Lack of running water was one thing Tses had always hated. Back on the streets she used to sneak into one of the local churches to shower and clean up, and it was one of the comforts she enjoyed the most about having her own place. People always expected homeless kids to be dirty and grungy, but Tses was never like that. She knew how to make the most of a situation and be presentable at least. As Butterfly talked she felt bad for the girl again, and was glad she hadn't been staying there too long. It was sort of an awkward problem to have to address. "Yeah it's got a shower and I don't mind. Heck, Ty just invited himself to use it before, so I don't even really think much of it." She felt herself rambling, then blushed a little as she realized that sounded a little awkward. Ty and her had an odd relationship. Usually, having your boyfriend sleep or shower at your house insinuated something, but if they saw her reaction to their first kiss, it would knock away all suspicions.

"It's got a kitchen and stuff too, but I don't know how to cook, so if you ever need to make something don't expect help in that area. Oh, and there's this cat lady next door who has like 30 cats so hopefully you're not allergic or something." She quickly continued, trying to venture away from the Ty comment. She didn't want to think much about the kid right now anyway. "She's a harmless old bat, and she makes me laugh. She's got this one little black kitten though; I named him S'mores, and.... I'll just show you when we get there." She smiled. It was a rare smile for Tses. She tended to smirk more than anything, but the rare occasions like now when she felt one escape. Talking about the old cat lady and the kittens did that to her. They had a soft spot in her heart.

Butterfly listened and got excited when she said she had a shower, " Thanks, Tses." she said and then smirked at her comment about Ty. She knew that her and Ty's relationship wasn't like that. There was nothing that was insinuated about their relationship when Ty slept and showered at Tses's. She knew that Tses would probably slap the taste out of her brother's mouth if he did try to pull anything like that in the first place. She giggled at the thought.

She continued to listen to Tses talk about her apartment having a kitchen, yet not being able to cook. "I can cook. I've been doing it for a long time. You kinda learn how to do that when you're left at home a lot by yourself. And I'm not allergic, so I'd love to see the cat lady." Butterfly smiled and her eyes lit up when Tses started to describe the one she named S'mores. She continued to walk around the loop. It was still snowing and they hadn't seen anything else of Ty's. Maybe they wouldn't find anything else. Butterfly hoped that he would come back soon or rather that he could come back. Butterfly commented about the snow starting to come down more and asked, "Do you wanna keep going or do you wanna just head to your apartment now?"

The snow kept picking up, and Tses knew it would be hard for them to find anything in this weather. As Butterfly remarked on it, she slowly gave a nod. "We should probably head back. It's going to turn into a giant world of white out here in this weather. At least you can get cleaned up and warm." Tses said. She kept the tiger tucked tightly by her side to keep it try, but her hair was covered in tiny snowflakes. The cold water ran down her neck and was drenching her arm bands. She could feel the way the wet fabric clung to the uneven areas of her skin where the scars were more dense. It was an oddly familiar sensation now, but one she was always overly aware of. Ty always said he was fine with her scars, but it was something she had trouble accepting. Some people just weren't quite that understanding.

"And you might like her. She does have a tendency to talk about people directly to David, her favorite cat though. I think she spent too much time alone, so sometimes it makes her a little bit distant." Tses said. For some reason, she felt a little nervous about Chloe meeting the old lady. She had a small protective edge towards the older woman.

Butterfly nodded her head at the idea of turning back. She started to follow Tses back out of the park. She was trying to keep up, through all the snow. She was definitely cold. She was practically freezing. The snow has melted as she walked through it, so her shoes and socks were soaked. And the wind would blow up underneath her skirt and her white shirt had collected some water as well, making the white shirt somewhat translucent. Her wing pattern slightly showing through as her shirt stuck to her skin.

She listened as Tses told her more about the cat lady. She chuckled and said "Alright. I'm sure that won't bother me a bit. And I understand. I used to be pretty distant being all alone before I came here. At least she has her cats to keep her company."

Tses glanced at Butterfly as they moved, and noted how cold the girl she seemed to be. She could tell by the posture and way Chloe stepped that she was getting uncomfortable, and that concerned her a bit. Tses was used to the cold. She adapted to it through years of living on the street. But Chloe seemed to lack that resistance.

As they walked, Tses glanced down at the girls shoes and skirt and shook her head a little bit. "You gotta get some warmer outfits for being here in New York. Especially for your feet. Cold feet are the fastest way to make yourself sick." Tses was speaking from experience. That was part of the reason she ended up opting for the boots she did. It kept her feet dry and warm in the end. She wore thin converse style shoes one winter, and nearly got frost bite during the first snow. After hiding in the local mall for the day, she finally pilfered some warmer footwear. Now the boots were mandatory. "Is this all you brought with you here, or....?" She wasn't trying to be rude, just trying to sort a few things out.

Butterfly was shivering. She was trying to keep up with Tses but she was so cold. When Tses said something about needing to get some warmer clothes, Butterfly stammered, "Yeah, I do. I'm not used to it being this cold. It never gets this freezing in Georgia. I mean it would get down into the 20's ,but I've never had to be outside when it was that cold."

Butterfly kept trying to keep up with Tses as she walked, but every few feet she would have to stop and try to warm her hands and move her toes. They were getting so cold that they were starting to go numb. When she heard Tses ask if what she was wearing was all she brought, Butterfly said, "This is what I got when I first got here. Ty took me shopping before he went missing, but none of it is really warm clothing unless you count the pair of jeans I got.I was so amazed at how big the mall was that I forgot completely about getting a jacket or any long sleeve shirts. Or a different pair of shoes for that matter." Butterfly paused a moment, and then asked, "Hey Tses, I think I'm starting to lose feeling in my hands and feet." She looked down at her hands and saw that they were starting to change to a kind of purplish color. She knew that this couldn't be good at all.

The house was still a short ways away, but it was quickly apparent even that was too far for Butterfly. As Tses glanced at her, she kept stopping, and the older girl quickly looped back, undoing the bands on her arms as she did. A small corner of her mind was mildly annoyed by the girls lack of resilience, but the other side of her was concerned, and that won out. "Come here, give me your hands." She said, and then quickly took the cloth and wrapped it around the girls palms and arms tightly. She moved fast, tightening the fabric on Chloe's skin, her own body heat still lingering on the fabric and transferring to Butterfly.

"Your fingers will still feel a bit cold, but the palms of your hands keep most of the warmth in. Tuck your hands under your arms, close to your armpits is where you have more body heat and will help more than rubbing them."[/b She instructed, and glanced down at Chloe's feet. that wasn't a problem she could solve with clothing, and she doubted Chloe would be able to push past the numb feeling and keep walking. She contemplated for a moment, her own skin tingled with the cold air, but she had felt worse so that wasn't a big deal. The pale skin on her forearm revealed it's network of scars, little white lines on slightly darker skin. They ran up into the lip of her shirt, and then down to her palms, and snowflakes danced their way to her skin and nestled against the marks.

"Well, let's just try this." Tses said after a short pause, and then scooped Chloe up in a quick motion, leaving the girl's legs dangling over one arm and bracing her back with the other. The cold fabric of her shirt slightly damp with snowflakes chilled her skin quickly, and she started moving faster towards the house. Chloe was fairly light at least, and wasn't hard to carry, and Tses could get back to the apartment much faster at this pace.

Butterfly tried to keep walking, but she kept getting farther and farther left behind. She looked up for a moment and saw that Tses was coming back towards her. When Tses got to her, Butterfly did ask she was told and gave her hands to Tses. She watched as Tses took her arm coverings and put them on her hands and arms. They felt kind of warm, but the heat just sent twinges of pain through her fingers and up her arms. She quickly placed her hands under her arms just like Tses told her. "Th.....Th.....Thank You T...T...Tses. I...I'm S...Sorry. J...Just S...So C...C...Cold." she stammered. She didn't mean to slow Tses down. She saw as Tses glanced down at her feet and then next thing she kenw, Tses had scooped her up into her arms and was carrying her. Butterfly tried to snuggle against her for warmth. Butterfly whispered, "I'm sorry."

Tses glanced at the girl with a bit of surprise mingling her face. Chloe was...apologizing. It seemed a little silly for her for the girl to feel sorry for anything. She was cold, she couldn't walk, and they needed to get out of the cold so Tses carried her. There didn't seem to be anything apology worthy in that mixture. "Don't be sorry, just don't get hypothermia on me. Last thing I need is to explain to Ty how his little sister was in the hospital because I dragged her across central park in the snow." Tses said. She would have shrugged her shoulders, but her muscles were otherwise preoccupied with the new weight.

People were already scurrying to shelter as the snow picked up a bit, and her skin was growing slightly colder. But the nice thing about snow was in order for it to snow, the air typically stayed a little warmer than it could be. She'd felt temperatures in the negatives, and this wasn't quite there yet. But she still let her pace take them quickly across the street, and back towards the apartment. Rather than going up the fire escape, she went to the front door to avoid making Chloe climb the cold metal. Setting her down at the entrance, Tses opened the door and held it until they were inside. "Just up some stairs now." She said.

Butterfly listened and said, weakly "Okay. I'll try." She then closed her eyes and tensed up as the cold winds hit her. She tried to imagine being somewhere warm. When she opened her eyes again, they were at the apartment entrance and Tses put her down, but her feet had gone numb and she grabbed onto Tses to keep from falling down. When they managed to get inside and Tses said that they had to go up some stairs now, Butterfly asked "How am I gonna get up stairs if I can't feel my feet? And I don't want you to fall trying to carry me up them. Maybe if I take my socks and shoes off, then I can regain feeling in them."

Tses tried to deal with the new problem as they stood at the base of the stairs. She wasn't sure how well she could carry Butterfly up them, but then the answer came along with the nick-name.

"Can't you like...turn into a Butterfly? Then you can either fly or I can carry you up the steps..." Tses suggested, and brushed water from her face as the snowflakes in her hair melted and left damp dribbles down her cheeks. Her arms were tingling as the warm air hit them, and she could feel her cheeks getting pink as the warmth returned to them.

The lobby light flickered slightly behind her, and Tses felt a little self-conscious about where she lived. She rarely took people to her apartment, and when she did, she always worried if they would be judgmental. This was her home, and even if it wasn't exactly fancy or could be a little on the shady side of things, she didn't want anyone messing with the people she cared about here.

Butterfly looked at Tses and when she asked about her turning into a butterfly, Butterfly kinda frowned before she answered with, "I can, but I can't really control it that great. The only thing that has really made me shift is if I get really scared and tense up hard. If I knew how to do it willingly, I would. I'm sorry Tses." She hung her head now feeling like she was a burden. She didn't even notice the interior of the apartment building around her. She just felt like she had been nothing but trouble to Tses. Just someone else to worry about since her brother wasn't there deal with her instead. She tried to wiggle her toes and feet, but sharp pains shot through her legs as she moved them. She started crying, partly from the pain and from not knowing what she could do to help. She felt like she was just a stupid girl to Tses. She wished she could just run away. She was sure that the only reason why Tses put up with her is because her brother was her boyfriend. As she began to feel more and more upset and cried more, Butterfly didn't even notice that she started to change forms. She closed her eyes tight, just wishing she could run away and have her brother back. She didn't wanna cause Tses any more trouble than she already had.

Tses was a little disappointed by Chloe's answer. It certainly had seemed like it would be a good solution, but lack of control over powers did seem to be a common weakness, and one without many solutions. She figured she could probably carry Chloe upstairs anyway, she would just have to be careful not to like, drop her or something. Maybe she could give her a piggy-back ride or something. Then again, she doubted the girl would feel ok with that in a skirt. Pushing her hair out of her face she chewed on her lip for a second and tried to think. She was distracted enough she almost missed butterfly changing.

Thank goodness.

Tses sighed slightly, and although she felt bad Chloe had burst into tears, for now it was a solution. She reached out carefully, putting her hand just under Chloe, and then coughing just slightly, shrugging her shoulders at the tiny bug. She wasn't sure how well Chloe could see as a Butterfly, or hear for that matter, but she figured she would try being polite anyway. "No need to apologize. I mean, you kinda solved the problem already. Let's just get you upstairs, k?" She said. She waited for Butterfly to either fly on ahead, or land on her hand so she could carry her the rest of the way up. But whichever action took place, she would start up the stairs.

Butterfly peered up as she heard Tses cough. She then realized that she had shifted and she landed on Tses's hand. Although she had shifted and managed to solve the problem concerning the stairs, Butterfly still felt really crummy. She still felt like a burden, a problem to Tses. When Tses said for them to just get up the stairs, Butterfly replied with, "Okay" with a slightly depressed tone. Other than this Butterfly didn't really say anything else to Tses as they went up the stairs. She didn't wanna cause anymore trouble although she knew there would be another problem once they got to Tsees's apartment. She had shifted into a butterfly, now her problem would be being able to shift back so she could actually get warm. She was still crying slightly. Maybe she should have just left and maybe Tses wouldn't have to deal with her anymore.

Tses wasn't sure how Chloe could talk as a butterfly. She wasn't even sure how she heard the girl's voice. As far as she knew, butterflies didn't have mouths that could make noises, so perhaps it was telepathically. She's run into at least one mutant like that before, so that wouldn't be such a big surprise. But it always made her feel curious and that thought occupied her mind as she made her way to her floor.

Wandering down the line of numbers, she reached apartment 66, and created a small orb of energy in her free hand. Sticking it into the lock, she waited for the pop as it unlocked, then pushed it open and undid the chain keeping the door sealed. Once inside, she moved over to the couch, and let the little butterfly move onto it instead. Then she sad on the edge of her bed, and twiddled her fingers. "Soooo this is my apartment. Not super fancy, but it's not snowing in here at least!" She said optimistically. This whole situation made her nervous and she didn't know how to handle it very well.