>"Uh, we could go stop traffic."

Wait, What? The idea sounded ludicrous at first, well at first. To Richards still fuzzy mind it sounded rather amusing. It had been a long day, work then show new tenant around, then walk then get fired into a tree.

"Well, why not." Said Richard partly in jest.

Derek reached out his hand.

>"You can ride along, too. It'll be like some crazy animal movie or somethin."

Derek did have a point, Richard expected that all too soon out would come the smart phones then invariably a worried park ranger or two would come by asking what was going on and if they were mistreating animals etc. The funny thing was that if the Meese well "attacked" they would have trouble convincing people that the telekinetic blast did not come from either of them. Speaking of which if the Meese "fired off a round" would Derek and Richard also achieve liftoff? He should check.

"Um, Derek, if Madam Meese..." It was always good to be polite to a animal who could both trample you to death and pick you up and fling you into a tree, with its mind. "..fires off another telekinetic blast, will we... be affected?"

>Do you have anythin' in mind? I'm up for literally anythin'"

Richard laughed. "Derek it has been quite I day, I would not mind a drink, but how about Madam Meese here? What does she want? Also is she coming home with you?"

That was something to think about. The apartment was tolerant towards mutants, but Meese? Not much was known about them.

Derek looked over his shoulder at Richard in thought, "Uhhh, I think that we should be okay. She shouldn't deliberately hurt us," the meese grunted in agreement, "see?"

>> "Derek it has been quite I day, I would not mind a drink, but how about Madam Meese here? What does she want? Also is she coming home with you?"


"Drinks sound good. Along with some onion rings or fries. Maybe fries. Or wings." Fries and wings sounded like the best option. "As for Madam Meese, I think --," the meese grunted, "oh, she says that she'll just come back here and 'chill'. She has other meese friends she hangs out with." Derek stated with a simple shrug.

"Though, it is nice knowin' that I have an alley. An animal alley."

> "Uhhh, I think that we should be okay. She shouldn't deliberately hurt us, see?"

Richard looked relieved. At least hanging out with Derek and his newfound adoptive mother would be less inducive to concussions. And yes Richard had begun to mentally peg the Meese as Derek's adoptive mother. One did not argue with a telekenetic Moose. Speaking of which, "Derek, does your adoptive mother have a preferred name?"

>"Drinks sound good. Along with some onion rings or fries. Maybe fries. Or wings. As for Madam Meese, I think --, oh, she says that she'll just come back here and 'chill'. She has other meese friends she hangs out with." Though, it is nice knowin' that I have an alley. An animal alley."

Richard laughed. "Well come on then, there is a pub just around the corner." And It would not do to have some worried park ranger come barrelling along convinced that two young men were causing trouble. Richard happily waved farewell to Derek's mother and the two men set off towards sustenance both solid and liquid.

Once they were happily ensconced around a table with a beer in one hand, a side of rings for Derek and a side of cheesy chips for Richard, he turned to Derek. "Does this sort of thing happen often? May I ask when/ how it all began?"

Richard suspected it would be a very interesting story.

>> "Derek, does your adoptive mother have a preferred name?"

"...Niimi." Derek nodded in answer. "That sounds very interesting, Niimi. Nice name." Derek chuckled a bit before turning his attention back over his shoulder to Richard. "The more you know, huh?"

>> "Well come on then, there is a pub just around the corner."

The twenty-year-old had never been to a pub before. How was it different than a bar? Derek didn't know the answers to his questions, but he was sure that Richard did. The Meese started to move toward the street. After they made it there, he waved along with Richard to Niimi and turned his attention to the pub that was in front of them.

After being led to their table, Derek sat down and ordered a simple Pepsi. "Hm? Oh, uh, it started happenin' when I was sixteen. Animals just...love me and listen to what I have to say. I have to admit that it's pretty much history," he ate one of his onion rings, "what about you? When did you start realizin' that you were special."

"Hm? Oh, uh, it started happenin' when I was sixteen. Animals just...love me and listen to what I have to say. I have to admit that it's pretty much history.What about you? When did you start realizin' that you were special."

"Did that ever get you into trouble, or did you ever use your powers to play tricks on people?"

Images formed in Richards mind of animals swarming Derek, another of Derek commanding animals to swarm others or play practical jokes on others. He wondered if Derek ever convinced squirrels to become pickpockets.....

"Me? I found out by accident. It saved my life. I was hiking out in the wilderness, way above the treeline and somehow I wandered off trail and my GPS broke. Stupidly I did not bring a backup map. So in a fit of stupid desperation I tried willing the GPS to fix itself, and well a few migraines later, I found out I could. I was able to fix it, just, without passing out and ran down the mountain being chased by lightening strikes not 100 meters from me."

Richard shuddered slightly at the memory, it had been close. The thunder, the flash, the roar, it had been one part terrifying one part exhilarating.

"That was oh, about 5 years ago. I think that is less common to discover you are a mutant relatively late in life. Just as well too I grew up in a place where things did not go well for you and your family if it was known you were a mutant. How did your family and friends take it? Did they know?"

Everyone's story was so different.

>> "Did that ever get you into trouble, or did you ever use your powers to play tricks on people?"

Derek smirked, shaking his head. "No, no. Nothing like that. Though, I have had a couple of incidents." Derek could remember letting his emotions get out of hand and having the animals that were around him act out because of it.

>> "Me? I found out by accident. It saved my life. I was hiking out in the wilderness, way above the treeline and somehow I wandered off trail and my GPS broke. Stupidly I did not bring a backup map. So in a fit of stupid desperation I tried willing the GPS to fix itself, and well a few migraines later, I found out I could. I was able to fix it, just, without passing out and ran down the mountain being chased by lightening strikes not 100 meters from me."

Derek winced. That didn't sound pleasant in the slightest. "Ouch. That sounds horrible." He was glad that he didn't experience any of that when powers first started to activate.

>> "That was oh, about 5 years ago. I think that is less common to discover you are a mutant relatively late in life. Just as well too I grew up in a place where things did not go well for you and your family if it was known you were a mutant. How did your family and friends take it? Did they know?"

Well, that was the million dollar question, wasn't it? Derek cleared his throat and tried not to look too rattled by it. "See, that's the thing," Derek chuckled a bit, biting his lip. "I...haven't told them yet. I've been waiting to..." Derek scratched underneath his chin. "So, there's that. What about you?"