>> "So, we're headed toward the mansion, yes? "

Sveta jumped as she heard the voice beside her; apparently, Gregor wanted to follow her all the way to the Mansion. It figured. Other girls pick up stray puppies or lost kittens on the way home. She got the stray roach mutant. With an ego.

>>"I forgive you, and will respect your unwillingness to confess. I am, after all, a gentleman. That, and I have no interest in you; you humans all look the same, and are not nearly fertile enough for my liking... One child at a time? Pshaw!"

"We agree." she smirked as they walked on; one child was one too many, in her opinion. Especially if the only male nearby happened to be more than half insect. Ewww. A very politically correct, respectful Ewwww.

>>"We must get food on the way."

"Depends on what you mean by food." Sveta muttered, walking down the street. Some people turned to look at them; they certainly made a weird couple. Maybe they thought he was her pet, or something.

Again. Ew.

"Well at least you see the futility of only having one child at a time... If you have ten thousand, one can die and no one will miss him. One, though... you have to... take care of it, make sure it doesn't eat the neighbor's dog or something. Bothersome." He was a little dense, yes, but that was only because he was in one of those mind-sets where human subtleties became a little less apparent; he had those moments. Then again, no one could ever read his emotion? How was a human to know that a slow clack and a wiggle of the antennae showed annoyance, while a slightly faster clack and wiggle meant he was going to eat your face?

He couldn't blame them, though... They were, after all, so self important that they paid other members of their kind to kill his kind in a whole sale slaughter. They called them exterminators, and he would have to bomb another one some time soon. "I was thinking hot dogs. You?" The cockroach knew that she wasn't the type to indulge in fine dining like he; a tire, topped with mouse droppings and expired milk... great meals like that tended to make her type vomit for some reason... not that he minded; it made a great dessert.

And now that everyone who reads this is grossed out, it's hat time! Greg stopped momentarily to reach down into a gutter, pull an empty beer can, hand it to his sharp smaller set of hands, cut it in two, and place it onto the tip of his antennae. He nodded in satisfaction, causing the can pieces to wiggle, and then turned to catch up to his companion, pointing to a passing hot dog stand. "It's on me... Wacha want?"

>>"Well at least you see the futility of only having one child at a time... If you have ten thousand, one can die and no one will miss him. One, though... you have to... take care of it, make sure it doesn't eat the neighbor's dog or something. Bothersome."

You know the feeling when it seems like no matter how smawrt and pretty you are, only the weird guys are attracted to you?
Well, Sveta did.
She'd never been lucky with men (see her exes back in Russia, her almost-marriage, the neural bomb, and the few guys who just bailed on her), but this one took the cake. She was walking around, talking to a human-roach mutant about having babies.

"I don't think I would like any at all" she frowned at the thought. Not even human ones "You are right, bothersome."
At least they agreed on that.

>>"I was thinking hot dogs. You? It's on me... Wacha want?"

She glanced at him with his improvised beer can - accessories, and shook her head with a smirk. "Hot dog sounds fine." she sighed, really curious to see the vendor's reaction to Gregor.

No babies at all? Humans really were flawed weren't they? Oh well, it wasn't as if it really mattered to him what she thought about children; he had no interest in procreating with her. He did, however, really want a hot dog... and maybe the arm and/or leg of a hot dog vendor, but if he did something so rash out in public, his new friend might get upset, or run. That, or he would be arrested.

He approached the hotdog vendor, and eyed the merchandise as the vendor eyed him. his antennae wiggled about excitedly as he opened and closed his maw; his version of salivating. "I'll have four dogs.... three for me, one for the girl."

"We don't serve your type here..." The roach paused, and moved his eyes from the menu to the man behind the mobile cart, his antennae twitching slowly. "I see... Well... you wont mind if I serve myself, then?" With that he broke through the little glass shield over the hotdog warmer with his arms, as if it were paper, and then grabbed a dog from it. The man behind the counter freaked out, and tried to stop him, but he reached his long arms up and held the food just out of his reach while he tried to grab it.

As the vendor was looking up, Roach's small arms went to digging in the cart and assembling their food. It was a little messy, but he got the job done quickly. As soon as he finished, he tossed the dog in his hand behind the vendor, and clicked his mouth a few times, reaching into his shell just as a large roach poked out with a 20 dollar bill. "Thanks Frankie," he said as he grabbed the bill, placed it into the counter, and skittered off with four hot dogs in hand. "Keep the change!"

As he reached muse he held out her end of the bargain, and continued walking as if nothing had happened, hearing the sounds of a pissed off vendor who couldn't leave his stand unattended to chase them down slowly fade into the background noise. "Some people really gotta get their heads outa their rectums, I tell you."

Sveta stared with wide eyes as Gregor took the hotdogs from the vendor. That was... scary. She didn't blame the guy for not putting up a fight; the roach mutant, let's face it, looked more than a bit dangerous.
But at least the paid for the dogs...

"Um, thanks" she muttered, taking the hot dog, trying to avoid thinking about the fact that a roach had just given her food "Well, they won't like you better around here for dat, will they." she added with a smirk.

They walked back towards the Mansion, the roach munching and Sveta nibbling.

"How do you live?" she asked him "You don't hide I can see dat. But it must be difficult... it is, for every mutant."

"Hard for every mutant like myself, maybe. But not every mutant. Yourself, even. People can look at you and all they might think is that you are somewhat attractive, assuming you are, I wouldn't know. That at least gives you a way to introduce yourself to them without them either thinking they are seeing things, or passing out. Sure you have your challenges, I don't doubt that, but at the same time, you have something to go on." The giant roach didn't chomp so much as he just opened his maw wide, threw each hot dog in, and closed it.

He walked alongside the woman, noticing the eyes on them as they did so. People probably thought it strange that a "normal person" was walking alongside someone like him. Then again, most people just ignored them. That's what was beautiful about the city. "At the same time, the city is a different creature than most. Here, I'm strange, but at the same time, I'm just another strange thing in a sea of strange. People accept that I exist, and generally leave me alone. I still get the random hot dog vendor who refuses to lend me his services, but mostly, the world just ignores me until I address it first." He blinked a few times, a process that took some time with his large buggy eyes. He really hadn't talked to anyone about things like this before... it was oddly comforting.

Maybe he wouldn't eat this woman after all...

>> "At the same time, the city is a different creature than most. Here, I'm strange, but at the same time, I'm just another strange thing in a sea of strange. People accept that I exist, and generally leave me alone. I still get the random hot dog vendor who refuses to lend me his services, but mostly, the world just ignores me until I address it first."

Sveta nodded as she listened to him; it really made sense.

"Different challenges" she agreed as they walked on "Dere is a lot of strange in New York. Actually I get more stangre looks for being Russian den I get for being mutant. And sometimes people think I am just human, and I don't want to correct them."

Most of the time, she didn't.

"But I have to be careful all the same, or things happen. Like, what happened to you." she smirkes "It is good you can not die like dat."

They walked on and slowly the Mansion came into view. "Dat is why I like this place" she smiled "Everyone is weird in there, and it is still safe, for all of us."

The Roach nodded slowly, and focused on the mansion as it came into veiw... His eyes stayed fixed on it for some time; one might mistake his stare for wonder, but he was actually wondering how long it would take to eat the roof.

Not plain, he wasn't crazy. He would use salt.

Ever the multitasking mind, he listened to the woman as well. "I wonder, is it really enough just to be safe? Safe is simple, and life is much more complex than that." He nodded slowly... maybe some mustard. A high class type... Add a nice chianti and it would be a meal. "It seems to me one might sacrifice the truth for safety. The truth being that it's not safe to be as... you or I. Maybe that will change, though... You never know." He was thinking about marshmallows now... Punching them.

"I must confess at this time that I was not headed for the mansion at all when I first met you. I am ashamed to say it, but I followed you out of interest in your ability. Now, though, I think I will go to the mansion. I am interested." He wondered if they had a public kitchen.

>>"It seems to me one might sacrifice the truth for safety. The truth being that it's not safe to be as... you or I. Maybe that will change, though... You never know."

"It is called survival" she nodded, waiting for him to stop staring at the Mansion and move on. Many people were impressed by the place, even when looking at it form the outside; she gave him time to admire the building. She remembered how amazed she was when she first arrived. Of course back then she though it belonged to Fausto...

>>"I must confess at this time that I was not headed for the mansion at all when I first met you. I am ashamed to say it, but I followed you out of interest in your ability. Now, though, I think I will go to the mansion. I am interested."

"Well... umm." she blinked. She did not expect that. "It is... a place for mutants. You are welcome to visit." she decided finally. He was a mutant, after all. "You have to ckeck in. Dere are people for dat too." she explained "I used to live her, but now I don't."

She walked Gregor in through the gates.

"Welcome to the Mansion."