His humor helped her relax a little. Funny people were always a little easier for her to be around. In her mind humor was a sign that you weren't a serial killer or a jerk.

Well, good humor at least. Some jokes just really sucked.

"But of course, my good man. Why, just you wait. The moment we get there I will break out the tiny mustaches and wine flutes, and we can stand around hemming and hawing at art all day. Totes sophisticated."

Sliding up at the back of the crowd, she edged them into line and waited. As if on cue the bus she was waiting for pulled around the corner behind them. She fished out some change for Alex and her bus pass. "And don't worry about being interesting. I find that honesty is the most interesting thing about people when they first go to exhibits like this."

The line shuffled along until it was time for them to board. She tossed the change in for Alex, swiped her card over the scanner, and moved to find a seat.

"Uh, no birds on board."

Swiveling on her feet, she shuffled back to the busdriver as people continued past. "It's okay. He's a companion bird. You know, like companion dogs? Specifically trained to help with anxiety and stress. He won't make any messes. Promise." She glanced at Alex, then back to the driver who was giving the both of them a level stare with one eyebrow raised.

Alex snorted at the joke, shoulders jostling Ace with their shudder. The bird squawked and moved to his back for a better perch. While the two shared their humor, the aerial predator was scanning the crowd, filtering pertinent details to Alex. One could never be too sure as to whom was nearby, the city was a big place with a lot of people.

So in a strange way, when they had gotten into the bus and Shelby attempted to defend him from the bus driver, she was right. Ace was his companion bird, relieved him of a lot of stress in unknown places and situation. He just needed to play it up to be convincing.

Grabbing the back of Shelby's shirt like a frightened child and pressing close to her, he brought Ace to the front with his other arm, keeping his shoulders hunched. Small and submissive, this was key in this moment. "S-she's right sir. This is my first time in the city and since I'm kind of allergic to dogs, Ace is all I have for a comfort pet. He's not likely to make a mess, I've had 'em since I was a kid... 'Sides, we paid ya so..."he let his words linger off as if afraid to continue.

The hawk shifted on Alex' arm up to his shoulder, nipping at his hair a little like parakeets would. Alex smiled and returned the favor with a chin scratch.

Shelby shifted uncomfortably, but dealt with Alex's sudden closeness until the situation was overwith. People touching her, or grabbing her clothes, usually ended with her jerking away and sanitizing herself shortly after. She was borderline ocd about it most of the time, especially with strangers or new acquaintances. Forcing a small reassuring smile to shoot at the homeless boy and his bird, she shook the crawling of her skin off.

The driver glanced from her to him, primed and ready to shoot the both of them down. No bird, or no ride. But, a woman seated behind shelby had been watching the whole exchange, and was loudly chatting with her bench partner about therapy animals and how it was illegal in most places to question people about their animals. The poor man really didn't feel like having to deal with any kind of complaint about discrimination, so with a grunt he waved them to go sit down. "Go on, git. Before I change my mind."

Shelby snatched Alex's hand without a second though and hightailed it toward the back of the bus, pressing herself into a little corner by the back door. It was standing room only, but the ride wouldn't feel that long unless traffic was bad. She hooked her hand around the above-head safety bar and sighed.

"Well that was close."

Alex contained his grin when the driver relented and let them stay. He didn't mind Shelby's hand tugging him toward the back, giving the loud, chatty woman a small wave as they passed. Grabbing the above bar with one hand and having Ace perch on the other, he shared in Shelby's relief and let himself smile. "Sorry about grabbing you like that. It was the only thing I could think of."he said quietly.

He hoped she didn't mind and that the art museum wouldn't stop him like the bus driver did. Though perhaps when they got close he could let Ace loose and have him fly around for a bit. A bit of mapping ahead could be helpful. In any case, this was one more thing he was going to pay Shelby back for. This woman was really doing a lot for him. Really going out of her way to be honest.

He had to wonder why, if there were ulterior motives. He expected behavior like this from older people, people who said that he reminds them of their children and grandchildren, he expected it from bible-thumpers and missionaries out to prove their religions worth, and so on. But Shelby didn't seem like that at all, just a genuinely nice person. It was refreshing.

"No problem." She started, absently rubbing her free hand against her jeans. "Your little act worked like a charm I think. Bus drivers here are a lot more tolerant than the ones i'm used to."

In her home city the busses were always jam packed and the driver was always late for something. It meant they were 100% less likely to wait for you if you were running for the bus, wouldn't thing twice about tossing you off for silly reasons, and didn't take flack from anyone. She could get away with a lot more in New York, if only because the bus workers just seemed so tired all of the time. They didn't want to deal with any extra issues. So the ones she'd met just kinda went with the flow.

She did kinda miss them, though.

"And they let you settle before peeling away from the curb. You have no idea how many times I've been sent careening down the walkway from overzealous bus drivers."

Alex corked a brow at her little story. "Where's back home by the way? I heard you mention it before. Doesn't sound like a place I've been."he said. If it was further west than the rocky mountains that might be why. Actually there were plenty of places he hadn't been now that he thought about it. Most of the southern US was still a mystery to him and he mostly avoided it to be honest.

But where ever Shelby was from must have been both interesting and horrible. Great for bird watching but horrible public transportation systems. How would a bus driver get away with that exactly? Sounded like a lawsuit waiting to happen. She was probably exaggerating for effect but you never really knew.

The grin that grew on her face was instantaneous. She didn't usually show her teeth with a smile, but talking about home always brought about that reaction. "The Emerald City." She could envision the city scape nearly perfectly. It made her feel warm and fuzzy.

"And not the one with munchkins, lions, and flying monkeys. I'm from Seattle Washington. Born and raised there; the public transportation system has always been terrible. Probably always will be, but it grows on you."

The time she had been talking about had been the truth, if a little exaggerated as he had guessed. They didn't exactly send you flying, but at the same time they didn't wait for you to get seated either. She'd had her fair share of walkway spills because of it, but had never been the type of person to complain.

"It's a smaller version of this city, but with more hipsters and coffee addicts."

Speaking of busses, they were moving at a pretty good pace. Traffic wasn't terrible for once, so she estimated a short drive. They started around a corner, and her tightened her grip on the safety bar in order to not sway to the side with everyone else.

He gave a short laugh and shook his head, "Well that explains it. West of the Rockies." He tilted his head in consideration, honestly he hadn't heard much about Washington. Heard a lot about other places, California was home to the rich and famous, avoid Texas unless you want to get shot, and Florida was full of crazies and Disney World. Perhaps he should travel some more and see places further south and west. "I should try and see it sometime. You sound like you love it."

But for now New York was his temporary home. If he found any permanence here he'd be amazed. Glancing out the window he watched the scenery go by. No, he probably wouldn't stay. He would need to migrate south before it started getting colder. Snow was hell to travel through and even more hell to live in.

He internally shook off the thought. No need to worry about that now. Plenty of summer left to get through. Plenty of time before he had to leave. "So what other classes are you taking Shelby?"he asked, mostly to distract himself.

"You should. Just don't eat anything anyone tries to give you. Most of it is probably laced with something." She was serious, but the smile on her face was full of humor.

"Art mostly, but i'm required to take math and writing classes. I chose Psychology and philosophy as electives, as well as a german class. I don't expect to do well in it." Languages weren't her thing. She always forgot the important things, and she didn't much care for accidentally insulting people because of it.

"... and P.E. Guh... don't get me started on physical activity though." Groaning, she dug her phone out to check the time. "I doubt you want to hear me groaning about classes, though." She pondered asking him about where he was from, but wasn't sure if that was acceptable or not. She was curious, but nervous.

He smiled, happy to listen to her talk about classes. It was nice to at least hear about. He hadn't been to an official class since he was thirteen. After running away he had only ever caught a class or two with his bugs. All of his education was from books or the internet or just learning the hard way.

At the comment about P.E he chuckled. At the moment he was probably more physically fit than he ever had been when he was in school. "I doubt you want to hear me groaning about classes, though."


"No I actually really enjoy it. I don't exactly get a lot of normalcy. I kind of miss it." He shrugged, doubting he'd set foot in a class room again. Not with all the uncertainties as to his status. Right now he was a missing kid, probably written off as dead, but if he enrolled in some class or made himself publicly known...Well there was a chance that he'd be picked up by the police and taken back to square one. And he really didn't want that.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, but shrugged. If he wanted to hear her gripe about all things normal in her life, she was perfectly willing to indulge him. "Suit yourself."

With a chuckle, she tried to think of other interesting things to talk about. Considering the classes she had in line, it wasn't as hard as it normally was for her. "Have you ever looked into philosophy?"

She had; she was going to be taking a class on it after all. Most of the things she found out about the study, or damn near religion if you got into the weirder stuff, was waaay out of her regular thought pattern.

"There's this guy, Decartes, and he believed that the mind and the body were two separate entities. The physical body works like a machine, spurred on by the non-physical brain, and it was all tied together by some kind of a gland in your head or something. And there was another guy, can't remember his name, who believed that everything we see, touch, taste, and smell were all made of up 'sense data'. So it you took away the connections to those things they ceased to exist."

She closed her eyes and smirked, "So, if I were to close my eyed.. bam! You no longer exist, because I cannot perceive you. Pretty deep stuff, right?"

He nodded at her question, "Yeah here and there." It wasn't his largest concern when studying it but he did happen upon it every once in a while. Usually where scientific journals posed ethical concerns or when he listened in to a class with a similar topic of discussion. It was an interesting thing at least.

Both of the ideas she brought up made sense to him in any case. "Yeah, I can actually agree with that. In a sense, given how I am."he said hinting toward his mutation. If he were to focus on Ace's mind right now, completely focus all of his brain would be in a way disjointed from his own and solely connected with Ace's. Every sight, smell, feeling, all of it would be come his own and his real senses would momentarily cease to exist in the transfer.

"But that last one, you'd still have touch, taste, smell, hearing among other senses to perceive the world even me. So all that data still exists. For something to stop existing you would have to complete cut off all your senses."he said thinking about it out loud before snorting as a thought occurred to him, "Actually the sense that you exist at all would have to be cut off too. But loosing that could possibly mean loosing sapience."

"Yeah. The ultimate form of it would be death. You'd have to die to lose all of your senses, thus your essence or 'self' in order for everything to cease existing. But, only for you, and it's kind of a pretty selfish philosophy when phrased like that."

Well... sort of. Maybe. She hadn't taken the class yet, so she only knew what she'd found on the internet.

"I do like the first one though, but I don't believe in it all. I think your brain is firmly rooted in your skull, physically and mentally, but that it's so powerful that you can experience things outside of it. Like an out of body experience. or even ghosts."

Blinking, she flushed slightly and fidgeted. "Then again, i'm not a mutant and I have no working knowledge on how that would affect the body. Maybe that's how people read minds? They just pop out of their own skull and vacation in someone elses for a while." Shrugging in a slightly embarrassed fashion, she reached to pull the stop cord.

Nodding to her words he found himself thinking of other times he discussed philosophy. Trucks on long roads, middle of nowhere star gazing, coffee shops, and late night city stoops. He wondered briefly about all those people whose lives he passed in and out of and if those conversations stuck with them.

He grinned at her comment on out of the skull experiences. "Yeah, it's kind of like that."he agreed quietly, wondering if anybody was listening in. "I can only do it with them but..."he glanced down at his feathered companion with a warm smile, "through them I know what it's like to be outside of my body. It can change your whole frame of reference."

He tightened his grip on the above bar as the bus slowed to a stop to let them off. Following Shelby off the bus he stretched, Ace flapping his wings and moving to his backpack again. "Alright, where to now?"

"That's pretty cool. I'd kill to be able to do that at least once before I die. I'd trade minds with a spider. Or... or like, a shark. Or, holy s%#t, a caterpillar! I've always wanted to figure out what the hell they do in that cocoon. It must get so boring."

Grinning, she hopped off the bus in better spirits than she'd gotten on. Alex was turning out to be one of those rare people she got along with, or at least so it seemed.

"Across the street, over there. Right behind Joe's Shanghai." She'd been to that restaurant before. Not her cup of tea. She started across the street with the rest of the crowd and fished for the fare to cover Alex's admission. It wasn't too long a walk this time, as blocks in New York weren't typically as long as blocks in Seattle. Pretty soon they were turning a corner to come face to face with the clean, pristine glass entrance of the Museum. Up a short flight of stairs, through a spinning door, and into the main lobby. Shelby headed straight for the front desk to flash her student card and purchase a ticket for Alex.

Thanking the man behind the counter, she turned to give Alex his ticket. "Keep that on you in case we get separated." The man behind the counted shot a raised eyebrow at the hawk on Alex's backpack. Mutants came and went all the time, so one weird pet was hardly new to him. But, he did have one thing to caution. "Sir, do try and keep your bird on you at all times. We don't normally allow pets, but I hardly thing yours will try and lift it's leg on the sculptures."[/color] He fished out a little badge from somewhere behind his desk and held it out. "So long as you keep him from flapping all over the place, or leaving any messes, you should be fine. I'd wear this badge though."

The badge was a laminated square with a clip on it that had SERVICE ANIMAL printed clearly across the front. Winking, the clerk moved to take care of the next guest.

"Ooh, fancy. I didn't get a badge." Shelby mock pouted and shoved her hands in her pockets.