>>"Say, what is your power anyway? Do you have super armor?"

"Sounds cool, but no. I can increase my density, makes me a lot tougher, a lot stronger."

The now unmasked ninja seemed enthusiastic to Andrew, but he was still not used to it. Up until a couple days ago he'd never met any mutants other than himself. Now he was going for pancakes with a pair who didn't need sleep.

>>"Looks like pancakes it is then. Lead the way."

"In that case, onwards to pancakes!"

Andrew turned on the spot and took off at a swift walk towards the IHOP, he would have considered if Juka and Kyle, who were obviously accustomed to floating, would be able to keep up, however he really wanted some pancakes.

Mutations could be such funny things sometimes. It was odd, for example, that the one person Juka had met who also didn't require sleep had to make up for it by requiring more food than usual. Juka himself needed neither sleep nor food, though both of those were relatively recent developments. He was, however, probably far more excited about the prospect of pancakes than he really should be.

"I haven't seen you around the Mansion, I don't think," Juka commented conversationally to Kyle. "Did you just start working there recently?" Even in the middle of the night he tried to keep himself busy and half the time he'd return to his apartment rather than the Mansion itself, but he was still pretty sure he'd notice someone like Kyle around.

"So, super strength combined with super strong skin," Juka nodded wisely. He was having problems keeping up and was tempted just to bubble himself and hover along beside the slightly larger man, but giant telekinetic soap bubbles tended to attract attention, even in the middle of the night.

>>"In that case, on-wards to pancakes!" Andrew set off at a brisk pace and Kyle was tempted to hover to keep up with him, but felt since Juka was making the effort to appear normal he probably should as well.

>>"I haven't seen you around the Mansion, I don't think, did you just start working there recently?" Asked Juka.

"Yeah, I only started a little while ago. I tend to leave the mansion as people start to wake up and even when I'm doing my job I'm usually just wandering the hallways or circling the grounds." In fact, due to his odd work hours and his tendency to spend his days out of the mansion Kyle really didn't know many people who lived there.

>>"I can increase my density, makes me a lot tougher, a lot stronger." Oh, that was probably how he wasn't affected by the tasers that Gears had mentioned. Kyle hadn't heard Andrews response then since he'd been getting on his way. It seemed like a pretty cool power.

"That sounds really useful, especially for things like that mugging." Kyle turned to Juka. "On that note, what is it that you do exactly? Apart from floating with anvils and not needing sleep? How does that work?" Kyle had met a couple of mutants recently but Juka's abilities didn't make any sense with what he knew so far.

>>"So, super strength combined with super strong skin,"

>>"That sounds really useful, especially for things like that mugging."

Andrew thought about it for a moment, he was no human swiss army knife but super strength and super durability were the bread and butter of super powers you saw in comic books. It was useful, but mostly in how it helped him in his part time job.

"Yeah, it can be useful, but I can't really do anything as impressive as either of you... except maybe lifting a car..."

Coming up on the familiar corporate sign, the group entered and Andrew found himself blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light. Sitting down in a nearby booth Andrew didn't bother looking at the menu. Because of the late hour the server came round fairly quickly.

"Hello, my name's Sam, what can I get you guys?"

"I'll have the biggest stack of pancakes on the menu." Andrew said somewhat enthusiastically.

Well, the fact that Kyle had only recently begun working at The Mansion certainly explained why Juka hadn't seen him before. In all likelihood, their schedules of coming and going simply hadn't had a chance to mesh yet. Well, that was going to change now that he knew he had a boredom partner. He could even help with the guard duty. It couldnt' be that hard to guard the Mansion could it?

"Lifing a car sounds pretty impressive to me," Juka answered in an incredulous tone. He might be able to fit a car in his main bubble, if it was a very very small car. Like one of those smart cars. Ya, he could probably lift one of those. Anything larger than that, though, and he was pretty much useless.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sam," Juka answered, following Andrew into the IHOP. It was a nice place, nothing special, but he could smell the scent of delcious pancakes and knew he had made the right choice in coming here. "I'll have...a little sampling of every flavour of pancake topping you have," he fanally announced grandly. Why not try everything, after all?

Lifting a car. Woah. And he said that wasn't much? What did this guy expect, the power to move the moon? The group reached their designated diner, entered and quickly found seats.

>>"Hello, my name's Sam, what can I get you guys?"

As Kyle thought about what he'd eat Andrew and Juka both ordered, the former with the zeal of one who already knew what he'd have, and the latter with the rather creative flair of....everything. Kyle saw no reason to keep them waiting so he quickly glanced over the menu. "I'll have... just a stack of pancakes and a glass of water thanks." He said as he looked at the toppings on the table wondering what to have.

After the server, Sam, took their orders Kyle turned to look at Andrew. "So, Juka and I are both mansion-bound, what's your story?" He asked.

The server scribbled down the groups orders and walked off towards the kitchen, obviously still awake thanks to the miraculous powers of caffeine. Andrew however found himself kept awake by the thought of the impending deliciousness of pancakes.

>>"So, Juka and I are both mansion-bound, what's your story?"

Andrew's eyes flicked momentarily to the scar on the back of his hand, and his mind flicked back to the panic of the day his mutation manifested.

"It's kinda boring really. I'm a student at N.Y.U. Ever since I found out I was mutant I've made an effort to keep it to myself, at the time it really freaked me out. Since then it's been kind of useful in a few situations... that and I've tested the limits of it a few times when it's been safe."

Juka had to admit to a little curiosity about both Kyle and Andrew. There was nothing quite so fascinating as the stories of mutants, even if such stories also tended to be rather depressing more often than not.

The waitress returned bringing tall glasses of water for everyone. Juka offered her a friendly smile as she went off again to serve one of the few other customers currently in the restaurant. Obviously they weren't the only ones to want late night pancakes.

"If there's one thing I've learned, its that few mutant stories are boring," Juka advised. "Powers, especially new and uncontrolled ones, just make everything more complicated, chaotic and confusing all of which make things more interesting."

Andrew glanced at his hand for a second before responding. Kyle doubted Andrew's story was boring, but it was his story to tell, however much of it he wanted to tell. Kyle himself hadn't told anyone what had happened that night....

>> "Powers, especially new and uncontrolled ones, just make everything more complicated, chaotic and confusing all of which make things more interesting."

Kyle thought 'interesting' probably wasn't the correct word for it, at least not regarding what had happened when his ability manifested. "Complicated and chaotic, yes, confusing too. Interesting isn't the right word though." Images flashed through Kyle's mind and a pensive look appeared on his face. He shook himself out of his memories and looked at Juka. "Regardless, what do you actually do? You live at the mansion, do you work there too?"

>> "Powers, especially new and uncontrolled ones, just make everything more complicated, chaotic and confusing all of which make things more interesting."

>>"Complicated and chaotic, yes, confusing too. Interesting isn't the right word though."

"I know what you mean, as careful as I am about hiding it I can't imagine my life without my powers."

Andrew looked up over the top of the booth, a few plates were ready out of the kitchen, chances are it would be for them, he was aware of the saliva building in his mouth in anticipation.

"...Either of you guys have any siblings. Sometimes I wonder if either of my sisters are mutants as well, I've been pretty good at hiding it, good chance they would be too."

Sam came back holding three plates and set them down in front of the three late night diners, stating each dish in turn.

"Enjoy your food guys."

Sam turned and walked off, more plates waiting just outside the kitchen to be served.

Juka sensed a story from Kyle, although the guy didn't really seem to want to talk about it. In fact, now that he really thought about it, his own power manifestation story had been rather boring. There was nothing exceptional or traumatizing about it, unless you counted the fact that he was super depressed and moping at the time. It was his flamboyant cross dressing ways that caused his home problems, not the fact that he was a mutant. His parents hadn't even known that at the time they kicked him out and for all he knew still didn't know.

"Oh, I'm a musician," Juka answered, completely switching the momentum of his thoughts into a completely different direction. He dug into his pocket and pulled out one of his ever present cards advertising his band and handed one to Kyle and one to Andrew. "Light in Darkness. We're an all mutant band, kind of similar to The Cure but with more of an edge." His band was one thing he could talk at length about.

When the food arrived Juka took a moment to taste it, immensely pleased with the results. Pancakes, he decided, had to be right up there with ice cream and cheese cake on the scale of ultimate goodness. "One brother," he answered, once content with his taste test. "As far as I know he's not a mutant though. Then again, we haven't really talked in over a year."

>>"Enjoy your food guys."

Kyle grinned as the pancakes arrived. Pulling the stack apart he put different toppings on each one and tried a little bit of each.

>>"...Either of you guys have any siblings. Sometimes I wonder if either of my sisters are mutants as well, I've been pretty good at hiding it, good chance they would be too."

"Yeah, I've got an older brother and a younger sister. I don't think either of them is a mutant, but I haven't been home for a while." Two years, but they didn't need to know that. It was probably time to call home again though, let them know how he'd settled into New York.

>>"Oh, I'm a musician," Said Juka who went on to say he was part of an all mutant band. That sounded really cool, maybe he'd go see him play some time.

"That sounds like lots of fun. What kind of music do you play?" Kyle asked.

>>"Light in Darkness. We're an all mutant band, kind of similar to The Cure but with more of an edge."

With the plate resting on front of him Andrew took his knife and fork and cut a wedge out of the stack of pancakes, gleaming deliciously in maple syrup, and greedily shoveled it into his mouth, enjoying the flavour and the anticipation of the imminent late night sugar rush. He swallowed his mouthful and then spoke up.

"Your band sounds cool, have you got any gigs coming up soon?"

Having finished the question he went back to his meal, taking another wedge from his stack of pancakes with the obvious intent of devouring and enjoying it.

It was interesting to consider the possibility of having mutant family members. Weren't mutant powers supposed to run in families? So how did he end up with them then, since as far as he knew, none of his family were mutants. "Maybe a cousin or something might be a mutant. I'll have to check." He still had contact, although not that much, with a few of his cousins.

"Its kind of visual goth rock and we have our next show in a couple weeks. Hopefully we'll be going on tour nationally soon." Now that was something that had been hard to work out, but they were finally in the last stages of negotiation.

Juka didn't eat his pancakes half as quickly as Andrew devoured his own, but obviously enjoyment could be seen. He didn't really suffer from hunger much any more so a sampling of everything was perfect. Besides, if he still wanted more once he was full, he could always just bubble, tinker with his hunger time control, and come back and finish his meal.

As he ate Kyle 'mm'ed in appreciation. These were some good pancakes. Andrew seemed to almost breath them in whilst Juka didn't seem very hungry.

Juka's band, Light in Darkness seemed pretty cool, maybe someday he'd go wath them play. "So, what is it that you do exactly, what do your floating bubbles do?"

As the sever, Sam walked past Kyle asked if he could get some apple juice. "Does anyone want anything else?" Sam asked.