After his training with Aura, Anthony had felt a bit empty. His knowledge of the world aswell as what his true gifts could do left him feeling weak and insignificant. So he had made his way to the library to begin his studies.

Anthony had perused the selection of books before he finally found something that might help him. The physical science section, with some books detailing the workings of lasers, prisms and how light was created and manipulated by the environment around him.

Sinking down into one of the chairs in a quiet corner he began to read, and using his own glow for lighting. Much of what he was reading didn't make complete sense. "I knew this wouldn't be easy." as he shifted in the chair as a twinge of pain laced up his side. He had refused to be fully healed after his fight, wanting to remember the pain that he had let happen to himself because of his inabilities to fight. To learn from it, and work through it.

Hours had passed by before he had fallen asleep in the chair with a few books propped open around him, his head lulling to the side.

Meld had been feeling a strong sense of nostalgia lately. So much had happened recently in her life that she found herself thinking of simpler times, human times. It wasn't that she wanted to be human again, never that. She was proud of her mutant heritage and her superior nature. To think of being human again was to think of a human wanting to be a cow; plainly unthinkable. But there was something to be said for the peaceful and simple nature of her life then. The life of a student in which her only concerns were her friends and her grades. She hadn't had to think about mutant rights, defending her people or committing crimes for survival and to fund the furtherance of her cause. It was these thoughts that led her on a rare trip to the library, a place that she had previously seen a fair bit of.

For a time Meld wandered from bookshelf to bookshelf, not exactly knowing what she was looking for, just letting her mind and her fighters wander. She picked up whatever happened to catch her attention and most of it she placed back on the shelf a few moments later. The place was so quiet that it was with some surprise that she realized she was sharing the library with a faintly glowing and sleeping individual she had yet to meet.

Meld grinned to herself, suddenly wanting to converse with this stranger. Plainly he was a mutant and she was interested to know about him and his powers, just as she was about all of her kind. Instead of blatantly waking him, however, she allowed her metal feet to fall loudly upon the floor, creating a loud clank. Hopefully it would be loud enough to wake him, even if it meant she'd probably have to apologize for doing so.

Jumping with a start from his sleep to a loud clanging sound, "Bloody hell!" Looking around quickly as books began to fall off of his lap and everything around him scattered to the floor. He looked straight at a pair of metal talons on the ground following it up to a leg, a torso and so freaky looking arms and hands to a rather pleased looking face. His lights pulsing erratically from being startled and changing hues to a deep blue as he remembered where he was. "You could have just shook me you know?" His British accent coming out strongly, now that he was not quite awake.

Meld shielded her eyes from the bright lights coming from the other person in the library. Her electronic eye ached at the sudden light and then returned to normal as the light took on a dark blue hue. "I'm sorry to wake you," she said with a good natured grin. Actually, she wasn't all that sorry but it wasn't as if she had done any real harm and maybe she just had a bit of a twisted sense of humour. Indeed, she was pretty sure that most would consider her sense of humour a little on the twisted side.

"I was going to welcome you to Sanctuary, assuming you're new here and ask what your powers were, but I guess the second part of my question has all ready been answered." She grinned again, a little sheepishly this time. She hadn't met him yet in her time in Sanctuary so it was a pretty good assumption that he was probably new. Then again, she had only been there a few months herself so one never really know. "I'm Meld," she extended her hand in offer of a handshake.

"Yea, I shouldn't have snapped at you, like anyone would try and get me here anyways." He said as he stood up putting a hand to his back the bruise still evident from Aura beating him. "Names Anthony," He smiled taking her 'hand'.

Looking at her again, " I might guess at your gifts, but I could be wrong. And I am assuming 'Meld' is your name around here.. when do you get those?" He smiled again rather cheekily.

"Don't worry about it," Meld replied careful not to accidentally cut Anthony's hand during the handshake. "I've had worse done to me in the past and I'll probably have worse done to me in the future." She chuckled good naturally. It felt good to just be talking to someone and not worry about the mission at hand or the mutant cause. Such casual conversations happened so rarely recently.

"I guess my gifts are pretty obvious," Meld agreed, raising a metal hand up in demonstration. "And no one around here gave me my name it kind of came with me." She left unsaid the part about acquiring it out of necessity because she had been involved in organized crime and didn't want to be tracked by her real name. Nor did she realize that Anthony's question wasn't meant to be entirely serious.

"I...see," he looked at the two chairs, in this part of the library. "Perhaps we should sit?" Motioning for her to take one of the empty chairs. Taking the one he had already claimed. "So are your changes permanent or can you change them back?" He asked really quite curious as to how some of the powers he saw here worked. Spinning a ball of deep red light in his hands.

Meld was more than happy to take a seat beside Anthony and was more than happy to answer a few questions about her mutation. It was, after all, something to be proud of and therefore something that was worth sharing. "You could call them semi-permanent. I can never change them back again, but I can change them for other things if I should choose to, even human-looking things, although I'm not really sure why I would want to." Foolish to try and fit in and sacrifice the strength she had worked so hard to achieve. "What about your powers? What all can you do with them?"

"That's an interesting power." He said as he thought of all the things that could be attached to her body. Looking at her again he could begin to see the combat and defensive points to what she had began to merge to herself. Looking at the ball of light in his hands. " From what I have figured out, is that I can create, and control or manipulate light." Letting the orb flow from his hand and making into a small robin. Although it still had some trnasparency." I am not all too sure what else I can do yet." Letting the bird fly over and land on Melds claw.

Meld noticed Anthony looking at her body, paying particular attention to her flesh melds and she didn't need to be a psychic to know what he must be thinking. She took pride in her work and didn't feel the least bit self conscious about the admiring glance she got. It was certainly better than the shunning glances that humans tended to give her.

Meld found the trick with the ball of light to be interesting but wasn't entirely sure how useful such a thing would be in a combat situation. Then again, she had come to realize that not all powers needed to be useful in direct combat and almost any power had some use. "Interesting," Meld commented. "Do you need to have direct site of the thing to control it? How far is the range?" She considered how it could make a very effective distraction for an enemy in certain situations.

He smiled at the question. " Well as long as you don't want to fit me afterward to see what all I can do I will tell you." He chuckled slightly still feeling the pain from his fight with Aura. The stiffening bruises in his back were enough to tell that. "I Haven't tested the full range of ability but I know if I can see the light I can use it. and as for stuff that I make like that." He pulled the bird up and sent it flying around the room, behind him. " Just have to know the area around me for the most part, I just feel where it's at." He was still learning what all he could do, and had yet to figure away to test the full limits of what he could do now.

Meld nodded thoughtfully, considering the implications and possibilities of such a power. "I believe it takes all of us some time to get used to our powers and fully learn their limitations. I know I'm still learning exactly what I can do with mine." Her hopefully soon to be tail was a grand experiment in and of itself. She had never tried to create another limb before, only replace limbs that were all ready there, but she had high hopes for it. After a moment's consideration she said, "Do you know how to fight? I don't mean to worry you but sometimes mutants are attacked in the streets and without a really offensive power, well, it would probably be a good idea to know how to defend yourself." She herself had been attacked more than once by anti-mutant gangs.

He kind of laughed at her statement about knowing how to fight. "Not really, I know tai-chi it's not really meant for fitting but it works." He looked at her,"I mean I ussually flash them and run." He smiled coyly at his phrasing. He started to stammer," I mean I make a flash... and then.. then I run." Blushing slightly at what he had said.