"I know I don't need to worry, but I am,"Derek wasn't the type of person to just let someone suffer even if they were okay. After giving Leon a quick look over, he huffed with a smile on his face, "I think we're good," he looked at the fire, then at his gloves, "I'll also keep these gloves on just in case."

Derek got up and walked back around to the other side of the fire. It was getting late and the New England chill was being kept at bay by the flickering orange flames. He cleared his throat and looked over at Leon. He tried not to stare, but Leon was majestic in a way. The scarlet fur, then his cyan eyes. It was an interesting combination.

He shook head and looked down at his feet. Staring was rude, Der Der.

"Probably a good idea," said Leon, "If you see any stray quills, burn 'em," he said, just in case he had missed any. He didn't want to leave any just laying around for people to step on, or for some unfortunate animal to poison themselves with. His jacket was still off, he would usually put it back on by now, but after all that the fresh air against his back felt good, cool and soothing. If he sat here for a while it should be okay, right. He decided to enjoy it for now, he would put it on when he needed to do something else.

Derek cleared his throat, drawing Leon's attention. He seemed to be staring at him across the fire, but looked away when he noticed. Leon was self conscious about his appearance, he knew how ugly he was, fur the color of blood and piercing, unnaturally blue eyes, shark like teeth and the face of an animal. He was probably making Derek uncomfortable. "Sorry, I know I'm... 'uncomfortable' to be around." he said. Derek had probably been looking forward to this, and he had the misfortune of being paired with him.

Derek seemed a lot like the others here in a way, kinda insistent on trying to get close to him, trying to get past the walls he put up around himself. Leon didn't understand why people here kept doing that when he made it clear he was poison. I went against the better instincts of self preservation, he was a monster, he looked like a monster, why was everyone ignoring that and acting like he was... something else?

Derek nodded his head, "gotcha," his eyes scanned around for any stray spines just before relaxing and briefly closing his eyes. He felt at peace.

When Leon spoke, Derek looked at him with a knitted eyebrows. "Uncomfortable? No. God, no, you're not making me feel that way. Why would you think that?" He asked gently, "you're...just majestic in a way. I know you don't think that, but it's true. You're mutation is unique. It's something different." Derek complimented with a coy shrug of his shoulders. There's no reason for you to feel like a monster because you aren't."

Derek chewed on his lip in thought, "or at least take some pride in your mane. It's very...uh, voluptuous." Was that the right word? Derek didn't know. However, he did understand that for some reason, those who were physically mutated were attractive. Very attractive. "...Sorry, that came out wrong."

Leon wasn't sure how to take the... compliment? that Derek made. With no grasp on the nuances of social interaction, he couldn't read Derek to know wither he was being sincere. He curled up a bit, his chin close to his knees as his tail flicked in an agitated manner. "I look like this for a reason," he said, his tone laced with self loathing, "It's a warning, telling everyone they need to stay away, because I'm toxic." It is what he believed, after all, several animal were bright colors to warn others when they were poisonous. He was convinced that that was at least part of the reason his fur was that color. He couldn't take pride in anything he was, everyone could tell him he wasn't a monster, which they generally did, but just saying he wasn't a monster didn't prove it. He could be told he could fly by everyone but that didn't mean he would suddenly sprout wings (a thought he quickly quelled, with his streak of bad luck that could actually happen).

He gave a depressed sigh as he looked into the flames, watching the few remaining motes of green where the quills burned as they went out one by one. "Maybe it would be better if I just ran off into the woods," he thought aloud, "Find some deserted place and disappear." It was a thought, the streets of the city were dangerous, and he was too much of a cowards to simply end his own life. And the mansion had people who constantly were in danger because of him, and kept pushing their luck by getting close to him. Maybe some deserted place was the right place for him. He thought back on the books he had read about the Persian Manticore, which would have put it in arid deserts, a place that one could easily disappear into. If mutants were the reason behind legends, maybe that was why it was from there, a place where other people were not a factor.

Derek stared at Leon from between the flames. He never met someone who hated themselves this much. Granted, his reason was "valid" with his deathly poisonous quills and all, but everyone in the Mansion could be considered "dangerous". He hoped that somewhere somehow Leon got help with his self esteem.

He continued to stare at him before slowly getting up and making his way around the fire. His eyes were trained on the ground, "checking" it for spines before taking a seat a foot away from Leon. Derek looked over at Leon and offered him his hand.

"Will a handshake kill me?" He asked quietly, the flames of the campfire dances across his dark skin.

Leon watched as Derek made his way closer. He could see that he was checking where he trod, on the lookout for quills. At least someone was taking his seriously, he could appreciate that Derek was listening to him. Too often it seemed like people didn't listen to him, like they were so confident that it just couldn't happen to them that they simply dismissed his warnings. Perhaps it was because Derek was taking him seriously that he allowed him to get close without scooting away. Even so, he grabbed his jacket from behind him and pulled it on.

"Will a handshake kill me?"

Leon hesitated out of habit. He rarely touched anyone out of fear of an accident, but Derek had the gloves, and seemed to be understanding the risks involved with being around him. He had listened to him when he had hurt himself, even though it seemed o have been his first instinct to help him. He had listened to him after when he had been collecting his spines. Maybe Derek had shown enough where he could be... well... trust may be a bit too strong for Leon to admit, but something was going on. Leon hesitantly put out his paw, which was large and oversized. Even so it was easy to see his paw trembling a little, as if the bigger mutant was afraid of making contact with someone else. Well, that was exactly it wasn't it, Leon's fear of hurting others made him afraid of any kind of contact, even what would be harmless.

Derek smiled when he felt his hand be engulfed by Leon. He knew from conversing with animals that sometimes they needed space. The same thing going for humans and mutants. Showing people respect and keeping one's distance was essential to building trust and building bonds.

"It's nice to officially meet you, Leon." He smiled more before slowly letting go of his hand. He turned his attention to the fire and smiled to himself. Derek watched as the flames danced about, illuminating the two mutants.

"...my favorite season is Autumn. There's just something special about the changin' of the leaves, the festivities, the food," he smirked, looking down at the ground in thought, "What about you? What's your favorite season? Winter?"

Leon took his hand back after Derek let go, he hadn't really squeezed or anything, knowing he could likely break his hand if he tried anything. Still, he felt the warmth of his hand through the glove. He felt a slight ache, as the physical contact sparked at the desire for closeness and comfort. The human desire not to be alone. He reigned in that desired, pushing it back down as he let go. He couldn't allow himself that desire. It he did... it would destroy him, he was sure. He had lost everything once before, he had been down that road when his powers had manifested, when he had hurt friends and strangers alike, when he became a monster, when everything around him became poisoned, he had given up any right to human closeness. It had almost destroyed him once, and he couldn't let that back into his heart. Not when going through that experience again would break him.

"What about you? What's your favorite season? Winter?"

The question brought Leon out of his thoughts, he hadn't been focusing on what Derek was saying fully, but had been aware enough to recall what he had said. However, he had no real answer. "I... hmmmm," he said, the words breaking off into a murmur of uncertainty. He couldn't remember if he had a favorite season, he was sure he had one, back before when he was normal, but he couldn't remember it. Days, weeks, months and years had blended together after he ran away, and his perception of the world had blurred, and he had numbed himself to everything around him. Whatever passions he had had had died and fallen into the edges of memory until they faded and were forgotten. Leon hadn't planned on ever being around people again, so now what should have been a simple question to answer he had nothing to answer with. "I... guess their all the same to me." he said in a melancholy tone. It was not like he could be a part of any type of festivities. Whatever the occasion he had spent it alone.

Derek blinked at Leon's answer. There was a clear destination between the four seasons. Perhaps he didn't want to talk? That was probably it. "Gotcha."

"...Can you hand me the rations? I'm starvin' and desperately need somethin' to eat." Derek hadn't eaten anything since lunch that day and it was now 8:30. He hoped that they were given enough food to sustain them for the night. Derek hadn't really thought about it, but this was his first time "camping" even though it was also a survival challenge. He smiled at that thought alone and got up to grab that pot that was in his bag. "We also need water."

"Gotcha"

Leon got the feeling he was doing something wrong again. He wasn't good at conversing with others, he always felt like he was making everyone uncomfortable with his mood and general pessimism. His brooding and isolation had stunted and atrophied any social abilities he had once had. He was stumbling trying to keep Derek's interest, unfortunately it seemed he didn't have anything to offer, "I'm really bad at this," he admitted, He was going to be with Derek for the night, so he may as well admit his faults. He had plenty of those to give out.

Derek asked for some rations, so Leon picked up on of the packets and tossed them over. As for water, he picked up the canteen and unscrewed the top. Empty, figured. "They did give us some water purification tablets, I guess we're supposed to find out own." he said, wondering how to go about doing that. In the city all he had to do was find an unattended faucet, which was easy to come across in a sity between back alley hoses and public restrooms. In the woods, he had no idea where to start. "Does the map say anything about a stream or anything?" he asked, figuring that their best bet was something that was already recorded.

Derek looked over at Leon and bit his lip. At least he was trying to make conversation with Derek. "No, no, you're fine. Sometimes I talk to much." The African American mutant smiled softly at him before turning his attention to the rations that was given to him.

"Thank you," he smiled again and picked them out from the ground. He opened them to find a can of beans and six hotdogs. Derek looked over at Leon when he started talking about their lack of water. He quickly went over to pick up the map and search for a river. "Yep, there's one by our original campsite." Derek looked up at Leon. "Want me to go get it?"

Leon thought about letting Derek get the water, as him running through the woods had the risk of dropping quills everywhere. Then again, he had managed to break off a good number of them in his latest escapade, and Derek had 'groomed' him so he didn't have any caught in his fur. It usually took a couple of hours for the quills to regrow, so he should be somewhat ok. Honestly Derek was probably tired from the hike, while he had hardly broken a sweat. He could probably make the run and be back in a few minutes. If he didn't get lost that was. He hadn't really done much tracking by scent, though he knew his nose was capable of picking up different scents, but he hadn't really put that to the test. But he could see in the dark, which was a plus since night was encroaching, something Derek wouldn't be able to do, so he supposed he was the safer choice this time around.

"I should be able to get water in a few minutes," he said, "Which way is the River?" he knew Derek had said it was by the original campsite, but he had become disoriented when he had fell on his back, so he was unsure of the direction.

"It's uh," Derek looked down at the map and looked it over. He started to shift himself so that he could tell Leon the right thing, "it's east of here maybe seven meters?" He paused before looking up at the trees. He whistled a few times before a bat flapped and landed upside down on one of the low hanging tree branches.

"Can you search for the river for us please? I'll leave out a piece of fruit for you later when I head back in." The mutant smiled widely as the bat agreed and flapped off. Derek looked at Leon with a smile, "one minute," he whispered, putting his finger up.

After a few minutes, the bat came back and landed on Derek's shoulder, "it's that way," he pointed northeast, "do you want to follow him there?"

Leon watched Derek communicate with the bat. That had to be interesting, he wondered what kind of things he heard, though of course he had no idea what if anything how this exchange worked. Leon often finding himself envious of other mutants who's powers were kinder then this. Others could do amazing things, Derek only being the last in a long list that didn't isolate them like his did.

"do you want to follow him there?"

"If he can fly faster then I run, yes," said Leon, not sure how his running speed compared to a bats. To him it looked like fluttering about, but he would probably be proven wrong if the bat decided to take off at it's top speed. He looked in the direction Derek had pointed. It was probably dark, but Leon's eyes merely saw darker shades of color rather then an absence of light. "I'll be back as soon as I ca," he said, picking the canteen up and strapping it onto his shoulder. He hoped he didn't poke holes in it.

"He can," Derek assured, "you'll make sure you get the river's edge safely too. Well, he'll try." He can't really since Leon couldn't talk with bats, but, y'know.

Anyways, back to the task at hand.

The bat started to take off toward the river for Leon to follow him. "Go safe!" Derek called after him.

When they were gone, Derek got up and walked around the campsite. He noticed a couple more spines and tossed them into the fire. He made sure to breath through his mouth so he didn't have to smell it.