Nash had always enjoyed time in parks. People around her constantly made her nervous and worrisome. One or two people, fine. Multiple people, not so much. So with her map in hand she had made her way to the park, almost deserted to her eyes in the evening light and sat on the first bench she found. She placed the bags, from her shopping expedition around her feet, leaned back and sighed. Her feet throbbed and her arms were sore. She was so out of shape that it wasn't even funny. That and Nash still wasn't used to the time difference between New York and London. She didn't mind the change in weather though. It was nice to be able to wander around with out a jacket and not get sick.
She ruffled in her pocket and pulled out a handful of change left over from her splurge. So much for her savings, three years down the drain in a few hours. At least she got a lot. That was the good thing about buying vintage, lots of selection at little to no price. Second hand shops were easy to find in this city. She counted out the change, if Nash had done it right she would have enough to get back to the mansion via cab. She stuffed it back into her pocket and relaxed into the hard wood of the bench again. Cab later, rest now.

People watching. It was almost as good as bird watching, except birds were much more active. Birds were always squabbling over the seeds, fluttering to impress their mates, getting food, or leaving to return to a nest. Eternally active till the evening when the owls sounded and the bats came out to scoop up insects.

Humans were different. Sure they walked here and there, when there weren’t laying on their horns or playing their game systems, but they had time. The birds and the bats rushed past in a pattern every day because they were creatures of habit. The human habit was too relaxed to compete. Sure there were individuals who always bought the same coffee at the same café, during the same time of day, but there were also those that followed different paths. Mostly children. Boys on skate boards, Tots in the sand box. Spontaneous things like that, made humans interesting to watch.

That’s why Sara chose to be in the park, during the day. Though she chose to hide. There was this tree above this wooden bench, that she had chosen to perch in early, and through out the day, she was making little notes in a sketch book, about human action, and human anatomy.

By the middle of the day, She had quite a few visual notes taken. Most of witch concentrated on faces, and hands. There were lighter pencil strokes taken to illustrate hugs she saw parents giving their sons and daughters, but she couldn’t find it in herself to go into deeper detail with those.

Finally she leaned back against the trunk of the tall tree she had been sitting in. Her tail rhythmically twitching out a beat below the branch, as she slowly fell asleep. Now here is the thing about sleeping in a tree. If you never done it, you should know that it starts to get uncomfortable, no matter how much your body can heal, your tail side will still start to fall asleep. The discomfort makes you want to roll over, so that’s exactly what Sara did.

Sara rolled over, and being that the branch she was sitting on was only just big enough to sit on, the half cat ended up waking with a start because she got that feeling we all get when we are half way awake and suddenly feel like we are dropping. The only difference was she actually was dropping. In the split second it took for her seat to leave the trunk she twisted her body in the air, grabbing onto a lower part of the tree.

For a second or two she hung there, breathing hard. The branch moving up and down like a bow, before there was a crunching sound and move cat and limb crashed to the ground, and no, cats don’t always land on their feet, no matter how much they try.

Sara ended up landing, with the large branch, right behind a bench with a lady sitting on it. She laid there for a few seconds, blinking and staring at where she had been perched a moment ago… “Ouch…”

Nash had been so relaxed she almost dozed off. Almost. She reminded herself at the last minute that sleeping in the park would be neither safe nor fun. She was trying to get herself to wake up, and get her foot to stop sleeping, when there was a crack above her head and a loud thump directly behind her. Surly Nash was hearing things. There was no chance that someone had fallen out of the tree behind her. That was just absurd. Nash must be more tired then she first thought because she was hearing things.

“Ouch…”

Okay, then maybe not. She turned around on the bench, being careful so as not to knock over any bags. She pulled her knees under her body and curled her fingers around the top of the bench's wooden back. She hesitated before leaning forward and looked over the back of the bench. What greeted her was a very strange cat-women person, lady, thing. It was a very good thing Nash had experience with strange sights or she would have freaked out and ran away. Instead she decided the polite thing to do would be to inquire as to how she was after such a fall.

"Are you okay? That was a long fall." She asked it and leaned up over the bench so she was clearly within view. It was never good to scare those who you do not know, especially those who appear to be very much in tune with the wilder side of things.

Sara’s jarred body was numb at first. It took a second for her to realize the pain. She laid there with the aches, that hit her, and felt as her muscles flexed around her bones, making sure those were in proper place, and she felt the deep bruises on her back, clean out, and heal. Not that anyone could see those below the fur.

"Are you okay? That was a long fall."

Sara blinked back up at the girl who was addressing her. Others were looking at her as well, but not nearly so calmly. One mother grabbed her curious child, and ushered him faster down the side walk, in to opposite direction. Some just went on their way at the same pace, and others paused at what they presumed was a safe distance away, with their mouths open… Great.

“Yeah.” Sara pushed herself into a sitting position. Rubbing the back of her head. Her clawed tows flexed, and she leaned her elbows on her knees. “I will be in a moment.” Sara breathed.

Hit anyone with an entire planet hard enough, and there was a 99.99% guaranty, they wouldn’t get back up right away.

“Yeah. I will be in a moment.”

Nash could see that others weren't reacting well to the woman. So she simply nodded and backed away from the bench's back. Swinging her legs around to the side and stood up. Without a word Nash shifted so she was standing close to her but not within easy reach for either of them. Nash hoped by blocking some view of the fallen women and maybe get the spectators to move on.

"That's good. It would be very upsettin' if you had 'urt yourself badly. I wouldn't be able to get you to 'elp because you are obviously much 'eavier then I can lift." By making some conversation Nash hoped she could show that she was trying to be friendly. Falling out of a tree would be disorientating for anyone without suddenly having someone in your face. She was joking a little too. It was a part of Nash that she couldn't get away from no matter how serious she was. She had a humor filter over all she did it seemed.

"So were you observin' the view bein' up so 'igh?" As Nash said it she glanced at her bags. She wasn't the type to get angry but she would be seriously peeved if her stuff was gone. Luckily her things were still there. She turned back to the other women and ushered one of her leeches to crawl onto her back were they wouldn't be visible. She didn't need the women freaking out on her but the leech would alert her of any movement around her bags.

"Trust me, I bounce right back from about anything." Sara said finishing inspecting the back of her head. ok so nothing was out of place, or in the wrong place. for instance no twiggs had gotten enlodged in her and created a wound. So that was a good thing. Her head tilted left and right, flexing her neck, and she rolled her shoulders back.

"So were you observin' the view bein' up so 'igh?"

Sara glanced up at the sun, using it's place in the sky to tell the time. "Yeah, up until about an hour ago when I fell asleep." She rubbed her lower back and looked back at the lady with the golden colored amber eyes. "Rolling over in a tree... not a good idea."

The fleshy skin around Sara's nose darkened. The fur only his so much of it when she blushed. At least most people couldn't tell when her nose was darkening that's what was happening. She was normally much more graceful. Even in the not so dignified moments.

"Trust me, I bounce right back from about anything."

Nash didn't have much to say to that. She knew a lot of people who could bounce back from a lot of things but a fall from a tree? Well, she seemed perfectly fine now. "Do you always fall out of trees like that or was this a one time occurrence?"

"Rolling over in a tree... not a good idea."

Nash nodded, "Oh, I'm sure." She knelt down resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. "So, you took a catnap in a tree, rolled over and didn't land on your feet?" She was joking again. She almost instantly felt silly for saying it and blushed a little in embarrassment. Luckily her leech were still to drowsy to react to her behavior. She was so busy blushing herself that she didn't notice the other girls reactions. Once more though Nash gave herself a start and realised that she didn't now the girls name and it was impolite not to at least ask.

"My name's Nash. What's yours?" It almost seemed childish to Nash's ears. She hesitate to stick her hand out to offer a formal shake. Not a lot of people enjoyed being touched and some didn't like hand shakes.

"Do you always fall out of trees like that or was this a one time occurrence?"

“Neither on both questions. I’m normally much more graceful, and for various reasons I have taken nose dives out of trees, before.” She shrugged as she leaned forward to check her legs. By now, if he had an injury it should be healed or healing, but it was always good to double check. Healing things that were in the wrong position, can be painful in the long run. Again, from what she could tell, she hadn’t broken anything, like bones, The crapes, under her fur, were just those. Scrapes. By the time she even realized the ting, they had been gone.

She slowly flexed her toes again, and began to push herself up, so that he would be at least seated on her knees.


"My name's Nash. What's yours?"

“Sara” She extended her own paw like hand. Funny. This woman seemed to act more like Sara was a norm, that Sara, herself did. It was an odd feeling.

“Neither on both questions. I’m normally much more graceful, and for various reasons I have taken nose dives out of trees, before.”

For various reasons Nash couldn't imagine herself taking a nose dive out of a tree. She would fall and go splat. Neither sounded all that good to her. She was more of a solid ground girl. That's why she stuck to water, no threat of falling there.

“Sara”

Nash smiled like she'd just been presented with a million bucks and shook Sara's extended hand-paw.

"Tis nice to meet you Sara. Even if it was unexpected."

She stood and turned to move the few paces to her bags. She was only half aware of the leech crawling it's way back under the skin of her back. She hoped it wasn't to visible because she wasn't wearing a shirt with a back. She grabbed her stuff - eight bags in total- and lugged them around so she could have them beside her well she talked to Sara. Even with her sentinel leech she didn't want her money to just go down the drain. She didn't think anyone would want her clothing anyway.

The other girl smiled, and Sara tilted her head. Letting the corner side of her lips turn up, but careful not to show the full toothy grin. Toothy feline grins seemed to freak norms out more. Entertaining as that thought was, she didn’t need to freak anyone out at the moment.

"Tis nice to meet you Sara. Even if it was unexpected."

She shrugged. “I’m full of the unexpected.” She started pushing her self up when the other lady moved enough that Sara could see her back, more clearly. She blinked a few times, then let her weight fall back on her tail side. There was a leach… and then the leach was gone. “Ok maybe I did hit my head a little harder than I thought. For a moment, I thought there was a leach on your back.”

“Ok maybe I did hit my head a little harder than I thought. For a moment, I thought there was a leach on your back.”

Nash was at a loss for words. She scratched her head offhandedly and glanced to the side. In the faint light of the setting sun she could clearly see the girls eyes shining at her and she knew her own were shinning too. Yellow, seemed to just naturally shine like that. Especially when it was an eye color. That's why she couldn't look directly at Sara's face, that and she was thinking about what to say. One, she could declare that yes it had been a leech and be forced to explain herself. Two, she could lie and say that she had hit her head very hard. Three, she could avoid the topic all together of leave.

Now, Nash found two and three unacceptable for moral reasons. That only left reasoning number one. This was a delicate subject. Nash could accept her own mutation and others too, but she knew not everyone was this way. "Ummm... there... kinda.. was." Nash darted her eyes at Sara's face to try to catch her reaction and then let them skim away. She could live with her abilities just fine but talking about them made her anxious. At least until she knew how the other person would react.

"Ummm... there... kinda.. was."

Sare looked up at her, noting the yellow eyes and tilting her head. “Well, that’s a relief.” Seeing things wasn’t good with a head injury. Sara knew that with a broken arm, she had to be sure the bone set it’s self correctly so that it wouldn’t heal in the wrong place. That meant breaking it again. Head injuries she had dealt with, but to her knowledge there hadn’t been any that hadn’t healed correctly.

The odd thing was the girl seemed a bit nervous. Funny, Sara was normally that way around showing people herself. Come on, Sara was a half cat, who could heal. She lived being odd. It was odd, for her not to be odd. Sure when she met new types of mutations, it was a surprise, but why would it bother her?

“You must be the rave when it comes to party tricks.” Ok not the smartest set of words to put together. But Sara just fell out of a tree. Give her credit.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

For both of them, Nash decided. She relaxed as soon as Sara seemed fine with her. She stood for one moment before her feet started to scream at her over the continued abuse and she sat with a thump. She couldn't remember the last time she had been swimming. Obviously she needed to get back in the habit of going swimming everyday or she was going to get fat. Okay, maybe not fat but out of shape.

“You must be the rave when it comes to party tricks.”

Nash stared for what seemed like a long moment and then burst out laughing. It was so rude but she couldn't help it. It was just such an absurd thing to say. She hid her face in her hands and continued to try to get control of her laughter. It died down to simple shakes of her shoulder as she continued to think it over in her head. She lifted her head only inches from her hands and smiled coyly at the other girl. "Yes, I suppose so."

She wanted to apologies for her rude behavior but felt that would be a little out of context. She couldn't fit that in after her laughter it would make her seem strange. So, she said nothing for it and moved on with her thoughts. Nash turned to her side, twisting her body to dig in her purse-handbag-backpack-whatever and dug out her water bottle. All that laughing had mad her thirsty. She drank down the entire bottle of clear water and sighed. The joys of breathing through ones skin meant no limit to how long you could hold your breath. An expression of realization dawned on her face and she dug into her pack again. This time she pulled out an unopened bottle and held it out to Sara. "You want some?"

Sara finally stood. Feeling that her body had either healed where she had been injured or hadn’t been injured enough for her fall to effect her much. Standing, she stretched her hands of and popped her back, back into it’s proper alignment. Looking up with the same motion to see her back pack, still high up in the tree. “ah man.” Her arms dropped and she continued to look up. It wasn’t really that she didn’t want to go back up into the tree. Just was annoying.

"You want some?"

“huh?” Sara looked sideways at the other girl, with the bottled water. “Oh thanks.” Sara carefully took the bottle, taking care not to touch the other girl with the tips of her fingers, where her claws were. A day of tree lounging really could make one thirsty so before she knew it. She had downed half of the bottle.

“ah man.”

Nash, who was still promptly holding out the water bottle looked up. Of course she couldn't see anything. She didn't know what they were looking at and she didn't have strong eyes. Some mutants got strong eyes, Nash got the ability to breathe through her skin and glue people to things. Life was funny like that.

“Oh thanks.”

"Welcome." Nash said it on impulse but it made her think.To think something over in her head well she watched Sara drink back the water. Does she always do stuff that makes people say thank you to her? It seemed like people said that a lot to her. She didn't get to think about it for much longer cause the other girl was finished drinking most the water in the water bottle, though there was still quite a bit left.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Dough I think I top you with the drinking capacity." Nash was proud of that little known fact. She could drink hole pop bottles down without even a breathe or a bathroom break. Another reason Nash had said it, besides pride, was that she was she was trying to be a little funny. Though she didn't succeed all the time. She glanced up at the tree again.

"So, did you forget stuff up dere or is there somethin' I'm jus' not seein'" Another real-humor-me-please-and-my-British-sense-of-humor question. Nash just loved asking those questions. They made her feel so confident.