From the moment Amber had discovered what she could do with her power, she had taken pride in it. Sure there were those that were more powerful than her and there might even be those with more appealing powers, generally speaking. But this power was hers she had done her best to embrace it in its entirety. Even with its disadvantates and even if her dinosaur forms weren't entirely natural, they were still something that made her stand out from everyone else. They were hers and hers alone and she would never let anyone cause her to disdain them.

Amber wasn't sure if it was, perhaps, easier for her to embrace her power because there was something innately cool about dinosaurs. Swarms of bugs, on the other hand, caused most people a sense of unease and disgust. Still, when it came right down to it, cool or not, she was fairly certain most mutants got reactions of fear and terror. Certainly she had many times before and that was even when she wasn't doing anything overtly hostile or dangerous. In fact, she hadn't ever really done anything overtly hostile or dangerous. But those reactions were a failing of humans and not a failing of herself or any other mutant.

“I…don’t actually create them. They live…within me, right here. It’s…disgusting. I hate them so much….but they’ve saved my life over and over again. Then again…maybe it might be better than never did.”

Amber found a crate of her own and sat beside Agnes. It was funny how, not so long ago, she would have been profoundly uncomfortable to sit in a dirty and potentially dangerous alley in the middle of the night. "So what if its a l-little on the creepy side," she shrugged her shoulders casually. "Its p-probably creepy that I've hunted b-bugs and mice too but so what? Its still yours and you sh-should be proud of it."

Amber didn't quite know what to say in reply to the admition that Agnes sometimes wished she had died. The sentament struck way too close to home and brought back dark memories of a very unhappy time in her life. It was better now, of course, but that didn't change the past. "I s-sometimes think that too." The words were said very quietly and solemly. "B-before Abyss adopted me when I d-didn't have anyone. B-but you can change, you c-can find something to live for. You just need to find the right thing."

>> "I s-sometimes think that too…B-before Abyss adopted me when I d-didn't have anyone. B-but you can change, you c-can find something to live for. You just need to find the right thing."

“To live for?” Agnes asked a little shocked.

To be honest this was a statement that she had heard one too many times before. In her experience, when it came to finding something to live for, that tended to make you into a victim of whatever that thing may be. Her parents were the perfect example of that. They dedicated their lives for a single cause, for the chance to prove their faith and loyalty to their higher, omnipotent force. But they took this to such a degree that they judged and admonished everyone around them who did not agree. It was the sort of thing that Agnes hated and she prayed that this was not the same kind of thing that Amber was preaching to her.

But to be honest, how else does she expect it to be. Overly zealous people were the same no matter where she went. Whether they were preaching mutant equality, mutant superiority, or the purification of the human race, charisma, zeal and eloquence all led to the same result…no winners for anyone.

Agnes shook her head slightly, but she did not shy away or attempt to run as she normally would have. Nor did she shout and rant at Amber. Instead she remained as calm as she could.

“No offense Amber,” Agnes said as she opened her bag and fished around for a second. She slowly produced the remains of a nibbled on and very stale piece of French bread. She took a bite, one that crunched like the sound of gravel being chewed, but the look on her face relished it. “But I used to have a purpose in life and all it got me was to turn me into a pariah the second my true nature came into being. The last thing I need is another purpose to rule my life, then abandon me the second things changes.”

Agnes was thought for a second as she gnawed on the very stale piece of bread. She had been saving that for her breakfast, but the second she had ended up staying awake far longer than she should have. At least when she was asleep the hunger pains were not as bad, she could still sleep. But being caught by Amber playing her violin and staying up later than she should have made her stomach grumble loud. She was about to take another bite when she saw Amber stare…or at least she thought she was with those unsettling black eyes. Agnes offered her part of the bread.

“It’s not a lot, but if you’re hungry…”

When Amber had suggested Agnes find something to live for the reaction she had gotten hadn't exactly been the reaction she'd expected to get. She'd seemed unusually shocked and put off by the idea, much to Amber's surprise. In Amber's own experience, one of the things that had caused her so much grief growing up was her lack of purpose in life. She had been familyless, friendless, drifting and without direction, all of which had contributed to her ever growing loneliness and direction. When Abyss had found and adopted her that had changed. In one night she had gone from having no one to having a family complete with a father, sister and 6 giant red uncles. Then, mere weeks later, when she had found out she had an actual mutant power, that had helped to give her life a sense of direction and purpose. With those two things together, it had allowed her to be actually happy for the first time in her life and it was difficult for her to imagine that having something to live for could be a bad thing.

“No offense Amber, but I used to have a purpose in life and all it got me was to turn me into a pariah the second my true nature came into being. The last thing I need is another purpose to rule my life, then abandon me the second things changes.”

Amber was at a loss as to how to reply. While the two of them might have been similar, as was clearly the case in some ways, it was also clear that they had gotten to their current place in life by traveling very different paths. "Your p-power doesn't make you a bad person, it d-doesn't change your nature at all." That was a sentiment that Amber would never be able to understand. Her own power, while it had given her life a new meaning, hadn't changed who she was in the last. Well, perhaps aside from giving her a newfound boost of confidence that she had never possessed before. But she was still Amber Thirsis with or without her power.

"I d-don't mean to suggest to become a fanatic. Its not really healthy t-to have one c-cause be your entire reason for living. B-but if you have something you can love, something that makes you happy, sometimes that's all you need." There were mutants in Sanctuary, Amber knew, whose entire lives centered around fighting for mutant rights and mutant superiority; her sister was one such and in many ways she supported that fight since mutants were her people and she felt loyalty to them. But she wasn't certain she could ever be one of those fanatics. It took a certain kind of person to dedicate oneself to a single cause to the exclusion of all others and she simply wasn't that person.

Amber shook her head at the offered food. "No thank you. There are advantages t-to being able to change into a Compsognathus and c-catch a mouse." She grinned at Agnes, completely unashamed at the idea of eating a live mouse although that woudln't have always been the case. Maybe she had picked up more of the instincts of her dinosaur forms than she had realized.

>> "I d-don't mean to suggest to become a fanatic. Its not really healthy t-to have one c-cause be your entire reason for living. B-but if you have something you can love, something that makes you happy, sometimes that's all you need."

Upon offering the bread, Amber declined. Agnes could not help but feel a little glad for that. Her supplies were low as it was. She couldn’t waste it all entertaining guests.

>> "No thank you. There are advantages t-to being able to change into a Compsognathus and c-catch a mouse."

Agnes did not want to make a comment on that. The fact that she was sitting here next to a dinosaur shifter was interesting and surprising to say the least. As for the eating of mice, well, everyone does what they need to in order to survive. Especially Amber did have as hard a life as she claims to have had.

Agnes sniffled a bit as she took another bite from her extremely stale piece of bread. To anyone else it was gross looking but to her it was a banquet. She had been lucky to find the lost loaf of French bread when she did. Had she not gotten there in time, she was sure that someone else would have snagged it up. So far the bread had lasted almost a week. Though she wished that she had enough luck to find a piece of bread like this every day. She felt that she at least deserved that much luck anyways.

She nodded as she listened to Amber’s commentary. “To be honest nothing really makes me happy anymore.” She said as she rested back against the cold, brick wall against her back. “I left a lot of that behind me when I ran from home. My parents could not handle what I had become. They even tried to…”

There was a pause here. A deafening one that must have pounded so loud in her ears that she thought she would go deaf from it. She was not sure she should go any farther into explanation. She had not told anyone what her parents had done to her even since she left them so why tell this person now? Did she really care or was Agnes just looking for someone who would lament for her? In the end Agnes decided she did not need pity and instead just shook her head as she took one more bite of her bread and tossed it back into her duffle bag.

“Thank you…for your nice comment about my music,” Agnes said.

It was apparent that her defenses were building up again. She was not so tired anymore and she had some nibblets of food in her stomach. That could only mean that she was thinking clearly again and in clear thinking, when she looked at Amber, she saw a friendly face, but not one that she could trust…yet. So with a sigh she gathered up her dufflebag and slipped it over her shoulder.

“I need to go,” she said as she checked her wind-up, Bugs Bunny watch. “Chinese place down the block is about to take out their garbage. There’s usually good pickings there.”

Amber sat quietly watching as Agnes slowly ate her piece of bread. She coudln't imagine what it would have been like to be homeless. For all of the problems she had growing up, homelessness was never one of them. Her guardians might not have always been particularly nice to her, but even they weren't cruel enough to allow the other children to force her out of the orphanage. Even if some of the other children would have preferred to be able to do so. and if she were to ever become homeless in the future? It wouldn't be nearly as difficult for her as it would be for most because she had any number of forms she could choose from that were adapted to living in the wild. Besides, that didn't seem likely to happen anytime in the near future.

“To be honest nothing really makes me happy anymore. I left a lot of that behind me when I ran from home. My parents could not handle what I had become. They even tried to…”

Even though Amber heard the hurt lurking just beneath the surface of the words she decided not to pry. Were she in Agnes' position she was certain that she wouldn't want others prying so it was only right to keep silent. "I thought many t-times about running away from the orphanage where I grew up. B-but I knew that if I d-did I probably wouldn't have survived. Because of my skin condition and b-because I wouldn't know how to live on the streets." Would she have truly run away if she hadn't had to deal with her skin condition? Maybe. But without her skin condition she might not have felt quite so alone and unwanted and she might not have even felt the urge to do something so drastic.

“I need to go. Chinese place down the block is about to take out their garbage. There’s usually good pickings there.”

What Amber had done to suddenly make Agnes turn her defenses back on she wasn't certain. She got to her feet and nodded her acknowledgment. "I know you d-don't want charity and I understand that. B-but maybe I could talk to Lori and she could f-find you some work. You know, you could d-do little things around Sanctuary or s-something enough to make some money for food. You d-don't have to live like this." She felt obligated to offer, both because she could see herself, in a not so very different future, in the position of Agnes and because she knew it was the right thing to do.

>> "I know you d-don't want charity and I understand that. B-but maybe I could talk to Lori and she could f-find you some work. You know, you could d-do little things around Sanctuary or s-something enough to make some money for food. You d-don't have to live like this."

Agnes had walked away and had just placed her hand on the fence, getting ready to jump it. But, as she was about to go and leave Amber behind, she heard the comment. She had to pause as she stood there, staring at the wooden fence in front of her. For a moment she did not bother to turn around and face her. Not because she was insulted or anything, but mainly because she wanted a moment to mull over the facts. After so long of meeting and speaking to no one, she was unsure really of what to do now.

After a second, she finally turned around to face the albino girl once more. For a second she did not say anything and simply regarded her closely. But, very slowly a small smirk began to play on her lips. She stepped onto a crate, grabbed onto the top of the fence and hoisted herself up so that she straddled it.

“Tell you what, have your talk with your ‘boss’,” she said with a small nod. “Then…if you’re able to find me again…we can talk.”

A small wink and Agnes hoisted herself over to the other side and landed deftly on both her feet. Before she took off for the dumpster behind Mr. Han’s Chinese Food she paused and slowly turned to glance back at the fence. The girl was nice, she had to admit that, and honestly it did seem like she cared. She hoped that she was being genuine that this was not some kind of scam or something.

She gnawed on her bottom lip before she leaned over and gently knocked on wooden fence to grab the younger teen’s attention.

“Amber?” she waited for a second for the girl to approach, unsure if she were even there or not, then began to speak. “Thank you, you know, for being nice. Good luck out there and, ugh, stay safe. You never need help, you can find me in the alleys. Just follow the bugs.” With that she turned and began to walk away, to slip back into the forgotten shadows of the night.

“Tell you what, have your talk with your ‘boss’. Then…if you’re able to find me again…we can talk.”

Amber nodded solemnly. Lori wasn't exactly her boss, as far as she knew she was just the woman that ran Sanctuary, but that detail wasn't important. What was important was that Agnes was going to let her try and help. She wasn't quite certain why it felt important to her to help the other girl, but for some reason it was.

“Amber? Thank you, you know, for being nice. Good luck out there and, ugh, stay safe. You never need help, you can find me in the alleys. Just follow the bugs.”

"I w-will find you again and you d-don't have to be alone," Amber answered. "If you ever need me j-just follow the rumors of dinosaurs in the city." She smiled slightly, although the expression didn't quite reach her eyes. It was difficult being a mutant and she knew it had to be even more difficult for one like Agnes who didn't want to be a mutant and despised her own power. The only way to survive in the dark and dangerous world they lived in was to try and stick together.

Once Agnes was out of sight Amber turned and began making her own way out of the alleys and back to Sanctuary. She went on foot without shifting to better allow her time to think. She would help Agnes and somehow, perhaps, she would help herself in the process. Perhaps she could prove to herself that she wasn't becoming a monster on the inside as she slowly seemed to be on the outside.