Tyson knew coming back to the cafe was a bit of a risk. After last time he was wary about keeping his eye out for 'prey' type mutants that may set him off. He could generally keep his instincts under control if he anticipated the triggers, so he thought maybe he could go back. Honestly it was the closest he could get to normal now, and the owners were very forgiving of his  previous outburst.  Business seemed to be going good today, a lot of of people were lined up for drinks. It helped that the purple guy in back could teleport any ingredient to himself to fill any order. The woman with the animate cat tattoo was taking orders and handing out the drinks. His own drink was on the table, a chamomile vanilla tea. He was trying to calm his nerves a bit, everything that had happened over the last month a bit much for him. He needed to relax, and he was trying to while he practice breathing. The tea was mild enough not to aggravate his senses, but pungent enough to help block out the other scents around him. He sort of wished Elliot was here for him to talk to, but he didn't see him anywhere. Hit and miss he guessed. 

Juliette stood in line, having just got off work for a break. She had every intention of getting a strong cup of coffee and ignoring the world for a while. She tapped her credit card against her leg impatiently, wishing that the mutant at the front of the line would hurry up. At the moment, she was arguing with the cashier about whether or not her coffee was decaf.

She sighed and looked around the crowded cafe, glancing at the other mutants. It felt nice to not have to worry about who might be looking too closely or who might see a little too much. She let herself absorb some of the light from the lamps above, having been running on not nearly enough for a few days. Her electric bill was far too expensive to justify absorbing any more than necessary.

When it finally got to be her turn, she ordered a macchiato and sat down in a nearby booth, just a little ways over from a wolf-looking mutant. She took out her laptop and began to reply to some emails that she had been putting off, glancing up every once and a while to look around the cafe.

Tyson eyed the cup of tea, this was the hard part. He still hadn't mastered his new hands, his coordination had been such that most tasks became a struggle if it required any amount of fine dexterity. He growled a little to himself in annoyance, frustrated with the uncooperative nature of his body. The waitress came by, a smile on her face as she put a piece of pie down in front of him. "Hrrr Thanks," he said, at the very least greatful that his voice had improved since lat time so he could properly thank people.

He gripped the cup between his paws, trying to find that balance between not losing his grip and not crushing it between his paws. He slowly raised the glass, hoping he could manage a few drops. Normally he would use a straw, but the hot liquid would have melted it. He had to learn sooner or later how to do this. He brpught the brim to his lips slowly trying to tip it to get a few drops into his muzzle.

"HRRRRGH," he cried as he poured the hot liquid over himself, overtipping the cup. He jerked as the liquid burned his tongue and skin as it seemed through his fur. The cup slipped in his hand, and he fumbled, reactively trying to catch the cup. the claws on his hand slashed across the palm of his other hand, easily cutting through the pad and causing a spirt of blood. The cup smashed the the ground, and Tyson held his breath as he gritted against the pain, both from the hot tea and the gash in his hand, which bled profusely. He healed fast, but his injuries still hurt in the mean time. he tried his best to cover the wound with his other hand without making it worse.

Juliette's thoughts were intruded by a loud yell coming from beside her. She looked up immediately, trying to find the source of the noise. Her, and most everyone else in the cafe's, eyes fell on the wolf-looking mutant at the table next to her. He had spilled hot tea all over himself and even managed to cut his hand, or paw rather, on the broken shards of the teacup.

The woman closed her computer and tucked it under her arm as she picked her coffee and sat down next to him. "Calm down," she said to him in a reassuring voice, "let me have a look."

She took his paw in her hand and examined the wound closely. It didn't look deep enough for stitches, but from the look of the squirting blood pattern, he had definitely punctured an artery. Picking up a napkin from the table, she wrapped it tightly around his paw. Mentally, she kicked herself for not bringing her purse. She always had a spare first-aid kit in it for instances like that one.

As she did, she spoke to him in a calm voice to distract him from what was going on with his paw. "I'm Juliette and I'm a nurse. Can you tell me your name?"

Tyson winced, letting out a bit of a whine as the woman rushed over to him and quickly took his hand. He was aware that everyone in the cafe was looking at him, as the waitress rushed to clean up the broken glass, glancing to make sure he was okay. Why did he have to make a scene every time he went out?

"I'm Juliette and I'm a nurse. Can you tell me your name?"

"Hrrr Tyson," he said, trying to keep the growl out of his voice, which was hard with the stinging pain in his paw, "Hrrrr, I'll be fine," he said, despite the spirt of blood. The pain was starting to lessen as his his nerves started repairing themselves. The process was not instantaneous, but the wound was starting to knit itself back together. Maybe in a minute or w=two it would be completely healed. While it hurt Tyson, he was honestly more embarrassed then anything else for scaring everyone. Any repeat customers would probably remember last time when he had almost jumped on a duck mutant.

"Hrrr sorrrrrry if I scarrrrrred you," he said, knowing that he tended to make people nervous, even among mutants due to his feral tendencies. He was grateful that she was willing to help him regardless of how he looked. He couldn't tell if she were human or mutant, there was a mixed crowd here, but he guessed mutant, as he couldn't imagine a human nurse wanting to get within ten feet of him.

"Is that too tight, Tyson?" Juliette asked cautiously as she noticed him wince. She continued to look over the wound despite his protests. "You'll need to visit a hospital to get this bandaged up."

"Hrrr sorrrrrry if I scarrrrrred you."

Juliette shook her head at him as she looked up. "Don't worry, you didn't," she told him with a smile. She noticed the growl in his voice and his less-than-normal appearance and wondered how often he felt isolated. Even in a mutant cafe, he received some rude stares and glances from the other patrons. Mutations were often difficult to deal with, but Juliette counted herself lucky to have the ability to blend in. She tried not to let her face betray the amount of pity she felt for Tyson as she held pressure on his paw.

"I see much worse all the time." She told him honestly, thinking back to the many shifts she had spent in the E.R.

After a moment or so, she peaked under the napkin to check on the bleeding. To her surprise, it had stopped completely and the wound had even begun to heal. She looked up at him with a quizzical expression. "Do you have a healing factor?"

Tyson felt a tingle of fear run up his spine when Juliette mentioned going to a hospital, the reaction visible as the fur along his back raising from the reaction. After what his father did to him, doctors and hospitals scared the shit out of him. "Nooorrrrr hoosssspitallll!" he growled, the anxiety causing him to slur his speech as his pulse picked up and his breathing became fast and shallow. After a few moments he was able to calm himself down and his breathing returned to normal. "Hrrrrr sorrrrrrry," he said, knowing that that he probably freaked her out with that.

As she examined his would, he saw her expression go quizical as she asked him if he had a healing factor. "hrrr Yes, not the first time I've hrrrr clawed myself." he said. He often ended up cutting himself on his claws, generally when he was stressed out. His claws were too sharp for him to avoid. He had tried clipping them, but they just regrew as fast as he healed, making it a pointless endeavor. He would already be covered in scars if it weren't for his healing factor. He was pretty sure he had probably burned himself with the tea as well, but the pain was already fading away, even his tongue didn't feel numb from the burn anymore. "Sorrrrrry forrrrr the false alarrrrrm," he said, knowing he had probably freaked her out for what amounted for no reason.

"Nooorrrrr hoosssspitallll!" Tyson growled at her, his speech slurred.

Juliette jumped back slightly and dropped his paw, his sudden growl coming as an unexpected outburst. She cleared the expression from her face, trying not to let on how much he had scared her. She didn't want him to to feel uncomfortable around her.

She continued to examine his paw as it stitched itself back together. "Hrrr Yes, not the first time I've hrrrr clawed myself." Tyson told her. Juliette nodded as he spoke, trying to think of some sort of solution to his problem. After a moment or so, she spoke up.

"Is there some way you could put caps on them or something?" Juliette asked thoughtfully, "made of rubber, of course, so you could take them on and off. That way you would be less likely to cut yourself or other people."

She pulled off the paper towel entirely and ran her finger over his paw. There was no trace that he had ever been cut. "Well, you definitely don't need to go to a hospital now, this is completely healed."

Tyson was a little taken aback by Juliette's advice about caps. It was actually the first practical solution he had been given about his claws. Did they make plastic caps to cover claws that big? The only possible problem he could see would be getting them on, but he was sure he could get someone to help him with that. His expression lightened somewhat, as he looked at his claws, "Hrr Wherrrre would I get plastic caps?" he asked, his tone a little bit excited for this small allowance of ease. He was amazed that no one had suggested this to him before. Then again, he himself hadn't known there was such a thing as claw caps.

"Sorrrrry hrrr forrrrr the scarrrrre," he said again as Juliette finished examining his paw, "I'm not so good with my hands anymore." he admitted. It was just one thing in a long line of things he was no longer good at. "Thank you forrrr yourrrrr concerrrn," he said glad that she seemed to care enough to want to aid him. He slid the plate of pie over to her, the least he could do was to offer her something for her troubles. "Pie?" he asked, hoping that it was something she liked. Luckily he hadn't doused it in tea like the rest of him.

"Hrr Wherrrre would I get plastic caps?" Tyson had asked her in an excited tone. Juliette smiled a little. She always like to be able to help people, no matter how she was doing it. She thought about his question for a moment before replying.

"Well, you'd have to get them custom made, obviously, but I'm sure there's somewhere in the city that will do it for you. There's something for everyone here," she told him. She set his paw down on the table, releasing him to do as he pleased with it.

She nodded as he thanked her, and then listened as he explained that he was no longer good with dexterity. She frowned and looked to be thinking. There were no real immediate fixes for that problem except practice. "I'm sure that it'll come with time."

As he pushed his pie towards her, she gave him a polite smile. Every once and a while when she stopped to help someone they would offer to buy her a coffee or something similar, and she usually refused. However, she recognized that Tyson was likely avoided in public and didn't receive too many glances that were friendly. So, she decided to accept. "Thank you, I'll have a bite," she told him and took a small bite of it. "This is really good. Maybe I'll have to come back here again sometime and order it myself."

Finding a place that made custom made caps would probably be difficult, but if he asked, perhaps the school could accommodate maybe. It wasn't like he was able to look it up on a computer himself, and it would probably save the school on repairs. Maybe he could even get some new bedding for his room, as his had been shredded for some time. He had not let them replace it since, but if this cap idea played out, maybe it would fix that. That would be a nice little ray of sunshine on an otherwise hopeless situation. It was kind of sad that his situation was so bad that plastic caps felt like a miracle.

"Hrrr Easierrrr said then done," he said, a little pessimistically. He had only recently improved his ability to speak enough to hold a conversation. He didn't know how long it would take to relearn using his hands. It wouldn't likely be anytime soon, and he was already being driven stir crazy with a lack of things to do, he couldn't read or write, play video games, and he had managed to freak everyone at the school out with his lack of control, so he was on his own. It would be a long time before he got any semblance of normal again, and he was already having break downs.

At least Juliette liked the pie. If nothing else he got one thing right. He wished everything were that simple.

"Hrrr Easierrrr said then done." Juliette frowned at Tyson as she noticed the discouraged lilt in his voice. She pushed his pie back to him and stared at the table, trying to think of something to say in return.

Unable to think of anything, she stared at the little paper triangle placed in the middle of the table. It advertised some sort of fancy coffee that sounded far too complicated for Juliette to ever remember. Besides, she reminded herself, she was supposed to be following a strict diet. She glanced back at her macchiato. So far it hadn't gone all that well.

She checked her watch. Half past two. She didn't have to work that night, and had considered calling friends, but ultimately decided against it. As much as she tried to be, she had never been much of an extrovert.

After a moment or so, she looked back at Tyson, having decided to make some small talk. However awkward it might be. "So, Tyson, where are you from?"

Tyson looked at Juliette, a bit curious at what she was getting at. After all, it had been a while since anyone had attempted a normal conversation with him. Mostly it was always about his problems and issues, no one had asked much about him as an individual. "rrr Pennsylvania was wherrre I lived beforrre all this," he said, "I'm staying at the institute forrrr now hrr, I'm not sure how long." He missed his home, he missed the woods and trees and trails. He missed his mom, but he couldn't go back there anymore, not like this.

"Hrr The trrrrees therrrre arrre beautiful in the Fall," he continued, trying not to think about his Mom, "They turrrrn all rrrred and yellow hrr, and for a while, it's this mixturrrre against the hrrr leaves that havn't turrrned yet. Used to look forward to walks with..." he cut himself off. feeling a small squeeze in his chest. He couldn't cry. If he could he would have probably watered up, but his eyes weren't designed for it anymore. At least that kept him from letting on how much it hurt to think of home and the life he had lost. "hrr but what about you? Wherrre are you frrrom?" he said, changing the focus back to Juliette to avoid getting back into the things wrong with him.

Juliette nodded along as Tyson spoke, finding herself picturing Pennsylvania as he described it. In her mind, it was beautiful. He seemed upset by the thought of it, but covered it quickly with a question about her.

"A little bit of everywhere," Juliette shrugged as she spoke and sipped her coffee. "My mom liked to move around so we never spent more than a few months anywhere. I spent a good chunk of my early childhood in Georgia, though. Have you ever seen the cherry blossoms there? They're lovely in the spring. Sometimes I still have a bit of an accent when I get frustrated." She looked down with a lopsided smile and shook her head at the thought.

As she went over what Tyson had said, though, something stuck out in her mind like a sore thumb. Even though Tyson seemed upset, she could help but ask him her question. "What is the institute, exactly?" She waited for her answer eagerly, a small part of her worried that she might receive an answer that would terrify her.

"Hrr no, neverrrr been to Georrrrgia," said Tyson, "Neverrr seen cherrrrrry blossoms rrr except in anime." He supposed those would be Japanese cherry blossoms if anything, he didn't know if there was any particular difference, but he thought it may be nice to see them. If they looked anything like it was depicted in anime, they probably were cool. He had never had an accent to worry about before, but now he had one of his own he guessed, more due to the shape of his mouth and muzzle. It only got bad if he was really stressed out, so he could sort of understand that.

When she asked about the institute, he was a little surprised. He had thought that the institute was common knowledge, at least most the people he met seemed to know about it. Maybe it only traveled around mutant circles, so he supposed maybe Juliette wasn't a mutant. That made him felt a bit better at least, if she wasn't a mutant then someone normal was making an effort to make sure he was alright.

"Hrrrr, the institute... it's a school forrrr people with... abilities. Rrrr The Xavierrrr Institute. I was hr sent therrre afterrr... afterrr... I changed..." He tried not to think much more into the past before that. His transition into the world of mutants hadn't been a pleasant one. His father had experimented on him to activate his x-gene, thus his fear of doctors and hospitals. He wished he had never gone looking for that man, had he known he would have never wanted to know him. "Hrrr frrrom what I've seen it's basically a hrrr college with extrrra classes forrr contrrroling abilities." he continued, saying what he knew. He wasn't taking any classes yet, he was still adjusting to his form, and trying to get a hold on his instincts. He was wrestling with the idea though.