The turning of autumn was a great opportunity of material collecting, seeing what mater worked best with what constructs. He knew the groundskeeper certainly didn't mind him raking up the leaves, sticks, and whatever else he could find nearly every morning. Though he was having to spread out his practice sessions a bit more, the trees around the school could only give so much in a few nights. Still he was grateful that he was even able to practice this much in the open. Usually it was a construct here, a construct there, small undetectable things.

Alex shivered, part anticipation, part cold wind, and he was reminded once again he'd have to go shopping for clothes at some point. But that was on a to-do list a mile long that he's been putting off since moving. No sense in thinking about it now. The task at hand demanded his concentration. On either side of him were piles of debris. If he guessed right about ten to fifteen pounds each. The problem was simple, take two sources of material and combined them into one. Something he had only ever done in distress and not on purpose. It put a strain on his mind, dividing and then recombining like that.

So to start off easy one insect swarm each to combine into one hive mind. Spreading his hand out over each pile he inhaled, eyes slipping closed in concentration, and on the exhale began the task of transforming the materials into two small swarms of locust.

That morning, Clyde sat at the base of a tree, reading the book he'd borrowed from the library. It had been a hassle getting that book. That boy had to wonder why a “fellow elementary school kid” was interested in “boring old philosophy,” and he had to try to introduce him to the more “age-appropriate” Captain Briefs. It took a long time to escape from that kid. At least outside, it was nice and quiet.

Buzz.

Clyde sighed. Maybe not.

Buuuuzzzzz.

He held the book closer to his face. His eyes narrowed as the sound got even louder.

BUUUuuuuuuuzzzzzzz.

The book dropped into his lap. Dang it. It was getting hard to read! Muttering under his breath, he stood up and walked towards the noise.

The source? A teen with his swarm of locusts. Gross.

Clyde blinked, then stared.

The locusts seemed to be coming from a pile of mucky leaves. Even more gross.

The material transfer near completion the swarms swirled in place, buzzing loudly in what to most must be chaos. But to him it was harmonizing, thousands of tiny minds combining into a greater whole. The hive mind was always a bit of a strange concept for him. There was no individual, just the group, just the swarm, it was easy to get swept up in the sensation.

Taking another breath he concentrated on combining the two swarms into one mass mind. Thousands of scattered wings aligned themselves in front of him, for now an amorphous black buzzing cloud. Opening his eyes he couldn't help but smirk at the progress. Two swarms became one hive mind, it made him a bit wobbly, an odd pressure on his brain. But nonetheless it was progress.

Reaching out his arm, he watched as the insect parted, buzzing around his arm and filling the space when he pulled away. He gave a small hum of thought then concentrated on ordering the swarm into something more recognizable. First a ring which the insect completed with ease.  Then an infinity symbol, again simple stuff. Perhaps something more difficult, a cube perhaps. He knew by now there was someone watching, but he ignored it. It wasn't important who on the mansion grounds saw this. Wasn't like
they would attack him.

The locusts were forming themselves into shapes right before Clyde's eyes. What he was seeing was evidently some form of practice. This was a mutant school, after all. He had to wonder about the nature of the teen's power. Insect creation and control was his guess.

The teen either hadn't noticed him, or he chose to not acknowledge his presence. But what was Clyde going to do? Pester him for being loud, even though he was practicing outside? Yeah, since the teen had as much of a right to practice there as he had to read there, it wouldn't be right doing that. At that point, Clyde really didn't want to pick another fight.

Instead, Clyde clapped a few times, a more polite attempt at catching the teen's attention. While doing so, he kept the book tucked beneath his arm, as if to drop a hint.

The clapping was an interesting way of getting his attention and turning away from his constructs he found his audience was a young boy, probably no older than eight. Kid must have been drawn in by all the buzzing, though the look on his face wasn't exactly entertained or in wonder. Curious probably, judging by the book the kid must have been reading when he started practicing.

He gave a small wave, smiling to assure the kid he wasn't annoyed. Though with his concentration off the swarm, the half finished cube bubbled out into an amorphous blob again.  "Hey there! What's up?"he asked, more than willing to have company whilst practicing. Besides, kids weren't so bad. Just curious little buggers. Though this would be the first time in a long time that he had talked to one without a parent dragging them away.

Now he had the teen's attention. “Nothing much,” Clyde replied, walking closer. “I was reading when I heard all of those.” He pointed to the locusts, which were now flying in a disorganized fashion. “It wasn't hard finding the source.”

Maybe he wasn't being as subtle as he had hoped. Oh well.

“Anyways, I saw you making them out of dead leaves. Just what is yo mutation?” Clyde asked calmly. The truth was, what he observed earlier did make him a little curious. And nervous, too. The last time he had met a mutant who controlled animals, said animals were not very well controlled. How was that for irony?

“Nothing much, I was reading when I heard all of those. It wasn't hard finding the source.”

He glanced back at the rather large swarm and smirked, shrugging. He couldn't blame the kid, the buzzing was rather loud. Though he found it rather soothing, rather than annoying or scary. Then again that might just because he was connected to it and vice virsa. "Sorry if it bugged ya. Kind of hard to keep them quiet."

“Anyways, I saw you making them out of dead leaves. Just what is yo mutation?”

"Creation of organic life from organic matter, to put it simply." He really had no other way of putting it. At least not in simple terms. He had a few ideas as to why or how but honestly no testing to back them up. "What about you kiddo? You live in the mansion right?"he asked curiously. He wondered what power what the kid had. He remembered being that age and being terrified of his mutation. It made Alex silently glad this kid wouldn't really have to go through that.

So this teen could use dead leaves and the like to make bugs? Come to think of it, Clyde was looking at what were basically insect zombies. He almost shuddered at the thought. Yet, this guy appeared perfectly comfortable around them. How people were able to use a mutation like that so casually eluded him.

“What about you kiddo? You live in the mansion right?”

His eye twitched at the mention of “kiddo.” Clyde had to remind himself that it wasn't the teen's fault for not knowing. Getting angry would just be immature.

“Yeah, I do,” he responded. “I age shift. I'm oldah than I look.” He hoped the teen wasn't the rude type.

“Yeah, I do, I age shift. I'm oldah than I look.”

He didn't miss the eye twitch or the ting of annoyance in the kid's voice. No not a kid, this guy might very well be older than him if the age shifting thing was true. Which he didn't doubt. There were stranger things out there.

"Oh, dang, sorry."he apologized, doing it right away so he wouldn't get on the guy's bad side. After all it wouldn't do to make enemies if you're living in the same house. Plus he was willing to bet that the guy didn't have full control of the shift, meaning that it wouldn't be fair to tease him for it. "I'm Alex by the way, and you are?"he asked, sticking his hand out to shake Clyde's.

Just as expected, that bit of information surprised the other teen. “Don't worry too much about it. It happens all the time,” Clyde assured him, trying his best to appear unbothered. Though the apology was unnecessary, he appreciated it nonetheless. It was always nice to hear something other than sniggering.

“I'm Clyde,” he answered, shaking Alex's hand. He motioned to the swarm. “Practicing, I assume?” Okay, it was a stupid question with an obvious answer, but it was conversation. And, from what Clyde knew, there were a fair amount of mutants who liked talking about their powers.

Well he was glad hadn't offended the guy too badly. A good thing too, he didn't want to ruin what he was quickly beginning to consider home. At the mention of practicing he glanced back at the swarm of insects then back at Clyde. "Yeah, you could say I am." He shrugged, not really seeing it as too big a deal, "Honestly this is probably the freest I've ever been with my powers lately." The swarm buzzed and swirled lazily behind him, matching his calm emotions.

What Alex said suggested that he hid his mutation. It was something Clyde could relate to. He knew all too well about anti-mutant bigots. He recalled the lengths he went to hide that he was a mutant, just to avoid causing family troubles and being bullied more than he already was.

“I know what you mean,” he replied. “There aren't too many places where people can use their mutations without drawing negative attention. There's such a huge stereotype about people like us.”

“I know what you mean. There aren't too many places where people can use their mutations without drawing negative attention. There's such a huge stereotype about people like us.”

The mass of insects clustered and swirled as Alex listened. "Well...They're not exactly wrong..."he admitted. It wasn't like he hadn't run into dangerous mutants who either abused their mutations or just simply couldn't control them. Normal people had every right to get a bit freaked out. It was just an unfair circumstance that those who did have control and didn't abuse their mutations were grouped in with those that did.

"I don't know about you, but I know my mutation is dangerous and that normal people have a right to get scare. It's only natural, a base instinct in the face of the unknown."he said with a shrug, almost casual with the idea that people wouldn't stand for his mutation.

“Yeah,” Clyde agreed. “Don't get me wrong, I know some mutations are nasty if used for crime, and some ah even kind of scary. But it still stinks. A few nimrods ruin it for everyone else.”

Nimrods like this one guy Clyde unfortunately knew. Since Alex was hanging around the Mansion, he might as well clue him in.

“Just to let you know, if you ever meet a guy heah with wings, a tail, and an Irish accent, keep an eye on yo things,” Clyde firmly warned him. “That idiot steals, and NOT because he needs it. Plus, his stupidity could have killed me.”

Come to think of it, he could count one, two, three, four, at least five separate instances were he could have been hurt or killed by a mutant. Crap, those numbers would not look good to someone who was already convinced that mutants were monsters or criminals.

“Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I know some mutations are nasty if used for crime, and some ah even kind of scary. But it still stinks. A few nimrods ruin it for everyone else.”

He nodded, not having much else to say that wouldn't start an unnecessary fight. They were on the same page at least. He crossed his arms trying to think of something else to say when Clyde brought up another topic.

“Just to let you know, if you ever meet a guy heah with wings, a tail, and an Irish accent, keep an eye on yo things. That idiot steals, and NOT because he needs it. Plus, his stupidity could have killed me.”

"Okay, not that I have much to steal, but does this winged thief guy have a name?" He was curious about the other residents of the mansion. Slowly he was meeting them one by one and the fact that there was an apparent thief among them was an interesting factoid. Perhaps useful too, one could never know where help would come from.