Snow was a most peculiar thing.
Not like Susan hadn't seen (or experienced) snow before. The Hydes always made sure they presented their children with all the perfect little details of childhood - and snow was one of them. Too bad Susan preferred to stay inside and thus avoid being hit by snowballs and other annoying wintertime projectiles.
But now that her unique Susan-way of perceiving the world was in full swing...
Snow was beautiful.

It had been snowing for the better part of the day, and unlike the snow of the days before, this one stuck around. Now that evening was falling and people took their children home for dinner, Central Park was quiet, calm, and white.
For the eyes of a human.
The tiny black dot that was a teenage witch (wrapped in a black coat with a huge hood, black-and-white striped gloves and boots with purple fur) occupied a par bench off the beaten paths in the snow. Elli was studying very hard at home, and she didn't want to disturb her; even though she was not the noisy kind, Susan could tell her brand new roommate needed her time alone, this close to her exams. So she went for a walk, and ended up in Central Park, alone with the twilight and the falling snow.
She was proud of her brand new and effective display of empathy.

Have you ever heard the sound of falling snow?
Have you ever seen it?
The world through Susan's momentarily black eyes was an elaborate impressionist painting of soft blues and whites; fluffy eruptions of sound-sparks when a snowflake landed on her coat or on the ground. If was calm, but not quiet.
And nothing, compared to the picture she saw as her eyes drifted into crimson.
The cold world around her suddenly colored over with all the possible shades of blue and glass-green; the only thing that stood out in this background was her own breaths, in small orange-and-red puffs of smoke, rapidly fading through the rainbow scale to light purple and then white. She breathed in, and breathed out again; anybody else would have only seen white clouds of breath. For her, it was waaay more addictive than actual smoking.

Susan didn't hum. She didn't have a good voice. But even for her practical and composed self, the evening beauty of the park called for music, so she pulled out Frost - the flute she bought for herself a few years back - and played a soft tune. Blue and evening-purple notes lifted into the air and mingled with the sound of the falling snow.

((OOC: yes I borrowed the flute's name from the Fables novel. Susan loves the Pied Piper story ))

Crouched just slightly off one of the main paths, Jay was motionless as he watched the few people pass by as the snow fell. He had been in the park when it began falling and unless something came up, he would probably still be there until it stopped. He had eaten a fairly large meal, large for him that is, two days prior and he still felt relatively full. A snowflake drifted down to cling onto his outstretched hand but it didn't melt, at least not at first. It seemed to take quite a long time for the flake to liquefy and slide off his hand. Just another thing that seemed to separate him from others.

It was because of his cold nature that he seemed to have collected a large amount of snow when a sound floated through the air to his ears. Looking around he noticed the sky and park had changed since he last remembered. Jay figured he must have dozed off. Snow fell from his horns, head, wings and body as he moved slowly and seemingly stiffly. Stretching he realized he hadn't just fell asleep, he had become what he looked like, a stone gargoyle. It didn't happen often without his meaning to, so it was always a bit surprising when he realized he had done it.

Once he stepped onto the paved path, he turned and looked at the spot he had been, snow had piled up around him to a fair depth. He had nearly forgot about that which had brought him out of his torpor when the breeze caught it and once again brought it to him, as if beaconing him. It was a bit difficult to pinpoint the source with the snow and trees helping to mask the sound's origin. He had to stop and orient himself every so often to get his barrings on the melody. Eventually he saw a single person sitting on a bench playing a flute.

Jay was in front and to the side when he noticed her, but he crept closer, sticking low to the trees as he did. He found it a bit odd the woman....no...that wasn't right, she was young similar in age to his sister Roblyn, for this girl to be alone in the park. Most people he noticed moved in pairs if not more, he had even seen a few groups of youngsters, at least a score of them in each group, but singular was not so common to him. He moved until he was directly across from her, still partially hidden by the trees and the dormant snow covered brush. Maybe people seemed to have a bad reaction to his appearance and he did not want to frighten the girl.

He waited for a lull in the music before he clapped lightly, though loudly enough to be heard. "That was wonderful." To Jay, it felt like moments passed in silence, to which he felt like hitting himself. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, please, don't mind me, I was just curious is all."

Henrietta trudged through the fluffy white snow that covered the ground. It had been falling for some time now and she loved it. If she'd been back home, her and her friends would've gone sledding or made a snowman. She stopped walking and looked up at the falling snow. She sighed contently.

Her vision was blurry when she looked back down. Henri realized she must have snowflakes stuck in her eyelashes. Laughing to herself slightly, she wiped at her eyes. When sight had returned, she began to walk again.

As she continued to meander, she saw Central Park. There was barely anyone there and Henrietta couldn't imagine someplace that would look as beautiful. She ran across the street and then took to walking in the park. All of the trees looked so wonderful, like they could be from a fairytale.

At first, Henrietta only her the sound of the snow crunching under her feet. Eventually another sound floated to her ears. Glancing around, she noticed a black blob sitting across the park on a bench. Deciding to walk by and see if the blob was okay, she started to make her way toward it.

When she got closed, Henri noticed that the blob was a girl. Probably around the same age as her. She was playing a beautiful song on what appeared to be a flute. Henrietta smiled and was about to start walking, seeing as the person was fine, but a voice came from nearby. Henri jumped and whipped around, looking for where it came from. Narrowing her eyes at a bush, she walked toward it a bit. "..Hello?"

There was a lull in the music; the last note was a snowflake, drifting down to the ground.
Susan lowered the flute and looked around, more than a bit embarrassed - she didn't usually play music in public. If you could count the empty park 'public' at all. She was pretty sure she was alone.
Until she heard the clapping.
"That was wonderful... Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, please, don't mind me, I was just curious is all."
She looked up and across the path. The bushed had lost their leaves long ago, and now were packed with snow; there was something - someone? - large behind them, but she couldn't make out who - or what? - it was.
Her eyes shifting to crimson in the shadow of her hood, the world turned shades of blue and green once again. Any living person would stand out like a lamppost in the dark, glowing red and orange with body heat.
Well, except for him.
Susan let out a surprised gasp.
She could see the outlines of a body - a very strange body - among the bushes, but it was barely yellowish-green instead of fire-colored. A normal person with a body that could would be dead, or nearly dead. Definitely not talking and clapping. Not to mention the shape she saw - when touching with her eyes, she didn't see shapes all that clearly, but she could make out the wings and the horns just fine.
What was it with her meeting creatures out of Medieval paintings all the time?...
The person - supposing it was a person - had the same opalescent aura about him she'd already seen on a couple of 'special' people - mutants, like herself.
Oh. That would make sense.
"...Hello?"
She caught the other person out of the corner of her eye - she was definitely alive, glowing happy cherry-red and orange, with pinkish shades around her nose and fingers. Susan wondered if the music attracted her too. Or if she had any idea what she was walking towards. Crimson eyes narrowing, she tilted her head.
Wait a minute...
Her next breath floated into the air, fading from pink to white and blurring her vision; she blinked, and looked again, and no doubt: the girl was glowing mutant-colored as well.
Well well well...
Susan gulped. She was pretty sure she was supposed to say something. It was her music that brought them here after all.
"You can come out." she announced, looking at the person among the bushes "I am not going to hurt you."
Hopefully you are not going to hurt us either.

Jay wasn't sure what he had expected to happen after he spoke. But what he didn't expect was for the girl to look up in his direction and search for him. Seeing as he wasn't too far from her, he heard her gasp when she seemed to have found him. Time seemed to stretch on for a bit as she continues to look towards..no, at him, as he did to one of his small sculptures. Except when he had spoken and clapped, Jay had remained motionless.

The girl on the bench seemed to be surprised at the young lady walking towards her. He wasn't sure why that was. He knew his appearance made others nervous or scared, but the girl seemed perfectly normal. What would cause the surprised expression he saw in her eyes? The answer didn't come, not that he expected it to. Instead, she looked back at him and spoke. 'Hurt you?' He said to himself, 'Why would I...' Then it dawned on him. She was unsure of what he might do because of what he looked like, or was it because he was hiding? Either way she sounded cautious.

Jay moved the brush to the side as he made his way onto the path from the tree line. Once again, in the open after being immobile, he shook his body slowly but steadily to remove most of the snow from him. He extended his wings to stretch them out before he wrapped them around his body, covering most of his body except for his head and the very bottoms of his feet. He looked first to the girl on the bench then to the other one. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare either of you. I mean you no harm."

He took a slight step backwards on reflex after he spoke. He could turn and pivot so much easier in this or most of his other forms, but he was most adept as getting away in his burrowing form. If he needed to, he could and would, bolt from his spot and shift just as he finished turning. But he wouldn't do it, not just yet. He would wait and hopefully not get chased off again, but he had already made the first move just in case.

Henrietta felt her jaw drop when the thing in the bushes came out. It had wings! Wings! Without it meaning to, her hair flew up and began to writhe like snakes. At the time, there was no wind blowing. For some reason, it felt like she'd be able to protect herself better if the winged-thing attacked. Feeling bad for instantly being scared of the creature, she shut her mouth. Her hair continued to whip around as if warning them to stay back.

Realizing that she had no way to explain her hair flailing this way and that, Henrietta looked at the girl and then back at the odd thing that had came out of the bushes. "I...I'm sorry. Don't be freaked out." She shut her eyes to concentrate. She talked quietly to herself. "Calm down, it's fine. Not everyone needs to know what you are. Not like at home. Calm." As she whispered to herself, her hair began to calm down. Eventually it was laying like any normal person's would.

When she opened her eyes, she gave an embarrassed smile. Without knowing what to say to the strangers, Henri looked at the girl who had played the music. "That was beautiful. I saw you sitting and wanted to see if you were okay, but then I was just curious what that lovely sound was. I'm glad everything's good over here."

Henrietta turned and looked at the mystery creature. "I'm very sorry. You startled me. I didn't mean to be rude. I really didn't." She hadn't, but she had never seen anything quite like it before. The fact that it was hiding in the bushes made her even more nervous. Based on her reaction, she understood why it wouldn't want anyone to see it. Poor thing. I bet everyone has that reaction. I can't imagine how hard it must be for him. Wondering what next, Henri put a smile on her face. "I'm Henrrietta"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare either of you. I mean you no harm."
"I...I'm sorry. Don't be freaked out. I'm very sorry. You startled me. I didn't mean to be rude. I really didn't."
Susan turned her head, looking at the gargoyle and the girl with the Medusa hair. A smile tugged at her lips.
"So, we can all agree nobody wants to hurt anyone. Perfect." she announced, putting her flute away as she stood up from the bench and walked over to them.
"My music never had an effect quite this curious before" she added. True, she learned to play a flute because of the Pied Piper, but she never thought a simple tune would lure a gargoyle and a gorgon to her. She wondered if it was a coincidence. It probably was.
Looking at them again, her eyes turned back to crimson for a couple of seconds. No doubt. They both had the same aura she was starting to identify with the X gene. Of course, there was no proof. But based on her experiences so far, it made sense.
"I'm Henrrietta"
"My name is Susan" she answered politely, glancing at the gargoyle, wondering if he had a name too "And I am a mutant like you two. Obviously."

Before Jay realized what he was doing, he had already taken another step away from the girls, well the one with the writhing hair that reminded him a nest of newborn snakes moving wildly while lashing at everything and nothing at once. Another image flipped through his head, accompanied by a word, a name: Medusa. He couldn't quite place it, the memory was dim, as if he were trying to see fish in water heavy with silt.

He was use to getting strange looks, shocked expressions, even fear, but he was not use to someone going on the offensive just from seeing him. By the time he heard and registered the girl's words and tone, he had turned around to face the tree line. If she had hadn't spoke when she did or he hadn't registered her words, he would have shifted and ran. But that wasn't the case. His tail swept a long slow arc across the snow covered ground, pushing much of it away, as he turned back around to face the girls.

Henrrietta apologized before the other girl piped up. With a tilt of his head he listened and watched the girl. She was what he had come to expect from those like himself and those at the Mansion. "Susan, Henrrietta." He said as he nodded to them both. Jay stood up to his full height, if you added the height of his horns, he'd easily be over seven feet tall, and began to shift. His horns seemed to 'melt' as they fell to the top of his head and formed into a hat, his wings wrapped around him and became most of his clothing, the overalls and simple linen-like shirt (had it been actual cloth at least), his tail shrunk until it was gone while his legs straightened and became the bottom half of the overalls, lastly, a pipe appeared in his mouth.

Jay took off the hat with one hand, "Jeramya Olax." He gave a slight bow. "I'm sorry to have startled you. It wasn't my intention." Glancing to where he had been watching from, "I didn't want to show myself, as many people react as you did. It's easier just to avoid being seen, if possible that is." A friendly, honest smile shown on his polished face. "I truly didn't mean to intrude apon you and your music Susan, but I did not expect anyone to be out here in this weather playing a light tune as that. In the past..," He paused as he tried to remember how long he'd been there, becoming stone threw off his perception of time, "Two or three days, I hadn't noticed anything of note. It was a pleasant break from the norm."

Henrietta nodded a hello to both mutants. Wait, they're mutants too! She felt relieved that she didn't just show her power to humans. She was suprised when she saw that the man/gargoyle began to have a human-like apperance. He even had a pipe. Which almost made her giggle from the randomness. The man said that the terrified reaction she had was a normal occurance, but it didn't make her feel less cruel. "I really am sorry, Jeramya. I'm usually not so rude. You were hiding and it made me wary."

Turning to Susan, Henri smiled. She had noticed that the girl's eyes changed.I wonder what it means when they change "Your eyes. They change color. That's pretty cool. I just have strong, spazzy hair." Henrietta laughed as a piece of her hair twirled seemingly by itself. "I can control it most of the time. Sometmes I don't realize that I'm moving. I've had people think it was possessed or had a mind of it's own. It doesn't though.." Just plain, boring, normal hair. Well, maybe not NORMAL, but not alive. All of a sudden, she felt like she was babbling, so she decided to leave it at that.

Glancing at both mutants, she grinned and slightly blushed from embarrassment.Then she sighed quietly to herself with hopes that the strangers hadn't heard. Way to go, Henri. Not only are you wierd, you can't make yourself shut up.

Susan watched as the gargoyle turned into a man. It was the most impressive display of mutant powers she'd ever seen. True, she was still fairly new to the world of the X gene, but seeing a person shift from stone to... human was something so unreal it caught the young witch off guard.
The body heat didn't change; it was still far too cold to be human (and just barely warm enough to be alive). The skin still felt like stone, but the shape changed from mythical to mundane in a most unique way. She knew about possible shifting abilities in the mutant world, but she'd never seen one before. It was fascinating. She could touch the changing body just by looking at it.
"Wow." she breathed, and it took her long minutes to realize she was gaping at... Jeramya?... and that the gorgon girl was talking to her. Them.
"Your eyes. They change color. That's pretty cool. I just have strong, spazzy hair. I can control it most of the time. Sometmes I don't realize that I'm moving. I've had people think it was possessed or had a mind of it's own. It doesn't though.."
Susan winced as her eyes turned back to normal. She struggled to keep up with the girl's flow of words; 'possessed' was the one that hit her first.
"My... schoolmates thought I was possessed, because of my eyes." she admitted "Of course they had no idea about genetics. They had no idea about many things." she smirked "I guess you both now how that feels like."
She tilted her head as she turned back to the gargoyle-man "So. Jeramya...? Do you live out here in the park?"

Jay looked at Henrietta and nodded as she spoke, "It's alright, I understand." He looked towards the brush for a moment, "I attempted to stay out of site...to avoid that reaction." A disarming smile on his face. "It happens quite often. Though I may need to rethink that strategy." As she pointed it out, he looked at Susan's eyes, and realized for himself that they were truly changing colors. "Fascinating." He said to himself, barely more than a whisper. Turning back to Henrietta, "I mean no offense, but your hair reminded me of Medusa, though obviously yours is not made of snakes."

Susan responded to Henrietta's words in a few ways; her eyes, seemed to settle on one color (whether it was her true color, he wasn't sure), she winced almost as if she'd been pricked, and she spoke about herself, even attempted a bit of humor, if he understood correctly. Taking the pipe from his mouth, he put it into one of his pockets. Shaking his head slightly, "No, that I do not. My residence is at the Xavier Institute. Though," He stopped and looked up at the sky for a few moments, looking at and through the clouds, "When I came here, before I heard your melody, it hadn't been snowing. By it's depth, I assume it's been at least two or three days since then."

Henrietta felt a bit bad when she heard the girl say that people had thought she was possessed. People could be so mean. Susan was right; she did know how that was. When her power was discovered at the local salon, everyone began to scream and panic, including her mother. As soon as it happened, almost the whole town became aware of ‘the freakish salon incident’. Henri’s so called friends refused to speak to her and the school didn’t want her there anymore. In case she hurt someone, was what they said. Turning her thoughts back to the girl, she smiled slightly. “I still think you have pretty eyes.”

>>”Your hair reminded me of Medusa.”

The brunette smiled slightly when the man with the pipe said this. “I can understand where that thought would come from.” She really could, actually. That was her first thought when it happened as well. Henri continued to listen to the man as he told where he was living. “The mansion? That’s where I’ve been staying as well.” The girl smiled. “My mom sent me there so I could keep my studies going and ‘be around my own kind’. The last part was a quote from her mother. Her ignorant mother.

“I still think you have pretty eyes.”
Susan felt her face turn red - and in her case, quite literally; on her own skin, she could feel the touch of crimson blush, it was as if someone had pulled a thick scarf over her cheeks.
Pretty was not a exact measurement. It was a subjective observation. And in her history so far, when it came to subjective opinions, pretty was usually not included in the vocabulary.
"Um. Thank you." she muttered.
The girl seemed the friendly kind - she wondered if this friendliness was shown towards her own person, or the fact that she possessed the X-gene just like Henrietta. She voter for the latter. It was much more likely.
"Medusa's hair was changed into snakes by Athena as a punishment." she offered a piece of her built-in Encyclopedia of Classical Myths, because she really had no idea what else to say. She kicked a chunk of frozen snow with the tip of her shoe nervously. Conversations were very, very complicated.
Or maybe she just didn't have practice.
“The mansion? That’s where I’ve been staying as well. My mom sent me there so I could keep my studies going and ‘be around my own kind’."
Now that was something intriguing.
"Do you mean there is a place for people with the X-gene?" she asked, looking at the gargoyle "Is it some kind of institution for scientific research?..."