He had finally, finally decided that he had enough control over his power to touch another mutant and not automatically switch to that power. His control was still tentative, but he was getting antsy. Would Svetty have forgotten him? What was she even up to these days? She had better not have been kidnapped again...

He chose the least harmful power that he could find (personal invisibility), the best grown up clothes (a leather jacket and jeans was no suit, but it would have to do), and the best flowers (blue roses seemed nicely exotic!).

Now all he had to do was find Svetlana, his long lost love.

Of course, he started at the Iris Apartments. He hadn't realized that they had been trashed. Sebastian must really have been torn up when he said those mean things to him... The next obvious place to look for Svetty would be the Mansion, but he didn't dare go there. Ghost might recognize him.

He wasn't expecting to have to find her... the frenchman looked at the half dozen (they were expensive, okay?) flowers in his hand and wished that he had waited to buy them until after she had sufficiently been romanced.

What was a grown boy to do?

Well, he went invisible and pouted.

Then he caught a glimpse of blonde hair and an idea began to form in his head. All he had to do was check every blonde he ran across until he found her. It would be a needle in a hay stack, but the needle was so worth it.

It was the most romantic, time consuming thing he'd thought of all day so he started invisibly harassing blondes.

Sometimes he didn't even have to get close. Svetty wouldn't dare wear some of those clothes. She wouldn't want to risk the skin exposure. It was getting colder, but not really cold enough to warrant gloves so that was his best indicator. He chased one blonde with gloves all the way to the entrance to Central Park before he realized that she wasn't his blonde.

With a heavy heart and a heavy sigh Jude sat on a bench near the entrance. He'd known that it was a long shot, only a fool's hope, but still he had the image in his mind of the moment he found her. He would have caught her, dipped her and given her the most romantic kiss...

Blue roses that looked slightly harassed materialized on the bench next to the dark haired man who was slowly becoming visible.

Such a beautiful, beautiful autumn day.

Sveta was out for a walk in the park. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. For one, she did not have anything better to do, and two, she was still living with Aurum, and she felt like she needed to give him (and his apartment) some privacy every once in a while.
Also, it was getting late in the fall, and soon there will be no sunshine and crisp air and beautiful colored leafs.

So, she walked. She was wrapped up more than most people, despite the weater; gloves, a light scarf, and her hair pulled back with braids and a small bun. Boots with moderate heels, just in case she decided to walk on the grass instead of the pavement. And a smile.

Muse was smiling. Life was good.

"You look lost, sugar."

She was blonde, but it couldn't be natural. Plus, she was SERIOUSLY OLD. The dog she walked was one of those skinny hounds that were painted in baroque romance era hunts and a leopard spotted fur coat. It was a long shot, but she was wearing gloves.

"My mistake, madam."

"My pleasure." She winked and offered him a card in case he ever "changed his mind." There was no mind to change. He had already given it all over to Svetlana. He ditched the card in the first rubbish bin he came to.

And that's when he saw her. Smiling. Birds chirping. Sun shining. Bundled head to toe with the most adorable hair configuration. He got so excited, he walked straight into the bin in front of him and knocked it noisily into the railing beside it.

When he looked up again, she had already walked far enough away that he could not see her face any more. Was that real? Was it really her?

Jude jogged across the grass to catch up to the woman to be sure. The blue roses trailed pitifully behind.

Someone knocked a bin over. Sveta glanced that way. People were noisy in this city. And careless. Why would someone want to knock a bin over and scatter trash all over the park? That was just not nice.

Sveta rolled her eyes and walked on. Whatever that person was doing she wanted no part of it. In fact, for today, she would have been perfectly content with being left alone. She just wanted to enjoy the weather.

Walking on, she looked around. Food was in order. She did not really want anything fancy; a hot dog would do. She wondered if some vendors would still be around this late in the fall.

She wasn't walking fast, but she always seemed out of reach. Should he call out to her? If it wasn't her, it would be embarrassing like his run in with the cougar. If it was her... how would he begin to explain? Wouldn't it just be easier to look and be sure that it was her before he said anything?

He jogged until he was finally able to pull up next to her, but she was stubbornly not looking at him!

"Excuse me..." Was the best, most neutral thing he could think to say to get to to look at him.

>>"Excuse me..."

Sveta stopped, and looked up. And up.

Wasn't this the guy who just kicked the bin over? Did he need help or something?
Did it matter?

"Umm, yes?" she tilted her head, looking up at him. He easy to look at. A smile played on her lips. She had long given up making friends in the park - the either turned out to be mutants, and thus untouchable, or they ended up kidnapping her. She just gave up on the whole thing, it was safer.

But she did want to hear what he had to say. She had pepper spray in her pocket, just in case.

It... it was her! He grinned stupidly. This was it! This was his moment! He had envisioned it all out.

"I sought..." He had to stop and try again. Maybe it was the exictement, maybe it was the jog, but he was breathless.

"I sought I would never find you." He brought out the flowers and was horrified that the petals were pitifully wilted. Fine. Ditch the flowers. He tossed them aside and lamented the waste of money. Then suddenly it was sweep her off her feet and kiss time... but... well... now that he was here, he was feeling a bit shy...

She had no idea how long he had waited for this. He caught her upper arms in his hands and tried to maneuver them both into the dip he had imagined in his mind, his hand strayed to her face and his power flared to life making him invisible and no doubt making Svetlana look like she was practicing the limbo all on her own.

She wouldn't see it coming, but there were some lips on their way toward hers.

>>"I sought... I sought I would never find you."

Oh damn.
Stalkers. Sveta hated stalkers.

She looked at the flowers. Blue roses. Wait, he brought her flowers?!
The flowers were dropped. Sveta blinked. What the heck.

Then, her arms were grabbed. Oh no. Not good at all.

"Hey..."

She was dipped. Wait, dipped? That was not the usual kidnapping routine...
Oh no. Not that.
Blue eyes went wide as a hand found her face, and he was gone. Except, he was still holding her.
Invisible? Seriously?!

That. Was. It.

"LET ME GO!" she yelled, twisting out of his grasp. That also came with loss of balance, and Sveta fell, rolling away from him before she scrambled to her feet once again "Leave me alone!"

Pepper spray in hand. Of course. But there was a lack of someone to aim at.

She... didn't recognize him. He let her go as soon as she shouted, her words were like a slap.

Well, of course she didn't recognize him! He had grown ten or more years, grown facial hair, he'd even grown a pony tail.

"I... I'm so sorry. I sought..." He thought what? That she would melt into a strangers arms? Stupid! "I sought you were someone else. I— I'm so sorry." Well, that wasn't entirely true, but it was practically true. Her not knowing him as good as translated into that. He was the stranger here.

He needed to do this more slowly than he wanted. He had to start from scratch.

Jude was never going to get a kiss.

He started to become visible, sitting on the grass within arms reach of the flowers. He nudged them with his foot. "You could still have zese, if you wanted zem." How embarrassing.

>>"I... I'm so sorry. I sought... I sought you were someone else. I� I'm so sorry."

Sveta blinked.
Whut?
He thought she was someone else? Boy did he make a mistake. How awkward.
Also. What's with the accent? It sounded vaguely familiar, and it took her a few moments to remember why.

Jude.

This guy was...

French.

He appeared once again, sitting on the grass away from her, and looked... mopy. Sveta put the spray back into her pocket and took a deep breath.
So, this was some romantic reunion gone horribly wrong.
Still better than a kidnapping.

>>"You could still have zese, if you wanted zem."

She looked at the roses. Slowly walking over to him, she leaned down to pick them up.

"Dere is a story about blue roses and a princess" she said, just to herself, and she sighed with a small smile. "Who were these for?"

Well, she was still talking to him. That was a good sign.

"They were for a woman I used to live withs." That was true. They had been in the same apartment. "I loved her, but we were only roommates. She never looked at me as a man." He shifted on the grass uncomfortably. This felt like lying, but somehow it was all true.

"She's moved out now, but I wanted to meet her and... well, I wanted to share my heart withs her." He watched her warily in case she felt like laughing.

>>"They were for a woman I used to live withs. I loved her, but we were only roommates. She never looked at me as a man. She's moved out now, but I wanted to meet her and... well, I wanted to share my heart withs her."

Oh. Romance indeed. Sad romance.
Sveta sighed, and sat down in the grass, out of arm's reach, looking at him.

"I am sorry. Dat sucks." she said, but there was a small smile there anyway, just to make him feel better.

"I know it doesn't really help, but I kind of know how you feel. And too bad for the roses. They are pretty."

French people. They are all for romance. The way he talked reminded her of Jude for a moment, and that made her chuckle. Guys never grow up.

"I'm glad zat someone is enjoying zem." Especially if that person was his Svetty.

Wait, wait... did she say that she knew how he felt? He looked at her curiously and the question burned inside of him. Would a stranger dare to ask?

"What's your story?" Did she love someone else? He would... tape a fish to their air duct where it would rot and stink up his life for making Svetty sad! Yes! He would definitely at least think about doing that.

>>"I'm glad zat someone is enjoying zem."

Well, they were blue roses. They must have cost a fortune. There was once a princess in China... how did that story go?

>>"What's your story?"

Sveta looked up from the roses.

"Well... I can't be touched." she explained "Dat is why your powers kicked in and you disappeared. If someone touches me, stuff happens to them. So, even if I like someone, most of the time it ends up being trouble."

All the time. She never managed to catch a break.
But this was not a pity party, and the weather was still nice. Sveta smiled.

"But, it could always be worse."

Like, how?

"Zat doesn't seem so bad. Nothsing really bad happened when I touched you." He chuckled because, really, this was ridiculous. He shouldn't be deceiving her like this. "Try being invisible to the girl you love... and then invisible to everyone else."

Jude flopped onto his back and folded his arms behind his head. "I sink I'm stuck. Maybe I should just let her go." He tried very hard not to look anywhere near Svetlana when he said that.

"So what did you sink? How was my super romantic technique?" He grinned. Totally romantic, right? Irresistible? He would accept any of those comments of praise as he watched the clouds roll by above his head.