It wasn't fair. That was the short of it, it just wasn't fair. He was supposed to be normal, he was going to get a cure. He was supposed to go home to his real life and forget this nightmare. He wasn't supposed to be... this.

The news had been exceedingly hard for him to accept. He had been stubbornly convinced that the institute would cure him. It was why he thought he was here, but apparently he had been mistaken, or maybe he had just been too blind to accept it. A mutant. That's what he was told he was. This wasn't something that could be reversed. Even though his 'x-gene' had been latent, his father had activated it, and once active, it could not be turned off. He was stuck like this. There was no going back. It wasn't fair.

It had been the only thing keeping him together, and now, it had been pulled out from under him. As a result, he was pissed. Plain and simple. He wanted to tear off the face of anyone who talked to him. Not exactly a good thing when he was fully capable of doing this in a very literal sense. His room was now very much worse for wear after his initial reaction to the news, and since then he was just in a bad mood all the time. So much so that he couldn't stand being in the mansion. Even though his last venture into the city had been awful, currently he didn't care, if someone attacked him, it was their funeral. Still, he had more sense then to go downtown in this mood, so he went to Central Park. A bit less crowded and less chance of someone messing with him.

Of course this did nothing to improve his mood at all. He was still mad at... Well everything. Despite the natural setting, he was still agitated, growling and snarling at nothing in particular. He walked into through the trees, swiping at the low hanging branched, wanting to lash out at everything. More then a few trees bore slash marks where he had clawed them in frustration. It just wasn't fair, why him, why did he have to be stuck like this? Most of all he was mad at his father, who had done this to him. Right now he was just wanted to slash him to pieces, regardless of his feelings about hurting others.

With a smile on her face Danica walked through Central Park taking in the evening atmosphere. Once again she had undergone a mood swing, however this one had put her in a good mood, as odd as that was. After all the doom and gloom lately she just decided to go with it. Taking a deep breath of the evening air she smiled, caring little for any danger from ruffians, lest they receive a nasty surprise. What she did enjoy were the smells. The flowers, freshly cut grass, the food cart that passed by, even the tree sap.

That last one caused Danica to pause, normally tree sap didn't give off much of a scent unless in large quantities. Even then she only recognized it because her mother used to make syrup the old fashioned way. It seemed to be coming from a less used section of the park, so Danica decided to investigate. Often allowing curiosity to best common sense, she walked on noticing what appeared to be some fairly nasty claw marks.

"Damn, Freddy in town?" Danica said, mumbling to herself. Dabbing some of the tree sap with a finger, she licked it and smiled thinking about the smell of pancakes in the morning. Soon the source of the disturbance came into view as she continued on. For a moment the physical appearance startled Danica a little, then she quirked a brow. She knew him from the mansion, at least in having seen him in passing. Even then he didn't appear overly cheerful.

"Now what on earth did these poor trees ever do to you?" Danica said. Seeing more of the amber liquid she dabbed it with a finger again, maybe it was time for something sweet.

"Now what on earth did these poor trees ever do to you?"

Tyson paused and looked in Danica's direction, a snarl on his lips, growling furiously. If he had been in a better mood he may have worried about scaring her, or even pondered about the fact that she didn't seem to react to his appearance at all. Right now though, the thought didn't even cross his mind. Teeth bared he yelled at her, 'GO AWAY!' however, in his temper he couldn't form the words, so instead all that came out was a very canine "GRRRRR HRRRRRRRR!" He wasn't in a mood to talk to anyone right now, and he stomped away from her, his claws digging into the grass leaving small gouges where the claws sank in.

He came across the shore of the pond, where a number of ducks were paddling out, and the city reflected in the water. He may have found the spot nice, but right now he didn't care. He scooped up a rock and threw it furiously at the water, driving off the ducks as he splashed in. He grabbed another and another, pulling up grass and mud as he did, hurling them one by one into the pond. He then saw a rather big stone stuck halfway in the ground and grabbed at it, his claws etching into the stone as he tore it up, then hurled it into the middle of the pond with a huge splash. He wasn't even winded, but he panted with frustration anyway, he was blowing off steam, true, but it didn't feel like it was releasing enough pressure to make a difference. He was still stuck as a monster, no matter how many trees he scratched up or ducks he terrorized. He crouched at the ponds edge and looked into the water, seeing his reflection. Snarling again he thrashed at the water, wishing he could wipe the stupid image away.

Danica just blinked at the rather ferel growl and watched the wolfman walk away. Were the little woman in any other mood, she might have done just that, and left him alone. More than anything she empathized with his plight. Not too long ago Danica had been in the very same place, hating her powers and everything related to them. Rather than a snarky or witty approach, she decided to try something different. Following Tyson quietly she waited for him to blow off some steam, then walked to the edge of the pond, just out of claw range.

"If it helps at all, I do understand what you're feeling. Living your nice normal life, just trying to get by, then..." Danica picked up a stone, tossed it into the air, then extended a finger and blew it across the lake to the other side with a small burst of orange energy. " Boom, life over, start again sucker, bites huh?"

With a light sigh she looked over at Tyson. It was plainly obvious that he was incredibly angry, much the way Danica was at first. In truth there were times when she was still angry over everything too, though now she was beginning to move on to the stage of acceptance and mild depression. Keenly aware of how dangerous Tyson could be, she was ready to react if he lunged, but until then she stood quietly, waiting to see what he would do.

Was she still following him? You would think most people would take the hint not to mess with an angry wolf man. Let sleeping wolves lie or some existential nonsense like that. And then she had the nerve to say she knew what he was feeling. Of course her little display of power was probably the coolest thing he had seen so far, but it only hammered down the fact that she had something that could be accepted, she at least looked human and had something that could go unnoticed, it probably didn't even interfere with her daily life. He was like this 24/7, he couldn't talk without making some major effort to form the words right, his hands may as well be boxing gloves for all they could accomplish, and she didn't have to deal with some unseen force urging him to eat raw meat and mark his territory.

'Take a hint and leave, you get to look normal, you get to act normal, you know nothing about what I'm going through!' he wanted to cry, but as before all that came out were a number of snarls and growls without any real semblance to words. Frustrated he brought his hands to his snout, trying to calm down enough to focus on getting something intelligible out, "Grrrrrrrr noooooooottt saaaammmmmeee hrrrrrrrr, mooonssterrrrrrrr grrrrrrrrrr leeeeaveee hr alloooooonee!" He held his head in frustration, everything was so difficult, so different, so wrong. He had no outlet for it that he could properly do, all he had was claws and teeth and rage, it was too much. He just let it all out into a scream... which came out as a long, angry, mournful howl. Dogs in within haring range started barking over the sound. When it was all out he clawed at his face, his sharp claws digging into his skin, leaving a few cuts that immediately began healing themselves, "Hrrr caaaannn't eeeveeeen scrrrream," he said in a self deprecating manner.

"I get that you have problems, especially when the uninvited genetic guest decides to ruin your life. Okay, admittedly I didn't grow fur," Danica said, then looked down at her waist for a moment. "At least not everywhere, but people have been laughing and snickering at me since high school, however I digress. I'm not here to trade boo-boos and boo-hoos, I'm sure we've both got more than enough of those."

Stopping to think about that for a minute Danica realized how true those words really were. There were entire parts of her life she'd rather not remember, and certain memories she wished didn't exist. However wishes seemed to be in short supply these days. There were a few more approaches Danica could take, so she decided to just throw them all out there at once.

"I've said my peace, so if you wanna be left alone to brood, fine. If you want to talk, I'll listen, you wanna take a swing at me, go for it, but I'll pop you at least one good time," Danica said.

Having let out a good deal of frustration, even if it wasn't the way he intended, Tyson was feeling a bit less, bite-off-your-face-ish. He considered what Danica said, people did have their own problems, and she probably did receive a good deal of guff for being a mutant. He wasn't stupid, he knew the kind of stuff that mutants got targeted for. He just felt it wasn't fair that it was forced on him. Yes, he had an x-gene apparently, but it had been latent, he would have been normal if not for his father experimenting on him. He supposed he would feel a bit better if this had come as something natural, but he knew all that would have done was left him angry without a target to blame. He was still angry, but honestly, this wasn't her fault. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't even the institutes fault. It was his fathers fault, his alone. He wanted to tear him apart, so he shouldn't be taking it out on others.

He let out a long sigh, trying to release a bit more tension, sitting on the bank and thinking about it. Finally he said, "Hrrrr, tooo shooooorrrrrt, I'd mhiiiss," he said, hoping to break the mood somewhat. Maybe he did need some company, someone to vent his frustrations to. It was better then being alone, he supposed. "Hrrrrrr doooon't knooooow grrrrrr if ihhhh caan liive hrrrrr like thiiiiis," he admitted, he had been hoping for a cure, but that wasn't coming, and he couldn't fathom living a life where fangs and fur were part of his norm, "Hrrrr scrrraaarrred." So far everything had been a horrible experience for him, overstimulated senses, mauling people, feeling like he was losing himself to the animal side of him. He didn't know where this road was going to lead him, and he didn't have a choice to turn away from it.

"Hrrrr, tooo shooooorrrrrt, I'd mhiiiss," Tyson said. Know that this was a joke Danica walked over and hip bumped him gently.

“See, being short has its advantages,” Danica said.

"Hrrrrrr doooon't knooooow grrrrrr if ihhhh caan liive hrrrrr like thiiiiis," Tyson said. "Hrrrr scrrraaarrred."

“I know you're scared, and that you think it's the end of the world, but it's not,” Danica said. “One thing I've had to learn, something I'm still learning, is to try to look at this as the beginning of something new.” For the first time since her life got turned upside down, some of the old Danica started to show through. Rather than snarky, sarcastic, boisterous, or explosive, it was just plain old her. Part of this was due to having someone that could understand her, as well as someone she could understand. Through she'd learned to bury away from the surface, the truth is Danica was probably just as scared as Tyson. Admittedly she could hide her abilities better, most of the time, but it wasn't always easy for her either.

“By the way, I don't think you're hideous or scary, I think you look kinda cool,” Danica said, then decided to throw in a joke of her own. “But I swear if some emo wuss that sparkles in sunlight shows up, I'll kill'em.” For a time she stood there, arms folded, and looked out over the lake. There were a lot of conflicting emotions inside Danica right now, and it as hard to sort them all out. She imagined the same was going on with Tyson. It wasn't easy to lose everything you know and care about, then be a pariah to society in general because of something you didn't even ask for. Now a little bit of nasty was starting to well up.

“Personally if you ask me, those human losers should be afraid of us, we can do anything they can and more. You're better than them, you realize that right?” Danica said. "That being said, if you wanna talk I'm all ears, sometimes it helps to have someone that will actually listen to you and your problems."

Tyson took the hit without flinching, though honestly he didn't feel much better about the situation. She said to learn to look at it as something new, but that was the problem in itself. Everything was too new. There were too many scents, too many sounds, too many new instincts to deal with, too many changes in his body to deal with and too many new rules that apparently came with this. He was drowning in 'new' he wanted some relief, something that could anchor him through all this, but there was nothing left to hold onto...

“But I swear if some emo wuss that sparkles in sunlight shows up, I'll kill'em.” It broke his train of thought, and despite himself, he gave a snort and some sort of barking woof. Apparently that was what his laugh sounded like now. His first laugh since this had all happened. It felt good, even if for a moment. He couldn't say he looked cool, it was hard too look in a mirror every morning to a face you didn't recognize, and even harder to accept that it was what you would be seeing for the rest of your life. Not that he exactly had too after breaking the mirror in his room.

At Danica's last comment, he gave a short growl with a bit of a frown. "Grrrrrr myyy moooms huuumaan," he growled, "Hrrrr don't waaaan't to sccaaarrre." That was a confrontation he wasn't looking forward to. His mom didn't know yet. He had been sending letters through transcription, and she thought he was just attending college. She hadn't seen him, nor even know what he had been through. He had thought he could lie low until he was cured, but with that out the window, what was he going to do? He couldn't even see himself in his face, how would she? Would she scream? Faint? Disown him? Melancholy set in again, "Hrrrrr wwoooouuulllddd raaaathheerrrrr hhhhhrrrr beeeee norrrrrmalll."

“I think most people who end up becoming mutants one way or another, wish they could go back to being normal. I know I do, even though my abilities don't show on the outside, normally...” Danica said. There was a part of her that still hated her powers, but another that was beginning to realize how much more powerful they made her. There was also a part of her that liked that, that liked being stronger and better able to exert herself. Holding a hand out, palm down, Danica called upon her kinetic abilities ever so gently causing a small cascade of orange energy arcs to crackle down her arm.

“You and I would both give anything to be normal again, but I doubt that will ever happen,” Danica said. “I think the best thing you can do is set affairs in order with your old life and move on. It's all we can do really, and if there's one thing I've learned, those who live in the past, have no future.” Those words were said to Tyson as much as they were herself. More than anything Danica wanted to go home and pretend that none of this ever happened, but that was nothing more than a pipe dream. Her job, home, parents, even a previous boyfriend, they were all in her past now. It was time for Danica to look toward the future and figure out what to do with her life, and that in itself presented a huge problem. In a little over thirty years she'd barely figured out what to do with the old one.

“My name is Danica by the way. You really do need to talk about this to someone, but if you're not ready, that's alright. Any idea what you want to do right now?” Danica said.

Honestly Tyson wasn't comforted much by the prospect of putting his affairs in order. it sounded too much like he was dead. He didn't really think that he could simply walk away from everything he had known and it really didn't help when he thought about his mother in this way. Did setting affairs in order mean leaving her behind. She was the only family he had as far as he was concerned, and possibly the only person in his life who could actually accept him. Yes that was the risk that this might not be the case, but he would be happier if he could preserve that one last part of his human life. He could understand not living in the past, but what she described felt more like a rejection of the past which would leave Tyson more less alone in the world. He didn't think he was ready for that.

As far as future, where to begin. It was not as if his new form was suited for a life in the normal world. He had been interested in psychology and ethics, and such a profession would require him to be able to speak, a task now difficult for him but the best of times. As for any physical professional, his hands were next to useless when I came to delicate tasks. Unless the task at hand was limited to only move something, he would not be able to perform it without potential he damaging something. What really did that leave him? His appearance, fangs, and claws were made to intimidate, or worse, to attack. He wasn't sure that was a profession that he would want to be a part of if that were the case. It just didn't seem like he had any thing that he could aim for that we would actually be happy with. "Hhhhrrr noohwherrre to goooo," he growled, "grrrr whaat is theerree foorrr rrrrr somethiiing liiike meee?"

Danica was about to make a few suggestions regarding what Tyson might be able to do, when something clicked in her mind. It was how the wolfish man referred to himself as a thing. She blinked a few times, turned to face Tyson, then took a step forward pointing a finger right in his face. “Now you listen, and listen good. I don't EVER want to hear talk about yourself like that again. You're a who, not a what, got that?!”

Taking a step back she glared at him for a moment to drive the point home, then seemed to relax a little. In a way she knew where Tyson was coming from, there were times she thought of herself as a thing rather than a person. That was something that Danica had been forcing out of her mind and constantly mentally reinforcing the fact that she was still a person. Thinking about that for a moment she scowled slightly realizing it was society that made mutants feel that way, treating them like monsters rather than people. Once again humans seemed to be at the center of a mutant related problem.

“Despite the way you look, I know there's still a person in there, we wouldn't be talking if there wasn't. I know you've got a lot on your mind, I'd wager the way you referred to your mother she doesn't know about this new... development? As for a place to stay, the mansion's obviously mutant friendly. Probably one of the few places people like us can walk around safely,” Danica said. She thought about the situation for a moment and tried figure out ways to possibly help Tyson. One of the things she had a decent idea about was organization, as it was something of a requirement for her previous job as a secretary.

“Alright, I'll admit I may not be the world's best at helping people, but I think I might be able to help you at least get started on trying to sort all of this out,” Danica said. Dressed in a casual blue business suit, which was one of her favorite outfits, she removed a pen and a notepad from an inside pocket. Also something she often carried as a secretary, and something of a habit that was still practiced. “How about we make a list of things you're worried about and/or want to take care of? Maybe if you get going in a certain direction it'll help you start moving forward. What do you think?”

Tyson couldn't help but flinch a bit when Danica pointed her finger in his face. He fought back a sudden urge to snap at it, a wolf thing he supposed. As for what she said, he felt a least a bit reassured that she was so adement that he was not a 'thing'. It was hard for him to thing otherwise when there was nothing about himself that was familiar anymore. Tyson wasn't just dealing with a new ability, but with a complete loss of identity with himself, which was a lot more scary to him. But it was nice that she cared about it none the less.

He also considered the institute. He really didn't think he had much of a choice but to stay there. He had been wondering more along the lines of where he could go besides the institute, but that was just one of the consequences of his poor verbal skills. Still, he guessed it was a start. If nothing else maybe they had room for a janitor. Not his dream job, but it was better then loaning himself out as a guard dog. He wasn't planning on letting him Mom know anytime soon, he still hadn't come to turms with thism how could he expect her too?

He considered her offer to help. He wasn't sure she could, he wasn't something easily fixed. There was so many things that were wrong with him that he could be here all day. Well, he supposed he had to start somewhere, and honestly venting seemed to helping him feel better. "Hrrrrr toooo maany scents hrrr, toooooo maaany sooounds, grrrrr harrrrrrd to speeeaak, feeeeeellll hhhhhrrrrrrr teeeerrrrrrrritorrrrrrrial, haaaans rrrrrrr dooon't woooorrrrrrrk weeelll, keeep dooing hrrrr annimaaal thiiings..." he started, listing one thing after another. He hadn't even gotten to his attacking people. He hoped Danica didn't have any plans for the rest of the day.

"Hrrrrr toooo maany scents hrrr, toooooo maaany sooounds, grrrrr harrrrrrd to speeeaak, feeeeeellll hhhhhrrrrrrr teeeerrrrrrrritorrrrrrrial, haaaans rrrrrrr dooon't woooorrrrrrrk weeelll, keeep dooing hrrrr annimaaal thiiings..." Tyson said. Nodding dutifully Danica wrote everything down in shorthand, then started to think about it and absentmindedly chewed on the edge of her pen. There was a lot to cover and this was no doubt just the tip of the iceberg. She wasn't even qualified to address problems like this, but in her mind you didn't need a degree to try to help someone.

“Well it would seem the feral aspect of your mutation was just more than physical, if you're feeling territorial and doing animal things, sound like it messed with your head too,” Danica said. Stepping a little closer took one of his hands with both of hers, the size difference considerable. “Whoa Nelly, I think these are closer to talons than they are claws. Have you tried cutting them? I noticed when you cut your face it healed pretty quick, do the claws do the same thing?”

It was obvious to see that Tyson had a lot to deal with. He was right in that she could walk around in public without scaring people in general. Never the less she was going to try to help him as much as possible, and might even ask for help if there was something she couldn't handle. Danica mulled over the situation and something else occurred that could possibly help. With a smile she looked up at Tyson, “For what it's worth, I accept you the way you are, hair, claws, teeth and all.”

Messed with his head was an understatement. He didn't even realize when he lapsed into animal behavior until it was far too late. Wither it was devouring raw meat, getting in someones face for intruding on his territory, or, embarrassingly enough, chasing small animals or balls, his animal side was quicker to respond then his human side.

As Danica examined his, well, to be honest, paw was likely a better description then hand, he noted the difference, large, padded, tipped with non-retractable claws. He had tried clipping them, but they tended to grow back fairly quickly, and if he cut them to the point of the quick, they grew back faster as his body apparently registered it as an injury. His real problem though was they didn't respond the way a normal set of hands did. He couldn't maneuver them the way he had his regular hands, they simply didn't respond the same way. Part of it was probably the redesign of his body, but it also seemed to be like his brain was rewired to the point where he couldn't coordinate them. Even tracing words in the dirt was impossible for him unless he dragged his entire paw through the dirt, unsuitable for anything requiring fine dexterity. He was having to relearn basic skills just to attempt to do what a 5 year old could do. "Rrrrr dooon't worrrrrk like norrrrmaaaal haaaandss," he said.

“For what it's worth, I accept you the way you are, hair, claws, teeth and all.”

"Hrrrrr thhhrranks," he said, though it lacked much enthusiasm. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the sentiment, but he had already learned that accepting him at the institute was all but automatic. Everyone he had really met had accepted his appearance without question. He supposed it was just part of being a mutant that other mutants just accepted whatever you were stuck with, so while it was nice, it didn't carry as much weight as it would coming from someone who was not already predisposed to accept him.