Locke gave Henri a nasty look. She could tell that it was meant to make her drop the subject. Why did it seem like everything she did just made him mad? Narrowing her eyes in frustration, she took a deep breath. Maybe there was no pleasing the kid. She had tried so hard to be nice and make conversation...

>> "I'm going insane because I thought that it would be good to jump a train with no destination in mind, buying a one-way ticket, and now I'm seeing hair wave at me."

Sighing, Henrietta turned around and began to walk to the park. She had figured he was a mutant. The brunette didn’t know why, but she just had. “Yeah, I don’t know if that was a good plan, but you can always get a ticket back. …I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her hair waving could’ve been from the strong breezes. That’s why she had made it a weak wave. There was no proving she was a mutant by what the teenage boy saw.

Being a pain around people besides her mother was out of character for the 16-year-old girl. Henrietta was getting to the point where trying tp be nice seemed useless. If he was going to act in such an odd way, she would show him to the park and then go back to the Mansion.
___
When she had gotten to the park, she turned to Locke. “Well, this is it.” She wasn’t sure what he’d do here, but he must have a plan. She hoped he had a plan, at least. “Are you sure you don’t want to go somewhere warm or with food?” So much for trying to be difficult…The nice kicked back in. That was a good thing though, Henri didn’t have the heart to be mean or leave someone in trouble.

There was just no use in arguing with Henrietta, Locke decided. For one thing he was too out of practice debating any issue with someone his own age. Getting a five year old to eat their vegetables is easier then convincing an over-protective step-mother to let you see a "R" rated film, but they were things that Locke had gotten rather skilled at in the last several years. Probably there would never be a way to understand a girl's mind or convince said girl that you were not a graduate of Saint Slappy's Clown School.So screw making a good impression. Locke was tired and it did not make a lick of at the moment. His guide had limitless energy it seemed. She probably would feel up to dancing again if he had been any sort of company. Not necessarily that he would be dancing along beside her, or even clapping the beat. No. Locke was more of the type who would look away as if he did not want to be connected to the crazy lady, but secretly admired the freedom that they had. No matter how grounded and level Locke was, he like anyone else, wanted to be able to do what he’d like, without social limitations. Was it because of the responsibilities that he took on that he wouldn’t let it happen? Probably not. Mostly it was him not being able to convince himself that it would be ok to have some random fun every so often. What logic could there possibly be in dancing in the street or wearing a pair of pants on your head, and yes, he had indeed seen people do that. Looking back it might have been a bad idea to show his slightly crazy friend Ren’s adventures in Morrowind.

Locke swayed, his eyes closing as Henrietta continued to walk. Thankfully he could pick her out in the crowd as he trotted, half-asleep, behind her. At last he was heading for something that felt familiar, something that welcomed him. Some might have considered it weird to be happy to have a welcome from dirt. With his first step into Central Park he felt more relaxed. The ground beneath him gave a sleepy hello, and he was fine with that. A small smile nestled on the teen’s lips. It was almost as tired as him. I'd like to stay and relax for awhile, but I need a place to sleep tonight,[/color] the Californian thought, remembering the little thing he'd made from the dirt before. A gust of wind found its way through his jacket, choosing to stick to him rather then passing on through. Dirt and ground good. Winter and wind bad.. Henrietta said something and Locke perked up slightly. A shivering yawn escaped from him as his weary mind replayed what she had just said. "I've got an Aunt and Uncle somewhere here," he told her, pausing for a moment. Chances were that even if he could remember what their names were, then pick the right address out of a phone book that his relatives would not remember him. By no means was he that little boy who wanted a baseball cake. "But to be perfectly frank, I have no clue where or who they be."

>>"But to be perfectly frank, I have no clue where or who they be."
Henri sighed. She had no idea what to do next. This whole trying to be nice thing wasn’t working out because he was making it difficult. She figured it wasn’t his fault. The boy may have been scared or nervous. She knew how that was. Forcing a smile on her face, she looked at Locke. “So, we could try to find a teen shelter or a homeless shelter, unless you want to look for your aunt and uncle.” The brunette couldn’t mention the Mansion, especially if he wasn’t a mutant.

Standing and waiting, she stuck her hands deeper into her coat pockets. It was cold and it would only get worse because the sun was down. Henrietta looked up at the sky. A few stars were visible and she smiled. It was always strange to think that they were seeing stars that had died long ago. Taking a deep breath, she returned her field of vision to its normal angle.

The brunette glanced at the boy who was so close to her in age. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. The girl also assumed he was probably cold. She knew she was. His sleepiness made her nervous, especially since it's a known fact that people who freeze to death are often sleepy. Taking off her scarf, she held it out. It was a plain black one, so it wasn’t feminine looking. If it had been very girly, she may not have offered. “You can use it until we find somewhere for you to stay, if you want…”

“Thank you,” Locke mumbled. It was probably the least unusual or ill-tempered thing that he had said that night, and he was sincere in it. Even if he did wear layers upon layers scarves had not really been a part of his wardrobe. It was nice though, given how the scarf had been warmed up a little from Henrietta wearing it. After wrapping it around his neck the Californian let his fingers linger on it. He wondered if it was machine or handmade. If it was the latter then that made it all the better. Locke had a lot of respect for people that could make things, which might be why he was friends with Eaan, who played guitar. About all Locke could do was doodles and some writing. He liked the stuff that he wrote, but he never tried showing anyone it. Maybe that was why he had fun when he had made that little person thing. With a short yawn Locke tucked the lower part of his face into the scarf, enjoying the extra little spot of warmth. ”Again, thank you.”

Henrietta was offering to help him find a teen shelter or a homeless shelter. She even offered to help him track down his aunt and uncle. He shook his head no. ”Like I said, I don’t really know who they are. I was seven and more interested in the presents and cake then relatives I never really saw before.” He brushed some more hair over his dead eye and gave a little chuckle-like noise. ”I’ll be an icicle by the time we find them.” Too bad he couldn’t stay out here in the park where there was plenty of useful dirt, even if there wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be able to do anything with it. Since Kendra had caught him, Locke had been unable to make another earth person, or at least one that did not fold in on itself almost instantly. You’d get the impression that it was a one time only deal.

He paused, brows knitting together and looked as if thinking intently. Something was tickling at the base of his brain. Usually this meant that he was forgetting about something, usually something important. He had his backpack, which meant that he had not left something behind, and Locke was pretty sure that he wasn’t being followed by the cops right then. Still there had to be something important he was missing, and something was telling him it had to do with the girl in front of him. He was sure that he’d seen her hair move, like weird move. Yeah there was wind, but doesn’t hair usually move in the same sort of direction? Was it weird that she had ignored his comment about it waving at him or was it the Kendra effect. The "Don't bring it up" Now was the time for Locke to slip into big brother mode, meaning time to find out what was going on and not let his shyness get in the way. Such moments usually did not last long. Either he'd find out what he wanted to know or he'd get bashful. ”You aren’t from around here either are you? Did you run away too?”

Of course being a runaway did not mean there was anything special or unusual about Henrietta. Kids had been running away from home way back before mutants were really known about. Everyone heard the tired claim about running away and joining the circus at one point or another in their life. Heck if Locke had a different personality he might have even declared that he was going to do that. Only now he had something that would get him a spot in the show, and it did not have to do with juggling or being shot out of a cannon. He thought, for a second only, about letting Henrietta know that he was a mutant, but what was the point in that? People did not like mutants, and as long as the ground beneath him would stop making soft little groans in greeting there was no cause for anyone to suspect he was a mutant. Yeah he'd followed a complete stranger with his eyes closed across a street in a busy city, but that could, and in the past had been brushed off as his other senses filling in for the damaged one.

The boy had thanked Henrietta twice now. She gave him a smile. "It was no problem. You were making me worried. They say that people get sleepy before they freeze to death. You look exhausted." Locke pretty much said that it would take forever to find his aunt and uncle. She bit her lip as she thought about the options the two teens had. Henri looked at him. If only he was a mutant, I could just lead him to the mansion. I don't know what our other options are besides a homeless shelter....Glancing at Locke, she scratched her head with one of her mitten covered hands. "What do you want to do?"

He asked if she ran away too. She turned and looked at the boy. "Not exactly. My mom shipped me away because...Well, because she didn't know what to do with me anymore. I think she's scared of what people will say." She tried to give the boy a smile to let him know it was no big deal, but it only displayed sadness. Henri turned away from the boy when she felt her face slip. "I've been in New York since November. I'm actually from Springfield, Illinois. It's a bit of a way." Still facing away, she asked, "Where did you run away from?"

"Well I heard traveling makes people tired, and I've been stuck on a train for three days now," Locke explained to Henrietta, giving a big yawn. She hardly need worry that he was going to turn into a teen-sicle. Locke just hated anything under seventy degrees. "But I do think I could fall asleep right here if we don't keep moving." He had not meant to worry her about it. He was just tired, bone tired. This was the kind of exhaustion where if he stayed still for more then a minute he was likely to drop down asleep and dead to the world. After making a minor breakthrough with the scarf, Locke wasn't willing to looking like the complete fool again by possibly snoring or even worse, drooling. In the last five years he really had not spent a night away from home. If he had any sort of embarrassing sleeping habits, such as sleep walking or talking in his sleep, he would not know. Maybe he did something when he was a child, but that would have been years ago. Finding out if any of these were in effect with him was something he would rather not do in public, especially in front of an attrative girl his age.. One hand dared to face the cold and hitched his backpack up before retreating into the relative warmth of his pocket. What did he want to do? Shouldn't it be obvious? "I just want someplace to sleep, out of the wind if possible. My relatives are a bust, so I guess it's a shelter or a church, and I don't do church." Religion didn't sit well with Locke. There were too many things that just did not stack up and too many violently different stances for there to be a logical middle ground.

Locke was not going to let Henrietta side step the issue for much longer. Perhaps it was just because he had gotten so use to taking charge back home, but Locke did not like those around him holding out some vital piece of information. For the Californian the facts were highly important, falling right behind his twin half-siblings. There were some suspicions on what might have caused Henrietta's mother to send her away. From what the girl had said it sounded as if she had either done something wrong or there was something wrong with her. Besides the possibility of insanity, Henrietta seemed to be a perfectly normal teenager. Was she a mutant, and again the word made Locke smile, like he was? Locke was willing to bet a Whopper Meal on it, with a Taco Bell combo too. The facts were falling into line with it. She had neither admitted or denied that her hair had waved at him. He neither admitted or denied that he had done something with the dirt in the potted plant to Kendra, or that he could tell there was an earthquake coming. "Yeah? Consider yourself lucky. My step-mother,", he couldn't even call her step-mom, "My step-mother didn't even say a word to me after she caught me and the thing I made. Never knew that mutant was a cuss until we couldn't say it."

"San Francisco. I think I've got you beat on distance, and no, it isn't because I'm from Cali that I'm freezing. The City isn't as sunshine and surfing as people might think. Probably why so much of Full House was filmed inside," Locke switched the subject, trying to mimic the way that Henri had flowed from one topic to the other, and acting as if he hadn't said anything unusual. To add to the effect he even started walking, as if he expected Henrietta to take the lead again. He had to be right about Henri. If not what would happen? Would she scream and try to take him down? Call for help? Or would she be cool with it, or even worse, act like she wasn't effected at all.

Locke talked about being tired again. He said a church wasn't going to work. Henri thought a moment. Does that means he's not religious or not the kind of religion that attends a Christian church? She glanced at the boy. She could see him not having a religion. There was something about him that gave this away. It may have been because he seemed to not have faith in much of anything. He was kind of negative. Henrietta had a decently positive personality, but she still had her moments. This, on the other hand, was a bit recurring.

The boy talked about his stepmother not talking to him. At first, she didn't even realize he had said he was a mutant. She was about to say something when it sunk in. "You're one too?" Turning, she looked Locke in the eyes. "I thought you may be one. I'm not sure why, but I did. I was starting to think I just imagined everyone that way because I wanted it to be like that." He had started walking away after telling her that he was from California. Running to catch up to him, she smiled slightly. "That is definitely a lot farther than Illinois." The way he had said it upset her, but she now understood why he may be so negative. He was a mutant and that wasn't an easy thing to live as.

Walking next to Locke, she shivered slightly. Oh yeah...I need to find somewhere he can stay and get warm. Not to mention I'm getting cold and tired too. "Locke, what would you think about living with other mutants? Would you be opposed to that?" The Mansion was nice and maybe he could find some happiness there. She had and she knew she wasn't the first. "The place that you'd be staying is very nice and so are the people. Well, at least all the ones I've met." The brunette now had hope in her voice. Maybe she could sleep soon.

So Henrietta had suspected he was a mutant. For how long and for what reason? Locke had just made an educated guess from what had been presented to him, though it helped that she had done something unusual. All that he had done was to make noise, a good portion of which was covered by normal city noises. Maybe it came from living around other mutants or maybe it was a girl thing, maybe even both. Mutant woman intuition. Mankind was doomed indeed. He looked at her confused for a moment when she asked if it would bother him to live with other mutants. Surely he hadn't been so unsociable that she thought he would hate living anywhere. Plus he had just mentioned that he came from a place where he couldn't say what he was. Somehow he must have given Henrietta the impression that he tolerated, if not was content with such an arrangement. To try to clarify himself he opened his mouth.

Of course it was then that big brother mode ended and Locke could no longer look her in the face, let alone talk to her without the words bashing into each other. As if it were spring loaded Locke's head turned right to his feet. If only there was a way to bottle that big brother feeling so that he could have a bit whenever he wanted it, not only when he needed to learn something or if he saw something dangerous. These reruns of shyness were frustrating even to him. People might claim that they could change, but Locke had serious doubts about that. Yes you could pick up habits, good and bad, and even drop a few. You could change your appearence, your location, job, invent a new persona for yourself, but part of you, the original part did not die. If you managed to do that, to kill each little part that made you who you originally were, could you claim to be the same person?

"I think I'd like that"

He said that he thought that he would like that. Henrietta smiled. "Okay then. That's where we're heading then. You'll have to talk to a greeter." She continued to walk next to the boy. Glancing at him, she noticed he had a sad face. At least it looked sad. Henri wondered if he would be okay. She didn't want to make the situation worse, so she looked forward again. "So Locke, if you don't mind me asking, what's your ability? Mine's kind of lame." She made her hair fly into the air. "It can hold up to 70lbs and it's hard to cut, but that's about it." Turning to Locke again, she grinned.

The two weren't very far away from the mansion. Henrietta hoped truly hoped the boy could find somewhere he could belong. She wondered how many people knew about his power before he ran away. Almost all of Springfield had found out about her's and then her mother decided to send her to New York. The brunette hadn't spoken to her mother since she arrived in November. Their farewell had been awkward and her mother showed no obvious love to her. Part of Henri was hoping she'd recieve a phone call at Christmas telling her to come home and that she was sorry, but it wasn't meant to be. Now that everyone knew that she was a mutant, she'd probably never be welcome in that city again.

Maybe she wouldn't want to go back anyway. As of late, Henrietta was not sure where she stood on mutant rights. She knew she was for them and didn't want to hurt people if she didn't have to. Her opinion had already slightly changed since all some of her recent experiences. Before the girl never wanted to resort to violence ever, but now she wasn't as opposed. She wasn't sure if that was a horrible thing or not. People showed her no sympathy and it didn't make her want to show them any. Henri didn't hate humans, but she was getting fed-up. All she knew was that she didn't want to live her life being stared at as if she was a monster....

Locke blanched when Henrietta mentioned having to talk to yet another person. For five years he had been in a sort of self imposed solitary confinement in which he made the rules for visitation hours. Even on the train, a place in which there is the compulsion to intereact with others, Locke had been able to keep to himself. All this conversation felt unfamiliar. It was a territory that he was unfamiliar with, new grounds that he did not know if he could make a stand on. Not with the little amount of sleep he was currently running on. "Do I have to do that tonight? Can't I talk with someone tomorrow?" Locke asked, wincing at how pathetic and whiny it came out. If he were Chris or Mai he'd get a stern warning not to complain. Great. Now he was behaving worse then a five year old in the grocery store. No wonder Henrietta looked less then pleased with him before.

Just for ease of talking Locke looked down at the ground. It was too hard to look anyone in the eyes and talk to them, even if the subject was something he was glad to finally be able to speak of. "I've been doing it all night, ever since I stepped off the train," the Californian started to explain. Fluffy was going to have to wait momentarily for him to sort out how to best explain about it in as few words as possible. "Dirt stuff, working with the ground. I made something once." He shrugged his shoulders, making his backpack give him a little smack. "Like I said, we didn't talk about it back in San Francisco, I didn't get a chance to practice." It was a half truth, for if Kendra was about Locke couldn't do anything. A brief period of time was granted to him while there was still sunshine in which he did not have to fill any obligations to anyone. Of course he was going to poke about with his powers in that time.

Locke didn’t seem like he wanted to talk to other people. He asked if he’d have to do it tonight. Henrietta tilted her head in thought. She wasn’t sure if she could just let someone waltz into the mansion without people knowing about him. Even if she told someone, she’d had to go through paperwork. Henri hadn’t been at the mansion long and didn’t want to overstep her boundaries, whatever her boundaries were. Looking at Locke, she continued to walk. “I’m really not sure. It would probably be best if you at least told someone there that you needed somewhere to stay. Well, maybe asked. I don’t know how telling them you were staying would go over.”

The boy told her a little about his mutation. She smiled. “That’s a pretty cool power. Mine is all based around my hair. I do think it’s very different, but I don’t know how much good it’ll do me in a tight situation.” The only helpful thing it ever did was attack a man who had attacked her. That had actually been quite helpful. Henrietta would have loved to avoid that situation in general, but it couldn’t have been stopped any other way. Remembering it just made her nervous.

“So what kind of thing can you make?”

Crazy as she was, Locke had to respect Henrietta a little. She had done something he was, well, not exactly afraid, but hesitant to do. She knew the limits of her power. Sure having the locks to bring a new meaning to a hairstyle with personality was not as impressive as some of the things that you saw on TV or read about in the newspaper. Heck, even Mr. Pessimist could not think of a way to turn hair power into anything that would ruffle feathers. Media only portrayed a mutation that you could be afraid of. Maybe over in Japan Henrietta might strike some terror and have a few people call her a futakuchi-onna, (thank you J-Pop horror films for that term), but honestly, how often was that going to happen? The fact still remained that Henrietta knew more about herself and her mutation then Locke could even guess with himself. Dirt he knew moved for him, sand did as well, but how much and what things other than dirt and sand he was unsure of. "Good to know what you can do," Locke commented. In a way he was jealous of her. Her mother might not have been cool with having a mutant daughter, but somehow Henri had found something in her that let her push her boundries.

Now how to explain Fluffy. Kendra might have seen the golem that Locke had wrestled the Easter, but the one who had been in charge of it only knew of a general shape to it, the way a person knows roughly what shape they are. "I don't really know.. It had arms I think, and legs."

Locke said he didn't know exactly what it looked like. This suprised Henrietta. She didn't understand how he didn't even know what he created. The brunettte thought about asking more questions, but let it drop. She wasn't sure if this topic was very sensitive with him or not. She figured it probably wasn't his favorite thing to talk about. Henri loved learning about what some of the other mutants could do. It never ceased to amaze her how many different types of mutations there were.

Henrietta wasn't quite sure what to say to the boy now, so she walked silently next to him. Maybe he'd be more comfortable asking her questions. Or maybe he just didn't like to talk much at all. Either way, she was cold and tired and didn't feel like trying as hard anymore. The Mansion came into sight and she sighed slightly. Comfort awaits! But first... She looked at Locke. "That's it. I'll try to find you a greeter when we get there. That's all I can really do. Sorry."

((After your post, I think we should end it. You can go talk to a greeter outside of this on a different thread or something. I'm afraid there's not much else I can do for you. I had a great time RPing with you and we should thread again sometime. If this doesn't work for you, please feel free to PM me.))