to express. The fun teenager, who was always joking around, had some seriously dark flaws and it was hard for him to admit them to someone else.

"When I'm very sad, when I'm pretty much crying my eyes out from emotional pain... my body just can't take it and it changes into a much, much darker version of myself. Literally speaking, even. I do... things I don't want to do... but I can't help it" he said, now staring at Astor and Tinaker, his eyes even glistening a little as he remembered happier days with his four legged friends.

"So you can become a snarling beast and I can become a dark monster. It really sucks to have mutations like these. It really sucks not to be in control and know that anything you do in that state is still your responsibility. Why couldn't I have a cool power like... making myself invisible?"

He paused, then chuckled and smiled. "Heh. I guess someone up high just didn't want me prowling about the girl's changing room or something."

Regan smiled softly as she listened to Miles talk about his own darker side to his mutation. Sure it wasn’t the exact same as her own, but there were some similarities. Things that repulsed Regan when she had complete control of her mind were very alluring when the sabre tooth was front and center. Maybe if she told Miles more about her own “monster” it would help him feel better?

“I can understand what you mean by being drawn to things that just seem wrong when you have control. The thought of eating raw meat makes me want to vomit when I have control of my own head, but when the “beast” comes out, it’s like the only thing I can think about is catching some poor creature and having chunks of warm, wet flesh slide down my throat.” Regan shuddered at the thought and stifled a gag in the back of her throat. “It takes me a lot of will power to keep the “beast” in check and if I give it even an inch it will take over and I have one hell of a time getting myself back to where I am now.”

Regan let out a little huff of a sigh and looked back down at her boots, maybe she was saying too much, but Regan knew what it was like to be afraid of one self. Sure she did warn others of how dangerous she could be. It was only fair if people were going to be around her, they had the right to know that she wasn’t always safe to be near. It was difficult to explain herself how her mutation was like having two minds in one head, but it was just something she had always dealt with; to her it was just normal everyday life. Somehow though she knew that Miles had the same sort of issue himself, but just like her, to him it was normal.

Looking up from her boots Regan noticed that Miles was getting a little emotional as he spoke more about what sets off his powers. She placed a clawed hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, “Strong emotions can set me off too, anger and fear are my triggers.”

Regan let go of Mile’s shoulder once he tried to lighten up the topic and wrapped her arms around her knees with a soft smile on her lips. She felt his pain of having a mutation that had little control or warning when it would strike. “I wish I had a different mutation myself, heck I would be happy if I could have the choice to turn into something that looked more human instead of always being a furball.”

Regan couldn’t help but laugh as Miles made a comment about prowling the girl’s change room if he could be invisible. “Being invisible would be a nice power, but in the wrong hands I suppose any power could be used wrongly.” Regan thought about that for a few moments and chewed on her lower lip with one of her fangs. Looking back over at Miles from the corner of her eyes she smiled and nudged his shoulder with her own, “Maybe we were given our powers because we are the only ones who could wield such dangers with responsibility.”