His bike smelled bad? No! It smelled of exhaust, of steel, leather, and the open road. Then again, Cafas' sense of smell had never been the sharpest, even among humans. Maybe Adder had a wolf's sense of smell. To sharp senses he could imagine it would be unpleasantly strong as a smell.

"Normally you leave the smell behind pretty quickly, but luckily you won't have to deal with it at all." Cafas set off for the garage with a purpose in his gait. It was time to actually do something! Even is something was sit in a car and drive to a store. Maybe he should have run, but no-one liked a sweaty guy in the tight confines of a clothing store. They needed to space those places out more, honestly.

"As to the clothes, as my stylist said to me when I asked a similar question, the clothes make the man. They help shape the impression you leave in people's minds. You'd be surprised how important they are. I was." When he finally ditched the straight utility of cargo pants and cheap t-shirts for the "hollywood casual" people had immediately started treating him like he was far more important than he ever felt. What he lost in freedom of movement, he'd made up for in never having to prove why he was in a place. People just assumed he had the right to be there.

Didn't hurt when people started checking him out more either.

Not that he'd admit it.*

*In front of Maya.

Adder sprang after Cafas. He hadn't eaten so much that he was weighed down, but his body seemed to get that it wasn't short on resources anymore. In return, nothing felt stiff or lagged when he wanted it to do something. Like move, rolling nearly silently through each barefoot step.

Moving also helped muffle his general confusion at what exactly Cafas was saying. How was he supposed to know what a stylist was? Plus the whole string of words was kind of... going over his head. Whatever. "I don't get it," he muttered, but it was as much to clear the thoughts out of his head as for Cafas to hear. He wasn't even sure Cafas would be able to hear him. Other people had weird and vague senses.

...Cafas hadn't always been as he was now? Then what had he been? How in the world was he supposed to sort that out? What words would let him even ask? "What were you before, then?" he tried, not satisfied by the phrasing. It was still the best he could come up with on the spot.

Adder muttered something under his breath that Cafas failed to catch. He figured it was some snarky remark not intended to ever actually reach his ears. The tone seemed wrong though. He had just resolved to ask when Adder piped up with another question. The X-man nearly paused as he entered the garage, eyeing Sam's car dubiously. The Ice man would never drop it if he got it dinged.

"I have a lot of befores. I guess most of us do. Before I was in movies, being told how to dress and what to say, I was a full time X-man, protecting the city from the worst mutant and humans could throw at it." Cafas fished some keys off the racks. A mansion car would do.

"Before that I was just a student at the Mansion like any other, like you now I guess, but taking classes." He clicked the unlock button and scanned for the blinking lights. Easy enough to spot in the relatively dim of the garage.

"Before that... Well before that I was a street kid, chased from my home by my family and neighbors. Much warmer climate than New York though." Not that he'd have really appreciated that at the time. Cold and wet, begging food and shelter where he could, stealing it where he couldn't. The X-man opened the driver's door and slid in, adjusting the seat. whoever had been driving before him was much shorter.

"And before that I was just some kid, going to school, living a normal life. So which before did you want in particular?"

Adder had been in car garages before, for a variety of reasons. To scrounge, to take shelter from the weather, to lose pursuit, because he was bored. They'd all been more open than this one felt, but it may have just been a matter of size. Or that they were more organized. This one did look more like a high school parking lot, with sleek and shiny super-rich vehicles here and there. His skin crawled at the sight of things so far removed from his reality, even when they drifted at high speed through the roads he wandered.

Some people targeted people in cars like that, but it seemed so high risk. The reward was nebulous too; Adder had found poorer-seeming people more likely to have cash and food on them at any given time. They were more likely to personally chase him down in retaliation, though.

And then OH GOD THE WAVE OF BACKSTORY WAS HE SUPPOSED TO SHARE THAT MUCH NOW NO NO NO THAT WASNT WHAT HE'D PLANNED FOR OR WANTED HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO STOP THIS

And then Cafas stopped talking on his own and the world kept existing, although the wolf shifter had fallen a bit behind. A lot had happened in Cafas' life. Adder had just been himself, surviving on the streets despite scattered attempts by multiple parties to get rid of him. Cafas had... Gone from the street to school? But he had gone to school before he was on the street. Most people had. Adder had never met anyone who even claimed to have been on the streets as long as he had. It started as young, rather. The odd old person had apparently been there for decades. The functional length of that unit of time was hazy.

Er, Cafas was getting into a car. Adder had seen this often enough. Other side, pull the latch, pull the door closed from the inside after he was in on the seat. So there was space for his feet. Lots of space! There was enough space to sleep in here. Too bad there hadnt been a lot of abandoned cars around on the streets. He could probably have slept very well in one, almost as well as in his closet.

"S'a lot of change," he said quietly, but his voice felt weirdly muffled in the close confines of seat and fabric ceiling and glass. "You weren't on the street very long." Part statement, part question, part dismissal, part disappointment from somewhere he couldn't identify, couldn't even track.

He watched Adder get in. Watched him sit, and not even acknowledge his seat belt. That would not do. Cafas was not going to so much as start the engine while Adder wasn't buckled in. like it or not, wolf boy. "Seatbelt." The word was he firmness of a command. He was not risking losing the boy in a car accident.

God I'd never forgive myself.

now, Adder had asked something. Well, sort of asked something. "Honestly, two years didn't exactly feel short, but I suppose it's much less than some." He shrugged, waiting for the shifter to buckle in. The key hung from the ignition, turned so the electronics were running.

"It has been a lot of change since then though. Relatively few occasions of massive change in general. Luck, open mindedness, determination, and a pretty face will carry you a long way in life." Mostly luck, in Cafas' mind. The others were next to useless without it. He was willing to bet there were people with more of the others than him out there in gutters, or struggling to get by. No, luck was his key attribute.

Quite sad, really.

...Seatbelt?

It took a moment for Adder to notice the strap Cafas had pulled over himself. Oh. Oh. Now he remembered what a seatbelt was. It had been a very long time. There was the one on his side. He pulled it out, glanced at Cafas' to see how it attached, and smushed the clippy part into the boxy part by his other hip. It clicked and stayed put!

Take that, rich people stuff.

Two years was... how long? Two summers-through-winters-through-summers. So Cafas had survived winters at least. That added a couple of respect points, although only enough for the two years. He didn't like relying on luck, though. Luck was unpredictable and messed with resource management and safety margins and so many other things Adder worked with but technically didn't have words for.

Were they going yet? He knew cars didn't just stop existing in one place and appear in another. They had to travel like everything else. They just could do it faster and louder and more angrily than people on foot. But were limited in where they could go. They were big so they didn't fit in lots of places. Maybe they couldn't leave designated places like roads at all. It was pretty large-scale for a mutant to be controlling that, though. Although some mutants were absurdly strong.

..."How far is it?" That wasn't the only thing he didn't know or had vague wonderings about right now. "Why'd you let it change? Or was it just that you were more used to Before?" For the moment, it didn't occur to Adder that Cafas might not have the same perception of time, split into only a few vague categories that got increasingly large and vague the farther from the present they became.

The clipping sound of a seat belt buckling was always a good sound in Cafas' book. Adder didn't even make a fuss about it, which he appreciated. The X-man turned the key, the engine bursting to life eagerly. He settled back into the seat, its raised shoulders uncomfortably digging into his shoulders. Cars just weren't built on his scale, in general.

See this is why I have a bike, though even that might be a bit small. I should get a bigger one.

"In the city proper, so like, ten minutes if traffic is kind to us, which it almost never is." It was going to be longer. In New York, it was always longer. The perpetual downtown gridlocks were almost inescapable. Light spilled in as the garage door rolled open, and Cafas pressed his foot into the accelerator. Gravel crunched under the tires as he guided the car along the drive and out the gate, pulling onto the road.

Maybe the gods of traffic ARE going to be merciful...

"Which change? Or do you mean all of them? I mean, most of them I made the change happen, though admittedly some were thrust upon me." Adder's communication skills seemed like they needed work. Hardly surprising, really. Maybe a friend or two would solve that eventually. Cafas made a note to try and figure out exactly where Adder was at, education wise.

He speaks like a child in a lot of ways.

Adder's ears flattened at the engine noise, but it was at least more muffled inside than outside of the car. Somehow. It did not make sense. Wouldn't it be louder inside the thing making the noise, not outside? But then again, it was a rich people thing and rich people didn't like annoying noise. He did have that kind of in common with them. Noise was bad.

He shifted against the back of the seat, stuck sitting with his feet on the 'floor' and far from comfortable with the position. But if he managed to get his feet under himself then he'd be more stuck.

Cars weren't really worth all that. It was moving now, though, so he was even more stuck. Stuck stuck stuck. He did not like being stuck. Why was he even in here anyway?

Because 'ten minutes to the city proper' wasn't achievable by full-out sprinting on a good day. And he had agreed to this to Cafas. So he was - so he'd sit here and do his best to put up with it. Even though it was rather disorienting to be moving so fast without any up-and-down or impact. It was like watching a river, a really fast river. If he held to that, then the whole thing didn't feel so gross.

Listening to Cafas helped a little bit too, but not quite enough on its own. What he heard, though, made it sound like Cafas had had something to go back to, or at least had known enough about what had been burned away to rebuild it. That wasn't something Adder could do. It wasn't something he could have done right after it had happened, even if he hadn't been surrounded only by people who wanted to kick him and yell at him and push him back inside where everything was burning.

How was he supposed to reply to something he didn't see in himself?

Adder was silent. A tangible kind of silence that hung in the air, an invisible sign that you'd let your mouth get away from you. At least, that's how Cafas interpreted it. He hadn't even been letting himself ramble, he'd just kind of... Oh whatever, it was done. No point dwelling on a how that was never going to to reveal itself.

He let the rest of the trip pass in that silence. Cooling off time. Or stewing time. Either was fine really, someone was bound to say something at the end of either. The buildings grew taller around them as they moved through the stream of traffic with more ease than Cafas would have expected. Maybe it was just the time of day. Eventually he pulled the car into what one might tenuously call a space. Storefronts ran either direction along the street.

Yeah probably not an Armani sort of guy.

"There, told you it wouldn't be too long. Come on." The X-man reached for sunglasses that weren't in his pocket as he slid from the car. Right, yeah, he didn't keep those on him in the Mansion. He hadn't exactly planned on heading into the city. The door clunked shut, and the keys jingled merrily as the pink haired mutant slid them into his pocket. Already he was attracting glances. Was it the hair? The size? The fact his face had literally been on billboards in Times Square? Whatever the answer, Adder wasn't going to like it. He knew that.

"Clothes or phone first?" Cafas looked for Adder across the roof of the car.

The drive rather cemented the whole don't-like-cars thing. The noise and the smell and the closed-in-ness never stopped. The closed in feeling got worse rather than better. Cafas wasn't even talking now. Was that because Adder hasn't answered? But what was he supposed to say there? Or now? He didn't want to not-talk, exactly, but what should he say?

But the city was becoming more city. It was more familiar. He didn't spend much time in this particular area, since it tended to go badly for people like him, but maybe it wouldn't this time because he was with Cafas? As long as people knew he was with Cafas, and didn't assume that he was just stalking him or trying to steal from him or something.

They were probably going to think he was stealing stuff in the stores anyway. As long as Cafas got involved, though, he could probably keep from getting kicked out. So he'd have to make sure that Cafas was around and paying attention when the store people turned on him. The sooner that happened the better, probably. But if he could go entirely unnoticed, that would be better. So go unnoticed as long as possible, and get the store people to act as soon as they did notice him. That was not his usual plan on the rare occasions he went into stores for any reason, but that would be his plan now. Okay.

Okay okay okay they were stopping. Was it time to get out of the car, the horrible little box with too many smells crammed into one place? Could he finally get fresh air and maybe get the front of his head to stop feeling heavy and full of little rocks?

He might have left the car in a bit of a scramble, just shy of frantic in his initial attempts to get rid of his seatbelt, but once he was out of the horrible horrible car and out in open air that smelled Big and Open and normally populated with the general mess of City, he felt so much better. It showed in his stance too, no hiding against the car or defensive examinations of his surroundings. He could just be again, and his nose and ears would keep him informed of everything.

Picking out Cafas' voice from the general chaotic rumble was easier than walking down a flight of stairs with no one on them. When Adder turned back towards him he needed a moment to reconcile size-of-car with size-of-person, despite having just been in that car with that person. "Clothes make getting the phone easier but a phone doesn't make getting clothes easier, right?" So clearly they should do clothes first. It was very logical.

Cafas stretched, trying to convince the blood to pump into his muscles faster. He couldn't do the whole sitting in one position thing. He needed movement like the sun needed hydrogen. "Depends if you enjoy online shopping. Come on, clothes it is."

Cafas slipped into the crowd with ease. No-one particularly wanted to risk getting in his way. He couldn't blame them, most of them just didn't have the mass to compete if he walked into them. It was actually a pretty convenient thing, he left a wake in most moving crowds. It meant he always had room to back up,or space for people to follow.

Probably a function over fashion guy. No, he is entirely function over fashion.

Cafas figured he could combine the two easily enough. Jeans were a pretty safe bet, or cargo pants, though it had become increasingly difficult to find a good pair with big pockets. For pure functionality though, it was hard to go past the hiking stores. Who would have guessed that mountain climbers would require durable, flexible clothing?

"This one should be good. We'll have a look around at any rate." Brand logos were dotted around in the store. Cafas tried to make sense of them as he stepped between the anti-theft alarms. He'd heard of a couple of them, and as best he could tell, each one had its own little section.

I suddenly wish I knew more about any of these brands...

"Good Afternoon sir, I'm Nayeli, can I help you find something today?" An athletic woman smiled up at Cafas. He couldn't tell if she was being sincere in her enthusiasm. Had retail not killed her soul yet? "Just browsing at the moment, thanks Nayeli." He returned the smile, and turned to see where adder had gotten to. HE seemed like he had a habit of hiding.

Online... shopping?

Rich people did weird stuff. This had to be part of it, one of those specific super-weird things.

What even was-

No, he was really better off just not thinking about it. Besides, Cafas was moving and Adder did not want to lose him. Even if it was fairly hard for him to lose track of someone, even in a crowd. Especially someone he knew by sight and scent. He slipped into Cafas' wake, since he was actually leaving a substantial gap in the crowd behind him (magic? size intimidation? X-Men awe? something clothing related like he'd kind of said? no, that was magic too).

Adder stayed in the metal manipulator's shadow like he was just an extension of the much larger man, always keeping the same not-quite-touching distance but moving so as to keep as little attention on him as possible. Let everyone notice Cafas, and no one notice Adder. He was used to doing this with people who didn't know he was doing it, and having to keep them from noticing him as well. It wasn't exactly a problem if Cafas knew Adder was there. Of course Cafas would know he was there. Where else would he be?

Other than maybe considering fusing with the wall roughly half a second after they walked into a building. Unfortunately, that wasn't his mutation, and attempting it otherwise would draw a lot of attention. So he stayed right behind Cafas, where anyone talking to Cafas wouldn't be able to see him, and attempted to look like he was supposed to be there and this was completely normal and there was nothing unusual and therefore no one should bother looking at him, much less seeing him.

He may have still looked more than a little stressed and fidgety by the time Cafas turned to look for him.

Maybe.

Just a little.

Cafas nearly looked directly over Adder without seeing him. He hadn't expected the kid to be so close to him. He really seemed like the personal space type. Perhaps Cafas was simply casting the largest shadow for him to hide in, drawing attention like a... Well, a star. Did that make Adder an orbiting body? Probably. You only spotted him if you were specifically looking.

Yeah, the analogy holds up... Or at least, doesn't disintegrate upon closer inspection.

Cafas made a sweeping gesture around the store, smiling as reassuringly as he could manage. He's always been a bit more confident in stores, even when he had no money. Less questions were asked, less attention payed. It was the easiest way to shoplift, short of having a distraction. It had made the transition into legitimate customer a bit easier than it was seeming for Adder.

"A whole store of clothing possibilities. Come on, let's start with shirts. You want a t-shirt or something a bit sturdier?" Sturdier probably meant buttons. It also meant thicker and warmer, which was great in winter, not so much in summer. "No need to hide, dude, you're meant to be here, remember?"

Well, in so much as anyone is meant to be here. Larger discussions of fate and predestiny can wait though.

Cafas steered Adder over to a rack of shirts with a gentle hand on the back. He hadn't thought the shifter would require quite so much encouragement to have stuff bought for him, but there you go, Cafas chalked up another instance of not getting people very well.

A never ending list, that one...

Smiling did not help. How did Cafas think that smiling made this any better? The store person hadn't noticed Adder yet, but it was only a matter of time before she did, or someone else did, and made a fuss, and then he'd be better off gone and not looking back. It didn't take stealing something to get arrested, especially with teeth.

Teeth that very nearly came out when Cafas' hand appeared against his back. This wasn't going well. The longer they stayed in here, the longer he stayed in here, the closer everything got to going very badly, and Cafas was steering him away from the door. To a rack of clothes that smelled as if the only things they had ever touched were each other and. Er. Something chemical-y and gross. Smelled like rich people clothes is what they did.

At least they wouldn't smell like that for long.

Regardless of how long they'd stink, they were still clogging up his nose now, plus the ventilation in the store was making it harder to figure out where everyone was by smell alone. Or even how many people were currently around, for that matter. He didn't see anyone other than that one girl, who had gone over to a counter to pick up pieces of clothing that weren't hanging up like the rest and fold them without making them any more compact, just more square.

He looked back at the rack in front of him, then at Cafas. They were all shirts. They all smelled the same. They all looked pretty much the same. "It's good if clothing doesn't tear," he sort of agreed. Long sleeves caught on things all the time. That was why his vest had lasted so long. No sleeves to catch on things. No sleeves to keep his arms warm, but it was hot right now so that didn't matter.

Adder also kept the rack between himself and the store person, but stayed upright so he could see her. "Are there shirts with sleeves that don't tear or get hot?" She'd better not come back.

Adder was behaving like a guilty person. If Cafas had spotted him in a store, he'd totally have assumed he was up to something criminal. It could prove to be a nuisance if he couldn't bring himself to stop, but for now it seemed to be below the notice of the store clerk.

Adder was unbelievable, in a way. He'd never met anyone so utilitarian. Even The Ranger had a bit of flare. Adder though, there was nothing. He just wanted it to work, and work well. Really, it was a bit worrying. Still, Cafas could probably find something that promised what Adder asked for. He'd seen many items claiming to be next to impossible to wear out, and breathability was written on every tag he could spot.

"I'm sure there are some. Do you know what size you are?" Cafas circled the racks, pulling off a few options that he thought might fit. He was learning that rip proofing tended to be on outerwear, not shirts, but there were certainly some claiming to be highly durable. He crossed into a couple other brands to pick up others. He turned to find Adder, and found him nervously glancing around trying to stay both close to Cafas and out of sight.

I really need to figure out how to help him with his anxiety...

"Here, let's find a changing room and you can try these on. Do not try to test if they rip. There are a few sizes mixed in that might fit, tell me which ones feel best to wear." Cafas held the bundle out to Adder and pointed him to the changing rooms. Those, at least, should provide some level of comfort. They were a space he could be out of sight. "I'll wait nearby."