Instructive? Gina echoed in her head, as she finished her sandwich. Well, at least the boy was honest, and very forward. She liked it when people were forward. The way he acted reminded her of the way tourists passing through town would react each time they saw her. While most were often unnerved or irrationally frightened at the sight of her, there were few whose curiosity outweighed their instinct to run away. Quite often, these inquisitive few were children, whose curiosity often came with looking at her wings and a barrage of questions. Gina was always patient with them, and rewarded their bravery with relatively straightforward answers. And, when their parents would either hurry away with or, when they had asked all the questions that they had, Gina would return to whatever it was that she'd been doing, and the children would leave her alone. Fausto's antics reminded her very much of those children, and so she made certain to be quite patient with him, and to quench his thirst for knowledge.

She glanced to her right and to her left, sizing up the room that she had to open her wings. Though the kitchen were quite spacious, and would easily allow for both of her wings to be opened, she was only comfortable with spreading one. They both looked the same anyways. Gina faced Fausto and stepped to one side, slowly beginning to open her right wing. It was strenuous to extend one wing in such an unnatural fashion, but she managed to get it most of the way open. The membranes that stretched between each "finger" of her wing were almost fully stretched, but not quite. Carefully keeping her wing open, she gave the same, short version of the physiology lesson that she'd often given the tourists in Mendocino.

"My wings are batlike," Gina recited, "The bones and skin designed specifically for maneuverability and speed. Though the skin looks pretty thin, it heals quickly when torn, and it is much tougher than human skin." Gina's wing quivered from the strain of being held motionlessly open. She forced herself to keep her wing extended in that fashion for a few moments longer, making sure that Fausto got a generous look, before closing it once again. She conclueded with a, "And that's Xavier's resident gargoyle in a matchbox."

Gina was almost certain that the little anatomy lesson was done, as were the questions, when Fausto hit her with a question that took her by surprise. The question was simple enough. Did she grow into her mutation, or was she born this way?

Gina paused, giving Fausto a thoughtful look. It was a simple question, but it was still pretty difficult to answer. She was born looking like this, but her wings were too small to be of any use until she was ten years old. Her horns didn't show up until she was six. Her skin began as having a greyish shean when she was found, but reached the color it was now by the time she'd reached the age of four. She'd always had the wings, the tail, the strange feet and hands, though. How was she supposed to answer that.

"Well," Gina began, clearing her throat, "I can't really say. I think that I was born this way. Either that, or by three months of age, I had reached a point where my appearance was obviously inhuman." She was three months old when she had been abandoned, and she'd looked... gargoyle-ish, "Certain things developed over time. My skin darkened to this color by the time I was four years old, my horns grew in when I was six, and my wings were strong enough and large enough to use by age ten. By three months, if I wasn't born this way, my hands, feet, tail and wings were already visible, though."

Her gaze had never once wavered from Fausto's face. She was gauging his reaction, trying to see if he'd figure things out on his own. She'd never said, outright, that her biological mother had abandoned her, but it had been implied. She didn't feel obligated to tell Fausto that, as they'd only just met, but she was watching to see if he'd reach that conclusion on his own. She was really getting sick of the mutational questions, but would let Fausto decide when they moved on to doing something else. Anything was better than having him sit outside and sulk in the snow.

Instructive was a word that described in an excellent way what Fausto had seen, his black eyes full of curiosity examined the structure of her wings as she was explaining. The morphology was very similar to that of the bat but in a very different size. He preferred to not to see her as a gargoyle, but as a big bat. The gargoyles that he knew were always motionless, and were made with the sole intent to cause fear on sinners. But his new friend was very friendly, she dealt very well with the problem that her mutation was fully visible. She could hide it, but was still visible.
"I do know if the wings of bats have hollow bones like birds, do you know?"
He did not remember that fact, it did not seem important in the biology class... in fact he had not been to many biology classes in a long time. Maybe he should show around the classroom and removed that doubt.

He could have been talking about both mutations throughout the day and all night, but maybe she was a little uncomfortable or boring, He could not know for sure. Not everyone felt comfortable talking for hours about what separated them from humans, for better or for worse they were different. Since he was a mutant too he did not considered himself a mad scientist trying to decipher the shape of her skeleton, or the hardness of her skin.
"My skills came when I was eight." He commented cheerfully, still remembering the look of surprise of his mother when she say him as he finished eating the last dish in the house.
That day they dined pizza. Fausto could not imagine a family leaving a child just for having an active mutant gene... He knew that not everyone had it so good as him, he found understanding in his family. But he still was not willing to assume that all mutants were orphans, that was absurd.

What distinguished the mutants who were born with their abilities to the ones that acquired them over time? Was the development of skills identified by more than one gene...? Fausto was not sure about all these things, or many other much simpler. But he know one thing, if Gina had been born with way in the Middle Ages or when the Inquisition reigned in Europe ... She definitely would have died at the stake at a very early age. Would mutants have evolved to exhibit their skills later...? That would give them a chance to grow and survive.

While Fausto thought the next thing he would ask, a familiar voice took him out of his reverie.
"There you are, I've been looking all over the mansion... What are you doing here...? " She just walk in passing the door, the girl with black long hair and eyes of the same deep color stopped instantly. Her hair waved for a second still trying to advance. Fausto quickly turned toward the familiar voice, as she watched Gina in surprise. She took a few seconds to change her attitude, then she took a deep breath, sighed and continued watching Fausto with reproachful short stares while her eyes remained on the girl. She presented herself nicely with a velvety voice and manners worthy of any queen that greatly contrasted with her black leather jeans and her tight punky tank top. She knew how to act very well. "Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt. My name is Cielle Belfont, pleased to meet you. " She did not shake her hands, she may not want to do it. Cielle made a little bow, she look back to Fausto then at her again. As if she wanted to make the boy hurry with her gaze.
Both were very similar, especially in the eyes and hair. They could have passed for siblings.

Fausto knew what she was thinking even when she did not say it. She just hoped that Gina would not associate her last name with the name of that famous hotel in Central Park.
So the boy came closer, trying to avoid any inconvenience to her friend. He knew how much she hated being asked about her father and his fortune.
"Gina, would you mind if I meet my duties as a singer?" Fausto did not really want to go, he was a much better mood because of her. He could not just go off in a hurry at the earliest opportunity. The singer was really enjoying their talk, and still had so many questions ...
Cielle waited patiently near the door, ready to run at any time, she was not happy about being near such a visible mutations like hers. She was sure that was going to have nightmares.

"I wouldn't know about hollow," Gina murmured, "But bats don't have any calcium in the bones of their wings, which makes them much more flexible than normal bones. I haven't, y'know, done any in-depth research of that kind of thing, though, since that'd require someone to cut my wing open or something nasty like that."

Gina had actual preferred being born into her mutation. Had she grown into being a gargoyle, she couldn't imagine the repercussions of being abandoned and being able to remember it-- to live a life of humanity and then be cast into a different realm of existence was unimaginable. Sure, if your powers weren't visible or detremental to others, it wasn't a big deal, but if you suddenly turned into something frigthening, harmful, or inhuman, there'd be some drastic changes in your life. Gina was about to say something, but a girl suddenly came bursting into the kitchen. Gina didn't know her, but she obviously knew Fausto.

A girl with black hair and black eyes suddenly addressed Fausto, claiming to have scoured the entire mansion for him, asking what he was doing down here... she didn't seem to notice Gina, at first. But, when she did, her eyes were wide with astonishment. Gina arched an eyebrow at her, wedging her hands into her pockets. Was she lost, or had she forgotten that this was a school for mutants, both those of the human and inhuman kind.

The girl quickly apologized, introduced herself as Cielle Belfont, and bowed. Gina kept her hands pocketted. She wasn't very worldly, so didn't even know of the hotel with the name of Belfont. She therefore did not know of the girl's father, the girl's hotel, or the fortune that came with each. All she knew was that this girl was polite enough to bow, but still wary enough of her to not shake her hand. Gina's expression was a touch serious, mayhap even frosty. Gina gave her a faint nod, barely a tilt of the head, as she reciprocated the shallow pleasantries, "Gina Schuyler. It's a pleasure."

Gina glanced back at Fausto inquiringly. Who was she, and why was it her business where Fausto was? Fausto and Cielle did look similar, so perhaps they were siblings? She clarified for Cielle that, "We were just chatting over some sandwiches."

Fausto asked if he could pardon himself for band, and Gina crackled a toothless smirk. For someone who was in a band all about mutant quality, someone certainly didn't conduct themselves around visible mutants very well. Her gaze wandered to Cielle as she said, "It would be rude of me to keep you from you duties as a singer. I'll see you around later, okay Fausto?" The girl, Cielle, was obviously uncomfortable around Gina, which in-turn tempted Gina to bother her. Some other time, she thought. They had band to attend to.

She walked out ahead of them with a way, stepping very close to the girl, Cielle, with the soulless black eyes, as she went. She waved at Fausto, gave Cielle a toothy grin, and then dismissed herself with a, "Ciao."