She nodded and took a bite of her pretzel. She was almost finished with it already - she couldn't really believe she ate it that fast. She sighed and took a sip of lemonade. It was a start, at least. Maybe if someone who was a police officer knew him, they would be looking for him, right? It was only a matter of time before they found out who he was and where he was from!

She gave him a smile. He seemed to enjoy the hot dog, which was good. At least, once he got it off. She wondered why the aluminum stung him. She was thinking about asking him if he knew why, but she figured he'd just say he didn't know. 

She perked a brow. What her parents did? She didn't have parents, at least as far as she could tell. They hadn't spoke since she left Regina and she was not ever expecting to talk with them again. Of course, this wasn't the time to really talk about that with a kid, but she was taken off guard by the question. "Well, my mother is a nurse and my father is an oil driller. Both live in Canada. What do you think your parents would do?" She gave him a warm smile. 

The child half-listened as Celeste explained what her mother and father did, and how they lived in Canada.

"Whoa," the boy said appreciatively.

>> "What do you think your parents would do?"

"Brooks" finished chewing his bite of hotdog and swallowed. He was about halfway done, and he hadn't even touched his drink.

"I don't know," the child began... his responses were starting to sound like a scratched record, or they would have, it it weren't for the addendum "Brooks" added to his remark, "I've had a lot of parents... I think my first parents were doctors... maybe. And maybe my now-dad is a cop."

It was a lot of maybe's.

"And my now-mom... would be... A Super-Mom! The best mom there is!"

Neither of which was very far from the truth, but the shifter child spoke with such uncertainty, it'd be difficult to place any weight on what he was saying.

She checked her watch as she took another sip of lemonade. They still had some time, enough of time that they could probably finish eating, maybe buy a dinosaur for them and then they could hit the bus back to the Mansion. She figured the Mansion would probably know what to do - she didn't, at least.

She nodded as he put a lot of 'maybes' and 'I think.' Poor kid. She hoped he had parents. She knew lots of mutants were thrown out, un-cared for, or just generally treated awful. She knew it. Lots of parents though? That was interesting. Well, he definitely had somebody who was a cop. Not sure who or how he was related, but she was sure someone who was important to him was a cop. Hopefully, anyways.

She pulled some of her hair behind her ear and nodded as she listened to him talk. She gave him a warm smile, "I hope so! She has a pretty awesome super-kid!" She finished her lemonade and leaned back in her chair, content. "I'm sure we'll find them before you know it." 

The child smiled, his cheeks puffed with hotdog, letting his legs swing beneath the table. He was lucky to find someone as nice as Celeste to help him out. It made the whole ordeal seem much more... handle-able. Less scary. Though "Brooks" wasn't scared, merely confused. Like... why couldn't he remember anything? That was one weird thing that most lost kids probably didn't have to deal with.

The hotdog was devoured in no time, though he occasionally stopped eating to engage in small-talk with Celeste here-and-there. She'd ask him a hypothetical question, and the child would do his best to respond honestly, though in nearly all of his responses, he wasn't entirely certain of what an honest response would be. Once finished with the hotdog, the child rolled the foil wrapper into a neat little ball-- weird, it didn't sting anymore-- and placed it on the tray.

He sipped at his drink, iridescent gaze turning towards his newfound friend.

"Where do we want to check, next?"

Now that his tummy was full, he wasn't as invested in where they went.

Once she finished her food and drink, she collected it in the middle of the table. And once Brooks was finished with his meals, she got his trash. After putting them into a pile, she threw it int he trash can before taking a seat. "Did the aluminium wrapping sting you again?" She asked afterwards. He hadn't made any indications, but he may have just been expecting it.

She thought for a moment and then eyed a nearby ice cream place, "Do you want to get some ice cream? We can grab some and then go to... a toy store?" He was still a kid, so surely he would like some toys. She stood up and waited for to see if he wanted to go to get some ice cream or not. In the meantime, she had another question, "So, do you know what a mutant is?" 

>> "Did the aluminum wrapping sting you again?"

"It tingled," Brooks confessed honestly, "But I fought it."

Which was true-- the child could resist transforming if he expected it, though he wasn't wholly aware of the mechanics, personally, at the moment.

"Yeah!" the boy agreed at the proffered treats, hopping out of his chair. Really, what kid didn't like ice cream and toys? He balled his hands into fists, almost incapable of containing his excitement. The question gave him pause, though.

His biological parents had never used that word, so the boy was not familiar with that. They elected for less politically-correct terms, such as "muties" or "freaks" or stuff of the sort.

"Do you know what a mutant is?" the boy countered, touching a hand to his chin. He thought he was being sly. He didn't want Celeste to think he was stupid for not knowing something.

She nodded and gave him a smile. She wasn't really sure what why or what he meant by fought it, but she was glad that it didn't hurt him like before. She thought, at least. She wasn't entirely sure.

She giggled and nodded, "Let's go!" She motioned for him to follow her to the ice cream shop. She looked at all the options and decided to go with her basic order: waffle cone with a scoop of vanilla and strawberry. Sooo basic. She looked towards Brooks, "What do you think you'd like?" He could recognize foods and items that he liked but he didnt' seem to actively know what was going on. Or something. 

She gave him a big grin. He totally had no idea but that was okay. He did lose all of memories and stuff, so it wasn't something to be ashamed of. She cleared her throat, "Well, it's when you have special abilities that your body lets you do. Kinda like how your arms changed color when you touched the aluminum wrapping on the hot dog." She smiled, "I'm one, too. I know a whole school full of them, that I go too. We might can go there afterwards and see if we can find out if someone may know where to look for your family." It was the safest place to start, anyways.

She was worried about the bigots of the world. Even cops and security guards had biases against groups of people. He'd be safe at the Mansion until Celeste and him and whoever else would help find his family. 

The boy approached the lit ice cream case, peering through the glass at the massive tubs of ice cream. In typical adolescent fashion, Brooks went for the most iridescent, repulsive-looking ice cream, which boasted lurid shades of blue, green, and purple, and claimed to be some sort of sherbet.

"Celeste, can I get that one?" the boy asked, pointing at the half-rainbow nightmare, peering up at her. This, too, was deposited onto a cone, and proffer red to the young boy.

"Thank you!" Brooks chirped, beaming. What a great day! Who cared if he got lost, he got food, too, and that was all that mattered! The ice cream cone stung a little, too, but now Brooks knew better. He gritted his teeth past the feeling, and endured. As the older girl paid, the boy nibbled at the edge of his scoop of ice cream.

The boy nodded, shaking his thick mane of black-and-white hair, "That sounds like a very good place to start."

Celeste laughed and she nodded, "Of course. You can get whatever you want." 

She gave the kid a smile. He seemed like a good kid - she really hoped his family didn't drop him off just because of his mutation. Granted, it would be pretty strange to see a neglectful parent to drop a kid off at the mall. But who knows, evil parents are evil. There isn't much getting around that.

She nodded as she took a few licks off of her ice cream cone. "Well, before we go, let's go get you some toys, eh?" Did gave the boy a smile and motioned for him to follow her. She was pretty sure there was a Toys R Us somewhere in this mall. Hopefully, this was the right direction, at least. 

The doppelganger happily began to work away at his ice cream cone, his iridescent eyes closed contently as he followed Celeste away from the ice cream shoppe. It was fruity and tangy and all kinds of wonderful. Definitely a good choice, on the boy's part.

>> "Well, before we go, let's get you some toys, eh?"

"Brooks" looked inquiringly at Celeste, already wearing a little blue-green moustache from the ice cream he was eating. It was a kid's dream come true, to be offered toys for no reason whatsoever. At the back of his mind, the boy realized that he probably already had toys, but... more toys were always better.

"Okay!" the boy agreed. But, just to be sure it wasn't some sort of joke, "Are you sure? I mean, I probably have toys, right?"

He probably did. And Celeste probably knew that.

He was a good kid, at least as far she could tell. He listened, he enjoyed his food, drinks, and deserts. She just really, really hoped he had a family that cared about him and that he just slipped away somehow. He seemed to like the crazy colored ice cream, which was also really good.

She stopped to check a sign for the toy store, confirmed they were going in the right direction and continued forward. 

She nodded, "Yeah, I am nearly positive you do." She smiled and gave him a wink, "But you can never have too many toys, right?" She booped his nose and pretty quickly they ended up at the Toys R Us. She grinned as they arrived at the entrance of the store, "So, what kind of toys do you think you'd like? Just take a look around and go in the direction that strikes your interest. I'll be right behind you." 

The child grinned at the fact that he and Celeste were of the same mind, though scrunched his nose at the sudden and unexpected boop. It didn't sting as badly as it would have if Celeste had touched his arm or hand, but it was still an unpleasant sensation.

The two ventured into the store, and the shifter-child looked around with wide eyes. Toy stores were always filled to the brim with loud sounds, bright colors, and peals of either laughter or dismay from various patrons swirling in the aether.

>> "So, what kind of toy do you think you like? Just take a look around and go in the direction that strikes your interest. I'll be right behind you."

The boy nodded, meandering into the store. His eyes were a rich indigo with delight, a smile upon his lips. The boy meandered past the baby section, past games, and towards things that were more... independently minded. Dolls... sports equipment... various forms of r/c cars... he didn't let the siren's call of such things pull him from the main aisle.

It was a busy store, so it was difficult to say where to start.

"What's your favorite toy?" the boy chirped, "Or, you know, was."

Celeste was probably too big to care about toys.

She smiled towards Brooks and watched as he looked around. It was almost like he wasn't entirely sure which way to go. But, he ended up walking, moving on. They passed several sections. Celeste followed behind, content to just make sure he didn't get lost again.

Her favorite toy? Hm, what was her favorite toy? She gave a playful scoff, "Totally dinos. T-Rex, Longnecks, you know." She gave him a grin. Sure, she didn't play with them anymore. But, she easily remembered how much she loved them when she was a kid. 

The human-shifter nodded. He did know about dinosaurs! Dinosaurs were cool! It didn't take a memory to know that.

"The megalodon is my favorite," the boy announced, beaming. Dinosaurs were cool, and sharks were cool, which meant that dinosaur-sharks were twice as cool. "Brooks" paused, his eyes widening at the glimpse of a glorious sight. A large red-and-yellow display advertised a sundry of Legos. The child's mouth formed an intrigued "o", and he jorgged over to the display, bouncing with excitement.

He glanced back at Celeste for permission, pleading with his eyes.

She smiled and nodded, “Megalodons are pretty awesome.” She chuckled and perked a brow as he stopped moving. Her eyes followed where she thought they were at and… Legos. So many legos. She nearly laughed but she simply followed the young child as he ran over.

She nodded with a big grin, “Yeah, pick which one you want!” Hopefully, they wouldn’t cost too much. Eh, she’d figure it out. The kid deserved it. Granted, next would be finding him a place to actually be able to play with them was another story. She really hoped the mansion could help. Maybe the counselor lady? She hadn’t met her, but she had an amazing reputation.