She had arrived early in the day and Mizuki did not think it was much past noon. Barely in the USA for a day yet and she already missed home. She was pretty sure this was for the best though and her parents had agreed. Two young emotional girls who could turn into large bear's was not safe together. The bear's fury still fresh in her mind, her fingers stroked her back, the scars hidden by her t-shirt. They had taken almost two months to fully heal and the doctors had told her she was lucky their was no spinal damage. 

She tried to shake her doubts from her head and focused on the lovely open surroundings. Some one seemed to look after them well and even the mansion itself was huge and dominantly but still looked warm and friendly, something that most people she had met seemed to share as well. She had done her best to keep her distance from the people though. As friendly as they were she was not entirely sure how her power triggerd yet and did not want to find out after she killed or worse, ate someone. 

She walked toward the gate though she had promised not to leave the premises quite yet, in part do to age and in part because her passport was an emergency one and the robots the nyc employed still needed to be updated for her..

It was going to be a strange and scary experience but maybe these people could help her control or eliminate her power. She could only hope and that small hope brought a smile to the young girls face, as instead of going in she decided to walk a long the fence line of the mansion.

Pink-hair had told him he had to hang around the mansion in November or he was gonna get him. He had waited until February to actually do something with that little detail. At the time, he hadn't even been focused on that detail. Getting in bike accidents tends to jar heads and makes memories foggy, so he had really more been focusing on helping out a potential friend. Popping in to the mansion to try and track him down, and maybe give him a lesson on meditation had been his only aim. The first time, he hadn't found him. Maybe the wolf had been out. But he'd actually looked around the mansion and taken some things in. He had learned a few things.

The mansion wasn't this lame den of super heroes. It was a school. It wasn't filled to the brim with cops. He hadn't actually seen any obvious X-men or police, other than teachers. Even then, that was only a suspicion. The X-men were this big pro-mutant face in the public, what amounted to a paramilitary group of mutants aimed at doing good. A bunch of leather-clad vigilantes, maybe? But he hadn't seen much of that. It made some sense, though, that in their off time they might have jobs. You don't get paid for wearing leather and punching people, right? ... Not in any usual job he could think of. So teachers, they could be. Of course, they could just have been regular old teachers hired to do a good job.

Elliott had seen a lot of the same guy. He had talked with the man, briefly. He'd had a few questions. The guy had fielded them beautifully. No, he didn't need to live there to take classes, but yes, he could if he wanted, and it was free. Sometimes, roommates were required. Sometimes, they weren't. It depended on age, and a variety of other factors. Food in the kitchens was covered, too. This whole operation was out of the goodness of some person's heart... and donors. Lots of monetary contributions from somewhere that kept it from going belly-up. Seemed suspicious. He hadn't asked. Loaded history, the mansion. Apparently, it had burned down a few times. He'd found that out in the brief google search he'd done on a computer about the whole deal.

There were classes on handling your mutations. Useless. Classes on fighting. More useful. Your average classes for school. Those, he wouldn't mind having. They apparently went all the way up to college? Maybe? Or at least high school? He didn't know. But he hadn't had the best high school education, so brushing up on some basic junk seemed... kind of like a waste of time, really. But valuable, if he got into that sort of thing.

He had been back a few times, since then. Some of the times had even been to look into moving some of his junk into a room. No roommate. He still had an apartment where he crashed. He wasn't interested in setting down roots. Elliott was still suspicious of some things. But so far, they seemed on the level.

Elliott went for a walk, okay. The mansion grounds were really nice, and it was very zen and good for meditation, and while he wasn't a mutant, there were some really cool ones, and interaction was a good thing. He hadn't even stolen anything yet. Those waffles in the kitchens were free, right? Yeah. So he'd been good.

Walking. Enjoying the breeze. Contemplating the future. All easy things. All good things. Not dastardly. Not heroic. Not business. No training with Kineta or running things for Cybele or Megara or other business interests involved. No escrima, taekwondo, or capoeira, which was kind of a bummer, but what could you do? As he walked, Elliott's mind wandered. It wandered about as much as him. So it only made sense that he nearly missed noticing the young girl until the last second. He nearly ran into her, but caught himself, jerking to a sudden halt.

"Uh. Hi there," he said sheepishly. She was young. Super young. Like pre-teen or something. Had weird hair. Was probably as busy thinking about useless garbage as him. He'd totally barged into her introspective while he was daydreaming. How awkward. "Sorry," he said. "Wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Mizuki was completely lost in her own thoughts. At the sound of the voice she stopped and looked up at the person who was suddenly there. She was calm until she looked at his face. The red haunting red eyes, strange alien skin and the lack of ears made for a terrifying, monster under the bed type situation. Then without thought she screamed, loudly. Of all the mutants she had seen today, he had been by far the strangest and before today Mizuki had seen few mutants up close and personal before arriving at this school.

Mizuki quickly realized and forced herself to stop screaming. He was not a monster, no more then her. "watashi...watashi', kinodoku. I did ~shinai imi....anata see I have bakari seen...." Mizuki said babbling almost incoherently between languages and in apology. She felt terrible for screaming at him as he was likely just a mutant like her. She still found his face unsettling though, in fact Elliot looked a bit like the monster she thought lived under her bed for two years.

"Sorry! My Name is Mizuki, I just got here a few hours ago" Trying to Hide her embarrassment as well as a twelve year old could. She hoped her accent would not be to much trouble. She took a step back to better look at his face. He was certainly an adult as he was much taller then her.

She was going to have to get use to people like this she told herself. The nice counselor lady had told her as much on the phone. Visible mutants roamed the mansion as well and she had seen a few in the hours she had been here but none so strange and alien. Still her father would have told her he still deserved respect and that it was not his fault he was this way any more then what her and her sister could do was their fault. At the thought she itches her back over the scar nervously.

She actually screamed at him. When people screamed at him in the past, Elliott had developed an excellent method for dealing with it. He had walked away. No dialogue. No explanations. Just walked away. Elliott didn't walk away now. He wasn't sure why.

After the scream came a bunch of Japanese. Elliott had had a friend who was dangerously into anime, so he knew what Japanese sounded like when he heard it. She also looked Asian, and it didn't sound Chinese, which helped narrow it down. It wasn't like he understood what she was saying, either way, so he just waited. Eventually, she realized her mistake.

He rubbed the back of head neck and felt awkward, like some sort of bulbous sore thumb. "My name's Elliott," he managed. And I'm talking awkwardly to a teenage girl, he finished bleakly. That was kind of weird. "Sorry I nearly ran into you."

The mansion was full of kids like this, he reminded himself. There was nothing weird to saying hi to one and moving on.

"I guess I'm new here, too."

"It's ok, sorry i screamed. I'm, still getting use to the people here. I just leaned i was mutant a few months ago. " she said feeling bad she had screamed at him but relieved she had not become the bear. That might have been a disaster and a really bad first impression, well a worse one then she had already set anyway.

"To be honest this is my first time out of Japan at all" she said looking around. Everything looked so different, but she could do this, she was strong, she told herself. This was like an exchange program and she knew it would not be forever. SHe would go home once she learned to grasp her powers safely, if that was possible at all.

"I have not met many of the staff yet but everyone seems nice and understanding, but your the first real conversation i have had here" she said but part of her was not sure they knew what she could do. She had spent a lot of time in the hospital looking up things on polar bears after the incident and knew their power.

He was the first real conversation she had had here? That was probably a bit disappointing. Her, going to a mutant school and all. Expecting mutants. And him decidedly not one. And also not too interested in the conversation.

"That's real rough. I know a guy in a similar situation. Changed his entire appearance. Real difficult. Gave him primal urges, made him feel more animal than man. They're helping him here. Hopefully you find the help you need, too."

"The staff is pretty cool," he continued. "I guess. Lots of options for schooling. Helps some of the more obvious mutants continue their educations without getting into trouble with anti-mutant folks. And I think there's a roomba around here somewhere with a walkman strapped to it. MP3 player. Whatever." He glanced over his shoulder, like someone was going to come in and correct him on it.

"well to be honest i have kept to myself. I'm not sure what causes my powers to happen and when they do theirs a good chance i can really hurt someone" she said honestly. It was a fear she had gotten after realizing what she had done.

"I can turn into a polar bear. However i lack control and well nothing to bad happened a polar bear can easily kill a person" she said a bit distressed by the thought she might hurt Someone before she gained control over the form.

It occurred to her as well that she had no idea how to turn back at all when she she did change. so if it did happen and she did gain control she could not tell anyone she was back under control. They had been lucky no one but her had gotten hurt lasttime but who knew where she might change. "My sister turns into a brown bear, together we totaled three class rooms in about five minutes" having seen the report and news coverage enough to know.

He almost asked what she could do, but she answered for him and he paused. A polar bear? Seriously? That... Kind of stunk as far as powers went. It was cool, sure, in theory. You became a bear and were big and strong. But polar bears are endangered for a reason, and they don't much like the heat of a New York summer. Aside from eating fish, a polar bear didn't have much use on the street. It could box like that one fitting game panda he'd seen once, but... She didn't seem the fight club type. He kept those thoughts to himself.

"That's difficult," he replied. Two bears in one family. That was kind of ridiculous. One would have thought that at least one mutation would have been different. As far as logistics went, polar bears got the bad end of the deal. "Maybe you and Tyson could practice meditation. He could use a second. I'm shocked the mansion doesn't have A legit class for that. Tyson is a wolf man. No tail though. Similar problems. I'm teaching him breathing techniques to cope with mutation related stress."

"I don't have a mutation, really." Elliott shrugged. "But don't tell them that." People tended to think him strange when he said that. He couldn't figure out why. They might kick him out for being too normal.

She did not understand how meditation could help her. She liked to think she was emotionally stable and calm. She knew the idea of meditation though she had never tried it herself. Still if their was someone she could help by doing so, then it would be worth it. She was not currently doing anything else anyway. A wolf man did sound sort of simmeler to her and maybe he could help in other ways. "I would not mind trying it." she said considering the person in front of her.

"I would fear for his safety however. I could accidentally hurt him or worse" she said reconsidering her quick acceptance. If she accidentally tour off this poor wolf guy's head meditating with him would be less then helpful. "Did you know a polar bear can a take man's head off with a swipe of it's paw?" she shivered at the thought looking down at her own hands as if expecting to see claws, but Mizuki  quickly recomposed herself.

"Don't worry, i am sure you will figure out your mutation soon. Maybe bug powers!" she said trying to be encouraging. He was green, his eyes were not human and the antenna welll.....she had not quite processed those yet, but he certainly had to be able to do something.

She seemed a little reluctant towards the idea of meditation. She didn't jump at it. It seemed like she was less enthused and more being polite. Then she gave an excuse about bears and decapitation.

"I actually knew that." Elliott replied calmly. "Bears aren't weak creatures. Something tells me Tyson could handle it, though. Maybe I'll introduce you some time."

Really, whether he introduced the two of them was up to both parties. Tyson seemed the sort to like fitting in and making friends. He didn't see what it could hurt. And if she did give them trouble, he could handle a polar bear. He being himself, 'me', Elliott. It'd be rude to put that entirely in a wolfs hands. Wolves don't even have hands.

She considered his comment about mutations.

Elliott laughed at her suggestion. "That's a fine thought, but I think it isn't that simple. See, I don't think I'm a mutant. My origins are a bit more Neil Degrasse Tyson's Cosmos than Darwin and the origin of species." He pointed up at the faint trace of moon slice in the sky. "Maybe whatever planet I'm from had bug men, but this--" a tongue slid a good five inches out from his palm and waggled at her. " doesn't seem very buggy to me." Hand tongue waved. "Plus the whole alien pod baby thingy has me guessing I'm not human, no offense."

The idea their would be other mutants who could handle her power was something she had not considered. She had been more focused on the idea of control or even removal of her power. Still the revelation felt like one she should have realized earlier. Her sister and herself could control each other if one had control, maybe. She shook the mental image of her sister eating her like a fish out of her mind.

He honestly looked like a bug to her. His defense on not being a mutant was confusing to her as well. Still who was she to judge, until a short time ago she had never encountered a mutant.

"That must be hard then, but my teacher did tell me it was almost impossible for their not to be life out there in the stars. He also liked to say it would be nothing like in anime" she said recalling the old teacher fondly.

"Am i still human?" she asked looking up at the not-bug-man with confusion clearly in her eyes. She had been told she was that humans and mutants were basically the same thing. Still she was unsure if people were trying to comfort her or being honest.

"Maybe all that matters is the person we are on the incide weather it be a person, mutant...or you" she said adding him in remembering he did not seem to consider himself a mutant.

Elliott stared at the sky, deep in thought. What it was was anyone's guess. The universe is wide and vast and the potential for life was an important question that was drowned out by the thought tangent of "what's an anime?"

Other people had far deeper thoughts in this mansion yard. Elliott tore his mind away from his own difficult question to focus on hers. It was a good question. An important one. Very deep. Like the Marianis trench. Allconsuming, even. Maybe. She had her own thought on that.

"That's a good thought. RE: humanity, I think it's about how you act, not what you are." Elliott replied slowly. "As far as species go... " he continued carelessly. "I think mutants are still human, just an evolution on the genome, or other science words. Mutation happens all the time. People in the mansion just get more than albinism and heterochromia."

Some human worm babies just don't understand that there isn't that much separating them from a mutant. Some who fear them may even have an undiscovered mutation, themselves. But he wasn't getting into that topic with a 12 year old. Or however old this girl was.

"Right, i wonder if one day everyone will be a mutant" she said thinking about how evaluation worked. She understood the concept though not the details of it. "So if two mutants have a baby will their child be a mutant" she asked curiously.

"yea it's almost to bad it does not go away like those." she said not sure if she should have said those words in a place like this. She wa ssure some mutants liked their powers. Her's however terrified her.

"So is it true the police use robots?" she asked having read about it online and having been warned by staff about them. It seemed like somthing she would have watched on tv or something in a cartoon. She had never seen one but her mind helpfully placed a gundam like suit as a stand in in her mind.

"Maybe. Or maybe the opposite. Time will tell." Humans all becoming mutants? Maybe it'd be the other way around. Not fun to think about. Maybe his alien race would come down and take over. Now that was more fun to consider. Considering her next question was far less so. They had gone from deep to answer everything mode.

"No idea," Elliott replied succinctly. He was no mutant expert. He wasn't even a mutant.

Blink. Blink. Red eyes went away for a second as his extra eyelids blinked. What went away? Heterochromia and... What was she talking about? "Um." He didn't say anything. He didn't want to crumble her world. Those didn't go away either.

Girl had too many questions. Mutants and police robots? "Yes." He said. "Don't talk to them. They're evil. Aku. Warui." There went the two words of Japanese he knew, out the window. Thanks, random scared Japanese man on the street...

Who knew how the future would unfold, it was anyones guess really. He was unsure himself but maybe someone else knew, this was a very good place to ask she realized. Their were a lot well educated adults here or atleast thats what she had been told.

"Evil? The Robots or the police?" she asked curiously. Either one was scary but she could understand evil robots easier. It occurred to her then the robots might have taken over the police and might be using them like puppets. Images of various anime played in her head as she considered this.

"Im hungry, do you guys have any fish?" she said almost drooling at the thought. Ever since her mutation she had gotten a desire to eat large amounts of fish. She assumed it was mutation related but she also knew polar bears also ate seals....very brutally.

"You know japanese?" she said excitedly almost bouncing in place as she considerd this. She knew English well but her native language was so much easier and more natural.