Susan got off the bus and walked towards the building of the Iris Clinic. She had never been there before, but she got neat, clear and specific directions back in the Mansion. Following the instructions was really not a big deal, not even in New York City. Besides, clinics tended to have a dictinct quality about them. Smell, color, sound - she could spot one from far away just as well as restaurants.
It was the Doctor who referred her to the clinic. Not like there was anything wrong with her health; she was just looking for some advice on gaining better control over her powers, and since the institution once again failed to provide her with usable information, Doc sent her to a certain mutant who possessed abilities similar to hers. After hearing more about what this person was capable of, the young witch decided to give it a try.
So, here she was.
There was a young man sitting on the front steps of the Clinic. Susan walked up to him, because just walking past him didn't seem socially acceptable. She was wearing her usual school uniform (she always did when she was on official business, even though she had left that school a while ago), and her hair was pulled into pigtails since it was still too short for anything more fancy.
"Good morning" she said to the young man "I am looking for a person called Garrett Wills."

It was a lovely spring day. Garrett had taken the day off. It wasn't really necessary for him to be at the Mansion all the time. It was mostly his own doing to distract himself from his life and its current state of flux. He had walked around the office for a while after sleeping in his own bed. That alone seemed to do him plenty of good. the Mansion carried too many memories. The Clinic was new and full of potential, just like he was. For an open business and a residence for at least six people, it was often very quiet. it was so quiet that he wondered if he could even hear the wind blow. This took him outside to hear it.

The sun shone on his face as it peeked from behind the passing clouds. The sky was so blue. Had it been this blue before? It could have been green and he wouldn't have known it, his face stuck in paperwork and books inside. He closed his eyes, the sun's light making his eyelids pink and glowing. His ears tuned in to the sounds of people on the street, walking by, talking, walking dogs, a car passing with hip hop blaring. The city was alive and was letting him know that he was too. Smell? Not so wonderful, considering the gout of exhaust coming from the bus as it left its stop, the air brakes hissing as they were released.

his eyes opened, the sun even brighter with its absence. before him stood a young lady, dressed in a school uniform, her hair in pigtails. really? he closed his eyes and opened them again. Yes, she was still there."Good morning.I am looking for a person called Garrett Wills." He supposed that is why they called it Providence. Standing, he looked at her as she looked at him. Smiling, he greeted her in kind. " Well, you have found him. Or me rather. What can I do for you?"

Susan tilted her head, looking at the young man called Garrett Wills. She didn't need to shift her vision to sense the mutant gene from this close; he had the same distinct tinge to his voice she had learned to recognize. He was a mutant. More importantly, he was the mutant she had been looking for. The information was accurate. What a surprise.
Susan extended a hand.
"Susan Hyde. Nice to meet you. I am a student at Xavier's Sister School and I have been sent here because, according to them, our abilities are similar and you might be able to help me with learning to control mine."
That, right there, was a nicely constructed and eloquently delivered introduction. Nice, clear and simple. Susan had a great dealof work invested in it. When it comes to social skills, one can never practice enough.

Garrett looked at the hand offered first.Most people had a problem with voluntarily touching him if they had been briefed on his abilities. Susan was here, on purpose, to learn? From him? It seemed very surreal. Nonetheless, he grasped her hand with his own, neural fibers dancing up her arm as his vision took hold. He was still looking at her hand. he looked up at her, smiling. " Nice to meet you , Susan. I don't get many people seeking me out. Not unless they want to kill me." He pulled his hand free, reluctantly. The map had made it to her shoulder, just beginning to branch out to her torso. She had soft hands.

He turned and took a few steps up on to the porch of the Clinic, opening the door for her. "I used to be a student there too. But I guess you know that. " Did she really say their mutations were similar? Could this day get any better? Any sort of good news or a reason to smile was welcomed and seen as a blessing lately. " Come on in. We'll get better acquainted. I can't wait to hear about how similar we are."

"Nice to meet you , Susan. I don't get many people seeking me out. Not unless they want to kill me."
The witch tilted her head; she felt a warm, humming sensation in her hand and arm, which only proved his powers were touch-based.
"You work in a hospital." she pointed out. If people wanted him dead... well, it was a weird place to be.
As the door was opened for her, Susan walked in, nodding a thank you to Garrett, and looking around curiously. Her senses swam with the smells and colors. In places like this, all of those felt stronger. Susan's eyes turned black for a brief moment before she realized it was not a good thing to do in public.
"I am not entirely sure how similar we are" she told him "But out of the people the Doctor could think of, you possess the abilities closest to mine, at least in theory. And since I just discovered my mutation four months ago, your control is probably much better than mine too."

"You work in a hospital."

Garrett didn't think of the Clinic as a hospital, though he did look forward to working in a real hospital one day. Mostly he only got people looking for a bathroom or vagrants. The word wasn't really out yet. That or humans feared the idea of mutant healers. He watched her enter through the door and then followed her after, walking toward the plush chairs in the waiting room. He wanted to keep things informal.

He took a seat, skipping the normal ettiquette to let her know to sit there with him. "I am not entirely sure how similar we are. But out of the people the Doctor could think of, you possess the abilities closest to mine, at least in theory. And since I just discovered my mutation four months ago, your control is probably much better than mine too." He thought about hwat she had said for a moment before replying. " Well, my gift is that of neural manipulation. I can manipulate my own nervous system as well as others. I'm not sure what you do though, maybe you could tell me and we can compare notes. See what we come up with?" He was mostly happy for the company. He was also glad to have been referred to. It made him feel important. Maybe the idea of being invisible was just in his mind, like everything else. " Would you like something to drink? I can lock the Clinic up for privacy if you like. Not busy here too often."

Lock up the Clinic? Just like that? Susan arched an eyebrow. It was not an ordinary place, that much she suspected, but still. She shrugged instead of answering, he could do whatever he found appropriate.
"Yes, something to drink would be good." she added as an afterthought.
Manipulating others' nervous system? Susan'd mind jumped back to science classes and the corner in her mind where she kept her knowledge of anatomy, biology and similar things that became much more interesting since she found out about her mutation.
Nervous system. That included...
"My ability is synestesia" she answered "I can combine my senses with one another, transform one kind of sensory input into another type of information." pause "... I can smell colors, see sounds, and so on."
Just because someone work at a clinic it doesn't mean they can follow complicated explanations. Duh.
"Also, I have the ability to sense the X-gene with all the combinations."

Something to drink. He had no idea what she liked, so he chose to pour a glass of water, adding ice. Returning, he held the glass, cool in his hand. She spoke immediately.Right to business. Garrett could respect that. "My ability is synestesia. I can combine my senses with one another, transform one kind of sensory input into another type of information.... I can smell colors, see sounds, and so on. Garrett looked down at the glass. it was tap water. He suspected she could taste the impurities in it. He turned to go fetch her some spring water from the water cooler instead.

"Also, I have the ability to sense the X-gene with all the combinations" Garrett stopped short. He drank the ice water himself. Someone who could detect the X-gene. Really.. He placed the half filled glass down as he filled a paper cup with the water, its bubbles answering. Returning with the new drink, he handed it to her, a small smile accompanying it. Taking a seat, he answered. " That sounds like it could be very disorienting. I have developed an aspect of my own mutation which is related, in a way. I can amplify one sense, but the others pay the price, shutting down as the neural input is redirected. I suspect there is quite a bit we could do together."

He found himself looking her over, his eyes devouring her once more. Now it wasn't over her school uniform and her pigtails.Now it had become something of depth. " Tell me how you first dealt with your mutation and what you can achieve now. I know what you said, but I mean more what you have learned to do with it. Are you practicing with it at the Mansion?" He certainly hoped so. if not, he would be happy to help her however he could.

Susan listened intently to Garrett's explanation, her eyes following the route of the drinks back and forth until he finally handed one to her. She smiled.
"It works the same way for me. If I combine two senses, one of them grows stronger, but the other one shuts down. For example."
Science loves examples.
"If I decide to sense sounds with my eyes" she said, her eyes turning black "I can see sounds as visual input now, but I can't hear."
It was funny, watching her own burgundy-and-gray voice float around in the room. She knew what she said, but the words looked very different to her eyes. She switched back to normal.
"Tell me how you first dealt with your mutation and what you can achieve now. I know what you said, but I mean more what you have learned to do with it. Are you practicing with it at the Mansion?"
"I practice" Susan nodded, avoiding the answer "I am quite adept in switching my senses to my eyes. The other ones, however, most of the time just switch on their own. It needs constant concentration to maintain some kind of order." she sighed "My perception of the world is... quite chaotic." she added with a smirk

So it seemed the two actually did have something in common. Garrett listened closely to her explanation, hoping to pick up on clues as to how the process worked prior to just looking inside her body and finding out for himself. he watched her eyes darken. No, actually it appeared that they turned completely black. Colored contacts might be a good suggestion, if she wished to hide her ability. Not from humans, of course, but other mutants. Garrett was fortunate that his abilities were completely invisible to the naked eye.

So, she was seeing sounds, as she put it. What was that like? He wondered if ti would be possible at all to piggyback her nervous system and experience the process himself. It became clearer and clearer that he was indeed the right person to be sent to. He still felt honored at the referral, nonetheless. " So you see the actual words? What do they look like? It sounds very interesting. Do tell me more." He took a sip of his coffee, wondering what the sipping sound looked like. It seemed like a wondrous way of experiencing the world.

"I practice.I am quite adept in switching my senses to my eyes. The other ones, however, most of the time just switch on their own. It needs constant concentration to maintain some kind of order. My perception of the world is... quite chaotic." Garrett nodded, trying to put together some kind of diagnosis in his mind. " It's perfectly natural to gravitate toward a specific function of one's mutation. It's usually the first one that we experience. For instance, at first, I was only adept in causing pain to others. I was quite good at it. i still am, but I have now learned other ways to manipulate both my own and others' nervous systems. It just takes time and plenty of practice.' He chuckled, adding " At least yours doesn't require living targets for practice, right?"

"So you see the actual words? What do they look like? It sounds very interesting. Do tell me more."
"No I don't. I see... well, one way to expain it would be that I see sound waves. It makes more sense that way than just saying that I hear with my eyes... I guess."
The witch listened with immense curiosity as Garrett talked about his abilities. Being adept in causing pain to others? She could see how that would come in handy once in a while. For a moment she remembered her chicen-brained roommates dragging her down the street, and her lips curled up into a wicked smile.
"At least yours doesn't require living targets for practice, right?"
"It doesn't. Sometimes I wish it would." she added, still smiling "But practicing on my own gets old, and repeating the same experiment over and over is not the best scientific method if one wants to improve the results." she nodded "That is why I came to you. That, and the fact that I find neural mutations quite fascinating. For obvious reasons."

Seeing sound waves sounded very interesting. But then again, if another sense paid the price, he could easily see how it could become a chaotic mess. He was also happy to hear that she was as interested in his own mutation as much as he was interested in hers. Judging from her pausing and apparent reminiscing, he wondered about the usual social aspects that followed mutants wherever they went. " I'm sure it wasn't easy growing up. It never is for any of us. If you ever want to talk about that aspect of it, I'm also happy to help. I assume we will see more of each other as time passes, so I want you to know my door is always open to you, if you need a friend."

Now, how to approach her mutation with his own. His head tilted as he seemed to study her like a scientist might look at a subject before dissecting it. " Well, the best way to do this would be for you to let me allow to link our nervous systems. Then I can attempt to look at things from the inside out. Does that sound alright?"

"I assume we will see more of each other as time passes, so I want you to know my door is always open to you, if you need a friend."
This was one of those moments when the young witch was abanoned by her social skills. People said that kind of things all the time, and she struggeld to decipher if she was supposed to say yes, no, maybe, or nothing at all.
"Umm. Sure?"
Witches don't do heart-to-heart.
His other offer made much more sense.
"Well, the best way to do this would be for you to let me allow to link our nervous systems. Then I can attempt to look at things from the inside out. Does that sound alright?"
"Yes it does" Susan agreed with a nod "I have been told it can be a confusing experience. But since you have control over your nervous system, I don't see any harm in it." Susan held out her hand, only a it hesitant about the physical contact "Your ability is touch-based, right?"

The afterschool special feelings were noticed, but they either went straight over Susan's head or she took them as a come on. Who could say? She hadn't backed off and was still willing to work with him, so Garrett just left it at that. She nodded in assent to his request for a more hands on approach."I have been told it can be a confusing experience. But since you have control over your nervous system, I don't see any harm in it." Her arm was outstretched to him and for a moment, he felt like a vampire, flesh being offered to the one in control.'Your ability is touch-based, right?" Garrett nodded as his hand met hers.

The neural mapping sprung to life as it once had, the process speeding along nicely. Garrett closed his eyes and focused, allowing the connection to remain constant. He had found if he didn't look at the process initially, he could literally look at it with new eyes. Anomalies which might have been lost in the sparkling process of synchronization were more obvious. what was mostly obvious when his eyes opened was the strange neural structure buried in Susan's brain. It was definitely different. perhaps this rush was what astronomers felt when they looked at a new heavenly body.

" I've never seen anything like this before. I wonder if you could slowly switch from sense to sense, telling me which is about to occur and then shifting it. I'd like to see the senses switch as they occur so I can decide what to do next." that sounded professional. Garrett wasn't sure if he could be coined a pro, but whatever kept her calm and continued the experiment.

This was the point when Susan decided she liked Garrett's approach. Very professional. She was not big on holding hands (or any physical contact with near-strangers, for that matter), but given the circumstances of a scientific experiment, she had no problems with it. And once his powers started working, he even came up with a method for observing her abilities at work.
She had done this before, with Slate. The telepath was able to see the world the way she saw it - she had no idea how it would look for Garrett though. She took deep breath.
"All right. As I told you, I am not in full control of every combination yet, so I will start with switching my senses to my eyes. This is also the only part when my mutation comes with physical change." she added, meaning the color change in her eyes.
Another deep breath.
"First: Sound." eyes went black, and the world was enveloped in a comfortable veil of soft sounds, colored blue and light green. The Clinic was a peaceful place, and the noise from the streets barely reached their ears; as the switch enhanced her senses, Susan was able to see fragments of different colors pushing their way through the deges of windows and doors. Nothing too harsh.
She made sure to give enough time to Garrett to sense whatever he was sensing, before she switched again.
"Touch." eyes went red, and the room changed colors; looking at her partner, she saw flowing body heat between soft pink and crimson; the walls remained cool and blue-green as they were before. Now that she turned her vision to him, she could see the glow of the X-gene merging with the heat picture. It had its own life.
"Smell." eyes turned blue, and there was that strange smell again, filling every corner of the room, enveloping the Clinic in its own, familiar colors and texture. This was an enhanced, artfully colored version of what humans kind of sense in hospitals and similar places.
Eyes shifting back to normal, Susan took another breath.
"Umm... I am not comfortable with tasting things around me, so." she concluded, her awkwardness quickly dissolving in curiosity "How does it look so far?"