For a moment, he got quiet enough for her to notice it. He got quiet thinking about England, his previous home. She recalled he'd said earlier he'd gotten kicked out, and mentally kicked herself for bringing up what could have been a difficult subject. England was fascinating, sure, but... she nodded, and let him get through it.

He managed to get through it just fine.

"Sounds cool," she said, playing it off as if she hadn't noticed. "I've always thought it would be fun to go. See the sights, try the food, be a total tourist. There, or Paris. Or any of the other great places overseas. I suppose New York is interesting too, in its own ways. Have you done any sight-seeing?" The corners of her eyes crinkled slightly as she considered a thought, and added. "I imagine it's a bit like Doctor Who, where you don't really see something if you're around it all the time. Sometimes, it takes someone else whose never seen something to really make you see it. You know?"

She'd been to Central Park, and the Metropolitan Museum of art. She'd gone to the Statue of Liberty. But for a lot of New Yorkers, that just wasn't the case. Those things were just 'there'. You could go any day. So you never did. Because you weren't a tourist. It was common-place.

The bus appeared a ways down the street, coming their way.

James chuckled a little to the words "Sounds cool". Had she meant to do that or not? Not that it mattered really.

Have I been sightseeing? Well, no. James surprised himself. He hadn't been anywhere really, besides Central park, he'd been there a few times. He had seen the Statue of Liberty too but not up close.

"Now you mention it...No, I haven't." He admitted with a sheepish smile. The revelation made him feel slightly foolish.

Then Amelia said something that shocked him, Dr Who? Well, that was just plain uncommon, in his experience.

This was the first time James had heard an American mention the show. Like most British children James had watched it, his mother had when she was younger and she encouraged him to. It was kind of a British thing, from what he knew. Although he knew in his lifetime it had become an awful lot more popular over here. He had kept up with it on the internet, but still it was unusual to hear about it from someone else.

James considered what to say, he didn't want to sound rude and just go "No way an American who likes Dr Who?!" Fortunately just before James was about to reply to her question the bus came rolling up in front of them and stopped. After a small group of people got off he nodded at the short girl in front of him.

"After you"

She walked onto the bus, shooting him a smile.

"You really should at least check out an art museum or something," she said as they walked down the aisle. "Oh, here's a seat." She slid into the window seat, and patted the spot next to her.

As she gazed out the window, she idly commented. "What you really need is a job. Then, you could afford to buy all sorts of clothes, and do ridiculous stuff like take girls on dates." A hand brushed through her hair as she said it, and she didn't glance his way.

Since they were the only two at the stop, it didn't take long for the bus to jerk into motion again.

James blushed when the girl smiled at him, something which had happened more often in the past five months than in his entire life beforehand. It was strange, maybe people at the mansion were just a whole lot nicer. After all they were mostly unusual in their own ways, unlike at school where James had been 'the weird English kid' for a while.

The temperature in the bus was considerably higher and it felt glorious. The bumps on his arms began to go down quickly and he felt a lot more comfortable. Sitting down he nodded to what Amelia was saying. "Yeah, I probably should but..." Saying 'I have like two friends' probably would sound a bit needy so he left it there. Besides, being without friends wasn't something he was unfamiliar with.

James settled into his seat and let out a deep breath, the awkwardness inside was starting to fade slightly. This was usually part of the process, feeling awkward to start off with and then gradually getting used to the other person...well girl, Anyway. It didn't seem to happen with guys as much. That was until Amelia mentioned getting a job and doing ridiculous things like...

Oh dear. Why would she say that...She was older than him right? Shorter but older and James was hardly attractive..well no more than the usual guy anyway. James's spine felt like a rigid metal pole and he couldn't turn to look at the other mutant.

Nope, don't think that, there is NO way. Mentally slapping himself James managed to cough up a somewhat coherent response.

"I...Yeah, probably should get a...a job...to...mhmm." Well it could be worse, you could have just stood up and shouted something stupid like you normally do.

James had had a moment of utter awkwardness. Amelia, meanwhile, had completely missed it. A savior squirrel had been on a tree, juggling his nuts. Wait, what? Well, they were still by the mansion, so-- "Whoa! Look at that!" She pointed, just as the squirrel stopped his act to do a jumping flip off the tree branch and towards the ground. As he fell, he shifted and transformed into a girl with long auburn hair and funny markings on her face. Almost like a mask. She landed the flip with both arms raised, like a gymnast, then took off across the mansion lawn into the distance.

"That was cool," Amelia said breathlessly as the bus rattled on. A moment later, she looked at him. "Sorry. Did you say something? I can be so ADD, sometimes. What were we talking about?" A pause. "Oh right! Jobs. Yeah, I bet someone at the mansion could help hook you up."

Wasn't that the repeating statement, 'someone at the mansion', 'hook you up'. She seemed to be saying that more and more these days. She blamed the mansion. They were just too useful a contact for a young mutant. They were like a Youth club that helped kids get scholarships, but on overdrive.

Amelia was telling him to look at something, however James felt stiff as a board unable to move or look anywhere near her. He was still going through the freezing power of sudden awkward moments but he took a deep breath and managed to look at her just as she turned to him.

Hmmm, a job. At the mansion? That was pretty much perfect, considering he lived there. Nodding to himself James smiled. That would be perfect, money without having to really go looking for a job? Sounded right up his alley.

"Yeah," He said slowly, feeling like this day couldn't get any better. "That sounds...amazing. I'd really appreciate it, thanks." Although it was true that James's working experience didn't stretch much further than the working experience of the average dog, it was something to look forward to, at least. That and something to fill up his spare time out of classes.

Sighing, James closed his eyes end let his head roll back. Relaxing they waited in silence, which wasn't awkward. More the kind of silence common to those waiting for something together. He couldn't be sure but it felt like a good while, James didn't know where the shop was but it couldn't be any further than a couple of minutes away.

'Someone at the mansion,' she considered, lapsing into silent thought. Well, she worked at the mansion, didn't she? And she had connections. Maybe she...

Over the next several minutes, Amelia considered the sorts of jobs she could set someone up with. Library aide was possible. Maybe something in the kitchen. They didn't really have a mess hall, did they? It was all fairly low-key. She knew they had a kitchen and a dining room, though. Just no lunch ladies working over a stove... well. Maybe some times. It depended on the situation. This certainly wasn't Hogwarts. They didn't have elves. It surprised her how little she actually knew about the specifics of the mansion. They never seemed set in stone.

Just in time, her eyes snapped up and she noticed that they were a block off from the shop. She reached up to pull the cord that signaled an upcoming stop and that she wanted to get off the bus.

"The clothes shop is around here," she said intently, focusing on the moving pavement outside the frosted glass.

"Right." James nodded and stood up as the bus rolled to a halt at the stop. Mentally preparing himself for the cold he made his way down the isle, out the door and waited for his companion.

"Okay," James said, shivering a little while trying to stop his teeth from chattering. The bumps rose again and he felt like his limbs would literally die of frostbite. At the risk of looking strange James jogged on the spot as Amelia got off the bus.

"So, Lead the way." He said to Amelia.

 James seriously had no idea what suited him and didn't, so he was putting himself entirely in the other mutants hands. If she wanted she could pick out a load of strange looking clothes and James would be completely oblivious to the ridicule of the others around him.

Him jogging there looked ridiculous, like the sort of thing you'd see in a comedy show. And not even a good comedy show. Something that relied on hits between the legs and laugh tracks. If she hadn't realized he was being cold rather than silly, she might have cracked a smile. Instead, she simply did as he said, and led.

The shop was definitely retro, but with a new-age flair. The signs outside suggested low prices, great values, and unique finds, and showed flair jeans and classic movie tees. There was a mannequin in a Star Wars shirt. The one with Luke and the skyward striking Lightsaber, with his sister clinging to his leg. Amelia hauled him by the arm through the doorway.

A bubbly sales-girl with a nose ring greeted them from behind the register with a Goth-girl smile and white highlights in her hair. She was wearing a punkish red and black plaid skirt and black leggings, and a black t-shirt with some band's design on it. James got dragged to the nearest mannequin with men's clothing on it. She showed him a selection of semi-ironic iconic junk-food celebrating brand-name tees. "Do you like peanut butter and chocolate?" She considered him quizzically.

They walked up to the store and James saw the star wars shirt. Oh, look...that's A New Hope right? The one where they save her from the...Okay never mind we are moving. Amelia grabbed his arm. The physical contact made James feel a little uncomfortable, but he didn't feel like he was being constricted by an anaconda like usual, which was strange.

Without resisting much James let Amelia drag him into the shop, or the lions den. Depends how you look at it, really. James barely had time to go red when the Goth-girl smiled at him, before getting dragged further into the shop.

Stopping at the men's section of tees sporting food jokes, a few made him chuckle. Wow, you are enjoying this aren't you? The cynical part of his mind chided. Ignoring it he listened to Amelia's question. Did he like peanut butter and chocolate? People ate both together? Hmm, James couldn't say he did if he hadn't tried it.

"People eat both?" He scratched his head and looked at Amelia questioningly. "I can't say I do, considering I've never tried it"

With things like this, James was clueless. Even though he'd been living in America he hadn't made many friends and ate food the way he did in England.  Damn, Seems I've been pretty out of touch.

Finger to her lip, she concluded thoughtfully. "So that's a no-go on the peanut butter cup shirt. Well then," turning on the spot, she looked to him. "What sorts of candies and brands do you like?"

There were also hooded sweatshirts and sweatshirts near by, and a few mannequins with your less food-brand-oriented things, like music and television. A few displays down, there were even normal-looking shirts with colors and stripes. The only thing the store really didn't have were polo shirts.

Amelia's eyes wandered as she let James look around. He probably needed a new pair of jeans, too. Black jeans? Worried? Nah. Worried wouldn't keep him warm. Probably blue or brown, and brand new. And by the jeans, there was another display, but--

"He probably doesn't need that," she mumbled quietly to herself. A faint blush touched momentarily on her cheeks.

"Nope" James replied, stepping back for a better look. If he had to choose candy, it would definitely have to be Nerds...not chocolate, anything but chocolate. Maybe a different section?

Moving further into the shop, James looked left and right, searching for something which caught his eye. Admittedly he was naturally attracted to the more plain, striped and patterned clothes. Encouraging himself to move towards something a bit more interesting, James ended up standing in front of the music and T.V shirts. Looking them over for a minute he mentally pointed out a couple he could see himself wearing.

He then doubled back and ended up next to Amelia looking at the jeans. Leaning to the right slightly he muttered, "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing..." It was true, he was walking around to look for anything that payed reference to anything he liked but the things he liked were probably unlikely to be on shirts here. Its not like there is exactly going to be a Pokemon shirt with a joke like "What Pokemon always agrees with its trainer? A Ditto!"

"I don't suppose you think anything here would suit me?" He said jokingly, and somewhat awkwardly, a shy smile playing on his lips.

>>"I don't suppose you think anything here would suit me?"

Definitely not the Doctor Who boxers with the words 'It's Bigger on the Inside,' she mentally answered him, looking at his face. "Maybe a shirt with a Charmander?" she shrugged a shoulder, jabbing a finger in the direction of the Pokemon shirts he'd clearly missed. It had probably been easy to miss them. The Pokemon was merely a silhouette against a red background, with a scene of a trainer and his Charmander with a Charizard sailing by in the sky overhead inside the silhouette. Beside it were similar shirts, with the other Generation 1 starters on them. There was also, funnily enough, a shirt with a Ditto on it. Though it wasn't what James had been thinking. It said 'Pokemon Stud.'

"Black jeans would probably go with that," she added offhandedly, casting out her words to fill up an awkward void. Through sheer force of will, she pushed the blush on her cheeks away. There. That was much better.

James looked at the shirt which the small girl was pointing at. Oh yes. All the yes. Just what I was thinking. That was kind of worrying also, she had said her mutation had something to do with clothes...Right? She definitely wasn't telepathic or anything? Or was that just women in general, James didn't know. The only other girl he knew enough to pass judgement on in this case was a social butterfly who seemed to be good at the same thing...probably just social adepts in general. Not something introverts like himself could really do...in his experience.

"Are you sure you can't read minds?" James asked semi-seriously as he made his way towards the Pokemon shirts. He wasn't so sure about the 'Pokemon stud' one. Him wearing something with the word stud on in any situation would be ironic and just plain stupid. He found it difficult to be around the opposite gender, let alone speak or interact with them, which he could do...most of the time. 

He grabbed a Charizard one though and hung it on a finger over his shoulder. While he was at it, he grabbed a single 'Han Shot First' shirt with a grin. 

>>"Are you sure you can't read minds?" James asked her.

She did a non-committal one-shoulder shrug. "Eh." So what if she was. Would he say something about it? Did it really matter? And for that matter, did he honestly care. She didn't rebut him for the suggestion. Maybe she didn't mind if she was mysterious. Kept him on his toes. She slipped into line behind him like a Mario Kart in another Kart's slipstream, and followed him to the shirts.

She picked up the Ditto shirt, and waggled it at him (along with her eyebrows). "Eh?" She said, again with the monotone grunt. This time, it was more of a 'how about this?'