It had to be difficult, living without being able to feel things. Given how he reacted to her abilities, Gemma could tell that the man did not have many opportunities to take a break from his powers. For better or worse.

>>"Nope. Not a thing... It did, at first, yeah. But eventually, my brain compensated, and I was able to develop muscle memory for those mundane, everyday things. Like holding a glass without breaking it. My parents swapped to all plastic, and even some stainless steel while I was still learning. It was...rather difficult for a twelve year old, to be honest."

Twelve. Twelve, and not feeling pain. Gemma, as a mother, had ideas of how that would be hard to manage, and full of challenges every day.

>>"But it's not all bad. I'm a bouncer at some of the bars and clubs in the city; I work freelance right now, hoping to find something more permanent. No feeling really helps when you're dealing with a bunch of ornery drunks,"

"So... you work security?" she ventured, not at all surprised that his powers would lead to something like that. "What if... sorry to ask, but just now when you were in my aura, you seemed... in pain. How can you tell if you don't have any... more serious injuries? You wouldn't feel a shifting rib..." she added, not being able to keep the mothering tone out of her voice.

He nodded. "Yeah, I tend to work security at several different bars and clubs in the city, but since I'm more freelance, where I end up depends on the day." And then, he noted, she was quite concerned about his physical well being, despite not being able to feel. It sort of made him smile; most people didn't really care. No pain, no problem, right?

"Oh, there's a clinic nearby that practically knows me by name," he said with a slight chuckle. "I regularly go there for injuries and to get checked, just in case. It takes a lot of extra time and effort, but if I could afford it, I'd just pay a doctor to follow me around." He gave a slight shrug. "I learned to take precautions early on; getting checked regularly, looking for any abnormalities...stuff like that. Because...honestly, if I don't hear anything crunch, grind, or snap, I'd never know anything was wrong on my own."

>>"Yeah, I tend to work security at several different bars and clubs in the city, but since I'm more freelance, where I end up depends on the day."

The guy looked like he knew what he was good at, and knew how to take advantage of his powers. Gemma was not surprised he would be working jobs where not feeling pain was an asset, although she was not sure why he would choose to go freelance, rather than a regular job. Then again, mutant employment was far from ideal, even in New York City. Especially if he could not securely tell if he was injured or not at any given time...

>>"Oh, there's a clinic nearby that practically knows me by name. I regularly go there for injuries and to get checked, just in case. It takes a lot of extra time and effort, but if I could afford it, I'd just pay a doctor to follow me around. I learned to take precautions early on; getting checked regularly, looking for any abnormalities...stuff like that. Because...honestly, if I don't hear anything crunch, grind, or snap, I'd never know anything was wrong on my own."

Gemma nodded. She picked up the boxes she had been carrying again. She paused, not sure what to say to him; somehow she felt she wanted to know more about Blaine. Sometimes Gemma had hunches about people who needed to be in places, and... she had a hunch.

"Well, I am sorry I caused you discomfort with my aura" she repeated again "But... would you allow me to buy you a cup of coffee or something? I... work with mutants, and I would love to hear more of what your story is. I mean..." she reiterated "... I work with mutant children and teens, helping them cope with their powers."

"Don't worry about it; if it wasn't for the injury, I probably would have enjoyed it," he said with a slight shrug. And then, she mentioned coffee, and explained a little about what she did.

He gave sort of a chuckle. "Coffee sounds good," he answered. "Though, I kind of missed your target demographic by a long shot, I wouldn't mind telling you some of my story." He'd probably leave out some of it, after all, but he'd at least cover the important details, like him almost being famous. He loved telling that part because it was the closest to famous he'd get, nowadays.

Gemma did seem like a genuine person, and she struck him as the type who really just wanted to help people; though the motherly tone earlier may have given that away a little.

>>"Don't worry about it; if it wasn't for the injury, I probably would have enjoyed it,"

Gemma chuckled at the comment. There had been mutants in the past that enjoyed spending time inside her aura where they could sleep, or shower, or do other normal things, unhindered by their powers. She could imagine that not feeling anything would get boring after a while. When he was not injured, she might offer Blaine the opportunity again. If he turned out to be a trustworthy person.

>>"Coffee sounds good. Though, I kind of missed your target demographic by a long shot, I wouldn't mind telling you some of my story."

"You didn't miss them. You are ahead of them." she smiled, carrying the boxes down the sidewalk to a small coffee shop nearby "Does this place sound okay?"

Once they grabbed a table and ordered some coffee, Gemma sat back and smiled at her new companion. She was curious to hear more about his story, and more about how he had been coping with his powers.

"So... I'm happy to listen, if you want to tell me some of your story. But you don't really have to talk about anything you don't want to. This is not an interview."

He nodded as they walked inside and got coffee; maybe this random meeting would be good for him, after all. He paused, thinking a moment on his story, where to start, and more importantly where to finish.

"Well...I told you how I was twelve when my powers first started to surface. Then, it was just pain. As years went on...I lost other sensations. First it was temperature, then I couldn't taste texture, and then even the minor touches were lost on me. But...my brain seemed to compensate because I never forgot how to walk, or lost a lot of balance. Grip though...that was always a tricky one. I shattered so many glasses at first..." he chuckled lightly at the thought.

"I used to get bullied...at first it was kick me signs...stapled to my back. Sometimes it was thumb tacks. I'd walk around like that all day until a teacher saw. So I learned self defense, fighting lessons. After that the bullying stopped, but I could still hear the whispering..." he paused again.

"But I knew what I wanted to do. When I graduated, I pursued mixed martial arts, and was quite the sensation in my hometown, though I kept my mutation under wraps. They called me Painless Blaine, and I was set to score a pro-contract by the time I was almost twenty-four. But in my match...I got caught in a kimura lock. It snapped my arm clean. I didn't even flinch. In fact, I went on to win the fight, but my secret was out. Didn't stop me from holding my broken arm high in victory." he smiled at the thought.

"Then, I moved to New York after cashing in a favor, and I got in doing odd jobs, but became more of a freelance security guy. But apparently, I'm quite the desirable aspect, so I don't have many weekends or nights off. But I learned how to make my mutation work for me."

Gemma sat back, sipping her well deserved coffee as she listened to Blaine's story. The man was a fighter, in more ways than one. Even though he told his story very concisely, Gemma picked up on cues that repeated a lot in such stories - the bullying, the power changes, the unique paths people walked until they got to where they needed to be.

>>"Then, I moved to New York after cashing in a favor, and I got in doing odd jobs, but became more of a freelance security guy. But apparently, I'm quite the desirable aspect, so I don't have many weekends or nights off. But I learned how to make my mutation work for me."

Gemma nodded. He certainly did. He probably missed some of the sensations, as he had noted about her aura. But even beyond that, she knew that he was still searching for other things. And there was no hint of revenge in his story.

"I have worked with kids who went through things like that" she nodded "A lot of them end up living at the school... Good thing you found ways to use your mutation. For a living, I mean."

He smiled as he drank his coffee; it was actually nice knowing he wasn't the only one with that kind of story. Then again, he guessed most mutants had one very similar.

"I see...It's nice knowing they have someone like you to help them. I just sorta had to figure things out on my own. I mean, my family helped the best they could, but to this day they never really understood what it was like," he explained sadly. "I mean...it's been over ten years, I think. And it's not that there's any hatred there; it just feels like nobody knows what to say."

His voice trailed off a little as he focused more intently on his coffee.

Gemma did not usually talk about her job to strangers; she liked to make sure first that they could be trusted, given the sensitive situations she had to deal with day to day. But Blaine had been through many things that the kids at the Mansion had too.

>>"I see...It's nice knowing they have someone like you to help them. I just sorta had to figure things out on my own. I mean, my family helped the best they could, but to this day they never really understood what it was like,"

Gemma nodded. Even as an adapted with her own power, even as a counselor to hundreds of mutant children for decades, she had to admit to herself that no, she did not know first hand what they had to go through, or could not even imagine what it would be like to deal with a difficult power. But she wanted to help, and Blaine seemed to understand that.

>>"I mean...it's been over ten years, I think. And it's not that there's any hatred there; it just feels like nobody knows what to say."

Gemma nodded again.

"That's... a whole other story. People sometimes get so caught up in how to deal with powers... or in my case, how to help with powers, that we don't have time left to educate others." she sighed "Ideally, there would be acceptance taught at schools. But then again, in that case we would not need a separate school for mutant kids..." she chuckled a little "What I meant to say is, you are welcome to visit, if you'd like. It's a school, but it is also a home for mutants when they need it. And maybe there would be kids who need to hear your story."

He nodded taking another sip of his coffee, thinking on his past, his power, on others he'd met with powers. All of a sudden he remembered everyone he'd faced in that underground fighting ring to date. Part of him wondered what their story was. Most of them were like him, unable to go pro for one reason or another, while others just had some things to work out.

"I may be able to pop by on occasion, if need be. I mean, even though I'll never be a famous mutant fighter now, I can still be somewhat of a role model," he said after a moment, smiling just a little. Though he really did hope that the next time they met, he was in better condition. Apparently, being immune to feeling after all these years left him with no pain tolerance whatsoever.

"Cracked rib notwithstanding, it was nice to meet you," he said with a dry chuckle as he set his empty cup on the table.

Gemma was fairly good at reading people, mutant or otherwise. She felt like she could trust Blaine. Not completely at first, of course, but he did seem like a decent guy, and one that could be good with the older students, learning about dealing with their powers. If he was interested, on the long run, of course.

>>"I may be able to pop by on occasion, if need be. I mean, even though I'll never be a famous mutant fighter now, I can still be somewhat of a role model,"

"I'm sure you'd have interesting things to say" Gemma smiled, digging up a business card from her bag, and handing it to him. It was a standing invitation.

>>"Cracked rib notwithstanding, it was nice to meet you,"

"Likewise" Gemma smiled "Feel free to visit. You'll find me at the school most days. Just make sure you are healed before you get too close."