Nicki laughed as Kaz fell backwards, turning around and smiling at the boy as she offered a hand in helping him up.

"Remember what I said? I can pick up information off people? It's not hard to tell you dig the physical, that you have an interest in death and carnage...come on man, you want to create swords" Nicki laughed, thinking nothing of his over-reaction. "Come on, it's just stories. Don't be a baby" Nicki smiled and handed him a book entitled Bloody Greek Myths. "After that we'll ease you into some Poe" Nicki smiled brightly, happy to be sharing this with someone.

Kaz looked up at the girl and took the book she offered, <Maybe she doesn't need to be near someone...> Kaz didn't really like that thought. "What gives you the thought I have an interest in that stuff?" Kaz pulled his legs up and towards his chest quickly, then shot them straight up into the air, pushing off with his free hand. His body arked into a half flip. Adding a twist, Kaz landed, facing Nicki. "Seems like an interesting book. I'll give it a shot, but," He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Just because I'm interested in swords, doesn't mean I'm all about death and carnage. Swords aren't all about killing." Turning from Nicki, he moved to pick up the chair. "Beyond the function of battle, swords are status pieces. Like a really nice watch, or a car. They can be decrative. Even beyond the materialistic, they can be pieces of art, expressions of the artist." The chair was sitting up propperly as Kaz spoke, his voice somber. "Would you classify a sculpter of stone or metal, by what they express in their art? By shaping those materials, they're making art. Nothing else." He looked at Nicki. "People lived by the sword. But the sword wasn't just a weapon. To many, it was a friend, a lover, a trusted companion. If you held a sword, you could almost feel the inner workings of the wielder. What their beliefs were, their fear, their joys." Taking a step forward, he leaned against the back of the chair. "Origonally, yes, swords were made as a weapon, for death, destruction, and carnage. But the IDEA of the sword, is much different: Strengh, Honor, Protection, Purity; to name a few." Kaz held up his hand, palm facing him. "To forge a blade, which held MY ideals, MY beliefs, what I hold SACRED, a blade able to PROTECT what I hold dear," Looking Nicki directly in the eyes as his fist clenched. "Would be among the greatest things to achieve in my life."

Nicki quieted herself, listening to every word that Kaz spoke. His tongue seemed biting and while his words were not angry, you didn't have to have a special ability to tell he was pretty steamed. Nicki looked down to her book for the most part, her refuge, and studied the cover as Kaz spoke harshly to her. She suddenly felt very young again.

"Um...I like those kinds of books. I like gore and killing and stuff like that cause it's interesting and makes a good story and they never have killing for no purpose so I thought you might like it that's all. And the sword thing was just a reference to the fact that you must understand that killing is never for no purpose so the consequences would have meaning for you which is why I didn't recommend a stupid as Tom Clancy novel" Nicki spoke softly and seemed to have said that whole thing in one breath.

Kaz watched Nicki nose dive, the look on her face was not what he expected. His hand fell to his side limply shen she spoke. His mind envisioned a egg of a little chick, that had cracked prematurely. At first, he couldn't think of why she suddenly looked so downcast. She spoke softly, and she seemed out of breath after what she said. <Crap.> "..Ah...um..." Sighing heavily, he walked up to Nicki, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I..didn't mean to upset you. I..it...wasn't directed..at you Nicki." Lifting one hand he ran it through his hair. Taking her free hand, he knelt down and set it on his forehead. "You said you can pick up information from people right?" <WHAT AM I DOING?!> His mind screamed at him, and he ignored his inner self. "I'm going to think of the reason I exploded right now. Try and get what you can, ok?" Closing his eyes, he thought back to his hometown, to the boys who had tortured him, to the boys who he exacted his revenge on. Remembering it in the most vivid way his memory could. Speaking softly, "You touched on something no one knows about. You're sweet, I didn't..don't want you to think I'm...that person. All about death and destruction...I'm sorry."

Nicki was amazed as Kaz offered her the information in his head. This was not something people normally did (to let someone poke around in their head for information) and do to his willingness to share, Nicki picked up on a bunch of things. He was afraid: that's what all of that was. He didn't want to be a victim again, like when he was younger and was picked on, and he viewed the sword truly as defense. She picked up on the town, on a little bit of a family, but not much. Nicki smiled as she slid her hand away.

"You touched on something no one knows about. You're sweet, I didn't..don't want you to think I'm...that person. All about death and destruction...I'm sorry." When Kaz said this, Nicki fought the urge to laugh. Nothing could have been further from the truth for the girl. She smiled softly, swiping some hair behind Kaz's ear (after he placed her hand on his forehead, she suddenly felt free to touch him).

"I don't think that at all. I think you got a lot more to you than death and destruction...I can tell you have a lot of life in you...you're not about destruction Kaz...even if you think you are" Nicki smiled at him sweetly.

Kaz hoped nothing slipped. She couldn't know about The Order, or The Sanctuary, or Jack. If she found out, something would have to be done about it. Crushing that thought train, he didn't want to think about it. This girl was innocent, and sweet, and good. Besides, she wasn't a human, she was like him, a Mutant. The new race. Though her words: "I don't think that at all. I think you got a lot more to you than death and destruction...I can tell you have a lot of life in you...you're not about destruction Kaz...even if you think you are" <She could be right.> Shrugging that thought away, he stood up and smiled at her. "You're not freaked out at all? No one reacts cooly to that. Those kids weren't just beaten up, they were murdered, masacured..." Looking at her face, he realized she knew this. She wasn't afraid. She didn't seem freaked out. That was a secret he kept to himself, only two people knew about it besides himself, Eldwyn, and now Nicki. He chuckled slightly, at a loss for what to say, and wanting to change the subject suddenly. Grasping for something, he thought of a stupid question. "Who's Poe?"

Nicki sighed as Kaz brought up the murder of the children. Yes, she had seen it, and yes, it was gruesome, but it was just a part of who Kaz was, not the definition of it. That being said, she prefered not to think of the death...it was emotionally tolling on her from an outsider's point of view and from Kaz's as well.

"Poe? You don't know of Edgar Alan Poe? Tell-Tale Heart? The Raven? Very interesting stuff. It's about the guilt of killing. Taking someone's life without cause and the inner torment of it all" Nicki smiled, looking around and taking another book off the shelf and handing it to Kaz. "That's one of his best known works, I bet you'll like it" Nicki smiled, biting her lip as she turned to face Kaz again. She wasn't nervous around him as she was before: she was still nervous but in a whole new way. She was nervous as to whether he would touch her or she would touch him, nervous in the ways that people often are when they have rather quickly developed feelings for someone, not in the way she was with others.

"Um...no...I might have heard about him in a passing sense..but nothing beyond that." Kaz felt like the child all of a sudden. He always felt out of place in libraries, <I guess this is why. I feel dumb.> "Never more. Is that in one of those stories you mentioned? It's the only thing that comes to mind." When Nicki gave her description of Poe, Kaz's eyebrow raised. <Damn..that's hittin the nail on the head.> He took the book Nicki offered him. "Well...If you say so, I guess I can trust your judgement." Smiling at her slyly. "So, tell me about yourself Nicki. What's your home life like?"

Nicki smiled, looking over to Kaz as she sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the many tombs on the shelf. She smiled happily as she looked up to Kaz. She shifted and tilted her head a little, opening a book and thumbing the pages a bit.

"Home life was pretty average. Close family; my brother was my friend for the longest time. My dad and my mom were still married, my grandfather and grandmother lived two houses away until they passed. It was your basic white bread family until the little one started sucking up words like water. I managed to hide it for a while but my mom caught on. We didn't tell my mother or my brother...they're um...kinda anti-mutant" Nicki looked up to Kaz again.

"What about you?" Nicki asked politely. She had bits and pieces of his past in her head, understood some stuff about his family, but she was curious as to what he would tell her and how all the pieces fit together.

"Anti-mutant huh? I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been tough for you." He sat down next to Nicki. Putting his hand on her leg, trying to be as comforting as he can. "My family? Neither of my parents were really involved in my life. There were just kinda...there. They paid for all of my activities, anything I wanted I got. They didn't have friends, they weren't social, so I think I picked up my anti-socialness from them. When we moved here in my sophmore year of high school, my mom died in a car accident a year later. My father was, is, a big shot of some big company here. That's actually the reason we moved. After she died, my dad never came home. So he never realized when I left the house. Honestly I don't know if he even knows I'm gone." Looking up and out the window on the second floor. "I don't think they ever thought I was a mutant, just a kid who was skilled in any athletic activity."

Nicki looked over to Kaz, stiffening slightly as he touched her but relaxing momentarily in fear of him taking it the wrong way. She liked the contact and the last thing she wanted to do was to discourage any future movement in that area.

"I'm sorry to hear that" Nicki leaned her head on Kaz's shoulder, showing her own support in the form of affection. "Do you have make shift family? Like the guy you said brought you here?"

Kaz was surprised when Nicki leaned her head on his shoulder. "A mackshift family..Not really. Eldwyn really isn't, what you'd call 'Family'." Shifting the arm Nicki was leaning on he put it around her shoulder. "We met on the street. Where he was living, and I spent a lot of time. I had my own appartment, but I only used it for a place to sleep. He lived in a crappy appartment a few blocks from me. We both saved eachother's butts a few times." Laughing a bit, "I'm not saying that we couldn't take care of ourselves, but, it was nice knowing someone had your back and, COULD take care of themselves." After a moment, he spoke again. "Even though we know eachother's actual names, we don't call eachother by them. After some time, we had a run of good luck and got quite a bit of cash, that Eldwyn takes care of. I don't know how he did it, or what all he did, but we have full access to the money, without it ever being traced. Something about off shore accounts or something." Realizing he started rambling, he shut up. "Sorry."

Nicki smiled as Kaz slipped his arm around her. She cuddled a little closer to the man, turning her eyes up to him to watch his face as he spoke. Nicki was surprised to have Kaz being so open with her. Maybe he wasn't being that open, maybe it was just that he had opened his mind to her so she was picking up more and more infomration off of him, but she was still extremely surprised.

"Don't worry about it...I like hearing you talk" Nicki smiled. "Sides, it's just proof you got a mischievous side...granted a little more illegal but hey" Nicki smiled, playfully hitting Kaz in the stomach.

Kaz made a playful 'Uph' sound when she hit his gut. Smiling at her comment. "It's true, I'm usually up to do pretty much anything. And the things that are illegal, are usually more fun." His smirking grin was quite mischevious. He didn't mind that Nicki was cuddling with him, it felt nice. It'd been awhile since he had received this kind of affection, or any for that matter.* He missed it. Opening his mouth to talk, a small sound came out just before his stomach rumbled. Looking down at Nicki. A light chuckle in his voice, "Say, how about we grab some grub after we check our books out? Pick a place, my treat, my ride."

Nicki smiled happily at the offer of food. A nice little date and food. Very cool. Nicki smiled and stood up, offering her hand to help Kaz up.

"There's a place about three minutes away that has really good burgers, I grabbed one a couple days ago when my mom brought me up here. Wanna walk? Save the gas...?" Nicki asked happily. She liked walking places much better than driving. Sides, if Kaz was driving it's be harder for them to talk...