Rocking his weight from one foot to the other Carrick’s mismatched eyes spotted a bird fly by overhead as it flew into the trees behind him. He suddenly felt the urge to jump into the air and chase after the bird. His tail twitched and his wings ruffled the feathers lightly as he shifted his attention back to Eve. She was talking about schooling and the importance of certain subjects. He didn’t really need school for that he did happen to read a few books on the mechanics of flight most of them involved birds some involved other contraptions such as jets, hot air balloons and regular planes.

She did happen to have his interest peaked when it came to non-dairy creamer being flammable. ”Problem is sitting through all the boring ****” Carrick said smirking to Eve now wanting to test her information about making ‘brilliant fireballs’.

Carrick started to laugh when she said he seemed happy enough, Carrick nodded his head and hopped into the air and flapped his wings lifting him into the air as he circled Eve a few over her head. ”I just don’t really care what other people think,” said Carrick believing his own lie. ”Spent most of me life being made fun of when I was’a bit younger, eventually I got tired of feeling down so I went up instead.” Carrick barrel rolled and started to head towards the trees till he aimed his body up till he pulled of a small loop and started to fly back towards Eve. ”Maybe ya need to just stop caring?” Carrick asked as he landed a few feet in front of her with a small flip.

Standing upright Carrick’s tail swayed behind him as he raised an eyebrow in her general direction. ”Paint the window shut? Or put a screen in? Though that is usually how I enter my own room. MY ol’roommate grew an oak tree so we could just enter and exit our room by tree climbing. Though I never needed to get anywhere.” Carrick then smirked in the girl’s direction, ”How old are ya? I don’t think yer boyfriends need to sneak in through the bedroom windows.” Carrick said in a mocking tone before he hopped into the air again and flapped his wings a few times.

Evelyn realized how long winded she had gotten with the conversation when the echoes picked up on his distracted movements. She followed his gaze towards the bird, and noted the almost catlike behavior he seemed to display. Like a predator preparing to prowl after it's prey, he watched it, and she decided it was probably a cause worth abandoning. School just wasn't a conversation he seemed to want to deal with. Other than flammable kitchen products, it seemed.

Her observations were confirmed as Carrick launched himself into the air, and she watched his movements with a bit of admiration. Flight seemed like such a useful ability compared to the echoes. It took minor adjustments of his feathers, strong muscle movements, and control to master the loops like he did. She always envied birds, and he seemed to have a useful cross with one. The echoes noted the was his tail moved almost like tail feathers, a rudder to steer with, and tried not to stare as she watched. It was cool, in a way. But he probably didn't need the ego boost so she resisted remarking on it too much. Her luck she'd just make him feel awkward.

She listened to his advice as he started talking again, and gave a little shrug. "I think it's easy to not care in theory, but I don't know exactly how to teach myself to do it in person. My powers make forgetting things impossible, so I feel like things are harder to just forget and get over." She admitted to the younger mutant.

Then at his last remark her cheeks turned pink and she ducked her head, hair falling across her vision. "It was accident, guy thought the room was empty and let himself in through my window. Don't think it'll happen again, and I certainly don't expect anyone to try to sneak in through my window, let alone a boyfriend! And I'm twenty four." She added firmly, although she felt much younger than that. Her awkward nature made her seem less like an adult and more like a teenager at times.

Now airborne Carrick let out a small chuckle when he noticed Eve’s pale skin start to redden. ”Right,” Carrick smirked and landed with a thud in front of the girl and leaning towards her his wings snapping behind him, ”Twenty four and your face turns red at the mention of someone or a boyfriend entering yer room.” Carrick let out a laugh, ”Here I thought I was bad, ya look a bit younger than that.” Carrick said placing his hands on his head and taking two steps back towards the woods with his back turned towards Eve.

”It’s actually quite simple not to care, I can teach ya if yer interested as thanks for mention of the non-dairy creamer thing.” Carrick said turning towards her hoping that it was actually as flammable as she said. ”Repeat after me.” Carrick said dropping his hands to his side then clearing his throat, ”Eh.” he then looked to her and smirked, ”Ya don’t have to actually not care, ever hear fake it till ya make it?” Carrick asked curiously, ”I used ta care all the time when kids made fun of me for being tiny, or because of me tail and wings but then I realized their just jealous. Cause I’m awesome and they're all eejits!”

Hopping into the air and snapping his wings open flapping once again becoming airborne. ”I have wings, makes me able to fly. Can you or they fly?” Carrick asked rhetorically before landing and shaking his shaggy head, ”Nope.”

If anything, Evelyn's face got redder. The concept of boyfriends was a bit of a sore subject and she resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him for embarrassing her. "Not really a subject I want to talk about. How about we turn back to combustible materials?" She muttered quickly. She blinked at his 'lesson' on not caring, and rubbed the back of her neck a little.

"Eh? I'm not really sure that works for me..." Maybe you had to have an accent to make it work properly. She didn't feel like she could fake not caring... She brushed her hands on her skirt and shook her head.

"So is everyone supposed to be jealous I have voices in my head and they don't? That doesn't seem like something they're missing out on, really. Well, unless you want to play poker...." Jensen had quickly banned her from any form of gambling when she was younger when he realized her perfect memory made it far too easy for her to track cards in the deck. Using powers in a game was cheating in his eyes, and since she couldn't turn off her mutation, she would always have an unfair advantage.

It seemed the blonde girl just wanted to feel bad for herself. Carrick shrugged his shoulders making his wings move up and down as well before he responded with a, ”Eh.” he looked back towards the woods where the bird had flown not to long ago then back to the blonde, ”Don’t know about voices, I get urges of my own when I put me other face on though, like trying to eat small critters. Ever wake up next to a half eaten squirrl?” Carrick asked in a mocking tone before shaking his head, ”Not unless the voice tell ya.” Carrick said walking back towards the girl once again.

”Eh, works for everyone. Just got to back it up with a shoulder shrug.” Carrick said shrugging his shoulders before looking back to the woods and pointing, ”At least you don’t have to go through clothes like toilet paper. Unless I take them off before I change they get all ripped like Banner and the hulk.” Carrick said smirking and walked towards the woods starting to take off the upper half of his wardrobe.

"My voices don't usually tell me to eat small mammals, no... They get distracted by them from time to time..." Evelyn responded, shaking her head at the idea. She couldn't imagine eating a squirrel, cooked, raw, or otherwise. Thankfully, she didn't have a predator instinct like that. Her voices felt a little...tame.

To be honest, Evelyn wasn't sure how the conversation progressed to this point. One moment, the kid was laying in the sun like a cat, and now he was talking about eating squirrels and undres--

"Wait, what are you--" She quickly turned the other way, face getting further crimson and trying to decide what to do in this situation. She was pretty sure he shouldn't be taking of clothes, regardless of whether his other 'face' would shred them or not.

Other...

The echoes were still scrambled by the kids actions and couldn't quite piece it together.

She wasn't sure 'eh' and a shoulder shrug would be effective in this situation. She had a half naked teenager wandering into the woods and the last thing she wanted to do was turn around and face him and plant whatever image was there permanently into her mind. What was seen in her world could never be unseen.

"Maybe you should stay...clothed....and....how about explosives? I was perfectly fine with that conversation."

”You’ll see!” Carrick was already passed a bush before he finished disrobing and made sure to remember which bush he was putting his pants. The last thing he needed was losing another pair and someone stealing them wasn’t going to happen at least he was pretty sure. This wasn’t the city and there weren’t bums looking for new clothes. Carrick shuddered at the thought of another fly home naked and made sure not to run into that problem again.

Feeling his skin bubbling and contorting Carrick’s fingers started to grow till they dug into the ground and pulled up dirt as talons started to form followed by a hawk like screech from his currently forming beak. He always looked forward to the freedom he felt after he shifted it was the initial process in between that he wasn’t a fan of.

Carrick’s form shift never took that long and what might feel like minutes sometimes to him seconds pass to everyone else, which he was chalking up to the pain from the shift. Running on all fours a little further into the woods Carrick spotted a clearing and pushed off with his shifted legs, which were far stronger than his human form. Flapping his wings and shooting straight out of the trees Carrick was now airborne and circled around while his now longer wings flapped a few times carrying him far further than he could have flown with a few flaps in his human form.

Carrick spotted the white head of the woman and dove towards her letting out a small screech.

Evelyn politely kept her back turned to the teen. There wasn't much else she could safely do while she waited. Staring would have been awkward on several levels, and glancing at any moment could make it look like she had been staring. So she solved that problem by just not looking at all.

That was, until she heard the screech behind her.

She turned and jumped backwards in surprise as a gryphon dove her way. The fur was the same color as Carrick's tail had been, the feathers the same golden hue as his wings. In fact, the wings mostly looked the same. Maybe bigger... And now he had talons. And a beak. And...well, everything else a gryphon would have

"Other face...right....tearing clothing like the hulk...." She muttered nervously, wondering if this would be the appropriate time to leave or wait.

A string of bird like chirps exited Carrick’s beak as he nodded his head up and down. He still wasn’t capable of speech in this form but if he were he would have been laughing due to her initial reaction. Carrick’s mismatched eyes locked on the woman as she spoke. Carrick tilted his head to the side and let out a few low chirps as he lowered his head and stretched his body forward almost like in a bow. Razor sharp talons dug into the dirt with ease and Carrick lifted his front claws then set them back down leaving gashes in the grass.

Carrick took a few steps forward to Eve again and then lowered his bird like head to her hand and nudged it a few times. Carrick let out another small chirp and hoped she could take a hint. It was weird when he thought about it but it did feel pretty good when people petted him in his shifted form. Even if he would never admit it in his human one.

Evelyn watched the gryphon cautiously at first, but then he made a slight bowing motion, which gave her a vague Harry Potter type feeling. While she was pretty sure the teen wasn't a hippogryph, the action was similar enough she relaxed a little.

Well, relaxed mostly. The whole gashing the grass bit just made her echoes note how dangerous talons could be if used against someone. "Can't promise you how good the echoes are at reading gryphons and all, so you're going to have to work with me here if you need anything." She warned, at cautiously touched his feathered head. The texture was somewhat like fur, somewhat like feathers, and she couldn't quite pinpoint which, or if it was either.

She was standing and petting another mutant. The thought flickered through her mind and nearly made her laugh out loud, concern lifting for the moment.

If he could speak in Gryphon form he would have been teasing her when she was so startled when he first appeared. It was good though she was cautious it meant she was smart he was after all king of the skies and anyone who insulted him turned into a scratching post. At least that is what he would tell her if he could talk. Carrick however curred, a combination between a cooing and a purr she was the third person to ever hear that exit his throat. A compliment really.

After a few minutes of allowing her to pet him Carrick took a step back and circled around Eve and slide his head under her legs then jumped into the air, sure it wasn’t the best or safest way to get someone in the air but Carrick saw it in the Harry potter movie so he’d figure it would work now. With a quick squawk once Eve was on his back he snapped open his wings and took off into the air.

The purr-like noise reassured Evelyn a little, and she continued petting. Things seemed like they were going well enough, until Carrick pulled away. Before she could ask what he was doing, he circled behind her, dove between her legs and she found herself sitting on the griffon.

"Wait, Carrick, I don't thin---eeeekkkkk!" Her protest was lost as she clung to the feathered mutant and tried not to look down. Holycrap. She was still somewhat terrified by the idea of flying, and peaked over his shoulder at the ground below. It was the most beautiful terrifying experience ever. The artistic side of her loved the view, but the part of her that got attacked during the riots was much more comfortable with her feet on the ground. "What do I even hold onto?" She muttered nervously, trying not to pull on his feathers and holding with her knees instead. If she fell off she'd never forgive him. Ever. Ever ever.

f Carrick could laugh or smirk in this form he would have, she was scared and he could feel her legs tense around his back as she asked what she should be holding onto. Honestly anything was okay to grab onto as long as it wasn’t his wings for obvious reasons. Some people laid down on his back and put their head next to his while others sat straight keeping their legs locked. Carrick tilted his neck and head back letting Eve know to grab onto it.

He shifted his wings and turned slowly for the moment hoping not to scare Eve too much. While he normally loved to terrify new comers to the sky Eve was nice to him and didn’t give him the impression that she was like everyone else which meant she got the learners course in flying slow and steady… for now.

Carrick’s wings tilted and he went from flying in a large slow circle to straight shot for the city where there were buildings and traffic. Traffic and buildings always made Carrick laugh when he got the bird’s eye view. Everyone was in such a hurry and they didn’t go anywhere all the while it would take him minutes to get from one place to another.

Evelyn didn't take much encouragement to grab onto Carrick, trying to be careful so she didn't accidentally pull a feather out or something. At first it was hard to relax. She kept having flickers of memories of falling and the terrifying sensation that swam through her stomach. But Carrick wasn't trying to kill her, and he wasn't an angry cat mutant she pissed off. She'd be fine.

She hoped.

As they shot for buildings and traffic, she held a little tighter for a moment then forced herself to relax. Her hand hold became less of a death grip, and her muscles unclenched slightly for the moment.

The air shifted slightly when they entered the city, despite it being such a calm day at the mansion the sky was a bit windier here. He was told before it was due to all the buildings and no trees. It sorta made sense but he was sure if he really wanted to discover the reason he could read about it but that seemed like a bit too much work.

The sounds of wailing horns got louder as they passed a crowded intersection and Carrick’s head raised a little as he shifted his head to view everyone below. They looked like tiny figurines but he quickly lost interest as he spotted a few pigeons flying by and he quickly gave chase. He hated pigeons.

Flapping his wings quickly his claws below grasped at the air as he allowed them to stretch out. He almost forgot Eve was on his back till he shifted is wings to adjust to the wind as he started his next glide towards the birds as they attempted to fly further away. Tilting his head up slightly and turning his head he fixed one of his mismatched color eyes on his passenger. She seemed nervous still which wouldn’t do so he decided it was necessary to loosen her up a bit. Free falls usually did that.

Shifting his weight Carrick’s wings brought them both higher and higher into the air until they were over looking a large part of the city with ease only a few buildings were higher than them but he though that would be enough give her a good view before the fall.

Sailing in the air Carrick let everything sink in before he leaned forward and closed his wings over Eve’s legs so she wouldn’t fall off. Letting out a screech Carrick dived to where the pigeons were flying.