"You gonna spend every penny you have tonight?"

"[yellow]Well, I am going to work tomorrow. Besides, to see you light up like you did tonight, yes, I would gladly spend every penny. But, no, I don't have a bus pass. You use that and I'll pay for my own fare.[/yellow]" He hadn't really kept track. He knew it was dwindling, but he hadn't had any amount of money long enough to get so attached to it. It was currency, so it had to flow. But it was nice to have her give him a small reality check.

As the bus pulled up, he let her get on first and then paid for his fare. They had their choice of seats on a nearly empty bus. It would give them a chance to relax and talk some more. She sat down in a seat and he sat across from her, propping his feet up in the seat next to him. He could never grow weary of her. Though he knew how to behave, he couldn't help but look at her again, the emotions evident in his eyes. The quiet moments as the bus trudged towards their destination gave them both a moment of rest and reflection.

"[yellow]So what do you want to do when we get back?[/yellow]"

Ghost really had the hang of the bus system down as far as making her way back to the mansion was concerned. Anything other than that she was pretty lost. She couldn't seem to keep her head in the game long enough to really pay attention to where most things were. As a result she was incredibly directionally challenged. Buses, though no where near as exciting as taxis, had a glamor all their own. She knew most people didn't enjoy public transportation, but she couldn't help it. Sure the metal twinky was sluggish and never seemed to take a direct route, but that meant Ghost had ample opportunity to see all kinds of people and soak in the details from outside. She was starting to recognize the shops and landmarks that meant they were exiting the dense city area and were headed out to the more rural are where the school was housed.

She also rather enjoyed the amount of bouncing that went on, though often she found herself dozing. Ghost was often like a kid in several respects. Not only did she have the energy to keep up with any 6 year old. Similarly when she was forced to slow down or (heaven forbid) sit still, Ghost often drifted off to sleep no matter her location or surroundings. She still had yet to sleep in the bed in her room, having fallen asleep on the couch or in the window or in the library or other places where she had stopped for a moment.

Her lids were drooping to be sure, but she was making a real effort to rally herself to keep Garrett company on the ride home.

"So what do you want to do when we get back?"

She pondered this for a time. Now that he knew, she wondered if she should show him the ihai - she could ask for incense from him without hesitation and have a good and proper Buddhist prayer. She also pondered the various rooms she had explored in the mansion and all the places on her map where she had yet to venture. She decided they'd probably had enough heavy stuff for one day. Exploring sounded wonderful.

"Have you finished poking around the mansion yet? I've looked at the map and visited maybe half the things on there so I'm sure we still have some unexplored territory." She rubbed an eye with her knuckle. She could probably last a few more hours if she could escape the soporific confines of the rumbly bus.

"Have you finished poking around the mansion yet? I've looked at the map and visited maybe half the things on there so I'm sure we still have some unexplored territory."

She was looking tired but seemed to remain enthusiastic. Garrett was feeling the day as well. It had been a long one, but a good one. He needed to have a look at everything that the Mansion had to offer so he could start training soon. "[yellow]To be honest, other than the places you have seen me, I guess I really haven't. It's a big place too. I am sure there are lots of interesting things to find and do.[/yellow]"

He let his eyes soften. He had poured it on plenty tonight. Perhaps it was just the fatigue setting in. So much had happened in such a short time and now it was catching up to him. He wasn't ready for the night to end, but tomorrow morning was looming. A tour of the Mansion with his favorite guide and perhaps a little more conversation before bed.

"[yellow]So, what do you want to get out of the Mansion? Are you going to attend any classes or just train your abilities? I am not sure if I want to be in a class full of kids yet.[/yellow]"

She struggled with the first question for a bit. What do you want to get out of the Mansion? She hadn't really thought that far ahead, but now that she was looking in that direction it made her feel silly for thinking too much about what had happened and not enough about what she could do with herself in the future. "Well, I hadn't thought about it a whole lot. I suppose I need to find some online college classes like Neena suggested, though I don't know where the money will come from. And I don't know what major I'd pick." When she'd applied to NYU she'd circled the good ol' 'undecided.' Ghost wasn't sure you could exactly do that when you took online classes or went to community college. She briefly wondered if she could make it through culinary school, but decided against it - they would almost certainly use gas ranges and that meant fire.

"As for training... I hadn't really thought about that either." She flushed a bit, realizing how simple minded she must sound. "I have pretty good control, but I'm sure anyone can expand themselves..."

She turned herself away from the window and imitated Garrett's way of sitting with her legs stretched across the empty seat next to her. She seemed blissfully unaware of Garrett's looks. "What about you? Step one accomplished: stop the bad seizures. What's next on Garrett's agenda?"

The bus rumbled on slowly hissing and protesting at every stop and wide turn. They were in no rush so it didn't bother Ghost.

"What about you? Step one accomplished: stop the bad seizures. What's next on Garrett's agenda?"

This was an easy one. Though he had been enjoying the present, especially anytime with Maya, he had been ready to actually begin for some time. "[yellow]Well, first off, I want to get this job tomorrow at Tarin's shop. Then I have some kind of cash coming in to get by on. As far as the Mansion, I want to use all of its facilities to train my body and mind to their peak potential. This, of course, also means I have to train my abilities. That part I am unsure of.[/yellow]"

It really was something he had grappled with for sometime. How could he train his abilities? Even if they had some kind of hologram, it wouldn't react to him. He had no way of knowing how his powers would work without using them on someone. Maybe he just needed to go find some enemies.

Ghost pondered Garrett's conundrum. His ability caused pain. He needed to train his ability so maybe he could find a way to use it. Maybe someday he could even find a positive use for his ability, but as of now torturer did seem the most likely route. She grinned nervously. She was glad she was on his good side.

A lightbulb seemed to click on in her mind. "Hey - we're the same age, right? That means you should be going for college too. We should sign up for the same classes or something." The thought of having a person to help motivate her to actually DO her homework sounded fantastic. She babbled on about things that she imagined to be wonderful - mutant college.

"If there are enough around our age maybe we could actually have a classroom or something for studying or we could have an online professor with classes together and stuff. What major are you gonna chose? I have no idea for me really, but I bet you'd make a good doctor or psychologist something. You look distinguished like you could really be the boss." She laughed to herself and peeked out the window to try to gauge where they were. Not too far out now.

"Hey - we're the same age, right? That means you should be going for college too. We should sign up for the same classes or something."

Garrett knew this would come eventually. Better earlier than later and not in front of a bunch of kids. "[yellow] Well, actually, I never graduated high school. I got alot of the credits here and there, but between group homes and hospitals, I didn't get alot of public schooling. Alot of what I know is self learned from time I got on computers.[/yellow]" This might be a dividing line for them, she was obviously well educated.

He tried to continue to smile, but this was a sore spot for him. He had thought about being a doctor, but before he could even imagine that, he would have to get a GED and then worry about college. But there was plenty of time. He would do his best to finish his credits this year and go for college maybe in the spring of the next year.

"[yellow]It's a good idea though, Maya. I will definitely study with you, though I am behind.[/yellow]"
The road was familiar now, they would be at the Mansion anytime.

No high school? It shouldn't have surprised her with his past, but she was surprised anyway. She cocked her head to the side in a motion that seemed rather bird-like.

"You seem so intelligent. I bet you'd blow the GED away without even studying." She waved his insecurities away. She couldn't imagine anyone failing high school unless they tried to fail. Even a person like her with her head in (or made of) clouds had succeeded with minimal effort. Garrett would do fine, she was sure. "Besides - neither of us have real identities... why can't you just make one up that has completed high school and just skip all the boring stuff?

Ghost strained to see over the seats as the bus conductor called 'Last Stop. Everybody off.' They still had a bit of a walk, but it didn't bother her. She was used to walking more than most American's were, she imagined. She slid off of her seat into the aisle, smoothed her hiking skirt, and waited for Garrett. Every time he said her name it made her twinge a bit. Maybe she'd ask him about that later. "I bet you could do it, though you don't have to if you want to go about things the right way."

It wasn't a bad idea. Besides their identities, there was probably some kind of mutant who could get it done." [yellow] You're probably right about the GED, but I have to actually do it. It's important to me that I do everything by the book, so I will be a real doctor someday. [/yellow]" Though the system had thoroughly cheated him, it just wasn't in him to cheat back out of spite. He still had alot of work to do before he could warm up to humans, though. After what they had done to him with ease in the camps, he had a hard time fathoming the idea of helping them.

The bus stopped and they got off, not too far out from the Mansion. It was a pleasant night, though, and he was happy to have more time to talk to her. As they strolled along, he thought about the upcoming school year and all its possible trials and tribulations. He also thought about Maya and decided when he got home he would do another Oracle to see the signs over them.

He realized he had become quiet again, lost in his thoughts. He looked over at her as they walked. "[yellow] So you don't have any interests as far as a career?[/yellow]"

Ghost interlaced her fingers and locked her elbows stretching her arms out in front of herself as they walked. Garrett was more admirable than she was in that respect at least. If she could have skipped high school, she would have in a heartbeat - laws or no laws. Maybe she was a bit bitter for being thrown into an unfamiliar country and intensive language school, but she didn't think it was that. It was probably the fact that they'd ran away to a foreign country without consulting her at all. Or maybe that beyond the language difficulties, high school was still boring old high school only she had started fresh with absolutely no friends.

"A career, huh?" She hadn't thought about it like that. "Maybe I could be a teacher or a counselor or something..." She re-laced her fingers behind her back and stretched that way as they walked now. "What better way to change the world than by educating the next generation?" She was liking the idea more and more. She always got along well with children, most of the kids at the mansion had grown to like her almost immediately. Maybe she could even start practicing teaching at the mansion some time... She would have to ask to be a Teacher's Aid or something and work her way up.

"What better way to change the world than by educating the next generation?"

"[yellow]That's the spirit![/yellow]" He was glad she was looking at things in a positive manner. "[yellow] You have done a bang up job counseling me so far.[/yellow]", he said with a chuckle and a wink. The crickets were belting out a symphony around them as they neared the Mansion and its more rural setting. The lights of the complex were already visible. Soon they would be home again.Home. It was still something he was getting used to.

As they neared the gate, he continued to urge her toward the idea. "[yellow] Seriously though, I think you would make a great teacher. Everyone loves you already and you haven't been here very long. Of course, being beautiful doesn't hurt.[/yellow]" He knew he might get an odd reaction for the comment, but he had been a good boy all night. One little tale of truth couldn't hurt. The smile spread across his face whether he liked it or not. He didn't look at her though. He just kept walking along, seeing if this comment got lost in the breeze as well.

"Beautiful?" She barked out a laugh and danced ahead a few paces, turning as she did so to walk backwards to watch Garrett as she spoke. "It would help to be beautiful, wouldn't it... Maybe I should work on that." She stuck her tongue out at him and became so focused on being obnoxious that she forgot to think about her feet.

One moment she was walking backwards sticking her tongue out, the next she was stumbling over herself with a little 'erk!' that was less than graceful. She didn't even try to catch herself, she was so confused about what was going on. She looked up bewildered from her back at the stars, now that they were farther away from the bright lights of the city the points of light were slightly visible. This was probably the only time she was glad that there wasn't a sidewalk between the bus stop and the mansion gates.

She had not only noticed but actually had a reply. A saucy one at that. As he looked at her sticking her tongue out at him, he just shook his head, his eyebrows raised and laughed. "[yellow] Nice. You are resembling a fire elemental now. Spunky. Not a salamander though.[/yellow]" He enjoyed dropping obscure occult references on people. Not only was it genuinely a good comment to him, but it was an excellent way to gauge a person's knowledge.

With all her fun of mocking him, she was obviously not paying attention to her feet. She made a little noise and fell straight back. Garrett jumped forward and tried to grab at her, but it was too late. He stopped and knelt beside her."[yellow]Whoa, you OK?[/yellow]" Finding her smiling and gazing at the stars was his answer. Knowing she was alright, he had no choice but to poke back. "[yellow] Since you are already beautiful, I would focus on walking.[/yellow]" He chuckled as he took her hand and started to rise.

"Wait." She took his hand and yanked him toward the grass, though the motion mostly just pulled her up toward him. He'd get the idea, though. She pointed up at the twinkling constellations. "I found more blinking lights." She laughed making light of her blunder of a fall. She rubbed the back of her head and brushed off her elbows, freeing them from dried grass bits and the little kisses of damp earth. It hadn't hurt too much, but one of her elbows smarted. She tried to keep her cheeks from glowing too hot as she directed his gaze to the faint, but distinct stars.

"That's what I get for trying to be sassy, I guess." She wished they could see more stars, the spread was rather pathetic compared to what she was used to seeing. After a long moment, she huffed out a sigh and puzzled her way to her feet. She had to root through the grass for a shoe that had gone flying, but eventually she would be ready to go again.

She pulled him down as he started to get up. He easily fell down beside her. Lying on his back beside her, he looked at the stars. He hadn't seen so many before. Just getting this far from the city lights made such a difference. He smiled and looked at the blinking lights of Orion. He looked over at her profile, the stars lighting it. Yes, she had beautiful down. She pointed at some stars, drawing his attention away for a moment.


She seemed to glow in the night like her own star. He smiled, noticing her favor one of her elbows. At this opportunity, he sat up and brushed himself off also. He looked at her and then down at her elbow. "[yellow]Hurt yourself? I can try to make it stop if you like.[/yellow]" It was his nature to help others, especially this girl. Not to mention the chance to use his mutation for something beneficial.