"Adults can stay zere too. Just usually people sink adults should be able to take care of zemselves." That didn't mean that they always could or even that they were always as adult as they looked, but Jude shrugged it away.

And Chase agreed to go visiting. Jude planned to take him to the Mansion first. He seemed like a good kid and good kids belonged at the Mansion. What that said about Jude who had left, he wasn't quite sure.

Residue, hmm? Jude inspected the hat. It didn't look too gross. In fact, it looked like a normal hat. But Chase wanted him to put it on. So he did.

It felt snug on his head at first and then he felt the twinge. Something made a tight twisting sound like leather and with a start, Jude realized that is was his skin. Little packets of flesh sort of like the internal bits of an orange started twisting. The outer bits of his body were moving while the inside of him sat on the bench.

It was unnerving as hell.

Jude knocked the hat off his head in hopes that would stop the sensation and stop the shift. He understood now. This kind of changing was a little different than anything else he'd experienced so far.

It was absolutely bizarre to watch someone shift just as you did. To watch someone else as their skin separated into tendrils and began surging forward on their own accord. The shift didn't get very far. In a panic, Jude brushed the hat off of his head, his expression quite blatant on his face. He looked thoroughly bothered, maybe grossed out.

Chase didn't know how to react. He was disappointed, because he'd wanted to see someone shift just like he did, to see from a spectator's standpoint... But the man chickened out.

Chase simply frowned and retrieved his hat, wedging it back on his head. He supposed that he understood-- Jude hadn't been shifting like that his whole life, so the feeling of your skin writhing like that was probably quite unnerving. Chase sat back down on the bench, polishing off his last remaining lunch. What had Jude expected? That he'd instantly look like someone else in a poof of sparkles? Not hardly.

"I guess it will take some getting used to," Chase said sagely, nodding his head. He took a sip of his drink, sighing faintly. One simple reaction was all that it took for Chase to clam up once again. All that work that Jude had steadily been doing to open Chase up? They were back to square one. Because the way that Chase shifted grossed him out, which, in a sense, meant that Chase grossed him out, "But you get my point, right? No borrowing clothes?"

Jude nodded quite seriously. This boy had very nearly de-aged him even younger than he should have been. That was close. Way, way too close. "I understand. Sorry, I just... don't want to go through puberty again."

So, no borrowing clothes. At least no borrowing clothes from little kids. He could probably contain himself in that department. But one look at the kid and Jude knew he was loosing him. The power copier couldn't afford to lose him. He'd looked for so long for that ability!

"I don't mind trying somesing else. Or someone else. I would appreciate it if you would tutor me, just... I want to stay zis age. It was hard enough to get here in the first place." The frenchman smiled uneasily. The only way to gain trust was to give it. "I recently had to live as an eleven year old. No offense, but being a kid once is enough."

>> "I understand. Sorry, I just... don't want to go through puberty again... I don't mind trying somesing else. Or someone else. I would appreciate it if you would tutor me, just... I want to stay zis age. It was hard enough to get here in the first place."

Chase listened as Jude explained himself, his excuse not quite what Chase had expected. He stared at him mutely. Wait, so it wasn't the shift? Chase was so self-conscious, so that was the first direction that his mind had wandered. And what the heck was puberty? He nodded slowly, as if he understood.

"You weren't grossed out?" Chase countered hesitantly, "Just worried about being a kid-?" He continued to watch Jude as he explained, "You wouldn't be stuck as a kid. The form would slip once you took my hat off... Wouldn't have to go through-" He twirled his hand absently, having already forgotten the word.

Now that he thought of it, which Chase would Jude have looked like, if he had gone through with the shift-- human-him or normal-him?

>> "I recently had to live as an eleven year old. No offense, but being a kid once is enough."

"What's wrong with being a kid?" Chase asked. He didn't sound offended, just perplexed. Adults always talked about how nice it was to be a kid, and none of them ever sounded like they didn't want to go back... Chase just didn't understand it.

Had he been grossed out? "Uhm. I did mention zat I lived in a dumpster for a while, right? It was odd. Never felt like zat before, but worths it for the benefit of ze power."

As the issue of getting stuck as a kid, "I change powers. If I changed to a new one and looked like a kid, trust me. I'd stay a kid." Jude proooobably had the control to resist changing powers, but if one wandered by when he was dealing with that weird wiggly sensation he doubted that he would have a choice.

"I have to be careful if I want to stay looking like myself. Zat's why I was so happy to find you. If I get stuck with bug eyes, I'd really want to come see you to get my eyes back. I'd borrow your power, change back to me and zen probably switch away to somesing else so I wouldn't have to hold it." Make sense? Didn't really matter if it didn't. It made sense to Jude.

>"What's wrong with being a kid?"

"Nothsing is wrong withs being a kid, but..." but how to explain it... "How do you feel about girls?"

>> "Uhm. I did mention zat I lived in a dumpster for a while, right? It was odd. Never felt like zat before, but worths it for the benefit of ze power."

Not exactly the reassurance Chase was looking for, but at least it was a negation. He half-smiled, picking at a worn area on the knee of his jeans. The answer was good enough, for at least Jude hadn't loudly proclaimed that, yes, he'd been scared silly by the crawling skin. At least he was honest-- Chase much preferred honesty over pandering.

>> "I change powers. If I changed to a new one and looked like a kid, trust me. I'd stay a kid."

Chase sighed. Jude's power was more complicated than he thought. He admitted to this, too.

"That's confusing. I always turn back to normal."

Chase was never stuck looking one way or the other. He always reverted back to normal, and wasn't Jude an ability copier? Or was this some sort of spin that his mutation put on Chase's? Had Chase been any the wiser, he might have realized that perhaps Jude was originally an eleven-year-old, rather than temporarily being one... and that by shifting to Chase, when he reverted, he'd revert back to being the same kid that he was before... but, to Chase, Jude was just an adult, being tricky the way that adults were.

>> "I have to be careful if I want to stay looking like myself. Zat's why I was so happy to find you. If I get stuck with bug eyes, I'd really want to come see you to get my eyes back. I'd borrow your power, change back to me and zen probably switch away to somesing else so I wouldn't have to hold it."

Chase smiled at the bug eyes example once again, nodding his head to show that he'd understood. He was glad to be helpful, to be of some use to somebody else.

>> "Nothsing is wrong withs being a kid, but... how do you feel about girls?"

Chase gave Jude another odd gaze, expression blatantly uncertain.

"What do girls have to do with it?" he inquired blatantly, tilting his head. He indulged Jude, though, gave his answer more thought than just firing a question right back at him, "Geez, I don't know... I haven't thought about girls much... They're, um, loud, I guess. And weird... And smart, but in a scary way..." He broke off, reviewing his answer to see if it was adequate by Chase-standards. There were even some girls that he thought were pretty, but Chase was far too shy to ever admit to that-- particularly with the cooties and all of that. Instead, he opted for a more guy-worthy conclusion of, "Some girls are pretty... cool, though. Sometimes. As long as they don't try and dress you up."

He nodded, glancing towards Jude for an explanation, that had been a thorough explanation of what Chase, as an eight-year-old boy, thought of girls.

"You always turn back to normal because you always have your power. Imagine it like you get stuck." He'd certainly gotten stuck with unwanted mutations before.

And of course, of course Chase wanted to know what girls had to do with it. "Girls have everysing to do withs it. I love a grown up girl. She would be very sad if I became a little boy." Okay. He didn't know that she would be sad, but he hoped she would be sad. Or... at least notice. He sighed.

"Let's get you to ze Mansion. See if zey have any rooms you like." Jude stood. His woman-woes would be wasted on a kid, but that didn't mean that they didn't have plenty to talk about still.

"So what do you do? When you're not running away or changing skin?" The frenchman started to hail a taxi, but remembered the few dollars in his billfold. He had a bus card. That would have to do. He led them to a bus shelter and checked the schedule. Not too horrible. They could wait. "I like basketball, but I'm a little too short to be any good." Though, 5'10" was a serious improvement over his previous 4'4".

>> "You always turn back to normal because you always have your power. Imagine it like you get stuck... Girls have everysing to do withs it. I love a grown up girl. She would be very sad if I became a little boy."

"Oh, got it..." Chase answered, even though he really didn't. Yeah, Jude's power was really confusing. He still didn't understand what girls had to do with it though-- or, specifically, what his personal opinion of girls had to do with anything. But Jude's reasoning made some sense.

>> "Let's get you to ze Mansion. See if zey have any rooms you like."

"Okay," Chase smiled. They were going to a mansion! How exciting. As the two of them left the park, Chase trailed beside Jude, keeping his pace brisk so that he could keep up with Jude. They made their way to a bus shelter, and Chase nosily peered past Jude at the bus schedule, watching as Jude checked it.

>> "So what do you do? When you're not running away or changing skin? I like basketball, but I'm a little too short to be any good."

"Lot's of stuff," Chase trailed speculatively, "Sports, running, climbing things. I like building things, too. And games." There were other things, too, like puzzles and arts-and-crafts, or reading, but those weren't things that lots of guys liked, "I'm not very good at basketball." Which was kind of a given-- not only was Chase short, but he was scrawny. The taller, heavier guys just sort of steam-rolled right over him in basketball.

A bus came and went, but it wasn't the right number. Jude double, triple checked just in case as they waited.

"I feel zat running is more fun in a game withs a goal. Running just to run iz frustrating." The frenchman shrugged. "I never was good at legos or building anysing eithser." Really, his skill set was rather small. In the future he'd been a professional mutant. Now, here he was, mutant again. It wasn't a very marketable skill, but he'd made a living off it before...

Before he could get too philosophical on the subject their bus arrived. Jude swiped his card twice, once for each of them and then took a seat. "I wouldn't touch anysing you don't have to." He warned Chase with a smile. "Lots of people. Maybe worse zan putting on a hat."

Though he was curious what either one of them might look like if they held onto a handrail or something. Maybe half-asian with a blonde afro and blue eyes? "Would you only turn into one person? If you touch somesing in here? Or a mix of anybody and everybody?"

Just before the exchange of hobbies could get far more in-depth than any eight-year-old would have ever wanted, the bus arrived, and Chase trailed after Jude into the big, metal monster. He plopped himself down directly beside Jude, eyes roving about curiously. Out of all of his time within the city, he'd never once gone into the buses.

>> "I wouldn't touch anysing you don't have to. Lots of people. Maybe worse zan putting on a hat... Would you only turn into one person? If you touch somesing in here? Or a mix of anybody and everybody?"

"It doesn't work like that," Chase replied, shaking his head, "One person's residue has to be dominant, or else all you get is mud... kind of like..." Chase dug for a proper analogy, "Like, if you put your dinner into a blender. You wouldn't be able to taste each individual thing, it'd just be goop. That's what it's like with residues in public. I can't read anything, nothing happens."

The bus thundered to life, lurching forward, and Chase let his eyes rove towards the outside, towards the enormous windows along the sides of the bus. They were up so high off of the ground... Chase folded his hands in his lap, and propped his feet up off of the chair in front of him, so that his knees were pressed into his chest.

"Zat's good. I wouldn't want to turn into goop." Jude still eyed the railing with serious distaste. The bus was just so... undignified. In a way it was fun. The giant metal carriage sighed and groaned like a monster and if they got going faster than the people walking outside then everything inside got all bouncy.

Chase seemed happy to see the people roll past. Jude tried to keep a responsible eye on the stop. Eventually they pulled out of town and up to a rather lonely looking bit of grass next to the corner of a brick wall.

"Zis is it." Jude stood and realized that there wasn't anyone left on the bus but the two of them. Well, the Mansion wasn't exactly central to the city. "Zis is only ze corner. It's a little bit of a walk to get to ze gate... sorry." Busses didn't make stops where it was convenient for people. Only where it was convenient for the busses.

>> "Zat's good. I wouldn't want to turn into goop."

Chase smiled and giggled. Jude said somethings that were really funny. Or, at least, they sounded when funny when Jude said them. He'd have to ask him why he spoke so funny later. Maybe after he said something else funny-sounding. As the bus continued to rocket down the road, Chase watched as the world flew past the windows. It was fun to ride in cars or buses. You could get to places faster than just walking, which had been Chase's primary mode of transportation ever since Syracuse.

The bus came to a halt at a particularly bleak-looking corner. Chase trailed off of the bus behind Jude, gaze roving about inquiringly. So, where was this place?

>> "Zis is it. Zis is only ze corner. It's a little bit of a walk to get to ze gate... sorry."

At first, Chase was confused. Was this man pulling his leg? this wasn't a mansion, this was a street corner. But then, when Jude clarified that they would have to walk to the gate.

"That's alright," Chase assured the ability copier. He walked. A lot. Walking wasn't as much of a big deal to him as it was to people that could afford the commodity of taking some other form of transportation. He waited for Jude to lead the way, in one direction or another, before trailing along beside him once again.

The grass was always greener on the inside of the walls of the Mansion. Literally. They had plant mutants for that kind of thing. Jude couldn't wait to show the kid.

"Zis is se outer wall. If you ever need to sneak out, I know a good spot zat only fits ze smaller kids."

Jude pat the brick structure as they walked along. He hadn't been back here since he'd left, but he didn't think it would be a problem now that he was an adult. It wasn't like they could claim he needed a guardian or something.

The grass grew higher closer to the wall. It had to be harder to trim. But the closer they got to the gate, the better everything was manicured. Manicured not cut or trimmed. It was far too perfect for such mundane words.

He stopped at the massive wrought iron gate that would open for cars and let Chase get an eye full of the beautiful lawn and shrubs and far up the gravel drive, the massive building itself. "I was a student here, not too long ago." And that's how he knew not to bother with the car gate and the buzzer. He went straight to the pedestrian gate and typed in the four digit code. He did it slow so Chase could see.

The door opened and they were free to roam the lawn. A mutant with mossy green hair seemed to be wrestling with a human sized gecko over by the clumps of irises off in the side yard, but other than that not too many people were out doors this time of day. Must have been in class.

"Welcome to ze Mansion. Most everyone is a mutant here even zough you don't have to be to attend."

>> "Zis is se outer wall. If you ever need to sneak out, I know a good spot zat only fits ze smaller kids."

Chase smiled openly. He liked the way that Jude thought. Ever the runaway, he was always keeping his eye on ways that he could get in and out of the Mansion. Most adults wouldn't tell a runaway how they could come and go as they pleased. Just because Jude had, Chase was liking him more and more. The two of them followed the wall towards the front gate, and Chase let his gaze wander.

They came to gate, and his gaze widened. It was like something you'd see in a magazine, some posh castle on the English countryside, or something to that persuasion. Chase lagged behind as they went to the pedestrian's gate, watching as Jude punched the code in. He committed the number to memory, and the two of them continued onward.

>> "Welcome to ze Mansion. Most everyone is a mutant here even zough you don't have to be to attend."

"There are humans here, too?" Chase reiterated. He was about to ask why, but that was before he spied the two mutant boys that were rough-housing on the lawn.

"They... they..." he trailed, tilting his head at the two, older mutant boys. They look different, was what Chase wanted to say, they look funny. And, they were just fine with it. He looked funny, too, though. Chase observed, "That boy has green hair. That other boy looks like a lizard."

At least, Chase thought the lizard-kid was a boy. Chase rubbed his face, his eyes scintillating with delighted fascination. Yeah, he hadn't seen many other mutants.

"Could you change into a lizard man?" They crunched up the drive and the reason for the boys' fight became clear. Someone had squashed someone else's plants. The green haired one was trying to stuff a bunch of wilted and uprooted flowers into the gecko's mouth. "Yep. You'll get used to it eventually."

Jude snickered and pointed out the large tree next to the wall that had compromised the dirt beneath the barrier. "I found zat when I was a student here." Ohhh just a couple months ago? It felt like years.

"You have to be careful of ze night time defenses. Zey're meant to keep people out, but sometimes work to keep you in." Good advice from one runaway to another.

And then they were at the grand front entrance. Jude pulled open the wooden portal and flourished his hand for Chase's amusement. The front hall was tiled and sported a fancy looking chandelier. "To ze left, library. To ze right, Administrative offices. Do you need a tour before you decide?" He might or might not since he had an escape route handy.