((I thought I would drop into this thread to join in the fun. if my post is too wierd just let me know!)

Most people say it’s not nice to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations. Clearly, most people aren’t wolf mutants who had sensitive hearing that were just in the next room near the entrance of the mansions hallway. The she-wolf would probably be able to hear then in a few rooms over if she really put her mind to it.

The massive wolf was sleeping on one of the living room couches, not really paying any attention to anything until she heard the two come in. She was able to catch their scents immediately, one scent was of the dreadlocked boy she had seen stalking around the mansion from time to time and the other was a new scent she didn’t quite recognize. If it wasn’t for the fact they were talking fairly loudly (for someone with wolf hearing anyways), she would have been able to sleep right on through it. But they seemed to be lingering in that area far longer than she would like.

The she-wolf slid off the couch, landing on the ground with a small thud, blue eyes looking blearily at her surroundings for a moment before padding off to investigate the semi loud new comers.

It was easier for her to greet people in her wolf form than it was in her human form. At least this way she didn’t have to awkwardly greet them with welcomes and things like that. Nope, they were just greeted by a huge wolf with thick red fur on her head that ran midway down her spine with black fur on the rest of her body. She sort of hoped they wouldn’t notice the chunk of her left ear that was missing, it’s not like it affected her hearing or anything, it just looked like someone took a bite out of her ear.

Most people that were “greeted” by her wolf form assumed that she was some sort of mixed breed, because those blue eyes of hers mirrored the kind of eyes one would find in a husky only a little darker. Or maybe it was because her fur was a little more fluffy and soft than most wolves, a lovely quirk that she blamed on her mother’s strange genetics. Her size however, was definitely full wolf, except a bit larger than most male wolves. Once again, her mother’s genetics and tinkering made on her wolf form in the past were to blame on this one.

Well, whatever these boys thought of her Emerald really didn’t care about at this moment because it was just a few days after one of her “wolf moon” nights and she felt a little more comfortable having four legs rather than two right now.

The large she-wolf would pad towards the boys letting out a lazy bark as she did so. She had been so pleasantly sleeping before they got there and started talking. The large wolf sat next to their feet and glanced up at them curiously, taking in their scent as she did so. She might as well be able to identify them if they ever snuck up on her.

Her massive maw opened to yawn at them, glaring at them a little as she did so, trying to show them without words that they had waken her up from her nap. The Dreadlocked boy looked like a troublemaker somehow she could just smell it on him or it could have been the fact that it took one to know one. The young man with the sheath looked nice, a little exasperated with the other male, but nice none the less.

"Normal is a loose term." Blunt and to the point. Just over the last few weeks of being stuck in the mansion again, he had grown used to some of the behavior and actions of other freakish mutants that lived there. They were still in his mind a complete annoyance, but he couldn't get totally away from them all forever. "Yesterday and today are never the same as tomorrow or the day before yesterday. It just is." This might be the smartest thing he ever said. To bad it didn't make much sense. Or did it?

The mouth of the older guy went on and on again. This guy really could talk a lot. Personally Hokee wasn't one for saying much. When he did, it typically was a stream of one sort of profanity or another. There were a few topics he could talk on about, but for the most part the people that seemed to stay around this place didn't exactly have the same taste as him. Can't talk about stuff that doesn't mean a thing to you. Very much like school. How was he expected to do anything in there when the stuff was so boring and didn't really matter to him in the slightest?

"You're weird." Never in his life had he met someone so up tight. Was it that the guy was uptight or more delusional? Either way, this guy just seemed to be so bent on making the world a better place. A pity honestly, really this guy was searching for the near impossible. The whole theory with making the school clean and how it would protect people seemed to farfetched to be humanly possible. The only thing that cleaning would honestly do is possibly cut down on the chance of people getting sick. To bad there was more out there in the world then a few stupid germs.

"On the other floor is the offices and stuff, you can talk to someone there for getting a job but Taylor is the hook up for housing." Man, this guy really needed a taste of reality, wake up and actually learn things. For a goodie two shoe, he seemed to have a smart mouth of his own in some strange way. Though Hokee was soon distracted from the conversation as a freaking wolf waltzed its way into the hallway. Got to be kidding me. This was why he avoid most of the people in the mansion, prime example right there on the ground with four legs.

A bark. Did the wolf just seriously bark at them? What the hell. "When you're not cleaning toilets then you're scooping up dog s***.....or what ever animals." Dogs weren't to horrible, but they were a pain in the butt if you were free running. Dogs chased things and he was sure a wolf couldn't be much different. Not really recognizing this animal, he didn't know if it was that guy....what was his name? The guy that turned into a skunk. Oh well, it didn't matter. Freak alert with red flashing lights either way. "Its a freaking zoo in here." The squinted eyes glared down at the wolf. "Best not be barking at me, I ain't taking you for walk mutt." He really needed to get out of the mansion soon, like real soon.

When Hokee stated that normal was a bit of a loose term, Alex nodded in agreement. Even among humans there were rarely any two people that were the same so there's virtually no basis to call people normal with. So when Hokee called Alex weird, the malachite manipulator could only laugh. "Yes, I'm weird and I'm proud of it!" Alex stated with a broad smile as his flawless cyan eyes twinkled. Despite Hokee saying that everyone and everything was weird here, Alex was beginning to think that he would fit in nicely here. He just hoped that Hokee wasn't as much of a trouble maker that Alex thought he was, or he might end up having to go head to head with this kid in the back yard a few times, or in what these people used as a training room.

Alex nodded in thanks when Hokee told him of the offices on the second floor and that he should go there for a job interview if he wanted it. He was thinking about asking where the nearest set of stairs to the upper floor was when a bark drew his attention away from Hokee and to the nearby hallway. What he saw caused his jaw to drop in surprise and dismay. "A wolf!" Alex exclaimed in surprise, and his right hand, fueled by instinct to protect those around him, drifted towards his malachite dagger. However he stopped half way when he realized that this wolf could very well be another mutant with shape shifting powers. It was the red fur on the wolf's back that gave Alex that idea. He knew of only one type of wolf that had red fur which was a maned wolf, and they had it all over. What's more was that this wolf had blue eyes and was much larger then a normal wolf. What was strange was that looking at this wolf seemed to bring a warm smile to his face... though Alex didn't have a clue as to why. Sure he liked dogs and wolfs and respected them, but there had to be something different about this one that was making Alex react this way.

When the wolf yawned at him and seemed to be glaring, Alex realized that his conversation had resulted in giving the wolf a rude wake up call. However, from seeing the wolf yawn, Alex found himself yawning too and covered his mouth with his fist to be polite. I guess it's true when people say that yawning is contagious. Alex thought then shrugged an apology to the wolf, whom he assumed was another mutant. "Sorry about waking you up. Didn't realize that you were asleep nearby." Alex said to the wolf, then glanced over at Hokee when the kid told the wolf he wasn't gonna take it for a walk. "I'd be careful if I were you. I wouldn't be surprised if that wolf has the strength to crush our legs with one big bite."

Emerald didn't exactly expect good responses from the two boys, considering she was a huge wolf coming up and more or less glaring at them. It was sorta fun though staying in her wolf form when she first met someone though, made things much more interesting. She overheard what the dread locked boy was telling the young man about cleaning and wondered if the guy was trying to become the mansions janitor or something.

Judging by that awful comment the younger boy made about cleaning up dog feces, she had a feeling her guess was right. That and the fact that her urge to bite him was rising. She used the bathroom just like anyone else. To think she would go on the floor like some common dog was insulting to her noble wolven type. That and calling her a mutt was a huge insult to her pride too, this kid was really on a roll with her today wasn't he? The she-wolf let out a small growl to him, glaring up at him in particularly.

This was when the new guy apologized, causing the wolf's tail to wag contently at him. It would seem he got the signals he was given. This made the wolf deem him the better two legged person for the day and padded over to him and sat by his feet, leaning against his leg a little. He also had enough sense to know how dangerous a wolf really was and how NOT to insult one. More than she could say for the kid that already look like he got into a bad fight and lost judging by those crutches.

The wolf gave the new guy a pleased look with those blue eyes of hers, glad that at least he understood what had happened. Then gave Hokee the death glare of the century, tail fur prickling up in agitation. Her look clearly said "Do not test my patience. "

Normally, Emerald wouldn't get so frustrated at some punk kid saying something to her, but she had had a hell of a week and she really didn't need to deal with anything else. For now she was just content to stick by Rook's (or at least that's what she thought he was called by how they were talking) leg planing on showing him the mansion if he needed any more help.

Alex watched as the red and black wolf growled angrily at Hokee while glaring at the boy after the kid had said that Alex might have to clean up after the wolf had done her business, clearly displeased by the boy's comments. Even well trained dogs and wolves can't fully understand human speech to the level of this black and red wolf. Alex was even more convinced then ever that this wolf was actually a shape shifting mutant and she... or he if that be the case... was rather upset with Hokee's comment. Even a city slicker would know that when a wolf growls like that, the first and best response was to run for the nearest tree and climb it to avoid getting bitten... and hope the wolf doesn't climb after you.

It was the wolf's response to Alex's apology and warning to Hokee that clinched Alex's theory that the wolf was actually a mutant, since she (Alex was assuming that the wolf was female) stopped growling at Hokee and started to wag her tail in Alex's direction, then walked over to him and sat next to him while leaning a little bit of her weight on his leg. Alex could feel how warm she was through his pant leg and when he glanced down at her, he was a little surprised to notice that a small chunk was missing from her left ear, and wondered how it happened. When the wolf turned into her human form, he could ask about it then.

At first he considered giving her a friendly scratch behind the ears, but then Alex thought against it. Sure, she was leaning against him slightly, but just because she was touching him didn't mean that he had permission to touch her. He nearly lost a finger that way to a Saint Barnard several years ago. Instead, he let his arm hang loosely above her head, his way of asking permission. If she nudged at his hand with her nose, then chances were he had permission. If she didn't do anything, then most likely he didn't have permission and wouldn't touch her. If he felt her teeth dig into the flesh of his hands... well, that most likely meant he wasn't welcome here and should make tracks to the nearest hospital. Alex quietly gulped and prayed that she wouldn't bite him.

Glancing up at Hokee, Alex only smiled slightly and shrugged. He knew that it was because of his manners that Emerald seemed to be approving of him for the moment... and it was Hokee's rudeness that resulted in Emerald threatening him with a glare. Alex wouldn't of minded telling the kid to be careful about his attitude... although Alex was guessing the kid heard this more times then he cared to, and it was the wolf whom had been insulted, not Alex, so it really was the wolf's place to discipline Hokee... though Alex hoped that it would be bloody if the wolf did discipline Hokee.

The mood in the hall dramatically changed, all due to a stupid wolf. Well okay, so it wasn't a real wolf so to speak, a mutant, but all the same, there was a mutt in the place. Didn't the school have any sort of rules about staying human in here? Wait...nope there was that dumb girl with the wings and tail, a real freak by any standards. Thankfully he stayed away from her, away from most people actually. Just because he was a mutant himself didn't mean there had to be any amount of love for the rest of the people like him. He could put up with people that seemed normal enough, but a mutt was out of the question. How was he expected to live a real life when there were people that just had to be all whacked out like this.

The wolf didn't seem to like him any more then he liked the concept of the wolf. A thousand different snark remarks brewed in his head, expanding from juvenile references to Little Red Riding Hood to a bit more graphic adult material. The growl of the wolf seemed to be the only sounds currently. Conversation had ceased and the stare down began. No wolf was going to get him to cower away like a silly school girl. He had two perfectly working feet, two crutches and one wild short fuse for freaks.

The wind from outside whistled in the background as little murmurs could distantly be heard in the background. A wind chime clattered outside the door and a dust bunny rolled across the vestibule between the two parties. Hokee's fingers twitched at his side as if he were a cowboy ready to draw his arms. Squinted eyes staring down into the blue eyes of the discolored wolf. If the sight was caught on film or a passerby individual were to get a glance, the song Flight of the Concord might filter in the back of their minds. A mansion in the NYC area had now turned into the new Wild Wild West. Instead of boots with spurs, crutches and claws would clank against the wooden floor.

A whistle of a bird outside mocked the meeting with the echo of another bird calling back to it. The steal blue gaze of Hokee narrowed down more on the wolf. Its fur seemed to be on edge, though that was no concern. A warning of sorts, but there was no way he was going to back down to a dumb mutt. From the corner of his vision, he could see the smile on Alex's face. Well didn't he think he was special right now, he had a wolf at his side. What in the world, honestly....just the whole thing was messed up. Swallowing down the taste of disgust, his fingers curled around the crutches.

"Taylor has this rule about not hurting other people living here." The words tasted like pure bitter poison in his mouth. Of all things for him to have to say, he wished it wasn't that one. Though this was something that the guy needed to know. He was Born to be Wild, a tumble with a wolf wouldn't hurt him to much. Though the first strike had to be from the mutt, get all the freak mutants kicked out of the place first. This wolf needed to go to the pound, where wild savaged dogs take a nice long nap. "So if you stay, you don't have to worry." The good, the bad and the ugly.....mutant style. He might have been talking to Alex, but his eyes wouldn't leave the eyes of the wolf. He just had to keep his eyes focused on the wolf, no four legged animal was going to be the boss of him. Growl or not, his own body posture was not giving into the submission sought.

As Alex let his arm hang down over the wolf's head in his own way of asking permission if he was allowed to pet the wolf, he noticed that Hokee was clearly unhappy with the whole situation of a mutant in the form of a wolf showing up... or for that matter, Hokee seemed completely annoyed with the whole idea of mutants all together. Earlier he had referred to all of the people in this as 'freaks,' not as people or as mutants, but freaks. Alex had already come to the conclusion that Hokee had a very low opinion on mutants, but after the kid called the wolf a mutt and mentioned that Alex was going to have to clean up after the wolf, he was starting to get a little hot under the collar with that kid, and was considering knocking him down to size, crutches or no. However, it was the wolf that he had insulted, so Alex had chose to let the wolf mutant discipline Hokee in what ever way she wanted to.

However, it was when Hokee has said that there was a rule about not hurting people that lived here that made Alex narrow his flawless cyan eyes in annoyance. Sure, it was a good rule, but it was the way that Hokee has presented it that was wrong. Alex had interpreted it as Hokee telling the wolf mutant that she wasn't allowed to discipline him or he would try to get her in trouble. Was all that this kid cared about was himself? Did he view everyone else in the wrong and he was the only one that was right? Was he the only person that wasn't a freak in his eyes? Did he have no respect for anyone else, at all? Hokee badly needed an attitude adjustment, although Alex wasn't allowed to do it since he didn't work here. However, he was allowed to give the kid a warning.

And after he started to scratch the wolf behind the ears, that exactly what he chose to do. "You know Hokee, you should start watching your mouth. If you told some of those comments to someone with a bad temper, they would've beaten you to a pulp already... with your own crutches. Be more careful." Alex stated as he continued to gently scratch the wolf behind the ears. "And about the rule of not hurting anyone here, I'm guessing that rule goes further then just physical pain. That comment about calling all mutants 'freaks' would've left a deeper wound in a child's mind then any knife could do in their body. Wounds inflicted by words don't heal, no matter how much time has passed." Alex continued. He wasn't quoting any teacher or physiologist he knew, he was actually speaking from experience. Alex had been beaten up several times as a child, but he could recover from that. The constant verbal teasing on the other hand still affected him to this day, and no amount of physiological help could help him fully recover from it. He was going to carry that pain for the rest of his life. Alex was hoping to stop Hokee from causing that same pain to another person... or at least try to stop him from doing any more.

As Alex continued to scratch the wolf mutant behind the ears, he waited for Hokee's response.

The dread locked kid was going to be mauled, Emerald didn't care by who, but as long as she got a bite in she didn't give a damn. How she wasn't in the mood for this, not in the slightest. At least the new guy was being nice, but this kid, this kid she was going to tear into and never let him forget it. He was really testing her patience and it was working, she hadn't been in her third form long enough during the last full moon and he might just get a taste of that if he wasn't careful.

However, before she started doing anything rash, she took several deep breathes as she stared him down, trying her best to calm down, listening to his next speech. That was when he said his cute little lines about the "rules" and that was right around the point Emerald realized that he was doing this crap on purpose.

Oh sure, she couldn't attack him here but she could always attack him when he left school grounds. He wanted to get her in trouble, which she doubted was going to work because the head of the X-men didn't really like her all that much anyways but she was already out of high school. If he was planing on getting her "expelled" boy did he have another thing coming.

Suddenly, all these thoughts started fading into the back of her mind a little when she was gently being scratched behind the ears. She glanced up at the other boy, wondering how he knew to do that to calm her down, but figured she would ask that later. Right now she was planing on listening on what he had to say. The Alpha still glared at her opponent but she wasn't planning on moving, he wasn't goading her into a fight.

The older guy seemed to be very wise for his age, something that the werewolf could relate to say the least. Having unfortunate life experiences seemed to be her specialty and it looked like this guy could relate to say the least.

Once the new guy was done, Emerald had been saving her voice for just the right occasion. After this, she wouldn't be able to talk right for the rest of the day but she knew it was worth it.

"Yeah that's about right, also, you smell like a freak just like the rest of us do. So even if you pass off as human, that doesn't make you better than anyone else no matter what power you have." The wolf warned, allowing the head petting to continue, that seeming to be the only thing keeping her from pouncing at him right now.

If there was one thing in life that Hokee didn't like, it had to be the direct orders and leverage older people used on him. Giving him advice or whatever crap he wanted to call it. Sorry bub, you're on my turf here. He wasn't a fool, any idiot could see the wolf was agitated, that was blatantly obvious. The nice thing of it all, the wolf couldn't touch him, not here now or ever. That was the great thing about the place, push people's buttons but they weren't able to do a darn thing. He certainly wasn't going to have a wolf using him as a lamb chop.

Keeping his eyes glued to the wolf, he didn't bother looking to Alex as he spoke. "The truth hurts, they'll get used to it." He couldn't say it didn't, that would be a lie. The sad thing about it was, no matter if the person liked it or not, they were a freak. He was just lucky he wasn't as big of a freak, he looked normal. "Need I remind you, you don't work here and you don't want to cross me." New or not, he gave the guy a warning upon entering the place. It would be his fault later if something just might happen. Knowing full well that Alex wanted to go and get a job there as a janitor, Hokee had every capability to make his job a living hell. He was not a force to be underestimated with.

If things couldn't get any stranger, the wolf decided speak with its snarl of a voice. It was difficult to understand it, the big floppy tongue sloshing about its huge mouth. If his eyes weren't staring right into the eyes of it, he might have seen saliva flinging from the jaws or a splatter dropping from a canine. Since he wasn't looking, he would never know if such a thing happened. His own jaw tightened as the intensity grew. He smelled. That was a joke. There was no way on earth he could smell like the rest of the freaks that roamed about the school, no way on earth. The mutt must have sniffed one to many butts and got something stuck up in there. "Keep your nose away from me."

That was it, he really needed to get off the crutches sooner and get the hell out of this place. The wolf was rather annoying, and Alex wasn't helping the situation in the slightest with his superior adult behavior. It was questionable who could be more savage, the wolf or the teen. "Back to the real point though....there's this really old granny lady who works here. She's something in charge of controlling mutant powers. Maybe your puppy will show you the way there."

After Alex had finished giving Hokee the friendly warning, it didn't take long for the kid to respond in a negative way. The first thing out of brat's mouth was that the truth about what mutants were hurts and that the new mutants would have to accept the fact that they were mutants, or at least that's how Alex understood what Hokee had said. Hearing that comment got Alex hot under the collar and he started wishing that he could put this kid in his place the way it needed to be done... with his fist. Hokee's next comment about Alex not working there and that he shouldn't get on Hokee's bad side really got Alex steamed, but he didn't show it on his face. It was true, Alex didn't work there, yet, but that didn't mean that Hokee had to ignore everything that Alex told him. Hokee truly was the type of person that cared only for themselves and the rest of the world could go to Hell for all they cared.

Alex couldn't get his head off of the mutant 'freak' comment, and he had to address it. "Mutants aren't freaks pal. They're people with amazing gifts, and they should be judged on how they use those gifts, not because they simply have them. Judging them simply because they have a gift is wrong and that line of thought has gotten people killed, and you know it. I'm not trying to get you to change your line of thinking, I just want you to be more careful so you don't piss off the wrong person, alright? My nephew died in my arms because of that, and I don't want that to happen to you too." Alex stated as he started to scratch the wolf's neck in hopes that it would keep her calm because, if Hokee kept this up she might lunge at him, and Alex didn't want her to get in trouble.

He glanced down at the wolf when she spoke up, and was a little surprised that she could talk with her mouth in that shape, and wondered how hard it was to do so. She also had a point, since Hokee was a mutant just like the rest of them. However, Hokee just seemed to shrug off the comment and mentioned that there was an old woman that was in charge of a class for controlling mutant powers, and Hokee recommended that Alex have the wolf escort him there as soon as possible. That was the last straw. Alex couldn't stand this anymore, and it was evident when he stopped scratching the wolf's neck and had curled both of his hands into fists, each one capable of bashing a person's skull in. If I don't move away from this knucklehead soon, I'm going to cut him to pieces. Alex thought and shook his head. "Thank you for letting me in Hokee, and I think I'll be alright on my own for now. I'll let you know if I need you again." Alex stated dryly, before trying to think of how to get rid of this kid without offending him even more. His stomach gave him the answer by growling, and he glanced down at the wolf and shrugged. "Come on. I think we've taken up enough of Hokee's time. Think you could show me where the kitchen is?" Alex asked as he already started to walk away from Hokee while keeping his eyes on the wolf.