Derek chuckled at Aleksandr's response. "Not gonna lie, I would do the same thing if I was half human half...anything really. If I was half serpent, I'd only wear a t-shirt and that's all." Though his thoughts were worthy of a Cinnamon Roll, Derek's body had other plans. He tried himself before down, but it was definitely hard to do so.

"...Two hands?" Derek gulped, "two hands like," he lifted his hands and curled his fingers as if he was grabbing something, "or to hands as in...the other kind?" Poor Derek's eyes were open and filled with genuine curiosity.

"Ah..." Derek was in awe of Aleksandr's anotomy. He tried to look over the table to get a better look, but it was done in vain. "I-I'd love to study your body closer. It's really interesting."

Aleksandr chuckled at the impromptu miming, retrieving his nearly finished drink and sipping with a shrug. "What kind of handful depends on situation," he replied, a grin playing across his face again. It was so easy to fluster the kid, and so much fun because of it. The expression alone were worth it.

"Hands on is best way of learning, is true." And often the most fun. Being as large and unusual as he was it wasn't uncommon for others to touch and well as look, which he didn't mind as long as they weren't smudging or pulling on his scales. Even just moving about in the world often led to him brushing into others due to his size. More intimate touching was less common, but savored that much more because of it.

Watching Derek struggle to see over the table was amusing, though he did worry a bit over the table's ability to hold its balance under the shifting weight. Having furniture dropped on his tail wasn't an attractive thought. Uncoiling enough to rise to his standing height allowed his upper body to sit higher than the table and allowed him to remove the bulk of his tail from the potential strike zone. "Study will be easier outside of the shop. You are ready to visit the Park now?"

That statement alone made a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face. "U-um," his mouth was starting to feel dry so he quickly took several gulps of his iced coffee. So much that his coffee was less than half way full. He was going to need more coffee, "...you have a very nice tail, by the way. It's so structurally...pleasing."

"I-I bet."Derek moistened his lips and tried to keep his eyes from wandering over Aleksandr's face. It was too tempting to pull away. Derek chewed on his bottom lip and tried his hardest to keep himself from bursting into flames.

Derek's eyes followed his body closer as adjusted. His mouth went from dry to suddenly being soaked in salvia in a matter of seconds. His eyes slowly trailed up to look at Aleksandr's face. "Park? Alright! Yeah!" Derek immediately stood up, bumping into the table, "ouch!" He hissed quietly, "I-I'm fine, I'm fine! taking in a deep breath, he tossed his coffee into the trash and quickly ate the cookie. He straightened his shirt and smiled at his date, "after you."

Derek seemed to be getting increasingly hungry as the conversation progressed and flirted with the line of what was inappropriate. Or what was the word that was being used now? Thirsty? Judging by how fast he sucked down most of the remainder of his coffee, thirsty seemed like a fitting term. Not that Aleksandr could blame him. The snake was a magnificent specimen after all.

"Yes, there are many thing about me that are pleasing." Some more so than others, particularly the portion saved for specific encounters. Aesthetically he was always pleasing. Sometimes he envied others for being able to see all of him without having to rely on a mirrored surface. Truly they were fortunate.

The snake man just barely saved his cup from tipping over as Derek leapt to his feet and upset the table in the process. He had to clench his teeth to keep from laughing at the young man once it was apparent that he hadn't hurt himself. He downed the remainder f his coffee to help stifle the laughter threatening to escape him.

"Unless you are wanting to go somewhere else?" he prompted, tossing his now empty cup into the bin by the exit on his way out. He held the door for the other young man once he'd slipped the entirety of his tail out onto the sidewalk. Derek seemed to be approaching some kind of breaking point. Aleksandr wasn't sure how much more the young man could handle before having to call it a night.

Derek didn't know whether or not Aleksandr was enjoying himself. Everything he said sounded like he was trying to put the moves on Derek. He was putting the moves on Derek. He didn't know whether or not it was strictly sex driven, but it was worth looking into.

"Thank you " Derek walked through the opened door and waited for Aleksandr to join him on the sidewalk. "And no, the park is good. I love the way it makes me feel. Though, the first time I came here, I ran into a meese that told me that I was her son." It was a long story.

After about a few minutes of Derek and Aleksandr walking, they came to the park.

"Ah, being here makes me feel so free sometimes!" He did a spin for emphasis.

"You have Meese mother?" That was a... confusing statement. Meese were part of that odd branch of moose weren't they? Aleksandr thought he'd heard mention of them once or twice in the news, but he had hardly paid them any attention. They certainly hadn't been anything about some moose mothering a person, though. That was something he'd have remembered for sure.

"Free is good word for it." He watched, amused, ans Derek spun once they had reached the Park. The gates hadn't closed just yet, so they probably hadn't stayed out too far past midnight. Or else they were getting close to closing hours and had managed to get in before the gates were shut for the night. Not that it particularly mattered. Aleksandr could scale walls with the best of them and in spite of his size he could still blend fairly well once he was among the foliage. Something as simple as operating hours wasn't going to stop him from enjoying himself.

"I like being outside also," he continued, sliding off the path to move through the grass parallel to it. Spending so much time slithering across concrete made him appreciate the time when he could avoid it. It was rough on his scales and even though he lived for the heat, on a hot day the pavement could reach unbearably searing temperatures. "The fresh air is good to breathe and there is no cramping inside of walls. I like it better with the sun, but the stars are beautiful also."

Derek nodded his head, "it's a long, complicated story that thankfully has a witness to it." Poor Richard got himself knocked back by Mother Meese before he could have a chance to defend himself. Derek felt so bad about what happened that he made Richard breakfast three days in a row. At least Derek had an ally to call upon in the future.

He chuckled and quickly came back to Aleksandr's side. Derek felt good about being back at the Park regardless. Plus, this was also where he met Max. His shoulders brushed against his and felt chills run down his spine again. "Sometimes I think about running through the park without clothes to just to feel the earth and space around him," he looked over at Aleksandr and grinned, "you're honestly lucky."

"Mentionin' the sun, are you cold blooded or warm blooded?" The African American mutant asked as he watched his date slither on the grass. It seemed so nature that Derek wanted to take a picture of his tail's movement through the greenery. He looked up to look at Aleksandr's face for the answer.

"Being naked is very liberating," he agreed, also having long considered himself fortunate enough to win the X- Gene lottery in that respect. It wasn't quite on the same level as a human being naked, but it was enough to garner disapproval from some so it was close enough to count in his opinion.

"There is something that is very sensual about it," he continued, swerving from the path momentarily to avoid a particularly sharp looking rock jutting from the ground. "Is not good to spend so much time on concrete and under cloth. We are needing to feel the air and the grass on our skin. Is good for the soul to be in nature."

The next question about his blood had long since puzzled him as well. In all honesty he wasn't entirely sure if he'd fully transitioned from one blood type to another, but given his aversion to the cold he had just assumed that's what had happened. "I am thinking it is cold blood now," he answered, lightly draping an arm over Derek's shoulders. Body heat was always especially delicious, but not everyone would let him get close enough to leech any. "I do not like the cold. Everything slows down and is very miserable. This is why I leave Russia and come to New York. Your winters are not so long."

"I completely agree with you. God, I just want to be immersed in the ground and feel the dirt and earth all around me. Granted I'll need a shower afterwards, but it'll be totally worth it." Derek sighed. He loved everything about the earth and how it was self sustaining which only made him loath the actions of humans. With runoff, pollutants, deforestation and floating garbage piles, Mother Nature was slowly being abused and eaten away at. Derek grimaced at the thought, but quickly recovered.

In a quick thought of freedom, Derek stopped to take off his shoes and socks. He grabbed he items that were once on his feet and stood on the other side of Aleksandr so that he was walking in the grass with him. This certainly felt better.

When Derek felt his arm go loosely around his shoulders, the mutant quickly returned the favor and wrapped his free hand around his waist. "Trust me, if you love short winters you should go down south. It's a lot warmer down there. Though, because of your outward appearance, you might get called a whole host of names."

"Ah, showers. This is something I miss," he said wistfully, once again silently cursing a world made too small for him. "Well, showering I can still do but not all at once. I have not yet found one that can hold all of me." A bath would be nice, too, but even the deeper tubs struggled to accommodate the entirety of his tail.

Aleksandr waited patiently once he realized that Derek was stopping to remove his shoes, continuing alongside the path only once the other young man had come around to his other side. "Dirty I think will still be good look for you," he said, appreciating the imagery that had been gifted to him.

Moving South had crossed his mind the the past, particularly during the times he was confined to his living space for fear of being stuck out in the cold. It was a nice idea in theory, but things like the prejudice Derek touched upon had soured the possibility. "I have had this thought, but New York seems to be mutant hot spot. Even with cold winters it is probably best place for me to be."

Derek looked over at Aleksandr and smiled some, "so you have to bathe different parts of your body once at a time? Wow, that must be a hassle to do every mornin', er, night. Whenever you take a shower,"Derek chewed on his lip and tried to keep that visual far from his mind. He didn't have a towel ready to wipe up his sweat.

"Thank you,"Derek chuckled a bit, "you could be a model of any kind. You're just overly gorgeous. A serpentine Adonis if you will." The dark skinned mutant was always great at flattery. It was one of his many talents. Derek slightly tightened his hand around his waist to give him a bit more warmth.

"That's true, though California is also majority mutant accepting. They have warm weather year round." Derek explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "I would move there, but my roots are too deep here for me to just uproot and move across the country."

"I wash in pieces, yes," he replied with a shrug. He could wash his upper half without too much difficulty like he would have before his mutation surfaced, but the tail had to be done in sections. "Is not so bad now that I am used to it. I have become very flexible. Is really only a difficulty when shedding."

Being called a model wasn't something he heard very often, but he couldn't say he disagreed with the sentiment. "Is true, I have been very fortunate with my mutation. Not everyone is gaining such beauty when they change." He also didn't often hear that he was modest. Vanity was one of his bigger downfalls. "But you are very handsome too. I think you could also model if you try."

The West Coast certainly was an option. Living by the ocean sounded wonderful. All that salt air and sea water had to be good for his scales and as itchy as the sand might be he bet it would really help with any shedding. "California sounds like a nice place, but I am settled here. It would be a shame to move when I am starting to create friends and a home. Maybe another day."

Shedding? "You shed too? How does that process work? Can you also go long periods without eating if you have a large meal?" Derek had so many questions for Aleksandr. He could spend a whole day listening to him explain how he functioned on a day to day basis.

"Aw, thanks. I appreciate the compliment," Derek's eyes trailed over his scaled ladened body and moistened his lips. God, anyone who was able to wake up next to him was a lucky person. Derek found himself having a dopey smile and quickly turned away from him.

Derek nodded his head, "same here," he smiled and studied the side of Aleksandr's face. "How often do you find yourself wanting to live out in nature? Just wanting to be surrounded by natural things? Sights, sounds, tastes, smells..."

"Yes, is only thing I do not like about mutation," he said, a pained look crossing his face at the thought of it. "Is happening only maybe two or three times a year, but is very itchy and annoying. All of the old skin comes off. Is not very nice to look at." Aside from the cold weather, shedding was the only other reason Aleksandr would confine himself to his room for long periods of time. There was nothing attractive about leaving a trail of old scales in his wake.

"Eating is still mostly like humans. My stomach is the same size and I do not have very slow digestion like snakes," he continued, much less troubled by that aspect of himself. "I eat mostly meat now and usually I hunt for it. My teeth are making it hard for me to eat other things." He had an enormous sweet tooth, too, the cruelest trick of them all.

"I am wanting to be in nature almost always, but there are not so many opportunities in the city," he answered. The Park was a nice place to retreat to but with so many other people visiting and things like operating hours it was hard to truly feel lost in the greenery. "Is sometimes hard to give up things like heat lamps and mattresses, though."

Glancing down at Derek he nearly stopped short when a thought hit him. "I forget to ask if you are mutant also." He'd been so wrapped up in talking about himself and teasing the young man that the thought had failed to cross his mind.

"Ah, well I'm sure after the sheddin' happens you're left with a fresh, new scales." That was a plus side to being a sex snake man, right? Derek didn't know for sure, but assumed that it was. "But I can see it bein' extremely annoyin'. Thankfully it doesn't happen on a day to day basis."

Derek was nodding his head every so often until Aleksandr told him that he "hunted" for his food. What did that mean? Derek was a little frightened to ask what he meant by that. "...Hunt? As in you actively go out and kill your own food?" He asked hazardously.

"That's true," Derek looked up at Aleksandr and smiled briefly at him. "Maybe doing it for a weekend wouldn't hurt." Derek shrugged his shoulders and looked straight forward again. Spending time with sexy snake man was continuing to be very enjoyable. More so than it just being on a sexual level.

"Oh, yep! I'm a mutant. I can commincate and influence the behavior of animals. Nothin' too flashy or special." Derek shrugged his shoulders coyly and smiled bashfully.