There was a man in the Mansion.

Plenty of men lived and worked in the Mansion, all known to Kalos and thoroughly studied so that she could decide if they were trustworthy or not. (So far, only Jorge and Gawain were.) This? This was not one of the known entities.

The pink girl narrowed her eyes at it from her hiding spot behind one of the sharp turns of hallway that fed into the more public Mansion areas. If it weren't for her hair, her coral crown, and her shocking hues of blue and pink and red that stood out against the calming neutral Mansion walls, she might have been able to linger there a bit more... casually. As it was with her fingers just over the edge of the sharp turn and her blue eyes glaring, Kalos was not very hidden at all. But she did have a whole couch and a few throw pillows between the him and the her. So that was a little bit of safety.

And of course, he was just so... so human. A lot of the older mutants here were. The gorgon were all very not-human. In Kalos' opinion, that made them all very much more truthful.

It took her a long while to get up her courage. She assessed the couch between them. The escape options of the room and other alternate routes. She weighed how far away the nearest adult might be... with a scream that would be reduced, but she'd been taught that was overreacting when meeting someone new.

Maybe... maybe Gemma would be proud of her. If she said hello.

"Are you a visitor?" If he was a visitor, that was fine. She would go the long way around to take her ill-gotten pocket-fulls of snacks to her favorite hiding place.

Malcolm was still waiting for his meeting, but he was in considerably bright spirits while he did. There was some sort of delay that was taking longer than anyone expected. He was hoping for a good story when the time came for an explanation. Another giant robot attack? No, a bank robbery! An army of cyborg squirrels? He was ready to jot down ideas now that his last companion had left, and was surprised when a small voice addressed him.

Why, it was another tiny mutant! Well, younger mutant. She wasn't quite as young as the last one, and certainly not an adult. It really was hard to guess ages when you were part gorgon. Malcolm had followed the Atlantis mission report with enthusiasm, and while he had heard some of those residents came back, this was the first he had seen one.

"I am a visitor! I was supposed to meet someone here for an interview, but it seems they have been held up. I'm just enjoying what a lovely school this is in the meantime. Am I bothering you? I can sit somewhere else."[/color] It took all his control not to gush at first appearance with the little mutant. At least he knew many younger kids seemed to take that as being a bad sign. Adults could handle him being a fanboy. Kids? They needed a little more measured behavior.

Malcolm held up his notebook so she could see. Right now it had some random sketches of buildings and cyborg squirrels as well as a checklist for updates to his Mighty Moon webnovel.

Oh! Kalos jumped when he first spoke. It wasn't that she wasn't expecting it. It was that He sounded very sure of himself and very grown up and very big and very scary. This whole thing could go sideways so fast if he got mean. Her heart was hammering, she couldn't afford to be distracted even for one second.

He was a cheerful one. Kalos's eyes narrowed further because in her experience the cheerful ones were the least truthful. She did not trust the cheerful ones.

He said he was here for being inside a "tur view" which sounded totally made up. Unless it was a mutant thing... It could be a mutant thing.

He very politely added that he could move if he was bothering her, was he bothering her?

"Yes." She was brutally honest. He bothered her a lot with his straight demigod teeth in his pale demigod skin. "But if you swear feel teeth to me as your queen perhaps I will let you stay." Bone apple teas ran rampant in her speech since she was not the strongest reader, Kalos mostly learned words by sound.

What was his power? Brain powers? Maybe lifting sunbeams? She wouldn't move from safety until she knew for sure.

"A-and tell me what you do." She demanded with all the command of hiding royalty.

Malcolm knew, as any good nerd did, that when you arrived on an unfamiliar planet you made friends with the locals the best way you knew possible. This was the unfamiliar place for him (being the mansion), and the girl in front of him was clearly the local. He was making her uncomfortable, and that meant he should do what it took to change things.

Feel...teeth. Ah, he felt like he could manage that. He quickly got to the floor in an awkward bow, glad he wore jeans today. His notepad he left on the couch. "I apologize, I was not aware I was in the presence of someone so respected. Please forgive my error."He made sure to keep his head down, as she stammered onward.

"I write. Web novels, specifically. Oh, unless you were hoping to know my powers? I don't have those. I'm just your average fan of mutants. Your....My apologies, shall I address you as your highness?" That seemed like a good neutral term. He wasn't sure how far up the hierarchy she would be. And to be honest, for all he knew this was not just a game. There were Atlantean royalty, after all. He would not make the mistake of upsetting the wrong one.

He got to the floor. He bowed. He spoke, maybe not the most reverently, but he was playing nice. Definitely playing, Kalos decided. But this was the most interesting mutant she'd met so far. An adult... who played.

"Forgiven." She was a most magnanimous ruler. His posture and stammering, in turn, did much to soothe her fears. Kalos relaxed her grip against the wall and checked her exits again. It was possible she did not have to go around after all. She let go and drifted toward the back of the couch.

And, he was only a writer. She opened her mouth to ask further about web novels when he dropped the bomb. The h-bomb.

"No powers? Not a third ear? Or- or- You're just saying you're harmless?" That's all he was saying, right? A fan of mutants was not a damaging power it was... uh... it was... just... weird? Kalos tried not to look at him with too much of any one emotion. Fear and pity waged within her. A demigod with no powers. That just made him human? The realization of the danger made her pulse spike. "No abilities at all?"

He had asked her something and Kalos had to stop and think back to what was said. What would her subjects call her if she were really in charge? "Your highness is acceptable." More than acceptable, it made her flush purple with delight until she realized that she'd entrapped a human into her service. A human!

"Did you bring a gun to kill someone?"

Malcolm did his best not to fidget. Fidgeting did not properly convey the magnitude of devotion necessary to give to a ruler. Although her reaction was a little curious. Was it so odd to be human around this Mansion? ”No powers to speak of, your highness. I wish I was gifted with them, but I can only write stories to tell how amazing mutant powers are.” It was true he spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to be as cool as mutants, but he was just a super fanboy, chasing coattails.

She asked if he brought a gun. Malcolm quickly shoot his head, ”I carry no weapons. You can check my work if you would like. Just notes for my book.” There were also a few very horrible drawings of men in capes. Nothing terribly exciting to look at.

”Is there anything I can do for you, your highness? I can continue to kneel if you wish, but perhaps there is a task you need assistance with?” that would save his back at least. He was feeling old now from all this groveling.

He had no powers. Her jaw fell open in the most un-queenly way. As soon as she realized she was gaping like a moron, she shut her mouth and blinked a few times in order to marshall her face. Human! He really, really was. Kalos took a step backwards even though all he did was enthuse about demigod powers. And... write?

He said she could check his things. He had no gun that she could see... That was the most tempting reason to get her to step forward again. And she couldn't deny the request, in the end. Every human she'd ever seen had something dangerous about them.

Kalos walked toward the human as he spoke with tempting human offers of lies and promises he would no doubt break.

"You can just... stay. Very still. Right- right where you are." She was going to be very brave and she just needed to work up to it.

And also there was a couch there.

Kalos went around the couch, but hesitated once there was nothing between them. His papers were right there. On the cushion. She could snatch them up to use as leverage. He had even said she could look at them, but most importantly she didn't trust that he was harmless. There was hardly the length of a single lunge between them. His hands looked strong enough to do damage.

"You're not here to hurt no one?"

Stay very still. Malcolm did as he was told, trying not to move a single muscle. He focused on a spot on the ground, humming to himself as he did so. "Captain Hammer’s here, hair blowing in the breeze...." He hummed happily, stopping when she spoke again.

"Apologies, your highness, for not giving you my undivided attention. No, I am not here to hurt anyone. I am simply here to get to know the mutants. Having no powers myself, I just appreciate those with unique abilities. It's, really really cool." Before he could stop himself, he got excited again, and continued talking.

"Have you ever read a book and there are characters who can do magic, and you think 'wouldn't that be the most amazing thing to be able to do? Wave a wand and make something happen? Well, for me it's like that but all these cool characters are real and I just want to get to know them!" He gushed a little, still doing his best to stay 'very very still'.

"Like, there's this guy named Shard, and he made this super awesome armor, and he could fly with it! And then there was this girl who could take you into paintings, and we made costumes, and explored! I can write some fun stories, but nothing ever compares to what is already out in the real world."

>"Have you ever read a book...

"No." But he kept talking anyway. Kalos took the moment to use a single finger to nose through his papers. Squiggles, mostly. Sometimes a picture, much better than her own. She liked the one with the cape, best. Heroes should have capes. "We're not characters, Mister human. We're not in a story, or all cool, or anything much at all." Though, those people did sound really incredibly cool.

"Somes of us are just pink." She clicked her fingers together as she laced them in front of herself. She left the papers where they were.

What was she to do with a human vassal? Or, a vassal at all.

A better question might be, what had she always wanted to know about humans...

"Can you answer questions for me? About outside? And the human kind?" Of course he could. He was a proven talker. She was being polite and hoping that he would. She would start with an easy one.

"How many people have you killed?" She took a half step toward him before remembering how dangerous he was. She put her feet back where they originally were.

Malcolm smiled at the girl. "Of course you aren't characters. But you are very cool. Do you realize how unique each and every mutant I encounter is? Even two mutants who both control water use their abilities in such different ways. One can use it to make shields and to travel, and another has learned to simply have a giant ocean in their living room. Oh, that one was fascinating. He had the most amazing lion fish! But, I digress." He got back on topic with a cough.

"Pink in itself is a very special thing. Definitely fitting of royalty," he added.

She had questions of her own, and Malcolm was more than willing to assist. "I will gladly answer what I can, your highness. The outside is a large place."

Rather than asking about trees, or plants, or people, she asked about killing again. Malcolm was quick to answer before she could panic. "I have never killed a person. Actually I've never killed anything, unless we are counting ants or spiders or something like that. Unfortunately, small insects get trodden every day despite best efforts to avoid them." Was that too much information for a child?

"What's a digress? Is it a female diger? Like how a female tiger is a tigress?" That would make her a coraless, right? Maybe she was getting the hang of this English.

Mister Dangerous insisted he had never killed anything, and then said he killed ants. Kalos had followed a line of ants once. They had been tattling about where her food hiding was happening, but once they went outside, they had disappeared.

"I am told the spiders eat the other bugs, but I has not seen this. So they should go outside instead of screaming." She was not the one screaming, for the record. But screaming was certainly a common reaction to them.

"So, if you do not have a gun and you do not kill things and you do not have an ability to make oceans... you do the writing. But... that's not a danger?" She held her place, hands folded together so she might look as regal as possible.

Malcolm decided he needed to watch how he utilized words around the young girl. The big ones seemed to distract her, and if they confused her too much he was certain she would resort to being fearful once more. He paused and shook his head, ”Digress is just a fancy word. It means we got away from the conversation we had.”[/color] She seemed to form her own example of the phrase by talking about spiders. Malcolm waited politely, then answered the following question.

”I don’t believe my writing poses you any danger. Am I permitted to remain? We can talk about the spiders? Or more about the outside world?”[/color] he offered.

They got away from their conversation? But they were still having it. This man was confusing her with word traps. Words could be dangerous. And she'd been told they could even hurt. Kalos decided that he must be tricking her somehow. She just couldn't see it yet. He was a danger, and as a brave protector queen of everything, she would have to keep him under her watchful eye. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closest.

"You..." No that wasn't right. She shook her head at herself and started again. "I permit you to remain for one hour upon which I shall reastress the conversation." Yes. Very regal. Very adult sounding.

And besides, she still had questions. Kalos decided to be brave and picked up the book of Malcom. No traps sprung out. She would have booby trapped hers.

"I should like to hear about countries, if you please. You have them, yes? Which ones are yours?"

She offered the book back to the man, though she did so at maximum range, stretching her arms as long as they would go so that he wouldn't be able to grab her.