(( OOC: I was originally going to wait until Insomniacs Anonymous ended before showing up here, but, well, I got bored. So here I am... at least for now! ))

Sonya glances furtively up and down the street before finally building up the courage to approach the front door. She checks the address against the piece of paper in her pocket a couple of times just to make sure she has the right place, then looks at the door suspiciously.

It doesn't look like the entrance to a secret underground mutant sanctuary. Of course, if I were building a secret underground mutant sanctuary, I'd make sure it doesn't look like one, either. She chuckles at the absurdity, and feels some of her anxiety go out of her with the chuckle.

Of course, this "Sanctuary" doesn't have the most savory reputation. Then again, right at the moment Sonya doesn't feel like the most savory of people. She'd done her best to prepare for a difficult reception, hanging out at local gyms until she had a chance to touch the most athletic-looking guy she could find. She'd run five miles after imprinting on him, just for the sheer joy of it -- she'd never felt that much strength and stamina before. She would miss this body when it faded.

Unless, of course, she ended up on bad terms with whoever ran this little "Sanctuary" and had to escape. If that happened, she wouldn't miss the body at all.

OK, now you're just stalling, she scolds herself. If you're going to do this thing, then do it!

Steeling herself up, she approaches the front door to ring the bell.

The Sanctuary: a lovely li’l overgrown funded-by-a-rich-guy-with-too-much-money homeless shelter in the middle of New York City. The Sanctuary: well known for its gaudy golden front doors. The Sanctuary: less well known for hosting the Order, New York’s resident on-the-down-low Mutant Supremacist group. The Sanctuary: not technically a wise place for Calley to be right now, in human form, because... The Sanctuary: the place where he’d just been found out as a spy, less than a month ago. Well, his human form had been found out, in any case. But the non-descript brown haired teenager with the baby blue eyes and the Italian flair to his features wasn’t well known, in any circles, for doing the wisest things.

He wasn’t actually well known for much of anything. ‘Cause for the past two and a half years, most of the contact he had with people had been in some animal form or another. Mostly, as a housecat. More recently, as a monkey. (Come to think of it, every time he used that Red-Handed Tamarin form, he... got caught.)

But back to the topic at hand. The Sanctuary: the place he was currently trying to enter. But there was a very indecisive looking buff guy standing mildly in his way. Calley, being the not-necessarily-wise person that he was, decided that talking to the buff guy in a semi-flippant but entirely-friendly manner was a good idea.

“Check this out!” He said cheerfully, ducking under the guy’s arm as he made for the golden doors. “You can open them without looking suspicious!” Which Calley proceeded to do, in a dramatic sweeping motion. He held one of the doors open for the guy, with a little half-bow over his arm. He grinned up at the man. “First time? Don’t worry. The only one who bites is Lisa. And nobody really asks questions, either. Plus, there’s free food!”

Speaking of Lisa... the perfect receptionist looked up from her desk, her welcoming smile already in place as she looked at the both of them. That meant that either Abyss hadn’t told the Order about Calley, or Lisa didn’t want to scare off Buff ‘n’ Tuff by calling in security to beat up a seventeen-year-old in front of him. Calley hoped it was the first. Even though he could heal now... he rather preferred not to. “Welcome,” the woman said sincerely, “may I help you?”

Sara was in her usual feline face concealing, teenage mutant turtle idea stealing, outfit. Well the part about the teenage turtles was the long coat thing. They always snuck out into public that way. So why couldn’t a person who was basically half cat. Isn’t it correct that, sometimes the best place to hide, is in plane sight?

Her long coat was long enough to cover the tip of her tail with the hem. Although Sara still had to watch it that the thing didn’t stick out too far. People would notice it… that and walking through revolving doors became a pain. No really. A real pain. Bet the ninja turtles never had to worry about tails.

Word on the street is this place was a safe place for mutants. Still Sara’s hood was drawn tight about her face as she approached. The hem only allowing her to see about 10 feet in front of her. Nope. Nothing suspicions looking at all.

Reaching a pair of yonge men she heard one bringing the other inside. Were they really safe to her? Only one way to find out. As she approached she lifted her chin enough to show her eyes. “I don’t know about not biting, but I try to stay well behaved.” Came her teasing voice. She waited a moment for the reaction to her.

Sonya takes a hasty step back as she's approached... or, well, no, more like overrun... by a nondescript brown-haired blue-eyed boy who opens the door for her.

< "First time? Don’t worry. The only one who bites is Lisa. And nobody really asks questions, either. Plus, there’s free food!"

Who is Lisa?, she wonders but doesn't ask, feeling ignorant enough. "Free food sounds pretty good, actually. I could eat a horse!" Part of the trouble is her new body, she realizes... it's a lot more massive and muscular than she's used to, and even cloning a recently-fed body doesn't actually do anything for her hunger... apparently the contents of her stomach don't change, even when her stomach does. But the larger part is that she hasn't actually eaten a full meal in days, settling for what she can cadge here and there.

Of course, there was bound to be a catch -- there always is. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch; literally in this case. But at this point she feels like it's probably worth the price, whatever it is.

< “I don’t know about not biting, but I try to stay well behaved.”

It takes Sonya a moment to figure out what the new hooded arrival is talking about, and by the time she connects it to the boy's earlier comment it feels too late to laugh, so she settles for a polite nod. "Um... that's good, I guess? Biting is... um... problematic. Sometimes." She feels the conversation sliding away from her on some weird surrealist avalanche and is relieved when the receptionist interrupts it.

< “Welcome, may I help you?”

"Um... I guess so? I heard this was a good place for, um..." she grinds to a halt, not quite ready to say the word "mutant" out loud yet, and not sure how else to broach the subject. She looks over at the hyperkinetic boy somewhat helplessly, since he seems to know his way around the area, blissfully unaware of how odd her habitual puppy-dog eyes look on a six-foot-tall linebacker's face.

"It is a good place for mutants to come and stay. That was your question was it not?" Syn's voice seemed to come from out of thin air but it was soon attached to her as she stepped out from the side hallway.

She looked over the new arrivals. They seemed like an interesting bunch. The one asking about Sanctuary's hospitality appeared to be in good shape. Possibly someone for her brother to hang out with.

Then there was a younger boy. He looked like he was full of energy or perhaps he was just on a sugar high. Hopefully he won't become a nuisance or a problem. She looked him over agan as she wondered what his mutation might be.

That's when her eyes fell upon the third figure. This person was definately trying to hide something. Perhaps it was a physical appearance that this one wanted to keep hidden. "You are safe here. You can take off your covering and not be ashamed."

The black and red haired girl stepped infront of Lisa's desk. Lisa smiled at Syn and nodded to her. Syn had changed clothes after her earlier workout. She was now wearing a long sleeved black see through top with red straps sewn on that covered her personal area. She also had on black shorts with large silver rings around the waist band and black combat boots.

"Welcome to Sanctuary. My name is Syn and i'm in charge around here. What might your names be?"

The Six Pack with Tree Trunks for Stilts seemed to get over his shock pretty quickly. And he didn’t pound Calley. Score one for randomness!

"Free food sounds pretty good, actually. I could eat a horse!" The man said. He seemed a little wary, to Calley—which was completely normal, for people showing up at the Sanctuary. It wasn’t a place you came because you had other options. And when you didn’t have other options, you usually didn’t have overwhelming faith in places that sounded too good to be true. Or in people who were a little too nice for easy explanation. But hey—Calley was who he was.

“I don’t know about not biting, but I try to stay well behaved.”

Calley turned towards this new feminine voice, with its teasing little lit, already laughing brightly. And then his eyes caught on her get-up. Now that... was odd. He ducked around the buff guy again, running the two steps it took to get to the newcomer, and skidding himself to an abrupt halt. And abrupt halt that landed him with his hands on his knees, peering up under the girl’s amazingly deep hood. This might have been a slight invasion of privacy, perhaps, but Calley was interested. He couldn’t see much in the shadows, but what he did see... “Woah!” He straightened up in a jerking move. “Woah!” He started failing his arms, like a lost baby bird. “Woah, woah, woah! You’re—ha!” Considering the girl was obviously trying to hide the fact that she had fur and other such funness about her... this reaction might not be the best. He didn’t sound shocked, at least—he sounded happy. ‘Cause from what he could see... “Sweet!” He loved mutants with obvious mutations—he’d had very good experiences with them, really.

He heard the buff guy’s awkward response, and Lisa’s traditional welcome; he flashed yet another grin at the bodybuilder’s take on puppy-dog eyes; but he wasn’t paying much attention to anyone besides the cat girl in the cloak until—

"It is a good place for mutants to come and stay. That was your question was it not?"

—Syn—

“You are safe here. You can take off your covering and not be ashamed."

—started—

"Welcome to Sanctuary. My name is Syn and i'm in charge around here. What might your names be?"

—talkin’ to them. Calley turned to her with his habitual smile; it kept the startled doe look off of his face. But it was all cool. He could breath. Because Syn didn’t recognize him. Therefore... she wasn’t likely to hurt him severely. Or start yelling about hairbrushes.

...Heh.

He took a melodramatic step forward, and bowed. “I’m Calley! Issie’s boyfriend. And Abyss is my friend.”

The oddness of Frenetic Boy and Trenchcoat Girl when they first arrive left Sonya a little uncertain about whether she's made a mistake by showing up here, however normal the receptionist -- whom she assumes is Lisa -- appears to be.

Frenetic Boy's subsequent behavior only increases her uncertainty, though she does take a moment to be thankful that he's far more interested in Trenchcoat Girl than in her... er, him. In fact, his reaction to the girl borders on the outright bizarre, what with the running and skidding and flailing and peeking and the strange little noises, and Sonya finds herself wondering if there's some sort of medication he's supposed to be taking.

And then Syn walks in, and all at once his odd behavior doesn't seem to matter all that much. She's unsurprised when Syn describes herself as "in charge"; there's something about the way she carries herself that radiates authority, not to mention enough raw sex appeal to power an aircraft carrier.

< "It is a good place for mutants to come and stay. That was your question was it not?"

Sonya nods, unable to speak.

She suspects that ordinarily she'd be jealous of this woman, a little intimidated, a little resentful. But the body she's wearing has a completely different agenda, and she makes a mental note to avoid male bodies in the future (especially, she realizes in retrospect, those that probably indulge in questionably legal hormone supplements): her mouth goes dry, her pants tight, and she seems unable to look at anything but the red straps on Syn's shirt.

This is ridiculous! she thinks to herself urgently, I am not into girls! But the body she's wearing doesn't seem to be listening.

< "What might your names be?"

"S-s-son... um, Sonny, they call me..." She winces at the lameness of that and struggles to find a better recovery when Hyperkid grabs the attention again, much to her relief.

< “I’m Calley! Issie’s boyfriend. And Abyss is my friend.”

And that's bewildering in its own way... the kid had talked as if he was a regular, but now he's introducing himself as if he's never been here before. It's odd, and Sonya makes a mental note to think about it just as soon as her body lets her pay attention to anything but Syn's.

Dios mia! No wonder guys act so stupid around women like that! If they feel like this all the time it's a miracle they can even stand up!

Sara’s head tilted slightly as she thought she might hear foot steps coming from down the hall. Would be a little ways away. Probably echoing down the hall to her. Why? She didn’t know.

The hyper active Calley entered her narrow view. Her expression instantly changing to surprise. What was his problem?

“Woah!”

“What!” Sara found herself taking a step back. Walking backwards into the door frame. Too bad she couldn’t back up farther. This boy was strange. Was he having a seizure? Did he need someone to grab his tongue? Well that part seemed to work. Sort of.. .. ..

“Woah, woah, woah! You’re—ha!”

And he had drawn a lot of attention in Sara’s direction. She liked it better when, for the fraction of a second, all attention had been on the soft eyed muscle man. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.” And what was with that ha at the end. Was he laughing at her?

Attention over load. She was frozen with her back against the door frame until she was addressed by Syn.

“You are safe here. You can take off your covering and not be ashamed."

Her hands came up to the hood, hesitating, then pushing the fabric back showing her face. Showing exactly how much bulk the hood and coat added to her thin shoulders and features. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I will decide exactly how safe I am here. The last person who made such a comment to me, was shoving hot iron against me five minutes later.”

Without the hood holding the rest of the coat up she collar dropped around one shoulder. Showing the black tank top Sara had worn underneath. “My name’s Sara.”

“Gah!” Without meaning to, Sonya jumps back at the sight of Sara’s feline features, then winces. Real smooth, chica… walk into a building full of mutants and freak out the first time you see somebody looks weird. “I’m sorry, Sara, I didn’t mean… I just don’t… I mean, me and animals don’t get along. Not that I think you’re an animal, I don’t mean – it’s just you startled me, is all.”

She sighs, realizing she’s just digging herself in deeper, and that Sara probably thinks she’s a complete idiot and a xenophobe to boot. And it’s particularly stupid in this case; it’s not like touching Sara would make her lose her mind like a real housecat would, she’s obviously perfectly intelligent. But explaining that would involve giving away more about her abilities than she’s quite prepared to at the moment, and Sonya’s not sure it would help, so she settles for “Sorry.”

Calley blinked, rising up out of his bow to look back and forth between Muscles and Sara. "Haven't met many other mutants, have you?" Calley asked S-S-S-Sonny. "S'okay. I was kinda that way at first, too. You get over it, once you realize how much other mutants rock. Especially," Calley pointed a finger at Sara and her wonderful kitty features, "mutants you can tell are mutants. They're the best." He suddenly looked down his arm to his pointing finger, and back at Sara. "Errhm, sorry, Sara. I just really like the way you look. How can you control your shift that well? That's really amazing." He pointed back to himself. "I just shift to tiger; I don't think I could get tiger-features even if I really tried." He had, once--but that had been rather a fluke. A torture-induced fluke.

Sara frowned having seen the other two’s reaction to her appearance. One out of fear, the other seemed overly excited for her taste. Pointing at her like she was an escaped kitty from the zoo. Not that there wasn’t a smidgen of truth to that thought, but it was the principle of the thing.

Here amber eyes shifted from one to the other. Head tilted slightly. “So, You two must be really flexible. What with the way you’ve both stuck your feet in your mouths. Almost at the same time." Her arms crossed, One hip pushed higher then the other. Why was she still standing here? Certainly not to be stared at. And yet…

"Errhm, sorry, Sara. I just really like the way you look. How can you control your shift that well? That's really amazing."

The corners of Sara’s mouth twitched down and her lower lip was bitten. “ I don’t shift.” Although that wasn’t the first time she’d been asked that. “I was human looking once, but there was one shift.” One painful shift. “I’ve been stuck this way since.” She said holding up her hands showing the paw like pads and claws.

< "Haven't met many other mutants, have you?"

Sonya shakes her – his – head a little ruefully. “No, not really.” Of course, she wouldn’t have known Raina was a mutant if they hadn’t touched, and she really doesn’t make it a habit to go around touching everyone, so the truth is she has no idea how many mutants she’s met.

Still, it’s clear she’s going to be meeting a lot of them if she stays anywhere near this building, so she’d better get used to the idea. She doesn’t have a problem with it, really… her reaction to Sara had been more due to her animal features than her being a mutant per se… but she has to admit, it takes getting used to.

She listens quietly as Calley talks to Sara about “shifting,” and when she finally figures out what they mean she’s surprised… Calley can turn into a tiger? The similarity to her own power is intriguing, though the idea of being stuck in a tiger’s body still terrifies her.

She reminds herself yet again, more firmly this time, that it can’t be an ordinary tiger any more than Sara is an ordinary cat… it wouldn’t be like the first time, even if she did somehow get stuck in their bodies. And it might be interesting to have a body like Sara’s… she’s probably a lot stronger and more agile than an ordinary human….

< “So, You two must be really flexible. What with the way you’ve both stuck your feet in your mouths. Almost at the same time."

Sonya laughs out loud at that – not that it had been intended as a joke, but it was witty as well as pointed, and it makes her regret having started off on the wrong foot with Sara. Sonya appreciates quick wit, and decides at that moment that Sara would be a good person to get to know… though it’s probably best to re-introduce herself in a new body and start over, given how firmly she’s embarrassed herself in this one.

She bites her lip in sympathy when Sara explains her actual situation… experimenting with a body like that could be interesting, but being stuck in it would be horrible. No wonder she bundles up like that! She --

< "How long ago was the shift if I might ask?"

Sonya manages not to jump or squeal or anything when the red-skinned giant appears, just freezes in place for a moment. His appearance is startling enough, but it’s the implicit threat in the way he talks that really shakes her. Get a hold of yourself, girl! You’re just as pumped as he is in this body. He’s got nothing on you a dye job and some dental work wouldn’t take care of!

< “I believe my colleagues and I might have some questions for you before we continue with any sort of tour of the facilities.”

“Um… what kind of questions?” Sonya is beginning to regret having come here in the first place… though the thought of free food is still pretty tempting.

“So, You two must be really flexible. What with the way you’ve both stuck your feet in your mouths. Almost at the same time."

The muscle man might find that funny, but Calley really... didn’t. He smiled his default smile. Crap. Just ‘cause Abyss and Kitra didn’t mind him acting like he always did, it didn’t mean other people particularly liked it. Crap crap crap.

Abyss’ arrival (and the arrival of his Awesome Monkey Tail) didn’t really help, either, especially when the big red guy came in talkin’ about how the way Sara looked was natural. Calley didn’t laugh—the big red guy would not like it if he laughed. But seriously: look at her. That was not natural. None of them were natural. That’s what made them freaks, sorta by the definition of things, ‘n’ all. It wasn’t their fault, but that didn’t make it untrue. Sara was just an honest freak, like Abyss. Syn and Sonny and Calley, on the other hand, were dishonest freaks—they looked human, right up until they started pullin’ powers. With his mutation, there really wasn’t a way to be honest—people would always look at him, and see something that wasn’t true. Calley liked honest freaks much better.

Do not let Abyss hear you speaking like that.

I don’t intend to, Slate.

...You are rather bad at interacting with others.

I’d noticed, Slate. Thanks.[/i]

As Abyss started talking about questions, Calley scooted himself over to stand innocuously at the big red guy’s side. He kept smiling pleasantly, and looking back and forth between speakers. But he kept his mouth shut. Because when he opened it, he didn’t usually make friends with the people around him.

Being a house cat had been so much easier. And people had liked him more.

This group was definately interesting and Syn was loving every second of it. The hooded one turned out to have feline features. That in itself was impressive as the girl had never seen a mutant like that before. When Abyss made his comment about people making commets and refering to others looks Syn just rolled her eyes.

When the boy started asking the cat woman about shifting and mentioning he could turn into a tiger Syn turned her attention to him. "Do you think you could shift into a monkey or perhaps a bird?" Her green eyes narrowed as she waited for the response.

Syn looked to the others.

Sonny’s laugh did bring a small quarky smirk to the corner of Sara’s face. What? Other’s could point and yell when she revealed her true self and she couldn’t be amused by the different reactions to her sarcastic wit? Ha! Like she’d ever allow such a rule to go unbroken. Besides, It lightened things up after the scream and point. The last thing she needed to do was walk into some other mutant’s home, many mutants’ home, and get insulted only to end up destroying the front lobby. No that didn’t sound like a good first impression to her.

The new arrival drew her attention away from Scream and Point. Sara gave a respectful nod as Abyss approached the group. She didn’t need to hear his warning to tell he would be one to sympathies with her in this experience. Although she really wasn’t sure if her change was natural or was something to be forced on her. Then again that was a story for another day.

"How long ago was the shift if I might ask? Sara was it?"

“I was probably about 11 or 12 when the shift happened.” She’d still been standing with her arms crossed but her chance had relaxed and she pushed away from the door. Abyss had mentioned a few questions. “Ask away. I’ll try to answer them.”