Hooooly crap have I not done this in a while.

Mettaliar walked into Times Square with $100 dollars in his pocket and one thought in his head. He needed new clothes. It had only occurred to the previous few weeks that the clothes he had packed with him all those years ago were quite beaten down and becoming slightly smaller. He was 19 now... hadn't been clothes shopping since he was 16... maybe earlier. Indeed, it was time for a change. The question being... what exactly could he buy with $100? And how many pieces of clothing? New York, especially this part, wasn't exactly the cheapest place for clothing. On the contrary, a good amount of places had quite ridiculous prices for clothes; sometimes he saw accessories going beyond the budget he currently had.

Great, Mettaliar thought to himself, so I'll have to find the cheapest store in the city to find a damn shirt, let alone pants to go with it. Argh, better start looking through some windows. Maybe I'll find something.

Mettaliar sighed as he shuffled through the busy New York crowd and approached a few stores where figures dressed up in items on sale in the buildings they appeared in. Mettaliar maneuvered his way through the people, behind others that stood and stared in envy at the garments on sale. He only peered in to see the theme of the stores to see whether or not to spend times searching in the store in the first place. Many stores he got to pass since the clothes mostly tended to be trendy dress ups for women. Yeah... no. Finally getting frustrated with constantly glancing and not approving, Mettaliar noticed one story qith quite an array of clothing in black. The name of the store was of no concearn, though the writing seemed to be of a red, edgy sort of style. Good enough

Making a quick B-line to the door of the store, he walked into the store and was met with a near empty store. Few people walked around the racks checking for their right fit of style or price. Reaching into his pocket to make sure the money was still on him, the feeling of paper money met his checklist to continue forward. Searching throughout the racks and checking out sizes, he seemed to approve of the male clothing, full of darker clothing styles with a few band t-shirts.

Hmm... maybe a nice band T would do.

For the past 2 weeks Juka had been working diligently on gathering up himself a band. Back in Japan he had been the vocalist of Ukime but since coming to the States he hadn't done any performing and the fact was he missed his band. He missed his band terribly, he missed the spotlight, he missed the awe and admiration. He missed all of it. And so, finally, he had come to the conclusion that he simply must form his band anew. Or rather, he simply must form a new band only this time they would be his band. It would be Juka Miami and the...actually, he hadn't quite gotten that far yet but he knew he would have a band!

In truth Juka was rather close to finally getting everything together. He was the vocalist, naturally, and he had found himself a guitarist and a basist. The only thing he was now missing was a drummer and a name. His two new band members weren't quite as amazing as he was, of course, but that would be impossible anyway so he was willing to forgive them that. They were incredibly talented and charismatic; they knew how to play their instruments, meshed well with Juka and each other and didn't appear to have any serious anti-mutant tendenceies. They, and his hopefully soon to be found drummer, would be perfect; together they would be even better than Ukime.

Given that Juka was soon to be leading a new band in a new city, he must have the proper wardrobe to accomany him. A couple of weeks ago he had begun his quest for new clothes, but now that things were nearing their inevitable conclusion, time was of the essence to complete his epic quest. His epic quests for dresses of the highest and most beautiful caliber. And, of course, makeup to go with it and perhaps a new hair colour and style as well. Everything had to be perfect.

Dawning a short green dress and black fishnets and tying his hair in simple but striking pigtails, Juka was ready to go. Since he was going to be trying on different things it seemed prudent that he wear something that was easy to remove and redawn as necessary. Once in Times Square, a favourite location to shop, he entered a new store on a whim. It was mostly empty but it was new and, looking through the window, seemed to have some potential. Besides, it wasn't as if he were lacking in free time these days.

Juka strolled in like he was the most beautiful thing around (and of course he was), nodding towards the man who worked there. Near him he spotted another man, this one looking a little threadbear. Well, clearly he was here for a reason. He desperately needed something better than the pants and shirt he was currently wearing and barely fit. "Do you need some help?" he asked the stranger, most helpfully in his opinion. He dearly hated to see someone so fashion bereft, especially when he knew he could help.

Mettaliar had sifted through a good amount of shirts by the time any voice had caught him off guard. He had seen some familiar band names. TOOL... Disturbed... A7X.... All bands he had heard and had grown to have a liking for. He had only been caught off-guard by the price. Sure, $40 might not have been that bad, but that sure wasn't cheap either. He sighed to himself and shook his head slowly. Looks like I'll only be getting one shirt. Maybe pants... maybe. He was quite flustered at how high the cost was... or more, how low his budget was. Most people in New York had quite a bit more than $100 to spend, so these prices might not be far off the average. His train of thought was only interrupted by a voice nearby speaking, as if to him.

"Do you need some help?"

Mettaliar shifted his eyes in the direction of the voice to confirm if it was him being spoken to. When it was confirmed, he quickly switched his attention to the... unorthodox outfit the man was wearing. The short green dress... fishnets... hair style... quite different for a man. It didn't freak Mettaliar out or anything, just caused him to raise his eyebrow, which was covered by his hair anyway. He thought of how to answer the question posed, shrugging his shoulders and nodded his head slightly. He was shy to admit he was stumped with what to do, yet he figured that since the man offered, he could take any advice he could get.

"Well... y-yes. I have been in need of new clothes for a while now. Don't know if you could tell...." Mettaliar looked down at his shirt and pants, both of which barely fit. Only his trenchcoat fit properly, mostly because it had been big for him before and he managed to grow into it over time. "Problem is... I kinda have a low budget. $100 to be exact. Haven't been clothes shopping in a while and can't seem to find anything that fits my needs."

Mettaliar had caught on to his rambling and stopped, quickly stopping himself and chuckling. "Sorry. Well, so that's my scenario. You seem to be a man of fashion. Seem to know any places here or elsewhere where I could find new clothes?"

Juka gave the man a long appraising look, up and down, a look that might have looked a little perverted coming from any other person. But in this case he was simply assessing what sort of clothes would best suit his new protege. Finally, he nodded to himself, satisfied. Really, it shouldn't be too difficult to make the other man look good. He all ready had a lot to work with, it was just a matter of bringing his natural posative qualities to the forefront. The budget might be an issue, but even that he could work with.

"You are not, I think, the type suited to dresses." A nod and a smile as he agreed with his own assessment. "Something simple with just a bit of edge to it, I think. Those band t-shirts, not at all what you need especially at your budget. Follow me and I'll make you beautiful, kid." Amusing since he probably wasn't any younger than Juka was, possibly even a little older.

All business now, Juka ushered the man out the door. "The name's Juka Miami by the way." A quick bow to follow, not too formal since he did have a mission to fulfill now, after all. "Now, I think your best bet, given your budget, is to look at the second hand stores. Not those thrift stores, mind you, most of those are low quality though there are the occasional gems, but the specialty second hand stores. You would be really surprised what you can find in such places, and for cheap." Money was rarely an issue for Juka. Most of his experience in such places stemmed from a need to be unique rather than a need to do things cheaply. Still, it seemed his experiences were going to serve him well this day.

"I am going to take perfect care of you," Juka assured the stranger, hoping that he might be gifted with the man's name. "You won't even recognize yourself when we're done, you'll look so good."

Mettaliar let go of the band T-shirt in his hand as the man, who went by the name Juka, explained how he had better ideas than shopping at the place they were in now. Mettaliar nodded his head slowly and kept his eyes on Juka, who apparently was very keen on looking him up and down, seemingly to assess his possible clothing options. Mettaliar didn't exactly know how to feel about the looks, though he let the man assess as he continued to explain his idea on going to second-hand stores for budget reasons. Mettaliar nodded his head and smiled.

"Yeah, that sounds like a better idea. Didn't know where to go exactly, so I figured I'd check this place out. You have a point, though. I wonder how much stuff I'll be able to buy. I don't need much, just something with better fit. I'm quite simplistic, after all." Something about Juka made Mettaliar feel more confident in how today's shopping will go. He seemed like he knew what he was doing. Or at least more likely to know more than I do. A man of his dress style doesn't go about it for a while without picking up on styles and such

Mettaliar chuckled at Juka's confidence and wording. Seems like he's happy to help. Sounds nice. He nodded his head as he made his way out of the store, hoping for Juka to follow. He put his hands in his pockets and continued on his way, stopping outside the store and looking around, not exactly knowing which way to head. For all the time he spent outside the mansion, he wasn't keen on keeping memories of the places around New York in his head. Something he should probably work on. Definitely work on.

Turning to Juka, he had realized he never gave his name. "The name's Mark, by the way. Pleasure to meet ya. Now, Mr. Expert, where are we off to first." Keeping Juka's last words in mind, he chuckled and nodded his head. "Thank you for the confidence boost. I'mma trust your fashion knowledge today, Juka. Just..." He quickly put his hand over his head, slightly feeling embarrassed. "The hair stays. No debate." He decided to not seem weird by chuckling at the end. Just so we're clear.

"The name's Mark, by the way. Pleasure to meet ya. Now, Mr. Expert, where are we off to first. Thank you for the confidence boost. I'mma trust your fashion knowledge today, Juka. Just...The hair stays. No debate."

"You are as brilliant as you are beautiful," Juka gushed, infanently pleased to have expertise noted. "I would never steer you wrong, dearest Mark and your hair is lovely so it must, of course, stay." There were things that could be done to improve his hair, but one step at a time. Juka didnt' want to overwhelm the poor boy, after all, and in truth his hair really was his best feature anyway.

Juka set off deliberatley in the directio of one of his favourite vintage stores. It was sometimes refreshing to be walking places instead of simply floating everywhere. In fact, more and more often lately he had merely been floating, disdaining the mortal way of navigating the city perpetually chained to the ground. It was probably a consequence of the month spent trapped in his bubble in which he hadn't had much of a choice but to float and now he chose such means of transport by convenience as much as enjoyability. But, in his experience, strangers rarely took well to floating bubble boys.

"I'm afraid we have a ways to walk," Juka cautioned. "So, what brings you to the city anyway? Always lived here? Move from somewhere else? Do anything for a career? Met any strange mutants?" Oops. He hadn't quite meant for that last questio to come out and certainly not quite so bluntly. He wibbled and blinked apprehensively at his protage. Oh well, the question was now out there, only thing to do was wait and see how he'd react.

Mettaliar was taken aback by the compliments Juka gave. While they were nice and well-meaning, they were... a bit different. This even applied to women as well, yet being that Juka was a man, a cross-dressing man at that, it wasn't something he knew how to take. Doing his best to be polite, he shrugged the compliments away and continued the way Juka went. He kept his hands in his pockets and listened while Juka continued to compliment him. Well... at leadt he likes my hair. Mettaliar chuckled along, hearing Juka claim that the walk would be of some good distance.

"Ah, that's fine. I'm used to walking. Do it all the time. Never really stay at home for too long; plus it's nice out today. Always good to have some company, too." Mettaliar was glad someone had decided to join him along to shop. Especially since it was apparent that they knew what they were doing. It was then that Juka went a series of rambling questions to get some sort of conversation going while they walked.

""So, what brings you to the city anyway? Always lived here? Move from somewhere else? Do anything for a career? Met any strange mutants?"

The last question was what caused another eyebrow lift. Strange mutants? Weird way to start things off. He could tell by Juka's afterward reaction that he had found the question unorthodox as well. Mettaliar chuckled to himself, getting over the slight awkwardness and deciding to answer those questions in order.

"Well, let's see. I've lived in this city since around 16. Before then, I lived in New Jersey. Moved here on my own for personal reasons." He scrunched his neck inwards at the mention of the reason for moving here. Not something he liked reminding himself. "As far as a career goes, nohing right now. Haven't really focused on one since I got here. And it's funny that you mention mutants. I live in a place full of them. all of them are interesting, though I've met strange ones as well. What about you? Met any strange ones? Kinda hard not to in New York. Interesting people all around." Mettaliar chuckled and looked at Juka. I wonder how he'll respond.

It was always interesting to see how other people reacted to him. Juka knew that many found him difficult to deal with because he was so over the top and because he just didn't care. He was who he was and he said what he wanted to say regardless of any social conventions that might moderate the actions of others. The social game was among his favourites, after all and, if he wasn't quite its master he came very close. Watching Mark was no exception to that rule. He seemed to be a little unsure of Juka's manner of acting, but he was taking it much better than some. And what's more, he actually seemed to like Juka. How delightful.

"Well, let's see. I've lived in this city since around 16. Before then, I lived in New Jersey. Moved here on my own for personal reasons." He scrunched his neck inwards at the mention of the reason for moving here. Not something he liked reminding himself. "As far as a career goes, nohing right now. Haven't really focused on one since I got here. And it's funny that you mention mutants. I live in a place full of them. all of them are interesting, though I've met strange ones as well. What about you? Met any strange ones? Kinda hard not to in New York. Interesting people all around."

Juka saw the raised eyebrow at his unusual question and mentall prepared himself for any number of possible reactions, from curiosity to uncomfortableness to downright hatred. Well, at least the other man didn't appear inclined towards downright hatred which was a good sign. And then he answered and the place he described seemed suspiciously familiar to the Mansion, a place he had spent a great deal of time in himself. Curious.

"Oh, I have met many strange mutants." A happy nod of agreement at his own words. "Like this one that teleported through mirrors. And another who melted metal through touch alone. Oh, and there was this one who floated in a giant bubble." A mischevious grin followed that pronouncement. He was the one who floated in the giant bubble, of course. He loved showing off his power but it didn't seem to be quite the right time to do so. Perhaps soon though. If Mark continued to seem interesting enough.

As the two of them continued walking, Juka pointed out the store he had in mind in the distance. It would only take a few more minutes to get there and, after Mark was properly adorned, he decided that they should have icecream. A fact that he would share with his new friend later. And no, he most certainly was not going tobe permitted to argue the point.

Mettaliar had grown slightly more comfortable with the cross-dresser. Sure, his compliments were a bit on the "over" side, yet it wasn't something that he concerned himself with too much. Afterall, for someone who usually takes any compliment he is given, it would be quite hypocritical to feel weird over these kind of compliments. Plus, Juka was the one taking time out of his day to help Mettaliar pick out clothes. He hadn't met a cross-dresser before, so this was a new experience for him... of sorts. He still seemed to be the average person, just very open. Nothing too new.

It was then that Juka went on to talk about the mutants he had met here. At least he doesn't seem anti-mutant. Good start. Having Juka talk about the mutants he had encountered brought back his own memories of mutants. A loooooong list of them to be sure. Iris... Mike... Niki... Kaz... Meld... Sam... jeez. The faces and powers flashed through his mind in a row, almost as if in a montage of sorts. A history of meeting people, some great, some... Haywire. He was slowly beginning to realize just how long he had been around this city. Has time really passed by this much?

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the pointing finger of Juka to a store off to the side, presumably the secondhand store they were walking to. Another five minutes and they would arrive. Noticing it was just enough of a distance to get his own stories in, he cleared his throat to begin to speak.

"Wow... none of those ring a bell. Surprising, too. Let's see... what mutants have I met in my time here? Well... where do I start?" He chuckled; it was true, though. He was having trouble beginning. "Well, recently I've met a girl surrounded by a pink bubble thing, a girl partially made of metal, a man who has control of ice. In the past, I've met people immune to physical damage, people with multiple mutation based on personalities... wow. The list goes on and on and on. A trip down memory lane I've been desiring to go down for a while. Thanks for the oppertunity, Juka."

He finished the statement with a friendly smile before arriving to the door of the shop. It seemed like a nice place. He stood by the door and waved his hand to the door in a jokingly-welcoming manner. "Care to lead the way?"

"Well, recently I've met a girl surrounded by a pink bubble thing, a girl partially made of metal, a man who has control of ice. In the past, I've met people immune to physical damage, people with multiple mutation based on personalities... wow. The list goes on and on and on. A trip down memory lane I've been desiring to go down for a while. Thanks for the oppertunity, Juka."

Juka froze. He just froze, all movement left him and all colour left his face. Aura. The girl in the pink bubble was Aura and he had a most unpleasant history with her. A history that included her trying to murder who knew how many humans and tried to murder him as well. He had almost died that day and had vowed that, one way or another, Aura would suffer for her numerous crimes, at his hand if need be. It had also been the moment of epiphany for him, the moment he vowed to become a proper hero and actually help people with his powers.

"If you are friends with the girl in the pink aura then I can no longer associate with you. I'll allow you the chance to flee in peace, but be assured that, if you and she are friends, you will come to regret that friendship." His voice was deadly serious, though he wasn't used to making threats of any sort. In his heart, Juka was a pacafist but he wasn't so niave as to think that pacavism was always the answer. Not any more at any rate.

"If you aren't friends with the girl then I'm ok with you and we can continue as if her name was never brought up." Actually her name hadn't been brought up but that wasn't the point. It would be a shame if Mark was associated with Aura, a real shame because Juka was actually coming to like the guy. But there were certain things that he simply couldn't accept and anyone who would willingly associate with such a cold hearted murderer was one of those things. And if it came to it, if it came to a fight between himself and Mark, Juka was prepared to do what was necessary to win.

Mettaliar's face dropped when Juka's reactions went from bubbly and happy to preparing to fight. He stood straight up and raised his eyebrow from under his hair again, this time curious as to what happened. Suddenly, his descriptions of Aura, the savage girl whom Mettaliar fought at one point, became apparent. Mettaliar realized that he had sent the wrong message and quickly put his hands up as a sign of mistake and waved them around, giving a smile in hopes of calming the cross-dresser.

"Oh, no no no no. M-my mistake. I don't associate with Aura. The only time I've ever been in contact was the one time we fought in a warehouse. I swear! I didn't mean to give the impression that I actually LIKE the girl or anything." Mettaliar put one hand behind his head and scratched his head, his face growing red from embarrassment. Jeez. To think one person could take such an upbeat person into intense-anger mode REALLY means humans may not be the only people she's willing to end. I knew she was a mutant extremist... but... dammit. Can people really go that far?

"And even if I were to be friends with her, it certainly wouldn't change my perception of you. I'm open-minded and usually don't judge on associations. To say I haven't had a friendly conversation with someone who's views aren't too far off from Aura wouldn't be true." Mettaliar cleared his throat while a name came to mind. Meld. She's Aura on meds. "But trust me, from the one time I've seen Aura, it wasn't the best first impression. So bad of one that I actually chased her down and fought her. I'm sorry if I gave off the impression that I were friends with her."

Mettaliar gave a slight smile, hoping to receive a similar action from Juka. His mind started to race, though, as his curiosity began to take over. "If I may ask, though... what happened that caused you to completely when I mentioned her. Are you some human with an anti-mutant past, or...." He stopped; he realized he was asking too much and quickly hushed up. Not to leave him hanging, Mettaliar blushed of embarrassment slightly and added, "You don't have to answer that."

As Juka listened to Mark back pedal and explain himself he began to realize that he had really overreacted and subsequently began to calm down. As evil and horrible as Aura was, who was he to make judgements about others who chose to associate with her? The crimes of one person did not rub off and become to crimes of another. It was difficult for him, however, to create the necessary distance between himself and Aura to look at these sorts of things objectively and after what she had done to him, could anyone really blame him? Next time, he vowed, he would handle things better.

"I'm sorry I threatened you," Juka apologized, bowing. "Its just that...Aura is not a good person. She tried to kill me for the crime of trying to defend someone else she was trying to kill, an innocent. I can't accept that someone could be willing to kill another so casually and I don't appreciate others trying to kill me." It had led to a very dark time in his life, though he suppesed in the end it had ended posatively. After all, without Aura's attempt on his life he never would have had his epiphany and he never would have gained any sort of aspirations to join the X Men.

"You must be very brave if you tried to fight Aura," Juka stated with a shudder. He remembered her pink blades and her whirring pink drill. It was not a pleasant memory, not at all. His own fight with Aura had had nothing to do with bravery and everything to do with acting before he had bothered to think. Had he thought he probably would have run away as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Things probably would have turned out better that way. Such was life though and there was no going back.

"And I'm certainly not a human with an anti-mutant past." That deserved a grin of amusement. Oh, what a thought. Juka was feeling back to his own self again, having worked through the misunderstanding. "Actually, I'm a mutant." It was a risk to say as much but a small risk. He got the impression that either Mark was a mutant himself or, at the very least, a human with posative views towards mutants. Either way, a chance to show off his powers (or to show off anything really) was too good to pass up.

Mettaliar's nerves relaxed when he realized Juka had calmed down. He sighed to himself and gave a slight smile to lighten the mood a little more. It seemed as if Juka was really sorry for changing feelings so suddenly; yet, knowing how Aura worked, he couldn't really blame the guy. The images of what she did to that man in broad daylight still was a picture in his mind quite vivid. Just thinking of what more she could do... Damn. When Juka continued with his story of his encounter, it brought back memories of Mettaliar's encounter with her. Quite a quick battle, yet his only real "victory." It was close, closer than what the review of it may seem.

Juka then went on to praise his bravery for fighting Aura. Mettaliar smirked and shook his head. "It wasn'tt bravery that led me to our encounter, just pure rage. After witnessing what she did to the human her mission told her to eliminate, I couldn't really allow her to get away with it. I chased her down, fought her, and she surrendered. Seems as if she didn't learn her lesson. I fear my next encounter with her may not be ended so easily." He sighed and fixed his hair slightly out of impulse. He really didn't want to admit it, but he slightly wished he had chased Aura down more that day. His heart would never let him destroy her, but it's obvious he didn't do his job that day.

Noticing Juka had mentioned him being a mutant, Mettaliar chuckled and nodded his head. Well, at least it's something new to talk about. He nodded his head and smiled. "As I am as well. Glad to see that we have that similarity. So, if I may ask, what is your power?" Mettaliar leaned against the wall of the building and crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. I'm curious. If this guy did take on Aura, then I wonder what power he used to do it.

Juka was glad that he hadn't completely scared Mark away due to his reaction at the mention of Aura. Not that he would have blamed the other man if he had, but still. He liked Mark and wanted to help him find his perfect outfit (a quest he intended to continue with shortly) and making him think that he was a complete crazoid wasn't the best way to go about doing that.

"As I am as well. Glad to see that we have that similarity. So, if I may ask, what is your power?"

"Oh, well its much better displayed than described. Unfortunately I figure you might not want me to demonstrate right here in the middle of the street." Juka laughed, a little disappointed that he couldnt' do such a demonstration right away. After all, he was nothing if not a showman. "I'm a bubbler. I float around in a giant telekinetic bubble." He grinned hoping against hope that Mark would stick around long enough to demand a demonstration.

"So, what would your power be?" Juka was almost as excited to learn about the power of a fellow mutant as he was about the prospect of demonstrating his own power. Mutant powers were simply so varied and amazing, what wasn't to appreciate? He began walking towards the shop again, eager to both assist with the minor fashion crisis as well as to get it over with and have a mutual demonstration of powers in a slightly less public space. Hopefully. If only Mark was willing to indulge him his curiosity.