Normal people did scare easy, Sylar knew that much. He kind of got a kick out of scaring people every now and then, just to keep his image up so people would generally avoid him. Better to be feared, than afraid he figured. She mentioned the beauty of animals, and Sylar had no idea what she meant. Sylar had no concept of beauty, he'd been blind his entire life.

"There's normal people, and there's me, that's the only difference I know of. What's beauty?" He asked bluntly, perhaps she'd forgotten that, or assumed he had his own concept of it. When you lived underground, fed on trash, and looked like a living nightmare, beauty was a concept as alien as he was to normal people.

"Like a pack? I remember pack animals from school." He said, comparing mutants to animals was the most logical thought he had at the moment. He'd never imagined being in a group of mutants, safe with numbers instead of in the dark. Part of him wanted that, most of him was afraid of it. Crowds were something he'd grown to fear over the years, nearly to a phobia. Mobs were dangerous to a monster.

Then she stopped his brain entirely. A name? Of course Sylar had a name, he'd not forget that in just three years, but in those three years he'd never had to bring it up, or even think about it. She might notice him seem to freeze up for a moment, and then he responded. "Oh yeah, I'm Sylar." It somehow felt good to bring up his name, this conversation had made him feel more human than even back when he went to school with other normal people. "What about you?" He returned her question.

Serena smiled at the boy , Sylar was a nice name. "I'm Serena. Sylar is a nice name." Serena was pleased, he seemed to be engaging in the conversation and chatting to Serena, his name was a good start, now that she was on a first name basis with him, her responses would hopefully get across better.

Serena decided to try straight up honesty, cat and mouse was beginning to drag on for too long. "Look Sylar, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, the world out there isn't that great, but the mansion has safety in numbers and they could also clear things up with the cops so they wouldn't go after you,"

Serena took a quick breath "The reason that I was asking you about it is because they are nice people and it sounds like you haven't met that many, honestly, If my friend Tses hadn't found me and brought me to the mansion, I'd probably be dead, or in serious trouble by now."

Serena took a moment to think about how to respond to his slightly earlier question about beauty "Beauty is something wonderful and amazing, it can dazzle you or leave you breathless, a lot of people associate it with just looking attractive, but it's more than that, it's things in life that amaze, music, art, personality. All of the things that I think make life worth living." There was the elegance and wonderful tone in Serena's voice as the words poured out that surprised her, she hadn't realised she could be that passionate.

Sylar guessed his name was fine, he'd never thought about how a name sounded to someone else before. He understood the point she was making, even he knew it's better to be part of a group than to be alone, but he'd spent three years alone, learning this lifestyle. To suddenly be offered some essentially magical safe place to go, it just didn't sit with his thoughts.

"The idea of a home for mutants is still strange to me." He said without emotion. Sylar wasn't even capable of hope, at least not from just one meeting with another mutant. How we live shapes who we are, and Sylar was so used to being a creature in the dark, the Scourge of Manhattan as he'd heard people discuss it. "So you recruit people, then they recruit people and so forth?" So everything they added a member to their pack, they added the chance for even more, it was a smart idea, even he could know that.

He felt nervous giving into her offer even the slightest bit, but she seemed so genuinely friendly that he at least had to believe her a bit. "Where is this Mansion?" He asked, he had no intention of going, at least not tonight, but if he knew where it was. He could check it out, learn about the place his way, like a predator hunting prey. If could at least see a place full of mutants, maybe he'd believe that they weren't hunted or condemned like he'd always thought.

Sylar had never thought about things making life worth living, he'd just always chose to live. To live was the only choice for him, so concepts like beauty and art, they no longer registered with him. "I was born blind, I can't see your face, or look at artwork. Though it sounds as if you've known beauty to try and explain it to me." He replied bluntly, he had no interest in beauty, or the leisurely aspects of life. Life was about a good meal and a safe place to sleep.

Serena shook her head. "As far as I know, we don't recruit anyone, My friend brought be there because she thought I would be safe and could be happy there, I am offering to take you to visit and see what you think." Serena said, with... was it possible to carry a smile in your voice?

Serena felt sad for a moment again. His voice was rather emotionless a lot of the time, to feel nothing for art, or music. Also, it really SUCKED that he couldn't see, although again, it may have been a good thing, he seemed easily scared off, he might have run from the sight of a 17 year old hovering her blood in the air...

"It's not that far... about a 15 minute walk from here near the canals by the hudson, maybe slightly less through the sewers if you want to be completely concealed on the way there... that is, if you want to come.

Serena really hoped that Sylar would come, she thought he could really learn to enjoy life at the mansion, where people wouldn't judge you just because you were a mutant, where they would accept you as family and help you come to terms with who you are.

She somehow doubted, going by Sylar's description, that his Family had been anything like that... Hopefully though, he would see that the mansion was like that and he would join and become part of it.

Sylar didn't like the idea of someone taking him anywhere, especially an area he hasn't been before. Though he was very certain Serena wouldn't hurt him, or lie to him from the way she'd been acting since she saw him come up from the sewer. He wondered if she was beautiful, were all girls beautiful? He'd never thought about it, and now she'd put alot of human thoughts into a brain that had been mostly running on instincts for awhile.

"Fifteen minutes, by the river?" He confirmed, Sylar had never known street signs, or pictures for traveling. But his ability to hold an internal map in his head was quite good from years going off scent, hearing, and touch to find his way around. And Serena said she lived there, so her scent should be heavier there, essentially making her the landmark for him to find it. "So you live at this mansion? And have for awhile?" He asked, his questions curt, and more about confirming a way to find the place, not so much about curiosity.

He was still conflicted, but he'd at least consider seeing this place after scoping it out a bit at first. He'd never had friends in school, and his parents seemed so distant as he grew up, that this idea of meeting other mutants, and just being accepted was really pulling at his heart buried beneath all the muck he'd built up in the sewers.

He wondered though, if he went to this Mansion, would it mean he couldn't return to the shadows, and remain hidden. "If I go to this mansion, I don't have to stay? I could leave if I don't like it?" She might be confused by the question, wondering if Sylar didn't trust her. It wasn't that he didn't want to trust her, just to give trust was something he hadn't done for anyone in years, it was hard to come out of his shell, even with how sincere and kind Serena was. But she was reaching him, even if it was slow and gradual.

Serena smiled at Sylar, he seemed to be mulling over the idea, that was good. If he decided to come, Serena would be most delighted. She didn't know if he understood the concept after so long in isolation, but she would like to be his friend.

"Yeah, I've lived there for a couple of months." Wow... Time flies. Serena thought it hadn't been nearly that long since she had first ventured to the mansion. She loved it there. It was so... homey, she was surprised at how much she cared for the place.

She loved so many things there, the people for one thing, the layout, the grounds. Her roommate, who was awesome... Her thoughts were interrupted by Another comment by Sylar. "Of course you are silly." Serena said in a soothing tone.

"The place probably has plenty of your scent then. I could find it." He explained, completely unaware the idea of being found by smell might be odd to someone. But for Sylar, the smells of the world were so crisp he could probably navigate by scent alone if he wanted to. His sense of smell had always been better than the average person, but after his mutation took hold, it jumped to new level. He could pick apart every smell in the air, figure out where they came from, and how fresh they were.

Serena was like most girls, she had a sweet smell to her, a natural softness that was the exact opposite of most of Sylar's world. And having spent even just a short time talking to her, it was enough to separate her scent from the average woman's and keep it memorized to find later. And he'd use that if he did end up visiting this mansion of mutants.

"I won't go with you there, not up here on the surface. But I might want to stop by, on my own some night to see the place, a home for mutants." He meant it too, he did want to see the place, but he wasn't comfortable enough from just meeting a mutant for the first time to just go with her there. Plus he hadn't been to that area really, which meant it would be a blank for him, he'd have to learn the area before finally showing up at the mansion. Know the sewers, the exits, and spots to hide, escape routes.

If the mansion was as nice as Serena was, Sylar figured maybe it was easy to become a normal person like her again, if you lived with mutants, it must make each mutant seem so much less strange or dangerous. And really, even if he couldn't find a home there like Serena, he'd at least know a place to hunt or steal food that posed much less risk than his usual haunts.

Serena pouted. She was worried about Sylar, living underground couldn't be terribly fun, or good for you, for that matter. She was concerned that someone else would meet him and try to take advantage of him, of course, it isn't as if they could really hurt him, his Armour looked pretty solid and those claws looked pretty nasty.

Serena looked at Sylar, wondering if she should press the issue and then decided against it. "Alright, you said you had my scent? if you ever need anything, come and find me alright?" Serena's concern was evident in her voice.

He nodded at her, he couldn't remember when he'd last been made an offer like hers. For someone to offer to help him, even when he was in school he'd been mostly ignored. "Yes, easy to track now that I know it." He perked up a bit, listening intently to the world at large. He'd been here too long, stationary and not on the move meant more people could find him. He'd let her distract him too long, he needed to get back to his lair in the sewers. "We...we'll meet again?" He said, both a confirmation, and the question of a lonely boy.

However, he gave little time to answer, something went off in the distance, a siren or alarm? Either way it was enough for Sylar to quickly retreat back to the manhole. He quickly dropped back down into his home turf without another word. However, he'd leave Serena with the image again of something monstrous reaching out from the open manhole. Though this time his armored claw reached for the manhole to pull it back into place. With a clang it fell in and lodged itself closing off his world from hers.

Sylar stood for a moment, looking up at the now closed manhole. He'd never expected to catch a mutant right at a sewer exit, but tonight had been enjoyable still. He'd talked, been talked to, even been offered to meet others and find a place he wouldn't be hated. It was too much to process at once, but it still put a smile on his face. A small one, a hint of the humanity beneath the teeth, and claws, and grime. He quickly darted off, racing the sewer ways at top speed as he made his way back to one of the junction's he used as lairs to sleep for the daytime.

Serena smiled as the monster from the sewers returned to his manhole, with the promise that he would come and investigate the lair from which Serena had come from. She assumed that after living under the streets of manhattan for so long, he just needed time to process the information.

Serena looked down in amazement to see that her hand was still glowing blue, she felt a little more tired than she should do as well. She looked just in front of her and saw that the cube was still there, floating aimlessly through the air.

She lowered it into a near by pool of water and then released her hold on it, immediately, it was swept away with the current and mixed into the water, become diluted instantaneously by it.

She began the walk back home, a little tired, but happy that she had managed to control her power, even if she had been completely unaware that she had been doing so for most of the time, mixed with hope that Sylar would come and see her soon. She wanted him to see how wonderful the mansion was and that he could have a wonderful life there.