Five days. That had been how long he'd been cooped up in the Mansion. He had arrived last Saturday, and had since been walking around, always being watched. The Staff knew very well they couldn't let him out of their sight for a second, and they also knew that he wasn't to go through those gates. His parents were just jerks like that, assuming he would get himself in some kind of trouble. Assuming he would want to run away... In a way, they were right. So maybe he'd learned over the time he'd been here at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters wasn't as bad as he'd made it out to be, but he was still Jesse Sawyer Shepherd and he still liked his freedom. He liked to roam the streets, to do what he wanted, to go where he felt like going.

That was why, at half past seven in the evening, the teenage Mutant decided once and for all that he would try and find a way to sneak out and have a little bit of fun out on the town. He would come back, definitely, but only once he'd gotten some fresh, New York air. The last time he'd done that had been with Meld, and he half-wanted to see her again. Maybe magically stumble upon her while wandering around... This was New York, and like he'd told her when they had parted ways, everybody seemed to bump into one another at one point here, even if they didn't intend on it. The larger part of him didn't care if he saw Meld or not though. He wasn't one that enjoyed people's presence, nor did he look forward to meeting potential friends.

No, this wasn't about Meld. She was an alright woman, and a mighty good combat partner, but this wasn't about her. He generally just wanted his freedom, to get away for a while, try new things. Get a fill of what the New York nightlife was all about. And so with one single thought in mind, Sawyer sprang to his feet, closing the Living Room's television as he did so. For a while he roamed the seemingly empty hallways of the Mansion. For a few days now many students had been leaving for the summer. He knew for a fact that, when he'd arrived here, many had already left. Any student would most likely believe at this point that he could do whatever he wanted... not Sawyer.

He knew somewhere there was somebody watching him. Whether that was from a hidden area of the Mansion, from security cameras, or from a Mutation that could allow them to do such thing, he knew he was being watched. When his parents had told the Staff to do so, they'd seemed dead serious. As if Sawyer would do something terrible if they were to let him out of their sight for just a second. Maybe the teen was mistaken. Maybe they weren't spying on him and hadn't done so since his parents had left the city, but he wasn't taking any chances. Not for a few months anyway... Not until the Staff was convinced he was an angel.

Smirking a little, he opened the main doors leading to the Grounds and then proceeded to walk around for a while, as if he was enjoying the early June air. Every step he took however, led him closer to the gates however. He seemed quite natural. He was almost sure, for a few minutes, that he would be able to pull this off. He even managed to speedily climb all the way to the top of a tree, a tree that was close to a brick wall that separated the Mansion from the outside world. Before he could jump down however, he heard a noise. Somebody nearby. Very near. The teen uttered a word that ought not to be repeated in front of children, looking around for the source.

Another night another trip floating above the Mansion roof. It wasn't yet late enough for Juka to begin his nightly rounds in the city and he just didn't much feel like being around people at just that moment. There was just something about tonight that he wasn't feeling entirely himself. Maybe it was the recent fact of his agelessness that was getting to him or maybe it was just sheer boredom being a little worse than usual, but whatever the specific reason he didn't much feel like talking to people.

For years when Juka had gotten into this sort of mood he had dealt with it by floating far above whatever city he lived in at the time and just allowed his thoughts to drift along with his bubble. It was peaceful so far above the rest of the world, as if he was alone and everyone else were just little toy models in a little toy city. Given the recent changes in his power that impression was multiplied ever further. Would it be better for him if he became the eternal watcher, perhaps, not getting close to anyone? Would that be the way to deal with his eternally young state? Hunter didn't seem to think so and Hunter was the only one he had ever met that was far older than he appeared, but he had no idea if the vampire was right or not. It seemed like a very personal thing, what worked for one might not work for another.

Juka wasn't certain how long he was in the sky for, time had taken on a bit of an unusual meaning for him lately, especially when he was inside his bubble, but for the most part the grounds remained quiet. Every so often he spotted someone coming or going but they remained oblivious to the colorful boy in his bubble. People rarely decided to look up unless there was some good reason to do so and Juka was silent, merely drifting on the gentle breeze. Eventually, however, he noticed someone he recognized from the recent cookie party and if Juka was any judge, the kid looked almost as melancholy as Juka himself was feeling right at the moment. He knew he didn't have to go down and announce himself; after all as far as he knew the kid couldn't fly, but he decided to anyway. All this brooding wasn't really good for him anyway.

"Hey Sawyer, what brings out here? Isn't it a little past your curfew?" Juka winked at the teen to let him know that he wasn't being serious.

Sawyer clenched his hands into fist, his teeth gritted together. He looked around for a few seconds longer before jumping down. Not on the other side of the wall though. He was back on the Mansion Grounds. His first attempt had been spoiled, but he would try again. One day... Most likely quite soon. Sighing, he shoved his anger aside. It wouldn't do much good to be angry, it wasn't as if he hated the Mansion anymore. Sure, he was extremely bored, but he could live without going out and about.

That was when he saw what had caught him in the act of sneaking out. A familiar face in a bubble. Bubble-Boy, Juka. They had met at the party a few days ago, and for the most part, Sawyer had nothing against the colorful man, nor did he have many good things to say either. They hadn't really gotten to know each other on a one-to-one basis. Right now though, the odds weren't exactly for Juka though.

Well, they could be. Depending on whether or not he let the younger Mutant run off for a few hours without selling him out to the Staff members of the Mansion.

"Curfew?" he chuckled. "The last I checked, I had no curfew. Unless you heard about the little arrangement set by my folks." He hoped that was what Juka meant, or else he would have to find a way to cover.

Maybe Juka, unlike most of the school thus far, hadn't heard about the Speedy boy's tendency to run off.

He could always be joking around. Maybe he didn't care altogether about the rules. Or maybe Sawyer was just totally overreacting and the Staff wasn't even looking after him like they were supposed to. He hoped they weren't, it would make his life a whole lot easier.

Juka could recall hearing a conversation the other night from a couple of the staff at the Mansion regarding watching Sawyer extra carefully. Apparently he had been known to run off back wherever he came from and his parents didn't exactly approve so they had given special instructions to keep a closer than usual eye on the teen. Luckily for him, however, Juka was young enough to remember what it had been like living under the roof of his parents and how many times he had escaped himself back then. Of course, it helped that he had a floating bubble to make things that much easier, but bubble or not escape seemed the natural course of things for the young.

"Don't worry kid," it amused Juka to call him such for some reason he couldn't quite justify to himself, "I'm not going to tell anyone that you're sneaking out. Do I really look like the kind to give what the authorities say a second thought?" Currently he was wearing a frilled pastel blue tress and a black ribbon in his hair. His parents, he could well recall, had hated the fact that he preferred dresses to proper pants and suites. It had, in fact, been the main reason why they had kicked him out of the house. That and the fact that he made a spectacle of himself on stage on a regular basis. As far as he was aware, they still had no idea that he was a mutant.

"I tell you what. Make it worth my time and find me something to take my mind off of my own problems and I might even assist in the sneaking out and in the getting back in at the end of the night." He would never buy drugs or help in the committing of any major crime, of course, but sneaking out was a minor misdemeanor at best so he felt no guilt at all in his offer.

Sawyer smirked in annoyance at Bubble-boy's words. Okay, the part where he didn't have to worry wasn't the problem, it was the 'kid' part that irked him a little. So maybe it was payback for having called him and the rest of the cookie party group 'kids', but it still annoyed him. How many years older than him was Juka anyway? Two, three, four years at the most? Oh well, it didn't matter. Leaning against the wall he'd been about to jump over a few minutes ago, the teen listened to what Juka had to say next.

"Yeah, I guess you do seem like an a'right guy. Still, you can never be too sure. I heard the Mansion was filled with goodie-two-shoes." He had met Henri, she was definitely quite a good girl. Then there was the hot Librarian Empath Kealey, who also seemed like quite the good girl. Everyone else he'd stumbled upon seemed like the nice, angelic type. Anyone could rat out on him. Who knows, maybe Juka here was waiting for him to run off and then he'd be going straight to one of the Staff members.

He then actually looked at what the slightly older Mutant was wearing. Like the last time he'd seen him, Juka was wearing some pretty rad ensemble. So maybe he didn't look very manly in his dress and bow, but Sawyer had to agree, he didn't look like the ratting out type either. Sawyer decided it would be best to cut the guy some slack. Just a little bit. The fact that he asked to come along surprised Sawyer however. Okay...? Was it safe to agree, or would Juka get him caught?

"A'right, you can come with. The last time I was out and about in the city at night, I fought six drunken Mutants... Alongside this pretty awesome chick too." As he listened to his own words once again in his head, he realized he sounded like an exaggerating child who simply wanted attention. True story though. "We could always just go out for a walk, see what we'll find. Could you fly us to the Statue of Liberty with that bubble of yours?"

He'd always wanted to see it with his own eyes, maybe he could actually go on it if Juka was up to letting him use his bubble.

Juka gave the mutant teen a bit of a strange look at the mention of fighting a gang of drunken mutants. Was he probe to attracting that kind of trouble? Maybe it would be best if he brought his anvils with him but a moment later he decided against it. They were, after all, back in his room and he didn't really feel like going back there and potentially having to answer questions. Especially if he was just about to break someone out of the Mansion who he was probably not supposed to be breaking out.

"Are you prone to attracting trouble?" Juka asked. After all, it was better to know these things ahead of time. Some might have even accused Juka of attracting trouble but it was more a case of the fact that he tended to pursue trouble rather than actively attract it. Maybe it was more difficult to attract trouble when you could just float away from any trouble that found you.

"Technically I'm not a student so maybe that's why I don't fall into the goody-two-shoes category," Juka supplied helpfully. He hadn't really thought of anyone at the Mansion in that way before, really but now that he did bother to think about it, he supposed he could see the kid's point. There were at least a few that had the whole, do the right thing vibe about them. Some might even put Juka in that category, after all he did try to help people and he did fashion himself a sort of super hero, but he also wasn't the type to pay much attention to rules that didn't concern him. Or at least, rules that in his mind didn't concern them, even if they were technically meant to apply to him.

"If its the statue of liberty you like, its the statue of liberty you shall get." Juka landed on the ground and debubbled, extending a hand to Sawyer. The kid might be faster, faster than Juka was even in his bubble, but he was certain the kid had never experienced anything quite like a bubble ride before. "Take my hand and I promise you the ride of your life." A promise he was quite confident that he could deliver.

Sawyer chuckled at Juka's question. "I'm afraid so. It's strange. I can run as fast as a car on the Interstate, yet I can never seem to run fast enough to avoid trouble." he said with a sly grin. "Hope you don't mind." he added, but honestly he didn't care. If Juka did mind, well then it was his loss if he didn't feel like coming anymore.

Sawyer would try and have some fun whether or not a colorful Mutant was by his side on the early twilight. It would be quite a shame that he wouldn't get to see the Statue of Liberty up close and personal... Then again, it wasn't like him not to find ways around things. Sawyer had the feeling he would also find a way of getting on the statue of liberty even without the help of a flying Mutant. And no, he wasn't just cocky, nor was he naive. He would do it.

Right. Not a student. "Yeah. I guess that's a way of looking at it. Although, some residents are pretty saint-like. It's creepy." he chuckled. Honestly, he hadn't met many personally yet, but he had seen some around the school. "Good thing you're not one of them though. Or else I'd be in trouble at this point." he added dryly. He had nothing against the nicer residents and students, mind you some weren't awful to be around, but they could get annoying when the time isn't right. Like now for example.

Alright, so he was up for going to the statue, that was quite awesome. As Juka held out his hand, Sawyer hesitated for a fraction of a second. He wasn't scared of heights, not at all, but he did hesitate nonetheless. Even he couldn't pinpoint the reasoning behind it. He did take the offered hand though. "We'll see if you can top my best ride. I warn you though. Running a hundred miles per hour is a hell of a ride." he said.

"Is it really any worse than the fact that I float around in a giant bubble and I still seem to be attracted to trouble?" Juka asked back, smirking. Once again he thought about picking up his anvils but, once again, decided that returning to his room just wasn't worth the effort. What could really happen during a trip to the statue of liberty, after all? Surely nothing too bad...Unless one counted hordes of anti-mutnat rioters, giant cthulu monsters or evil girls with pink auras and an attraction for killing. Besides that, nothing at all.

Juka tried to remember if he'd met anyone that seemed either saint-like or creepy lately. Saint-like pretty much failed, though maybe he had a different idea about what saints were like, and creepy could only conjure up the image of Aura who had tried to kill him a few months ago. Other than that, everyone had seemed posatively lovely. "You just need to give them a chance," was the only advice that he could really offer.

"Oh, I'm quite certain you've never had a ride like this," Juka answered, a knowing smile on his face. He accepted the teen's hand and took a step closer, bubbling the both of them. A moment later he began to rise into the air. He took Sawyer's comment as the challenge it was and as soon as the bubble was high enough to avoid being easily seen from below, sped off. While he knew he wasn't as quick as the kid, he could certianly do a lot more in the air, bobbing, rolling and spinning like the most wild rollar coaster in existance. He took a look at Sawyer's expression, making sure he wasn't going too overboard. After all, some people were known to be terrified of heights and others tended to get sick if he made the ride too crazy.

Sawyer shrugged. "You know, I bet us Mutants have some sort of gene that makes us trouble magnets. An added bonus that comes with the X-gene." he joked. Wasn't it ironic though? Every Mutant seemed to attract more trouble in a matter of months than a Human in their lifetime. Okay, so maybe Sawyer hadn't been in as much trouble as some Mutants he'd met in the last few days, but it was still pretty strange. Mutants and trouble magnets. Definitely a possibility.

"You just need to give them a chance,"

"Yeah. Trust me Bubble-boy, I'm trying. This kind of stuff just isn't my style though. Might take a bit of time." he said with a sigh, his blue eyes scanning the area, automatically checking for trouble, something that had been a habit of his for the past few years, especially while out and about during the night hours.

Sawyer nodded, smirking a little. "Yeah, the only thing I've done that's remotely close to flying is a plane ride." Well, unless you counted the time back in Seattle when he'd used his speed to jump fro a twenty-feet high building to another, with a ten feet gap in between. He could have easily fallen to his death, but apparently with a dozen feet of preparation while speeding at many miles per hour, you could jump pretty high and far.

The two young men were rather close together as the bubble formed around them. To be quite honest, the closeness didn't bother Sawyer at all. It wasn't as if anything was going on; apart from the two of them flying in a bubble toward the Statue of Liberty at eight o'clock at night.

The ride was like a roller coaster. Honestly, Sawyer was pretty amazed at what Juka could do. Here was another Mutant with a pretty interesting power. First Meld, then Jenny and Shin, his roommate and... Okay, he had to admit, Kealey's was awesome too, even if he hated having her see every single emotion he felt.... and now Juka? New York was the home of some pretty amazing Mutants. Compared to Seattle, anyway. In Seattle there wasn't many of them either, probably ten, twenty or so.

All and all, the Speedster was enjoying watching over New York, his expression remaining rather steady throughout every little trick Juka was able to pull. He didn't dare talk however, not sure whether it would affect Juka's concentration, resulting in their death, flattening on the cement streets... Yeah, he was going to remain quiet...

"Trouble does seem to follow the x gene around," Juka agreed, thinking back to some of his own experiences. The first thing that came to mind was the giant clay cthulu monster that he and many others had helped defeat at christmas. He'd also had a few run-ins with those with a less than pro-mutant outlook, those being some of his least favourite experiences. Some people, it seemed, would just never learn to accept what was different which really was quite a shame.

"A plane ride is nothing at all like a bubble ride." Juka's voice was just a little condescending. Maybe the kid didn't yet know the difference between the two, but he soon would.

The kid remained remarkably stoic during the whole trip, though Juka was pretty sure he detected a hint of a smile. He knew he was good, no doubt about it, and the kid new it too even if he was too stubborn to say anything. The thought that Sawyer was remaining quiet for fear of Juka losing concentration didn't even occur to him. He had been floating for years in his bubble and it took very little effort for him to maintain it and command it to do his bidding. Now his time manipulations, that was a different matter entirely. He still barely understood what he could even do with that let alone how it worked.

Once they arrived at their destination, in less time then it would take a car to arrive there between traffic and the less than direct roads, Juka made a slow and lazy spiral downwards. He began high above the statue of liberty, allowing for the best possible view, and slowly rotated around it until he eventually returned to the ground and unbubbled the two of them. "So, what did you think? How does it compare to running down the street at 100 miles per hour?"

Juka agreed with Sawyer on the whole X-Gene attracts trouble, which wasn't exactly surprising. From the six drunk Mutants to the clay monster Gawain had talked about on his first day at the Mansion, it was pretty obvious Sawyer was right. Then again, maybe it was just because Mutants tended to cause trouble, not attract it. Who better to stop those troublesome Mutants than more Mutants? Then there were the Anti-Mutants who simply didn't like the Freaks with special abilities. It just fell into an evident pattern, Mutants were meant to live a life of trouble, whether they caused it or not.

The ride from the Mansion to the Statue of Liberty didn't take very long. Well, maybe it was a longer wait than it would have taken Sawyer, but it was still faster than any other means of travel that was customary in New York City. Below the bubble, Sawyer could see the peak of the Statue. The arm extending upward, holding up a torch. Soon enough they would be low enough to actually touch it. They didn't though, somewhat disappointing the teen.

Once they reached the ground, Sawyer looked up, feeling somewhat small. "I don't know," he smirked, obviously teasing a little. "I guess it was definitely something not many people would get the chance to do in their lifetime..." Another smirk. "Nah, it was amazing, actually. I think I like my speedy means of travel better though." he paused, inspecting the surroundings for a few short seconds. "Do you think we can climb up that thing?" he asked, now speeding around its base a few times. It wouldn't be a hard thing to accomplish, what with Juka's bubble and Sawyer's agility.

In Juka's mind, the kid's insistance that he still liked his own means of travel better was just an attempt to assuage his sore ego because, really, how could it possibly compete with a floating bubble? Answer? It clearly couldn't. But he let the comment go because he knew how fragile mutant egos could be, especially young mutant egos. Secretly he knew bubbles were the best ever, even if he couldn't say as much out loud or in public.

"Climbing isn't really an effort for me," Juka answered with a laugh. "You know, the whole floating thing. But if you want to climb, be my guest." Physical exertion in general wasn't really his thing as it was almost entirely unneeded given his power. Physically he was rather slow and weak and the first to admit it, but his bubble could lift things many times heavier than even the strongest human being could. There was a physical size limitation, of course, but he'd never actually found what the weight limitation was, if there even was one. He knew he could lift anvils with ease and hell, his main bubble could probably even lift a car if it was a small one.

"So, where are you from anyway?" Juka asked, wanting to get to know the kid a bit more. Even if his first impressions hadn't exactly been positive, it seemed like he might have some potential now that he had him alone. "And what brought you to New York?" As long as there were no repeats of the whole cookie theft situation, he seemed to be all right in Juka's books.

Sawyer smirked. "Yep, I figured you'd be all good at climbing, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have much of a problem myself. I was asking, basically 'cause we do have chances of being seen. Probably not caught, but yeah. If you're a'right with that, let's do it." He couldn't care less for cops, really. He always managed to get away, with his speed and all.

For some reason nobody had ever gotten a close look at his face either, because no authority figure had ever knocked at his door before. Honestly, he was slightly surprised of that. Weren't there a lot of security measures taken these days? Security cameras, people with camera phones?

He wasn't complaining.

Where was he from? The question made him glance at Juka. He hadn't exactly expected anything too personal, it hadn't exactly occurred thus far and Sawyer had liked it that way. "Seattle. As for how I got here, my parents made me. I must admit I was pissed at them at the beginning, I still am in a way... but for different reasons. This place isn't as bad as I first made it out to be." he shrugged nonchalantly.

"How 'bout you? Where are you from and how'd you get to this place we now call home?"

Being caught by cops had never been much of a concern of Juka's. Of course, he had never done anything really bad except maybe tresspassing a few times or sneaking into clubs while underage, but still. What cop could possibly catch someone who floated around in a giant bubble? He suspected that Sawyer, with his super speed, probably had the same sort of attitudes as he did since no cop could possibly be able to run that fast and even in cars they were restricted by the rules of the road. "Oh, cops don't really concern me," Juka dismissed the worry with a flourish of his hand. In order to demonstrate his seriousness, he rebubbled, this time minus the speedster.

"Ooh, I lived in Seattle for years," Juka mentioned with enthusiasm. How ironic that they had both come from the same area. "I grew up there before we had to move to Tokyo. Its a good city, no doubt about it, but New York feels more like home now." New York not only had his new band but also had a number of people he had come to consider friends. Besides, it wasnt' like he couldn't visit Seattle again if he wanted to. It couldn't possibly take more than a day to float there, could it? "Hey, maybe we should visit the old haunts sometime. Its not like your parents need to know of you sneaking a way for a weekend." He winked at the kid.

"Parents are sadly like that," Juka commented, sympathetically. "My parents litereally kicked me out and disowned me when I started dressing like this." It was a fact that he had mostly come to terms with, but every so often he felt a pang of remorse at the entire situation. If only they could have been just a little more understanding.

Good. Cops weren't a fuss for Juka. Sawyer nodded, a smirk appearing on his teenage features, blue eyes glancing upward at the statue once again. This was going to be fun, quite possibly his best evening in New York since his night out with Meld. Who knows, maybe this would top the fight he'd had, managing without a problem to bring down a handful of sloppy drunken Mutants. .

So he too was from Seattle? It was the second Mutant thus far, not to mention they were both from the Mansion. "Wonder why we've never crossed paths. I've been everywhere in the city, literally." he mused, mostly to himself. With his ability, it took next to no time to go somewhere, which meant he could be anywhere, really. In a day's time he could probably run the whole of New York City.

Then again, Juka had moved to Tokyo before coming here to New York, and it seemed as if he'd been in New York for a while. The way he seemed to have a few friends here and there that knew him well. Koga Cafas, Verdy, they had all seemed to know him quite well. At least enough to joke around and eat cookies with him Sawyer had just happened to be there, he hadn't exactly done much in order to gain himself some friends. Not that he wanted any.

"Tokyo sounds pretty cool though. But yeah, New York is pretty great. It's beginning to grow on me." And he had only been here a handful of days. Not even an entire week.

Then Juka suggested they travel back there one of those days. "I don't know, I guess it could be fun. To be honest, I no longer consider that place home. There's nothing left for me there." His parents and Presley were still there, but they weren't exactly Sawyer's favorite people. Firstly, Presley had never hidden the fact that he disliked Mutants, and Sawyer had never really been close to the Intern. Not since the older Shepherd had graduated High School, anyway.

The Doctor-to-be was too busy for much socializing anyway. Now Billy was a different story. He and Sawyer were a lot closer as brothers, even if the man now lived with two adopted children and a husband down in Florida. Billy was much more accepting of who Sawyer was; a Mutant. He had been the only one to know for almost a year before his parents had figured it out.

The teenager shrugged. "That's kind of stupid. My parents took it pretty hard when my brother came out as gay many years back. They still have a hard time with it. They were both raised in a pretty old-fashioned family though, and learned not to really like change all that much. I like your clothes though, looks pretty epic." he smirked. He had a feeling his brother would like them too, although the guy wasn't the type to dress as such... ever. Nah, Billy was a forensic scientist, he couldn't come in wearing dresses and colorful ensembles.