Everything was too much. Too much. The neon lights. The pounding music. The clatter of bowling balls against pins. Who was he? Where was he? The room was spinning. He felt like he was going to be sick. He had to get out of here. And so he was running blindly through the crowd, towards a promising doorway lit by even, fluorescent lights. Anything better than the piercing blue against swirling neon. The child brushed past the front desk and into the well-lit hall outside. A mall. Why was he at a mall again? Maybe, if he found someone he knew, he could tell them.

The human-shifter walked down the tiled alleyway, past back-lit signs advertising the "glow-bowling" within. What an awful place. People tilted weird looks at him, and they were met with an equally scrutinizing look. He looked too small to be by himself, first of all-- secondly, he wore his natural skin, which was altogether unnatural. He didn't know that, though. He didn't remember that. He had to find someone who knew why he was there. Or, at least, someone who could help him figure-out why he was there.

He peered in through a storefront window, noticing numerous displays of brightly-colored blocks. Something at the back of his brain told him that he liked those blocks. The child reached for the handle of the doorway, but winced as his fingers grazed the handle, withdrawing his hand. It stung! Rude!

The kid continued to amble along, shoving his prickling fingertips into his pockets. He shouldn't be shopping, anyways. He should be looking.

Celeste was happy to go to the mall on a field trip. She had picked out a plaid button up shirt, dark jeans, and some white shoes - a nice outfit for the weather. It seemed like it would be fun - except she didn't really want to stay in a bowling alley all day. In fact, she hated bowling. It was too loud, too many people, bad food, God knows how many people wore those bowling shoes before... Imagine what their toenails might look like? She shivered even thinking about it. 

Luckily for she had asked if she could just roam the mall until it was time to leave - and they had said yes. It surprised her that they would be that okay but she was 18 and did trek all the way from Canada here, so it probably wasn't that too big of a risk.

Today was a shopping day. At least, that was her goal. She needed to find some a new, more formal outfit. She just needed another one in her wardrobe, just in case she needed it. It had nothing to do with her next 'friends gathering' or whatever with Jude or anything.

At least, this was her plan until she saw what looked like... Maybe a young boy walking down the mall with no guardian and he was definitely a mutant - she could tell from his skin color and texture. He couldn't have been apart of the field trip - he seemed a bit too young. Or maybe he was just really short? In either case, this wasn't good. Celeste knew how bigoted people could be even, even when someone doesn't have an exterior mutation. It definitely wasn't safe for him to be by himself, a kid, in a huge mall with who knows roaming through it.

So, she decided to walk over to him and gave him a small wave and a reassuring smile, "Hey there. I'm Celestina - are you lost?" Maybe she could take him to the police desk, help desk or whatever they're called?  

The boy ditched the bowling shoes somewhere along the way, kicking them under a bench. They were too many sizes too big for his feet, so he was clopping around awkwardly. Walking around in socks would be much easier. The boy padded along, his hands in his pockets, gaze flicking over the crowd and occasionally into the storefront windows as he meandered past. Someone was talking to him. Her name was Celestina. The shifter-child stopped walking along.

"Celestina," the boy echoed, "That's a long name."

She didn't seem familiar, at all. She probably couldn't help him.

"I don't know," the boy remarked honestly, inclining his head, "I don't remember. That's what I'm trying to find-out."

Unsure of how to explain himseslf further, the boy lingered for a moment... before beginning to walk again.

She kept a reassuring smile on her face as she began to talk with the boy with no shoes. 

>> "Celestina, That's a long name."

Celeste chuckled and nodded, "It is, so you can call me Celeste. That's a little easier." 

>> "I don't know, I don't remember. That's what I'm trying to find-out."

She perked a brow. So he was definitely lost. And he began to walk again. 

"Well, let me try to help! You were walking from the other direction... Do you think what you're looking for is the other way? Do you remember your name at all?" She checked her watch, they had a few hours to spare. Celeste wasn't entirely sure where the place with the security guards would be at, but it's not like she could just grab his hand and force him somewhere anyways. So, Celeste decided the best course would be to at least keep him company as he walked. She could at least make sure he was safe from any ill-intentioners roaming about the mall. They'd eventually run into a security guard or the security guard station, anyways. 

The boy glanced at the Celeste, before looking over his shoulder.

"I don't like that direction," the child said decisively, "There's not much over there."

Except loud noises and bright lights and too many people. He was not going back in there. Though, if he had... well, at least the chaperones would recognize, and perhaps any of the longer-standing students. The child was not aware of this, however.

As per his name... the boy looked around, as if searching storefronts for the answer. A Brookstone stared back at him.

"Um... I don't... really know..." the kid mused, "You could call me... Brooks? though... that sounds like a good name." The boy pointed at the sign, pleased with his own resourcefulness.

"...at least until we find someone who knows my real name, anyway."

>> "I don't like that direction, There's not much over there."

Fair enough, honestly. She hadn't found anything she really liked over there as well - plus, it was very noisy and bright. It was a pretty annoying spot in the mall. Celeste couldn't blame him for not wanting to go back that way. So forward was the way to go, it seemed.

Celeste perked a brow, waiting for him to tell her his name. He.... Had no idea. That wasn't good. Maybe she could call Xavier's and see if someone might know him? If skin made it pretty clear he was a mutant, there was a chance that they knew about him. Maybe? But why would he be here? That didn't make much sense but she figured she'd follow up anyways, "Do you go to school?" Plus, small talk never hurt when you were walking around a mall with a lost kid who remembers nothing about himself.

She watched his eyes go to a Brooks and she nodded. "Okay, Brooks, well, let's try to find out who you really are." How though? She had no flippin' idea.

"Brooks" shrugged unhelpfully. He didn't know. The child kept stride with Celeste, eyes searching the faces of pedestrians who were walking towards him. No luck so far. Brooks didn't know how he'd know when he saw someone familiar... maybe it'd be like... a feeling in his gut.

Their path wound towards the food court, the alluring scents of hot meals wafting on a breeze towards the boy and his newfound friend. Brooks came to an abrupt halt, gaze following the smell. Food...

"Hey," he said to Celeste, "Maybe we could look over there?"

He dug into his pockets, hoping to scrounge some money. There were a few crumpled bills, a five and a one, and some loose change. Brooks flattened the bills, then looked up at Celeste.

"Everybody eats, right?" he clarified, "We could look there... while I eat."

His stomach yowled in agreement.

Celeste wasn't all that sure what she should do. Celeste wondered if he had parents that were freaking out, looking for him. What would she do in that kinda situation, her kid lost in a big mall? Better yet, could she even have kids...? She did have 5,000 rads in her... Hm, maybe thoughts for another time.

Celeste also caught wind of the smell of food. She was actually a bit hungry too. 

>>  "Maybe we could look over there? Everybody eats, right? We could look there... while I eat."

Celeste watched him take his little money out before she shook her head, "No, no, you keep that. You might need it. I'll buy it for you." Mall food was expensive anyways. Plus, she was a bit hungry, too, so it all made sense. She scanned their options, Chinese, pizza, Italian, ice cream - definitely will have to get desert, actually. Celeste loved some ice cream, "What are you craving? Pick anything you want. Afterwards, we can even get some ice cream." She gave the boy a warm smile, encouraging him to get whatever he wanted.

The child tilted his head at her. Might need it? Obediently he tucked the money back into his pocket, humming contemplatively. The two of them strolled closer to the individual food stalls.

There was a lot to choose from. A stall decorated in bright primary colors drew his attention, so the child wandered over there. They appeared to serve hot dogs (and related food-stuffs), pretzels, and lemonade, which was stored in these enormous clear plastic fountains. Also, the attendants were these ridiculous red, white, yellow, and blue ball caps with propellers on-top. The whole thing appealed to the shifter child.

"Maybe a hotdog? Please?" "Brooks" asked politely, tucking his hands into the pocket of his jeans. He could feel the money in his pocket... he knew that he could afford it, if he wanted, but... well, Celeste had offered. Something warm and savory would be nice, and would help clear his mind of the place with too many lights.

Celeste followed the kid, trying to think of a way to help find out who he was. Maybe she could call the police? They might have a missing persons list or something. He probably had parents looking through the mall right now, anyways. Hopefully. Or someone.

>> "Maybe a hotdog? Please?" 

She jumped a little when he talked. She had went into her own little world for a moment. She looked at the food stall and nodded, "Sure, do you just want a hot dog? Anything else?" They seemed to have some other options. He could definitely get a hot dog but if he wanted a pretzel or anything additional. "Is lemonade okay or would you want a soda?" Too bad the hats weren't for sale, she'd totally buy one for him. It was probably one of the reasons he chose this place, anyways.

Once he decided on his order, she smiled towards the cashier before telling him her order - a pretzel and a 20 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola. With a total, she handed the man her debit card and once that was complete, tucked it back inside her purse. It would take just a couple minutes for them to prepare the order so she motioned for 'Brooks' to follow her over to the other window, where they would hand them their food.

"So... Do you know how old you are?" 

Maybe she could ask if he wanted to go to a toy store? Parents probably brought kids to toy stores. Maybe they'd be looking for him there?

The boy's eyes widened, a smile crossing his expression.

"I would love a lemonade!" the child agreed. He lingered near the counter while Celeste placed the order, his slender hands clasped against the countertop. He couldn't remember who he was, but hey, at least he found a nice lady to buy him food! "Brooks" rocked on his feet, eagerly swaying to-and-fro as they waited.

>> "So... Do you know how old you are?"

The boy thought about it, looking down at himself. He wasn't exactly a little kid.... he was... kinda tall, right? But how old did you need to be to be "kinda tall"?

If the pregnant pause wasn't response enough of a response on its own, "Brooks" shouldered a shrug at Celeste and lightly responded, "N-no... I... don't? Really?"

He rubbed his head, frowning slightly.

>>"I would love a lemonade!" 

Celeste gave the boy a smile and nodded. 

She watched the boys reaction about her question. He had no idea. Which was fine, she wasn't entirely expecting an answer but she was hoping for something to trigger in his mind. 

"Order up!" Celeste grabbed their food and took them to a nearby table, sitting his food down first and then hers. She took a seat and gave him a smile, "Hmm... Maybe you're... 13? Maybe 12. I don't think you could be 14, though." She really only had his height to go by - his current face didn't give much indication, at least to Celeste, what his age could be. She took a bite of her pretzel and gave him a smile, "Well, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

The boy followed Celeste to the table, clambering into his seat as the tray was deposited between the two of them. Her guess was as good as his, when it came to ages. Those sounded like good numbers, though. "Brooks" reached for his hotdog, prompted by his yowling stomach to go for solid food first, but when his unsuspecting fingers clasped around the sanitary wrapping, it stung!

"Ow!" the boy hissed, letting go of the foil-wrapped food. He clasped his hands to his chest, staring crossly at the thing. Any closer inspection would reveal that it wasn't particularly hot to the touch-- it was the appropriate amount of hot, not nearly hot enough to burn fingers. And yet it prickled his fingers unpleasantly.

"It stung me," the boy said accusatorily. He reached out again, picking up the hotdog to unwrap it. The genetic residue from the person who'd wrapped the hotdog began to trigger a shift, and the tendrils that wrapped around his fingers, hands, and lower arms contorted and shifted, smoothing themselves into a smooth, caucasian skin-tone. "Brooks" dropped the hotdog on the tray again. The transformation made it halfway up to his elbows. He began to revert again when the hotdog had been released.

"I..." the nice lady had asked him a question. But he was a little flustered by the changing skintone, "I wanna be a, uh..." He didn't know what he wanted to be. Didn't she know he didn't know anything? "Brooks" looked around, and saw a uniformed man with a blue cap walking by, "-police officer!"

At this pronouncement, a few gears clicked into place in the boy's head. Someone he knew... someone important... was a police officer. "Brooks" could even see the man's face in his mind's eye, but he couldn't attach a name to it.

Celeste perked a brow as Brooks yelped in pain. Was it that hot? She reached over quickly and felt it. It was warm, but not hot hot. She saw his arms shift before fading back to his natural skin color. Is skin color the right term, actually? She arched a brow, but made no other indication of what she saw. She was pretty sure that his power wasn't touch aluminium and then somehow turn into a caucasian man.

She watched him turn around and see one of the mall security guards walking past. Oh, she needed him! She waved a little while Brooks was looking towards him, but he was already gone - she didn't want to freak the kid out or anything. Plus, there could be more to his powers that she didn't know about. 

In either case, it was clear that he didn't want to actually be a cop. Or, at least, he only chose that because he saw someone who looked like one. She took a sip of lemonade. He did look like he remembered something, "Did you remember something? Is one of your family members a cop?" It looked like he had remembered something. She would have asked if he had a friend that was a cop but he was a kid, so it probably wasn't a kid. Of course, it may not have even been a cop. It was only a guess based on the looks he gave after seeing the security guard. It could have just been her being a bit paranoid. 

The boy shrugged.

"Someone is," the human-shifter explained, "I know someone who is. I don't know who they are, though."

Gingerly, he peeled the wrapper of the hotdog back, fighting the sting of genetic residue against his fingertips. The boy grit his teeth and, once the hotdog had been freed, plucked-up his bono and happily took a first bite.

Ooh, this was really good! Even without ketchup or mustard... "Brooks" gave a content little smile, his cheeks puffy with hotdog. This wasn't so bad! Maybe he could just... follow Celeste home? Especially if she bought him hotdogs! That had to count for something, right?

"What do your parents do?" the child asked brightly. Of course, they weren't really focusing on her, but it didn't feel right to be the only one answering quesitons.