It wasn't always glamorous to be a thief, even if you really didn't HAVE to be a thief. But there was no shame in taking the subway, especially since riding around on a stolen motorcycle that was fairly recognizable was highly ill advised. In fact, Ashley was fairly proud to be able to even go near one after her last experience, being blinded by Cree and brought BACK to The Sanctuary after her little...”tussle” with Isabel, despite not wanting to but...well, being blind kinda limited your choices. But that event was behind her, and setting foot in the subway was all that much easier now that people like Bentley and Andrew were in her life.

She took the time that was spent in the (very) crowded subway to contemplate how her life had changed from homeless street rat to...well, whatever version of a rat she was now. Bentley was a huge part of that, and Andrew was beginning to be. She still stole things rather then pay for them, but that wasn't because she liked to; she just didn't have any real life skills to help her get by. Reading and writing were hard enough, but doing what those cashier people did? Yeah, right.

The train jostled a bit, sending a few unsuspecting people (and some that were sleeping on their feet, Ashley was sure of it) off to the side. A slew of swears and apologies were heard, but when the train shook a little harder, Ashley was pushed forward. She reached out, falling against something soft. She clung to it a bit, liking the smell of lavender that suddenly surrounded her, but when she pushed herself up...she found her hands in a very unlikely place.

On the chest of someone else.

The brunette blink again, her mind suddenly going to all those anime shows she watched while she was at Bentley's, therefore her mind decided to copy them by giving the sizeable globes a small squeeze. Yup, they were real and ever so soft. She could feel the blood begin to rush to her face, the blush intensified by her own perverted thoughts (fueled by said anime) as she looked up into the furious face of the woman who's chest she was now groping.

Furious didn't even begin to describe it.

In fact, Ashley's mind was brought back to those animes yet again because the brunette swore she could see steam coming out of the woman's ears. Her face was red as well, but Ashley could tell this particular shade was because of anger, not embarrassment. The growl she was emitting was also very impressive, and Ashley took that moment to look slightly taken aback, as she didn't know anyone else that could growl as well as she did. But the reality crashed down upon her when blue-green eyes flashed open, and Ashley's face almost went slack at the anger she cold see in them.

“Ummm...sorry.” Ashley meeped out.

It wasn’t often that Emerald took the subway; in fact, she almost never took the subway. Why in the world would she do that when clearly had more methods of transportation? However, today she felt somewhat adventurous and had decided to take the subway, just to see if anything interesting would occur. Partially, because she really looking for someone to fight with and she knew that sometimes fights could break out on the crowded train and she was more than ready for that. She wore her combat boots she had “Borrowed” from an old “Friend” of hers, green tank top with her denim jacket on top (she heard subways got cold.) and jeans and had just a grin on her face that just showed she was ready for almost anything.

Hell, she had just arrived back in New York and she was already looking for a fight!

There’s no place like home I guess. Emerald thought as she stood on the crowded train looking around curiously. She hated all the scents and that came from some of these people, it made her wrinkle her nose in absolute disgust when more got on the train. Maybe having enhanced senses wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The train would jostle and Emerald would keep rooted to her spot, not planning on going toppling over into some half-wits lap anytime soon. She would let out a sigh, mildly unamused by all that was going on around her. This was when she suddenly found an extra weight on her and…someone just groped her.

Yep, someone had enough stupidity to grope the most intimidating chick on the subway. A blush of embarrassment crawled its way across Emerald’s face. No one in their right mind would ever do something like that to her and get away with it. Instincts soon took over and without thinking, she precede to punch the girl that landed on her chest and groped her on the cheek, forgetting about her own strength and knocking her into side of the subway car.

After a few moments of deep breathing, trying to make sure Emerald didn’t maul everyone in the car her normal brain caught up with her anger and wolven instincts. Wait, the car was jostling the girl probably just…ah hell. At that moment, Emerald’s palm hit her forehead, she hated it when she did stupid things sometimes. The wolf girl gazed down at the unconscious girl for a moment, noticing that everyone in the car just happened to be looking at her, she let out a feral snarl just as the car came to a stop.

“What?! What are ya looking at? Get back to your own lives, I got this.” Emerald growled as she took the girl and the girls stuff only to sling it over her shoulder. She left the Subway car, looking like some sort of ruffian, but surprisingly, (Or unsurprisingly for those who knew Emerald well.), no one said a word.

Luckily, the stop was near central park, which was where a great deal of Emerald’s contacts just happened to be. As luck would have it, her friend that had the Ice Cream cart had some ice to spare and had put it in a plastic bag so she would at least be able to treat the fact that not only would this girl wake up with a hell of a headache, but also a hell of a bruise. Em carried the girl to the park where she lay her on a park bench sitting right next to her, because hell she was tired running around New York with a dead weight. She gently placed on bag of ice on the soon to be bruised cheek of the girl’s and then on the top of her head.

All there was for her to do now was to wait until the girl she punched to wake up.

This may take a while.

She did not sleep well and did not dream of large women.

She did, however, some into the world of the living with a hell of a headache that, for some odd reason, seemed totally worth it. She couldn’t exactly remember why, but she did remember the smell of lavender and the swell of a really comfortable yet oddly form breast; the best kind...well, she thought anyways. It was the only way she could describe Isabel's or Bentley's, so she guess she favored that kind of boob.

She opened her eyes with a slight moan, noticing her left eye was a bit slower to open, and didn't really open all the way. Well, that was a bummer. She closed yer eyes again, noticing the smell of lavender again and sighed heavily as she sniffed in as best she could. It really was a great smell, and she was glad she somehow got it on her. She's have to figure out how she could get some...curse Bentley and her sweet smelling ways. She was making her soft.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open as she realized that, hey, how COULD she be surrounded in this perfume when the last thing that she remembered was someone punching her in the face? She sat up, the icepack that was on her gave falling to the ground as she looked around, bewildered, before they settled on the pretty face of the woman that had done said knocking out. Briefly Ashley wondered how she missed the woman entirely in her first frantic moments of looking about but decided she didn't really care at the moment.

“Oh.” Ashley said, brilliantly as always. “Ummm...you. Sorry.”

It was oddly like looking into a slightly distorted mirror. The girl was like a different form of herself, and Ashley was oddly drawn in. She really didn't know what else to say and instead picked up the icepack that had fallen from her face and sat down, her face red from blushing despite the cold the ice pack was emitting. Despite feeling the woman's breasts (which were smaller then Ashley first imagined, but were no less nice) and believing that her actions were worth it, she still felt slight shame. It wasn't even like she did it on purpose.

“You...do this?” Ashley pointed to the icepack she held to her face. “Thanks.”

All there was for her to do now was to wait until the girl she punched to wake up.

The good thing was, it didn’t take that look for the girl to wake up which was good because Emerald really didn’t want to be in central park all day. There were a lot more things she could be doing right now besides taking care of a girl she punched. It’s not like this is her first time punching someone on accident, but she felt bad for the girl because she had sort of knocked her into the side of a subway car. That was a new one In Emerald’s book and it needed to be treated, at least by ice. The girl who groped her look apologetic and while Emerald did appreciate that, she was the one who punched the girl in the first place.

Then the girl thanked her and Emerald couldn’t help but smile at that. At least a few people now new she wasn’t all that bad. Though it probably looked like she was carrying some sort of dead body back to her lair to eat it to some people who didn’t know her very well. This was all in the life and times of a wolf mutant, common misconceptions and accusations that make no sense the mutant but perfect sense to the outside world.

A sigh escaped her lips, tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear. “Don’t worry about it, It was the least I could do for knocking the hell out of you,” Emerald replied, a sheepish grin on her face. “I guess I forget my own strength sometimes. Wolven instincts ya know? I carried you up here so at least if anyone accuses me of running off the Subway with a dead body, you can tell them otherwise,”

Emerald laughed out loud, her deep voice echoing in the small area of the park that they were in. Despite her mirth at the situation her eyes showed that she was worried about that, so many people had accused her of similar things before she wouldn’t been surprised if it happened again.

“So want me to get you anything else? I want to make sure ya don’t have a concussion or anything.” She inquired, guilt still on her face.

Ashley shook her head, still slightly enthralled with the woman before her. She was a redhead too, something Ashley found...enticing. She blinked rapidly after a few moments of rude staring and looked away, letting her hair fall to mask her expression from the woman that had knocked her unconscious. While most times Ashley would have retaliated, she knew that maybe she took just a tad bit longer to let go of the woman's breasts and she probably deserved to be punched. But she wasn't going to admit that. Well...not now anyways. Maybe when they could look back on this and laugh.

>>“So want me to get you anything else? I want to make sure ya don’t have a concussion or anything.”

After this came another bout of rude staring. Sure, the woman was easy on the eyes, but after all that talking Ashley had to take a moment to take it all in. Okay...most of it was comprehensible, but the wolven instincts thing confused her. Maybe she was a mutant, yeah? Well, okay...Ashley could dig that. She'd never met a wolf mutant, and she was quite curious how that all worked out. But she kept her questions in check and instead shook her head.

“No.” Ashley responded. “You're...nice. To me. For this.”

Ashley knitted her eyebrows. She really didn't know how to continue the conversation but didn't want it to end. The girl's very being was pulling Ashley towards her and she wanted to figure out what it was. This wasn't the torrent of emotions that Isabel had unlocked inside of her. This wasn't the flood of feelings that Bentley made her feel for them and their relationship. This was something else, and to say Ashley was a tad irritated that she didn't know what it was would be an understatement.

It was times like this that Ashley wished she was a better conversationalist...hell, she always wished that. But the red haired beauty still looked slightly guilty over the misunderstanding, but Ashley didn't really know what else to say on the matter. She wanted to get up and just walk away, reassuring the woman that everything was cool and they were square...but she didn't know where they were at.

“I'm Rhythm.” Ashley blurted out, feeling like an idiot and the shade of her face reflected that. “And...you're soft. What...what's your name?”

Soft? SOFT?! Really? What happened to mentioning it when they could look back on all this and laugh? And while Ashley looked at the exotic woman beside her, her brain was warring with itself for saying something as stupid as that. And so she did what Ashley normally did; blushed bright red but acted as if nothing happened.

It was good that the girl was was alright not many people could be punched by Emerald Lupin and be conscious enough to talk about it. It was good she didn't give her a concussion because that would have resulted in another whole mess of trouble for Emerald. This was something Emerald didn't need especially after she had been gone for so long besides, her “Headmaster” at Xavier s school probably wasn't to fond of the fact she was on a break for as long as she was.

Though he could deal with it.

Okay, so maybe Emerald was a bit too hard on the new headmaster but things weren't what they used to be at the mansion. Though she was getting sidetracked, the girl told her that there was nothing more that was needed and that Emerald was begin to nice to her for this. She didn't think so herself, she could have easily been nicer but that wasn't in Emerald's nature.

“Don't worry about it, stuff happens, I punch people, I guess it all worked out in the end right?” Emerald asked with a wolfish grin, sharp teeth showing. Her tail began to wag back and forth as she looked down at the girl.

She would notice that the girl's eyes lingered on her an awfully long while at a point but Emerald didn't think much of it. People stared at her all the damn time, she wasn't exactly normal looking, far from it actually. So there was no surprise that she was begin stared at. In fact, she was surprised that not more people had stopped to look at her while she was nursing the girl she punched back to life. Guess today was a busy day in New York, or everyone was just too damn busy to care. Ether way, Emerald didn't really take to much notice, she did notice though. The girl finally introduced herself and then told the wolf girl something rather...funny.

All at once, Emerald burst into laughter, her laughter sounded like a harsh bark at first but then returned to normal. Her tail was wagged back and forth widely as she laughed, obviously she took no offense to the comment.

“The name's Emerald, nice to meet ya,” Emerald told her, before she snickering a little. “Soft? Really? The only person that has ever called me soft was my little sister. Most people think I am a damn terrifying monster, but I guess this is an all right change of pace. Though, if you tell anyone else I'm soft I doubt they will believe you.”

To Emerald this seemed like the beginning of one strange friendship, which she didn't mind. She needed more friends in this crazy world, she needed a pack. Emerald also needed a mate, but her lack of Alpha male possibilities were not something she wanted to think about at the moment. The smile that had briefly disappeared from her face had returned and she was ready for anything.

The girl's sharp bark of laughter surprised Ashley, enough the point where she jumped a bit when she heard it. But it eventually evened out, and it was then that Ashley noticed this woman had a tail. Okay...that was something she'd deal with as it came. Not everyday you saw a tail on an attractive woman, but...that was cool. Tail. Got it.

>>“The name's Emerald, nice to meet ya. Soft? Really? The only person that has ever called me soft was my little sister. Most people think I am a damn terrifying monster, but I guess this is an all right change of pace. Though, if you tell anyone else I'm soft I doubt they will believe you.”

Monster? Ashley took a moment to really look at the woman she was speaking with and...well, she couldn't find anything that would indicate such a thing just by looking at her. Maybe her actions, yeah, and while Ashley felt she may have deserved the hit, that didn't mean Emerald knew of Ashley's despite to...grope this woman in any way, and therefore could have all been chalked up to an accident. Instead, Emerald had taken an extreme route, but...well, Ashley might have done the same thing, right?

She doubted it. But for some reasons he felt like making excuses for the owner of such a pretty tail.

“Dun think yer monster...” Ashley mumbled under her breath a bit, as if saying it would make the blush on her face more intense. “Helped me, after. That's nice.”

She tried not to think of the tail and how much it fascinated her, but the thoughts were a bit overwhelming. For one, she wondered how a woman would even get a tail and what such a power would entail (ha!). The silence between them continued, a little less awkward but still tense enough to let Ashley know that maybe she should either leave or get the conversation going again to some degree.

“Ummm...” Ashley stumbled a bit, and her brain defaulted on this, as her brain was wont to do, and said the first thing that came to mind. “Can I...touch tail?”

Oh. Brilliant. She's probably never heard that before.

There was of course the silence between the two girls which Emerald was prepared for. It’s not everyday someone was punched by a more or less a werewolf, then was nursed back by said werewolf who was awfully apologetic for punching them. It was a lot to take in. Well at least the girl didn’t seem to bothered by it. Emerald would occasionally catch the nearby scent of a passing squirrel or a jogger from several yards away but it was nothing to worry about luckily. The last thing she needed was an unwelcome encounter with one of her many. “Fans” as she liked to call them. These fans of hers were better known as “Crazies.” Or “Unethical mutant haters.” Or as Emerald Liked to call them, “Crazy ass people who just like to bug me.”

It was funny though how Rhythm didn’t seem to be bothered too much by the wolf girl. Which was a new thing for Emerald, at least as of late that is, she smiled in response and decided not ot say anything, it was best the girl found out on her own. Though there was a request that the wolf girl had never heard before.

“Touch my tail?” Emerald asked with very confused look on those sharp features of hers. She had to think on this one, why in world would anyone want to touch her tail? It wasn’t even that spectacular it was just black furred tail. It used to have red in it but since the little incident not to long ago the red all but faded out after her mutation about this time a year ago. Her tail was thick though and it was a wolf’s tail so maybe that was the attraction? Emerald really didn’t know but none the less she shrugged a bit. “I guess if you want to, just don’t tug it alright?”

The werewolf couldn’t help but think about the last time her tail was touched in a non threatening sort of way. It was a nice calm stroke, that made it wag happily. Her tail was sort of sensitive that way, well several ways. Emerald shook her head a little at some of the other ways her tail was sensitive, “Special” Ways her brain then not so subtley reminded her. “Quit thinking about that stuff. Your’e not getting that anytime soon. Unless your ideal mate drops out of the sky.” Emerald thought, as she let out a sigh.

>>“Touch my tail? I guess if you want to, just don’t tug it alright?”

Ashley could barley contain her glee as she reached out and touched the tail, tentatively at first but then began a steady stroke of the waggling appendage. She didn't know why this brought her so much pleasure, but it did. It suddenly made her want to pet the woman herself, but she didn't dare ask. After all, the redhead considered herself to be stock full of common sense. And while Emerald seemed friendly enough (despite the punching) she didn’t wanna push her luck.

“Soft.” she murmured, tilting her head a bit. “Very soft...”

She lost herself in the stroking of Emerald's tail. She was beginning to think that every part of Emerald was soft, from the parts she'd accidentally groped to the fluffy tail that protruded from the woman's back...behind...whatever. She didn't know how tails on people worked, after all, and really didn't plan on asking Emerald about it. Still, she looked up, her hand resting on the base of the tail, gently squeezing and petting it. She couldn't help but think that maybe Emerald was enjoying the attention to her tail a bit too much, and the though didn't bother Ashley as much as she thought it should have. She was, after all, petting a tail. On a woman.

“You're...mutant, yes?” Ashley asked, looking back down to the tail to avoid Emerald’s intense and piercing gaze. “Ummm...puppy mutant, yeah?”