Chosing ice cream by the color was like chosing clothes by the taste, but oh well. Sveta found Jude's way of decidng pretty useful. She didn't know what haf of those flavors was, anyway.
She agreed with the man behind the counter that Jude didn't need more ice cream that what he'd got; the last thing she needed was the parents finding the kid in a sugar rush. He wantd to pay for the ice cream; Sveta arched an eyebrow at the coins with an apologetic smile, ready to add to the money if it wasn't enough.

>>"Of course I know them. Zat is how Ghost found me. She remembered from ze future where I would be and how much I wished I had not lived there. She rescue me, you know. And Sebastian rescue her."

Sveta nodded. "That is... an interesting story."

>>"Were you in zat future?"

She shook her head. "No, I was not. Maybe it is because... I was somewhere else. Or, maybe, it was just, for you."

For mutants, she meant. She didn't have powers back then; or at least, she didn't know about them. She had other problems on her mind. Besides, if she saw her future half a year ago, it most probably would have been all black.

"Just for me" He echoed the words as if he were weighing them against what he knew to be true. Yes, he should be the center of the universe, but even he knew there were things bigger than himself out there. The cashier asked for a dollar more, but Jude was in a far away time inside his head.

"Do you sink I will be telepath in zis future?" The ice cream was good that was easy to see since Jude had attacked it with enough ferocity to smeared it across his cheeks and dotted it against the tip of his nose. It made his question a hard one to take seriously, no doubt, but the boy was serious.

His eyes betrayed his hope. It would really crush his ambition in life if he were never to become a mutant. He had to. Because... because it was promised to him in a dream. Just like Ghost was.

>>"Do you sink I will be telepath in zis future?"

Sveta paid a dollar more for the ice cream, and granted the cashier a charming smile, before she started walking with Jude once again. At the lazy pace they walked, the ice cream would be gone by the time they got home; at the pace he ate, it would be gone much sooner.

"Why do you want to be a telepath?" she asked him, glancing down; all she saw was an adorable kid, devouring ice cream as if he'd been starving for weeks "It has to be annoying, hearing things people think. And, if you are a mutant, I can not touch you, ever again." she added, as she stopped to wipe his face with a tissue. One thing she liked about Jude, he was safe to touch, without the whole block going 'boom'. It would be a pity if she had to keep the same disctance from him she had to keep from everyone else.

Why did he want to be a telepath? That was an entirely preposterous question. "Why do people want to be police man or senator? You see it and know zis is right for you. Telepath is zis for me in the future." Despite how fast he was consuming his cone, some melty ice cream dribble was leaking out the bottom and down his arm. Even if they finished before returning to the apartment, there would be evidence of their escape.

>"It has to be annoying, hearing things people think."

"But iz very useful too." Much more useful than being 11. If he was at least a telepath, he could do something to help everyone. As he was now... young and small and just human was not good enough to protect his family and Svetty.

>"And, if you are a mutant, I can not touch you, ever again." She bent down to smudge the remnants of ice cream off his face and Jude couldn't help but smile under her careful touch.

"Not ever again?" That seemed like a really harsh cut off. "You can touch a telepath, Svetty. Zey don't esplode brains. At least I did not." His argument mollified and so the statement was more an informative one rather than one meant to persuade her otherwise. Or maybe he was giving her advanced permission.

"Are you lonely, Svetty? To not touch?" He chomped down the last of his melty cone and had to ask with his grimy hands for another tissue. It was dribbling down his chin now and he leaned forward so that it wouldn't drip onto his shirt.

>>"Not ever again? You can touch a telepath, Svetty. Zey don't esplode brains. At least I did not."

Sveta's mood was between melancholic because of the topic, and amused because of the sight of Jude eating ice cream. The kid was messy beyond control, and all the while talking about grown-up stuff. She wondered how he did it, being a kid after living as an adult. Must be annoying.

"No, but if I touch one, he hear much more, and less control his ability" she explained with a sigh "It could hurt him. Or drive him crazy, having too much thoughts in his head."

No. She was definitely not touching telepaths anytime soon.

>>"Are you lonely, Svetty? To not touch?"

She pulled out another tissue, and started cleaning him up with her free hand, the other one still holding her own ice cream.

"It is... well, it would be good to touch people, yes." she nodded "It made things easier. But, no, now I am not lonely." she smiled. At least she had people to talk to. Even though, Jude was right. She did feel lonely, quite often. Just not all the time.

"We need to find you human friends. Zere are plenty around. Why are you so around mutants if it makes you sad?" He let her wipe him down, though it was a bit embarrassing. He really could do it himself, but it was a good excuse to touch. And he was safe for her. And she was lonely. So he let her.

"You would not have to be lonely with a good human boyfriend." Of course, he was thinking of himself. The idea of trusting Svetty to just anyone was preposterous. Just like the idea of an 11 year old and a 18-something dating was preposterous. He needed to grow up faster already.

A dollop of ice cream hit the pavement between them. "You have to eat it quick or it's zoup." It had looked like a good flavor. Why wasn't she eating it?

>>"We need to find you human friends. Zere are plenty around. Why are you so around mutants if it makes you sad?"

Sveta shrugged as she threw the tissue away.

"It just happen. One day, I am human, next day, mutants all around. They picked me up, when I find out about my powers. Since then, they have to keep an eye on me. It is better for everyone, if humans don't do it."

She was trying to explain it to him without having to explain the whole thing. Meaning, the Russian bride thing, the neural bomb, and Slate, and all that.

>>"You would not have to be lonely with a good human boyfriend."

She chuckled at that and shook her head.

"No, I would not be. You are right."

Fat chance, being a highly dangerous mutant and finding a human date. Good luck with that.

>>"You have to eat it quick or it's zoup."

He was right about that too. Sveta returned to eating her ice cream, licking it around the cone to prevent it from leaking onto her blouse and skirts. She was doing a better job than Jude did, but not much.

Hmm. So she didn't try to stay around mutants it was that mutants wanted to keep her under their thumb. That was sort of cruel really. Jude licked an extra bit of mocha ice cream juice from the back of his hand. How had it gotten all the way over there?

"Svetlana, we will find you a human man right now." This date wasn't really a date anyway and he could not be like other mutants. He would not cling so tightly to her that she would try to slip away from him. Jude would do what was best for his Svetty.

Instead of crossing the street toward the apartment, Jude took a perpendicular route over toward a man who was standing on his bicycle, ready to go across when his cross walk changed.

"Excusez-moi, do you see my Svetty?" Jude turned and pointed. She was so pretty even now as she fought to keep from leaking ice cream everywhere. The man looked taken aback that a child was addressing him and truly, it seemed that Jude had no shame. "She is lonely and I worry for her. Are you lonely?"

>>"Svetlana, we will find you a human man right now."

Svetlana was so busy saving both th eice cream and her clothes that the words didn't even register in her mind until it was too late. When they did, she froze, with the tip of her tongue still in the ice cream, and her eyes grew wide with horror.

"Wha... Jude, no!"

Too late.
With a few choice swearwords muttered in Russian, Sveta hurried over to the kid and the stranger.

>>"... She is lonely and I worry for her. Are you lonely?"

She could feel her cheeks burn deep red, and she couldn't even bring herself to look at the man. Instead, she looked at the kid.

"Jude! You can not just do dat." she said, folding her arms across her chest "It is not how it work."

Actually, it was kind of what the Matchmaker did half a year ago.

"I am sorry" she muttered, glancing at the man "He just trying to make friends. For me."

Yay.

> "Jude! You can not just do dat."

The 11 year old blinked serenely at the blond. Of course he could. And he just did.

"I've never been propositioned by a 6 year old before." Bicycle man seemed more confused than aggravated. His crosswalk light was green, Jude noticed, but he was not pedaling away just yet. "This isn't some scam or something?"

> "I am sorry. He just trying to make friends. For me."

"Iz no scam and I am too well spoken for 6." His sincerity was blinding.

Maybe he muttered something about foreigners under his breath or maybe, just maybe Jude was starting to read minds. He hoped for the latter. For Svetlana's sake.

"Well, if you ever need a package delivered I work for a courier." He fished around in a fanny pack, a fanny pack for a business card.

"Zat is no way to ask a lady out."

Bicycle man handed the card over anyway— all professional like, as if his grown up muscles gave him the right to be cool!

Sveta felt like sinking into the ground and disappearing forever. Did Jude really just walk up to a stranger and suggested he asked her out?... Her cheeks were bright red as the man talked to them. Jude seemed to handle the situation much better.

>>"I've never been propositioned by a 6 year old before."

"He's eleven" she corrected automatically at the same time Jude stated he was not six. Not like it made a difference. He was far too young to mess with other people's love life. Or lack thereof.

>>"Zat is no way to ask a lady out."

"And dat is not the way to pick me a h... boyfriend." she said, eyes narrowed, once the man with the bycicle was out of earshot. "Do not do dat again, Jude. I mean it."

He tried to weigh her anger objectively. She was mad because she was embarrassed. That would fade, was already fading actually now that the man had pedaled away. Jude looked at the card in his hands for a long while before offering it to her. "It would make a great story to show your kids one day if it had worked."

His hands, clean of ice cream and now empty of things to give Svetlana made their way into his pockets. "What iz ze best way?" He would not do that again in front of Svetty. He would also pick his targets more carefully next time. Yes, he was toned, but he had been wearing a fanny pack.

>>"It would make a great story to show your kids one day if it had worked."

Sveta sighed, slipped the card into her pocket - she might need something delivered one day, it could happen - and smiled at the kid, ruffling his hair.

"It makes a good story already."

>>"What iz ze best way?"

The crosswalk light was red again.

"I am not sure, Jude" she shrugged "But I let you know when I find out, okay?"

Really. Back in Russia, she could catch guys like honey caught flies, and then the Matchmaker came along and... well, in theory, that was one way to do it too. The only important thing was than at least one of the parties had to be telling the truth. She'd make sure of that next time.

The light switched to green, and she crossed the street with Jude in tow.

"Just let me pick them before you talk to them."

Jude smoothed his fine hair back down over his ears. Really. Why did adults have to do that? Was there a sign on his back? Or maybe was it the proximity of his head to their hand height when their arms were relaxed at their sides? Either way it was entirely un-cool.

"If I were grown up, would you pick me?" After all, they had talked before and were talking now.

He tried to be casual about it and also tried not to get his hopes up. Because he was not grown up. And he would not be grown up for a very long time.

Jude found a bit of ice cream that had somehow eluded him before and nibbled the drying spot off of his knuckle.

All right, no ruffling the hair. Sveta was good at telling when she made a guy nervous, even if said guy was not even a teenager yet. She remembered the unsaid rule for future reference.

>>"If I were grown up, would you pick me?"

Now, that was unexpected. Sveta blinked, then giggled, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair again. Jude was not an ordinary kid, that's for sure. He also seemed very much interested in grow-up things, especially dating. She didn't blame him. It probably came with his age, and then there was that future life thing too.

"If you were grown up, I would be much older" she answered with a grin "Maybe you did not even like me."

The light turned to green again; they crossed the street.

"But if you asked me, I would go to eat ice cream with you, and see if you are a nice guy." she added with a smile. She had no doubt he'd turn into a nice guy. With time.