Nothing! They'd been in New York city for several MONTHS now and were still empty handed for their efforts. Sure, the flower shop was taking off, but that was hardly a valid reason for leaving Illinois. They were here for information; to learn how to control their powers. And most importantly, to be with other mutants. Kai craved the community aspect more than anything else.

And we've made no friends thus far. He thought glumly to himself. Humans in New York seemed to be as reluctant to make ties as mutants. There were a few regular customers who were nice enough, but outside of business hours, Kai was stuck with only Cameron for company.

Kai sighed. Cameron was perfectly happy completely surrounded by flowery plants. He, on the other hand, had to deal with one lone miniature tree. I shouldn't begrudge Cam his happiness. Kai stiffly rose to his feet and started walking. He was sick of New York. Sick of hiding the fact that he was a mutant. Sick of not being able to be completely open and honest with people. And frustrated. Maybe I would get noticed by the other mutants if I plant one of my acorns in the middle of Times Square... he chuckled, but didn't finish with the ridiculous plan. Mutants were not the only people who would take an interest in him if an oak tree suddenly grew at hundreds of times faster than it was supposed to. A practical part of him reminded him that the authorities would probably chop down his tree to clear the road for traffic.

Without intending too, he found himself in the middle of Central Park. He had started coming here more and more to sit and commune with the trees. Sprout, his miniature tree, would be jealous again. He loved coming with Kai on trips to look at 'the giants' as he called him, but in his daydreaming-like-state, Kai hadn't thought to bring him with.

Hello, Grandfather. Kai said to his favorite shady Cypress. He placed his hand on the bark, hoping the calm radiating from the 70-year-old tree would ease his frustration. It usually worked, then again, he was usually pretty easy going. What was wrong with him? Nothing a little relaxing wouldn't fix, right?

...Nope. "Where IS everyone!?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Central Park, one of the few places in NYC that didn't make Kristy feel as if she was dying. Perhaps it was the trees and the 'lake' that she allowed to 'trick' her mind, thinking the area was less poluted then the rest of the city. Though that didn't matter much as Kristy enjoyed a good smoke, poluting her own body with every drag on the 'death stick'.

After rollerblading around the park for a while Kristy sat down on a bench to catch her breath. After a few minutes passed Kristy lit a cig and took her rollerblades off, strapping them together. As she began to pull her water bottle and shoes from her backpack, she heard a boy yell quite loudly not far away, "Where IS everyone?!"

It took a moment for her to figure out where the voice had come from. When she saw the boy, he was standing next to a large tree and had drawn the attention of a few others in the area. 'I wonder if he's lost or got seperated from his family.' From where she sat she didn't realize his age. Putting her smoke out and picking her bag up after slinging her rollerblades over her shoulders, Kristy headed towards the boy.

The grass was slightly damp as she walked, feeling the moisture through her ankle socks. As she neared the boy, she realized he was probably in his mid teens. 'Kids, getting bigger every year.' She remembered while she was in high school, it wasn't often you saw a 14 or 15 year old who was over 5ft tall. It could have just been her class though. Kristy approached the boy from the opposite side of the tree, peeking around the trunk, "Hey there," She said with a friendly smile, "You lost?"

As soon as the words left his lips, Kai regretted them. This is not the kind of attention I want, he thought as several heads turned in his direction. What have I done? Stupid!

A woman walked towards him >>"Hey there, are you lost?"

Kai was horrified. She was… pretty. And he was making an absolute fool of himself in front of her. He had never been good with girls in the past; he tended to stutter when he became that very-special-kind-of-nervous. He tried to string a few words together, hoping to save what might be left of his reputation. First impressions were everything, after all. “Um, no, I’m not lost. I, er, was just…” He paused, but decided that he probably already looked crazy and there was not much harm to be done in telling the truth. A little bit of the truth, at least. “I was just communing with this tree, here.” He gestured.

Shut up, you fool! His subconscious yelled at him. Fix it! Make something up! Don’t just stand there looking like…a mutant. What if she turned him in to the authorities?

A little belated, he added “Uh, it’s good for them if you talk to them. The carbon monoxide, you see. You also get to intake oxygen!” He breathed in exaggeratedly as if to demonstrate.

You should have stopped while you were ahead. He sighed and hung his head. There was nothing more he could do, the damage was done.

Kristy imagined seeing the gears in the boys head turn, which made her giggle slightly. She kept her smile soft and friendly while listening to him explain his outburst, or rather cover it up. He seemed nervous. While understandable, she didn't want to make it worse. "I've heard about that. Didn't know if it really worked though." She looked at the large tree and ran her fingers lightly down it's bark. "If talking to it helped it grow this large, don't stop on my account."

She followed the boys example, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. "Name's Kristy." She said as she held out her hand to the boy. With a much softer tone, "So what's really up kiddo?" Winking as she spoke.

Kai sighed as the girl mimicked him, but she didn't appear to be mocking him. On the contrary, she seemed relatively sincere. He relaxed slightly.

Mmm! said a slow voice in his head, She feels like you.

It only took a split second to realize that his hand was still on the tree, and that it was finally answering him. Though... his message was strange. He had heard from trees and other plants that he felt different from other humans. Almost like a plant himself. Some of the younger saplings liked to tease him that when he sat next to them for a long time, reading or the like, he was 'almost' as good as a tree himself. (The older trees were generally more reserved.)

In the real world, Kristy was introducing herself. Kai was shaking her hand and telling her his name, "I'm Kai." when inspiration struck. He smiled, partly to himself. "And I'm a mutant, too."

Nathan heard the exchange of words between the pair from his seat on a nearby bench. After the boy's outburst he was lucky anyone was talking to him. His back was to them but could still hear everything just fine. It wasn't that Nathan was trying to listen, he just had a bad habit of eavesdropping. Then the boy spoke those words.

"I'm Kai. And I'm a mutant, too."

Nathan felt his heart leap into his throat. Nathan then turned around to face the young man. "Young man," he thought in bewilderment. "He's not that much younger than me." Before his confinement in the camps he would have thought the boy his peer but the camps had changed him. Whether or not that was a good thing, Nathan still didn't have an answer.

He had just been trying to find a place away from the Labs so that he could get some fresh air. His wounds from the camps had been healed and after a few days of being pent up in the Labs, he was ready to stretch his legs. But he wasn't expecting this when he came to Central Park.

He then surveyed the pair. The boy who had spoken was midteens, brown hair, green eyes. He had the look of someone who was used to physical work. The girl, was early twenties, brown hair with blonde highlights streaking through it with greenish-blue eyes to top it off. The pair were roughly the same heighth which was several inches shorter than Nathan. But hardly anyone was as tall as him so he was used to it.

He then addressed the boy in a low voice. "You should learn to watch what you say in a city like this. You never know who might be listening."

OOC: I hope you don't mind me butting in.

Kristy smiled sweetly as the boy returned the gesture and introduced himself. She was glad he did. Few times in her life has someone not returned the gesture, preferring to stand and stare. It was a feeling she didn't like, feeling out of place or worse. She was glad for Kai and herself. What he said next caught her by surprise.

Of course she knew there were others, but she hadn't necessarily known any. She stood in surprise for a moment, not sure what to say. As she opened her mouth to speak, another young man spoke softly to Kai.

"You should learn to watch what you say in a city like this. You never know who might be listening."

Kristy didn't like how the boy spoke. Normally she had a good sense of character, but he seemed...odd, unreadable, as if he could sway either way. That made her feel uneasy. She raised her hand, palm open and facing the new boy, putting it between the two in an attempt to make him look at her. "He shouldn't have to 'learn' to watch what he says. It shouldn't matter who's listening." Kristy kept her voice calm but stern.

With the slight breeze flowing through the park, it would be impossible for someone to tell that the swaying of the grass near the boy's feet was due to the slight movement of the soil beneath it. "If you have a problem with him, Boy-O, take it up with me." She glanced at Kai and gave him a reassuring smile.

The girl raised her hand, palm open and directly facing Nathan. The move caused his attention to shift its focus toward her direction. "He shouldn't have to 'learn' to watch what he says. It shouldn't matter who's listening." The girl had a scolding tone when she had addressed him.

Nathan had not meant to come off as condescending whenever he made the comment but that's certainly how this girl had taken it. As a slight breeze blew through the park the tension eased a little but that changed when the girl spoke again."If you have a problem with him, Boy-O, take it up with me." as she glanced at the boy and gave him what was meant to be a reassuring smile.

The girl had almost put him in a bad mood with her "Boy-O" comment. When he heard that Nathan's face darkened momentarily but was quickly back to normal. Stretching his hand flat out toward the pair as if offering something, Nathan created three small balls of fire. They were each about the size of a marble. Then he caused them to dance and weave across his fingertips in no discernable pattern. After a few seconds he cut it off. The pair had seen what they needed to see. "Let's not continue this foolishness here, if at all." He responded politely after his display. "And let's just say New York City isn't exactly the safest place for mutants at the moment."

Things were quickly becoming out of control. A newcomer appeared to warn him to "watch what he said" and stood there looking tougher than Kai thought he actually was. He reminded him of some of the kids back home who thought they knew more than everyone else- usually it was all just for show. These were the kind of people that he tended to avoid. So he wasn't especially intimidated by the warning, as much as he was surprised that someone else was standing close enough to hear him.

He was also somewhat surprised that Kristy jumped to his defense so quickly. But perhaps the draw was merely the argument of whether or not people should know about mutants. Or be free to talk openly about mutants. Or something. He was kind of new to the mutant scene, but could tell that this was no longer about him. Still, he wasn't worried about the other boy.

Until he began to play with fire:
>>"Let's not continue this foolishness here, if at all. And let's just say New York City isn't exactly the safest place for mutants at the moment."

Nope, definately not like the kids back home.

The ground moved angrily under his feet and as soon as the small balls of fire appeared, Kai got over his shyness. "Put that stuff out!" he hissed in a low tone, "You could hurt someone!" Of course the some"one"s that he meant were the trees, though it worked for people, too. In his head he was already calculating ways to save them if the fire got out of control. Was it even possible? Smother it somehow...

OOC: Hi, I hope my joining in isn't a problem.

IC: Matthew saw the balls of fire. He'd been walking up the path and stopped when he saw the three people up ahead. With his incredible eyesight he'd been lipreading the conversation, at least what the two boys had been saying, the girl had her back to him. It seemed the two boys were mutants, he began to wonder whether Central Park was a secret meeting place for mutants, he'd seen more of his own kind in the past thirty seconds than in the past month.

Matthew began to walk the rest of the way to the trio, confident that his abilities would easily get him out of any potential conflict. He'd walked halfway to the group when he called out ahead.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to show off fire powers when you're surrounded by wood?"

He brought his right hand up behind his head, to tighten the strap of his goggles a little bit.

EDIT: I changed a factual mistake, thanks to Kristy for pointing it out

([OOC:Can I join?)
Concentrating, Alexandra pushed away the molecules of oxygen surrounding the mutant's hand. The small balls of fire would soon die out without oxygen. She walked to the others, coldness in her eyes. It was yet another boring day in her life when she decided to take a walk. It was a great way to get to know the city. And yet, she didn't hope to find mutants, and especially not mutants that were showing off their powers in public. After two encounters with the stalkers, she decided that it wasn't the most clever thing to do. Just as she saw them, humans could easily see as well. And it was certain that they wouldn't have a second thought in calling the police.
"Go and put a show on some other place, boy. she spoke, looking at the boy with the fireballs.

OOC: I wrote that Nathan already put out the fire. I'll play along though. I'll write myself out since I probably won't be on for a while.

Nathan was not surprised in the least when the fire extinguished itself. The way the boy reacted he was sure that someone else would notice as well. He did not think the boy or girl in front of him had caused the flame to disperse. And that meant there was atleast one other mutant around. Then two newcomers started to berate him for using his powers as if he did something foolish. He knew there was wood around. He also knew he had been in complete control the whole time. It wasn't as if he was dense. As if he would start a fire in Central Park. That was just looking for trouble. Not wanting to be scolded any longer Nathan left. Without a second thought Nathan rose from his perch on the bench and walked off in no particular direction.

It was official, Kristy didn't like the boy in front of her. He was stuck up and self righteous, thinking he's better than other. Whether it was an act or not really ground on Kristy's nerves. Her stern look never did dissipate, even after he began showing off his abilities. While Kai seemed to have a point, his tone as he spoke seemed a bit more worried than someone would normally be around fire. 'Considering he's a mutant, I suppose it's not hard to imagine what this guy could do with the fire,' Kristy thought to herself, 'Maybe Kai's right to be more concerned than normal.'

Sure she could have snuffed out the fireballs easily, but she wasn't interested in exposing her powers for something as small as that. As it turned out, Kristy wouldn't have to expose herself today, at least so far. Another young man and woman made their way towards Kai and herself. Both began to berate the fire-user. As they spoke, she looked at each in kind and gave them a slight appreciative smile and nod.

The fire-user seemed to get the hint and walked away. Kristy watched him for a few moments before turning her attention back to Kai. "You okay? You seem a bit disturbed." Looking at the newcomers, "Nice to see we're not the only ones with the same outlook." She said referring to the unneeded display of the boy's power. "It's nice to see people accepting mutants... What some do with their abilities, that's a different matter I suppose." She had a smile on her face once again as she spoke, as if what had just happened barely mattered to her.

Kai frowned at the retreating back of the fire-mutant boy. He took a deep breath, "I just don't like fire, that's all." He turned to the newcomers. They seemed nice... or at least they also seemed to believe that fire balls should not be played with near trees, something that earned them points in Kai's book.

Still, he wasn't sure if they were mutants, or just 'tolerant' as Kristy said. He smiled, still a little shakily "So, who're you?"

"Oh, didn't mean to upset him."

Matthew muttered to himself, watching the flame-wielder walk away. He turned his head back to look at the boy, he'd seen the kid talking from the corner of his eye and managed to make out the words. There wasn't much point in lying now, but he still felt as though he should stay guarded, and was conscious of the knifes in his waistband... probably just reisdual paranoia from the whole registration thing.

"I was just taking a walk, didn't expect to find other mutants, and I definitely didn't expect to see anyone showing off."

Matthew looked quizically at the other three, a girl about his age, a young girl and a younger boy. Matthew was only sure of the boy being a mutant, but chances are the two girls were as well, if he was reading the situation right. Thanks to his goggles it would be hard for anyone to tell what he'd been thinking just from looking at him.

"So how'd all this get started?"