Noel could run harder, farther, and longer now. It was possible that training with Sebastian was putting the security guard in the best shape of her life. Everyday they trained and every night they sparred. After her fight with the shadow manipulator, they'd even gone over tactics to fight multiple enemies at once. The golden rule seemed to be: Don't get outnumbered in the first place.
 
The strap that held her sword to her back rubbed a red line across the exposed skin at the neck of her racerback. Keeping the sword on her back allowed her to 1) keep the weapon on her person at all times as she was instructed and 2) move and run and not get the thing tangled in her legs. It made for an awkward draw, but at least she had it.
 
Pacing along and running through her historical memories of what feint or dodge might be good to try on Sebastian had so occupied her mind, that Noel found herself in an unfamiliar, residential area.
 
She could run harder, farther, and longer now. Unfortunately, that meant she could end up farther away. Noel slowed to try to get her bearings.

Sam made his way down the three flights of steps that lead from the flat his family was renting to the street. Oh sure there was an elevator in the building but he was always uneasy using the damned things on his own. They always made him wonder what he would do if ever he got stuck. It wouldn’t really do to become not only a mutant but a claustrophobic one to boot. So the stairs it was and to be honest the exercise probably did him some good. He was not really a sporty type and although his Asiatic genes meant that he didn’t easily put on weight, it was always good to burn off a few extra calories.

New York smelt and felt strange to him. He had lived in two very different big cities so far but New York did not feel like either of them. First of all everything was so tall, if you wanted to see the top of most of the buildings you have a sore neck in about two minutes. So even though the buildings towered over you the whole time, you kind of had to pretend that they stopped after the first two floors. Then there was the sheer number of people, they were everywhere all of the time. It was like living in Oxford Street in London on a permanent basis.

He had only just moved, although when you thought about it “moved” wasn’t really the right word more like been deposited, here with his mother and step father a few days earlier. He hadn’t wanted to come but he figured that being negative about the whole thing would just make life harder to deal with, so he tried to make the best of it. At least it wasn’t snowing, which would have made getting around a whole lot less fun. And seeing as he had a nice long list of errands to run today he was grateful for small mercies.

He had been glad for the excuse to get away from his step dad and had made his way out of the flat and into the street in record time. But now that he was outside he stared at the white piece of paper with the neatly writing list on it with dismay. Where was he supposed to start? Where would he get half of this stuff? Things like food were ok; they had found the local convenience store on the first day, but stupid things like buy more socks? Who forgot to pack more than two pairs of socks anyway?

So for a minute he just stood in the street, in the middle of the small flow of busy New Yorkers coming or heading to work, looking at a white sheet of paper as if it could give him answers.

Looking at the street sign did Noel no good. She didn't know residential roads, they had names and didn't make nearly as much sense as the numbered grid of Manhattan. The wind gusted through strangers, each on a mission, and chilled Noel the longer she stood still. She zipped up her hoodie, but it was practically useless against the building funneled winds. If she just kept running, she could keep warm. She could also get more lost.
 
"Excuse me." The man she had touched gently at the elbow shook her off and walked faster. She wasn't begging or anything. Geez.
 
"Excuse— I'm sorry, I'm— Do you know the way to—?" Every time she asked, she walked with the strangers for a moment and each time she asked, she got more and more forcefully ignored.
 
Frustrated, Noel finally spotted someone who was standing entirely still. The asian seemed to have stopped in order to read his piece of paper, but that did not interest Noel. His juicy, juicy memories of the area did. She trotted up to the stranger and dipped her head toward the area between his face and his paper so that she would register in his peripheral vision. 
 
"Hi." Once she had his attention, she reached out to put her cold hands on either side of his face so that she could give him a kiss. 
 
She just wanted directions.

Well no matter how hard he started the words written on the piece of paper still read: soup, lettuce, socks, washing powder. There was obviously no help to be found there but Sam was pretty stubborn. If this were London where would he start? Probably by getting on the tube, he knew where the nearest underground station was. But then where did you go from there? The city center where he was sure to find things seemed like an okay idea but it did seem like a lot of hassle for some socks. He wished he could just stare the words right off the page but that was not going to happen. There was always the good old “oops I forgot those” routine but that would bring more grief than it was worth. Looked like the underground it was, he’s figure the rest out as he went.

But before he had had the time to move someone appeared in front of him. A woman, with brown hair, squinted up at him.

“Hi.”

Under normal circumstances he would have had the time to return the greeting, but it appeared normal was not what he was in for today. The word “hello” formed and died instantly on his lips as she reached out and laid her hands on either side of his face. His first and most basic reaction was “argh cold” but that was very quickly replaced as she started to pull closer. He felt his pupils dilate as she pulled his face closer to hers.

And he was taken back to that day in the dance studio, the day when all of this had started. It had been the first time he had been aware of wearing someone else face. Panic rushed through him, had he activated his power without realizing. He thought he had that under control now. Did she think he was someone else? That terrible feeling of wrongness created a knot in the pit of his stomach. How could this be happening again?

Then again this was the strangest kiss he had ever been pulled towards. Normally girls knew there was something wrong. He only looked like someone else, he still felt like Sam. And this girl was staring him in the eye, which was weird as well. When you kissed your lover didn’t you close your eyes? Everything was going too fast for him to understand, panic was foremost in his mind.

Then it happened and things went from bad to worse. He felt that strange prickling sensation behind his eyes and knew that his mutation had not been active… until now. Who had he changed into, into who’s eyes was this woman now staring?

Noel pressed her lips against his and he just… let her. He looked like he had wanted to say something before and Noel did feel a little guilty about that, but mostly she was trying to focus on his knowledge of the surrounding area as she deepened her oddly dispassionate kiss.

He knew where the subway was. His family's apartment where he was staying sat a few paces back. He'd found a convenience store nearby too. No street names, but she had landmarks at least. The subway, if nothing else, could get her back to a place she recognized. He must have been new in town.

She separated their faces and grinned. "Thanks I—" Her appreciation melted as soon as she recognized him.

The man she was looking at… Sebastian? She pressed her lips together in confused frustration and whapped him on the arm. "Why didn't you say something! I could have just asked you." But… Sebastian didn't have a family or an apartment. He lived for free in her rented room and his wife was some lady he'd married just to stay in the States and then had never seen again.

The memories she had just seen and the man standing in front of her didn't match up.

She had her hands on his face before and this man didn't have a beard. Looking at him now, it speared as if he had a goatee as nice and white and trim as Sebastian always kept his. She put her hand back on his face just to check… yeah. That… wasn't there.

"That's remarkable. You look just like him, but you're not him at all." The strangest part of her realization was that Noel sounded thoroughly relieved.

Yes, they shared a mattress, but they mostly slept in separate shifts. Yes, he had kissed her before, but she had also hit him in the face with a rotary phone for doing so. She had developed a deep respect for the man. The respect of a mentor and teacher was above a smooch for directions. He would have given those freely and verbally, unlike any of the other passersby.

She might as well have kissed her own dad. Yech! Noel wiped her lips just for good measure before huddling back in against herself to try to keep warm. "Is that some kind of self defense trigger or something?"

Despite the fact that he knew this was probably going to end horribly, it didn’t take away from the fact that Sam found this whole situation completely absurd. He had been in New York no more than a couple of days and he was already been kissed, all be it in a very businesslike way, by some stranger in the street. Well at least it was a woman; he didn’t think he could have handled locking lips with some strange guy. Not that he was really handling the situation as it was; it was more like it was handling him.

She deepened her kiss for a second before finally pulling away from him. She had a pleasant face when she smiled and she wore a wicked grin for a second before confusion took over. He just stared back and waited to see what was going to happen next. Had she really mistaken him for someone else? He knew that his power had not been active when she had first approached him, but that did not remove the fact that he could actually just naturally resemble someone else. People back in England used to tell him that Asian’s all looked the same as far as they were concerned. So it was possible that it was just a simple mistake.

"Why didn't you say something? I could have just asked you."

She hit him lightly on the arm. Ok so now he was sure that she thought he was someone else. Well he would have to admit that now he did look like someone else… man this whole thing was giving him a headache. What should he do next, play along? Try and tell her she had the wrong person? No first continue to wait and see where things were going.

He could tell that something was still bothering her. She was squinting at him as if she knew something was wrong but could not quite put her finger on it. Finally her hand came slowly back up to his face and traced its way along his jaw. As she did that the confusion that had been marring her features faded.


"That's remarkable. You look just like him, but you're not him at all."

The remarkable thing, in Sam’s eyes, was that she could just stand there and say that. Not only had she worked out what has happened but she almost seemed relieved that he was just some crazy mutant wearing someone else’s face rather than the person in question. That was the first time that someone had that reaction. Normally people felt that he had somehow violated their privacy and hated him for it. As she settled down against the cold he did feel a little hurt that she should feel the need to wipe her lips after having kissed him. After all SHE had kissed HIM and she should at least deal with that fact.

"Is that some kind of self defense trigger or something?"

Self defense? Against strangers kissing him in the street? He wished. No just an everyday burden. He knew that he was going to have to say something now. Something that would not make him seem like a privacy invading creep. It might also help if he could turn off the damned illusion. Taking a breath he started.

“Sorry, it’s kind of involuntary.”

He knew the voice would still not be his own but he at least felt more in control of the situation. That was helping him force his power back under control. Finally he felt the tell tale signs disappear and knew he was himself again not that being an embarrassed teenager was all that great right now, but at least he knew how he should act.

“It happens sometimes, when unexpected things occur.”

He knew a slight flush crept up his face as he said it and turned his gaze away; strange how ones feet and the pavement can suddenly become so interesting.

The unexpected thing that had just occur-ed him against his will blinked at her unicorn mentor. He faded from all white and unicorn horn back to dark-haired embarrassed teen. It was pretty cool, actually. "I know a thing or two about involuntary mutations." She tried to placate him with a smile.

"And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," she motioned toward his face with a hand, "you know." It wasn't really a kiss if it hadn't really meant anything, right? "It's just.. I needed information..." And now it was her turn to look embarrassed. If anyone had just invaded someone else's privacy... it sure wasn't him.

Noel coughed. "So, are you still looking for those socks? 'Cause I think I'm headed for the subway too." The underground sounded a lot better than standing and chatting in the wind. Brr! "I'm Noel by the way. Uh- sorry." She could say that she was sorry again if he wanted.

"I know a thing or two about involuntary mutations."

Well that at least explained why she had not freaked out and called him names as he casually changed appearances. It made things a little easier to know that he would not be judged. For a second he actually wondered if his mother had been right when she said that he would fit in better here. Well for the moment he decided to put this chance encounter down to some weird joke the gods had sent to test him. And he wasn’t even religious.

"And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, you know."

She was apologizing and the sheepish look on her face would have melted anyone’s anger, not that he was angry to start off with. He decided to accept her apology mainly because there was no going back now. So he put on a small smile to show that there were no hard feeling but he could quite shake the slightly bewildered look.

"It's just… I needed information..."

He didn’t quite see how exactly all of this fitted in with needing information. Was it some kind of intricate pick pocket scheme where she kissed you, stole your wallet and then your identity? Because in the Uk this was not that way normal people asked for information, usually there was a certain amount of verbal communication involved. She knew that this was shaky territory so with a small cough she pushed on.

"So, are you still looking for those socks? 'Cause I think I'm headed for the subway too."

How did she know about that? Sure it was written on his now forgotten piece of paper but the hand writing was some and cramped and for her upside down… Ah well forget it, who cared how anyone knew anything. It was all too much of a muddle in his head, so rather than give himself a headache in the middle of the street he decided to just accept the offer for company.

"I'm Noel by the way. Uh- sorry."

Noel, right. It sounded French to him. Then again it was probably because it was one of the only words he knew in French. Christmas… it seemed strangely appropriate considering the weather.

“I’m Sam, um nice to meet you. “

Now they had been properly introduced the tension seemed to ease a bit and he found himself able to relax a bit. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a terrible afternoon after all. Who knew she might even point him in the direction of a shop that would stock of these random things he had been tasked with finding.

“Shall we go? As you rightly pointed out, I’m tasked with finding socks and to be honest, I’m not to sure where to start.”

He did not yell. Or throw things. Or… anything really. "Sam." She repeated his name so she wouldn't forget it. Also, it didn't take a genius to pick up on the accent. "Are all English people so passive? I mean… I just… I was rude. And you're totally okay with it?" Was he sure that he didn't want to yell at her? She had expected a little more reaction and his lack of one was making her nervous.

Well, now that they had established that they were headed in the same direction, Noel started them off that way. She just wasn't dressed to be standing around in the wind without keeping her heart rate up.

"And your face changing. Is that something you get to choose? I mean, I know you said involuntary, but how'dya who's face to use?" How had he decided the unicorn would be the best face for him to choose? He said it wasn't a defense mechanism, but Noel had that idea stuck in her head. Assuming he did get to choose, surely there was somebody else that she wouldn't have hurt. Aedus, maybe?

"Are all English people so passive? I mean… I just… I was rude. And you're totally okay with it?"

The question was blunt and it made him squirm a bit. He knew that any other normal human being would have protested in some way but he had never been like that. He had always just bottled up his feelings and moved on with life. This time had been no different, he had just let her do whatever she wanted and then let it go. He sighed; passive was probably a good word for him. He just hoped that that particular character trait did not land him in some serious trouble one day.
He looked at her and was about to come up with some kind of pathetic excuse for his behavior when she continued to speak.

"And your face changing. Is that something you get to choose? I mean, I know you said involuntary, but how'dya know who's face to use?"

As she said this she turned and headed off in the direction of the subway. He followed keeping pace with her while mulling over her latest question. He more or less knew how his power worked but he had never had to really explain it before. First of all one thing was clear and that was the fact that he had no say whatsoever in whose face he borrowed. Then as far as he could tell the person opposite him could not be totally sure who would appear either. He had once tried it on one of the doctors that had taken an interest in him. It should have been easy, on paper his power read: “creates the illusion of the person dearest to the “victim’s heart”” With the victim being whoever Sam decided to use his power on. Only most people don’t realize that the person you think is dearest to your heart doesn’t match up with reality. That poor doctor had had a nasty shock. Sam did not know whose face he had worn that day but one thing was sure it was not the person the doctor had been expecting to see.

So he decided to try for a vague description of what he could do, hopefully one that Noel would be happy with.

“I don’t choose who I turn into. If, for example, I used my power on you again I would end up looking like the person you love most. So let’s say I use it on a child, then I’d most probably look like one of its parents. With adults it usually a lover, but not always.”

His non-answer about her rudeness was apparently the best answer he could come up with. Seriously? This kid needed to learn some pluck! Of course, as soon as she'd thought that, he had an answer about the faces. And, as far as she could tell, he'd just told her he was like a child.

"Wait, that's the person I love the most?" Noel turned her body to avoid running a shoulder into a stranger that passed a bit too close. The thicker throng of people meant they were closer to the entrance and the train had probably just hit the platform. They would have to catch the next one. "I saw someone that's like teacher to me. I mean, like dad level of love, no way like lover level. That's just... yeah." And that was exactly why she had wiped her lips off after she had smooched him.

Okay. So he probably didn't mean to make the comparison between the face that showed for Noel and children, but the idea rubbed her in the wrong way. "So you're telling me I don't really love-love anybody?" Noel tapped her way down the stairs, fished a couple bills out of her sock and ran them through a machine to get the ticket that would allow her onto the platform and inevitably onto the train.

Was that a bad thing? To not be in love? "Do you love anybody? Can you, like, check out a mirror and find out?" It was an oddly personal question, but he seemed like a go with the flow kind of guy.

"Wait, that's the person I love the most?"

Ah yet another person who had not liked what his power could show them. Well he just hoped that she would not blame him, it’s not like he had any control over whose face he adopted. He braced himself for the possible accusation to come. But as it turned out his fears were unfounded; Noel continued on along her train of thought.

"I saw someone that's like teacher to me. I mean, like dad level of love, no way like lover level. That's just... yeah."

So it was more respect than love in her case then. It was possible; his power seemed to pick up on all positive type feelings as well as their intensity. He had after all only mentioned the lover option as an example, although it was the most common. In Noel’s case it was probable that he respect for this person outweighed any love she felt for other; for after all it was not possible to limit humans to a single love.


"So you're telling me I don't really love-love anybody?"

Well yes and no. He was only saying that she felt more strongly for this person than any other right now. But explaining that was complicated and he did not really know how best to put it. However he was once again saved by Noel’s train of thought, which took her away from the subject of her own love and onto the subject of his.

"Do you love anybody? Can you, like, check out a mirror and find out?"

Of all the places to be discussing his love life, the subway seemed by far the weirdest. However he had quickly learnt that when it came to Noel normal social rule did not seem to apply. So he shouldn’t really have been surprised. He thought about it for a minute, sure as he had grown more used to his powers and what they entailed he had decided to try it on himself, but it had taken him time to come up with the idea. He was somewhat surprised that this was one of the first things that she asked him.

“I’ve tried it a couple of times. The first time I couldn’t even get my power to activate, just… nothing. The second time the image in the mirror was blurred, you could tell it was a person it was so distorted it was impossible to even make out if it was a man or a woman.”

Maybe he just did not love anyone, but that seemed unlikely. It was more probable that his power was not strong enough yet. Or that he had some kind of barrier that prevented it from creating the link needed to get a clear image. Whatever it was he could not be bothered to force the issue. He was ok with just going with his feelings and seeing what came of it.

“I doubt that it’ll work on me. So it looks like I’m doomed to live and love like everyone else.”

It was interesting to note that he did not know if it was a man or a woman. "Does that mean you don't have a preference between men and women?" If she sounded incredulous, well... that was because she was. Noel had a clear preference. But she knew it was possible, Sebastian apparently didn't.

Aaaand that was a memory loop she did not want to get stuck in.

Noel sent her little ticket through the till and walked through the turnstile. "You're lucky that your ability doesn't work on yourself." The memorymancer stopped to inspect the directions. Green line to the left... were they north or south of the Orange? Noel consulted Sam's memories only to find that he didn't have that much experience with the subway system. Foo. That meant they would have to find a map.... just a little bit further in there seemed to be one affixed to the wall.

"You don't need like, dress socks or anything do you?" 'Cause Noel could direct him to a sports store that sold tube socks with greater ease than finding a haberdashery.

"Does that mean you don't have a preference between men and women?"

Sam flushed, embarrassed by such a question. Of course he had a preference, all that he had meant to say was that the image was so blurred it was indistinguishable. God, how did this girl’s brain function? Why did she always seem to pick up on the most personal thing he said and make it sound so bad? He was about to reply and tell her she was mistaken, when he noticed that she was busy moving away from him and towards the subway map.

"You don't need like, dress socks or anything do you?"

Well at least she was doing her best to get them to where they needed to go. Although it seemed that he was paying for this help with his personal information. He looked at the map and tried to see if he recognized any of the station names. He had taken the time to study a tube map but he still found that he would have to more or less guess which station to get off at. He looked sideways at Noel and hoped that she had a better grip on this maze than he had.

“Any socks are fine and by the way I do have a preference. All I meant to say was that the image was blurred.”

He knew he probably sounded huffy and childish but he also felt that he needed to clear up this misunderstanding as fast as possible. It was not that he was interested in her but in his book it was never a good thing to have a hot girl believe you’re gay.

“So which way do we go? I’m not bad with subways but I don’t really know the lines here yet.”

"If that's what you meant to say, why didn't you just say that?" He was getting all ashamed about it now. Since he never came out and said what his preference was, Noel had to assume he was gay and just didn't want to say it. She wouldn't either if she happened to be gay. How embarrassing.

"Any socks makes this a whole lot easier." The map of tangled lines took only a couple seconds to unravel. They were here, she wanted them there. Ah. Perfect. "Red line for three stops and then we switch to the yellow for a few. Come on."

Noel led the way, but she made sure she didn't out pace Sam. The guy needed some serious looking after with his complete non-aggression and generally passive demeanor. Noel didn't usually pick up sheep, but, well... she owed it to him since she had so blatantly taken advantage of him earlier.

"Sorry again about the kiss. Since you don't swing that way, I assume that makes it worse." And that would mean that she just had to make it up to him more.