Meld had been in her room in Sanctuary concentrating on her meditation when the call had come in. Her phone had begun vibrating, not an unusual experience in and of itself, but the person on the other end when she had answered was unusual. Very unusual. Her childhood friend Nick who had come to the city not longer after she had and then disappeared shortly therafter. She hadn't heard anything from him, hadn't known where he was gone or if he was even still alive. Now, however, here he was, reappeared and apparently alive. Apparently he wanted to meet with her and talk, promising to tell her what had happened, but not over the phone. Well, that was good because a lot had happened in her life since that time as well. It seemed a very very long time ago.

Not having anything better to do and knowing that there was no way she was going to be able to regain her meditatve trance, she agreed to meet immediately. It didn't take her long to get dressed, nor did it take her long to get to The Green Been Cafe, a mutant friendly coffee shop not far from Sanctuary which she often frequented. Close enough, in fact, for her to walk there which was fortunate because she had neither the desire to deal with humans on the subway nor did she think it best to hijack a vehicle. Not for this particular meeting.

So much had changed in Meld's life since Nick had disappeared. She had gone from an unsure mutant in a hostile world that sometimes did bad things for profit and survival to a cold blooded murderer vehimently dedicated to the mutant cause. Worse than that, however, she had come to be controlled by the monster inside her, the one that demanded blood and suffering of her enemies. Begun to be controlled by it and slowly, ever so slowly, she had begun to reign it in. Thus her dayly meditations. How she was supposed to explain all of that she had no idea. She wasn't the same person she once was.

Upon arriving at the coffee shop Meld smiled at the woman in the front, ordering herself a large coffee and sitting down in the corner beside the window. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait long and she had equal amounts of dread and anticipation in this particular reunion.

A few days back in New York and Bear finally works up the courage to call Aris.. Almost.. His mind is made up, he needs to call her, he found out the number he had for her a while back was still the same. His fingers just couldnt do the dialing, heck she probably thought he was dead. His heart races, his fingers twitch and his brain keeps turning the gears trying to figure out what to say. He picks up the phone, punches in the number and presses the clear button. He lets out a groan and looks at the phone and punches the number in again and looks at it a moment before pressing the clear button again. "GAH! What the hell?! You know her? She was your best friend you idiot..." With these words a passerby glances over at Bear as he sits in the alley he spent the night in. "WHAT?!" Bear snaps at the person who then proceeds to scamper past the alley quickly.

"Alright... Punch in the number..." Bear lets out a sigh and punches in the number on his phone. "Ok.. Now.. Press call..." Bear stares hard at the green call button on his phone before pressing it quickly followed by the red 'Clear' button multiple times. "SHIT!" Bear scratches his head a moment and looks through his duffel to see what he's got in there. A wrapper from a hot dog, a few applications, a pen, some money and nothing. "Ok... You can do this..." Bear punches in the number on his phone and presses the 'Call' button before holding the phone up to his ear. It rings once, then twice and right as he's about to give up prematurely, someone answers the phone. Bear sits silent for a moment before speaking, he introduces himself and Aris responds positively. The two agree on a meeting place and time, he promises to tell her about what happened to him and she promises to be there.

"That phone call couldnt have gone better..." Bear lets out a sigh of relief and stands up, gathering his duffel and checking his pockets. Phone? Check. Knife? Check. Wallet? Check. Sanity? Sanity? Check... Bear just couldnt catch a break in his own mind, no matter what he did, he felt like something was wrong. But maybe seeing Aris would change that, all Bear knew was he needed to find some reason for him to stay in this place. Wait... A reason was already found, Andrea, Andrea was his reason. Bear knew he should stay just to make sure Andrea would be ok. He also kinda had a thing for Noel, but that was a different story all together. After the gears in his brain stopped turning, Bear finally decided it was time to move his feet forward, one after the other, and he started heading to the coffee shop. He thought about where he was at the current moment in time and smiled, not too far from the coffee shop. Must have been a subconscious thing that brought him to stay in an Alley close to The Sanctuary.

After a bit of a walk, Bear found himself standing outside of the Coffee Shop, he waited just at the corner, knowing he was already early for their meeting. As he was waiting he saw someone that looked like Aris heading towards the coffee shop, only.. She had a bladed metal tail, he right arm was fully metal and robotic and her left hand was a mutant hand. What had she done to herself? Bear almost turned and left but he knew he had to talk to her. She was, after all, his best friend growing up. He let out a sigh and forced himself to walk into the coffee shop. He ordered a large mocha and looked over at Meld and smiled before reaching for the sky and waving at her.

The cashier handed Bear his coffee and Bear exchanged it for money before turning to go and sit in the corner of the shop. He sat at the same table, directly across from her, setting his coffee down in front of himself. "Hello there Aris. How have you been?" Bear couldnt help but smile, despite everything he read about her, she was still his best childhood friend. She had to have a good reason for everything that happened. "So... You wanted to hear about my story huh?" Bear let out a smile, drinking from his cup of coffee. He didnt want to rush anything.

Although Meld didn't have to wait long it felt like an eternity. Her mind kept spinning around, pointing out to her all the ways in which she wasn't the person she once was. Nick had been one of her closest friends, perhaps her closest friend growing up and now he was back. She knew that she wasn't a good person anymore, if she ever had been. Sure she did good things for the mutant cause, things that she would never regret. Sometimes people had to die for the greater good and she was often the one to assist in such deaths. But at the core of who she was she had a vicious monster, one that compelled her to maim and kill even when it wasn't strictly necessary and despite all the effort she had taken to try and control that monster, it still lurked deep within her waiting for her to slip up, just once, and let it out. She had killed again and again and again and although almost all of those deaths she could justify to herself and to her cause, she knew that not all of them were for the cause. Some of them were to feed the monster within her, the monster that woudl always be within her. Would Nick understand that? Could anyone possibly understand that? Even Aura didn't and she was her closest friend and the one who was by her side for almost every single kill she had made over the course of the past year and a half.

Meld sat in her stool quietly sipping her coffee, ruby red tail eye swivelling around and blinking in time with her human eyes. Even here, even in a mutant friendly establishment, she had to be careful. Not only did she have the hatred of humans everywhere for the mere fact of her being a visible mutant and for some of the very public kills she had engaged in, but she also had assassins after her. They hadn't shown up in a couple of weeks but that didn't mean they had given up, something told her they hadn't. Constant vigilence was required in her life. It hadn't always been that way, not before she had begun her crusade on the behalf of mutants everywhere, but it was now and it probably would be for the rest of her life. Or at least until the mutant cause was finally accomplished.

It was only Nick's eventual appearance that broke Meld out of her own thoughts. He looked so very like she remembered him that she felt a pang of nostalgia for the life she used to have when they were children. Everything had been so much simpler then, so much easier. She didn't have anyone trying to kill her, didn't have anyone who hated her and certainly didn't have any crusade to dedicate her life too. When had all of that changed to profoundly? It was a life that she could never have back.

"It's good to see you again," Meld stated. She stood up, stepping in to embrace her oldest friend and quite unsure if he would even allow it. "I think we both may have a few stories to tell." She smiled, the expression dark and sorrow-filled rather than happy as a smile normally was. "I'm sure you've heard about some of my exploits. I haven't heard anything of yours." Where had the regret come from? She couldnt' remember having it before.

"Yeah, it really is good to see you as well Aris.." Bear smiled, embracing his old friend warmly, doing the awkward thing of waiting till she's ready to let go. Once the signal comes through, Bear lets go of the hug and touches her face gently with his hand. "Still no feeling huh?"

After the hug, Bear sat down in his chair across from Aris and sipped at his coffee a bit more. "Yeah I guess we do have some stories to tell... Heh.. Where do I start?" Bear laughed a bit to himself, not really knowing where to begin at all. I went insane, then got shot, then went not insane.. That doesnt sound very good does it?. "Well, after meeting that Abyss guy for the first time, I wound up leaving the place I had and getting a rundown, disgusting apartment with low rent. Locked myself in the apartment and found myself having a mental break down. I found out what triggered my ability, physical damage to my body, and I kinda learned to accept it. Quickly..." Bear grinned as he took his jacket off, revealing a short sleeve shirt and 8 'Tiger Stripe' cuts going up his arms. "I did all of these myself.." Bear slowly stood up and looked around before lifting his shirt to show two long scars across his stomach. "These too... With a knife..."

He sat down and pulled his shirt collar down to show the bullet wound in his shoulder, then pulled his shirt up again to show another bullet wound. "Couple through and through's with a broken clavicle. These were done by someone else..." Bear laughed a bit, letting his shirt go back to normal but leaving his jacket off. "I ended up having a complete mental breakdown, killing 2 people on my way out of town before going completely insane. Robbed a bank, got these gun wounds and passed out afterwards... Woke up in a shack and was nursed back to health." Bear laughed nervously.

"I spent some time just walking around the towns outside of New York after being released from the shack... With the clothes on my back, some of the money I stole and a new Knife. I like it... It's a combat knife. Havent had to use it on myself that much yet..." Bear smiled, pulling said knife from the sheath in his pocket and setting it down on the table. It was a regular combat knife with a black handle and a sharp edge and a serrated edge. "That's about it though... And yeah I've read a little... But I want to hear it from your mouth.." Bear smiled as he drank from his cup a bit and sat back in his seat. "Unless you have some questions that is..."

As always when embracing another flesh and bone being, Meld was careful not to hurt Nick. The inability to feel made it difficult, especially when combined with the enhanced strength of her flesh melds an the deadly tips of her flesh melded blades. "I'm afraid touch is always going to be forbidden me," she answered with just a trace of bitterness. That, even more than the monster inside of her, was something to regret. That was one of the reasons she would never be able to get truly close to another person, mutant or human. She kept the embrace short and pulled away quickly.

Meld listened attentively and mostly silently when Nick told his story about the time when he was away from the city. What showed in her expression as he described what had happened to him, she couldn't say. Certainly she was schocked at the scars now criss crossing his body and the stories surrounding how they had come to be. She had her own scars of course, most prominantly burns down the right side of her body caused when she and Aura were set up and ambushed in a human's house who was leading anti-mutant protests. They had lured the two of them in there and then blown the place up, sacrificing the jewler and his family. She and Aura had very nearly died in the incident. But it was somehow different when it was \Nick involved, Nick who she had known as an innocent child, just as all children have that air of innocence about them. It was worse still to know thathe had inflicted many of the wounds themselves, though who was sheto judge who literally sawed off her own limbs in order to replace them with crafted flesh melds.

"I don't know where to start," Meld stated honestly when he was finally finished. "I wish you hadn't had to go through all that, though I suppose that's the lot of a mutant. Our lives are never going to be easy, not so long as the humans around us refuse to accept us for who and what we are." She shook her head, dismayed as she always was when thinking of the role of mutants in the world. That her oldest friend had to go through such things made it even worse. No matter the fact that it wasn't any direct human attack that had caused his problems, their hatred an bigotry had been what triggered them in Meld's mind. If they had been accepting of him and his ability to begin with, he never would have had to go through the breakdown and he never would have had to lose his sanity or be forcedto kill. It all came back, full circle, to the hatred and intolerance of humans towards mutants.

"I found my calling," Meld stated. At least this part she could be proud of, more proud than anything in her life. "I know what the news says about me, that I'm a cold hearted killer and the worst kind of mutant terrorist, but they don't understand. I've killed yes, but I've killed in the name of the mutant cause. The cause is my life and I would do anything for it. I've killed for the cause, I'll kill again for the cause and I'll probably eventually die for the cause." The passion was clear in the tone of her voice and she met Nick's gaze, trying to discern what, exactly, he thought of her words. There was absolutely no remorse.

After a deep breath Meld continued, knowing the next part wouldn't be nearly so simple to say. "It hasn't all been good though. I've discovered things about myself that \I'm not proud of. I've...I've been ruled by dark addictions fueled by something malevolent deep inside of me. You mentioned going insane and I guess I've gone a little insane also." How did one say that one craved pain and suffering and death in much the same way as a vampire craved human blood? It was, in fact, a vampire that had helped her to combat her cravings. "Whatever you want to know, I'll do my best to tell you." Because she needed honesty and maybe, just maybe, she needed another friend in the world that wasn't Aura, a friend who might understand in a way that Aura did not.

Bear had read all about Meld's exploits in the news papers, but he never truly believe she did the things they claimed. As she told her story Bear listened intently, comparing her recollection to what he could remember from the papers but he couldnt wrap his mind around what she was telling him. He more than likely had a confused and surprised look on his face but he really couldnt tell, all he knew was he had no room to judge anyone especially his childhood friend. Her words seemed full of pride yet a little bit of regret, probably only from having to tell him about it. "Wow, that's a big thing to state Aris. I mean, I understand what you're saying and I can honestly say that I even feel the same way kind of... But I dont know what I'd do in your position. I'm a mutant too, and I feel that we need to be accepted and at least equal to humans, we're people too right?" Bear knew, as he was speaking that what he was saying probably wasnt going to go over that well with Meld. Was it Meld or Aris these days? She developed her Meld persona while he was away and it seemed that Meld was more prominent than Aris. But at least she felt that what she was doing was right. She wasnt killing in cold blood and that was something that held some sort of weight in his mind.

Insanity was something that haunted Bear constantly, he lost his sanity before and was brought back only to have something trigger his sanity to leave him. He knew there was some kind of trigger but had no real idea what that trigger was, nor did he know how to get his sanity back after being set off. It could be any number of things, the weeks or months he spent in that shack seemed to all blur together, leaving him to try and piece things together the best he could. Which wasnt an easy feat in the least. But hearing Aris or, Meld, explain what she went through on top of killing for a cause, was hard to swallow indeed. But again, he had no room to judge his child hood friend, the only room he had was to help her to find some kind of inner peace if at all possible.

"Aris, I guess I am probably the only one that can even come close to understanding your trouble with losing your sanity. And I'm glad you told me about this... But I have to ask, what did it drive you to do?" Bear looked at her with true concern for her well being, he didnt want her to feel trapped and didnt want her to feel like she couldnt talk to him. He wanted her to know that he would always be there for her even if fate draws them in opposite directions. The two could end up being mortal enemies but Bear would want to be able to sit down in a neutral place like this coffee shop and just talk if she or he needed it. "No matter what Aris, I will be here for you, I want you to know that. As long as I'm around, you can talk to me..."

Bear had no sound of lies in his voice when he said what he said, he always prided himself on being completely honest no matter the occasion. If she tells Bear that she killed people for fun then asked what he thought, he would want to lie, but he wouldnt be able to. He would want to tell her what she did was ok, but he wouldnt be able to tell her. Even white lies were something Bear had trouble with telling people, it might as well be a mutation for him to only be able to tell the truth. But it wasnt, and Bear is physically able to lie, but he wont let himself. He knows honesty is one of the strongest tools in a discussion and he knows honesty is the best policy between friends.

"Is there anything you want to ask me? I mean, there probably isnt much you dont know... Because I didnt do that much and I dont remember everything since I left... But you can ask me anything Aris, and I'll tell you the truth." Bear let a smile creep across his face as he looked on at his good friend, hoping to be able to give her a light in a dark room just by talking to her. He quickly finished off his mocha and set the empty cup on the table, oddly enough, unable to feel even the slightest warmth from the coffee. Then it hit him, all at once, his mouth felt like it was swollen and on fire, he realized that the coffee was still smoldering hot while he was drinking it and his ability kicked in, thusly allowing him to burn his mouth without knowing. He let out a small groan at the pain before sucking it up and trying to focus on something else, hoping the pain would go away soon or at least dwindle a little so he could speak when she was ready for him to.

As Meld spoke her story she concentrated on Nick's expression, trying to figure out exactly how he was reacting to what she was saying. She had never been the best at reading the expressions of others or divining what they were thinking, except in a battle context, but Nick was her oldest friend so she felt that she could read him better than most. There were differences now of course, he wasn't the person that he was when they were children. It seemed that he had,finally, accpted his being a mutant for one thing. Then there were the scars criss crossing his body, something she never expected to see in her friend. Clearly he was not niave as he once had been. As they both once had been, if she were honest in admitting as much. It was a relief to know just how far he had come and just how much he had grown up, but it was sad too. It was sad that mutants were unable to hang onto their innocencts, no matter what kind of life they lived. Innocencts was something rare to be treasured and hung onto for as long as possible. As a mutant, all too often that wasn't very long at all.

"Aris, I guess I am probably the only one that can even come close to understanding your trouble with losing your sanity. And I'm glad you told me about this... But I have to ask, what did it drive you to do? No matter what Aris, I will be here for you, I want you to know that. As long as I'm around, you can talk to me.."

Meld considered Nick's words and then shook her head sadly. They were easy words to say, that he'd always be there for her, but he didn't know the whole of her mind. He didn't know the monster that lived inside of her, constantly striving to get out and kill and kill and kill. How could anyone possibly accept someone with that kind of creature living inside of them? Because it was something that was alive, a parsite deep within her that used her mind and body to feed itself. The worst part was that it was something that existed inside her own mind, it was some intregal part of herself. As much as she wanted to believe that it was some outside force controlling her, she knew deep down that it was some part of who and what she was. As much as she wanted to kill it off and obliterate its existance, it would be killing off a part of her self. Not only that but it served its purpose, when properly controlled. It was, if she were honest with herself and she made a point always to try to be, it was the part of herself that allowed her to be the utterly ruthless and cold blooded killer that she was.

"How can you say that you'll be here for me, Nick, when you don't even know what's inside me?" The words were spoken with rare emotion, her voice cracking with it. How was it that Nick managed to bring out a part of her that she thought was long dead? "The monster within me, it drives me to kill." Meld took a deep breath and met Nick's eyes struggling, and succeeding, in reigning in her emotion. It was easier to turn off in a life and death situation, but she had been working long years in an effort not to be influenced by her emotions. "When I kill I kill for a purpose, always. Except when my inner monster takes over and then it demands blood and sometimes I can't control it. Sometimes I'm powerless against it, although I haven't allowed it to take control for months." It had been hard, almost impossible at times, but it was a battle she was slowly winning.

"I am trying as hard as I know how to control the monster inside me," Meld finally stated. Her voice was steel and determination. "Not everyone understands what I do or why I do it, but I have a purprose for my actions and despite what the news might tell you, I have morals that are stronger than ever. Sometimes what I do is wrong, but I'm working on that as best as \I know how."

"Is there anything you want to ask me? I mean, there probably isnt much you dont know... Because I didnt do that much and I dont remember everything since I left... But you can ask me anything Aris, and I'll tell you the truth."

Meld took a deep breath in order to try and banish her own personal demons. She could deal with them on their own and her friend needed her. "I know you've been through a lot but...are you going to be ok?" There were very few people she would even care about their well being. "If you need anything you know you need only to ask. If you need a place to stay or money or anything at all, I can help. And if you need help with your own struggle with insantiy, well, I'm not sure how much help I can be but I can at least try. I can offer support because whatever you've done it can't be worse than some of the things that I've done." A distressing truth but a truth never the less.

"How can you say that you'll be here for me, Nick, when you don't even know what's inside me? The monster within me, it drives me to kill. When I kill I kill for a purpose, always. Except when my inner monster takes over and then it demands blood and sometimes I can't control it. Sometimes I'm powerless against it, although I havent allowed it to take control for months." Bear listened instently as Aris described what she was going through, he couldnt help but feel powerless in his attempt to help her. He couldnt, for the life of him, find any part of him that he was willing to reach that could remember what that felt like. Feeling a blood lust or just wanting pain and death just wasnt something his mind could fathom without losing what sanity he had.

"I am trying as hard as I know ho to control the monster inside me. Not everyone understands what I do or why I do it, but I have a purpose for my actions and despite what the news might tell you, I have morals that are stronger than ever. Sometimes what I do is wrong, but I'm working on that as best as I know how." Bear wanted, with all of his being, to be able to understand what she was going through. He wanted to be able to help her but maybe he is helping by simply giving her someone to talk to, someone she could actually get emotional with. With the way she was acting, it seemed like that's all she wanted was for someone to tell her it was ok to cry or just ok to be upset or uncomfortable.

"Aris, before we go on... I just have to say that I'm here for you just so you have someone you can do what you're doing right now, with. I'll be here just for you to talk to. I'll be here to give you a hug when you need one." Bear smiled as he reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder gently, he knew she couldnt feel it but it may help just to know it's happening. "I cant tell you that I know what you're going through, and I honestly cant say that I can relate to that feeling, my monster is something that comes out suddenly, I have no way of controlling it. Someone else probably did that for me..." Bear sighed lightly, pulling his hand back, knowing he was probably making her uncomfortable because she couldnt feel it.

After letting Aris calm down a bit, he asked his question and she responded with something that all Bear could do was smile at. "Aris, I know I can ask you but you should know by now that I cant ask. I'm a proud man who wants to do things on his own. I helped a person yesterday, a person who was tracking a dangerous person. And... I may have a job sometime soon, and if I do, I'll have a place to stay. I want to help mutants just like you do... But I'll have to do it my own way, I learned not to fight unless I needed to. Even though I already knew that.." Bear laughed a bit before leaning back in his chair and looking around at the people in the coffee shop. Obviously there wasnt anybody he noticed but he still didnt trust people.

"I just have to say that it's really nice to see you again. I missed you Old Friend."

Meld knew that there was nothing Nick could do to help her because there was nothing that anyone could do to help her, really. No one could help her except for herself because her problem had to do with something deep inside her. Even Hunter had only shown her how to better help herself, he hadn't actually been able to fix what was wrong with her. No one could fix that and no matter how much progress she happened to make she knew that, at best, she would always be a flawed vessel. The monster would always lurk inside her no matter how much progress she made in locking it away, it would always be there waiting for her to slip up. And the moment she slipped up it would rampage and she would be powerless against its wrath.

Why Meld even decided to speak about her inner creature she couldn't entirely say, except that perhaps she just needed someone to talk to., someone who didn't always expect her to be strong and unmovable. No one in the city knew her as she was and even her closest friend, Aura, had rarely gotten a glimps behind the perpetual mask of strength that she wore. Nick was different though because he had known her since she was a child, since before she had the need to always be the strong and impassive one.

"Aris, before we go on... I just have to say that I'm here for you just so you have someone you can do what you're doing right now, with. I'll be here just for you to talk to. I'll be here to give you a hug when you need one. I cant tell you that I know what you're going through, and I honestly cant say that I can relate to that feeling, my monster is something that comes out suddenly, I have no way of controlling it. Someone else probably did that for me..."

Meld nodded appreciatevly. She had so few people that were actually willing to support her now days. "I do appreciate that and the offer goes double for you. If you ever have any problems, if you ever lose your sanity again, you have only to call on me and I'll be there to help. I don't know how much I can do, but I'll be there by your side regardless." The mind was far from her area of expertise but for the few she considered friends, it was only right that she give her complete and utter loyalty. If nothing else could be done, then that was at least something.

"Aris, I know I can ask you but you should know by now that I cant ask. I'm a proud man who wants to do things on his own. I helped a person yesterday, a person who was tracking a dangerous person. And... I may have a job sometime soon, and if I do, I'll have a place to stay. I want to help mutants just like you do... But I'll have to do it my own way, I learned not to fight unless I needed to. Even though I already knew that..

This time when Meld smiled the smile was genuine. "Its the cause that matters, not the way you go about fighting the cause. I have my role to play and I play it well. I'm sure you have your own role to play and even if its different than mine, its still certain to be important. Very few killers are needed in the furtherance of the cause and in this city I think that Aura and I have that pretty much covered." Her smile turned sardonic at the last statement. Had it covered was probably something of an understatement, given the amount of blood on both their hands. It was, at least, a topic that she was comfortable with, however.

"Its nice to have you in the city again," Meld answered with rare warmth in her voice. "Next time you're in trouble call me and I'll help. I don't want you disappearing from existance all over again. You made me worry."

Bear sat back in his chair, tonguing the roof of his mouth, feeling for the burned flesh from the hot coffee. He winced slightly, touching at a spot on the roof of his mouth particularly burned by said coffee, he couldnt help but to let his mind wander a bit as this was happening. He thought about the time when the two were kids, thought about when Aris first told him of her ability and thought of the first time he told her about his. At the time, he didnt want her to feel like she was the only one but that probably didnt change much. Aris was a strong girl back then, and she is just as strong now, if not stronger.

Bear could hear the strength in her words and her voice as she spoke with him, even when she felt like she could let her guard down, she was still strong. Which, to Bear, is probably the reason he said he'd always be there for her, because no matter what she did, she always had his respect. Everything could change, she could suddenly become a force of good in the world and Bear would have the same amount of respect for her. Which was a great amount. Aris was his best friend when they were growing up, and Bear felt he could still consider her one of his best friends now.

After hearing Aris explain to Bear about having the killing in the city covered with Aura, Bear laughed a bit to himself, not really knowing what to think. Except to think that she was more than likely right, everyone has a purpose and everyone has a reason for the things they do, no matter what each person does, it will always be important in a weird way. In a way of anything that happens always has a cause and effect. "Aris, I will keep that in mind, I dont think I'll be in any trouble any time soon but who knows really... Anything and everything can happen all at once, but I know, if something does happen, I will give you a call. It's nice to have someone you know you can rely on for important things."

Bear grinned a bit, not really knowing what to say next, he knew he wanted to spend more time with Aris but he also knew that sitting in a coffee shop all day really didnt seem like something either of them would want to do. Bear was always relatively active when around people and Aris was always active in general with everything she did. It wouldnt be a surprise to Bear to find out that, this whole time, Aris has been bouncing her knee up and down, just keeping herself going. "So..." Bear finally let thoughts turn to words. "What should we do? Honestly, I dont think either of us wants to sit in this coffee shop all day just talking... We should at least go for a walk or something, I mean heck, I spend all day laying around when I'm home... Rather... When I have a home.. No worries on that though, let's go for a walk or something... And dont you worry, I wont let anything happen to you.." Bear laughed a bit, knowing Aris didnt really need protection considering she was now one of the most renown mutants in New York. Renown, not so much in a good way though.

((Sorry it took so long to post, been lacking personal inspiration... Then I watched Troy and wanted to post... ))

"Aris, I will keep that in mind, I dont think I'll be in any trouble any time soon but who knows really... Anything and everything can happen all at once, but I know, if something does happen, I will give you a call. It's nice to have someone you know you can rely on for important things."

Meld nodded with some relief. Despite her own problems, which sometimes seemed insurmountable, Nick was the one person she didn't want to see in any trouble. He may havebeen more than capable of taking care of himself now but she, of all people, knew that sometimes even the strongest person sometimes needed to be able to accept a little help. It was something that she had difficulty accepting in the past, although things were different now. Now that Nick was back she knew that he was someone she could rely upon, as well as Aura of course and, as unexpected as it had seemed at one point, Lori. After she had accepted help from Hunter months ago, it had become easier to accept help from others. Or at least a few others, those few she felt she could trust.

"We're mutants, Nick, and that means trouble sometimes has a tendency to find us whether we want it to or not. Especially if you're working to help our fellow mutants, and I don't just mean in the manner I work to help them. I know others who are like you, others who try to increase puplic awareness or give mutants a place to stay or any number of other things that haven't hurt anyone and even they have become targets of hatred. If you ever need me I'm there for you." It was a sad reality of the world. Liz, who had never hurt anyone that she knew of, had almost been gunned down by assassins that had come after Meld for no other reason than she was a mutant in the wrong place at the wrong time. Katilyn too, only a little girl, had almost died simply because she couldn't completely control her powers yet. The world wasa brutal and violent place and even the best intentioned sometimes got into difficult situations.

"What should we do? Honestly, I dont think either of us wants to sit in this coffee shop all day just talking... We should at least go for a walk or something, I mean heck, I spend all day laying around when I'm home... Rather... When I have a home.. No worries on that though, let's go for a walk or something... And dont you worry, I wont let anything happen to you.."

"If we stick around here we could certainly go for a walk," Meld agreed. They were still within Order territory and therfore it wasn't too likely that anyone would try to attack her in broad daylight as long as they remained nearby. "Unfortunately I don't go out much during daylight anymore in the city at large. I've recently had assassins come after me. I wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire." If it happened it wouldn't be the first time someone had gotten caught up on her own problems simply for being around her at the wrong time. It would be devistating, however, if she lost Nick so soon after having him return.

((I think I'm actually going to leave this thread here, I dont know what else to add to it unless you want to add a bit... Other than that, sorry for taking so long but we'll talk about a new thread between us...))