Aleksandr had remained largely on the outskirts of the Danger Room, observing the younger students and the residents that looked to be closer to his own age as they danced and mingled. Mercifully his tail had managed to avoid any serious damage, though it had caused one or two dance goers to trip and stumble if it happened to curve a little too widely toward the dance floor. Thankfully the individuals readily accepted his apologies, apparently having expected to trip at least once in the evening given their choice in shoes and the number of people around, some of them in rather long dresses.

It was in his observations that he spied a rather unusually colored young woman seeming to shy away from a young man with a pair of heels in his hand. He never had understood why women tortured themselves by putting on that fashion of shoe. Of course heels did make most women look quite lovely, but the end result of aching feet didn't quite seem worth it. And she certainly didn't look like she was up to those consequences.

It wasn't all that unusual for young women attending an even such as their dance to be reluctant to wear heels, but most of them ended up abandoning them under a table or against the wall before the evening was over, and as such he didn't think much of the actions between the two.

It wasn't until a short while later when he again spotted the uniquely-hued girl making her way over to the punch bowl, still looking rather uncomfortable, that he decided he'd like to more formally meet her.

Carefully he made his way to the table where the punch bowl as well as various foodstuffs were set up for the attending crowd, mostly keeping against the wall if at all possible. "Excuse me, Miss," he spoke, attempting to be heard over the music thumping out of the speakers, "but I am curious. Why wear heels if they give your feet pain? Such a lovely young woman should not be made so uncomfortable."

Jumping slightly, Andrea fumbled with her cup- managed not to spill on herself, and turned her head this way and that, trying to figure out who of the various people around had spoken to her, until her eyes landed on the snake like man. She twitched slightly, rather caught off guard by his appearance, but quickly recovered and turned to the question at hand. Why was she wearing heels, if they did not feel good on her feet? She shot a quick glance over her shoulder, back at where she had come from, and smiled weakly, a smile that just screamed please help me. Her cheeks tinted light brown, and she shifted awkwardly on her heels

"I kind of... sort of, promise someone I would wear them." Taking a sip from her cup, she peeked out from behind the shield of her glasses at him, eying things that made him unique... and kind of scary, and- she finally took notice of his bare scales wardrobe. Her blush over took the rest of her face.

"You... are not wearing any clothing..." She squeaked. The statement came out before she could really filter the stunned tone from her voice, or stop herself all together. "Ah... Sorry! I did not mean to say that..." The brown in her cheeks deepened, and she brought her cup to her lips again. Another first impression down the drain...

"I... I am Andrea. Who are you?" She questioned, once the color in her cheeks had died down a little. She couldn't help but stare.... even if it was covered up with sun glasses. She had never met, nor seen for that matter... someone with, uh... such a vastly different appearance. It was... kind of captivating.

Aleksandr hadn't meant to startle the young woman, suddenly rethinking his approach as her head twisted this way and that before she figure out it was him that had spoken. Ah well, the damage was done, though it didn't seem to be too severe. Perhaps he could still salvage the meeting once the initial shock had worn off.

"Prasti*, I did not mean to startle," he offered, giving an apologetic smile as his tail coiled beneath him to avoid getting in anyone's way. Her color was quite lovely, especially up close, and he wasn't quite sure because of the shades, but her eyes looked as if they might be rather unusually colored as well from what he could see. She even changed hue as he spoke to her, her beautiful shade of green dulling into more of a brownish tint. Was that perhaps a blush? How cute.

"I am sure your friend would not mind if you remove them after some time. Your feet will be thankful. Would be terrible shame for such a lovely creature to injure herself," he continued, aiming to flatter the young lady. He always had liked complimenting women and seeing their reactions to it. They were such fun to speak with.

The sudden mention of his lack of clothing caught him a little off guard. People tended to be thrown off more because of his reptilian appearance than his nakedness. He was suddenly just a little self-conscious, though the feeling quickly passed. "No need for apology. Clothing is not so comfortable for me. Is also unnecessary. My mutation made sure for me to keep modestly," he explained, hoping to put her a little at ease once she realized that even though he was naked, he was still decent.

"Is a pleasure to meet you, Andrea. My name is Aleksandr," he greeted, offering his hand to her in an attempt to be polite. "You have very lovely skin color, if you do not mind my saying. Is part of your mutation, da*? Is only part of mutation?"
__
*Sorry
*Yes

The Greek smiled, and tried to relaxed a little. The idea of taking off her shoes and parading around once more with bare toes wiggling was tempting... Very, Very tempting. But no.... she had promised, and she did not wish to hurt his feelings. "No, it is alright." She covered another wave of blush, with sipping her drink and glancing about herself nervously. A somewhat naked male was talking to her... She could feel another wave of panicked ohgod's coming on. "I would hate to disappoint after he went through a lot to get me into this outfit."

She nodded her head, soaking in his explanation about his mutation made it so that he did not need clothing. In a way, that could be a blessing. In another, that could be really, really awkward. Se couldn't imagine walking around in the buff, even if she had shiny scales covering her bit and pieces. "It must feel a little freeing, mustn't it? To not have to worry about out fits and such." Why worry, when you had many pretty scales in place to keep you looking dashing? She extended a hand of her own, and shook Aleksander's gently. Scary nails or not, a handshake was a handshake and she wasn't about to ignore it.

"My appearance... well... I would hope it is a part of my mutation... but I was born with it. I do have other things that came along later in life." She withdrew her hand, wriggling her fingers in her gloves as they returned to holding her cup alongside her other hands, and shrank a little in a shy fashion. Talking about mutations... eh.. it still made her so very nervous.
"If you do not mind me asking, Aleksandr, where is it you come from?" She had heard him use a few words she was unfamiliar with, as well as an accent. Her nose wrinkled briefly. So far she had been able to keep her own accent from her voice... thick words and all side, she hadn't rolled a single R, and she was rather proud of that.

Aleksandr's smile widened as the young woman offered a similar expression. Women were so much prettier when they smiled, and this one was certainly no exception, even if she did seem to be trying to hide behind her drinking glass. He found himself wishing he could more properly see her eyes. It was easier to judge how genuine an offered smile or whatever other expression was if the eyes could be seen. The most genuine of smiles often didn't stop with the mouth, but also reached a person's eyes and were often the most lovely to see.

To her explanation of her reluctance to remove the shoes, he gave a small, easy shrug. "I will not pester any more for such reasons," he promised. It wasn't exactly any of his business to start with, but he had been curious. "If you do not mind my forwardness, I will say your friend have good taste in clothing. The outfit looks very nice on you, Miss Andrea"

Absentmindedly he glanced down at himself and then back at the young woman, casually brushing a hand across his chest as if to free himself of some nonexistent dust or lint. "It has become freeing, da. Was difficult to get used to when mutation first started, but I have grown to enjoy it." He smiles again politely as she took his offered hand, careful to let hers slip away when she moved to do so.

"I have not met anyone with mutation from birth. Is very interesting. I have heard of such things, but they seem to be rare case." He did notice her shrinking a little again. She seemed to be a rather shy individual. He hoped he was not making her uncomfortable. Just in case he shrank down himself lust a little bit to cut his height down in an attempt to appear a little less intimidating.

"I hail from Russia. I immigrate to United States just recently and move into Mansion in late few weeks," he replied, suddenly very aware of his thick accent and improper patterns of speech. "You must forgive, my English is not so good. Is difficult language to learn."

Her cheeks deepened in color once more, if that was possible, and she set her empty cup down on the punch table. "Yes, he does have very good taste. Something that I am afraid I lack.. Though I wish I had been able to find proper leggings." She shifted to tugging her dress down to cover her thighs, and felt the heat in her cheeks leak into her neck and down to her collar bone. An all over brown. Perfect. She watched curiously, wrinkling her nose in an attempt to push her glasses back up into place without having to use a hand, and watched as the snake man actually shrank a little. Her gaze focused on his absence of legs. She wondered vaguely what it would be like to slither around for life.

"Do not worry. I struggle still every now and then with putting words together myself." A gloved finger pointed absently at her face, and she grinned, baring a full set of pointy choppers. "I hail from Greece. It has taken me a few years to get English down this well."

Tilting her head curiously, she dropped the tension without really realizing it, and turned to the next puzzling question he had caused to pop into her head. "I have always been... uh... this color, but my eyes and the other mutations I have came a few years later." She blinked, recalling that it had been at least a year or so after being born when her eyes had turned from blue- like her mothers- to orange. And a hand full of years after that had been her hands... and then her eyes. She felt a small pang of headache emerge, and winced slightly. The drugs were wearing off... but the pain as still manageable. "When was it that you changed, Aleksander?" She questioned, trying to shift the attention back onto him.

The reptilian mutant hadn't thought it was possible for the young woman to turn any darker, but somehow she managed it, now appearing to be more brown in color than the lovely green she'd previously been. Not that the darker hue was an unattractive color, it just seemed to lack something that the green had. "Do not be so bashful, Miss Andrea. I am sure you are not lacking in such things. And you are quite lovely even without leggings. Such dress is flattering for you," he complimented, hoping to ease some of her shyness. She wouldn't likely be able to fully enjoy the evening if she was busy worrying about the length of her outfit.

One brow arched curiously as the young woman flashed a set of pointed teeth. Well, well, it seemed they did have something in common after all. "I understand such problems," he replied, showing off his own set of sharp teeth. It had been difficult learning to pronounce his own language again once his teeth had changed, nevermind English as well. "I then have hope that I may master English as you have. You speak it very well." He would have to listen more closely whenever he was caught in conversation with someone. Perhaps he could correct his own speech over time by listening to how they spoke.

"Was only few years ago that X-gene became active. It started at age nineteen, and I am twenty-three at this time. My eyes were first to change, then came scales. Teeth, facial structure, and tails all changed at same time. Was interesting trying to learn how to use new body, but I have the hang of it now."

It seemed like the conversation was beginning to fall into a more comfortable flow, which he hoped to keep up. The young woman seemed a little uptight and uncomfortable and he wanted to keep up any ease she felt. "If you hail from Greece, what is reason for coming to America? I come after hearing about Registration Act. There was scare of one in Russia, though it was avoided. There seemed to be many mutants in New York after and less tension with humans, so I think to travel here. Also, winters in Russia are very cold. My body does not handle cold very well now."

"Thank you..." She spoke, a hushed quiet whisper, and brought a hand to one burning cheek shyly. Her fingers plucked at her dress and she fought the urge to swivel gently in place like a three year old, what with all of the complimenting. Not even Saph had spouted such niceties to her... nor so many. She should return the favor... compliment him back... but, how? He wasn't wearing clothing- didn't need to. She turned her eyes upwards, to his hair...or whatever that was. It looked like snakes... of course, he looked like a snake... so that wasn't really surprising.

She thought momentarily to the many things she had been taught back home. Snakes were often linked to being hand in hand with... well, thing of an evil nature. While her mother and father were sure to make a fuss about his appearance... she didn't get any bad feelings from the mutant. He was just another like herself, cursed to wear a different skin. "I am sure you will get there." She started, in reference to his English. "It helped me to have a father that is American... So I had a foot hold already." She smiled, her blush dying down a tad as she grew more comfortable.

"How funny, I am the same age as you." She lifted a hand and peered at it through her glasses, before turning to fill her cup again. "Mine has fully set in now, but I didn't get my first real life changing until i was twelve, I think. And a second mutation quirk popped up a few years ago, before I came here..." With her cup in hand, she turned back to face him and smiled. "I came here because there was no help back home. No one understood what was-" She caught herself before saying 'what was wrong with me'. Saph had corrected her the last time she had said that.... "- happening to me." Tinkering with her cup, she tilted her head at Aleks. "What is this registration act you speak of? I have never heard of it before..." Maybe it had something to do with all of the people illegally entering the state... or something similar. She made a mental note to search for it later online.

"You are very welcome," he replied, taking much pleasure in the reactions he was gaining from his little compliments here and there. Aleksandr always had enjoyed making the ladies blush and giggle when he spoke to them. As much as he flattered them, it was also flattering to himself when he gained such responses, and her very much enjoyed being flattered.

So, the young green woman wasn't entirely Greek, if her father was American, how interesting. Momentarily he wondered what had drawn her father to move to Greece and remain there. He was also suddenly a little envious that he had not grown up to be bilingual, though before coming to the US it had never really bothered him. Perhaps living amongst Americans would help him the same way her father had helped her in grasping the language. Though it would still be quite a struggle.

"Is lovely age to be," he commented as she revealed that little tidbit of information. And here he thought women never disclosed their age. It was somewhat refreshing. "I think mutation is settled for me as well. Have been no more additions since last set of changes."

He gave a small, understanding nod as she explained her reasons for coming to New York. It certainly seemed like it would be a good place to head for help or understanding, especially since there was an entire school dedicated solely to their kind. "My family did not understand mutation, either. Was increasing distance between them and me. I thought was best that I leave after some time in addition to Registration scare. Was safer and not so stressful for them that way."

He had forgotten that not every place had heard of or experienced a scare due to America's Registration, though he had been living with it for a few years, so the thought seemed strange to him. It had been such big news. "Registration was essentially concentration camp for mutants. At least, mutants considered to be dangerous were put in camps. Others were registered in some system so authorities could keep track of them. Was very scary to think of such things in Russia. Were many rallies and marches from mutants, and some humans to prevent such things. Thankfully, Registration in America backfired and broke down before Russia could follow example, and scare died down."