Serena giggled slightly. "Well, I've been told I'm rather good at it, although that might have just been my brother trying to be polite... or rather not get salt in his morning tea...." She gave a slight mischievous smile. If there was one thing you didn't do, it was insult this girls tea-brewing skills.

She was really happy, the laughter was so... natural, talking with someone about her brother must be helping, that and getting to introduce the girl who had pretty much salvaged her life after that incident by bringing her here to the mansion. "I'm really glad you came Tses, I never really got a chance to thank you for you know... helping me out back then."

Serena blushed slightly, she really liked Tses, she guessed it was what it would feel like to have an older sister. Serena gave a sincere smile, but was eager to avoid making Tses feel awkward. "So, what do you do for fun?"

Tses made a face at the idea of salt in the tea: it was already such a strange taste as it was, and salt would definitely hurt the flavor. She smirked though at the image of someone drinking that, and took another sip, shrugging at Serena. "Well I had to make sure you were doing fine... couldn't just leave you like that anyway. And you seem to be doing a lot better. So that's good." She smiled at the girl, then pushed her hair out of her face, and laughed at the next question.

"Fun? Oh, I probably don't have the uh, most appropriate list of things I do for fun. I'm not exactly your prim and proper mutant. I tend to relish in.... a more lawless lifestyle." Tses said carefully. She wasn't sure how Serena would feel about her profession as a thief and lifestyle as a criminal. Few people really approved, and one of those... she didn't want to think about Ty, so she let that thought vanish for now. "I like music though. I guess that's one thing that is uh, publicly friendly."

Serena smiled at Tses "Yes, I'm feeling much better thank you. I think my power, drains me... a LOT." it was the truth, infact it was a completely awful feeling, like you had just run a mile, and were completely weakened.

Serena shrugged at Tses comment about her hobbies. She could guess what Tses was hinting at. "Hey, as long as you aren't like a serial killer... I've had enough of them. She smiled at Tses jokingly, Serena was feeling much more herself, infact she was very much looking forward to starting lessons next week and meeting the teachers and some more students.

She smiled at the music comment "Really? What sort of music do you like?" She said sipping her tea. She wondered what Tses thought of her... She probably, like everyone else, assumed that the calm British, polite, tea drinking girl was all there was to her. Truthfully, a lot of people stopped at seeing that in her.

Tses chuckled slightly, a small smile on her face. "Nah, I'm not a serial killer. I may pick a fight every now and then but that's it." She remarked, and turned the tea cup a little, fidgety as they talked. The conversation was going pretty smoothly for now, but she still had trouble sitting still, especially sitting still and drinking tea. If any of her old street acquaintances saw her they would have laughed at the sight.

"I listen to a lot of rock, celtic metal, a mixture of stuff. I like Within Temptation and Linkin Park though." She answered, and sipped the drink again. She managed not to make a face this time, and wasn't sure if she was getting used to the taste, or was just distracted enough to keep her expression blank. "I only have a cd player to listen to music though so I have to buy whatever CD's I want to hear." Eventually, she told herself she'd buy a radio, but since she technically stole cd's instead of 'buying' them meant it was free to get music anyway.

Serena smiled at Tses taste in music. She wondered what Tses would think Serena's would be... She would have guessed that Tses liked rock, and she'd have been right. She smirked to Tses. "Linkin park are pretty decent, from what I've heard of them. Hey, why don't you try to guess what my genres are?"

Serena had a grin on her face, she was now getting to know Tses, and from what she had seen of the slightly older girl, she was relatively awesome. And honestly, she understood that some people did what they needed to survive. And she was sure that Tses wouldn't go out of her way to ever harm someone.

That in itself was all Serena needed to confirm that she liked Tses. She smiled again to Tses. "Don't worry about offending me if you don't like the tea, I know it's not for everyone, I'm just a little addicted to it..." she said with a clear understatement in her voice.

Tses blinked at the girl, and the question presented. She really didn't know enough about Serena to guess, to be honest. The girl was British; she drank tea, she controlled blood. That didn't add up to very much in her eye, because at least two of those things were pretty stereotypical and felt more coincidental than defining characteristics. Sizing the girl up, she tilted her head and spun the cup again in thought. "I really don't know enough to really guess your taste in music. You don't strike me as being a country music lover, or classic.... regardless of your enjoyment of tea..." She picked up the sugar container, and scooped some more sugar into her drink.

"Maybe techno? I don't know. You're picking the wrong person to play guessing games with." She chuckled and sipped the tea again. It tasted mostly like sugar now, and she enjoyed that much better. Warm sugar. Who would have thought it could taste so nice?

"Or was it country? I'll be surprised if it's country..." She said, eyebrows knitting together in thought.

Serena burst out laughing. Tses probably didn't realise how far off the mark she was. "People have this tendancy to see me and just assume that I like things like country, or lovey dovey stuff... But nah, I like heavier rock and metal..." Serena said shifting her eyes slightly. It was always a little odd when people found out the sort of music she listened to, or that she loved video games.

She finished her tea and set the cup down on the table "Bands like Rise against, nightwish, that sort of thing." She smiled at Tses. Wondering what Tses now thought of her, Serena did care what Tses thought of her to a large extent.

Tses let out a mock sigh and sat back in her chair. "Thanks goodness, I was going to have to pretend to be nice if you picked something boring. Nightwish is pretty cool, I've sto---got one of their cd's at home." She slipped up, and took a bigger sip of the tea to hide it. She didn't know why it felt so uncomfortable for Serena to know her rather unlawful tendencies, but she felt like she would be corrupting the youth of America if she ended up making stealing look acceptable. She tries to only corrupt herself whenever possible.

"And I didn't think you would like that stuff, but always better to guess first then diss later when you know you're safe." She winked slightly, and chuckled into the cup, smiling as she drank more of the dissolved 'sugar'.

Serena grinned at Tses. "I'm really glad you came to see me today. You have no idea how boring having NOTHING to do can be." She wondered what Tses actually did for a living. She had already accidentally hinted at thievery but was that all she did?

She smiled at Tses. "So, how long have you lived in new york for?" She was curious to know more about Tses, but she was not going to push it to the point of being a bother. She really liked Tses in a sort of sibling way.

Tses felt a small twinkle glimmer in her eyes at Serena comment, and laughed out loud. "Oh, trust me, I know. I really don't have much back at m place to entertain me right now. Last new moon I had to hang out there with nothing but a cd player to entertain myself with. There are only so many times you can listen to the same cd's before it gets a boring." She shrugged, but made a mental note to start saving up for a new laptop in the future. She didn't want to face the same experience the coming New Moon.

"I've been here in New York for about 4 years. Long enough I guess it's home now." Tses answered after a paused, and smirked slightly. "The point where you stop feeling like a tourist all the time is great. Everyone is staring and taking pictures of the Statue of Liberty and all that while you're just wondering what subway stop you'll have to get off at later. The city has a fast pace, and it is great when you find yourself being part of that."

Serena's eyes glimmered as she listened to Tses talk about her thoughts on new york and how long she had been here. Serena had always loved hearing how different people described the city. Serena's favorite was how bright the city was. No matter what time it is, you can get what you need.

She thought about how long she had been here for. "I moved here a few years ago when I was 13, a while after my dad passed away, then my big brother came to look after me. He was a cop, so I got used to odd hours.." Serena had begun to come to terms with what was next in her story.

"Then... Then he died and you helped me find my way here all in one night." Serena forced a smile.

Tses slowly gave a half smile, and spun her teacup around. The liquid that remained sloshed against the edges, and she watched it without replying right away. She was bad at conversations like these. She always felt useless when it came to comforting people, or saying the wrong thing. Heck, she was more talented at saying the wrong thing; just like her powers were so much better at destroying things than they were at creating them. She was useless when it came to bettering the world in anyway. "I lost my family a long time back.... It takes a awhile to get used to being on your own, and sometimes it gets lonely. But you get stronger over time, meet new people..." A small flicker of pain wormed through her heart, and she felt the loss of Ty rise to the surface, then she pushed it back down.

"I don't think you can really avoid loosing people, or stuff going wrong. No matter what happens in life, there is always another card coming around to bust you up. Can't stop tragedies. But you can learn to handle them, and become stronger. I know it's not the most uplifting advice, but just see this all as a new start. Take some time, explore the city. Have some fun." She shrugged and poked the tea cup. "And get a soda or something. A flavor you never tried before. Something non-tea like." She smirked up at Serena with a crooked grin.

Serena felt a slight wave of anxiety. Sure, she had met new people, and some of them were great or awesome people, but what about the old people, she wanted her brother. She shook the anxiety off. No point in lingering on the past, he would probably slap her across the face if he knew she was thinking this and would tell her to move on with her life.

She frowned at Tses mentioning the people she had lost, it was a look of guilt, she hadn't wanted to remind Tses of the people who she had lost. She hadn't even meant to remind herself of her dead brother. Serena dug her nails into her hand slightly. She would move on. Or her brother would come back just to bitch at her for moping...

She listened as Tses spoke and smiled. She actually gave pretty good advice. "Yeah, Thanks. I decided I need to get up and do something with my life other than moping. So rather than getting down about something I can't change, I'll go to classes, and get into better shape. Thank you Tses. You know, you give pretty awesome advice." Serena gave Tses another full faced smile.

Tses chuckled slightly, and poked her teacup. "I'm a bit surprised. I never really thought of myself as the type of person who could ever do anything positive for someone. Mostly I just seemto leave chaos wherever I go..." She looked a little sad, shoulders sinking slightly.

"You should probably know one thing about me though, and that's I really am not a great role model. I mean, you kinda ran into me first, and I wanted to make sure you were ok, but this school is gonna be good for you and, I really don't want to mess that up. I'm not a good person. Not like these people. And I really don't want you getting... I ..." She poked her tea cup and her sentence trailed off awkwardly. She looked down at the table, and couldn't quite look up at Serena, but her facial expression showed traces of her worry.

Serena smiled as Tses responded to the compliment and then pouted when she had finished. Serena thought about what to do for a moment. What should she say in a situation like this? She knew what she'd normally do... but would Tses mind that?

As she pondered this, the words of her brother "Do what feels natural for you." came to mind. Serena reached across and gently grabbed Tses hand. "Hey, listen, you found a freaked out, crying teenage girl, that was covered in god knows who's blood and you helped her find the perfect place for her to stay, some people would just walk away, others wouldn't know what to do or would be too freaked out, maybe even call the cops,"

Serena took a quick breath and continued "But, you didn't, you helped me get here and then even came to check up on me weeks later. You don't need to be a role model, also you don't give yourself enough credit. I had a very moral upbringing and my older brother, who was a cop would agree with me, that regardless of what you have hinted that you have done... you are a good person."

Serena hadn't grasped her hand in any sort of evasive way, it was in a gentle, sisterly way, and the words had flowed with passion from her mouth. Her brother had actually always said that when she spoke truly from her heart, she had an amazing way with words.