It wasn't often you would see Leon outside without a jacket on. Not that it bothered him at all, his fur kept him warm enough, but his general paranoia about his spikes meant he would sooner walk on hot coals then be without a jacket to keep his spines wrapped up tight. However, even Leon had needs, and this one was one that he had fallen into habit in order to minimize the chances of any accidents.

Leon sat by a steel barrel behind the shed. At the bottom was a pile of ashes, remnants of past fires. Leon imagined they probably used it in winter to burn loose sticks and used the ashes as fertilizer for the gardens. Right now the top blazed with a pile of wood and sticks. He had another use for it. He twisted back a little, a thick stiff brush in one hand and ran it through the fur and quills on his back, a small shower of broken spine tips getting dragged out and falling into a small pile that had accumulated on top of his jacket, which he had placed on the ground behind him to catch the falling toxic waste. He had to do this every so often, because his spines were usually bound, they tended to break off in his fur and get caught, and if he didn't groom them out at some point they may find there way onto the floor where some unsuspecting person may pick it up or step on it. That would not be a good day for them.

He felt a prick as one of the spines scratched his skin under his fur. Fortunately he was immune to his own poison, else he would have much more to worry about then just how he looked. That was another thing this helped prevent, even if he was immune to his own venom, it still hurt when they got lodged in his back, and were hard to remove, even his flexibility had it's limits, and his paws didn't make it any easier to pull them out. 

Chase walked, in his human form, brandishing a stick. It had started with trying to play hide-and-seek with the big kids on the Grounds of the Mansion, but he was younger. Even if he could "shift" his legs longer to keep-up with them, they still liked to play their tricks. Somewhere along the way they'd ditched Chase to have their own, teenaged-boy fun, leaving Chase to his own devices. But he'd found a really cool stick, so at least he had that going for him.

Chase was at the far edge of the grounds, far from any surveillance or anything of the sort. Maybe he was by the fence? Heck if he knew. Chase imagined that he was an adventurer, conquering wild lands. Hark! Lo, what's that! A potential base of operations! (Perhaps in the summery days, it was a grounds-keeping shed of some sort... but right now, in the mushy early-March weather, it'd been abandoned. i.e. a perfect for for a twelve-year-old!

Chase charged towards the fort, his stick raised high above his head. From here, he could plot the demise of the big kids-- no, the demise of the rival band of adventurers! Yes! Chase tried the door, but it was locked tight with a padlock.

"Darn it," the shifter child muttered. Maybe there was a window? Chase was a good climber, and he could probably make it through a side-window. Then his base would be an even more secret base! With dogged determination, Chase wound around the edge of the shed, and came face-to-face with an unfamiliar face.

"Oh!" Chase gasped, startling. It wasn't that the mutant himself had startled him (that would be hypocritical), it was that he hadn't expected to see everyone else. (Besides, this was the Mansion Grounds... you expected to see mutants here!)

"Sorry! I didn't expect anyone else to be over here," the shifter-child sang, before fixing the unfamiliar mutant with a stare that was one-part intrigued and one-part wholly nonjudgmental (a feat usually only achievable by children). He was pretty sure he didn't know them, but Xavier's got new people all the time. And with such bestial features, it was difficult to pin an age on them... he assumed this person was a student, however, because he knew all the staff. (That's what being the counselor's adopted kid did for you...)

As Leon groomed himself, he was intently focused on his work, trying not to accidentally stick himself with a stray quill. Honestly, it like having a million razor sharp splinters knotting themselves in his fur. Even so, he thought he heard something as he was pulled through an especially bad bundle, but thought it must be his imagination. After all, he had come all the way out here because it seemed so secluded, the only person who had any business here would be a grounds keeper. He should have probably known better, after all, his luck was so bad he should have expected things wouldn't be that easy.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't expect anyone else to be over here,"

Leon froze for a second before turning, looking at his 'guest' with unnaturally cyan eyes. The shape of his face made emotions hard to gauge, but the spines on his back rose with the sudden anxiety he felt. It was only a kid, even so that only made it all the worse. His gaze went to the pile of quills on his jacket, paranoid that one may have found its way off, but the ground seemed clear. It didn't make him feel any better, as dangerous as his venom was it would probably kill a kid outright. He turned his gaze back to the kid, trying to look serious, his brow low over his eyes as he spoke, several rows of sharp shark-like teeth visible to the keen eyed.

"You shouldn't be here kid, it's not safe." he said, trying to stay as calm as he could even though his heart rate was up. He wanted his jacket back on, but he couldn't just pull it on without scattering the pile of quills, which would just make this place a venom minefield. He kept his eyes on the kid, watching for any sudden movements towards him. He didn't look afraid. He wasn't surprised, these place was full of mutants, but that just made the situation more dangerous for him. Kids weren't like adults, if they weren't scared of something, even if it were as horrible looking as him, they were prone to unpredictability, like petting the dog that might bite them.

Unfortunately for the red guy, Chase was (as the red guy had assumed) not daunted by the visibly mutated. If anything, those who wore their mutations externally ascended to some sort of idol-worship tier. Besides which, shapeshifting into someone so radically different was almost a game to the shifter-child.

>> "You shouldn't be here kid, its not safe."

"I'm twelve years old," Chase said, "And I go to school here."

Which was Chase's way of saying he had every right to be here, and he wasn't a kid-- he's a tween-- thank you very much. Luckily for the red guy, Chase was disinclined to touch much of anyone, courtesy of his mutation, so in that department he was relatively safe.

"My name's Chase," the shifter-child announced, "And I'll forgive you for invading my secret base because you have teeth like my best friend."

The guy talked like a big kid, that was for sure. The whole "Beat it, kid, this is my spot" attitude that tended to get under an outcast little twelve-year-old's skin. Stupid-head. Chase would show him. After his proclamation, the tween resumed surveying the shed, and the nearby trees. Maybe, if he got into a tree and up on one of the branches, he could reach the window, and kick it in??? Or if he was taller...

Chase, still toting his really aweseome stick, ambled towards a nearby tree and began to expertly scramble up its trunk, seemingly through with pardoning the red-man. A more socially-inclined person might have stuck around to ask the guy's name, but since this rude guy was telling Chase to scram, Chase was going to not listen to him.

The tween found his way to the first branch, surveying its proximity to the shed before looking upward. It wasn't close enough. Dang it. If only he was... taller... Chase looked back at the red-guy. He seemed like a big guy.

"Hey," Chase said, draping himself over the branch, "How tall are you?"

"I'm twelve years old, and I go to school here."

"Not what I'm referring to," said Leon, "Keep clear, these spines are poisonous." He wanted to make sure that the kid knew exactly what the danger was. Even if the kid was not making a move towards him, he was still nervous enough to want his jacket back on. He passed over the Chase's comment of having teeth like a friend of his, instead scooping up his jacket like a bag, and dumping the contents into the fire bin, using the brush to remove any stragglers. The quills hissed as the fire consumed them, the flames turning a sickly green around them as the toxins burned, and the smell of burning flesh wafted into the air, sticking in Leon's nose so that he couldn't smell anything else. He was used to it, but it still stank like hell.

He pulled his jacket back on carefully, so his spines didn't stick through as they bond them in place. He took note that apparently the shed was not a place he would be able to do this in future. He still needed to do his tail, but that seemed a bad idea with Chase playing, what was it? Secret base or something. 

"Hey, how tall are you?"

He looked back at Chase, wondering if it warranted answering.  "Don't you have friends to hang out with or something?" he asked, starting to walk away. He wasn't the type to entertain kids, maybe when he was younger, but definitely not now when any kid of horseplay carried a risk.

>> "Not what I'm referring to. Keep clear, these spines are poisonous."

"Don't like touching people anyway," the child muttered crossly from his perch. He watched with curiosity as the mutant took a bundle of... something... and tossed it into the fire. The fire hissed and turned green-- like any reasonable child, Chase was fascinated by the different-colored fire, and gave an appreciative, "Whoa!" as it sputtered. The noxious scent wafted his way, and Chase made a sound of disgust.

"Smells like farts!" he proclaimed.

>> "Don't you have friends to hang out with or something?"

He didn't even answer the question. And he was leaving. That was so unfair!

"Hey, wait a second!" Chase yelled, scrabbling down out of the tree, "Wait!"

Chase landed with the grace of an experienced tree-climber, and once he hit the ground and straightened himself out, he jogged after the red man.

"I have a friend, you have teeth like her, remember?" Chase said frankly, trying to catch the taller mutants eye. Yup, he was definitely tall, "But she does girl stuff sometimes and I'm a boy. At least usually I am. So right now she's busy. Hey. Hey, listen."

Chase got in front of the red mutant, pointing his stick at him.

"If you let me borrow something of yours for like... two minutes... I'll leave you alone, okay?" Chase said, "It doesn't have to be anything important. Maybe a shoe? Or your wallet? Or a coat? It's really important."

Big kids, they were all the same. All grumpy and "don't you have any friends" or "don't you have anything better to do"? Stupid big kids.

"I can be really annoying," Chase assured the red man.

Leon wasn't sure what to do about Chase, it wasn't like he had much experience handling kids, just keeping away from them, and here the rules seemed flipped since being a big scary monster had zero effect. As the kid ran after, he tried altering his course, trying to keep him a few arm lengths away from him, but Chase continued to pester him, eventually blocking his path.

"If you let me borrow something of yours for like... two minutes... I'll leave you alone, okay? It doesn't have to be anything important. Maybe a shoe? Or your wallet? Or a coat? It's really important. I can be really annoying."

"Clearly," said Leon, annoyed now. He didn't have anything but the coat on his back, his pants and bandages, and all of those were important. "Do I look like a guy who has anything to give away?" Anyone could have seen that his clothing was ragged and worn, he had no shoes, and if not for the mansions facilities, he would have been covered in dirt as well. His bandaged tail twitched in agitation, the spines pressing against the inside of the bandages while the tuft of non-poisonous spines on the end clicked together.

>> "Clearly... Do I look like a guy who has anything to give away?"

Chase puffed-out his cheeks. The steadily rising feeling of annoyance was reciprocated.

"It's not for forever," the twelve-year-old groaned, his hands upon his hips, "I just need to borrow it to get into the shed. Then you can have it back."

Sure, Chase could just free-form shift himself taller, but it would be quicker just to steal someone else's height for a few seconds. This guy was seeming more and more like a lost cause, though-- what a stupid... stupid-head. Big kids were such stupid-heads.

The red man flicked his tail like a giant, peevish cat, and finally the twelve-year-old buckled. Fiiiiine, he'd freeform his way into the shed, but he wouldn't be happy about it. Besides, now the stupid big-kid (or stupid transient adult, as the case may be) was leaving his fort. That's what he wanted, wasn't it.

"'Do I look like a guy who has anything to give away?'" Chase parroted peevishly in the red-man's own voice, before hollering, "They have donated clothes, you know? If you ask nicely, they'll probably even give you some."

The tone in the twelve-year-old's voice suggested that he thought "asking nicely" was highly unlikely for the red-man. Chase had returned to the side of the shed, eyeing the window that was just out of reach. It was propped open, perhaps to keep air circulating and prevent it from growing stale inside-- or perhaps a careless groundskeeper had forgotten. Chase had returned to the original mission, and was all but ignoring the red-man now.

Chase reached for the window, trying to push it farther open with his stick, but with no avail. Maybe, if he were a foot taller?

The tendrils that comprised his human form began to unravel, expanding and stretching, until a lanky individual stood in the small twelve-year-old's place. Now taller, Chase fought the window open-- there'd be plenty of room for him to wriggle through, now. He anchored his hands onto the window sill, and allowed the tendrils to unravel again. He shrank back, but managed to keep his feet and hands planted firmly against the side of the shed. With some minor scrabbling, he wriggled his way through the open window, and onto the work-table just beneath the window. There was a riding lawnmower (an unnecessary contraption, with snow like this), and a smattering of yard maintenance tools. Now inside, it was decidedly underwhelming, but Chase still relished the fact that he'd gotten in here without the red man.

Take that, grumpy red man!

Chase moved to leap to the floor, and accidentally kicked a box of nails. CRAAAASH! Oops. He'd poke around for a bit, see if he could find anything useful.

Finally, it seemed the kid was getting the message that he didn't want to play whatever game he was playing. And wanting his jacket, which could have any number of stray spines still attached to it, to get into the shed was ludicrous by his understanding. As Chase headed back to the shed, Leon walked a short distance, looking for a place he could sit and try grooming the broken quills out of his tail. He could hear him fuming about him and then shout about clothing donations. Chase didn't get it, it wasn't just about his clothes being his only possession, it was also about the fact that they were dangerous. His quills sometimes got caught in them, and even if he cleaned them, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't miss one. For all he knew, all his broken quills may leech venom into the materials, not something he knew for a fact, but he wasn't willing to risk poisoning the kid for some silly game.

He didn't pay attention to Chase, looking for a secluded spot, that is, until he heard a crash from inside the shed. Damn it, had chase hurt himself? He told himself it wasn't his problem, whatever trouble the kid was getting into wasn't caused by him. Not his responsibility to babysit, he needed to keep clear of it, or trouble was sure to follow.

Crap. He's still just a kid. As much as Leon wanted to just walk away, he couldn't. He knew what it was like to never have help to rely on in an emergency, and if the kid had hurt himself... Geez, why did he have to have a conscience. Reluctantly he started back towards the shed.

In the half-light of the shed, Chase shuffled around, his hands outstretched as he ventured. Now that he was inside, it wasn't nearly as cool as he'd imagined. Mostly the shed housed a riding lawnmower-- which would be way more cool if the main door was open-- shears, fertilizer, weed killer... gardening stuff. Oo, duct tape! It was mostly full, too. Chase took the roll of duct-tape and slid it over his hand. He didn't know what he'd do with it but you never knew when you might need duct tape!

The shapeshifter kicked the nails aside, perusing for anything else that might be of interest... nope, that just about covered it. Chase planted his palms upon the surface of the worktable and hoisted himself up, swinging a leg over. He then eased onto his knees, onto his feet and peered out the window. The work-table had made entering the shed less daunting. He'd been able to wriggle his way in and support himself with his hands for the most part. How, then, was he going to get out? It was a six foot drop at least.

"Stupid," Chase grumbled. He couldn't very well stay in the shed forever, though. Goodness knew when the next person would be by, especially now that the red-man had skulked off somewhere else. Feet-first would be the best way to go. Chase planted his hands on the table and began walking his way up the wall. Once to the window, he hooked his feet on the ledge-- ow. Now came the painful part. Wriggling butt-first out the window. With mild discomfort, Chase inched his way free, until gravity took hold and he slid out, scraping his arms along the way.

Chase would attempt to land on his feet, stumble a few steps before landing squarely on his back. The landing knocked the wind out of him and sent the world spinning, for a few moments. The twelve-year-old laid on the ground, watching the sky spin, and backtrack, spin, and backtrack, coughing as his lungs tried to re-inflate.

A wild grin touched his features. Still out of breath, Chase held out his fists, surveying the duct-tape roll that rested around his forearm. Nice! He'd made it out with the spoils of his adventure. Chase twisted his arms, showing the identical scrapes on each forearm. Not nice! He let his arms drop, his head lolling sideways as he drank deep breaths of air. Red Man was closer than he had been before-- on the return, as a matter of fact.

Chase coughed, stubbornly sitting-up and looking away. Red Man didn't like him so Chase wasn't going to talk to Red Man-- Red Man was mean.

Leon approached just in time to see Chase fall out the window. It didn't look too bad, but he could smell a faint scent of blood. Even if he wasn't badly hurt he probably scrapped himself up. He didn't know what had gone on in there, but he knew enough to know there was probably some rusty stuff in there, and tetanus existed.

He approached, looking chase over critically, and saw his scrapped up arms. "You OK?" he asked, though from Chases expression he was probably not interested in talking to him. He wondered if he should do anything at all. It wasn't like he was a doctor or anything, and kids tended to bounce back pretty easily. Still, now that he had come back, he didn't want to be bouncing back and forth either. He sighed, and pulled the end of his tail over, and unwrapped a bit of the bandage from the end. He tended to over wrap his tail so he had a little excess to work with, checking carefully for any spines that may have gotten caught in the material, and pulling only from the area closest to his non poisonous spines, just in case. He used his teeth to cut the bandage, his shark-like teeth cutting easily through and rolled it up into two bundles.

He paused then, unsure of how to handle this. He didn't want the kid anywhere near his spines, but didn't know if the kid knew how to bandage his own arms. Finally he placed the two bundles down next to Chase. "You may want to wrap those up." he said. It wasn't much, but at least he could keep them somewhat clean until he could wash them out or something.

>> "You OK?"

Chase got to his feet stiffly, deflating his cheeks to respond, "Yeah, I'm fine."

He brushed his pants off, though for the most part, he was just damp from landing on the mushy ground. His teeth were clenched against the urge to cry. Big kids didn't cry-- though it didn't really hurt that bad, just stung a little. He was mostly just embarrassed.

The shifter child watched with tentative interest as the Red Man fussed with his tail, unwinding some bandage from his tail and then ripping it with his teeth. What was this guy doing? Red Man held-out the proffered bandage.

>> "You may want to wrap those up."

Chase shook his head. Remembering his manners, he said, "Thank you. But I can't. Those will change me."

It was true, if the Red Man had had the bandages for long enough.

"I'm a shapeshifter," Chase clarified, "I can look like people by taking their things."

Chase spit on his hand, however gross it was, and wiped the slobbery hand on his forearms where the scrapes were, wiping away any dirt that may have accumulated there. He was a boy, ergo he was gross.

"Wanna see?" he offered, grinning, extending a hand. Even though he was still annoyed with Red Man, he was always a bit of show-off.

Leon listened, and the former request made a bit more sense. He wanted something of his to change into him. "Probably not a good idea," he said, "I'm venomous, you may poison yourself if you turn into me." He didn't have any idea how Chase's powers worked, but if they replicated him venom, that would be bad, he didn't want a kid running around with that. It would be asking for trouble. He tightened the bandage around his tail, tying it off once more. It was too bad he had just wasted some of it. Maybe he could find some other use for the strips.

"Maybe we should have the infirmary check it out," he suggested, "Don't want you getting tetanus or something." He didn't know if Chase was open to suggestions, and it was not like he could make him go at all. He didn't want to even try touching him now that he knew it could trigger the shapeshifting powers. 

>> "Probably not a good idea. I'm venomous, you may poison yourself if you turn into me."

The tween folded his arms. To an adult, that was a reasonable decision. But to Chase, that wasn't very fair. He liked playing tricks and being other people. And he had to show the Red Man!! To prove himself! Then he would like Chase! Right?

"Fine, fine," Chase yielded, "Just a basic thing, then. I'll mimic part of you. Give me a trait!" He was all too eager to use his power. It'd be almost like a game of charades.

>> "Maybe we should have the infirmary check it out. Don't want you getting tetanus or something."

"Hmmm," Chase said noncommittally, "Maaaaybeee. To get a band-aid."

DocProf had better things to do then treat simple scrapes.

"But only if you come with me!" the child stipulated. Most big people, besdies Mama, wouldn't give him the time of day. So since this guy came back, it'd be worthwhile to try and spend time with him.

Chase put his hands on his hips, to show that he meant business. "Please!"

See, he even added a please.That's how serious he was.

Leon could see this kid was determined to do whatever it is he was going to do, and frankly he was tired of being bombarded with it. "Okay... hair color," he said, thinking about the most arbitrary aspect of him that wouldn't cause any harm. He was not too interested in the boys powers, and more concerned with making sure he was okay.

"But only if you come with me!"

Leon let out a sigh of defeat, "Fine," he said, finally giving in. Kid was persistent, he would give him that. "But no horse play. Remember, poison spines." he stressed pointing a thumb at his back. He was going to make sure the kid understood that, to ensure his safety. He didn't like people around him on principle, so this was uncomfortable for him as it was.