Ryoga felt the heavy pang of his Japanese heritage in his body, the urge to apologize rising after that debacle of an interview he tried to provide for the human girl. While he might be a God, other beings expressing their rude inner selves was beyond his ability to control. "Forgive my choice in subject for your interview human. Many of the residents here feel the need to lash out for some wound they received earlier in their lives. I had predicted as much when I called out to one, but her actions still require an apology."

It would seem Shelby felt a similar need though, as she tried to apologize for the girl's feeble insult of Ryoga's deific stature. The dragon laughed a bit, an interesting sound like a mixture of a man's chuckle and a primal roar. "Your sympathy is appreciated, but unnecessary human. These children hurl insults at me, but forget a God cares little for the words of mortals." Ryoga's ego was nigh invincible to be honest, and very few beings on the planet could truly crack his shell to damage the fragile man within.

"I hope however you managed to gather something for your research, otherwise my efforts will have been in vain." His large eyes had become glued to Shelby once more, their gaze heavy with thought as Ryoga tried to figure out how else he might help the little human with her thought experiment. "What do you think of the mutant now, having spoken to one up close little one?" He was curious how a human viewed a mutant, especially after seeing that little outburst just now.

His apology caught her off guard somewhat. Hadn't she been the one who'd chosen that particular girl? Maybe it was more because the girl had seemed to know about him. Or maybe it was a dragon thing. She didn't let it weigh heavily on her mind whatever the reason.

Instead she tucked her notes under her arm and shoved her behind an ear. "More than i'd hoped for, actually." She replied honestly, though didn't elaborate. She wasn't sure if he was aware that she was studying him as well, though she wouldn't put it past him. He seemed smart enough.

She also didn't mention that she'd already met quite a few mutants in her time, but that they were way back in her home state. Also, possibly the most boring mutants she'd ever met in her life. New York just seemed to bring a... a spark out in it's mutant population that Seattle lacked. "She's not to different from me, really."

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she hummed to herself and sighed. "It's human nature, really. We treat things that are different differently, and in doing so the people that fall into that category struggle to justify why. It doesn't matter in the end if it was because you were a red head or if you had wings- the end result always seems the same."

She'd seen it countless times from a variety of sources. I'm this was, so you treat me this way, thus i'm this was because of you. Lather, rinse, repeat.

"It's kind of sad, really... but understandable. There were always the special few that chose to look past the differences. They are rare, though. Everyone else spends their whole lives battling against each other because of a few people from their pasts. They allow the stigma to last longer than it should, because it's the only thing that justifies them being different."

Sighing, she caught herself at the end of her verbal essay and flushed red in the cheeks. "Eh... sorry. Lapsed into class-speak." Wriggling uncomfortable, she fought against the urge to explain further, but ultimately lost. "You know how it is, take one psychology class and your brain suddenly thinks it's got a degree."