Emma laughed a little with Jack. She did have admit that it did sound funny now that she had said it out loud. Jack covered her mouth as she laughed and Emma stood up next to her and gently moved her hand, saying softly, "You have such a beautiful smile. I'd hate to see you cover up something so beautiful."

Emma listened to her talk about her transforming, a slight frown on her face. "I'm sorry it was so painful for you. I never knew about mutations really until I moved here. They were so sparse in Washington and I never understood how my mutation worked back then. But I'm glad I can make you happy now.", she said with a smile.

And then Jack had a contemplative look on her face as she tapped her chin and squinted her eyes asking if she would be okay and not pass out. Emma grinned at her, saying "You know, you look really cute when you make that face. And of course I'll be okay. My headache has subsided and I've got a pretty lady close by me so I think I handle just about anything you throw at me."

The subway started to slow down some as it was coming into the next station. Emma took Jack's hand and started to lead her to the closest door, as the subway stopped and the doors opened. Emma heard Jack say that a shower would be nice and clothes that weren't wet. Emma nodded and said to Jack, "Then a shower and dry clothes are what you shall have. My house isn't too terribly far from this station, but unfortunately, we'll get more wet than we are now. Unless, the rain has let up from what it was earlier."

Emma made her way with Jack through the crowds of people at the station and over to the stairs leading back up to the streets. Emma hadn't known Jack long, but Emma was realizing how nice it was being around her and how genuinely sincere she was. Emma knew it was too soon to tell how things could go, but she thought about how nice it would be spend more days with Jack and get to know her. It was something she could get used to, depending on how Jack felt once they spent more time together.

Jack’s hair flickered pink at the sudden contact, and a flush crept into her ears. That was easy to say when she looked like this! But a compliment was still a compliment.

“Force of habit,” she sputtered, managing a closed-mouth smile, this time. Emma went-on to say that she hadn’t encountered many mutants until she’d left Washington for New York, and the remark made Jack’s blood run cold. An anxious and lingering purple rushed into her hair, and her smile faltered.

“Oh, you’re from Washington? What part?” her voice was still upbeat, but a note of hesitance had wiggled its way in, “I’m from Mount Vernon.”

The mention of her home-state had chased away any of the cheerful pinks and oranges that had wriggled into her hair, and a stubborn purple hung-on. A bashful smile still quirked at Jack’s features at Emma’s flattery, however.

“You did see me before this-“ Jack gestured vaguely at her face, “-happened, right?”

There was no hostility in her tone, just… a sort of self-deprecating humor. Here Emma was, insisting that she was cute and pretty and all of these things, but it was all the result of Emma’s mutation. It was artificial. And yes, it felt damn good, but that didn’t change the fact that it wasn’t real. She wasn’t human, she wasn’t cute. She was some hell-spawned anthropomorphic shrimp-and-rainbow amalgamation.

Most of these thoughts were dispelled when Emma took Jack’s hand and led her off the train. Apparently she’d been more lost in thought than she’d realized. Jack followed dumbly. One thing that this new face did not change was that she was still very, veeeery weak to women.

The varying surfaces beneath the woman’s bare feet felt so foreign and strange, and so Jack took to watching her feet as they wandered through the station—mostly in order to be sure that she didn’t step on glass or some such thing. The pavement was damp and she could feel it—cold, too. The metallic sting of the escalator was almost unbearable, and yet there was also something so wonderful about it.

“Do you… drink soda?” it was an entirely random question, but—with her modified tastebuds, Jack hadn’t been able to eat a good many things (such as junk food). That could be something else that she’d try while not-prawn-y.

Emma smiled at Jack, but then she noticed the sudden change in color at the mention of her home state. Emma paused her walking for a moment, still holding Jack's hand. "Yeah, I'm from Renton. That's not too terribly far from Mount Vernon, but did I upset you? What happened in Washington to make you go all purple? Bad memories? I have bad memories of there too. My dad perpetually cheated on my Mom and it was emotionally devastating on the both of us. It felt like she cried all the time, but she always stayed with him for me. She didn't want to break apart our family when I was little. Eventually, I convinced her to leave and we came here after I turned my dad into a cat. But I'm never going back there. Ever."

Emma realized she had ranted and apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that. I just really hate what he did. And I didn't mean to pry. I just noticed that it made you suddenly really unhappy." Emma squeezed Jack's hand a little and rubbed her hand slightly with her thumb. She did so to try and comfort Jack and help her feel better.

Emma started back walking at a slower pace than before. Just as she got to the escalators, she heard Jack say something deprecating about herself, attempting to be humorous about it. She replied softly and sweetly, while looking into Jack's eyes, "Of course I did. It may have been briefly, but that doesn't change the way you've treated me. You've been so kind and thoughtful of me and you genuinely seem to care about me and my well-being. You're still you, no matter what you look like. If I had a girlfriend who treated me the way you're treating me now, I'd think I was the luckiest woman in the world. I truly mean that."

As Emma and Jack stepped off of the escalator and up to the street level, Emma noticed that it was still raining some, but not hardly as much of a downpour as it was earlier. And then Emma heard Jack ask her the weirdest question about soda. Emma laughed slightly and said to Jack, "Yeah, I have some in the fridge at the house. I could fix you something to eat as well if you're hungry. I always stay pretty stocked up with groceries at the house. So there's lots of things to choose from."

Emma walked along, still holding Jack's hand. After a couple blocks, Emma then turned right onto another street and took a left on the second street on that block. Emma's apartment building was the third one down. She told Jack, "I share an apartment with my Mom, but she's gonna be gone for a few days. So it'll be just us. Make yourself at home."

She opened the door to the building and let Jack go in first. The foyer area was decorated with modern accents. There was a black sleek table with a crystal lamp sitting on top. The tiles were white and appeared to look like faux marble. The walls were a beige color with pictures of landscapes and flowers hung around the room. It wasn't an expensive apartment building to live in, but it wasn't run down and cheap like some of the others were. Emma dug into her savings some to make sure that she and her Mom had a decent place to live. "It's not much further, I promise.", she said as she made her way to the stairs and up to the 2nd floor.

With her free hand, Jack idly twirled a lock of hair-- huh, her hair was purple, wasn't it? Diverting her attention to this change caused the color to start to drain out of it. While Emma spilled a summary of her life story, Jack was quite the contrary. Despite the direct line of inquir, she was tight-lipped. She hadn't even told Zinnia, her last serious girlfriend, about when her upbringing had taken a sudden turn south... why on earth would she tell a total stranger? And, just like that, Emma's apologizing again, squeezing her hand. The gesture with her thumb against the back of the other woman's hand pushed color into Jack's cheeks. If anyone called attention to it, though, she'd blame the weather.

"You have to be much more familiar with me, to unlock my backstory," she said simply, playfully, looking at Emma through her lashes. A smirk twisted at her lips, an expression that just felt so natural. Emma's honest response about Jack's kindness was met by another attempt at downplaying the situation, "Well... I mean... I'm not a native New Yorker-" she winked cheekily, "-any decent person would make sure you were okay."

The promise of food was appealing, but Jack didn't want to impose too much. She wordlesssly shook her head, and let herself be led onto the streets ahead. The pavement was cold and wet beneath her feet, but thankfully it had not been a snowy day. Jack could feel the bumpiness of the sidewalk... she stepped on a bottle cap, and it actually hurt! Her gaze unfastened itself from Emma (how long had she been staring?) and pointed towards her feet. The last thing she needed was to step on something that could give her a cut or an infection.

Before she knew it, they were at Emma's apartment complex... and, a short journey later, they were inside. It was a relief to be inside, out of the elements. Jack's wet feet peeled against the warm tile floor. The taller woman bobbled aimlessly around the foyer until Emma caught-up, and then trailed dutifully behind her. Jack didn't know where they were going, afterall. She breathed a low whistle.

"Nice place," she commented. This was just the entry, of course, but before the prawn had moved-in to Devon's complex, her place had been barely liveable. Then Jack went ahead and blew a hole in the side of her complex. Ha, now it deifitely wasn't livable. Carefully, Jack followed Emma up the stairs, keeping her eyes trained on her feet as opposed to Emma's... but staring was rude. Jack looked back to her feet.

Emma nodded as she heard Jack tell her that she would have to be more familiar with her to know her back story. Emma looked back at her and saw some color in her cheeks. She didn't know if that was from her or just from the weather today, but she hoped that Jack was liking Emma's attempt at flirting.

Jack said that any decent person would have made sure she was okay. Emma laughed as she saw Jack wink and said, "Maybe so, but I'm glad it was you. And I'd love to get to know you better and see you more. That is, if you'd like to as well and would allow me to." Emma looked at Jack in her beautiful eyes and bit her bottom lip, slightly nervous, but still smiling at Jack.

As they walked, she felt a difference in tension as she lead Jack, realizing that the other lady had unfortunately stepped on a bottle cap with her bare feet. Emma asked, "Are you alright? Did you cut yourself or anything?" She had to make sure Jack was okay.

As they walked into the foyer from outside, Jack commented about how nice the place was. Emma said, "Yeah, it is a nice place to live. I tried to find somewhere decent for me and my Mom after we left. It was the least I could do for her and make sure she has a better life now than before."

As Emma climbed the stairs, her soaked clothes pulled and rubbed against her skin, sticking to her more and showing more of her curves. As they reached the second floor, Emma walked down the hall and just a few doors from the stairwell, Emma stopped, grabbed keys from her pocket and unlocked the door. She opened it and stepped through. "This is my place.", she said to Jack, "Please, make yourself at home. Would you like that soda first or should I go ahead and get you clothes and a towel for a shower?" Emma looked over at Jack, her wet clothes hanging on her. Emma's thoughts wandering to Jack and the hot shower. Emma smiled and blushed a little as she slightly stared at Jack.

The bar counter and open kitchen area were to their right as they walked through the doorway. It as well as the entrance area had tile floors. The kitchen had white counter tops and cabinets, but all of the appliances were black in color. It had enough space for two decently sized people to work in there together comfortably.The living room was directly in front of them. It had soft, tan carpetting and had a black cloth living room suite. The couch was against one wall with the coffee table in front of it. The tv and entertainment center was against the opposite wall and the love seat was against the adjacent wall with an end table between the couch and love seat. Pictures of Emma and her Mom were hung on the wall, mixed in with other floral, bird, and musical wall decor. The hallway to the left was the way to Emma's room and bathroom and the hallway to the right of the kitchen lead to her Mom's room and bedroom. The utility/laundry room was also off of that hallway.

Jack lingered behind Emma as she unlocked the door, shifting her weight from foot-to-foot. Emma welcomed Jack in, asking which Jack would prefer first. The taller woman curled her fingers into the fabric of her shirt, peeling the wet fabric from stomach.

"Shower first is probably best," she murmured, "Just my luck I'll catch a cold while I'm all fleshy."

She gave a crooked smile, blissfully unaware of the fact that she was being appraised by the other woman. The floor was warm against her cool feet. And, for the first time, Jack was realizing how chilly she was. She shrugged off her coat, which was heavy from being water-logged. She draped it over her arm, looking rather soaked.

"Do you have somewhere good, for me to dump these?" Jack asked, "I'm gonna ruin your floors with the puddle that's forming."

She held her coat in front of her, and pushed a coy hand through her hair. The pink was returning again, just a tinge of color creeping into her hair.

Emma nodded her head, but was still focused on Jack. "Not if I can help it. I'll get you nice and warm and then keep you toasty. It would be a shame for you to get sick." Emma spoke, sexily. Emma saw her coyly push her hand through her hair and the pink tinge start to come back. Emma slowly walked over to Jack, looked into her eyes, let her hand caress the back of Jack's head through her hair, leaned in and gently kissed Jack on her lips. Emma held the kiss for a few seconds, hoping that Jack would reciprocate. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She was nervous and held her breath, but being this close and kissing Jack almost felt so natural to her.

Emma slowly parted her lips from Jack's and gently took Jack's heavy, soaked coat from her arms. "Right, you wanted to shower.", Emma said with a smile as she tried to regather her thoughts. She gestured Jack over to her bathroom where she saw that it was fairly large for a 2 bedroom apartment. It had a closet area for towels and shower essentials, a nice sink with good counter space, a decently sized shower, and a toilet obviously.

Emma opened the top of the empty clothes hamper and put the jacket into it. "You can put your clothes in here and I'll put them in the washer and dryer for you. And I'll go get that water off the floor, right quick.", Emma said as she grabbed a towel from the closet and went to quickly dry it up. Emma returned a few seconds later and tossed the towel into the hamper as well. Next, she grabbed a towel and wash cloth for Jack to use and told her to use whatever products she liked (as there were a couple different bottles of shampoo and a few scents of body wash available as well).

"I could go pick out a few of my dresses for you to choose from if you'd like. Or I could stay in here with you?" Emma said, saying the last sentence kinda softly as she still stood in the bathroom with Jack. Her face was very hot from the kiss, but now her stomach was fluttery and she was taming back another urge to kiss Jack again and again. She paused as she waited for Jack's reply.

The pink came back with a vengeance, especially as the other woman closed the distance between them. A hand pushed it's way through Jack's hair, drawing her in for a kiss. The taller woman resisted, momentarily, because the sensation was altogether foreign, and she was in disbelief. Her response softened, but only shortly just before Emma withdrew again.

A bewildered, flushed, and luminously-pink woman stared blankly at Emma as she dismissed herself. Jack was pointed in the direction of the shower. Dumbly, the woman in sodden clothes plodded towards the bathroom. Emma flit about her, but the bewildered look never left the prawn's expression. With absentminded hands, Jack prodded at her own lips. So that's what a real kiss, between two humans, was like.

She became dimly aware that Emma had asked her a question, and her head snapped in that direction. Something about dresses.

"A dress would probably be best," Jack said distractedly, "Something stretchy, I don't want to rip anything when I revert."

When the other woman departed, Jack began to peel out of her wet clothes, first the pants, which fell heavily to the ground, then her boxers. Then, her wet tank top was peeled over her head, and a very naked blond woman (whose appearance was entirely foreign to the prawn) stood facing her in the mirror. A quiet chuckle escaped her, "Holy crap."

Jack twisted and turned, switching between looking at her reflection and surveying herself directly. There was a handprint on her waist, but that was by far the least bizarre thing for her eyes to behold. Wow, human!Jack had a really nice butt! Wait, Emma had said more than just "Let me get you a dress," hadn't she?

The door swung back open, and the prawn... forgot to be self-conscious, for a moment. Just standing as naked as a jaybird in the middle of a stranger's bathroom, surveying herself... and now Emma was bearing witness to it. Slowly, Jack realized that most would be embarrassed in this situation. A flare of pink, a flush creeping into her face and neck and shoulders.

"Uh..." she smiled-- What else was there to do?-- and ducked into the shower. Why? Emma would want to know. Jack peered back out, "The... kisswasnice." Did she really just say that?

Wide eyes, flicking to the carpet, "I... don't know how the shower works?" more pink, "You could come show me, maybe." Now she was looking at Emma again, a coy smile touched her features, "And we could try kissing again?"

Among other things. They probably didn't even need the bathroom lights, right now, with the pink, pulsating light that was emanating from Jack.

Emma dismissed herself from the bathroom and went to survey dresses in her closet. She had picked out a few when she realized she had forgotten to tell Jack to not wash the hand print off. Without thinking or knocking, Emma suddenly swung the bathroom door back open. To Emma's delightful surprise, Jack was absolutely stark naked and admiring herself in the mirror. As Emma took in Jack's beautiful bod and sinfully curvy booty, the urge to rush over and kiss her passionately grew stronger, but Emma held it back, waiting for some acknowledgment of consent. The yearning was very present in Emma's eyes. Jack's hair flared pink and a blush came across her face and upper body, but Emma was looking for a verbal reply to what she wanted.

Jack jumped back into the shower area, but the water hadn't been turned on yet. Within few seconds of her ducking in, Jack peered back out and said something really fast. Emma almost didn't catch it, but it sounded like Jack had said that she enjoyed the kiss Emma had given her. Emma's face pinkened heavily, wearing a big smile on her face.

The pink on Jack intensified and Emma went over, started running the water, and got the shower going for Jack. As she did so, Emma explained to Jack what would happen if she washed the black hand print off and said, "So try not to scrub too hard right there." The next thing Emma knew Jack was asking for more kisses. "I was hoping you'd say that.", she murmured. Emma then leaned in closer to Jack and proceeded to let that urge to kiss her out. Emma kissed her passionately with her tongue sliding in to massage Jack's tongue. Emma had one hand caressing the side of Jack's cheek while the other playfully held a handful of hair. Emma then began to lightly kiss Jack's jawline and neck.

"Should I join you in there or wait to keep kissing you out here?", Emma said softly into Jack's ear. She started to gently nibble and suck on Jack's earlobe. Her tongue then playfully dancing across Jack's neck and collarbone, light kisses and bites in between.

Emma sauntered towards the shower, and set the water running. There was an initial spurt of frigid water, which stung at the woman's pale skin. Jack winced at the sensation, sucking air through her teeth. Through some quick adjustments on Emma's part, the water turned warm, and Jack relaxed. She would honestly me content to just stand beneath the water, but something more pressing stood before her. Emma gave her some directive about the handprint, and Jack nodded despite only somewhat hearing her.

Jack stooped low for the kiss, and was not disappointed by a hungry response. The way Emma kissed her made Jack's knees weak, and the former prawn mostly followed along due to lack of experience alone. Both of Jack's hands lingered near Emma's neck, occasionally pushing into the other woman's hair. Her hands slipped lower when Emma began the assault against Jack's neck, and her efforts earned a rewarding groan. Everything was so much more magnified, so much more sensitive.

The taller woman had pushed her hands up Emma's shirt, by the time the smaller woman asked the most essential question. Jack was already putty in the other woman's hands, so the request to join was well received. Jack pressed her lips to Emma's, nipping at her lip, while deft hands helped remove the fabric obstacles between them. Her movements were careful and measured, but the kisses with which Jack interspersed with each article of clothing shed showed that she was eager to be joined.

-ftb-

After their shower, Emma grabbed towels for them both and leaned in giving Jack another kiss. "Did I give you something good to remember being human by? Because I really enjoyed that shower with you.", Emma asked with a huge grin on her face as she toweled dry.

When Emma finished drying off, she tossed the towel into the hamper and then she toted the hamper to laundry room, still naked. She put Jack's clothes in the washer to get cleaned and would put them in the dryer after that. Emma then took the towels and made a separate pile for her to wash later.

Emma took the now empty hamper back to her bathroom. She grabbed Jack's hand after she had gotten dried off and lead her to the bedroom. On Emma's bed were 4-5 long dresses for Jack to pick from. One was yellow with a blue floral pattern, another was pink with grey chevron stripes, the third one was bright red, the fourth one was light blue with navy colored anchors and ship's wheels, and the fifth dress was a medium purple with yellow butterfly accents embroidered on. "Pick whichever one you'd like. They really are too long for me, but they are really stretchy and super comfortable. Honestly, I think you'd look super hot in any of them." Emma said with a smirk and then added, "Oh, I also put your clothes in the washer and will get them in the dryer so you'll have dry clothes to take home."

Emma also offered Jack any other clothing essentials she might need and indicated what drawer to find them in as she grabbed what she undergarments she needed and the grabbed a t-shirt and pair of boxers for right now to lounge in. If they were to go out again, Emma could easily just throw on a pair of jeans and be ready. "So what would you like to do now Jack?", Emma asked.

The worst thing about being in the shower is that Jack felt weak in the knees, and the floor was slippery. If that wasn't a recipe for disaster, she wasn't sure what was. Jack gladly accepted the towel, welcoming the kiss that they exchanged before toweling herself off, too. She ran the towel through her hair (her hair, how novel) before wrapping the sheet around her. The air was cold agaist her skin, which had been warmed by the shower (and the activities throughout). Goosebumps raised on her arms as Emma took her hand and led her down the hallway.

There were five dresses all splayed-out upon the bed, all ridiculously long, all different colors. None of them were Jack's style, honestly-- because dresses weren't Jack's style to begin with. She wore mens' clothes. Those were what was comfortable to her. She didn't wear dresses.

"Which one's your least favorite?" Jack answered Emma's offer with a question of her own. Even if "none of them fit her" and they'd "all look hot on Jack", the prawn didn't want to choose a dress that her hostess liked, only to accidentally tear through the stretch-knit when she reverted. Not only was it a distinct possibility-- Jack believed it to be inevitable, particularly given how robust her chest was.

Once the least favorite had been declared, the towel was shed. (It would seem that, even in human form, Jack didn't know what it meant to be self-conscious about her physique. She accepted the offerings of panties and (begrudgingly) a sportsbra. The prawn wasn't sure what size bra she wore and wasn't about to try on anything that could accidentally impale her. Once sports bra and panties were wriggled into, Jack pulled the dress over her head. The skirt fell about her, and ended just above her ankles. Jack looked down at herself, than swayed slightly, watching the skirt move around her. Everything was so... squishy and not-angular.

Jack smiled at her hostess, and shrugged.

"It'll be hard to top the shower," she said, humored, "I'd hate to invite myself to your pantry, but... I know that things taste different when I look how I usually do. I'd love to have a soda, or... maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?"

It was, however, raining... and Jack was in a sun dress...

Emma picked out the pink and grey dress for Jack to wear. "I like them all, but I'm not a huge fan of pink." Emma then noticed that Jack had suddenly dropped her towel and started getting dressed. Emma eyed her figure and admired her, reminiscing about their shower just a few minutes ago. Just thinking about it made her warm and tingly all over again.

And then Jack pulled the dress over her head and swayed. Emma smiled at Jack, "You look beautiful." Emma walked over to Jack, giving her a nice long kiss. She smirked at topping the shower, "We can certainly try later if you'd like. But first, let's get your tummy satisfied."

Emma led Jack into the kitchen. Emma opened the fridge and asked, "What kind of soda do you like? I've got Cola-Coca, Lemon-Lime Spritz, Dr. Fizz, and Citrus Crash. And I'm definitely cooking for you after all that activity in the shower. I've got lots of food. What would you like to try that's new or a favorite of yours before becoming human? I can make whatever you'd like."

Maybe if it stopped raining soon, they could go out and explore, but Emma would have to find a means to protect Jack's feet. Emma thought about it and realized she did have a pair of shoes that were too big for her in her closet. Her Mom had bought them, but bought the wrong size. They were quite a few sizes bigger. Maybe they could fit Jack's feet. Emma would remember to grab them later if they ended up going out.

The taller blonde smiled at the compliment, but said nothing. It was an unfamiliar… or perhaps “forgotten”... experience to be called “beautiful”. Not “cool” or “weird” like some sort of spectacle… but “beautiful”. Emma kissed her, at which Jack smiled and did not withdraw. This whole thing still felt so surreal…

“Citrus Crash?” Jack asked, trying to think of the least acerbic soda possible. It'd been easily a decade or two since she'd drank soda, and trying to take-on Cola Coca right out of the gate couldn't end well. She couldn't think of any food off the top of her head, particularly since she didn't know what food Emma had.

“I'm pretty easy when it comes to food,” Jack said noncommittally. Honestly, she couldn't ask too much. She refused to.

Emma grabbed a Citrus Crush from the fridge and handed it to Jack. Emma grabbed a Cola Coca for herself and popped the can opened. She took a swig from the can and then start looking in the fridge and pantry for ingredients to make something for dinner.

"Well, I have lots of things I can cook for you, Jack. I have stuff for homemade pizza, lasagna, or spaghetti. I could make some hot wings to try. And I have some chicken, fish, or steak and lots of different veggies to accompany them, if you wanted like a salad, some sauteed or steamed. Does any of this sound like something you'd like?", Emma asked Jack and smiled.

Emma loved food and loved cooking, now that she had gotten better at it. Plus, if Emma was gonna date Jack, she would have to know what kinds of food Jack liked to eat, as a human or not. And Emma didn't want to offend Jack someday if they were to go out and Emma took her to a place where they served food she couldn't eat. That would probably break Emma's heart.

As Emma stood there with Jack at the counter in the kitchen, Emma started to think of ways to get to know Jack better. "So what kind of things do you like to do for fun? Ya know, when you aren't meeting a hot blonde in the subway on a rainy day.", Emma smirked and eyed Jack, playfully.