Inside of the Golden Doors, the young man who shared an unfortunate resemblance to his twitchy 'brother' was having a difficult time convincing Lisa he was not here to either date Isabel or cause trouble.

"I would simply like to know if your healer is in. Sebastian Csendes?" Slate repeated.

Lisa set down the phone short of putting out a page for Isabel, but her carefully polite gaze was still skeptical. "Are you injured?"

He very clearly was not. "I simply have some matters I would like to discuss with him, if you please."

She did not please. "Is he expecting you?"

Slate's baby blue gaze met the Receptionator's own; with small smiles on both of their lips, they were the very picture of politeness brought to its logical extreme. She wanted him to leave, but would not say so. He would speak with Mister Csendes, but he had chosen to go through the proper channels to do so, and would not back down from that course. Politeness and pride were poor bedfellows.

Fortunately, the doors were opening behind him. New York City was in the habit of hosting fortunate coincidences. He saw this fact written in Lisa's politely set eyes before he himself finished turning around.

Kai was feeling very out of place walking beside the unicorn mutant, heading towards his "home". Something called the Sanctuary? Supposedly a notorious home for mutants. Hm... Then why didn't Kai know of it? You'd think BEING a mutant, I would automatically be on the mutant mailing list or.. something. Well you learn something new every day.

The first thing he noticed upon reaching their destination was the pair of GIANT. GOLD. GATES. Actually, that was all that he noticed. Was there even a building behind those GIANT. GOLD. GATES? Probably, because shortly the doors were closing, cutting him off from the GIANT. GOLD. GATES.

A scrawny youth waited for them, leaning against the counter much to the apparent aggravation of the secretary. Kai blinked, it was so much darker inside this building, away from the glare of the sun... and the reflections off of THE GATES. "Hello?"

It seemed Kai had never seen the golden portals that marked the entrance to the Sanctuary. He seemed to stare at them with some sort of reverent awe. Sebastian couldn't blame him, though, the doors were very shiny.

Sebastian had to shift the plants around again to handle the door, but it was the polite thing to do as host, “This is the Sanctuary.” Not that the Sanctuary didn't announce itself fairly efficiently with its bright metallic doors.

Inside, there was a new face talking to the receptionist Lisa. He was rather a plain looking young man, possessing a face that would blend into a crowd and be easily forgotten.

“Ah, good afternoon, Lisa,” the unicorn man smiled at the receptionist. She was wearing a new scarf today, or one that Sebastian didn't recognize. The woman had a lot of scarves. “Today must be a day for new faces. Were you going to give a tour? If I could drop these plants off in my room, I'd be happy to do a tour.” He'd be happy to eat, too. His stomach had stopped growling as if it had given up on getting any food for the time being. It seemed to be scheming to make another attack later. Sebastian could wait, it wasn't like he was going to starve to death.

The first voice, unfamiliar, gave Slate cause to turn around.

>> "Hello?"

The teenager was perhaps a bit younger than he was, but only an inch or two shorter. They shared brown hair, but not a taste in cropping it--Slate's own, while tousled, was cut to keep out of his face. The tousling was not by choice, but by genetics--much like many things in this world, it seemed.

The second voice was entirely welcome. Slate knew it from recordings of an incident in the Mondragon Labs cells. The face he knew from the same, as well as from surveillance pictures taken much more recently. The eyes were blue, but a lighter and clearer shade than his own; the hair was white, and rather reminded him of Ghost; the horn was a statement, to say the least. Calley had once seen the Sanctuary's healer shift to a unicorn, after all. A unicorn horn stood for a great many things. The Kabal's young virgin leader was thinking more of the 'healing' connotations, to clarify.

>> “Ah, good afternoon, Lisa. Today must be a day for new faces. Were you going to give a tour? If I could drop these plants off in my room, I'd be happy to do a tour.”

Slate gave both the man and teen a respectful nod. "I had actually come," he explained, "to talk with you, Mister Csendes." There are some things that one does not hide, when one is looking for a mentor. Particularly if one's mentor might not appreciate them. "I am also a healer," he said simply. "And a member of the Kabal." His eyes touching on the younger man who had come in with the white-haired man. "If you are willing to speak with me, than I am willing to wait as long as necessary. Please, go ahead with your 'tour'." He hesitated for a moment, then added; "I could also walk with you, if that would be more convenient." He did not see how it possibly could be, but he was suddenly unwilling to let the immortal out of his sight. Lisa's opinion of him did not appear to be raising. Though the Kabal held a truce with the Order, it was an old agreement. Very old. And she had the call-button means to have him removed from the premises by stabbing, muscle-bound force if she preferred to keep potential competitors for recruitment out of her lobby. Not that Slate was here to recruit anyone; merely that such things are much less likely to happen if you have the potential recruiter put into the dumpster with yesterday's trash.

He failed to mention that he was the Leader of the Kabal; that was something best left unstated when one is standing in the presence of the GIANT. GOLD. DOORS.

As Sebastian offered to give a tour, Kai snapped out of his state of awe of the GIANT.GOLD.GATES. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

He nodded about putting the plants somewhere safe. "Oh, they are probably a little wilt-y from being out in the cold weather. I could help you carry them and revitalize them for you once you set them up, if you like?" The other youth seemed to be attaching himself to Sebastian as well, though Kai would rather not admit that he was jealous, he was want to let one of the first nice mutants that he had met get swept away by someone else.

And he was both genuinely concerned about the plants and interested in some kind of tour. This is a giant complex filled with mutants, after all. What was there not to be interested in? Kai realized with a jolt that the brown haired person was probably also a mutant. He really needed to change his perspective from never assuming that people were mutants, to the possibility that everyone was. They were just so common in New York... And he mentioned healing abilities... so he must be good, as well.

Thinking in this vein, Kai was much happier to have... hmm.."I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." walking with them.

Sebastian regarded the tousled haired boy as he explained that he was not actually a prospective Sanctuary resident, but rather had come for what sounded like business reasons.

>>>"I had actually come, to talk with you, Mister Csendes. I am also a healer, ... And a member of the Kabal."

Interesting. The young man, he could hardly call be called a boy with his mature demeanor, already knew Sebastian's current surname it seemed. That was a bit unusual, since they had never met in Sebastian's recollection. Then again, he was a member of the Kabal, which, if Sebastian remembered correctly, was the name of the organization that had given him some rather unwelcome hospitality for a short time. It was Hunter Antonescue's organization.

The unicorn man raised an eyebrow quizzically at his mention of his affiliation. A tie to the vampyric immortal did not automatically make someone evil. There were countless reasons this youth could be seeking him out, as a favor, on orders, or even for his own personal reasons. Whatever the case, the unicorn man was more than willing to hear him out. He was even curious to hear the nature of the business.

>>>"If you are willing to speak with me, than I am willing to wait as long as necessary. Please, go ahead with your 'tour'." ... "I could also walk with you, if that would be more convenient."

Sebastian swept a hand, slightly weighted down by a plant laden plastic bag, toward the elaborate old fashioned elevator. “Please, do join us.” Even if he hadn't been interested in what he had to say, the unicorn man would have invited the blue eyed Kabal member to join them. It would have been rude to keep him waiting in the lobby.

>>>"Oh, they are probably a little wilt-y from being out in the cold weather. I could help you carry them and revitalize them for you once you set them up, if you like?"

“Ah, yes. Thank you Kai.” Sebastian handed one of the bagged plants to the boy and hoped the familiar use of the teen's first name was not offensive. He led the way to the elevator and pressed the 2 button. Like magic, the doors closed, lights blinked, gravity lurched, and bells dinged. The doors opened once again and they were on the second floor.

“I guess we'll start the tour with the living quarters. Each room is set up a little different, but most of them are a fairly decent size for either a single person or room mates. I believe each bedroom has an adjoining bathroom, at least mine does.” The novelty of indoor plumbing had not worn off. It used to be that Sebastian wouldn't ever have dreamed of sleeping next to the place where he did that sort of business. Flushing was an awful lot more convenient and less messy than the methods used in previous centuries, he had to admit. It was too bad the youngsters didn't really appreciate all the gifts their forefathers had given them. Electric lights, flush toilets, automobiles. Airplanes he could live without.

The unicorn man handed the remaining plants over to whichever brown haired youth was closest and fumbled in his pocket for his keys. He unlocked his bedroom door and pushed it open, signaling for both teens to follow him in. The room was simple and tidy. It had a generic blue bedspread with white pillows. A desk with a pair of reading glasses on them sat in front of the window. He liked to read the morning news with the perspective of a well aged mind, however, the trade off was nearly always a bit of difficulty reading without the spectacles. An armchair occupied one corner, with the morning's newspaper still sitting, carefully refolded, on the small table next to it. An antique trunk sat in the opposite corner, still closed. It had just arrived from London the previous day and the unicorn man had not yet had time to unpack its contents. The closet and bathroom doors were both shut, that is, until Sebastian opened the closet door to hang his coat within it.

>> "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Slate," Slate provided again to his fellow teen, as the group began to move. "I fear I did not catch yours, either."

>>"Oh, they are probably a little wilt-y from being out in the cold weather. I could help you carry them and revitalize them for you once you set them up, if you like?"

Slate's mouth opened to ask the usual small talk questions; Are you a mutant, as well, then? What is your power? It closed just as quickly, as they entered into the elevators in one friendly trio. The unicorn man had only raised an eyebrow at him, before politely accepting him as a tagalong. He had no way of knowing what the horned man was truly thinking, and he did not wish to jeopardize things with unnecessary chatter. Particularly unnecessary chatter that might be construed as gathering information for his faction.

Nonetheless, baby blue eyes could probably be caught drifting to the white haired man. Sebastian Csendes. Healer, and immortal. Standing in the confined space with the other teenager and the unicorn man, Slate felt very conscious of his own youth.

The doors dinged opened, as elevators do, and they proceeded to Sebastian's room. The furniture was simple; it was the small touches around the room which gave it a sense of home, and dignity. A carefully made bed, where others would have left the sheets tousled; a desk by the window looking out onto the city's street, and a pair of reading glasses left on its top, showing that both it and they were not merely for display.

A bag had been shoved into his grip as the man jostled with his keys. Slate had accepted it with the mutely surprised blink of one who was afraid to displease. He held it to his chest now with both arms, a bit like one would hold a baby. If one had no clue how to hold a baby. The plants inside would suit the room; they were not showy, but their leaves held interesting shapes and textures. Details. Details were always quite important.

The bag rustled as he shifted his grip around it uncomfortably. "Your room is very nice," he said. His mouth closed immediately afterwards. ...That had been slightly inane. 'Your room is very nice'--really, a statement of his intellect. The bag rustled again, its top partially hiding the red blush creeping up his neck.

He turned to his fellow teen, offering out the plastic-wrapped shield. "You said something about... revitalizing these?" Thus did he deflect all attentions in the room to the other young man. Genius.

Kai followed Sebastian- Mr. Csendes? He wasn't quite sure for a moment how the older mutant preferred to be addressed, however when he casually used Kai's first name, he figured that it was probably alright to refer to him likewise. He took hold of the proffered plant and was quite enthralled with the old fashioned elevator that transported them to the second floor.

>>“I guess we'll start the tour with the living quarters...."

Kai waited patiently for Sebastian to unlock his personal 'living quarters' trying to look like he wasn't curious about how it would look. Though, he wasn't particularly surprised at the well kept and orderly room that was revealed when the door opened. There was an interesting blend of the antique, represented by an old trunk in one corner, and the new and modern, apparently the rooms had their own private adjoining bathrooms. The atmosphere was very sophisticated, yet home-y.

>>"Your room is very nice.... You said something about... revitalizing these?"

His attention was diverted to the brown haired- Slate by his words and the fact that he thrust the plastic bag housed plant towards him. "I'm Kai. And yes, I can give them a little boost to counteract being exposed to the cold. And so that they will grow nicely in their new home... Uh, where should I set these?"

Silence between people was a variable of culture that differed widely amongst places and times. In some places even the smallest amount of quiet between sentences felt highly uncomfortable to the inhabitants. In others, two people could sit in silence for hours without ever feeling like it was awkward. Sebastian had experienced the spectrum of silence over time, and was fairly comfortable with any amount of quiet. So far, he had noticed that in the United States the amount of silence with which people felt comfortable was one of the slightest he had encountered thus far.

Neither of the young men were particularly talkative, so the silences that stretched out between the them were somewhat long given the modern American norm with which Sebastian was growing accustomed. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with the quiet, but he definitely noticed it. As their host, he felt obligated to make them both feel as comfortable as possible. So, even though he wasn't necessarily a highly talkative individual by nature, he found himself saying more than he normally would in an effort to fill what he thought might be uncomfortable pauses in dialog for his two guests.

“Thank you,” the ancient healer responded graciously to the compliments on his room, “It works rather well for me, and it's really starting to seem like home. The Sanctuary won't let me pay for the room, so I work as a healer in the infirmary to pay them back for the kindness.” Neither of the young men had asked for that information, but Sebastian didn't mind sharing with them. It was a tour of the Sanctuary, after all and informing them of the generosity of the shelter seemed like a good thing to include on the tour.

“The plants can go on the desk by the window. The light should be good for them.” The unicorn man was obviously an expert at growing plants. “A boost would be good for them, too. What ever you think is best.” It looked like lunch was going to be iceberg lettuce again. He would feel bad eating the plants now that he knew how well they had been cared for previously. He wasn't sure how long it would take to give the plants their boost, but he was curious to see how the young man did it. He suspected that the green eyed youth had a natural affiliation with plants, and waited to see if his hunch was correct.

He turned to the stoic young man that had identified himself as Slate with a warm smile. “Go ahead and take a seat, if you like. Make yourself comfortable for a few minutes.” The immortal sat down on the end of his own bed, his posture still upright even supported only by the cushy surface. From either the bed or the armchair it would be easy to watch what the suspected plant manipulator would do to the recently purchased flora on the desk. The trunk offered a third seating option, but wouldn't be as comfortable or offer as good a view.

Slate seemed to be the shyest of the pair or teens. So far he had not said much other than when he gave his introduction and later his compliment of the bed chamber, and the second of the two had caused him to blush slightly. His demeanor seemed completely contrary to what the horned man remembered of the Kabal. Antonescue certainly never failed to get right to the point when he wanted something, and most of his employees that Sebastian had dealt with were just as straight forward. Slate's differences from what Sebastian would have expected made him intriguing. He was curious to find out the nature of his business, but had already decided to let the youth bring it up on his own terms, for the unicorn man did not know how private the youth wanted the conversation to be.

Speaking of conversation, it was getting sparse again. Time for more information than one ever needed to know about the famous shelter with golden doors. “Before I moved here, it was difficult to find a place that accepted obviously mutant tenants. After the events of lat year there were such high tensions between mutants and humans that no one wanted to mix groups. Even here, the sanctuary that used to take in everyone without exceptions currently only accepts mutants. Now it gives homes only to mutants that have nowhere else to go and humans must search elsewhere for shelter,” Sebastian paused for a moment, reflecting on the mini history lesson and mentally comparing it to other instances similar to it that he had encountered. He then added, “It seems odd to me, that segregation seems to be such a natural instinct among people. What do you both think?”

Slate was pleased for a moment to hand the plants over to Kai; it was a distinctly useful movement. Unfortunately, it left him holding nothing. Awkwardly, he lowered his arms to his sides. And proceeded to stand in the immortal’s room, doing not much of anything. He had a sudden sympathy for Calley’s fidgets.

>> “Go ahead and take a seat, if you like. Make yourself comfortable for a few minutes.”

The warm smile caught him off-guard, and it showed in his startled eyes. After a delayed second, he returned the facial expression. Awkwardly. As he took the offered armchair. Watching the plant manipulator seemed to be the current activity; Slate set his attention to this whole-heartedly. He was, indeed, curious to see what his fellow teenager’s powers were.

The horned man’s voice drew his attention back to the respectable figure on the bed.

>> “Before I moved here, it was difficult to find a place that accepted obviously mutant tenants. After the events of lat year there were such high tensions between mutants and humans that no one wanted to mix groups. Even here, the sanctuary that used to take in everyone without exceptions currently only accepts mutants. Now it gives homes only to mutants that have nowhere else to go and humans must search elsewhere for shelter. It seems odd to me, that segregation seems to be such a natural instinct among people. What do you both think?”

Slate’s eyebrows furrowed, his acute nervousness forgotten for the moment. “The Sanctuary has stopped accepting humans?” He asked, troubled. “When did this begin? What happened to the humans who had been here?” One could say that Slate was quite concerned by the affairs of the homeless. There was a certain man to whom he owed the realization of his healing abilities, and other things. The weight of death among them.

“I would not say that segregation an instinct.” Slate stated, in reply to the man’s question, his words perhaps more clipped than they needed to be. “I would, however, say that it is something we are born with. Much like ignorance. It is something that can easily be cast aside, but it prerequisites the will to do so. I was not aware that the Sanctuary had dropped even the pretense of caring about such things.”

Syn was behind the order, no doubt, though he doubted that any member of her little group would have particularly protested. Not in the wake of the Registration Act. This was the point where he should say, ‘but he could hardly blame them’. But he did. So they had been turning humans away. He had always wondered why Old Larry had not let the wolfhound guide him in here, to the infirmary. That would be why. Slate had not known that the Sanctuary had gone from a philanthropist cover, to allowing the sheer force of their blood-strained reputation to protect them.

He listened to the other teen’s reply, but his mind kept working along a road he would have been best to forget.

Cold baby blue eyes looked towards the immortal. “If I may ask,” he began simply, “can your healing cure cancer?” Slate’s could not. This was a fact.