Some distance away from the Xavier School for Mutants, a sewer tunnel opened into the Hudson. A run off tunnel, it was easily large enough for a certain sewer dweller to venture from his underground home. Sylar stood, his form facing the river under the moonlight. He wasn't sure how many nights it'd been since he'd spoke with Serena, his mind too focused on other things to keep track, but after meeting Kiva as well, he'd decided to pay this home for mutants a visit. He grasped the top of the tunnel, and pulled himself up, leaving the safety of the sewers and hitting the land above. This property was huge he realized, his vision pick out the massive wall surrounding the place.

He pulled his hood up, hiding his scraggly hair and dirty face, and crept to the wall. It was faint here, but he could smell various scents on the air. And he could pick out one specifically, Serena. She'd been near here, he must be near the mansion. His claws dug into the brick of the wall, forcing footholds for him to swiftly climb. He dropped down, his claws landing into the grassy earth beneath. Perhaps breaking into her home to find her wasn't his best plan, but breaking and entering were kind of his habit after all this time. He was sure she'd forgive him. He let his senses scan the area, his ears picking out every gust of wind, crickets chirp, and various other sounds he could. His vision struggled with the cool earth in the night, but it meant he'd be better able to spot people as he crept closer to the mansion. And finally he let his nose latch onto the smells of the park area surrounding the mansion, Serena's scent acting as his guide.

He dropped to all fours and began his journey deeper toward the mansion. He couldn't just head to the front door, but perhaps he could find a side entrance, or an open window. His claws dug softly into the grass as he crept towards the mansion, leading himself deep into it's courtyard and various shrubbery. The smell of this place, was so natural, so serene, so alien to him. His lairs in the sewers were so very different, sometimes putrid, often humid and dank, but this smell somehow pleased him. Perhaps his inner beast craved nature, it reminded him of when he hunted in other parks. He turned and entered what must have been a garden of some type. He could pick out various flowers, and plants, and could see Hedges than ran along like walls, the Mansion beyond the hedges, and getting closer with each step. Sylar stopped for a moment, feeling somewhat timid again, afraid he'd cause a lot of ruckus before he found Serena, but he'd told her he'd come here, even if he had to settle for just checking it out in the night when all the mutants were asleep.

Though he couldn't see it, nor would he ever, Sylar still looked up, he wondered what it looked like, this garden before the mansion. Was it beautiful? He let himself get distracted, the moonlight showing him against the darkness of the woods behind him. If anyone saw him, he'd probably look half like a thug or mugger, the other half entirely demonic. His black carapace glinted softly with the light, revealing the obsidian coverings on his hands and feet, and most of all the large tail swaying behind him, bladed tip hanging lazily and reflecting it's sharpness into the night. "I'm here Serena, but I'm not sure if we'll meet again. But this place does seem great, just like you said." He mumbled to himself, his voice calm with a hint of longing to it. He took a deep breath, and let his mind begin to think on how to sneak into this massive building full of mutants without getting himself killed in fright.

It was one of those nights where the moon hung bright and clear outside the large windows that dotted the face of The Mansion. It almost called to a person in a strange and kind of primal way and was particularly distracting to a petite blond who was making her way through the many common rooms and corridors made up the large school. It was a weeknight, so most of those places were relatively empty and Kealey was grateful for it. In spite of all the practice she'd had over the years, the Mansion could still be a tad overwhelming.

There was a student in the wing opposite her who was homesick, and it pulled at her heart strings. Somewhere down the hall she was standing in, Kealey could feel the telltale emotions that tied themselves to heart break, somewhere else there was someone angry with everything and everyone...on and on it went. Staring at the moon was a welcome break...even if she didn't have to feel each and every emotion all the time, she still knew they were there.

It was still early spring, and that meant it would be cool outside, but there was nothing saying that she couldn't go for a little walk to clear her head. The idea felt wonderful inside the blonde's curly head, and a few moments later found her opening and shutting the front door and making her way down the steps and onto the grounds.

The moon really was lovely, casting just enough light on the grounds to make silhouettes visible and the blond smiled. She could still sense the emotions out here, but the cool air and relative distance helped clear her head. It was practically deserted out here at this time of night.

Practically.

Senses perked at the bundle of strange emotions that were far closer than any of the others, Kealey slowly made her way in the direction they were flowing from. There was curiosity there, and something Kealey could only describe as longing. There was more there...and the only way should could describe it...was foreign. She made her way into the garden, a glint in the moonlight catching her eye.

"Hello?" she said, mildly anxious in spite of herself. Stranger things had been found on the Mansion grounds...

Turning towards the glint, she spotted a figure that looked like anything but the average human.

"I know that someone is here...I can feel you. Are you a student?" she continued, voice soft and not unfriendly in the dark.

Sylar's senses never turned off, but sometimes he'd get lax in thought, and it was only then that somebody could surprise him. His mind had wandered, and he ignored the soft noises around him, his serenity shattered by Kealey's "Hello". His head turned, and his body immediately tensed, his tail swinging to aim it's point towards where her voice came from. His surprise sent a rush of fear through his nerves, his instincts screaming to flee from sight. But this mansion was supposed to be Serena's home, a home for mutants, he at least had to know. He backed away slowly, retreating a few feet back into the shadow of a tree, his senses locked onto Kealey.

His instinct held in check briefly, Sylar took a moment to "look" Kealey over. Small stature, slim figure, and girlish voice. Clearly a woman, though he wasn't sure of age. Her thermal was also clearly normal shaped, meaning if she was a mutant, he couldn't tell. Though Kealey could read emotion through her power, Sylar could read people through subtle cues in their body language and voice. He could sense the slightest bit of hesitation, or more likely nervousness in her voice. It was late at night he was sure, and having backed off he'd be harder to see, a favorable position. He took a breath, a hissing noise, his own sign of anxiety escaping his throat as he let the air leave his lungs.

He swayed a bit, before finally responding. His voice was tense, and stern, but not as deep as a man's voice should be, the only sign of his youth. "Stay away!" He ordered her "Is this the school for mutants? The mansion?" His voice was almost belligerent. If this was the place Serena lived, he could probably calm down a bit, but if it wasn't he could quickly flee from a lone woman. A bad way to start a conversation, but Sylar really wasn't an expert at socializing, his natural anxiety was a powerful instinct, fueled by a timid personality and animal mind.

The girl clearly before him, he took a moment and let himself scan the area around them, listening for footsteps, shouts, any signal of other people who might converge on the area if the woman screamed, or somebody else saw him.

Fear. Whoever it was, this person was scared, if only for a moment...and that meant they were probably not a student. The other thing that meant was that they hadn't been expecting company on the grounds tonight.

The sudden movement made Kealey squeak slightly in surprise, and she took a few involuntary steps backwards, a hand to her mouth as the moving figure resolved itself in shadow. The voice was tense, as were the strange emotions, but something about it suggested youth.

Taking a deep breath to calm her slightly elevated pulse, Kealey dropped her hands and held them spread in front of herself. "I'll stay right here." she said, Irish accent lightly coloring her words as they flowed.

"And this is that school...Are you looking to enroll?" The fact that the question might seems silly in the middle of the night didn't occur to the blond. If the moonlight glinting off the figure in front of her suggested anything, it was that if he'd come with the intention of doing harm, it would have already been done.

"I'm Kealey."

Kealey's reaction actually played off of Sylar's instinct, her fear meant he was dangerous, and that meant he had power. His senses focused back onto her, having heard or smelt nothing else besides her close enough to them to worry him. His body remained darkened in the shadow, but his voice calmed a bit, and steadied as he spoke back to Kealey. He felt a slight bit of joy knowing he'd found the right place. "So this is where she lives." He mumbled to himself. Her statement confused him slightly, enroll? His thoughts and words came out exactly the same. "Monster's don't go to school lady." His voice had lost it's anxiety, but gained a rather blunt tone. His weapons rested a bit, his tail beginning to sway behind him.

He'd only come here to check the place out, maybe find and talk to Serena again, but for now he'd have to get his answers from Kealey. "I heard about this place from a girl, she told me it was a home for mutants." His voice was at it's more human during these sentences, his longing for Serena fueling him, not a romantic attachment, but more like a bond of trust. "She said I should come here, and see it for myself." She spoke her name, and he remembered again that he had a name when dealing with other mutants. "Oh um..I'm Sylar." He responded.

More important than names, or further questions, he had to ask if she was a mutant. He could talk to mutants, at least so far it seemed. "Are you...a mutant too?" He was still a bit surprised to learn many mutants just looked like normal people, when others like himself and Kiva were dead give aways. "The girl's name is Serena, she told me it was ok to come here, cause everybody here was a mutant too." Sylar didn't mind other mutants, but he was terrified and hated regular people, and part of him was still afraid he was chatting up some normal girl who would freak out at any time.

His body eased a bit, moving from a tensed standing position to crouching, which might strike normal people as odd. But for Sylar, crouching was more comfortable than standing, and meant he'd be staying still, for the moment.

The tension in the air abated slightly with her questions, and Kealey let her hands fall to a more natural place at her sides. The voice came again, some of the edge gone, and the words made Kealey breathe out a soft sigh, then smile sadly. He (she simply assumed because there was nothing to imply otherwise) thought he was a monster.

More statements, more questions, and Kealey simply listened, head tilted slightly to one side as she digested what the Mansion's visitor had to say. When he finished, she nodded her head in the dark. She knew vaguely of the girl he spoke of, as she did most of the students at the Mansion. Beyond that, though, she was a bit in the dark.

"First. There are no monsters here." she said, gently but firmly. "We all are who we are, and who the creator made us. We've got more wings, claws, tails and scales than you can shake a stick at in this building." she added with a firm nod.

As to the next, she nodded her head, "I am. But far less impressive than some, and I promise you that some would think me far more monstrous than anyone with visible evidence of their X-Gene." Maybe he'd be curious and ask her more questions. Now that Kealey had seen this young man, how skiddish he was, and she knew how he referred to himself...she wanted to help.

"And of course we welcome you here. We welcome everyone." she paused and smiled, wrapping her arms around her middle in the slight chill of the night. "They usually just don't choose to visit in the middle of the night. That's why I was startled."

There was one more thing to be said.

"It's nice to meet you, Sylar."

His arms rested on his knees, his form so much smaller when he crouched, Sylar truly was a small man. Part of Sylar wanted to laugh at her response, but he didn't. Serena had told him the same thing, but even if he could act human, deep inside, part of him was monstrous. Serena nor Kealey had ever seen him at his worst, his hunger driving him to dark thoughts. But he intended not to show them that, not when he could actually talk to people, even have friends. Instead he simply continued to talk, his voice much harsher than Kealey's.

"There are now." He whispered, his tail swaying back and forth, the lengthy appendage the main way Sylar showed his mood, as opposed to his face like most normal people. Serena had also told him some of the mutants at the mansion were like him, clearly different than normal people. He wanted to see others, mutants who had been dealt the same hand as he had, to see if any of them were truly like himself. The fact that Kealey was a mutant calmed Sylar a bit, and made him feel comfortable talking to her. His instincts began to disperse, and he could truly think on all the information he was attempting to gather.

He smiled briefly, the faintest enjoyment at her statement of being monstrous herself. "The normal monsters are the scariest." To Sylar, normal looking people would always be the worst, especially his parents, whose words confirmed for him his monstrous nature years ago. He wondered though, what her power was. His own abilities were obvious, but normal mutants were a mystery to him. "What exactly makes you different lady?...Er Kealey?" Sylar was blunt in conversation, but he figured he should at least remember to use names given to him, especially if he was trying to visit this place. Acting like a person again was getting taxing he realized.

He noticed her movement, her arms wrapping around her slightly dimmer signature. "You're cold." He exclaimed, anybody would assume a person doing such would be cold, but Sylar could actually measure a person's temperature with his eyes, making it a bit more obvious for him. He spent so much time outside, he basically ignored the temperature around him, focused more on food, and staying out of sight. "I sleep during the day. Too many people outside, too dangerous." For him, daylight was a mortal enemy. He was a creature of the dark, the Boogeyman no less.

Kealey didn't argue. People did horrible things to each other in this world and the scars from those wounds weren't able to heal in a single conversation. There may have been more to this story, but until the blond knew all the facts, she wasn't going to judge.

What made her different? Kealey peered into the darkness, trying to discern more about the person crouched in front of her. Maybe this was going to be a quid pro quo exchange. Maybe if she gave a little trust, he'd do the same.

"I can sense emotions. In most cases, I can manipulate them." she said, hoping that she wasn't scaring Sylar by sharing the information. "I don't, though."

As for being cold, she shrugged her shoulders, "I'm chilly, but it's a welcome change from the inside of the building. It's quiet this time of night, but there are still a lot of teenagers."

Sylar had said that he avoided places during the day, and Kealey filed the information away, glancing to the side. "Do you want to come in? I could see if your friend is still awake." She had ulterior motives, and wasn't afraid of bringing him inside. He said he was a monster, and he looked formidable, but he wasn't the only one with confidence.

Sylar's look was all about hiding things, he couldn't hide his tail, or his exoskeletal limbs, but he hid his face easily, and his crouched posture often made him hard to properly judge. However, as Kealey attempted to see more of him, he remained focused on her, his senses staying in tune with each of her reactions and movements. Her power was weird to him, sensing emotions? What purpose would that serve? Sylar had devolved somewhat, his life run by animal instincts, primal urges, his emotions played little part in his daily life.

He realized it must be useful living amongst normal people, and normal looking mutants. "I read people by the sounds they make, and the movement of their body. So you can read even deeper than that, must be helpful." He was blunt, but his thoughts were honest. He wondered what kind of emotions he gave off. "Can you sense mine?" He exclaimed. He felt he was devoid of most emotion, he didn't' really feel joy to be here, or as fearful knowing this was a home for mutants, really he just felt content to know Serena was here. That and he'd eaten before coming, leaving his hunger dormant deep inside.

Part of him wondered why this woman wasn't asleep, he realized it was late into the night, since he'd chosen that time to sneak into the grounds. "Why are you out here, I can't imagine you don't have a comfortable bed to return to." Sylar felt only slightly jealous realizing all these mutants had rooms, beds, basic amenities. He'd grown used to his lifestyle though, and even found himself missing his underground lairs sometimes. But he did remember how it felt to sleep in a proper bed as opposed to make shift ones.

Sylar swayed his head back and forth a bit, his tail matching the rhythm. He'd come here to check the place out, get a feel for it, but now he could possibly go inside and find Serena. The bait was a little too juicy for him, and he had to take. "I...Yeah, I'll go in. But if she isn't awake, I'll be leaving." Serena had tried to urge him to seek this place as home, but he didn't trust the idea, not yet. For now he simply wanted to meet the first person who'd treated him nicely again, his attachment to Serena slightly bothering him at some deeper level.

So they were more similar than Sylar had first though. The idea made Kealey smile into the darkness as the younger mutant made his observation. It was generally how it went with people who had been mistreated by life and made their way to the Mansion.

Sylar had asked more questions though, and Kealey felt like she owed him answers. She nodded her head to indicate the first.

"I can feel them. They're a little different in places, but I knew you were curious and happy when I mentioned your friend." In situations like these, honesty was the best policy. As to why she was outside...

"I do have a bed, but it's in Manhattan with my husband. I'm in the employ of the school, and tonight is my night to supervise. I needed a break." It was the truth, and much more simple than trying to explain the whole X-Men thing.

Sylar agreed to go inside, so Kealey smiled and turned, making her way slowly back the way she'd come from. One of the benefits of being a Mansion employee was that she had all-hours access to the building.

Sylar felt a bit uncomfortable knowing he couldn't hide himself from her, but was impressed by her power. He had to rely on given signals, which some people were quite good at hiding or skewing, but that wouldn't work if you could just read internal emotion. Mutants as a whole impressed him, having spent years only knowing his own mutation. He didn't really react to her mention of a husband, normal people fell in love, got married, had kids, something which Sylar had never thought of, especially not since his mutation.

Born blind, Sylar had never known physical beauty, and his timid personality never allowed him to have female friends either, in his entire life he'd never pursued any type of companionship with real intent for friendship or more. "I've wondered what kind of jobs other mutants have, but I guess mutants teaching mutants makes sense." He thought aloud, as Kealey turned to move towards the school, Sylar finally crept from the safety of the shadows. Kealey might not notice now, but Sylar was very slim for a man, a victim of malnourishment from years of mostly eating stolen left overs, and more than his share of snack foods.

His claws dug softly into the earth as he followed behind, an odd image of a woman followed by a giant cat like creature. His hood remained on, his face hidden beneath it's shadow, still leaving Sylar with a somewhat thug looking visage. He spoke softly, his voice losing it's harshness and sounding quite young as he dropped most of his defense mechanisms. "So you've met Serena? Or is she just another student here." Sylar wondered what student life was like as a mutant, he'd never finished regular schooling, and he wondered if mutant schooling was similar to a regular school.

If every mutant was different, he couldn't imagine it was easy to learn how to use their abilities together. It'd taken him months to learn just how to move his tail properly, and nearly a year to master using it as a fifth limb. But his life was an excellent teacher for his physical mutation, turning him into a ferocious creature when need be, but stunting his humanity deeply. "I live underground. I met Serena once when she was near a sewer man hole. Scared her pretty good." Sylar smiled very briefly, for some reason scaring people kind of made him feel content, feeding his inner predator's tastes.

Things were calming down quite nicely now, and Kealey grinned as the fact that Sylar was impressed came across through his emotions. He was a special kind of guy. Most people were squidgy about her power to say the least.

As to her job, Kealey shrugged. "The library is a part-time gig. I do some other things around the Mansion, but full-time I'm a fashion designer."

They spoke as they approached the building, and Kealey shook her head slightly at Sylar's question. "There is something very familiar about the name, but I can't bring a face to mind at the moment. I know most of the students though, I'm sure once I see her I'll know."

As Kealey re-opened the front door and led her guest inside, she mulled over what he said about living in the sewers. He seemed pleased that he'd managed to scare his friend, but it wasn't malicious pleasure...it was more something that simply felt like a part of him. The blond filed the info away in her curly haired head for later.

"You know we have scholarship programs for people who want to live here, but don't have the means...." she said as she led him towards one of the livingrooms on the ground floor.

"And if you wanted to go to school...we could set up night classes." If there was one thing Kealey was good at...it was pitching the school.

Sylar hadn't been to a library in years, he used to enjoy reading when he was still normal. A calming experience that took you away from everyday life, but now even if he wanted to read again his hands wouldn't allow it. The claws covering the tips of his fingers meant braille was unavailable to him now. Sylar also had no idea what fashion was, obviously he knew the word, but a blind person has no real need or understand of whats fashionable outside of whats given to them, or said to them. Her life sounded so alien compared to his own, which was funny considering he was the alien to most normal people.

As he neared the building, anxiety began to stir in his stomach once more, this was a residence, filled with people, and that meant he might have to interact with others at any point. He came here hoping to possibly speak to Serena, but just like with Kealey, Sylar's first impressions were often hostile and intimidating. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with a bunch of strangers in their home. He was a stranger here, and he was suddenly remembering just how strange it was to go inside a home again.

"I'd describe her too you, but all I know is her voice and scent. Which is hard to describe to a normal person." He exclaimed, for Sylar, scent was as integral to his life as sight was to everybody else, but at the level his was, it'd boggle the minds of a regular person. Sylar stopped as they neared the door. His anxiety peaked for a moment as he stared towards the home, the open door and inside quite intimidating. He crept forward slowly, still crawling low to the ground, his claws clicking softly against the floor in the foyer. He wrinkled his nose, sniffing the air, picking apart various smells that were new to him. Residents, various objects in the house, dozens of smells he wasn't used to. But he could still pick out the one that mattered.

He felt suddenly nervous and uncomfortable as Kealey mentioned trying to live here. This entire experience took alot out of Sylar, building courage to purposely try and interact, the idea of trying to live here scared him quite a bit, at least at this moment in time. "I...I um..No I just wanted to see the place." He stopped, realizing that he hadn't mentioned that he couldn't actually SEE the place. "Well no, that's dumb, I'm blind so I can't see the place, but I wanted to find out where Serena lived." He was fumbling a bit with his words, his urge to hide starting to really bug him. He reached up and pulled his hood forward a bit, trying to hide his face more.

He remained in the hallway, kind of peaking into the living room where Kealey was leading him. "I never really liked school anyway." He told her. It wasn't that Sylar wanted to turn down the offer, a home with a warm bed and food was almost a dream to the sewer dwelling teenager, but he was a timid boy. The confidence of normal people intimidated him, even now when he was far more dangerous than most people, probably including the woman before him.

The further into the building they got, the more intense the boy's feelings got. Kealey frowned a bit as he talked, registering the level of discomfort as they came to the idea of living in the mansion. She'd let her exuberance run away with her and she'd scared him.

"Of course." she said with a kindly smile over her shoulder as they walked. "But I do hope you'll make your visits a more common thing." she stopped in front of the living room and gestured for Sylar to precede her.

"The students say we have excellent TV's...and the Kitchen is open 24 hours a day!"

Looking around at the room, and finding it deserted, Kealey nodded.

"If you want to wait here, I can go and find your friend. Then if you want, I'll stop in the kitchen on my way back and grab you guys a snack. Anything you prefer?"

Sylar moved at a snail's pace, his senses slowly taking in the entirely new environment as he followed Kealey. He crept into the living room. A spacious room, with a few objects that had to be chairs he figured. Furniture and tables were basically just opaque blobs to Sylar's thermal vision. He could smell various people in the room, it must be an area of traffic, which made sense. Various mutants all stopped in here to rest or socialize. Sylar didn't feel much though, not even jealously. He was curious though, his nose picking apart different scents, discerning some things he could about the mansion's inhabitants.

He felt more comfortable when Kealey backed off, but he was still intimidated by the mansion itself. Sylar usually felt better when confined underground, but here inside a building, it was their world, not his. "I dunno, I just wanted find the place, but it's nice knowing there's somewhere for mutants to be and not be terrified." Sylar moved towards what must have been a couch, placing his claw against the material. He'd forgotten what it felt like to the hand, and part of him felt a tad disappointed when his clawed hands felt very little. His fingertips were encased with chitin, his basic sense of touch not dulled, but entirely taken from him. However if he sat in the chair, he could enjoy it's comforts. But he refrained, instead moving towards the other side of the room and peeking down the hallway. "It'd at least be nice if I knew I could hide here if needed." Sylar was a criminal after all, though Kealey didn't know that.

Sylar stopped when she mentioned TV and turned to look at her, his hood still made his face difficult to discern, but the interior light made it easier to read some parts of it. A withered facial structure, long red hair falling down, frayed and dirty. And eyes like a spider's web. Sylar figured she didn't hear his earlier statement. "I wouldn't know about TV, I'm actually blind." His words were blunt, with no anger or embarrassment behind them. Kealey could probably read his tone through his emotions though. Sylar was rarely anything but serious, and if not, probably fearful.

His stomach caved in at her words though, a light growl rumbling from his body. He'd eaten before leaving, but an enhanced metabolism fueling mutant powers couldn't really get by on snack foods. "I could eat..."He mumbled to her, finding himself entirely unable to refuse an offer at food. "Yes, I'll wait here." He crouched down, his focus still down the hallway, listening for any activity besides himself and Kealey. He found himself hoping Serena was up, realizing this trip inside the building would be quite pointless if he'd mustered up the courage only to be turned away from a sleeping girl.

She asked him about food, and Sylar replied quickly. "Meat." Sylar couldn't miss out on a chance for fresh or well preserved meat, anything was better than junk food. Once Kealey left to find Serena and possibly his food however, Sylar's curiosity got the better of him, and he found him self creeping down the hall, exploring the area just outside the living room a bit while he waited to hear Kealey come back.