Butterfly looked around the apartment at the couch and bed and dresser and noticed the books on top. Maybe those could help later on when Tses wanted her to teach her to read. She looked over toward the kitchen and saw the jacket and then back over to the bed to the tiger on her pillow. It made her think of her brother. She tried her hardest not to cry. She fluttered over to Tses's shoulder and said, "Your apartment is nice. Its a lot nicer than the one I'm staying in. I mean it's not completely bad. I know Ty was just helping get me from staying on the streets, but its not as nice as this apartment." She looked over at the tiger again and couldn't help but cry. "I miss my brother Tses. I miss him alot." her high pitched cries ringing out into the room.

Tears... why did there always have to be tears? Honestly, tears should NOT be allowed!

Tses slowly set Ty's tiger on the bed next to her own, and felt the weight of Chloe on her shoulder. She wasn't sure how she heard the voice still, but she wasn't as concerned about that. She was worried about how to try and comfort a butterfly. She couldn't exactly hug the girl, but she tried listening and sighed, trying not to get upset herself. "I know, I miss him too. But we just have to do what we can, and just wait to see what happens. It sucks, but getting stressed and upset about it right now won't make him come back faster... At most it'll just get you sick then he'll have to come back and know he worried you.... just.... We'll get through it, k?" This was so awkward for her, and she felt so confused. But she knew she had to say something...

Butterfly could feel Tses's body heat radiate off of her skin and up to her butterfly body. It felt good and was really helping. She whimpered a little as she listened to Tses speak. She started to calm down. She knew Tses was right. She knew that there was nothing that they could really do, but Butterfly struggled with not being able to have control. Not being able to help or do anything to bring her brother back. It tore her to pieces inside. When Tses got done speaking, Butterfly nodded her head and said, "Okay, Tses. I'm sorry. I guess I just have a problem with not being able to do something about it. Not knowing what to do. At least your body heat is really helping to warm my body up. So hopefully I'll be nice and warm by the time I shift back. Whenever that is."

Tses nodded, resisting the urge to shrug, concerned it would knock butterfly from her perch. She sat rather still on the bed, uncertain how to behave now, but trying not to mess anything up in the meantime. Tses was awkward when she was taken from her comfort zone, and that comfort zone had little beyond stealing and blowing things up to entertain her. It was evident even in this little room. There wasn't anything to entertain her, because the city was where she played.

"Everyone learns to control their powers with time, I think you just have to wait it out. When I first got mine I only blew things up by accident. Now I rarely loose control. You just have to practice, learn to sense your powers, and learn to control them from there." Tses said softly, and pushed her hair from her face. "Being a mutant takes a lot of patience, which can kinda suck especially when you're like me and completely lack it. But It's a trade. You get to have a new strength, and then you learn to take the weaknesses that come with it."

Butterfly fluttered down off of her shoulder and onto the bed. She could tell that she was making Tses feel uncomfortable and didn't wanna make any more trouble for Tses. She listened as Tses spoke about being able to control her powers after practicing and time passes. As Tses continued to speak, Butterfly tried to practice shifting. She didn't exactly know where to start, but she just tried to relax her body and clear her mind. Maybe stress and overwhelming emotions had a part in making her shift. As she relaxed, Butterfly started to shift and when she opened her eyes after a few moments, she was sitting next to Tses on the bed. "Maybe I should listen to you more often."

Tses was relieved when Chloe transformed back. She was starting to wonder how long she would have to sit while the girl sat on her shoulder, and how long she was going to have to worry about accidentally smooshing her boyfriend's sister. Or, x-boyfriend's sister. She wasn't quite sure where they stood anymore, but she would avoid smooshing anyone one way or the other regardless of her relationship status.

With a half smile, she chuckled slightly at the girl. "Honestly, I am someone I would rarely listen to advice from, especially if you want to get anywhere decent in life. But I'm glad this instance it helped." She stood and fished through one of her dresser drawers and finally found the one she stashed her towels in and tossed a clean one to Chloe. "There, in case you still want to borrow my running water." She remarked, and leaned back against the dresser, assessing her condition. She didn't seem to be permanently damaged from the cold. That was a good sign.

Butterfly smirked as Tses said that she wasn't one to listen to advice from. She shook her head at her and chuckled a little. "You never know when any of your advice will come in handy. At least your advice makes sense and is based off of your experiences." Next, thing she knew Tses was rummaging through a drawer of hers and tossed a towel to Butterfly. She caught it, but it caught her off guard so it was more of a impulsive catch. "Thanks, Tses. I would still like to borrow some of that running water. I think I'll take you up on that offer now. I'll be back in a little bit. It might take a while to get all this dirt off of me." Butterfly shuddered a little, then got up off the bed and then walked until she found the bathroom, went in, and started running the water for a shower. While she was waiting for it to get warm, she got her clothes off and looked at how dirty she was in the mirror. She then tested the water and slipped into the shower.

As Butterfly took the towel and moved to the bathroom, Tses walked back to her bed and sank into it, letting out the breathe she had been holding since they found Ty's tiger. The thought that had been swirling through her mind all day slowly rose to the surface, and she looked over where the little stuffed animal sat next to her own. Their eyes stared back at her, looking sad and forlorn, and they seemed sad and forgotten. Tses softly reached out and touched her fingers to the golden colored animal. The inside of it's ears were green, and matched the color in its eyes. Without realizing it, her powers turned on and the glow of her hands caressed the animal with the light. It shimmered in the animals eyes, a beautiful little reflection, then she sighed, and pulled her hand away, turning her back on it. He left you. Her voice whispered, and she flinched at the thought.

Something happened. He wouldn't have just left.[/color] She thought back, and the darker anger in her head chuckled.

You saw how mad he was when he left. He didn't want anything to do with you. The voice swirled in her head. She saw the images of Ty leaving, his last words of "I'll...see you soon..." Then nothing more. He left her. He was mad at her, and maybe he was just trying to put up a front for Chloe...

But... why would he leave... He promised... he said... He said he'd come back. He said he'd be there New Years. She shut her eyes, trying to fight the doubt. But it was building too strong.

He promises he promises. You know better Tses. Promises mean nothing. People mean nothing. They use you. They get close, then they all do the same thing.

They leave.[/b][/color]

Her eyes shot open and she quickly got to her feet, moving to the kitchen and sifting through the cupboards to calm herself again. Distantly, she thought she heard the shower turn off, and kept looking for food in case Chloe was hungry. At least helping Chloe helped with her own fear.

Butterfly had finally gotten her hair all nicely washed and cleaned and had scrubbed all the dirt off of her. She was so happy for a hot shower that she was sure that when she got out of the shower she would be pretty pink from the temperature of the water. She turned off the water and squeezed the last bit of water from her hair before she stepped out of the shower. She grabbed the towel and dried her hair some before drying her body off. She forgot that she hadn't brought any clothes with her to change into. They didn't stop at her apartment before coming to Tses's. So Butterfly did the only thing she could. She wrapped the towel around her, pulling her hair to the side so that it could continue to drain onto the towel and not all over the floor. She then sorta peered out of the bathroom looking around for Tses. She walked out slowly still looking for her. She finally spotted her in the kitchen, though she was going through the cabinets frantically. She didn't wanna startle Tses, so she calmly walked into the kitchen and then said, "Tses, are you okay? What are you looking for?"

Tses blinked as she heard Chloe's voice, and quickly wiped the stress from her expression as she turned. She gave a half smile, half smirk, and shut the cupboards straightening up. "Oh, I was trying to find some food maybe you could munch on, but my grocery supplies seem to only consist of microwave noodles and fruit, which I'm not sure are a 'four star dining experience'." She shrugged and set an orange on the counter. Then she got a decent look at Butterfly and quickly glanced away.

"You're uh.... why are you running around in a towel?" She blurted out, and wasn't quite sure where to look. It wasn't a situation she'd ever been in before. Ty had borrowed her shower, but he tended to dress before re-emerging. Then she remembered how dirty the girl's clothes probably were, and her brain 'clicked' with surprising quickness. "Uh, unless you don't really have anything to change into. Um, maybe I have something." Tses said quickly, and moved over to the dresser, pulling stuff out.

"I'm not really big on clothing variety... I might have some jeans and a t-shirt ----oh sh--" Wrong drawer. As she yanked out shirts and pants, her two dresses and the dumb tiara that Chrys had forced her into keeping came tumbling out, and clattered on the floor. Face turning slightly pink, Tses quickly grabbed them and made an attempt to shove them back in the dresser. "That's probably not the outfit for you..."

Butterfly was startled when Tses freaked out on her about her standing in a towel. She just didn't know what to do. A towel was all she had to cover herself. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't have anything else to put on." she said, looking at herself and feeling incredibly self conscious and using her hands to try and cover up more over her towel. When Tses finally realized that she didn't have any other clothes to wear and went to find her something, Butterfly followed, but was still slightly hurt. She watched as Tses rummaged through the dresser for something she could wear when all of a sudden she saw a tiara fall on the floor with a clatter and saw a couple of dresses. She bent down, picking up the tiara and smiled, "Can I see your dresses, Tses?", knowing she wouldn't wear them, but thinking she might could get Tses to try them on.

Tses glanced at Butterfly, and her face looked once more like a deer in the headlights. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a tshirt and held them out, coughing slightly as she tried to shut the drawer with the dresses back inside. "Dresses? I don't have any dresses. Those were just some unfortunate joke a friend played on me and should never see the light of day ever again. Ever. Ever ever. Never." For someone who tended to keep her head fairly well, she was squirming like she was caught---well, she wouldn't really squirm if she were caught committing a crime, unless it were a crime of kindness, so perhaps just squirming like she was caught helping an old lady up the stairs.

"Here, you can wear this instead." She said, holding out the clothes still and trying hard to get rid of the awkwardness.

Butterfly smiled as Tses was struggling to act like she didn't have any dresses. The way she talked about the "unfortunate joke" made her laugh a little. When Tses held out the clothes, Butterfly took them and then bent down and pulled the drawer open and took the dresses out and looked at them. "Wow, these are so pretty, Tses. Why would you not wanna wear these? C'mon. Please try them on for me?" she said with a sort of puppy dog look on her face. Both of them were beautiful. If she had dresses that were that pretty, she would surely wear them.

Tses wasn't prepared for Butterfly's actions. One second she was standing in front of the dresser trying casually to hide the evidence, the next Chloe was holding the two dresses and making a pouting face at her. Normally, Tses would have dismissed such an action. Pouting was not going to crumple her, and not going to make her do whatever someone wanted. But after the day they'd both had, Tses felt herself pausing with the 'no' still lingering behind her lips. If she said no, there was a chance she'd upset the girl again, which she was trying pretty hard to avoid. But if she said yes she'd have to put on those dreadful objects, something she swore she'd never do again.

Reaching out, she carefully took the two dresses. One was a soft red cocktail dress that was knee high, and at least covered most of her neckline. The other was a floorlength black gown, meant for a formal event she doubted she'd ever go to. Both were so beyond her current dress and nature she found it had to believe she hadn't thrown them out yet. But perhaps, in the back of her mind, a small side of her had enjoyed putting them on. Even while she acted like a prisoner, Tses had felt strange standing in that fabric. It was like a pauper becoming a princess for a moment. She could look in the mirror and say 'this is who I could have been'. She knew that girl would never appear, and she knew she would never be normal or feminine. But at least keeping the dress reminded her of a moment where she saw the person buried under her layers.

"I'll try it on... but just this once. I'll change out here, you can change in the bathroom. Just knock on the door when you're done and I'll tell you if I'm done so you can come out." Tses said, and tried to keep a calm face. Inwardly, she was melting into a puddle of misery, thumb running across the expensive material.

Butterfly smiled and sorta excitedly danced for a moment when Tses said she would try them on. Butterfly took the clothes and hurried to the bathroom to put the clothes on. As she walked, she called out to Tses and said, "I wanna see both of them on you." She walked through the bathroom door and closed it behind her. She took the towel from around her and put on the pants and shirt that Tses gave her. She looked down at the sink counter and saw Tses's brush and decided she would ask if she could use it. She looked in the mirror before she knocked on the door and called out to Tses, "Hey Tses, can I borrow your brush to brush my hair? And are you done changing yet?"