It had taken the young brunnette some time to get used to it, but she had finally accepted that she was a member of this place. She was still learning to walk correctly again, but she knew it would all be worth it when she was able to move around freely. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little ignored. People were friendly and all, but the only people she really had interacted with was Lutz and Raina. And it was because both had found her not vice versa.She still wanted to fit in, but it was hard considering she didn't know how to communicate like a normal human being.

As she moved around, she could smell the plants all around her. She didn't remember the last time she'd been outside when it was summer. It had been a long time, and that was all she knew. Stopping, she avoided looking at the fountain, since her hydrophobia wouldn't disappear with her memories, and sat on the steps, rubbing her sore legs.

At least she'd learned to scatter better.

It was a nice day outside. Twyla had decided to make use of the nice weather to do some practicing. For the last few months the only kind of practicing she’d done had been power related but now she had the time and resources to, in her eyes, do much more important practicing. Gymnastic had been one of the things Twyla missed the most after she ran away from home. She had missed all of last falls meets because she simply wasn’t home to compete. Now was as good a time as ever to see how out of shape she was, at least that’s what she had decided when she had woken up that morning.

Wearing her new green leotard (a gift from her grandmother) with a pair of Soffe shorts over it and carrying her shoes and socks the teen opened up the front door to the Mansion and almost tripped over another girl. She stumbled but managed to stay on her feet as she slipped a bit down the steps. “Oh, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know you were sitting there.” She apologized to the girl as her face became pink with embarrassment.

Clea tilted her head to the side and stared at the other girl for a few seconds, observerving everything about her. Slowly, she remembered to take off her sunglasses to make eye contact with the girl, just like she'd been practicing. After nearly being blinded byt the sunlight, she gave the girl a shy smile.

"It's okay. Clea doesn't mind. At least she apologized." She hoped the girl would understand 'she' was referring to the tripping girl. She pointed to herself, "Clea Anne Rae Marie Rosebin. But Clea's fine." She hoped she could make friends with this girl. She seemed nice enough. THen again, anyone who wasn't locking her away seemed nice enough.

There was an awkward pause where the girl she had tripped over sat and looked at Twyla. Then she took off her sunglasses and looked Twyla in the face for the first time. Anything Twyla found strange about the other girl’s behavior was swept under the rug when the girl spoke. "It's okay. Clea doesn't mind. At least she apologized." The girl said. Before Twyla had the chance to make sense of the sentence the girl spoke again. "Clea Anne Rae Marie Rosebin. But Clea's fine." Clea pointed to herself to get the point across.

She’d seen stranger things since she’d ran away from home but Twyla was still caught off guard by Clea’s speech pattern. Her cheeks flushed a second time when she realized she was taking too long to reply. “Uh, nice to meet you Clea. That’s a very pretty name. I’m Twyla Blanch Ashby, but Twyla works a bit better than all that. Well, I’m glad I didn’t squish you or anything...” She had no idea what to say next. Her legs were itching to stretch but the girl was interesting, if a bit confusing, and she didn’t want to seem rude. So Twyla stood there awkwardly and frantically searched her mind for the polite thing to do in a situation like this. So far, she was drawing a blank.

Clea got up from her sitting position and shrugged. "Nice to meet Twyla. Is that Twyla's real name or Other name?" She was a bit confused by the concept of having a name other than her own, but a few others like her had other names, usually portaining to their powers. "Is Twyla like Clea? Does Twyla have powers?" She felt like she was asking too much, but she was curious. After all, this was the first girl she'd interacted with that was around her age, and Clea was glad that they'd met.

"Sorry, Clea's just curious, that's all." She scratched the back of her head in embarassment.

Twyla answered the girl’s questions and her apology with “Twyla’s my given name. I’m pretty sure most of the people around here are mutants, like us. Nothing’s wrong with a little curiosity, as long as you’re not a cat.” She let herself laugh a bit, it was a lame excuse for humor but she couldn’t help but say it. The steps were warm under Twyla’s bare feet and she fidgeted them a bit. It was strange to talk to someone who seemed a bit more awkward socially than herself and Twyla didn’t exactly know how to handle the situation. She wanted to start practicing but the girl seemed to be a bit new like she was herself and she was the first girl she had talked to for more than a few brief sentences at meals. “So how long have you been here, Clea?” She suddenly found herself asking as she moved down a step so that she wasn't blocking the whole door.

"A few months." Clea explained. "Clea appeared here one night, and a teacher helped here." She spread her arms out and jumped down a few steps, her legs aching as she did so. "Clea ran away from Daddy. Daddy said he was going to cure Clea, but Clea doesn't want to be cured. Clea's happy the way she is." She sat down on the bottom step. "What can Twyla do? What are are Twyla's powers?"

"A few months. Clea appeared here one night, and a teacher helped here." Twyla nodded her head and made noises of understanding. Oh, new-ish then. She thought to herself. Clea’s next comments threw Twyla off. so. "Clea ran away from Daddy. Daddy said he was going to cure Clea, but Clea doesn't want to be cured. Clea's happy the way she is." By this point the girl had moved herself to the bottom step, twyla followed her down the stairs and sat down on the walk right in front of the other girl. “It’s good that you’re happy the way you are.” For a moment she was envious of the self-acceptance the other girl seemed to have. It was still hard for Twyla to accept her mutation. Some days she hated it and herself.

Clea pulled her out of her jealousy by asking another question. "What can Twyla do? What are Twyla's powers?" Twyla tried to think of the easiest way to explain her camouflaging. Finally she decided the best way was through a demonstration, like she had given David. “Clea, could you give me your hand for a second? I’ll show you my power. It doesn’t hurt, I promise. You won’t feel anything at all.” And it was true, being camouflaged didn’t feel like anything other than being yourself. You just LOOKED different.

Clea nodded, then held out her hand. She hoped the girl's power was exiciting. She hoped she could use her powers on other people one day. That would be fun. "Okay, Clea's ready for Twyla to show her power!" She smiled, hoping she wasn't being too friendly.

"Okay, Clea's ready for Twyla to show her power!" The other girl smiled and her enthusiasm made Twyla smile a bit as well. Taking her hand and placing it under the other girl’s she relaxed and let out a comfortable sigh. It was easier for Twyla to work if she imagined the act of masking herself as going into a more relaxed state. Sometimes she wondered if she was supposed to stay camouflaged and she was just fighting it by looking normal. “Alright. You’re going to want to watch your hand and mine.” She focused on their hands and let her powers do the rest. It appeared like there were never any hands in that space. Like usual, the camouflage was perfect. Clea’s hand would remain the colors of the steps as long as she was touching Twyla and Twyla held it up. “That’s my power.” She finally told her.

Clea saw her hands disappear and gasped in shock. "Wow! DId Twyla turn Clea invisible!?" She was fascinated by this. "Wow! Clea likes Twyla's power. It's better than Clea's that's for sure." She nodded. "Clea turns into leaves/"

Clea gasped and Twyla smiled, glad of the entertainment value of her powers. "Wow! Did Twyla turn Clea invisible!?" She asked and her excitement was evident in her tone. Before Twyla had the chance to respond Clea went on. "Wow! Clea likes Twyla's power. It's better than Clea's that's for sure.Clea turns into leaves." She explained. Twyla took a moment to find the words to best explain her power in more detail.

:It's not really invisible, just sort of masked." Still holding onto the other girl's hand she moved them so they were above a grassy patch. The coloring of the steps remained on their hands for a moment as her powers auto-corrected themselves to match the new background. "Thanks. It's a bit of a pain sometimes though...I've never heard of a power like yours. I like it, it sounds unique." Everybody wants what they can't have. She reminded herself.

Clea looked around. "Wow....." She liked the feeling of not being seen by others. It made her feel somewhat..... safe. And when Twyla mentioned her powers being unique, she smiled. "THanks." She frowned. "Clea can';t control it real well though. She can't make others turn to leaves." She remembered losing a piece of her heart when she ran away, how scary it had been.

Was her Father looking for her, or did he not try to after he saw her escape, figuring she would die as long as he had that piece of her heart hostage?

Twyla smiled again when Clea said "Wow....." but it felt half-hearted. She didn't think she was really anything special, most of the time she hated her mutation. Focusing again on the younger girl she noticed that Clea smiled when she complimented her. "Thanks." She said, to which Twyla replied: "Of course, it's interesting." That smile quickly turned into a frown as she admitted that she didn't have control over her powers yet. Twyla was getting used to Clea's strange way of speaking, she barely noticed it anymore.

By way of reply to her admission Twyla said: "That's why we're at school, right? To learn how to control our powers. I'm sure your control will come in time. I don't have complete control over mine either. It's frustrating, I know, but with practice we'll both improve." I sound like a teacher or a motivational speaker. She noted, giving Clea a big smile. For some reason she didn't want the other girl to frown like that. Maybe it was the way she spoke, it made her seem young and innocent even though she seemed to be only a few years younger than Twyla herself. Maybe it was her motherly instincts kicking in--protect what seems smaller than yourself.

Clea nodded at that. "Yes!" She looked out over at everything. "Clea hopes she can master it so she won't have to run away. Then Daddy won't need to find a cure!" She nodded again at that. She held up her palms to face the horizon, then the carcks on her skin deepened, and the pigment of her skin turned a dark green, before scattering off like the wind blew them away. It never hurt. She watched the leaves dance around in the wind for a bit, before calling them back.

"Hands are the hardest to form." She held up her stubs again and watched the leaves sluggishly slide back into place and turn the light peach color that was her skin. "When they were fully formed, she flexed her fingers. "SOmetimes, a leaf gets left behind, and it hurts when they all come back, leaving it alone. It bleeds, and doesn't stop until it comes back."