It was evening. The setting sun and glared through the studio windows as Anthony said good bye to the last of the students. the light playing of the dust in the air as well as the spirals of smoke coming from the lit end of a ling cigarette in a holder gripped by the time worn hands of a stern woman.

Pulling the shades shut on the door, and walking back to the main room He tugged his long hair behind his ear and smiled tiredly. "Well, that's the end of the week, if there is nothing else I will be going home." Anthony's British accent carried over the dead air. the statement hung stale just as the scent of decades of smoke clung to the walls.

"No, my child there is nothing more to do.." the womans voiced rasped out. She pulled a stack of letters and a roll of money across the table. "But the parents are starting to complain about the stories their children are telling them about the lights here. I am sad to say I must let you go I cannot afford to loose my business and livelyhood because people are to short sighted to understand the gifts you have been given." Holding out the letters and money towards Anthony her hands shaking.

Reaching out slowly he took the proffered items, glancing though the letters about mutants, and evil, digusting, tainting their innocent child. the list of slanders went on and on. His glow beoming a darker red more sinister and imposing. "I...I understand Madame i will not be the cause of your demise." Placing the letters back on the table and pocketting the roll of bills in his yoga pants. he picked up his duffel bag, and with a sad smile towards the elderly woman he walked out the door, reigning in his light, but the tint still playing upon his appearance he headed out into the streets of New York focusing only on his thoughts and not the world around him.

The evening air and sounds of New York still played in his ears the wrong way. After growing up and spending nearly all his life in the orphanage surrounded by England's countryside, Pulling out his earphones and turning on his mp3 player drowning out the real world to the tantalizing melodies of Nightwish's Nemo, the view of the world changed he felt as the song said. "Just another 14 blocks and I can get away from these people," he thought as his eyes scanned the populace of the city wondering if anything would ever happen.

Lust was walking through the streets as she saw something slightly weird. In front of her there was a man walking that was enlightened. ‘’that is strange, and it draws attention. Bad idea for a mutant’’ she smiled while she thought that and fastened her pase. She saw the guy reaching into his pocket and getting out his mp3 player.

She wanted to play again and thus she walked a little fasted till she was walking right behind him. From her belt she grabbed one of the hunting knives she had on her and cut of one of the earphones and placed the knife on his throat.

With her other arm she imitated a hug where she holds his both arms so he would not be able to move before she had spoken. Interesting mutation you have boy. Now let’s go inside here please, I promise I won’t harm you. I only want to talk about something’’

She had closed her eyes as she talked to him because she figured that his mutation would have something to do with light and this was the least precaution she could take against being blined not out of her free will.

The sudden loss of his music on one side the instant silence even by the cities standards shocked him out of his thoughts. Followed by the feeling of cold steel thrust to his neck, and a quick arm snapping firmly around him startled Anthony to the point of flashing brightly. Then he heard the voice soft and fierce, breathlessly hot in his now naked ear, and felt the breast to his back.

" Interesting mutation you have boy. Now let’s go inside here please, I promise I won’t harm you. I only want to talk about something’’

Taking a slow breathe to try and calm himself, he stuttered out. "A-a-alright just don't hurt me." Following the lead of the woman holding him, which was awkward seeing as he was in the front and she was behind. Stepping up the stairs into the alcoved stoop he could feel his pulse beating in the blade at his throat, the sweat alreafy begining to run from his brow down his cheek.

His body glowing tightly and controlled now as he cycled his breathing calming himself to think, the shifting lights of red, and blue as he began to center his thoughts to find away out of this situation. the possibilities of what could be wanted, and the fact that his captor was a woman sent a small shudder through his body.

she felt the guy shiver under her touch and smiled. This was one of the mutants that had never been in a fight with other people. She laughed behind his back as he agreed with her to go inside the little tavern they were next to. She would not harm this person only ask him a few things and act as nice and flirty as she could.

She took the knife away from his throat and began walking next to him. ’’Sorry for that just had to make sure I would not get blinded by you. As your powers obviously have something to do with light.’’ she gave him a gentile push in the back and winked at him. ’’You shouldn’t be afraid of me. What did you say your name was?’’ they arrived at a little table in the corner where they would not be seen to much.

For obvious reasons she rather didn’t want to be seen with someone so clearly mutant. She knew that almost all humans hated them and did not want a horde at their behinds the moment they left. Also she did not want to get kicked out of the tavern they were in now.

A waitress came to take their orders. ’’I would like a whiskey, with ice. What would you like to drink?’’ she looked at the boy in front of her.

Taking the seat that was offered to him Anthony couldn’t help but be confused even more so by his so-called attacker. Cut his head phones and take him at knife point for a drink. Only in the states would something this bizarre happen. “I didn’t give you my name,” his soft voice and British accent lilted across the table to her. Eyeing his surroundings, he didn’t see much to this hole in the wall pub that would be useful just a few dingy neon lights and about six or so people.

Altering his light to reflect the bar light and blend him into the surroundings like any patron, it allowed him to focus even more on the situation and give him a moments rest.”And why shouldn’t I be afraid of a woman with a knife?” Letting the question hang as the waitress came to them. His attacker ordered a whiskey. The middle aged woman turning to him with a look of ‘what the hell do you want’, “I’ll have a spring water.”

“Come off it kid, this is a bar not one of dem fruity hell spas, order some liquor or not.” The servers smoke filled voice graveled out. Her posture shifting forward threateningly.

“Fine, bloody hell, just give me a short ale.” He looked at the woman across from him and back to the waitress who just walked off to fetch their drinks. “I don’t know where you’re from but you must be daft.” He said as a matter of factly as he could given his situation. Pulling his auburn hair behind his ear, and looking to his hands,“Anthony.”

She looked at the guy as he tried to order some nice fresh water. She chuckled a bit as the waitress went out to him. When the waitress left she gazed at lust and lust smiled back with a smile that said; ‘’ever gaze at me again and you won’t be alive to tell anyone else you did’’

The waitress was out of their conversation range so lust turned back to the guy in front of her. ’’It was necessary that I put a knife on your throat. Mutants are kind of hated and some take that out on their brothers and sisters. Its annoying but truth, so I had to check if you were like that before I would normally talk to you.’’

She looked over at him and noticed that he was kind of cute. His long hair was blonde and his eyes were dark blue. His clothes were casual and not to eye catching. He had hid his mutation by blending it into the background because she could not spot it that easily anymore.

He introduced himself as Anthony and Lust smiled as he totally gave himself away without hesitating. She zipped open the zips on her sleeves and took them off. There were no scars on her arms. When she put the leather next to her on the little bench she was sitting on she leaned back and crossed her arms. ’’I am far from crazy, but I can see the truth in your opinion based from my previous actions. And I want to apologize for them, it was not right to put one of my knives on your throat.’’

’’what brings you to new York?’’ she had noticed his English accent and was curious about it

Feeling her eyes on him again he looked up, and shuddered under her scrutinizing gaze. It was the kind o f look his parents would give him, judging him. Anthony really didn’t care for that look, or anyone who gave it to him. Flicking his auburn hair behind his ear,” I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never had what happened today happen to me.” He adjusted himself in the seat to not look as weak as he had previously been shown as but it wasn’t much of a change since he wasn’t that physically strong.

“I still don’t see how you think being a mutant causes problems, I haven’t had a one since I have been here, and no one has been less than accepting of me.. so I think you are truly misinformed.” Anthony gradually slide out the conversation, as he allowed himself to balance his emotions and thoughts. He took the time to really look at the woman in front of him. He black hair, and ice blue eyes really made her leather costume look a bit much and even made her look like a crazed dominatrix.

“Apology accepted, “he said. ‘I wonder how long it’s going to take for her to figure out that I’m a poof,’ he thought to himself. “But as far as what brought me to the states, well I would have to say is it’s all in the fact that I am a dancer, and there isn’t much opportunity in England for a dancer.” He decided to look her in the eyes now, and smiled slightly he could play this game.

“So what brings a lady like you out tonight?” ‘Other than the sheer freak factor’ he added in his mind as an after thought.

The guy in front of her sat up as if he wanted to show her that he wasn’t the weak guy he thought himself he was. She smiled a little and met his gaze. She looked at him more carefully this time and noticed he was pierced through the nose. She had a thought about it and laughed a little, she had an opinion about pierced men and it was not that positive.

’’So you have never ever received any information about people hating you. Like parents taking their infants away as you came near or people not wanting to work or meet with you when they found out about your mutation? If not its really my clothing style that kills me’’ she laughed to no one in particular and looked at the waitress that came over to serve their drinks.

Taking a sip of her whiskey she analyzed the guy and his movements. She knew he had been lying about the discrimination thing. ’’Does your color change through emotion?’’ she had watched the guys light and saw that it did not really change color the last few minutes but rather changed a fraction. blue to light blue or something like that.

She took a cigarette from the box on her pouch and lit it. She ignored the no smoking sign that had been everywhere as of late. She was not used to be forbidden things she wanted to do and she was not planning on making a habit of getting used to it.

She listened to the boy talking about him having a dance career and being happy while dancing. ’’I admire your dreams Anthony but they are kind of far fetched. Do you have any idea how many people come to the states every year to start an acting or dance career. It’s sick, Lucky you have other talents.’’ she laughed and winked at him before she started telling why she was here.


’’I came here as a little girl. I will be honest with you and you might be shocked. Don’t say I did not warn you. I was once part of a traveling circus till my mutation manifested. Then when they knew I was a mutant they threw me out like a dog into the streets. A nice man brought me here saying that there would always be work for little girls like me.’’

The crowd in the bar seemed to keep their distance from our table in the corner as if they seemed like were were contagious. But then if I saw this woman on the street I would cross to the other side as well so I couldn’t blame them for not wanting to be around. Anthony had seen this frequently with the riff raff and the homeless Americans just seemed to want to stay away from the ‘lesser’ people. It irritated him since the Headmistress always encouraged him to befriend the less fortunate so he bit his tongue in this case.

“No, everyone that I have worked with was nice to me, the students that I worked with at the dance studio enjoyed me being there. “ He paused and thought of the letters that the parents had sent that resulted in him being let go that very evening. “That was until tonight... The parents had found out about me and didn’t want the children exposed to me... They thought they might end up like me.” He frowned as he looked at the beer sitting in front of him. He had never touched the stuff in his life also given that and the fact that he was only 19.
The dingy lights of the bar hid them but he still felt exposed after answer her statement with a bit of what happened to him earlier. “I know Europe is more liberal than here but I thought they would still be accepting of someone like me.”

Running a finger gently around the rim of his glass he looked down at it letting his hair fall back into his face. “Most of the time if I am not paying attention to it, the color will change, it’s god’s way of making sure I can’t lie,” leaning back into his chair pulling his legs up Indian style underneath him. Letting a frustrated sigh out when he say the cigarette being pulled out.
“You’re a mutant?” He whispered a little unsure of why she was telling him. She looked normal enough to him. She didn’t have claws, or wings, a tail, or was scaly. She seemed nuts; to be honest maybe she just thought she was a mutant.

The guy looked unsure when he said the parents had written letters about him and she almost pitied him. At least, she would if she could have done such a thing. She smiled at the boy and hoped to give him the misguided idea that she was feeling with him to add some effect to it she said; ’’I know how you feel. I get treated the same way most of the time.’’

’’There is no tolerance in this country, there never was. With your mutation England would have been a better place for you. The average American puts us in the same place as homeless people and things they don’t know, bad so to say’’

When the boy asked her about being a mutant she laughed out loud and gave him another wink and spoke; ’’Of course I am a mutant, with what I just said do you think I would be approaching you if I was an average American? Let me introduce you to my mutation’’

She looked around to see if no one was looking at them and when she confirmed they did not she stretched out her arm and a thread of flesh shot out of her hand and pulled the char towards them. When the chair was at their table she made sure no one had seen it and looked at the guy again. ’’for my other mutation abilities you would have to shoot me through the head. But I am sure you are not to fond of shooting people so I wont let you discover that ability…yet’’

He really couldn’t understand why he was telling this woman about himself so easily. Maybe it was the fact that he knew she could kill him and this was his way to stay alive. That or they had something more in common than first glance thought. She started talking to him again… saying she gets treated the same. She must be like him then, he smiled a bit. “So, you’re gay too?” He started to say as she continued to coax him into talking more, then she mentioned him being a mutant and he became confused.

“I.. I am not a mutant,” He spluttered out as he saw her skin whip out and grab a chair. The color in his face drained leaving him pale. “I’m just blessed with the light of god. You misunderstood me… the parents didn’t want a ‘fag’ teaching their kids to dance. That’s why they wrote.” He stated a little furious at the accusation. That’s what the letters said, the called him an abomination to god, a freak, a tainted beast, and many more… worse expletives.

“I’m sorry but you have this all wrong.” He started to get up and make to leave. Then he realized he was starting to treat her the way others treated him because he was gay so he sat back down. “I’m sorry, you deserve better from me than this.” He smiled a little,” Hun, you and I are alike merely in the fact that we are different I’m gay and you’re well a mutant… but judge not lest ye be judged.” He smiled slightly and held his hand out as if to shake hers.

He asked her if she was gay too. She was totally flabbergasted and looked at him awkwardly. Even if she had her lesbian feelings she did not expect the guy to ask her if she was gay. ’’I am not gay, well I do like women but I like men too so that would make me bi right?’’ she had never had these kinds of conversations with anyone so she did not know how to describe this thing.

When she had pulled the chair towards their table the guys face became pale. The light around him also turned white and she was thinking about the current turn of events as he almost stood up and started to walk away. In his spurt he had forgotten to think and when he came to his senses he had already took a step. Then he smiled and apologized.

Lust set up big eyes and was really amazed about this guys reaction on what she thought was a simple matter of revealing the truth for once she thought ‘’Did that for the last time now’’ he mumbled something about a gift from god and she suppressed her laughter. ’’you honestly believe that your powers are a gift from god and no mutation? does that mean that you think I have a gift from god too in your opinion?’’

She shook his hand and still thought of him as a weird fellow. To not accept the fact that he was a mutant and bend it to it being the will of god and still being gay at the same time. ’’It is a nice example on how America reacts to people that are so called ‘different’.

Anthony figuring that everything was on the same page in the book now relaxed a little as she shook his hand. Taking his seat once again, and bring his legs up underneath him he smiled like a kid at Christmas. He laughed lightly, as she told him about herself. ‘This is the familiar territory I can deal with this.’ His thoughts flourished and he began enjoying this encounter instead of fearing it and it showed in the bar. The dim and grimy place sparkled and grew lightly brighter.

Smiling he leaned in, “Yes I do, we were all given gifts some small and some large some normal and some different.” He took a small pause, and remembered what he was told when he was left at the orphanage. “All of god’s children are special and some people aren’t prepared for the gift that god places on them. That’s what the Vicar’s wife always told me when I was having a hard time learning how to use my gifts.” As he said this he pulled out his locket with a picture of him using is lights and smiling with the Elderly woman that he was raised by.

“Our differences make us who we are…. Even if others don’t like us... make fun of us… leave us…..” The lights dimmed again and his own shades shifted to a dull angry red tight and pulled to his body as he fought with his emotions. Talking about his youth and his abandonment always upset him. Making him wonder if he was a gift from god or the child of the devil that he vaguely recalled his parents saying calling him Lucifer, locking him in his room, and the exorcism.

The guy became looser; she could see it of the light coming out of him. His visions were weird though. Thinking they were a gift from god was even more disturbing for the people that hated on the mutants. They could better stick with the mutant story.

Lust smiled to the guy and spoke; [/i]’’Wow I could not have imagined people thinking we were a gift from god. It’s strange for me. How do you explain the mutants that kill people for fun then?’’[/i] she could not suppress the twinkle in her eye as she said that mutants killed humans. She enjoyed the idea and would not stop doing that.

’’I will be honest with you, I don’t believe in god and I won’t accept the fact that there is someone in control where I can not reach him or her. Of course that is a personal decision.’’ the guy started to glow red and lust raised her eyebrow. He lost control rather soon. Maybe he thought of someone he hated or something he hated.

"I know we kill humans, it's part of our gift for some." He said distantly as he was still focusing on his past the thoughts of how they could think him evil when he was a child, when they were the impure ones need to be cleansed. "We with the gifts will cleanse the evil from the world, weather peacefully as Gabriel would do, violently as Micheal would have done, or through persuasion as Lucifer." He became a little more determined as he spoke.

He really did care about people but he was just having a bad day, and for som reason he felt that he could open up to Lust on some level. Continuing to pour himself out to her and let his anger flow out he loooked her in the eyes, his now glowing a deep purple. "there will always be someone be it god or mortal that is in charge and out of our reach. " Sitting there looking at her he was at a cross-roads, one he had been at for some time but ignored it. What should he do, follow his gifts or stay in his talents. This woman came along just at the right time for him to decide. Maybe he could do both.