(OOC: Sorry for not actually saying anything, but for now Luke is just gonna listen to the two ladies.)

IC:
Having seen both mutations at work, Luke understood where both of the women were coming from. It was true that Raina was a complete master of her ability to manipulate ice but she did have the pesky mermaid power that she couldn't control. Obviously she had decided to embrace the power but it still was something that happened whether she wanted it to happen or not. All Luke could hope was that she didn't get any sea spray on her as they traveled to Liberty Island.

As for Victoria, her going to pieces might seem annoying now but Luke could also see a definite use for it once the young woman learned to control it. The big question would be whether she could make her clothes go with her, or if she would be forever appearing nude, even after she had gained control. Being able to go incorporeal so that you wouldn't be damaged was an awesome defensive ability, to continually showing up naked would definitely be embarrassing.

"And then there's me..." Luke mused to himself as he continued to listen to the two women chat, "I can see with sonar and that's it... no special defensive or offensive powers just my senses. It's a wonder Raina doesn't have a more powerful boyfriend that can help her in a fight. Me... I'm a liability."

In situation after situation Luke had been seeing just how useless his mutation could really be. At the fight at the mansion he had been almost killed and then in the house with Sara and CS he had been basically useless while the two of them could take down whatever might get in their way. As much as Luke prided himself on control he knew that the frustration of the past several weeks was boiling below the surface, just waiting to be released. "Maybe I need to go patrolling as Wraith. That might give me a chance to work off some steam."

Raina listened seriously to Victoria's power and noted that it was very much as Luke discribed which made her wonder if Luke had witnessed it... which sent a little pang of jealousy into her stomach. "Well watch out for Luke. He may be blind but he has a habit of showing up where anyone poofs in naked." she teased and laughed trying to make herself feel better. "You must feel very vulnerable then. Having your power go off whenever it wants and then not being prepared with any clothes! I can relate to that." she said picking up the bag she had by her side and opening the top so Victoria could see she had a set of clothes inside. "When I get wet my body goes through such a violent change my clothes usualyl end up damaged. Even when they do stay on by the time I change back they're off again. I'm often getting caught naked. I'm starting to learn to use it to my benifit though. I work at the NYC Aquarium actually... did you knwo they employ mutants? Er well that's a story for another time." she laughed going off track. "Anyway, I can wear tops so long as they're tight so I've started wearing really pro swim gear. They're resistant to the salt and wont tear. Obviously I can't do much about my legs but wear skirts often enough... but hey that's a big step than before and it's all on steps!"

She stopped to consider Victorias situation and remember her original idea when she had spoke to Luke. "The way I see it Victoria, as embaressing as it is for you to pop up naked I think the more important thing here is to get a better grip on when you 'go to pieces' as you put it. To be able to do it only on your decision and not as a involuntary responce. Once we get that aspect of it stronger for you we can work on taking objects like clothing with you. But I think it's all gotta stem from that initial control. " she thought a little more and added "but, that doesn't mean we can't come up with non-mutation related ways to help you deal with showing up naked! I think if we work on your control and also come of with a few ideas in regards to the naked department you'll start feeling more confident and the more confident you feel the easier this stuff is going to come to you."

She rumidged in her bag and pulled out a brochure for the mansion and handed it to Victoria. "I live and work here." she explained. "we have facilities equipped to help you train and hone this gift. Also, most there are like us so they expect the unexpected. I once went out for a late night walk and ended up as fish girl on the snow trying to save a guy who fell outta the sky into a fountain." she laughed. "We're really used to crazy unpredictable things going on there." she gave a grin. "but we've got great areas for training and real profesional people who have been dealing with intense mutations. I think we have a lot to offer you and I'd be really glad to take you on a tour. A lot of people already arrive with the mindset of moving in, there's no requirment of living there to recieve training and help but I think visiting would also give you the chance to network with more people."

She looked hopefully at Victoria hoping she hadn't overstepped herself. She was passionate about the mansion, at times too passionate and it could be intimidating. But she was confident that given the chance she could make a difference for Victoria. Sometimes all it took was a few people to care,

Victoria listened intently to what Raina was saying. A lot of it made sense. Widening her circle of friends seemed like a good idea but the thought of lots of people about with mutations was intimidating too and her concern showed on her face.

She was concerned that she might have to move to the school, having just signed a two-year lease and while she was sure Candice would understand, the fact that she would understand made it harder to take advantage of her landlady's kindness. Victoria was therefore relieved when Raina said she could just visit to receive training. The idea of being able to control when and if it happened was appealing, particularly if she could negate it altogether. She still hadn't realised that it made her more-or-less immune to real physical injury.

She let Raina finish before responding.

"My clothes don't disappear or get damaged. They are usually fairly close unless there is a breeze blowing and then I can end up a fair way away from them. And Luke was a gentleman. He didn't look but more he made sure that that horrible Mr Jeffreys couldn't see either."

Victoria looked away for a moment. "I can't complain about how that incident turned out. " She had ended up with a better apartment than she expected for less than she thought she would have to pay.

"And in the restaurant he stole.... borrowed a waiter's apron to keep prying eyes off me while I found my clothes." There was no doubt from Victoria's expression that she considered Luke a hero.

"Is the training expensive?" Victoria didn't have much of spare money, particularly as she was trying to put aside a reasonable amount for contingencies. She had seen and suffered the effects of emergencies when reserves when reserves were already depleted. Victoria wanted to avoid suffering that again.

Luke did his best not to let his expression change because there was no way that he wanted either of these ladies to know that he had actually seen Victoria without her clothes. The first time they had met, back in the clothes store, he had seen far more than she probably realized. Her being in the fetal position had hidden the most important things but there were still curves he had seen that no one but a boyfriend/fiancee/husband should know about.

"Better keep that one quiet... Raina might not like that, although it did happen a while before I met her."

Raina nodded nowing Vicoria would likely keep her apartment but hoped coming to the mansion would provide her with a social network. "It can be a little overwhelming at times, being around so many mutants." she added. "But small doses is the key."

"Getting your clothes to go with you would be the ultimate goal here. How far do you usually travel?" she asked in between Victoria's sentences so she wouldn't forget trying not to interrupt.

Then Victoria explained about Luke keeping everyone from seeing her naked and Raina felt her whole body sieze up. It was all she could do to keep her face expressionless and not twisted up like it wanted to. It had been one of her special moments to her that she allowed herself to be so vulnerable around Luke, granted Victoria didn't exactly have a choice in it... it still bothered Raina. A lot more than she was comprehending at the moment.

She wrung her hands a little as Victoria went on as if Luke were a big hero- which he probably was- and resisted the urge to say something like: Well, that's my boyfriend for you! Raina didnt like being petty or jealous. She didn't like how it brought things out in her and she didn't like it when people were that way with her but presently she was having a hard time keeping it in check. Luke was her boyfriend. Did Victoria not know this coming into this? Luke had a whole week in which he could have told her. Well... part of a week. Maybe Luke was clueless and thought it would be obvious to Victoria - which let's face it it likely was and she was seeing how far she could get here.

Raina had to mentally slap herself for letting her mind get this far gone. Luke was a good person and as far as she could tell Victoria was a good person. Raina never really had a real boyfriend before so she wasn't sure of the proper ettiqute for these sorts of things so could she blame Luke if he wasn't either? She knew now that next time Luke wanted her to meet some pretty young thing they'd better be informed they were meeting his girlfriend beforehand.

Thankfully Victoria broke the silence.

"Training?" Raina blinked for a second reeling herself back in. "expensive? Um. it's free." she grinned. "The mansion is run by grants and donated funds. The adults that live there contribute to some of the fees, but you don't have to pay anything it's a community service" she smiled. It made her feel MUCH better to get back on the topic of the mansion.

Victoria knew that there was something making Raina uncomfortable. She did not know what it was but she would have been astounded to discover that Raina was jealous of her.

The announcement that the tuition was free distracted her from Raina before she came to any firm conclusion as to the cause of Raina's discomfort. Victoria smiled.

"That makes it very hard to resist. I would like to develop some control though I have no idea how that might be achieved. When it happens, I am not even aware of what caused it. The first thing I am aware of is being curled up on the floor in my birthday suit."

The statue, impressive at a distance was imposing, overwhelming as the ferry drew close.

"Wow." Victoria exclaimed as she gazed up at the statue.

Victoria seemed more than satisfied with Raina's statements and thoughts about training so already Luke was beginning to feel like this was a successful day. For all he knew Raina and Victoria mind end up being very good friend by the end of the day but they would just have to wait and see.

Turning to look at Raina the blind man smiled and leaned over so that his mouth was now close to her ear. "Thanks Raina... she needs someone to help her and keep an eye on her besides me. Her landlady already thought I was her boyfriend or something."

As soon as the murmur had left his lips Luke began to think about how that must sound to Raina. Would she be jealous hearing something like that? Would she even notice?

"Have I mentioned just how beautiful you look today?" Luke spoke again, his voice a touch louder but still soft enough to keep the conversation more intimate feeling, "I think I like you in skirts and dresses even more than when you're in tight pants."

Leaning in quickly Luke gave her a lingering kiss on the lips before pulling back and turning his attention back to what he could make out of the statue that they were rapidly approaching, "It's big, that's for sure."

Raina considered what Victoria said. "Oh. That must be awful." she admitted. 'Well I think one of the first tests we'd do for you Victoria is in a special room just you and another person you felt comfortable with would try to trigger your mutation through different stimulus. Then we could help you learn to control that and well... you know the rest." she was already mentally plotting out how this could work in the danger room. "I'll just have to keep CS away from you." she laughed thinking of her icy friend back home. "Lady killer. "she winked.

She was still feeling very uncomfortable. So much so that it was hard to resist the urge to stand up and leave except that she was on a boat and couldn't exactly walk away. She followed Victoria's gaze to the statue as all the patrons were now doing when Luke leaned in and whispered with his warm breath tickling her ear. "Thanks Raina... she needs someone to help her and keep an eye on her besides me. Her landlady already thought I was her boyfriend or something."

Raina seized up again as if her whole body was paralyzed and her usual 'everything is ok' smile stayed plastered to her face hiding the uncomfortable whirlwind of emotions. Men. Men were not smart. Not smart at all. She didnt respond to Luke at all. She just sat still with her eyes focused on the statue telling herself to calm down. Thank GOD she wasn't really she-hulk! She'd be getting green right now.

Then, for good measure Luke added "I think I like you in skirts and dresses even more than when you're in tight pants." which only made Raina angrier. Sure. Back Peddle. That would work.

She suddenly didn't feel like she could breathe all that properly and for fear of an anxiety attack as Luke was commenting on the statue Raina stood up and moved to the edge of the boat for a 'better look' so she could get some air. What was wrong with her? What was with all of these emotions?

Instinctivly she reached to her neck. She was wearing her pearls from Luke under her jacked and presently they felt like they were cutting off all her oxygen. She was breathing a bit heavier than normal but any passerby would think she was perhaps a little sea sick and probably move out of the way. She entwined her fingers under the pearls trying to pry them lose from the clasp when the clasp snapped.

She knew the pearls were going down her chest and she reached out to catch them. When they gracefully bounced off her flat palm and off the side of the boat she'd instinctivly reached again to catch them... doing a fantastic job of offsetting her balance as the percise moment of a gust of wind and a wave launching herself rather acrobatically over the side of the boat head first into the cold water. Great. Just great. This was turning out to me an awesome day

ooc: couldn't resist

Victoria was neither experienced in personal relationships or in the ways of men but even she had no trouble recognising that Luke had not quite said the right thing and then that he had carried on digging.

She watched Raina abruptly get up and a little concerned she watched the woman walk to the rail of the ferry. It was with considerable horror that she saw Raina suddenly fall overboard.

"Raina!" Victoria squeaked, her voice breaking with the shock. For a moment she was stunned into inactivity.


((OOC - I think Luke should have first right of active response to this one; Victoria will content herself with panicking for the meantime.))

Luke followed Raina with his sonar, a rather chagrined look on his face. All he had wanted to do was thank her for helping out and instead he had somehow hurt her. "Smart move Jacobs... really smart." The blind man murmured to himself as he watched Raina take her place at the railing.

Intending to apologize and beg her forgiveness, Luke stood and took two steps toward his girlfriend when the ship suddenly lurched from an extra large wave. Stumbling sightly, he righted himself just in time to watch as Raina catapulted over the railing and into the sea below. For a moment Luke was frozen... his girlfriend had just been thrown into the sea for crying out loud! What was he supposed to do now?!

"Raina!" A shocked, squeaky voice erupted from behind him, sounding an awful lot like Victoria. "Oh no... don't go to pieces now Victoria... I can't handle both at once." Luke thought as he spun around and jogged over to grab the bag of clothes that Raina had been keeping by her seat.

"It's OK... Raina's fine. The water is her home even more than the land is." Luke said quickly and as reassuring as possible to the younger woman, "I just need to get her dried off so she can get redressed."

It seemed as though almost no one on the ship had noticed Raina's predicament... with their eyes locked on the statue they had, for the most part, missed her sudden departure.

"The ship's docking now." Luke continued quickly as the vessel was indeed pulling up to the dock, "I've got to get down to the water to get Raina, but I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Turning away Luke broke into a jog, moving through the crowd's of people with the experience of a true New Yorker. There was always a path if you could just see it, and with sonar it was so much easier to map out a path. As the blind man's feet touched the gangplank leading off the ship he focused his sonar on the water and sent several strong pulses directly toward it. Hopefully Raina would be able to sense it and know that he was heading her direction... wherever that might be.

"Come on Raina." Luke muttered as he deviated from the path that everyone else was taking toward the statue and instead turned toward the walkway that ran right next to the beach, "Where are you?"

(OOC: Victoria, feel free to follow Luke if you want or just wander and panic if you want. Either one will work. )

Embaressing didn't quite describe it. Having let her emotions get the better of her to the point she couldn't even rememebr she was on a boat what a major crap-tastic- moment. Sinking for a moment as her body went through the process all she could think about was how embaressed she was, had she not been underwater there would have been tears. She hoped nobody on board saw her go over. Luke knowing how she looked didn't exactly bother her and it wasn't like she was hurt but she'd feel bad if passengers noticed and thought she'd drowned or something of the sort.

"Stupid Stupid Stupid" she thought in her head practically clawing her way back to the surface. The pearls thankfully remained attatched despite the clasp and glimmered a bit in the cold murkey water through her fingers. Her jacket however had to go. It was far too heavy and was preventing her from being light enoughto get through the boat's wake. She shed it wriggling through in just her dress... shoes long gone. She hadn't thought to pack shoes in that little bag. She hadn't thought to pack much because she assumed if she got wet it would be from the spray.

Breaking the surface just enough for her eyes to pop up like some creature from the black lagoon Raina could see that the boat was docking and she was a ways away from it. Luke would know she'd be OK. Maybe she should just find a quiet dock to slip under and call a cab to come get her. She didn't really feel like she could face him, Victoria, or anyone at this moment. She was so mortified. She was supposed to be the strong one vouching for how easy it could be to live a normal life to Victoria. What kind of instructor would she think she was? She'd probably think Raina was incapable of anything.

Suddenly hanging out in the sea a bit longer didn't seem that bad. The water was freezing, but Raina hardley noticed. It was true from the waist up she'd get rather cold but from the waist down she was well insolated. She could propely hersef fast enough that she never really got numb.

Making a decision to get to the underneath of the dock the Ferry was headed to Raina decided it was only fair to let Victoria and Luke know that she was alright but that she'd hang out a bit longer to not scare anyone and get her own way home. She wondered if the fright of her falling caused Victoria to go to pieces.

She dove gracefully back under the waves and headed for the dock not servicing again until she saw a familiar face looking out into the water. "Luke." she whispered realizing she wasn't close enough for his sonar and likely even his ears. She went under again and this time wrapped her arms around a plank from the dock trying to say mostly submurged so nobody would see her.

Of course when she finally saw Luke all ideas went out the window. She was so relieved to see him and wanted so badley to run out of the water sopping wet and crying and just be held. "Luke!" she called. "I'm..." she meant to say she was OK but the truth was though she wasn't really hurt she wasn't exactly ok. That's when the tears started gushing. "I'm so sorry." she called. "My p-pearls.." she tried to explain. "they're so special ...I didnt look..." she sobbed again. "I've made a fool of myself." she just wanted to be held and consoled regardless of anyone watching. She didn't care anymore. All she could do was cling to the plank as the waves gently knocked.

Victoria hadn't gone to pieces at the sight of Raina going overboard mainly because the concern was outward, for someone else's safety rather than inward. The triggering mechanism was perceived or actual threat to herself, an extension of the automatic fight-fright-flight response.

Luke's assurance that Raina would be fine also helped; Victoria believed everything that Luke told her, being somewhere in the hero-worship - teenage infatuation - but I really think I am in love realm. Even Luke's faux pas with Raina was permissible under the category of 'even heroes have flaws'; a hero could have trouble with saying the right thing to his..... Victoria's mind shied away from the obvious categorisation of Raina's relationship to Luke.

What nearly set it off was the bustling, jostling press of people trying to all get off the ferry at the same time. Victoria was not equipped to cope with that, even after five or so weeks in New York. Fortunately she quickly found herself jostled to the back and having long since lost sight of Luke she sensibly did not try to hurry things. She was feeling suddenly very much alone and very anxious; as a consequence she was on a hair trigger by her standards. It would take almost nothing to set her off.

The longer Luke was out of sight the worse she got. The time to disembark seemed interminable and when she finally got off and Luke was still not in sight. She might have walked past him, there were other people milling about, waiting to get on the ferry and she was finding out the hard way one of the problems with being short. In a crowd she couldn't see.

For a few moments Victoria stood irresolute and suddenly she found herself being pushed back toward the ferry. By the time she had managed to work her way to the edge she was nearly at the gangplank again. All she could do was stand in the corner and wait until the ferry had finished loading and hope that when the crowd cleared that there would be some sign of Luke at least. She was very close to tears.

"Raina..." Luke thought with relief when he spotted his mermaid, yes he thought of her as his, clinging to a plank underneath the dock.

"Luke!" Raina called out as he vaulted over the walkway railing and landed easily on the sandy beach that was only a few feet below, "I'm... I'm so sorry." Luke dug out the towel that Raina had packed and moved over to the edge of the beach where the water lapped up against the sand as she continued to speak, "My p-pearls.. they're so special ...I didn't look... I've made a fool of myself."

"It's OK beautiful." Luke said as warmly, tenderly, and comfortingly as he could manage from this distance, "You haven't made a fool of yourself. Accidents happen. Come here... we'll see about getting you dried off and into some fresh clothes."

Luke knew that he would end up getting wet himself, and probably smell a little bit like fish but he really didn't care. All that mattered at the moment was picking Raina up out of the water as soon as she was close enough, then carrying her away from the water where he could dry her off properly. There was room under the dock where she could stay sheltered if she wanted to change clothes right there, or they could head over to the bathrooms near the statue. Either way he was going to take care of this woman that was rapidly claiming his heart.

"I hope Victoria's doing OK." Luke thought to himself as he continued to coax Raina to come out of the water, "Soon as Raina's dry we'll have to go find her."

ooc: if you don't mind I'm gonna GMOD you actually picking her up so I dont have to make a super short post! if you have any issues PM me or ooc me and I'll fix right away

IC:
Raina pulled herself as close to the sand as she possibly could. She couldn't see very high up but she didn't think a lot of people could see her. She was still in her dress though now her teeth had begun chattering. It wasn't like Raina to get cold but she was wet, it was freezing out, and she was feeling a little over emotional at this point. As she reached up for Luke she felt her head get a bit lighter at the warm touch of his skin against hers. She felt completley mortified and as soon as she was in her arms she buried her face in his chest murmering about how sorry she was- still clutching the pearls in her free hand. Her other arm was wrapped around his shoulders clutching him tightly.

"I'm sorry. I try so hard to be sure nothing like this happens. I thought if I had anything to contend with it would be the spray and I was sure if that got me wet I could get dry enough .... I just can't believe what Victoria must think of me now. Here I am supposed to be vouching for how normal a mutants life can be and I go jumping off a boat..." she burried her face back into his chest again and let out an argivated sigh.

She wasnt sure what to do. She knew she hadn't packed shoes, and not nearly enough clothes and certainly no jacket. Maybe Luke should hail her a cab and sent her back to the mansion...

It took a while for the main body of passengers to get on the ferry and just when she though she might be able to move away from her corner another load of people came charging down the dock. Some of them were going to be disappointed; the ferry was almost fully loaded and only some were permitted to board.

Victoria remained trapped, being too timid to try to cajole her way through the throng, but with the ferry out of the way she could at least look out over the river to the city. Distracted by the view, watching the various ships and smaller craft moving on the water way, she was unaware of the crowd thinning behind her as the people resigned themselves to waiting for the next ferry and made themselves more comfortable.

Finally she turned to reassess the situation; from an escape perspective it was much better but there was still no sign of Luke and Raina. That they might be under the dock and thus more-or-less under her feet didn't even begin to occur to her.