She nodded. "Yeah, I'm noticing that they rarely are. I mean, I haven't been in contact with many mutants so far; I think I've seen more after a month in New York than I have in my eighteen years of living in Maine. Though working at a mutant-employed restaurant has also helped with exposure, I guess," she said with a shrug.

Then the menu was open between them, and it was really sinking in how close they were. But...it wasn't a bad thing. After all, she'd had help with her mutation. Though she'd been given tons of pointers and advice from different people, it was nice to have another perspective. And this Jude character really seemed to have a good head on his shoulders to be so young.

The young woman listened to the menu descriptions. "Yeah, I'm more of a protein and starch kinda girl. And yet I somehow manage to keep my figure," she said with a slight giggle. Okay, so sushi was a no go, which...would have been anyway, because ew. "I'm liking the idea of steak and chicken," she said, "Fried rice, of course. And ew. I could never eat anything that's still moving. That's just....wrong."

> "...Though working at a mutant-employed restaurant has also helped with exposure, I guess"

He gasped in mock horror. "That's reverse racist!" As if there were such a thing. Racism was just plain old racism.

"Yeah, I've worked in a a few mutant-run places. The shop I'm in now is full of guys who were forced out because they're mutants and, really, just between you and me... I can't imagine the balls it took to fire these guys. They are scaaaary." Was that saying too much, that was probably saying too much. Ah well. He didn't have any loyalty to any government in this timeline. Not Murica, not England, not a drop of patriotism for his homeland of France.

Okay. Maybe a little idealized patriotism toward France. The language, at least, was far superior.

Jude raised his hand and the lady was more than eager to get their orders in. She had already turned on the teppan, for goodness sakes.

"Surf and Turf for me. Steak and chickens for the lady. We both want fried rice. Thanks!" That was what she'd said, right? Yeah. Totally. He collected their menus and, where was his phone? Oh. He scooped it up.

"Where were we? Black?" No, that was racist. "Black hair, I mean?"

She chuckled at his mockery. "Well, at first I would have argued that it promotes us, and gives us a purpose. But after working there awhile, I'd say it's really just a reason to put mutant women in ugly-ass shirts and ungodly-short shorts," she said dryly. But it paid the bills. Well, it paid her grocery bill, and what little bit Blaine had her pay a month, though she was sure it didn't help him out much.

Chuckling at his next comment, she really had to wonder about this shop. After all, he wasn't nearly as 'scaaaary' as the guys he'd described. But it was no matter. And then he was ordering for them, and her hair turned briefly pink as he referred to her as 'the lady.' But just as quick as it'd happened, her hair was a happy shade of orange again.

"Black hair. Yeah...it's weird. I have no idea what it does or means, but I think it's like...a cocktail of emotions, I guess? It's never...gone nova before, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it can't," she said, biting her lip as she thought a moment. Yeah, they were likely going to have to break out the post-it notes and the graph paper for sure.

Jude snorted. "Yeah slapping booty shorts on mutants seems to be a theme. For a while the ladies on the X-men team all had skirts." Cough. "Not that I had anything to do with that, but it's kinda hard not to notice when I lived with one." ColdSteel had still been a mentor and legend in Jude's mind at that time. Jude's hair cycled through a few different colors while he put those feelings back in the box they deserved to die in. Wow. How times had changed.

But yeah! They were talking about black hair.

"Going nova? Like what your hands were doing when they were purpley before?" But worse, he guessed. She'd said they could have gone worse, hadn't she? Jude stabbed through his salad for a bit as he processed.

"Okay. So recap. Black hair might be more than one feeling. A mix of emotions, I guess. And the chart? You said some of those fit and some others didn't. So, I guess we start with which ones fit? What color do you want to turn your hair? We'll try to make it happen and then confirm that it works." That sounded nice and logical.

Skirts. Of course. "They don't still do that though, right?" she asked, quirking a brow. She was set to--eventually--make her way to the mansion, but that would have been a deal breaker. Unless she could pair it with some leggings or something cute like that.

She watched his hair cycle, and it made her smile. So that's what it looked like...it was actually neat, watching it happen to someone else. "Colored light is harmless. The more intense the emotion, the more steady, bright, and intense the light is. When under too much pressure, there's a sudden flash of bright white light and a sound like a gunshot. It's pretty disorienting, even for me," she explained. She was sort of resistant to it, but she had no idea what effect it'd have on someone who'd had this power for all of several minutes. Or....how would it affect her if she was on the receiving end?

"Right. Black is a mixture. Dangerous cocktail, at that."

And then came the question. He threw a slow pitch, right over the plate. It was sort of unfair, but it'd be even more unfair not to take this chance. Besides, when would she get this chance again? It was too perfect.

Her stayed orange, but the light flickered a little more earnestly for a few seconds. "Let's try pink," she said with a smirk. She had a good idea what pink meant, but it was a decent start. Maybe a bit mean, but hey, she was almost obligated to do it.

"Okay pink." Did he have to consult his chart? Jude had sort of expected a little more explanation to go with that one. "Is that... am I supposed to make you laugh? Or...?"

She was smirking. Why was she smirking?

Jude looked at her. Like, really looked at her.

Oh. Pink. He swallowed from nerves or maybe one last leaf of salad that just didn't want to go.

Okay then. Pink. He could maybe try that...

The Frenchman let himself think down the vast sea of corny pickup lines and settled on one while he gently plucked her hand from wherever she was hiding it. For this, he needed her fingers.

"Si le verbe aimer n’existait pas, je l’aurais inventé en te voyant." As he spoke in the romantic French language, he brought her fingers up to his mouth and planted the most chaste kiss on her knuckles while maintaining solid, unabashed eye contact. "It means, 'If the verb ‘to love’ didn’t exist, I would have invented it upon seeing you.'" And that deserved eyebrows.

Skye giggled a little, that evil smirk not going anywhere. "That's for you to figure out," she said coyly, her hair becoming a playful shade of yellow as she looked over at him. Oh this was going to be fun. she didn't know why she was suddenly embracing this somewhat mean side that wanted to torture the guy she 'saved,' but it was fun, watching him squirm a little bit.

And then he grabbed her hand, said something in....French? And then he kissed her knuckles without breaking the eye contact between them.

She smiled, feeling her face growing warm as he said what it meant. Oh....he was good. Sure enough, her hair turned pink, her hands beginning to pulse with the hot-pink light. "Well...that was...quite the surprise," she said, her coy smirk turning into a more genuine smile. So he could be a romantic....granted she had to somewhat coax it out of him.

"So...I think I know what that one means...did you want to try another?"

"You hit yellow-y on the way to pink. What was that? Teasing?" Jude managed to send an elbow her way because he'd made him go all mushy. In public. And why was he supposed to pick the colors? His hair darkened with his temporary pout. It wasn't like he knew what any of them meant.

"What do you think green is?" Was green even an option? His irritation passed as quickly as it had settled in. Curiosity and an ashy blond were too easy to fall back into.

The waitress came by to quietly bus their empty (or not) plates and bowls and make sure their drinks were not all gone.


Right! Dinner and a show and they weren't the show. Could they keep up their game while someone flipped rice and veggies around?

"Yellow's kind of weird. I know I was feeling rather playful at the time. Maybe a little flirty, but I'm almost positive anything related to that is pink," she said with a smirk. Due to the proximity, she caught the light elbow in the ribs, and she giggled just a little. He didn't seem too upset, so that was at least a plus.

"Green? It's only gone green a few times. But it never really lasts long. Usually it's just a quick flash to green...Like I was taking a nap one day and my aunt knocked the lamp off the nightstand. I think it flashed green then?" She thought a moment after speaking, though she decided not to tell that full story. But the information given would be plenty.

Oh right. They were at a restaurant. Skye'd gotten so wrapped up in their little game that she forgot why they were even there in the first place. Maybe they could keep this up.

Or maybe she'd just get distracted by the show. Then again, her 'date' was pretty easy on the eyes too...

"Okay. So green might be surprise then. We'll circle back around to that one." He couldn't just turn and yell 'boo' now that she was expecting it. He'd have to try to remember and do it later.

He was also going to graciously ignore that she'd been feeling flirty. Well of course that was the case. They'd been shooting for pink.

"Orange?" He counter-offered another color as their chef arrived and greeted them both. "Was orange on the list?"

But then the chef was real distracting. He confirmed both of their orders and got to cooking. He slung the meat on the grill, careful not to let anything touch that shouldn't touch, and melted butter. His knife must have been so sharp because he sliced everything up right in front of them like it was no big deal at all. Vegetable ends were flicked expertly into his hat. He made the fried rice into a heart shape and then made it beat with his spatula before passing it out.

Jude grinned to his tablemate and accepted his bowl of rice, overjoyed for the food and nearly platinum blonde.

Skye gave a nod, thinking how this little impromptu 'hero' thing was turning out better than she'd expected. For her, anyway. She didn't really know how Jude felt about all this, especially after the 'pink' incident, the aftermath of which still showed in her hair, which never did turn from the color of 'love.' But Jude seemed interested in mutations, as noted by his willingness to do this test, and by the cycling of his own hair colors. Though she couldn't help but notice his weren't as vibrant. Maybe that just varied from person to person.

But if there was one thing she learned from science, it was that an experiment tested one variable at a time. And today was apparently about her. "Orange? It's been orange before. I know it's more of a positive feeling," she said, thinking.

But then the 'show' started and she was entranced, watching the chef work. She'd never been to a place like this before, and it showed, her hair moving from pink to yellow, in awe as she watched the man work. The rice-heart was an excellent touch as she returned the smile to her...now platinum blonde table mate. Heh...they matched. Though she had to wonder if bystanders would think that was sweet, or weird. Two kids with rapidly changing hair colors.