Naturally, being a benign force of sharp white teeth and hundreds of pounds of stripped muscle, the tiger made no move to grind the bones of his pubescent foe into a liquid powder not unlike tempura batter. Even if the boy's sudden transparency did raise the large cat's interest. Even if raising a large cat's interest was the stuff National Geographic specials were made of.

Equally naturally, he benevolently nuzzled at Katrina's shoulder in a reassuringly tame manner as she positioned herself between him and the boy. If that just happened to put his large unblinking eyes watching the boy over Kat's shoulders, where she could not see the way the pupils had not yet returned to normal size, then so be it.

>> “He... he came through the window. No one would let him in the door and he could have died in the cold.”

>> “It wasss the firssst window I came to, that was unlocked. I intended on ssspending the night under the bed. I was only concerned with warmth, I promissse. I knew the sssecond that I wasss under the bed it wasss a foolisssh decisssion but it wasss too late…Katrina already came in at that point.”

Oh, sweet naive Katrina. It was not the thirteen year old's fault that she had fallen for the oldest trick in the book: the classic "give me shelter, lest I perish".

>> “ I am sssorry for the trouble I caused, however I can not regret my actionsss. I have met Katrina now and I sssimply refuse to regret that.”

Oh, ignorant see-through boy. Regret might have spared you from what was to come. Regret might have made it so that every turn around a corner was not dangerous, nor every step outside of direct supervision. A refusal to regret? Well, there was really nothing the tiger could do. Nothing besides this.

Tiger Smile, revisited. "Let's take you over to the Admissions office and get you your own room, shall we? One in the boy's hallway. I believe there are some open ones at the far end." The far, far end. Far. "I believe Katrina has a test soon. History, correct? Don't worry--I can take our little friend." Little, little. Far, far. He could take their little friend quite far.

>>>“I am sssorry for the trouble I caused, however I can not regret my actionsss. I have met Katrina now and I sssimply refuse to regret that.”

Katrina didn't blush at that. She refused to blush. Nope, no more blushing allowed for the day. Or perhaps her face was already so red from this encounter that it was impossible for it to blush anymore. In either case, she ducked her head so Calley wouldn't see her face.

>>>"Let's take you over to the Admissions office and get you your own room, shall we? One in the boy's hallway. I believe there are some open ones at the far end." .... "I believe Katrina has a test soon. History, correct? Don't worry--I can take our little friend."

“Geography,” Katrina corrected him. “It's at...” Katrina glanced at the clock and gasped. “I have to go!” Luckily, she was already dressed. Sleeping in your clothes can be so convenient sometimes. She shoved books and country lists into her backpack and lunged for the door. At the last second, she grabbed the frame to stop herself and peered back into her room.

“Calley, be good. If you do anything mean to him, I will never forgive you.” With that, she glared at the tiger with as much intensity as she could muster, Evil Warning Glare Attack!!, and scampered to class.

Geography he thought a second before Katrina corrected Calley. His hand futilely lifted and fell in a wave good bye to Katrina. She left with only a warning and a glare to protect him against about five hundred pounds of cat.

GAH-ULP! Koga swallowed as he stared the housecat turned tiger in his menacing eyes. At least he appeared to have calmed himself, but then with a shape shifter, appearing as something other than what you are was what you did, right?

He waited for the tiger to pounce and to see if his mutation came with some sort of life saving reflex…that would come in handy right now. His ears only slightly burned at the comment of ‘little friend’. Really what was he going to do to the tiger a side from possibly sidestepping him and letting fly through the window like in a bad jungle themed action movie. Instead of moving immediately he began to speak again.

“I would appreciate your help and assistance as far as the acquiring of a room goes, even if there are only the ones at the far end.. I alssso underssstand your concern and ssscorn asss well. I can only sssay that you honessstly have nothing to worry about from me. I am not the type to take advantage of sssomeone.” His eyes looked to the floor. “Though, I have given you little reassson to believe that.”

He retrieved his backpack from under the bed feeling the Predator’s eyes on his back the whole time. When he retrieved his pack and boots and looked up to Calley waiting on him to lead the way or to attempt to disembowel him. He couldn’t decide which would be worse at this point, he was almost certain that the shape shifter hated him and was more than likely going to turn him in as some sort of pervert….was there anyone that would listen to him explain?

~Le sigh~

Le sigh, indeed. Le sigh, your face. Calley would le your sigh. As the innocent party in this affair left the room to pursue her education and better herself in the world--which she darn well better--the tiger turned his cold blue gaze back on the black spot that had the audacity to still be standing on Kat's carpeting.

If it wasn't for that Evil Warning Glare Attack!!11, there would be one less spot and slightly less room in Disapprovtigger's stomach. But the Katrina had ordered him, and so he was bound: he would be good.

Relatively.

>> “I would appreciate your help and assistance as far as the acquiring of a room goes, even if there are only the ones at the far end.. I alssso underssstand your concern and ssscorn asss well. I can only sssay that you honessstly have nothing to worry about from me. I am not the type to take advantage of sssomeone. Though, I have given you little reassson to believe that.”

"I'm glad you understand your situation," the large cat purred disturbingly. He turned to the door, and gave a summoning flick of his tail. "Let me tell you a little about your new home. We are a school for mutants. We have mutants who can burn the flesh off of your bones, mutants who can take the air from your lungs, mutants who can ice your blood in the chambers of your still-beating heart. Many, many mutants. Katrina is friends with many, many mutants." The tiger did not so much as turn a golden eye to make sure the boy registered the point: if something should happen to Katrina, a mere tiger shifter would be the least painful of his options.

"Your room, incidentally," another tail flick, "will be down that hallway. Do you see that spot of light at the far end? That's a window. Your room will be adjacent to that window."

Another tail flick, and the tiger nosed its way into an office in the hall with an expert mauling of the doorknob. Round doorknobs: they were quite literally asking for it. "Do you see the folders marked 'New Student Registration'?" The tiger's white teeth cordially flashed. "Take one. Have a seat at the desk, and fill it out. I'll sit right here." The tiger settled its large haunches in the doorway, directly behind the seat it had offered the boy, and directly in the path of any conventional escape attempts. "In case you have any questions."

"I'm glad you understand your situation,"

“Da.”

"Let me tell you a little about your new home. We are a school for mutants. We have mutants who can burn the flesh off of your bones, mutants who can take the air from your lungs, mutants who can ice your blood in the chambers of your still-beating heart. Many, many mutants. Katrina is friends with many, many mutants."

It was one thing to be protective and it was another to tell someone that your mistake could have you charred, suffocated and frozen and then eaten by a tiger.. so he didn’t say the last, but his strut was more than enough to get that across. But even when he was a mere a mere glasses wearing violin playing gymnastics doing scrawny little kid he didn’t take anything off of bullies whether it got him a black eye and bloody nose or not. He didn’t and wouldn’t allow himself to be pushed around.

“ Well then I sssuppossse Katrina now knowsss one more perssson that would be more than willing to protect her from harm.”

"Your room, incidentally," "will be down that hallway. Do you see that spot of light at the far end? That's a window. Your room will be adjacent to that window."

“ Where isss your room? I mean if you truly sssussspect me of being sssuch a predator then wouldn’t it be a bit more wissse to keep me clossser to you? After all giving the kid who can climb on wallsss yet another window to climb out of hardly ssseemsss like a sssolid move to keep me away from her.” Bold and yet, so, so, so, stupid. Why was he poking the tiger with a stick? Why?

"Do you see the folders marked 'New Student Registration'?"
“yesss.”

"Take one. Have a seat at the desk, and fill it out. I'll sit right here."
“thanksss.”

"In case you have any questions."

“I doubt I will, If I am going to be on my own from here on out, I better get usssed to figuring this ssstuff out on my own…though. I do have sssome concernsss.” He was sure this would improve the guard cat’s opinion of him. Right… “ You sssee, when all of thisss happened, abruptly, what. yesssterday morning. My parents noticed I wasss changing color and called the police…the police woke me up roughly and the next thing I know I am climbing up the ceiling, they pulled a guns on me. I knocked one out and then the other. my parentsss hate their first and only son.” He then took a breathe, this was the first time he had spoken it out loud. “ I don’t want to bring the police here down on you guysss. I would turn my self in but I am sure that wouldn’t be the healthiest move. I don’t like breaking the law but they were all ssso disssgusted. If I need to leave I will. The only people who know where I am are three oddly well meaning gangbangers. One of them has a sister here….Anywaysss, what I want to know is do the parentsss that disowned me and told me to die have to know where I am? And more ssso do they have to be on thisss sssheet asss my guardiansss.”

His speech was accompanied by perfect cursive scrawling across the form in an efficient and clean manner. His brow increasingly furrowed as he thought about the fact that he was throw into the street so quickly and with out question. He was the perfect son. He wanted nothing more than to please them and because of their genes in him and how the changed and improved him. They threw him out. Bastards.

His cold black lizard eyes looked up to his momentary watchdog. To see what his response to all that would be. Honestly the last thing he needed right now was a frickin tiger on his back.

Oh, he was a snarky little wall crawler, wasn't he? Oh yes he was. It made the tigger want to rub the top of the boy's head affectionately with a clawed paw.

"My room," he chose to answer one of the boy's questions, "is in an intervening location." He left it at that. He most certainly did not mention that most nights, he curled up in Katrina's room in a warm fuzzy lump of shedding orange and black fur. Clearly, he needed to upgrade 'most nights' to 'all nights'. Equally clear, he needed to speak to Silver Streak about getting a secure lock installed on Katrina's window. And maybe motion detectors. And electrified nets.

As he stood glittering-eye vigil behind the boy in the Admissions Office, he was struck with the misfortune of listening to him speak. Some more. Because what the kid had said already hadn't been enough, apparently.

>> “ You sssee, when all of thisss happened, abruptly, what. yesssterday morning. My parents noticed I wasss changing color and called the police…the police woke me up roughly and the next thing I know I am climbing up the ceiling, they pulled a guns on me. I knocked one out and then the other. my parentsss hate their first and only son. I don’t want to bring the police here down on you guysss. I would turn my self in but I am sure that wouldn’t be the healthiest move. I don’t like breaking the law but they were all ssso disssgusted. If I need to leave I will. The only people who know where I am are three oddly well meaning gangbangers. One of them has a sister here….Anywaysss, what I want to know is do the parentsss that disowned me and told me to die have to know where I am? And more ssso do they have to be on thisss sssheet asss my guardiansss.”

Aww, was that supposed to make him feel bad for the kid? ...Cause it was kind of working. A little. Not enough to redeem him from his exploitation of Katrina's kindness, but it did put a smidge of a tally mark under the 'pitiable' column. The tiger's tail gave a long twitch against the carpeted floor, shedding here, as well. If there was a room left in this building without tiger fur/dust bunny hybrids, than he was clearly not doing his job.

"No," he answered simply, "I don't think aforementioned parents need know of your location, unless you so choose to inform them. We get a lot of people like you in. Probably has something to do with your parents realizing that to make a little mutated offspring, it takes a less-than-human pair of progenitors. Some parental figures don't appreciate having that reminder crawling around their walls, and matching the furniture a little too well." He gave a quick grooming lick at his chest. "Personally, I clashed with the drapes, so here I am." He'd made it through that entire speech without insulting the kid. Directly, anyway. Katrina would clearly be proud. He was being nice.

"My room," "is in an intervening location."

“Ah, well, then I sssuppossse the end of the hall it issss.”

"No,"
“Good.” Koga began filling out the last of the blanks and then put the sheet on the table and straitened it. He then turned the paper around and centered it in the table.

"I don't think aforementioned parents need know of your location, unless you so choose to inform them. We get a lot of people like you in. Probably has something to do with your parents realizing that to make a little mutated offspring, it takes a less-than-human pair of progenitors. Some parental figures don't appreciate having that reminder crawling around their walls, and matching the furniture a little too well."


“ Thanksss."

Koga set in the chair and stared forward at the wall.

“Personally, I clashed with the drapes, so here I am."

He smiled lightly at that finishing touch. At first that little speech made his stomach turn that much more toward the nausea that came with thinking about home, but that last bit repaired all the insult that it dripped with.
He turned slightly toward the striped prison guard and held his arm up toward him, his flesh then matched his stripes in a blurry camouflage sort of way, after which it spread to the rest of his body and hair.

“Not every living room can be ssstylisssh enough to pull off tiger print drapesss.”

“ Look, again, I am sssorry. I needed to vent and well you, are an obviousss target at the moment. I don’t want to be at oddsss with anybody here. Let me know, if I can fix or help fix thisss. Until then, don’t be too offended if I avoid you when you have that hungry look on your face.”

“ssso how long until the principal isss here to ssshow me the room you are assssigning me?”

As the boy changed to a rather nice stripe pattern, if he did say so himself, the tiger gave a tsking tail twitch. "Now now. Look what you've done--now you don't match the drapes, either. Really, we must get you into your own room, lest you shame this entire establishment."

Hmm. So now he was trading interior design jokes with the little punk. The tigger gave an irritated ear flick, and lifted the back of one large paw to begin grooming its short furs into submission.

>> “Look, again, I am sssorry. I needed to vent and well you, are an obviousss target at the moment. I don’t want to be at oddsss with anybody here. Let me know, if I can fix or help fix thisss. Until then, don’t be too offended if I avoid you when you have that hungry look on your face.”

His ears flicked again at that; laying flat before slowly, slowly coming back up. With dignity. He let his paw drop to the ground, and turned his attentions to grooming over his left shoulder. "Hmmm. I suppose, so long as I do not find you in the beds of the girl's hall again, we can let this slide. Hungry look and all." The other shoulder needed attention; he switched over to it.

>> “ssso how long until the principal isss here to ssshow me the room you are assssigning me?”

"No need to wait. See the conveniently labeled 'Inbox'? Drop your file in there, once you're done filling it out. I can show you to the room--they're left unlocked when they're just empty." The tigger stood, and gave another summoning tail flick. "Come come. And tell me about your powers, whilst we walk. Wallpapermancer?" He guessed, whiskers fanned in amusement.

"Now now. Look what you've done--now you don't match the drapes, either. Really, we must get you into your own room, lest you shame this entire establishment."


“I guessss, I will have to achieve having a room with enough sssstyle to pull off Tiger stripe drapes. That is if we are ever going to match the furniture.”

. "Hmmm. I suppose, so long as I do not find you in the beds of the girl's hall again, we can let this slide. Hungry look and all."

“You have no Idea how much I appreciate that. It won’t be an issue.” He lightly smiled at the tiger. “The turning into a Tiger from the house cat ssscared me almossst to death by the way. It’s a sssolid move.”


"No need to wait. See the conveniently labeled 'Inbox'? Drop your file in there, once you're done filling it out. I can show you to the room--they're left unlocked when they're just empty."

Koga’s dark eyes widened as the obvious smacked across the back of the head. Oh you put stuff in the inbox? If he only knew. Some are unlocked when they are occupied as well apparently he thought but wisely kept that one to himself.


"Come come. And tell me about your powers, whilst we walk. Wallpapermancer?"

“unfortunately no, I cant make oddly patterned wall coveringsss move at whim. Asss far asss I know, I can do this chameleonisssh thing. Though to my knowledge it isssn’t how they actually work. I am more advanced I guesssss. I can climb wallsss and ceilingsss, Like a gecko. Pretty much how they do, it doesn’t work well unlessss my feet are bare. I probably ssshould do sssome pull upsss or sssomething to get more upper body ssstrength. And I can conssstrict? When that cop pointed the gun at me I flung my ssself on him and choked him out…it was inssstinct I guessss. But itsss like I am way ssstronger, than I am normally if I am, whatsss a good way to put it? If I am pulling stuff in towards me. I don’t think it worksss with pussshing just pulling. Pretty much like a conssstrictor. Apparently I have an affinity for the reptile world. Oh plussss there are my eyesss and my tongue.” I didn’t usssed to have thissss hissss lisssp going on.” He stuck his long thin forked tongue out at calley. “I alssso have a ssstrong sssussspicion I may have crossssed over into being cold blooded. The cold outssside makesss me want to sssleep.”

He was thankful to once again have a roof over his head and this house had more then enough potential to be the best home ever. No parents bossing you around a whole girls hall just a mere thousand yards away. Plenty of friends to make. He sat his bag down. His life possessions boiled down to a zune, a ds and several games, one extra set of clothing, and his bow and violin. He was going to need to get a job. And then he needed to enroll in classes here. Hopefully they could get a hold of his current school records. And lastly he wanted to join the x-men, or at the very least do something to pull his wait around here. First things first he needed a shower.