Watching as the public transit bus she has just been on smoked and groaned on the side of the road, Shelby sighed to herself. It was midday and she had been on her way to an art exhibition across town to take notes for a class project. Now, due to some type of critical engine failure, she was stranded on the side of the road with two classmates and a handful of rather annoyed citizens. Half of them muttered about waiting the expected 20 minutes for the next bus to come pick them all up, while others murmured about walking a few blocks to the next stop and just catching a different bus entirely.

Huffing through her nose at the upset in her plans, she adjusted her satchel and started to turn away to follow the other people to the next stop.

"Hey Shelby, where are you going?" The voice of her male classmate, David, stopped her and she turned halfway to glance back at him. Sherry, the other classmate, was giving her a quizzical look as well.

"Gonna follow them. I hate waiting."

"You sure? It'll only be a little while. Sure beats walking in this heat." She shook her head once, orange hair fluttering about her shoulders, and turned away again. "I prefer walking!" Plus, the two of them hadn't shut up since they had boarded the bus. The relative silence would be more than welcome. 

Exchanging glances, David and Sherry shrugged as Shelby walked way, before turning back to the conversation they had been engaged in before the bus broke.       

The shade of the trees felt good in the midday heat, the small park was empty enough to be unseen, and best of all he could afford to be lazy right now. Apparently Ace had caught something big. Alex couldn't tell what it was from their connection but the bird was excited about it. Closing his eyes he focused on the connection, Ace was getting close now flying over...a plum of smoke? Oh a bus looked like it broke down. That was unfortunate. He hoped nobody was hurt. He opened his eyes and looked up when Ace was overhead. He grinned at what he saw the bird carrying. A big bag of fast food. He couldn't help but laugh as he caught the bag when it was dropped.

"Ace, you naughty bird, who did you steal this from?"he chuckled arm raised to give his companion a place to land. He opened the bag, eager for a meal, "Oh man, good job. This looks like enough to last us a while. Fries, burgers, hmm..." He pulled the two apple fritter boxes from the bag and set them on the ground. While they were high in calories, they weren't exactly his favorite. "Let's get Pick and Pocket back."he murmured opening the boxes. It was the right weight for the two rat constructs and he had just enough energy for the two of them.

Lifting his hands, eyes closed, he broke down the presented material and reconstructed it. It took a minuet but when he opened his eyes their they stood, two little black and white rats. "Alright, glad to have you two back. Go ahead and scout around will ya?"he murmured. The two rats skittered off in different directions, leaving Alex and Ace to enjoy the rest of the meal.

A shadow passed over head, and she lifted a hand to shield her eyes so she could look. The wingspan was too long for a pigeon. The body not squat and round enough. New York had itself some pretty fat pigeons. This, though, wasn't one. Excitement rushed through her. Was it a hawk? A pet of some sort, or wild? The hills just outside of seattle had been chalk full of 'em. Couldn't take a drive into or out of the city without spotting one prowling the sky high above the highways.

Suddenly a tad homesick, she sped up and followed the unknown bird. Her attention was split between tailing it and not running into people, and due to this she quickly lost sight of it around the side of a building. Swearing loud enough to grab the attention of a few passersby, she headed for the closest alley it had flown into. Maybe it was a momma hawk, and it had captured some sort of prey for it's babies?

Skidding silently around the corner with her bag flopping behind her, she spied the bird once more and-.... immediately scrambled back around the corner and pressed herself to the wall.

So it had been someones pet! Hazarding a peek around the corner, she spotted the supposed owner again and watched silently. He was eating something, but from where she stood she couldn't exactly see what it was. Hopefully not the animal she'd figured the hawk to be carrying, because ew. While the stranger was preoccupied, she tried to figure out what kind of bird it was, and battled her inner self on whether not not she should announce her presence and ask to see it.

Alex paused in his meal, there was someone nearby, hiding it looked like from what Pocket was seeing. He debated a moment on what he was doing. He could call them out but he didn't want to seem aggressive or to scare them away. If anything a curious on looker could be an opportunity. So feigned a yawn and went back to eating, allowing Ace to pick at his food. While letting a construct eat was nothing but a waste of good food it would at least make Ace seem more like a real animal.

As he took a bite of the first burger he instructed Pocket to interact with the girl, get under foot as it were. It might scare her out of hiding or perhaps get her curious enough to make herself known. He had Pick come back and sit in his lap, nibbling at his food as well, allowing her to see the similarities between the rat at her feet and the one on his lap.

He really hoped he wouldn't have to call her out. That would just be annoying.

Luckily, the guy hadn't noticed her, or at least so it appeared. Edging a hand into her bag, she fumbled for her glasses case and dragged it out. Up close, she could see perfectly fine, but at any distance more than a few feet away things started to get a little blurry. Colors blend together, shapes get fuzzy. Stigmatisms were annoying.

But, with her handy-dandy glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, she could see much clearer. The bird was in fact a hawk. It excited her to an unknown degree that it was also a color pattern she could recognize. Though she didn't know the name of the bird off the top of her head, but she knew it's kind all the same. She'd seen it in zoos, on tv, nature documentaries, you name it. It was pretty common as far as she knew. But, it was officially the first she had seen since moving to the city. She liked pigeons and crows and all, but when you saw them often enough that you could start to decipher who each individual bird was, it was a little much.

Something small raced over the toe of her flats, and she jumped inadvertently. Rat?! Yes, a rat. But, not a brown, gigantic sewer rat like the others she had run into before. This one was much more similar to what you would find in a pet store.
"Oh...uh... hello." Keeping her voice hushed, she moved to squat toward the small creature. Slow movements... very slow. She didn't want to startle it. If it ran before she could pick it up, she'd have to chase it... or.. what if she scared it and it went for her throat?

... could rats even do that?

Cautiously she peeked around the corner again, both to make sure the hawk was still there, and that the guy hadn't moved, but her eyes caught a glimpse of something else. There was another animal over there with him, another rat it looked like, and one with a similar color pattern to the little guy at her feet. Her brain connected the dots; that they must both have been his, and one just wandered away while he wasn't looking.

"Okay little guy, stay still..ah..c'mere!" With the rat in her hands, she stood again and looked him over. Well... she had it not. So... what next? Awkwardly she shifted on her feet. Guess all that left was returning it to him. Which... meant showing herself, and talking to him. A stranger.

Anxiety clenched tightly in the pit of her stomach, but she swallowed it. She had to. Had to! If she didn't there was no telling what would happen to little ratters in her hands. She would step out and call to him, give him his rodent back, and call it her good deed for the week. Then she would head on her way. Yes. Sucking in a lungful of air, she forced herself around the corner and took two giant steps in.

"E-Excuse me!" Her voice waivered, and her cheeks darkened. Damnit nerves! Back the hell down! "Is this yours?"

It was a bit of a surprise when he felt her pick up his construct. She just picked up a strange rat. Though it might have been the coloring that persuaded her. In any case he instructed Pocket to remain calm and let her handle him. The rat wasn't happy about it but didn't struggle, instead remaining curled in the girl's hands. Alex waited, it could go two ways. Either she'd run off with his construct, in which case he'd have to cut the connection with it or go after her, or she would return him.

All he could do right now though was wait and it seemed to pay off. The girl announced herself, tone nervous and when he looked at her he could see the dark red covering her face. See her up close she was probably older than her and the bag...a student maybe? He smiled at her and nodded, "Yeah, that little guy is mine. I was wondering where he'd gone off to. Thanks for finding him." Setting his meal down, he held out his hand for his furry companion.

"I'm Alex, by the way. Would you like to join us, miss? Plenty of food to go around."he said grinning cheerfully. Ace squawked and glowered at Alex, the bird knew full well that sharing food could be potentially fatal. If Alex pushed himself too far, that would be it, game over.

Instead Alex chuckled at the hawk, "Don't be like that Ace. It's not nice to be greedy." Nothing ventured, nothing gained after all. He reminded the hawk through their connection.

Alex. Well, Alex seemed like a perfectly reasonable name. Not serial killer-y at all. Flicking a glance behind her to make sure her escape route was still open, she moved further in to join him and hand is rat over. "No prob. It kinda sat on my foot and all."

Eyeballing the hawk up close, and then the two rats, she hummed in response to him giving his name, before her eyes dipped down to his meal. Well, at least it wasn't a rabbit or a cat.

"Uh... no thanks. I just ate a little while ago." A polite lie. She was starving, but wasn't about to sit down and munch on a happy meal with a perfect stranger.

The bird made a noise, which came off eerily like it was replying to Alex's suggestion. She shrugged the notion off. Animals couldn't do that, even if they were smarter than most humans. "So how do you keep the hawk from eating the rats? well fed? Full belly or something?"

And also.. "... and how the heck did you train it to bring you food? That was what it was holding, wasn't it?" Dammit, if they made birdy delivery services now, she wanted in on it!

He shrugged when she didn't agree to eat with him but he did motion for her to sit at least. "Well Ace does a lot of his own hunting, so yeah I guess well fed is the right answer."he murmured setting Pocket on his lap with Pick, petting him in an absent-minded manner.

At the question about the food delivery he laughed. "Well it's no different than teaching a hawk to hunt other birds or rabbits. Honestly I was a little surprised by the meal. He must have stole it from somebody at a drive-thru."he chuckled. "I would take it back but I don't know where it came from so. I might as well eat it, right? It'd be a waste."

"Ace has been my companion for the last...oh three years...so it was difficult to get him to do anything at first. Now I don't even need any gear. Totally hands free."he said wiggling his fingers. On this hot day he was just in a t-shirt and jeans so his arms and hands were bare. Yet there were no scratches from the hawk's talons, not even scars. And Ace had no tags or bells or anything on him either, nothing to indicate he was owned.

Some of this was fabricated to look like he had a normal relationship with these animals. That they were pets and nothing more. He knew Ace didn't appreciate it. The longer the bird had his own body the more independent and intelligent it was becoming. Where that would lead only time would tell. But for now it just acted as a smarter than average hawk.

Squatting, she sat on her knees and listened. It surprised her how long he had been with them, or the bird at least. She shrugged at the admission that it was probably stolen. "Whoever you got it from probably didn't need it anyway." Was her sardonic reply.

On a whim, she leaned in to get a better look at the bird. Her eyes widened, mouth slightly open in unabashed awe. Condors were her favorite, probably. But Hawks were right up there with them. The color pattern of their wings varied greatly from class to class, but each was special in its own right.

"What kind is he?.. Um.. Ace?"

At her leaning forward, Ace leaned back, the birds low brow making it look thoroughly miffed. Alex could only grin at her interest in his friend. Be calm, she's not gonna do anything. he told Ace through their connection. The bird looked at him and then back at her, making a murmuring sound before hopping back a bit. "Heh, Ace here is a red-tailed hawk. Pretty dang common species to be honest, found all over the states year round. I met Ace when..."he stopped, shaking his head and laughing, "Sorry, you probably don't wanna hear my dumb life story."

He almost slipped up there. Almost started going into nostalgia mode. It's been a really long time since he really had anyone to talk with. Someone to be honest with. Most of the time, he lied and laughed, faking it till he was given what he was needed. He picked up his burger and took a bite, stuffing his mouth so he would have a few more seconds to think and give an appropriate line. Something for her to hook on to. But he was drawing blanks.

He put the half eaten burger down and coughed to clear he through. "Geez buddy you think you could have gotten drinks too."he joked at the hawk. "Ah, um, so what about you? I didn't even get you name, miss."he tried, hoping that'd she forget his little slip up and they could move on to another topic.

Red Tailed hawk. Hm. Sounded familiar. Her eyes darted to him for a moment, before sliding back to the birds. She wasn't aware she was invading the birds space, heck, she wasn't even aware birds had space. "I used to see birds like them all the time back home. He's beautiful."

She paused when he stopped his story, not really minding so long as it was related to the bird. Then, when he brought up her name, again, her cheeks reddened again. "Oh... uh... sorry. I was a bit distracted." Scratching at the back of her neck, she shifted and debated offering her hand out for him ti shake. It was proper, but she didn't like touching people. Ultimately, she chose not to. "I'm Shelby."

"And I don't mind life stories, as long as they aren't too dumb." Tucking her hair behind one ear, she settled her bag in her lap and blinked at him.

"But...uh... Why'd you have your bird out snagging food for you? Why not just go get it yourself? Most places allow animals inside, these days."

What with all the animal mutations, anyway. 

"It's nice to meet you Shelby." At the mention of Ace hunting for him, he glanced from her to the bird and back again. Mulling over how he should explain this without going into a lot of detail."Thing is...I'm kinda homeless right now, so I don't exactly have the funds to get food. That and since I tend to travel a lot I'm used to hunting and cooking my own food. The city is a different type of hunting ground."he chuckled.

"Usually Ace would bring a rabbit or fish if we're near a lake or something. But there's little more than pigeons around here. Guess that's why Ace went for the easy pray and stole some food instead."he sighed. He looked at his lap, petting Pick and Pocket again. "You said you don't mind life stories so long as they aren't dumb right? Mind if I regale ya with mine? It's been forever since I've had a proper conversation."

He was kind of hopeful for one. Thinking back, maybe the last time he had a good long talk with someone was a trucker going from Ohio to Kentucky. And that only happened because they were stuck in traffic for forever. This was something else though. Shelby at least seemed genuinely interested for the time being.

Ah. Homeless. That made sense, at least. Squirming uncomfortably, she turned her eyes back to the hawk. She never knew what to say in situations like this. Gee, sorry you have no home. Hope it gets better!?

"That's pretty cool." Her old dog wouldn't even fetch a toy for her, but he had his bird trained to bring him lunch. She was totally jealous deep down. "No, I don't mind."

She settled on her haunches further, wary of getting dirt on herself and chewed on the insides of her bottom lip. She didn't know why she allowed herself to offer to stay, maybe it was the animals. Maybe it was himy admitting his homeless condition. She'd always had a soft spot for people like that, even if she spent most of her time back home avoiding them.

This guy didn't look like he had and problems other than lacking a home, though. He couldn't have been any older than her... maybe even younger.

He paused a moment, trying to consider where to start. Running a hand through his hair he smirk at his own hesitance. "Geeze it's been so long...Well I guess, first things first. Ace really isn't a real bird, neither are the rats, they're constructs actually. Something that I made because...well I'm a mutant." He smiled at her, nervous about her reaction.

"I found out about it, oh, six years ago. Three years after that found me heading for the Rocky Mountains. People were going to find out so I panicked and ran away. Honestly I don't regret it. I got stronger that way and I've met a lot people from there to here."he murmured, petting the rats.

It could go either way, really. She could run away or she could be understanding, hell she could even hit him. He'd understand any of those reactions. He's actually had all three reactions from all sort of people so was bracing himself for the worse.

"Geeze it's been so long...Well I guess, first things first. Ace really isn't a real bird, neither are the rats, they're constructs actually. Something that I made because...well I'm a mutant."

She stiffened ever so slightly. Not necessarily because he had admitted to being a mutant, but because he was an unknown mutant and she was alone in a small side street park with him. What if it had all been some elaborate ruse to lure in unsuspecting birdwatchers to their horrific ends?

She blinked. "Cool. What kinda constructs? They look pretty real." The flutter of anxiety was still present, but the paranoid thoughts flew away.

She wasn't ignorant of mutants. Far from it. She knew what they were, and how they came about; or at least everything that had ever been published and made readily available to the public. She knew there were a few bad ones, just like with every species, but that most were good. Probably. There were the X-men, who she had only just begun to learn about, and the mutants who she knew were cops, and then all of the assorted mutant citizens who held a rainbow of jobs throughout the city.

.... but some mutations just made her plain nervous. She'd heard all sorts of things about people not being able to control their own powers. Shelby honestly wanted nothing to do with it. She did not want to be accidentally frozen into in a Ginger-sicle, or set on fire, or struck by lightning.

If, however, Alex's power stopped at making adorable rodents and majestic birds out of whatever, she was pretty sure she could handle it.