It was a cold day out in the city when Tses had snuck out of her apartment to get some fresh air. The ground had a light frost on it, but the air was clear, and her breathe came in little puffs of vapor. Hair pulled up in her normal pigtails, and ears pink with cold, she wandered through the park and tried to navigate her way home. Over all, it was a pretty day, and sort of peaceful after the holiday season. But Tses was anything but peaceful as she wandered through the city. She had gone by the store, a bit further from home than she normally would have, and the trip there had been pretty easy. She took the subway, like a native New Yorker, and made it without incident to the store. On the way back, she opted to cut through the park and enjoy the sunlight. But halfway there she was starting to hurt, and completely exhausted.

Her legs were still badly cut up from her incident with the cops a few days ago, and carrying the bags of groceries wasn't helping her arms. Under her jacket, her shoulder was heavily bandaged, although she still refused the wear the sling that was recommended to her. Limping slightly as she walked, she finally found a park bench and sank into it with a sigh. Perhaps she should have taken the transit after all, instead of being so stubborn.

She hated this: feeling helpless. She was used to being strong and confident, and able to take care of herself. But now she was being beaten by a bag of groceries. Microwavable noodles, at that. It would take time to heal, possibly longer with the way she kept pushing herself, and she didn't know how she'd manage it.

She pulled her jacket close to her, the leather material keeping out the chill in the air, and the cold of the wood snuck through the material of her jeans. She was wearing her boots still, the only footwear she owned, and they tended to rub against her cut legs the wrong way. Pulling up her pant-leg, she unzipped the right one, clipped the buckles, and glanced at her leg inside it. One of the cuts had reopened, and it was starting to bleed through the bandages and legging. Muttering bitterly, she fished in her pocket for something to patch it up with, when she heard movement nearby.

On the ground or in the air it was cold, even if he was wearing more layers than he normally wore. A scarf a skull cap and three layers of clothing, underwear, thermals and extra T and then his pants and his jacket and contrary to popular belief wings and a tail hole in the winter didn’t keep you warm in fact it was very, very, very cold. Carrick decided it was best to land in the park for a bit instead of flying all the way back to the mansion it was cold and the colder it was the harder it was to get some altitude one of the winged mutants biggest problem with the city.

Trying to warm himself up Carrick walked down the sidewalk in the park with his wings tucked behind him his tail wrapped around his waist under his jacket and his arms folded in his sides while he removed them every now and then to pull some beef jerky from his pocket which was the cause of him being out that and trying to find two belated Christmas gifts for too pretty important women. First being his Ma, who was back home calling him every night for the past two weeks trying to get him to come home for the holidays even if Christmas already passed. The second was for Liz who was well… Carrick’s face turned red slightly and he forced his hand into his pocket to remove more jerky.

Carrick continued to walk the sidewalk avoiding the occasional pedestrian and only interacting when someone bumped into him. Maybe it wasn’t the most productive interactions but Carrick hated being ignored and when he spoke he made sure everyone was paying attention to his Irish potty mouth.

A few minutes passed and Carrick found himself staring at a woman who was clearly bleeding through her bandages on a park bench. ”No doctor or nothing but I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to unwrap that if it is bleeding.” he looked from her injury to the groceries and then back to the woman, ”Looks like it hurts doesn’t it?” he asked himself walking closer to the woman and eyed the bandage, ”Nasty spill was it?” Carrick asked his mismatched color eyes looking curiously at the bandage while he was using his peripherals to see what was in the bag of groceries.

It wasn’t that he was going to steal from an injured woman it was just that he was doing what he always did when he was bored or trying to find something else to do than be productive.

Tses heard the voice, and glanced up to see a curious teen walking up. He had two-tone eyes, brown hair, and seemed to have a bit of a fidgety nature as he stood and kept glancing from her to her bandages. While the eyes would have been different enough for her, he also had a very visibly mutant appearance, with wings resting along his back in a slightly golden brown color. In the sunlight and the frosty morning, they reminded her a bit of sand with water lapping their edges: golden with darker edges. She glanced down at her bandages, and sighed.

"Uh, yeah, had a bit of a scuffle that didn't go my way. If I was smart I would have stayed off my feet, but obviously I'm not that smart am I?" It came out with a bit of a sarcastic quip, and she hoped he wouldn't be offended. She was trying really hard to work on her manners, but old habits died hard. She felt the trickle of blood down her legs, and debated whether she should just snag one of the bandages from her arm and try to stop it that way. Then she remembered she still had some of her hand wrappings in her pocket, and took out the black cloth. Holding it against her leg, she glanced at him, and noted how much clothing he seemed to be wearing to protect against the cold. The visible scarf, hat and jacket may not have been much to most people, but to her it seemed excessive. It made her jacket seem under-prepared, but she was used to living on the streets, and being cold was just part of it.

"Didn't head south for the winter or something? You seem a bit cold." She commented. She shifted her groceries off her arm and onto the bench, letting go of her leg long enough to do it.

”No, doesn’t seem that way.” Carrick said picking up her own comment that seemed a bit snippy but only to those who weren’t well enough equipped to handle those who were sassy and sarcastic something Carrick was told he was both often. She set down the bag and Carrick took a step to the side and watch her remove a black cloth from her pocket. It wasn’t a bandage but Carrick knew enough to know it would slow if not stop the bleeding long enough for a proper bandage.

Carrick looked down at the scarf his Ma had gotten him for his birthday and nodded his head, ”It’s winter and it is about thirty degrees cooler up there with all the wind.” Carrick said pointing upwards to the sky then to his, ”If you couldn’t tell.” he said adding his own brand of sass by nodding his head once. ”We all can’t be as smart as you.” Carrick said leaning backwards almost out of habit to avoid the phantom swat.

”Oh not all birds go south for the winter, sides I’m more of an angel than anything, and my flock left without me.” Carrick said sarcastically waiting for the woman to remove the bandage so he could see what the wound looked like. Carrick guessed it was a deep cut from something maybe a bicycle tumble that was possible people still rode bikes. ”Extreme cycling?” Carrick asked tilting his head to the side shifting his gaze to the woman while his wings shifted behind him.

It wasn’t often he went out of his way to talk to strangers but seeing as he didn’t feel like going Christmas shopping or thinking about going belatedly to grab some gifts he continued to stare at the woman till she answered a million questions or so, ”What does it look like?”

"We can't all be as smart as you."

While most people would probably be annoyed at his sarcasm, Tses was rather amused by it. She liked when people quipped back, and it felt more like a game that way, rather than her just verbally bulldozing someone. Add that to the fact he wasn't insulted by her bird comment, and responded with a comeback of his own made her sort of enjoy his pestering. Even if he seemed to be a bit talkative. So far, this stranger seemed to be a quick thinker, which was welcome, and it gave her something to do while she rested on the way home.

"Extreme cycling?" she heard him ask, and she shook her head. "No, more like failed cop evasion." She muttered, and gave a rather bitter chuckle. She was still annoyed with the whole incident, but joking about it made thing lighter. She blinked slightly as he asked what it looked like. Part of her wanted to tell him to buzz off, but the other half was curious to see how he'd respond. She gave in to the later feeling.

She set her boot aside, tugged the legging out of the way, and then unwrapping the bandage carefully. Several areas of her skin had the red color smeared on it, and the bandages were fairly darkened with red. Her leg was covered in tiny scabs, the largest one close to her knee. The stitches on it had come undone, and it was bleeding slowly, but enough to be a nuisance. The bandages went all the way down and into her sock, making it clear the rest of her leg was fairly beat up as well. Amongst the scabs, there were plenty of white stars mixing with the fresh red.

"I tried using some glass as a slip-and-slid. It doesn't go over very well." She commented, and gave a shrug.

When she said cop evasion Carrick’s smile couldn’t have been bigger, his elongated canines were showing now and he followed it up with a laugh, ”Failed? Seems like an understatement,” Carrick said eyeing the wound there were stitches but it seemed they weren’t doing exactly what they should have been doing. ”Only had stitches once before, nasty tumble when I first tried to fly.” Carrick said offhandedly as he looked at the rest of the scrapes and scabs.

”Not the first time you took a tumble though is it?” he pointed to another scar then back to the freshest, ”So judging by your cut you wouldn’t recommend sliding on glass?” Carrick asked his sarcastic tone coming in mixing with his Irish accent, ”Some sort of rocket surgeon in your ‘pare time?” Carrick asked tilting his head again to the other side his smile still showing off his pearly whites.

”How do you fail to escape from the peeler’s? They aren’t very fast are they, must have been the ‘slip n’ slide’ slowing ya down huh?” Carrick asked moving closer to the bench as he looked back to the wound. ”Might want to stop the bleeding soon, might pass out.” Carrick said pausing before looking around the park, ”Not one of the best places to sleep either given the location and the weather.”

Carrick looked back to the woman, ”So what did you do to get some coppers after ya? International jewel thief?” Carrick asked looking at the woman who was in his opinion very attractive, nothing like Liz but she was pretty in her own right and Carrick had seen a many of movies where the pretty woman was the jewel thief.

Tses was a bit taken aback by the boys random string of questions and comments. The way he chattered, it almost seemed like he didn't care whether she responded or not. Although he said his wings were more angel like, his personality seemed like a jumpy bird to her.

"You can say I've had my fair share of scuffled over the years." She murmured, pressing the cloth into her leg tightly and using the pressure to stop the bleeding. "And while glass sure looks shiny like other slippery surfaces, it has this nasty habit of cutting things." She found it hard to place his accent, and some of the words he used took her a little longer to make sense of. Peeler she assumed refereed to the cops; then again, he also called them coppers, so that just further befuddled her. Shaking it off, she shrugged and chuckled.

"Jewel thief no. Thief... well, it's all how you look at it." She knew a court date was in her future, so trying to lie about what got her in trouble at this point was pretty useless. She started wrapping the bandage tight across the cloth to keep pressure on the bleeding, fingers and wraps around her hands getting stained red.

"And while glass sure looks shiny like other slippery surfaces, it has this nasty habit of cutting things."

”Hold the phone… glass can cut?” Carrick asked his mouth opening as he played confused to add to his sarcasm only to have it fade a way before he nodded, ”Sharp as a beach ball you are.” apparently this wasn’t the first time she had some trouble with the police no they way she had said it and was playing down the title of thief. Carrick smirked again and watched her put pressure on her cut in an attempt to stifle the bleeding.

”What did you try pinching?” Carrick asked wondering why the woman was being so truthful she was almost on par with shade when it came to blabbing about their profession. In his case though he was picked by Carrick not that he had much money in his wallet no the job they pulled together did boost his mattress account significantly. Carrick still wasn’t up for being as honest as they both were.

”Robbing the rich to feed the poor?” Carrick asked stepping to the side and nodding to the grocery bag, which had some instant noodles in it. ”I’m a fan of the classic chicken flavor meself.” he said before taking a step back as to not crowd the woman. ”Me, I’m open minded.” Carrick said shrugging his shoulders.

”’ad a run in or two with a peeler round here. If you don’t have anything on ya, aint no problem.” Carrick smirked and raised his hand to act like he was pulling a glove off, ”What’s the saying doesn’t fit must aquit?” Carrick asked rhetorically sticking his hand into his pocket removing more beef jerky.

"Hold the phone...glass can cut?"

Tses almost snorted as a laugh escaped her at Garricks response, and she gave a crooked smile. It wasn't really what it said, it was how he said it. A good smart alek response had a way of making you grin. "So you didn't know either? Glad to know I'm not the only one!"

She tightened the bandage, and returned the boot to her leg, zipping and re-buckling it. She wasn't sure what to make of his curiosity, but it seemed to just be his 'thing'. After she was buckled, she glanced at him, and watched him wandering his way through her groceries. She sighed, and shook her head, feeling like she had a stray cat trying to mess with her stuff. It was sort of like the old lady next door. They weren't annoying enough to yell at, which made it difficult to escape them.

"I am a world class culinary artist, as you can see. I make some mean microwave noodles, and had to trek across town just to get the very best." The sarcasm dripped off the end of the sentence, and she gave a shrug. She considered his other question, regarding her criminal identity, and smirked in a mischievous way.

"What'd I steal? More than I should have... Clothes, money..." She gave a little shrug and tried to rub the blood of her hands. She tried making a list of all the different things in her head, but it added up higher than she wanted to say out loud. In the end, she figured a summary was easier. "Let's just say, I live by the whole Aladdin philosophy. Gotta steal to eat, gotta eat to live. Otherwise we'd get along."

”….” Carrick paused before shifting his eyes and spoke, ”You sure its not the golden rule you should be quoting? He who has the gold makes the rules…” Carrick paused and gave the woman a fake snarl face sticking out his tongue a bit, ”Yeah, I’ve seen Aladdin before.” It wasn’t cool or manly to admit you watched a Disney movie at least that was what he gathered from his half brother when he talked to women.

”Well that’s good about the noodles, got to enjoy what you do and if you’re an expert. More power too you.” Carrick said without much of a thought as he took another bite of a beef jerky chip. ”I don’t really have to worry about food right now which is nice it is usually there if I need it.” Carrick said shrugging slightly, think if you live there or go to school there meals are included.”[/color] Carrick said rubbing his chin as he thought about his living arrangement.

”Guess the trick to making the rules is not getting caught huh?” Carrick asked figuring he just figured out why there are so few professional criminals. It was easy to pickpocket hustle or steal but the trick was not being seen or caught the main reason Carrick was still doing what he was doing. Sure he had been picked up by the police a few times but it was for skipping school or trying to hustle on the streets and there was that one time he picked a certain cops wallet. Carrick smirked to himself and then looked back to the woman. ”My names Carrick.”

Tses shrugged in a non-judgmental way, trying not to smile at his snarl. It was sort of like a baby lion trying to growl: could be more intimidating if it was coming from something else. "It's probably the only one I've ever seen. They were playing it in a video store awhile back, and I thought the song was rather fitting. Stuck in my head." She didn't admit she was in that store after hours, and she had been on a video watching rampage. It was one of the few times she got to mess with a television, and it had been a lot of fun. Thinking back on it almost made her chuckle again. She stretched, flinching as it pulled the scabs on her shoulder, and she rubbed her shoulder ruefully.The walk home was looking longer every second.

"I don't have to worry about food..." The comment wasn't completely surprising. Quite a few mutants got off easy by staying in one of the mutant charity houses, as she thought of them. In a way, it seemed nice. But she didn't think she could live with all the rules.

"You go to one of those mutant schools than? I could never be at one of them myself. Too many people. Free food couldn't tempt me to stay there." She tried to will herself to her feet, but figured she'd give it a few more minutes first. She needed the doctoring she did on her leg to last long enough to get home, and moving too fast too soon wouldn't achieve that.

"Yeah, things go great when you don't get caught. The world feels like a store you can shop in, but it can't last forever. It's probably for the better. I need to learn to be socially acceptable, you know?" She laughed slightly at the statement. "Like a mutant will ever be socially acceptable. Nice to meet you Carrik. My name is Tses. T-s-e-s. First s is silent." She watched for his response to her mutant comment. Everyone seemed to respond differently to the confession, and she always enjoyed their reactions.

Carrick shook his head, ”The sister school or whatever it is called isn’t that bad actually. School sucks when I actually show but other than that it keeps me entertained for the most part. Lot of people sure but most of them are pretty grand.” Carrick didn’t mention who in particular was grand but there was a little color to his face when he thought about Liz.

Carrick looked away like he always did when he could feel the color to his face. Trying to play it off Carrick shrugged, ”To each their own though.” he looked back to the woman and smiled as their conversation continued.

”Soci-socially a-a-cep-table?” Carrick asked mimicking her only to grin after he finished, ”Mutant or not I’d be the way I am now, even if it isn’t socially acceptable, too boring if you ask me.” the way she said it she made it sound like she was a mutant. Carrick could ask her what she can do but he decided to comment on her name before he asked her anything else.

”Tses? First s is silent…” he paused for a second and made it look like he was thinking hard before asking, ”So like T-e-s-s only not spelled the same?” Carrick asked curiously tilting his head a bit like he always did when he was curious about something.

Carrick’s wings opened slightly behind his back and closed again without Carrick thinking much of it, ”so T s e s,” Carrick said it slowly at first to make sure he didn’t butcher her name while looking at her for any sign that he was messing it up, ”I have wings,” Carrick’s wings opened quickly with a large ‘thwap’ then closed slowly behind him, ”How are you a mutant?”

Tses would probably be in his same shoes if she ever went to a place like that school. She couldn't imagine sitting at a desk, doing homework, taking classes and all that jazz. She was street smart, not book smart, and didn't really understand how ink on a paper could teach you much. She wondered how he managed, but maybe he just liked food that much.

"S o c i a l l y a c c e p t i b l e...." Stuck out in her mind, and as he said it, the words sounded slightly mocking. She liked it. After all, she hated the ideas of what was ok and what wasn't. Most people didn't like her snarky attitude, and she doubted most people liked his need to ask a million questions. She caught the way he blushed though talking about people in the sanctuary, and had a sneaking suspicion there was at least one person he was hoping to make happy. It was cute, in a little kid sort of way. Not that she was much better with Ty, but she'd like to think she could have a more grown up relationship... right?

Right.

"So like T-e-s-s only not spelled the same." He asked, and she nodded her head briefly.

"Pretty much. Either my parents were trying to be unique or there was a typo on my birth certificate. Either way, pronounced the same." Secretly, she always guessed it was the later. If her father had any part in it, he would have been plastered while filling out the 'dumb paperwork', and mixed it up. She didn't know her mother well enough to decide if she would have been disappointed. Part of her hoped she would have been.

As the conversation drifted back towards power, she chuckled. Every time someone asked what she could do, she tried to summarize it a different way. "I make moon-powered explosives. Kaboom." She did a little hand motion that was almost like the drama 'jazz hands', and smirked at him before shrugging. "It has it's strengths and weaknesses. Doesn't do me diddly squat at times like this. I'd kill to have your wings right now. I can't use my powers to get myself home, that's for sure." She sighed, and stretched her leg out, testing the patch job she'd done. She started tying off her grocery bags, getting ready to head out. As amusing as this conversation was, she probably shouldn't stay outside like this for long.

Carrick almost laughed when she told the winged mutant her abilities instead he snorted slightly and blurted out, ”Anyone ever call you sailor moon before?” Carrick asked trying not to laugh at his own joke he wasn’t making fun of her or her abilities only teasing, which was what he had been doing the entire conversation it seemed that Tses was more than capable to send it back which he was now waiting for.

During said time (something he was more than willing to give her ample time due to her not being quick as him) Carrick watched her get her things together and make it look like she was ready to get moving, a shame really. Carrick actually enjoyed the time he was having with her, it was a random conversation but for the most part Tses seemed better than all right she was almost great.

”You know,” Carrick said opening his wings and using them to lift himself into the air, ”All you do is have to ask, I do have a tendency to lend out my wings when they are needed.” he said flashing his teeth in a smile, ”Call it the good deed of the day who knows maybe it will be the good deed of the week so I can stop being so damn nice to every Eejit this side of the city.” Carrick said opening his arms and yawning.

”Besides I’m all rested now and need to loosen up a bit I think me taking you to where ever you need to go would do enough to loosen me up.” Carrick paused and pointed at her bad leg, which was still slightly stained red, ”You shouldn’t be walking on that anyways, not unless you’re looking for a trip to the hospital. Might get a free meal out of it?” Carrick said shrugging and lowering himself to the ground where he put his hand into his pocket to grab some more jerky. Mouth slightly full Carrick added, ”Mm-you’ll ‘ave ta carry your own luggage though.”

Tses tilted her head to the side slightly as he called her 'sailor moon', and raised an eyebrow. The way he laughed made her assume something about it was funny, but felt a bit left out this time because she didn't know why. "No, and I'm not familiar with that name, so I can't tell whether to laugh or smack you." She muttered, narrowing her eyes at him then shrugging as she let it go. Eh, it wasn't worth the energy to be irritated. Plus, he seemed to move along from the joke rather quickly.

"All you do is have to ask, I do have a tendency to lend out my wings when they are needed.”

As he fluttered slightly off the ground, she felt mixed emotions at his offer. Her legs hurt, and it would certainly help, but she was not too comfortable with the idea of being carried by an unknown flying stranger, as amusing as he was. "I could ask for help, but how do I know you didn't flunk your 'angel' flying school, and that's why you're here?" She taunted, and tried to feign mock seriousness. Then he mentioned the possibility of a free meal at the hospital and she snorted a little laugh. "The hospital is the last place you'll ever catch me going again. You want to talk about 'eejits', there are a slew of them within those perfectly pedicured doors."[/color]

She rolled her eyes, and looped the bags around her arm. She stuck her tongue out at him while he at his jerky. "I wouldn't trust you carrying my groceries anyway. The way you keep prowling through them makes me think you'd try your hand at pinchin' something yourself."