He made his promise with a smirk and she giggled into her cup. The mixture of English and Hawaiian, so effortless back home, sounded strange in this context. The way he said it, slightly apprehensive and with a good dose of an accent clearly not Hawaiian added to her mirth and she sipped carefully so as to not laugh the milk out her nose. That hurts.

“So even if you’re speaking a different language the promise still counts… curious. Do you have to mean the promise? Or the words are the words?”

His band looked no different to the other two on his wrist, no change in width or colour because of the simplicity of the promise. A promise was a promise and it was shown as such. It was an easily fulfilled promise, and even if he hadn’t it was surely so small as to barely sting. Which apparently could appear anywhere on his body no matter how deep he was in promises.

“Does it dissolve away as well?”

Perhaps she would be able to observe that too, unless the public domain was too open and easily seen. He seemed a little nervous about people knowing, and she could respect that. It was, like he said, easier to get on in life if people didn’t know. She sipped the flavoured milk up the straw with difficulty, it truly was a thick-shake.

Verdy was close to laughing and Andrew could see it on her face. In fact she did seem to giggle a little. It was a goofy promise but those were the best for simple tests like this. Promises like that barely caused him a twinge of pain if broken.

"That one I can answer. It doesn't matter if I mean it or not. If I say it I'm bound to it. Otherwise I'd be able to make everyday promises without fear and it would be ten times easier to hide."

Heck if all it took was him not meaning it to make the promises lose effectiveness then he would probably have been able to go through life like a normal person and not worry about it. It was because he couldn't that he worried and was as cautious about it as he was. Her next question pertained to the black bands again.

"Yeah. Just like when they appear but backward."

If she wanted to see that one he would prefer to wait until they were back at the Mansion. This was a little too public for the 'Amazing Disappearing Tattoo!' show. However he'd keep his glove off when they met up on the weekend to pick out their dog. She could watch that one disappear.

The way he explained it sounded just a tiny bit bitter, and she reached over the table to squeeze his gloved fingers with a gentle smile. Life was a tricky thing to juggle, and living with a mutation made it a lot harder. How much did each mutant sacrifice for an ability they never even asked for? It was impossible to tell, some much more than others. Leaning over the table for a hug would have been a bit much, but she deduced that finger-squeezing was acceptable. It also meant she didn’t have to put down her drink which was deliciously cold in her hand and oh-so-spillable.

His bands did the opposite once the promise was fulfilled to what happened when they were made. She nodded. She had seen the promise to meet again form, there was no rush to see one un-form in such a public place, especially not if it made her friend uncomfortable. Using the spoon to mash more of the ice-cream down into the flavoured milk she thought quietly for a moment.

“What happens if you don’t break it, but you don’t fulfil it either? Like, if something happened on the weekend and we weren’t able to meet up until the weekend after, it’s just been postponed, not broken. Then what?”

The promise itself hadn’t had a time-limit placed on it, and who knew, if they walked away never intending to see each other again there was still the possibility that they would cross paths in the Mansion or even on the streets of New York. For his body to punish him for a pending promise seemed a little unfair.

She gave his hand a squeeze after he explained about intention in his mutation. He wasn't all that bitter about it. If he sounded that way it was simply because he was so used to saying it that way. After a moment or two she asked another question. This time about what happened if he didn't fulfill the promise. Specifically one that didn't have a time limit.

"Similar to a promise with a time limit but the effect takes a lot longer to build. It will still affect my thinking and behavior but the changes will be subtle and take a long time to build up to the same level as if it were the end of the time limit on a timed promise."

In some ways a promise like that was much crueler than a timed one with high price for breaking it. Instead of just getting it over with sooner or later and suffering the injury it ate away at his mind instead. Andrew had made such a promise for Svetlana. In time he likely wouldn't even be able to refer to the promise at all without a strength of will much higher than he possessed. For now though he wasn't worried about it. Andrew took another drink.

Verdy's questions made him ponder what he knew about his mutation and what he didn't know. If there were facets of it he hadn't yet seen Andrew suspected that it wouldn't stay that way long. He gave Verdy a smile and waited to see if she had any more questions.

“So, you’re compelled to keep your promise, rather than just having consequences if you don’t?”

To have something itching away at you, niggling until you dealt with it was like having a parasite drawing on you for sustenance. You could ignore it for a while, but eventually you had to bite the bullet and deal with it, no matter how itchy the treatment made you.

Despite his smile and the seeming innocence of his mutation it was almost sinister when the details were really looked at. No wonder he wanted to keep it a secret. She felt, not sorry for him, but a kind of respect, it was a big burden he was carrying, and no doubt one that cost a lot in friendships and relationships. Perhaps that was a part of why he had moved so far away from his family and his old life. Of course, it was none of her business, so she didn’t ask about it. Not that that had stopped her asking all sorts of forward questions about his mutation but that was different, or so she kept telling herself.

“That must make it really hard to make decisions if you have more than one promise going at a time, huh?”

To constantly be inwardly debating whether a choice was being made because it was what he truly felt, or because his body demanded that action to fulfil, or to work towards fulfilling a promise would be always in the back of the mind, yet another toll for him.

“Weird thing, the x-gene I mean, the way it just flicks around causing havoc and happiness depending on who it manifests in. Almost totally random, I mean I know there’s tests and everything, but there’s not even any guarantee that a carrier will manifest.”

She shrugged, it was an unfair system that didn’t discriminate between those who wanted extra abilities and those who didn’t. Sometimes the mutation fitted in with the type of person who carried it, but often it was difficult to tell if that was because of the mutation itself. Sipping her green frothy drink slowly she inwardly sighed for all the mutants who lost something because of their extra gene.

His head moved in a nod.

"Yeah. The longer I have a promise the more it compels me to keep it. Timed promises are worse about that in some ways because the real fervor comes on a lot quicker than it would if it weren't timed."

Andrew drained down the last of his malt.

"The end of the timed promises are the worst. It's hard to fight if I'm trying to fight the promise and if it wins I'll do almost anything to see that promise kept."

The question she followed with was one Andrew had mused on several times.

"I try not to think about it anymore unless it's a really important decision. If I dwelt on the details for too long I'd go insane trying to figure out where my mutation ended and I began."

It was something he hated and feared but he dealt with it. In the end there was no point in wondering what he would be like without the influence of the promises on his mind.

"Besides, sometimes the promises influences aren't entirely bad. I've used them to get through difficult papers and subjects in school before."

Andrew couldn't help but smirk ruefully at her comment on the x-gene. It was a fickle thing and more often that not wreaked havoc where ever it manifested.

"It is strange."

Oddly enough as much as Andrew disliked his mutation and longed for a life without he really couldn't picture such a life. To live free of the cares brought by his mutation was more than he could dream of.

Obligations were one thing. Being physically compelled to do something because you gave your word was something else entirely. To feel a constant tug to do this, or not do that would be both strange and reassuring. To be almost forced into doing it as the time limit ran out would be a struggle, but he seemed as if he could tell when it was mutation and when it was just human nature. While that hadn’t helped him in his issue with the thugs, it would help to be aware of it.

“The mutation is really a part of you, it makes you who you are… but I know what you mean.”

The entire flight from Hawaii to New York City she had spent clutching her fist tightly closed to prevent any untoward displays of her mutation. In that time it was as if the mutation and herself were separated, nowdays it was more like another part of her anatomy. If she actually thought about it it was strange, but in general it was easily ignored or absorbed into everyday life.

Was it cheating to use a mutation to pass in school? No, it must not have been. It simply held him to his word, what many students would benefit from. The same way a mutant with super-speed couldn’t be judged for winning in physical education, neither could he for his results. Scraping the last of the ice-cream from the edges of the cup she licked her spoon and smiled at her friend. It was nice learning more about him.

That was a way of viewing his mutation that Andrew had not previously considered. Sure he'd thought about it. That his mutation was just part of him. It had seemed too absurd to think that way. At the time his mutation was still fresh and new to him. Now he had four years experience with it. Somewhere along the way it had started to become part of him. When it had happened he didn't know. When had the new habits he'd developed because of it started to feel less forced and more second nature?

"I honestly hadn't thought about it that way."

Of course his mutation couldn't simply sit idly by. Now that the cup he held was empty Andrew was dealing with the urge to get up and throw it away like he'd promised. It was with an apologetic grin that he stood up to do just that. There was nothing to be gained from waiting on a promise like this. All it did was make him anxious over something silly. Andrew had forgotten about this particular downside to testing out the various facets of his mutation. He'd done most of the testing with it shortly after it had arisen. Now years later he'd forgotten some of the annoyances of those tests. He returned to his seat quick enough with another grin for Verdy.

"I sort of forgot that part of testing it out. The annoying consequences."

Andrew chuckled, glad to be free of one more promise.

She nodded, once an idea of the way things were was stuck in your head it was difficult to convince yourself otherwise. Especially if the thought process was mainly ignored and pushed to the back of the mind. She smiled at him gently.

“Sometimes it’s hard to think about, but I think its part of what makes you who you are.”

Not that she had known him long enough to have any real valid opinion, yet she felt a connection with this young man who switched with ease from chivalry to piratey kiss-stealing and discussions on mutations. She watched him get up and her fingers felt for her bag’s strap before realising what it was he was going to do. She watched him curiously as he visited the trashcan briefly before returning with a grin and sitting down again. He seemed pleased to be rid of the band and a little less strained in his smile.

“Ah, yeah, I suppose that would get annoying doing it over and over. What did that feel like, just now? Can you describe it, or it just had to happen?”

Finishing her own drink she placed the cup on the table to be disposed of when they were leaving, or if there was an awkward silence and she needed something to do in absence of checking the time on her dead-phone. She slipped her feet out of her flip-flops and tucked her legs up underneath herself until she was sitting cross-legged on the seat, comfortable and quite informal. Fiddling with one of the napkins she had received she folded it into a paper crane sitting it on the table she rested her elbows on the top and her chin in her hands and looked at her friend. He was a nice person to have met, and hanging out with him was effortless and unstrained. Picking up the little paper bird she passed it across the table.

“You can have it, if you like. It’s lucky.”

She smiled and thought about the myth associated with the little paper birds so simple to make.

“Supposedly if you make a thousand, then you get a wish.”

"Fulfilling the promise?"

Andrew took a moment to find the right words for it.

"It's like the difference between someone that drinks coffee after they've had their first cup of the day. Their entire personality can seem to change once they've had that cup. Same goes for me. Fulfilling a promise gets rid of that compulsion and lets me feel just that little bit more myself."

Of course if she was able to understand that at all he would have been surprised. It hadn't sounded all that articulate.

"Sorry if that made no sense. It did in my head but having said it just sounds confusing."

While he was rambling on she had been folding the napkin in various ways. Andrew had no idea what she was doing until she was done. It was one of those little folded paper creatures, a crane or something. Verdy passed the little paper bird across the table to him and he looked at it. Apparently legend had it that if you made a thousand of them then you got a wish.

"Does that mean we should keep meeting until you've made a thousand of them?"

Andrew grinned a little. He wouldn't mind it if it did.

He explained the similarity to a coffeeholic and she nodded. The mental image of a groggy-eyed Andy fulfilling promises in the morning to wake himself was an amusing one and she giggled a little and grinned at his disclaimer.

“I think I know what you mean… it is a little confusing, but that’s fair enough.”

Mutations were difficult to explain on the best of days, to then explain what it felt like to use the mutation… well sometimes there just wasn’t words invented for the way it felt. Itching was the closest she could come to describing the feeling of her own mutation, or perhaps tingling. It wasn’t uncomfortable, and usually if she was using her ability she wasn’t analysing what it felt like but focussing on the job at hand… no pun intended.

The little paper bird was accepted and she smiled almost hopefully at his question.

“Sounds good to me.”

The fact that that would be almost three years of meeting every day escaped her, it was nice just sitting with a friend outside in the nice weather, not worrying about anything or having to think.

“So, where do you go to school?”

It was a question the type normal people asked when they were out with a friend. It might have taken her a long detour through descriptions of mutations and so forth, but they weren’t normal people, so that was reasonable.

Verdy got the gist of his explanation and seemed to like the idea of seeing each other regularly. She was pretty cool. Spending some time outside just chatting with her after the play, kisses, and purchases was nice. Verdy decided to ask about something other than his mutation and, as much as he had been intrigued by explaining his mutation to her, he was relieved to switch topics

"NYU on scholarships. My grades could have got me in almost anywhere but I liked the idea of disappearing among the crowds of New York."

The more people around the less likely he'd stand out. There were all sorts of people in New York so Andrew with his height and varying hair color was just another one in the crowds. Apart from the few people he'd befriended the entire city was full of strangers. Not a single person out there knew him from before his mutation had come about. It was a fresh start and Andrew was glad of it. Two years into it he still didn't regret it, even if he did miss his old life now and again.

Andrew looked at the people that were passing on the sidewalk. He didn't know a single one of them. The only familiar face around at the moment was Verdy and she wasn't likely to betray or use him. That made him a lot more comfortable than he would be otherwise. Moving here had been for the best.

Smarty pants, grades good enough to get anywhere. She smiled at him, New York was a good place to disappear, it was why she had come, why he had come… why countless others had come. How many of the people walking past them had come here for the same reason? It was impossible to tell.

“The fact that its possible to disappear, to go for weeks without seeing a familiar face I think is part of the draw of the city for a lot of people.”

Unless you had a way of communicating with a person, or knew enough about them to predict where they were going to be it was nearly impossible to run into someone you wanted to find. You could see a thousand people in a day and not the same person twice. It was something she banked on when she came here for the first time, and for years after that. It didn’t matter what people thought of her, because she would never see them again. It was exhilarating, and depressing.

“And has it worked for you? Being able to live in an anonymous world? I handled it for years, but eventually I had to seek out people. There needs to be interaction, or you go crazy.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Crazier.”

Stumbling across Andrea, and all the things which followed; her movement to the mansion, her meeting Sebastian on his wedding day, getting a job with Slate, meditating with Hunter… all were good things which she wouldn’t have had unless she took that first step and let people in.

“There’s only so long you can live nameless, faceless, without recognition or worth.”

That came out a lot more deep and meaningful than she intended, and she pulled a face.

Verdy's musing that a lot of people came to New York to disappear was probably entirely correct. You could go forever without seeing the same people again. That was something that had drawn him here when he was looking at colleges. She caught him off guard with the question about whether or not living anonymously had worked out for him.

"It did for a while. In fact I didn't actively start seeking other people out. More like they just found me and before I knew it I was wondering what new and amazing mutant I'd meet next."

Andrew chuckled at Verdy's correction of her statement. Crazy to crazier, would that have happened to Andrew if he hadn't met Sam, Sveta, Amber, Kealey, and everyone else? Probably.

"True but sometimes it's necessary. I guess the key is to know when it's time to hide and when it's fine to let yourself be seen."

He full on laughed at the face she pulled after her statement.

"You look better when you're smiling."

A smirk played on his own lips.

Accidental meetings were what had drawn her out as well. A friendly smile and a romp through the park with her green-skinned friend had distracted her from the routine of street survival. Mutants seemed to attract other mutants, perhaps it was an offshoot of the gene, an evolutionary tactic to encourage carriers of the x-gene to breed and carry on the line of mutant children. Perhaps.

“I think the time to be seen is directly connected to the time people stop looking… or at least that’s how it was for me.”

His laughter and back-handed compliment made her grin. There was no point grimacing over the way she came across, sometimes things which were supposed to be semi-serious, or not serious at all, came out sounding quite different to how they were intended in her head.

“Thanks, I guess. So do you.”

She stuck out her tongue at the smirking man and wriggled further back in her seat, until the sun touched her hair and skin, out of the shade of the café-style umbrella. It was about time she kicked the pasty whiteness which had come upon her since her time away from the beaches of Hawaii.