It was a beautiful day outside and Ted decided that a day like this should be taken in and used to its fullest. The sun was shining and a wind blew that kept the temperature just above the need-for-a-jacket range and just below the to-hot-to-be-outside range. So roughly in the 70’s. The mansion grounds were greener than he’d ever seen before, and softer than he’d ever felt. It was a have fun in the sun sort of day and Teddy was sure get it while the getting was good. There was a tree off in the distance and it was casting just enough shade for the young boy to get under and relax. One thing that surprised Teddy a lot was that there weren’t that many kids outside on this nice day.

He listened to the birds that were flying overhead and sitting in the trees all around him singing their songs. The wind blew through his blond hair and across his face. Teddy leaned his head back against the tree trunk and laid his feet out in front of him. [i[If there were some kids out here we could play a game or something.[/i] Ted thought as he slowed his breathing down and started to relax in against a very comfortable tree. Maybe some fun would come of today. Ted could only hope.

Henrietta was wandering outside in the beautiful weather. It seemed like all of her friends were busy doing something, which meant the brunette would have to entertain herself. Of course, sometimes this was easier said than done. Her day had started out in her bedroom, randomly listening to CDs and trying to read. This attempt failed, however, when she had looked out the window and noticed the sun shining brightly. This lead to getting dressed and putting her hair into a ponytail, which lead to going outside. Even though she had had the urge to go outdoors, she was no longer sure of what she should do. After some failed attempts at tree climbing, the girl had moved on but had battle scars from where the trees had bested her.

The girl went around one side of the house and came across a large tree. She narrowed her eyes at it. Oh no. I am not going to fall of another one. As she walked towards the other side, she tripped on something. Her knees hit the ground and she groaned. Turning to see what had caused the fall, she saw a boy. Henri turned over and plopped down onto her rear, still looking at him. Her mouth came open as if to say something, but then she closed it again, trying to collect her thoughts. "Uh, I'm really sorry. I didn't know there was someone else on the other side." She paused and blinked. "Uh, I'm Henrietta. Nice to meet you?"

The mood was peaceful and quiet. It also felt very secluded in the sounds the birds made. Ted was actually drifting off to sleep and didn’t even hear anyone walking towards him or the tree he'd found. The bird’s songs filled his ears and the grass was busy doing whatever it was that grass did best. What was it that grass did so well? Grow? Hide bugs? We’ll go with grow… it’s a little less disgusting that way. And the tree was being a perfect back support to lean on and relax. The one thing Teddy didn’t realize was that he was apparently good at tripping people.

His eyes’ snapped open in a second and he looked around for whoever it was that he’d tripped. Since there was like no one outside it was obvious to see who he’d tripped, or who had tripped over him depending on how you looked at it, and as it turned out it was a girl. A cute girl, as Ted couldn’t help but notice. “Hi, Henrietta, I’m Ted. Nice to meet you too.” Teddy pulled his legs in closer to him and rubbed them for a second to try and relive the sharp pain that pushed through his shins that seemed to come about whenever one got hit there. Once that feeling went away Ted smiled at her. “So I’m guessing you were enjoying the day until you fell on your face. Is that about right?” Teddy asked smiling at her. He wasn’t mad that he’d been tripped on, but it was definitely a way of meeting people that he’d never thought of. “I’m sorry I didn’t think there was anyone out here so I wasn’t expecting someone to trip over me.” The young mutant wasn’t sure if he should be apologizing or not but it certainly couldn’t hurt any more than someone tripping over you.

The boy smiled at Henrietta and introduced himseld as Ted. He was rubbing his legs as if he was in pain. She changed her position to a kneeling one and glanced at his legs. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" He then apologized for tripping her and the brunette shook her head. "Don't worry about it, it's not your fault I don't know how to pay attention." It seemed like there was an awful lot of apologizing going on and the girl tried to change the subject. "It's great weather, huh? It's a perfect day for shorts." She looked up at the sky and noticed there were barely any clouds.

"So Ted, how long have you been staying here at the Mansion? I've been here since November." The brunette looked at Ted a little longer this time. He didn't look too far in age from her, but a little bit younger. She could tell this by his face and voice. He still had a more childish face and his voice sounded a tad young. Henri did notice that he was already quite cute and that he'd probably be very handsome by the time he was done growing. The girl smiled. "I'm 16. How old are you? I'm guessing 13 or 14. Am I close?"

“No you didn’t hurt me. It just stung a little. I’ll get over it.” Ted said to her. He wasn’t sure if it was his fault or not but it was still a good thing to apologize. Teddy smiled at her and nodded. It certainly was a nice day out. “I’ve been here since like August.” The funny thing was that although he’d been here since about the start of the school year he still didn’t seem to know many more than a dozen people. Or at least that’s what it seemed like. He could chalk this up to meeting a new person, although getting tripped over wasn’t the exact way that he’d have liked to meet someone.

Henrietta was firing off questions at the boy so fast he practically didn’t have any time to answer them until she was done asking about them. “Ya that’s pretty close. I’m actually 14 years old. But I’m almost 15.” He said trying to not sound like he was still going through those odd years when his voice was changing. Granted that wasn’t exactly possible to control and he couldn’t stop his voice from cracking. Maybe it was just the fact that she was just about two years older than him and he wanted to make it seem like she wasn't talking to a little kid. Ted stopped rubbing his leg and turned to face the girl. “Do you usually meet people by being clumsy or is this kind of a first for you?” He wasn’t really used to meeting people like this and he just wondered if it was something that she was used to doing.

Henrietta guessed right. One point for the brunette with wiggily hair! He said he wasn't hurt and that was nice to learn. Ted told her that he was going to be 15 soon. She smiled and nodded. "That's cool. I'll be 17 pretty soon. Two years isn't that big of a difference in age when it comes to making friends. I've gotten some adult friends in their 20s and that's quite a bit older than me." Henri then added, "My best friend's 18, so she's almost 2 years older than me. Well, actually more like a year and a half, but still. I bet you know her since you've been here a while. Her name's Twyla. Besides Calley, she's the first person I talked to when I arrived at the Mansion in Novemvber."

She laughed and blushed when Ted asked if that's how she normally met people. "Uh, no. This hasn't happened to me before. I did meet a couple people by joking that I had an imaginary friend, so I guess this isn't as bad." That had been how she had met Juka and Noel. It was probably one of her oddest encounters besides getting photos randomly taken of her by Van. "There's tons of ways to get to know people. I suppose some are more frequent than others." Henrietta smiled jokingly and then stood up. She brushed herself off and then offered her hand. "Do you need to get up or do you think you'll hang out and wait for someone else to trip over you?" She was kidding and it was pretty obvious by the tone she used.

Ted nodded in agreement. It wasn't that big of a difference in friends. "Ya I know Twyla. I met her in the library. She helped me find some books that have helped a little with my powers." Ted volunteered. The name Calley sounded familiar. Why was that? Oh that's right he'd met Calley in one of his homeroom classes. "No there's bound to be worse ways to meet someone than this." Teddy agreed with her. Although it was an awkward way to meet someone it wasn't particularly his preferred way of meeting someone.

Teddy laughed along with her. He should try and pull that move sometime. Maybe it would work for him like it did for her. Although it was a lot more likely for girls to have an imaginary friend than for a boy. "Well as tempting as that offer is, I usually limit my goal to trip only one person a day. And thankfully you've helped me meet my goal in just a very short amount of time." Ted said taking her hand and getting up.

He said he knew Twyla and she smiled.The library. That sounds about right. Speaking of his power, she was beginning to wonder what it was. She wasn't sure if it was okay to just come out and ask though. Some people were touchy about that and he was one of the younger mutants she had met, along with Emerald's sister Ruby. Henrietta bit her lip in thought. Maybe I should just wait to see if he wants to talk about. Hmm.. Shaking her head, she decided to just spit it out. "So, Ted, do you mind if I ask what your power is? I love learning about all the different kinds of mutations. It seems like the possibilities are endless, doesn't it?" The brunette grinned as her hair waved at him.

After she had helped him up, Henri laughed at what he had said as a response to her earlier question. She was glad he had a good sense of humor, but Henrietta had never met a teenager with a lack of one. Well, at least not yet. Either way she was glad that Ted had known she wasn't trying to be mean or anything. "I have no idea what to do with the rest of my day." She sighed and glanced around the yard. "I've already tried climbing trees, but they were kicking my butt." She grinned and pointed to some scrapes on her legs.

Teddy wasn't sure about the protocols for finding out about someone's powers either, but he figured that Henrietta at least knew what they were. She was older than him after all. However, he was fine with talking about his powers and maybe if he told her about his then she would tell him about hers. He remembered when Twyla told him about her powers she was a little hesitant. But maybe that was just because she didn't really know how to explain them like he could explain his. "No, I don't mind. I can turn into any stuffed animal I can touch." Teddy explained. He didn't really know if she was going to ask more about it and if she did then he wasn't sure if he could even explain it much better than that.

"Ya you're right. I haven't met too many people but everyone I've met seems to have completely different powers. No one seems to have any similarities." Teddy wasn't exactly sure if he should wave back to her hair or say something. The young boy blinked a couple of times before saying, "I think I you may have hit me harder than I thought. Did your hair just wave at me? Or am I imagining it?" Ted asked her. It would definitely be something new to him. Hair that could do whatever it wanted. Teddy glanced down at her legs and saw the scrapes there and smiled. "I've never had too much luck climbing trees either. 'Cause I'm usually to short to get up there." He said frowning a little. As a final thought he admitted, "I don't really have anything planned either. We could do nothing together I suppose." It certainly seemed like climbing trees was out for both of them. However, it was a beautiful day and there was plenty of things that they could find to do to busy themselves.

Ted confessed that he could turn into stuffed animals. Her mouth gaped and then she gave him a huge grin. "Oh my gosh! That is so cool. I would've died of excitement if I had that mutation." She almost added, "a few years ago" to it, but that would've been a lie. She still would be thrilled if she was able to do something like that. "I bet there's a lot of useful things to do with it too." She laughed and winked. "I bet you're great at spying, huh? You could just sit there very still and listen to everything someone said." Hernietta tapped her chin. "It would probably help if the person had a lot of stuffed toys though, wouldn't it?" The girl slapped her hand over her mouth after realizing how much she had just talked. She slowly uncovered her mouth and blushed. "Sorry."

After her hair had waved at him, Ted looked in shock. This made Henri giggle slightly. "No, you aren't seeing things. It's also able to pick things up to about 70lbs or so and is really hard to cut. I'm talking it would take diamond or something to hack it off." She enjoyed seeing such a reaction for once. There was always some suprise of course, but never had she gotten quite that same look before. It was nice to know that it wasn't common or anything similar to what he had seen before. He then informed her that he wasn't a great tree climber either and then said they should do something together. The brunette nodded and glanced around the yard. "Well, we could..." She took a moment to think. "Oh! We could play hide-and-go-seek or something." She realized it may have sounded a bit childish, but for some reason it sounded like so much fun to her.

“Ya I’ve been mistaken for a real one a few times. It actually got me into a bit of trouble once.” Ted said remembering his run in with Deathstar and Fade. “I did it once ‘cause a girl was really upset and she freaked out when I moved.” He smiled remembering the funny parts. Of course almost getting the stuffing ripped out of him wasn’t the most fun thing he’d ever done. Other than that one scary time Teddy always enjoyed using his mutation. When the girl covered her mouth he chuckled a little bit. “It’s ok… I get that reaction from a lot of people. Mostly there from girls, but I still find it funny.” Teddy admitted to her. The young boy seemed to even blush a little bit mainly because his powers seemed like such a thing a kid, or a girl, would want more than a boy growing up in such an odd world.

Teddy still wasn’t really sure if he should have waived back at her hair; although he decided against it when she continued to explain it. Ted looked around also. He didn’t know if she heard someone coming or what, but apparently she was just thinking for a second. Her suggestion did sound a bit childish; however, Teddy couldn’t have been more thrilled at the idea. He would love to play it because he was pretty sure that he would win. “Ya that sounds like a lot of fun.” Ted agreed with her. But who would start? Would he hide first or would she want to hide first. There was only one way to find out…and that was to ask. “So do you want to hide first or seek first?”

Ted told Henrietta that he had been mistaken for a real stuffed animal a few times. She almost laughed until he mentioned that he had gotten into trouble. The girl furrowed her brows slightly as she tried to think of how scary something like that could be. She shook her head and decided it didn't matter. "I'm sorry. I'm sure that it was a pretty terrifying situation, huh?" Henri did laugh when he said that he had gotten the same kind of reaction from her as he had others. She imagined that the reacting probably came from a good majority of females. It was a very adorable mutation, but she wouldn't say that to him. The brunette understood that he was a young teen, which meant he was starting to become a man and you don't crush a man's ego.

He agreed to play hide-and-go-seek. Henrietta flashed him a big, happy smile. She was glad that he hadn't thought it was stupid or anything, in fact, he seemed kind of excited. Excited was usually a good thing. He posed a good question though. Who would start? It didn't really matter to her, so she would let him decide what he wanted to do first. That was okay to do, right? She shrugged her shoulders and pointed at Ted. "You can choose which you want to be first, okay?"

“Ya it was. But the other time it was really funny.” Ted told her. He didn’t want Henrietta to think that she should be sad for him or something, but they really were amusing stories if they were told right. His power was more like a sharp throwing star… the first point was that it was probably the cutest mutation in the world…the second point was that he’s a guy with the cutest mutation in the world, therefore it leads to some embarrassment and hesitation to use it because of it’s ineffectiveness… the third point to it was that it was great for sneaking around and apparently meeting girls…and the fourth point was that he always had to shrink to transform.

Great she was throwing the decision back on him. So not fair. Teddy thought for a second before he answered her. Another question also popped into his head that would help him out a bit but put her at a significant disadvantage. “I’ll find you first.” Ted finally said smiling. This was going to be a fun game. And besides, when was it not a good thing for a guy to catch a girl. “So go look for a spot and I’ll start counting.” Teddy instructed her. He was fairly sure that she knew how the game went, but it was just a way to start the game. With that the young teen turned his back to Henri and started counting. “One…Two…three…”

Ted assured her it was okay and the brunette nodded. It then seemed that he had decided he wanted to look for her first. He began counting before she had time to think of a good spot. Uh, I could try getting in a tree, even if they do occasionally attack me. Henrietta took off sprinting, trying to find someplace suitable. She jogged past a group of bushes and then did a double taking. Instead of just turning around, the girl walked backwards to check it out. After inspecting it for a moment, she hopped in.

She squatted down low and picked a spot that she could see out from. Henri smiled smugly and then sat down. She wasn't sure how long it would take him to find her, so she might as well get comfortable. The brunette doubted that he would take too long though. He seemed smart enough to suspect a bush pretty quickly. His numbers were getting lower and the girl didn't have enough time to go looking for a new spot. She would just have to sit and wait.

Teddy continued counting as Henrietta ran to hide. They didn’t specify a time that he was going to give her to hide but after he finished counting to 30 he figured that she had better be ready. Teddy could only guess on which way she ran because it didn’t sound like she went in front of him. Immediately upon finishing his counting Teddy turned around and shouted “Ready or not hear I come!” The young mutant started to look around for where his new friend had disappeared too. There didn’t seem like that many places to hide and so it seemed practical for him to check everywhere. Including the bushes.

He thought that she would be smart enough to know not to hide in the bushes; however, this game was about finding the other person so it seemed like the smart thing to check every possible location. Since neither of them had any great history with trees it didn’t seem like trees would be a safe alternative to hide in. At first Teddy decided to pass up the bush thinking that it was too simple a place to hide. Although, contrary to popular belief it was simpler to look in all of the easy places before he went to look at all of the more unlikely places. Ted squatted down to look around the bush and see if just maybe Henrietta was hiding in there. It was definitely a possibility that she was there but it was kind of hard to see.