Serena smiled gently, stretching her legs a little on the bench, feeling the onset of a sudden wave of exhaustion creeping it's way into her muscles and brain. She really had been so busy this last year, her body wasn't used to working out as much either. The year before, she had been in absolutely excellent shape. And while she was still in very good shape for someone her age and size, she wasn't anywhere near where she was.

She idly wondered if Abby would ever become interested in College, and if she was what sort of subject she would take. She smiled inwardly at the mental image of the young girl studying something like Marine Biology.

Serena raised an eyebrow at Abby than giggled and smiled sweetly. "Abigail, has anybody ever told you what my mutation is?" She asked the girl honestly.

Abby slid down to the floor, stretching her legs out straight. Not being on them was nice. And spending time with Serena was nice too. She forgot how much she liked the older blonde. She answered Abby's questions and liked her tail. It was easy to ask Serena questions. Kinda like talking with DocProf.

>>"Abigail, has anybody ever told you what my mutation is?"

The little blonde shook her head. "I don't think so." Asking someone else what their mutation was kinda seemed like a bad idea. The unspoken rule she followed was "don't ask if they want to tell you they will." Sometimes she could figure it out on her own. Some were kind of easy. Others not so much. But... Serena was the one to bring it up. So... "What is it?" she asked tentatively.

Serena smiled at the younger girl. She supposed it would be the slightly older teenagers at the mansion now that knew about her mutation, whereas Abby was a little on the younger side of things overall so it wasn't all that surprising that she hand't heard rumours or anything about Serena. That and the fact that the blonde hadn't lived there for a while probably contributed.

"Well..." She began, her tone gentle. "My power is Haemokinesis, the ability to control blood." She elaborated. "Specifically I control blood outside or on the surface of the skin, not inside. So as you can imagine I'm sure, it can be quite gruesome. I also had very little control when I Was younger, and my power is dangerous. One of the more dangerous ones I've seen over the years, that's for certain."

She let that sink in a moment. "In fact, it was probably one of the biggest factors that caused me to end up where I am now, I didn't want to work with any of the teachers or students with my power in case I hurt them, I practiced on my own, even more when it got worse and I started accidentally shifting my whole body into blood, rumours circulated about me, and a lot of people my age were quite scared of me." She left out the bit of taking a chunk out of James by accident... oops.

"Now, I have excellent control and I have a great deal of friends my age, both in and out of the mansion, and as far as I'm aware, the kids seem to like me when I help out with classes and stuff. You seem to put up with me, so even though a lot of people are aware of what I'm capable of, they get along with me." She paused, her lips quirking into a bigger smile. "So what I'm saying is most people, especially the decent ones, value your personality and actions over things you can't control, like say your power. And everything I've seen of you as a person suggests you will grow to be a wonderful, and liked young woman. I look forwards to seeing it."

Serena had a dangerous mutation. It wasn't as shocking as Abby thought it would be. She had met so many people with different powers, learning her older friends had the ability to control blood wasn't so high up on her list. Between meeting Cafas, Kirsi, and the many other students at the school had left Abby with a somewhat skewed look on mutation danger levels.  She had gone shopping with a known murderer after all.

But it was nice to hear about Serena's experience as a student here. It was kinda similar to hers. Because she shifted into a predator, the other students feared her. Neither she nor the older blonde could control what their power ended up as.

>>"Now, I have excellent control and I have a great deal of friends my age, both in and out of the mansion, and as far as I'm aware, the kids seem to like me when I help out with classes and stuff. You seem to put up with me, so even though a lot of people are aware of what I'm capable of, they get along with me."

It sounded nice. If that worked out for Abby like it did for Serena. But it sounded like Serena was feared because of not knowing how to control her power. Abby didn't really have that problem. Her mutation was instinctive.

>>"So what I'm saying is most people, especially the decent ones, value your personality and actions over things you can't control, like say your power. And everything I've seen of you as a person suggests you will grow to be a wonderful, and liked young woman. I look forwards to seeing it."

A flush of pink covered Abby's cheeks. She had gotten used to the feeling of heat rising there. It seemed like she was getting more friends as time went by. It was just... ”Why do people, even mutants, fear us? We don't have control of our power any more than they do.” Yes Abby's mutation was more instinct than learned, but she still have trouble figuring out what her instincts were telling her. ”I know better than to bite people. I know when I'm close to water that I can transform in. I know how to swim with my tail. I've never done anything to others. It just doesn't make sense,” the little blonde grumbled.

Serena had to frequently check herself and resist the urge to embrace Abby into a tight hug, the younger girl was so sweet and bright eyed that it made Serena's heart flutter with admiration. She couldn't ever remember being that friendly or likeable at the girl's age, she'd been very quiet around there, and especially for a girl with such an obvious mutation, it was impressive.

Her grin only widened at the adorable little blush. It also made her feel quite elated that the younger girl didn't seem to find Serena scary with her power, a lot of people seemed to be easily terrified by someone that could control the thing in their bodies that literally kept them alive and moving.

She gave up on the resisting and wrapped Abby in a hug, careful not to touch her skin much. "You're a very sweet girl, and anybody who gets to know you will learn to get over it. People feel the unknown honey, and I'm afraid it doesn't matter if they are a mutant or not, the truth is that whether or not you have a mutation doesn't really matter that much to the way your brain works most of the time, we're all only human." She added thoughtfully, moving to take another drink of water.

Abby leaned into Serena's hug a little. She was getting a lot of hugs lately. It was nice. She couldn't remember the last time Aunt Teresa hadn't been stiff when giving her a hug. Uncle Henry would pat her head or touch her shoulder. But it still wasn't the same. Now she was getting lots of hugs from her important people.

Serena's words were a cold comfort. The little shifter hated the way others feared her. Both those with powers and without. She hoped as she got older it would change, and it felt like it was. She was getting a lot of more friends as she got older. Hopefully the fearful looks wouldn't bother her so much as she got older too. That could be nice.

Either way, Abby now had people to stand beside her. Cafas and Serena and Maya and lots of others. She could keep finding people. Her friends would help. She leaned a little bit into Serena as she too took a drink of water. With the friends she had, she wouldn't be left alone to face things without help. Her few friends wouldn't let her. Abby was certain of that.