So, this was the Mansion, huh? It was big, he'd give it that much, but he knew that bigger wasn't always better, just more crowded. Not that crowds had much impact on him. Inconspicuous was one of the last words that could be applied to this young man, he was kind of a klutz, after all. Oh yeah. He was also a fish boy. A fish boy who was now standing outside of the outer gates leading to the Mansion, indecisive as always, trying to determine if he actually wanted to go inside or not. Uneasily Gabe shifted his weight from one foot to the other, the long, webbed spines that acted as his ears laying down flat, his wide black eye a fraction larger than normal, giving a very appropriately intimidated look, not that too much could be seen under the over-sized, hooded sweatshirt that he wore. Gabe hated that sweatshirt, only wearing it out of necessity to keep his looks for being to obvious on the streets of New York while on his way to the Mansion. It was at least three sizes too big, making him look very silly. However, he didn't really fit into a more appropriately sized sweatshirt anymore thanks to the webbing he'd grown running from about halfway down his upper arm and connecting a little past the midpoint of his torso. The larger hood also helped to accommodate his odd looking ears and the fin on top of his head as well. His hands were shoved deep down into the big pocket at his front, his webbed fingers twisting around each other nervously. The white pupils that practically swam in the blackness of his round eyes floated back and forth, taking in his surroundings and sizing everything up.

You're being stupid, he scolded himself as hes gaze drifted over to the large front doors beyond the gates, feeling like a fish out of water. Er, no pun intended. You dragged your scrawny butt all the way up here from Florida just to stand outside the gate and gawk at the place? Yeah right. Get in there! Giving a small nod at his own mental chiding, he took in a breath, squared his shoulders, and pushed through the gates, only to stop once again about three or four steps beyond it. This was insane. The Mansion was a school for mutants. He wasn't going to be to only weird looking kid in the place. Or at least he hoped not. Anyways, he'd been right. He hadn't gone through the trouble of asking his parents to buy him a ticket to New York only to stop an arm's length from his goal. He shuddered lightly at the thought of having to go back through airport security and all the hassle his looks had given him. And so once again he took a breath and began to march, refusing to think too much into the situation as he slowed to a stop in front of the door, removing his hands from his pocket, and pushing his hood down off of his head, his fin-ears now standing up straighter in his determination, the sun glinting off of the lovely blue of his skin. And before he could leave himself any more room for hesitation and second thoughts, he hit the buzzer attached to the intercom to let whoever know that there was a visitor at their door.

Streak was walking around the mansion once again. He'd taken to doing that lately. He heard the buzzer go off. Instinctively, as he walked towards the doors, he pulled his silver over his body. Ever since the camps it had turned into a defense mechanism, covering himself in silver. He was never going to be caught by surprise again. Shawn walked to the door and opened it to see a blue headed person standing there. The boy was definitely different. But that didn't make him different from the rest of them. "Hey there." Streak said to the boy.

The fins, gills, and blue skin didn't throw Silver off his train of thought for a second. It wasn't unusual to see people that were different. His first thought was to Raina turning into a mermaid. Oh a playmate for Raina. Well wont she be pleased. Streak smiled at the boy shoeing his entire silver body as he opened the door wider to reveal the inside of the mansion behind him. "I'm guessing you are here to live right? My names Streak. What's yours?" He smiled even more to make sure the guy knew he was half serious and half joking.

Gabe apparently didn't have to wait long to be met at the entrance. He reflexively took a step or two back as the Mansion doors opened and a young man greeted him. Or at least, he assumed it was a young man. It certainly looked like a young man in shape, but the metallic silver that covered him head to toe did throw him for a bit of a loop, his large black eyes growing a bit larger, and his fin-ears standing up straight as he regarded the youth before him. He looked to be about Gabe's age from what he could catch from the young man's features, a few inches shorter than the fish boy, his head fin adding a few extra inches to that height, though most of this information fell to the back of him mind, the height of his attention focused mainly on the fact that the greeter was silver. Like a walking piece of silverware, he thought, not realizing just how lucky her probably was that he hadn't for once spoken his thoughts out loud. It probably wouldn't have made much of an impression if he'd called the kid a spoon with limbs.

Honestly, he didn't really know what to think of this new person. He knew there were kids living in this place that had mutations, physical and non. But apparently this knowledge hadn't been quite enough to prepare him for actually encountering these people. Once his own mutation had begun to manifest, he'd spent increasingly longer periods of time indoors. He hadn't exactly gone looking for other fish people. Or other mutants in general, for that matter. It took him a moment before he realized that he was probably staring. He blinked slowly and focused back on the boy's face, giving a small smile. Unfortunately, having a rather wide mouth, even his smaller smiles looked bigger than intended. They were also a little goofy, as he'd noted to himself at a few different times in the past. "Uh, hi," he replied, lifting one webbed hand and giving a small, unsure wave. "I'm Gabe. And I'm not really sure if I want to live here yet. But I heard about this place and that it's a place for, uh, mutants," he continued, pausing a moment before the word 'mutant', unsure if there was another title that was better to use or not. "I thought I'd stop by and have a look around. If I like it, I might stay," he concluded. Honestly, he'd probably be staying either way. He hadn't been in the city all that long, and being blue tended to make getting a hotel room or apartment a little more difficult.

Streak waved back at the blue fish boy. He was obviously shaken by seeing him like this. "Hi Gabe nice to meet you. Mutant is a good enough term. It's what we are." At least he didn't have to try and convince him he was a mutant like one girl that showed up here. Gabe was definitely a little different from mostly everyone else that was at the mansion. I'm really glad I opened the door. Probably better for him to see someone who doesn't always look human. Although I doubt he can change his look.

"I thought I'd stop by and have a look around. If I like it, I might stay,"

"Sure. Come one in." He stepped aside and to let Gabe in. "We have plenty of facilities to help you learn control of your mutation." He stepped back from the door way and walked towards the table that held all the brochures, forms and pamphlets. He picked up a few of the forms and looked at Gabe to see if he was coming to take the tour.

Gabe's smile widened a fraction as his new acquaintance, Streak, gave his own wave and reassured him that the term 'mutant' was a perfectly acceptable one. The fish boy's expression continued to show that he was still unsure of himself and this whole situation, though he was slowly but surely relaxing little by little, growing accustomed to what was going on. He wasn't really used to being greeted with such ease and acceptance of his appearance, made all the sillier for his ridiculously large sweatshirt and an old, battered pair of sneakers that were about half a size too big for him. He was more accustomed to being silently pitied for his unfortunate state by his parents and their friends. They didn't use the word mutant, almost as if it was some kind of profanity, which accounted for Gabe's own uncertainty with using the term so freely. But he thought he rather liked this change in reaction from another, especially one who seemed like he could understand the blue boy's difficulty with blending in. Which made him wonder at what this kid was actually capable of, beside doing a mean imitation of the dinnerware, that is.

As Streak stepped aside to let him in, Gabe hesitated a short moment before slowly following behind the chrome youth, shoving his hands back down into his deep pocket, almost as if using the sweatshirt as a sort of security blanket in this unfamiliar situation. The place looked even bigger from the inside. With mouth slightly agape, which probably made him look even more like a fish, he let his white pupils swing from here to there, taking in what he could see of the Mansion interior. He resisted the urge to reach back and pull his hood up and forward over his head again. No need to hide in this place, no need to feel so out of place. This school was for mutants. This should be the one place where he felt right at home. So why was it that he felt like he was out of his element? At the mention of an aid for controlling his mutation, he looked back to Streak, head tilted slightly as if not understanding the statement. "There really isn't anything to control," he admitted, giving a bit of a sheepish look. "Most of my mutation is looking like a fish. There's not too much else I can do. I can't really do anything harmful. I guess my abilities lie mainly in navigation. I can't turn it off or anything, just ignore it. I'm not sure much can be done about it."

"There really isn't anything to control,"
"Most of my mutation is looking like a fish. There's not too much else I can do. I can't really do anything harmful. I guess my abilities lie mainly in navigation. I can't turn it off or anything, just ignore it. I'm not sure much can be done about it."

Streak listened to Gabe as he slowly walked through the door. "Well that's okay to. There's lots of classes that you can take like in a school with normal people instead of a bunch of mutants. Not that that's a bad thing." He added quickly. Streak noticed the boy was still trying to hide in his sweat shirt. He felt like he should say something about Gabe's wanting to keep himself hidden. "I used to have a problem with using my mutation when I was out and around the city. I never thought I would thank the camps for anything but they did give me a 'I don't care what people think about my powers thing'. Don't worry no one here cares about what you look like. I've gotten a lot of jokes thrown my way about my looks and stuff. Well I guess I'm fortunate that I can change my looks and look human."

He didn't want to sound like he was rubbing anything in but he thought it was important that Gabe know that he didn't always look like this. "There's actually quite a few mutants that have to do with water or ice. You should look them up. Anyways, let's start the tour huh?" He held his hand out that held the brochure's in it. He waited to see if the guy was ready to see the mansion yet.

So, this kid could at least switch between silver and human appearances. There was only the briefest flash of envy that swept through Gabe before it was placated. Most of the time he was just confused as to why people didn't like the way he looked. Sure, he was different, but there were weirder looking things crawling all over the planet. He kind of felt sorry for them in some strange, twisted way. It almost felt like he should be the one pitying them for their closed mindedness, rather than them pitying him for his strange looks. His sweatshirt was more for his insecurities with being in a new situation, rather than for his looks. Just following after a kid that was silver head to toe, much like he was blue from top to bottom, was already putting him at ease for being so unusual, but he was still painfully aware that he was the new kid, and a total klutz on top of that. It was only a matter of time now before he tripped over something or said something immensely stupid without meaning to do so. And the fuzzy readings he got from his mutation didn't always help him to keep a clear head or properly navigate something as simple as a hallway.

Moving passed his comment on how it was fortunate that Streak could switch between appearances, he thought instead on his comment about regular schooling with regular kids, rather than with mutants. "I don't mind having classes with mutants," he commented, uncurling from himself a little, trying to make himself seem a little more comfortable, hoping the genuine feeling would follow soon after. "I am a mutant after all. I came here because it's a safe place for us. I would have stayed back in Florida if I was just going to keep learning with the normal kids. I mean, I've gotta get used to this sometime. Might as well be now," he concluded. Sliding one hand out of his large kangaroo pocket, he took a few steps closer to the silver man and took hold of the offered brochures, his other hand appearing so he could flip through some of the pages quickly, looking mainly at the larger pictures that were printed on some of the pages. "Yeah, okay. Where are we headed first?"

"I don't mind having classes with mutants,"
"I am a mutant after all. I came here because it's a safe place for us. I would have stayed back in Florida if I was just going to keep learning with the normal kids. I mean, I've gotta get used to this sometime. Might as well be now,"


As Gabe took the brochures that Streak passed to him, he stared at his hands. It was a little shocking to see his hands like that. So he ventured a question, "So what's your mutation? Some sort of swimming ability guessing from the fins and skin." He picked up the folder and opened it, picking up a pen along with it so he could write down some information. "How old are you? It depends on where you'll be sleeping. I'll just be asking you some questions as we go through the place. This way." He turned and started walking down the hallway towards the dormitories and infirmary.

"Yeah, okay. Where are we headed first?"

Streak put on his tour voice, just for show, and said, "If you look to your left you'll see the girls dormitory, the boys dormitory is to your right, and the adults is down the middle." They walked down the adults hallway and toward the infirmary. "There's also a kitchen that's open 24/7. I assume you know what one looks like so we don't need to go there." He wasn't going to make the tour short so he allowed him to take his time and ask questions.

Closing the glossy pages of the newly received brochures and tucking them away into the pocket of his sweatshirt, he looked back over to Streak as he was questioned about what exactly it was that Gabe could do. "Yeah, swimming makes up a good portion of it," he replied, looking down at his own hands and moving the fingers a bit, stretching the webbing as if curious about it himself. "I'm kind of stuck in between fish and person, I guess. I've got gills and lungs, so I can live in or out of the water, and I've got real thick skin, so I'm not too easily roughed up and it makes it real easy to stay in really cold water and weather, though I dehydrate pretty easily. The eyes help, too. Black cuts down on glare, and they allow me to see pretty clearly in mucky water," he explained, shoving his hands up under his sweatshirt and then down into the pockets of his worn old pair of jeans. Compared to the rest of his outfit, the pants were the only article of clothing that actually fit, almost a little snugly. It would be too much trouble trying to navigate underwater with baggy pants. Even pairs that fit a little tighter still dragged him down a little, but far less than those that were larger. Plus, the only webbing he had below his torso was between his toes. "Other than that, I've got some kind of sonar that helps me move around underwater. I can also pick up vibrations, though both of those things are pretty fuzzy and inaccurate out of the water."

When Streak pulled out a folder and pen, Gabe craned his neck slightly in curiosity of the objects, wondering what they would be used to record. "I'm nineteen," he replied, following quietly after Streak as directed, carefully minding where his feet fell, trying to keep himself from tripping over anything and making more of a fool of himself in such a short amount of time. Once again his white pupils swam from here to there in his large black eyes as things were pointed out to him on his left, his right, and straight ahead. Carefully he attempted to file this information away in his mind, since he would no doubt need to know these things if he was to live here. Especially the Girls' Dormitories. Though, not for the reasons one would think of a young man. He'd much rather know where those rooms were so he could avoid stumbling into one by accident. He was enough of a goof up as it was, and it only got worse when there were girls around. He definitely didn't need to be tripping into their rooms. He smiled a little at the comment about assuming he'd seen a kitchen before. He didn't mind skipping past that area, just as long as he remembered where it was. "Uhm, what's the tuition like to attend this school?" he asked, suddenly quite aware that he had very little money that he had brought with him. He didn't make a habit of carrying much money, of he carried any at all. Paper tended to get soggy and stick together when he was the one carrying it. "I'm new to New York, so I don't have a job or anything. But if there's jobs on campus or something, I could help out."

The silver man listened to Gabe as he described his powers. He jotted down points here and there, gills and lungs, so I can live in or out of the water, thick skin, dehydrate pretty easily He underlined that point because it was a weakness and he was focused on getting as much as he could written down as the fish boy continued to talk. Black cuts down on glare, and they allow me to see pretty clearly in mucky water, sonar and vibrations. Check. both of those things are pretty fuzzy and inaccurate out of the water.

Streak finished writing down the information and continued walking Gabe through the tour. 19. Check. He quickly scribbled a 19 down on the paper and continued to fill it out. The question that Gabe posed to Streak was an unusual one. "Huh? Tuition? Don't worry about it. It'll be taken care of." He mainly said this because he didn't really know the answer. He didn't pay any tuition and he didn't know anyone who did pay. Now that he thought about it he didn't know how the mansion got it's money to pay for bills and things. "Don't worry there are jobs on campus that you can get. You'd have to talk to Neena about that. She's the Assistant headmistress here at the mansion and usually the one who handles new students files, tours and such." Shawn pointed out the infirmary as they walked past it. There wasn't much to see but he did say, "We have a resident doctor here as well who's very good at his job and you can call on pretty much any time of the day. Though he may not be very happy if you call him late at night." The man of silver kept walking out the doors in the back and to the back of the grounds.

Gabe blinked slowly as the mention of no tuition sank in. He'd never had to pay for his school tuition in the past, so it wasn't any kind of big change to him, but the fact that the Mansion didn't charge its students to attend was a little strange. Briefly he wondered how the school managed its upkeep. They'd need a lot of really successful fundraisers to afford this place from the look of it. He didn't particularly mind not having to pay a fee to live in the Mansion, but was instead just curious about it. It eased some of the worry about a job from his mind, along with the fact that jobs could be available on campus if he required one. Apparently he didn't need one, but some extra money wouldn't hurt. He didn't buy much in the way of clothing or anything, and the Mansion had a kitchen, but what little clothing he did have tended to get somewhat abused, so he did need money to buy at least a new set of jeans every now and again. And pajamas. Pajamas were good. However, for the most part he might seek out a job just for something to do with himself. He didn't know anyone around this place and it would take a while for him to learn his way around and make friends, so until then he'd need something to do. Distractedly he filed away the name 'Neena' with the rest of the information he was absorbing in this little tour of his. And speaking of tour, if this Neena woman was supposed to be giving the tours, then why was it that this boy had answered the door and let Gabe in? Hmm.

Obediently he again looked in the direction he was directed to, craning his neck to see what he could of the Infirmary as they passed. He didn't expect to be visiting that place too often, thanks to his thick hide and his aversion to conflict, though he made a mental note to try and avoid the place at night, not wishing to disturb the good doctor. The most he expected to get around this place was a few bumps and bruises, most of which would probably be brought on by his own clumsiness anyways. His pace slowed a little as they stepped through a back door and outside once more, the difference in lighting having very little effect on him. He didn't even have to blink where some would have squinted their eyes, especially when being lead by a highly reflective young man. Sometimes he actually liked the thick black area that made up his eyes. However, he was less thankful for the shoes he wore that were a little too big for him. They were harder to walk in when on uneven ground, and he wished he could take them off. Grass felt quite nice under his feet. But he didn't quite think it would be appreciated if he left his shoes lying around somewhere, especially since he wasn't exactly living here just yet. Moving as quickly as he dared, he hurried to catch back up with his tour guide. "Hey, hum, if that Neena woman you mentioned is supposed to be in charge on incoming students and their files, how come she isn't the one that answered the door?" he asked suddenly, that little inquiry having been tugging at the back of his mind stubbornly. "Not that you're doing a bad job, or that I don't appreciate it, or want to get rid of you or anything," he added quickly, tripping over his words a little in his haste to tack on that last statement. "I was just curious is all. So, anyways, what's outside the Mansion? I mean, you can't all be cooped up inside all the time," he carried on, shrinking back down into his silly outfit a little once again, giving another one of his goofy, unsure, slightly apologetic smiles.

Streak continued the tour with Gabe showing him the basketball courts, tennis courts, gardens, and other features of the grounds. All in all it was a very nice backyard area for kids to play around in. He pointed out all these things easily before taking him to what he thought was the most important part of the tour for this young fish boy. "And here we have....drum roll please...the pool." He took a pose that similar to Vanna White, smiling at his own joke. "There are a few other mutants here that have powers involving water. So you probably wont be the only one who's swimming year round." He continued.

Just then he heard Gabe's question. It was a good inquisitive question that he probably would have asked if he was in Gabe's position. Streak didn't take any offense to his comment and smiled at his hastened after comment. "She's probably teaching right now. Otherwise she'd more that likely be here. I've been here a little over a year so I've seen a lot of people show up and know how the tour thing goes. Here." he handed Gabe the folder he'd been carrying and said, "You can finish filling it out and find Neena later. It's just basic personal info and stuff. No big deal."

Streak was running out of things to show Gabe quickly. He hoped Neena would show up soon. She was always better with these sorts of things than he was. That's why she get paid the big bucks. Cause she knows how to do this stuff a lot better than me. he thought. "So? Whadda ya think? Ya think you'll like it?" He asked wondering if Gabe had any questions. There were still a few more things he could show the fish boy, but he didn't want to leave questions circling in his head.

The sound of padded and running feet, along with laughter and taunts, came from around the corner, followed quickly by the group of five teenagers and two adults they belonged to. Obviously involved in a race, the batch of people swerved a bit to avoid the two boys on their way to the pool.

"Wa-HOO!! I win!!" announced a body topped by bright yellow-green hair, moments before cannonballing into the blue waters. Six others followed in rapid succession, turning the liquid into a mass of roiling waves, and splashing anything with reach.

A dark head emerged from the middle of the laughing party, a woman that looked to be about thirty. "You so cheated, Miriam!"

"Hah! I don't think so, Bright Eyes. You're just jealous that I'm quicker!" The yellowish green head, oddly enough, belonged to the second of the two adults present, another woman.

"Sneakier, ya mean."

"Whatever works."

The dark-skin woman made a face at her companion. Abruptly she became aware of the two boys they'd side-stepped in their mad dash. Neena waved, and kicked over to the side of the pool.

"Hiya, Streak! Who's your friend?" She smiled and waved at the second youth, taking his finny appearance.

Behind her the five younger divers began showing signs of mutation dealing with the water in various aspects. One girl sat atop the blue waves as if they were solid, while another boy actually became a human-shaped blob of the liquid. You wouldn't have been able to tell that this 'pool party' was actually a class, focused on the liquid aspect of their gifts.

Shawn looked around as he heard kids running. It sounded like they were racing somewhere. Streak then saw them. They were headed straight for the pool. The racers swerved around Streak and Gabe before quickly jumping into the pool. Streak was splashed with water as the half a dozen or so students jumped into the pool. He barely recognized the dark skinned women that dashed by him and Gabe.

Streak smiled as he heard Neena's voice over everyone else voice. "She always know how to make an entrance." Streak said to Gabe, as Neena swam up to the edge of the pool where they were standing. He crossed his silvery arms and looked down at Neena as the water dripped off his body.

"Hiya, Streak! Who's your friend?"

"Hi Neena. You certainly can make an entrance can't ya? Oh, ya this is Gabe. Gabe Neena." Streak said uncrossing his arms and pointing to each in turn. "Gabe's a prospective student and I'm showing him around." He turned to Gabe and said, "Looks like we've found your fellow classmates. The classes here are a little different than other schools." Streak smiled at Neena and Gabe. He waited for the fish boys response.

Gabe continued to follow after streak as the silver kid lead him around the outside of the Mansion, showing him a whole bunch of areas for outdoor activities, as well as a few where one could just sit back and relax after a long day of classes. The fish boy had never really played sports all that often, even before his mutation manifested itself. The basketball courts and tennis courts could remedy that if he so chose. And perhaps a little practice with playing the games could get him to work on his overall clumsiness a little and help him out so he didn't trip over his own feet quite so often. Thankfully he'd grown to be quite agile and graceful in the water. It would have been terribly embarrassing for an aquatically influenced individual such as himself to be floundering around in their own element. Gabe couldn't help but smile as Streak posed by the pool and showed it off. He also couldn't help but be impressed by the size of the structure. It clearly had been built to hold a good number of people, which was a good thing for a school the size of the Mansion. And a bigger pool meant more room for him to swim around in if he so chose. Smaller bodies of water just weren't as much fun. They always made him feel like a fish in a fishbowl, always watching out for the sides of the enclosure instead of a freer kind of swimming. He was even more pleased to catch the phrase "year 'round" from Streak as he spoke. Gabe was lucky that he could withstand such cold temperatures, because sometimes a summer swim season was just too short to suit him. Turning his attention away from the water and back to the silver figure, he gave a small nod at the explanation concerning Neena and took the folder when it was handed to him. He was about to answer Streak's last batch of questions about what he thought of the place when he was abruptly cut off by the sound of pounding feet and shouting voices.

Gabe barely had enough time it look around in surprise and take a half a step back when two adults and a small group of younger kids blew past him, headed straight for the pool. Confused, he turned again to follow their path with his eyes only to find several different explosions of water spraying out away from the pool as the bodies hit the surface, effectively splashing both him and Streak. He just stood for a moment, blinking in surprise at the sudden soaking. Having no hair to cling to, the water slid off his skin quite easily. However, his outfit was soaked, the over-sized sweatshirt growing heavier with the added weight and sagging, looking as if it would just melt off of his lean body at any moment. Unfortunately, the folder he'd just been handed was also sprayed with water, meaning he'd most likely have to rewrite anything that Streak had already put down on the paper. Looking between the two older women as they exchanged words, his large black eyes widened a little further as one of them turned to address Streak and then to look at him and wave. She had such oddly colored eyes. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about them at the moment, but they were a little unnerving to look at. Though of course, the fact that it was a woman addressing them seemed to outweighed her odd eyes in Gabe's mind. He always did get more flustered around the ladies. And clumsier as well. When streak introduced him, all he could think to do was give a small wave in return. He probably would have shrunk back into his clothing yet again if the top half of his outfit wasn't threatening to slide off of him at the moment. He gave a little nod to Streak's comment, as well as a small smile, the expression once more looking a bit bigger than it would have been had his mouth remained in its smaller human size. "I can see that," he replied, seeming to have found his voice at last. "Nice to meet you, Neena. I like your school."