The girl held a large paper bag of assorted toiletries in front of her and the large backpack slung across her back was open and held another bag filled with all the supplies that someone needed to take basic care of themselves. She couldn’t see from behind the bag as it was rather tall. Another Mansion resident had helped her with the front door of the school but she was having difficulty maneuvering the hallways back to her room. A bell had run a few minutes after she managed to get up the stairs. Twyla had forgotten how fast traffic could move during the day and she’d been buffeted on all sides by students rushing to their next classes. Lucky for her it seemed like things were slowing down and she could blindly and slowly meander back to her new living space.

It was odd being back at the Sister School and not being a student. She’d barely been back a day but already Twyla felt out of place. Many of the people she’d expected to see had been replaced by other students. This wasn’t a bad thing of course, it had just been unsettling to go to breakfast early that morning and not see a familiar face. That, and she felt so old. Her new roommate was two years younger and most of the students were a lot younger than that. Being twenty put Twyla in an awkward in-between space—what was that (shudder) Brittney Spears lyric? ‘I’m not a girl, not yet a woman’? Despite the awkward age gap the young woman was certain she’d made the right choice. She had to believe that the Mansion was a good starting point or she’d never get anywhere in New York.

As she bumbled along Twyla silently hoped that she didn’t accidentally run into someone with her bag. It wouldn’t really be her fault if she did as her vision was obviously impaired but if she remembered correctly the Mansion was full of blind corners that could easily cause an accident. Spilling her new shampoo and things all over the floor didn’t really sound appealing. ‘Hi, I’m back—I made a mess.’ She shuddered at the thought and quickened her pace, hoping to stash her things on her bed before taking a private tour of the grounds or something. It had been oddly comforting to get out in a room with someone else. Twyla hadn’t shared a room since her older sisters had still been in high school but she remembered the feeling well. There was something that reminded her of her childhood home about knowing someone else was sleeping in the same room. She hadn’t minded the feeling at all.

In any case, the blonde was fairly certain that her roommate was in class so she’d need to find something to do solo for a few hours and reacquainting herself with the grounds seemed like a fair plan. All she had to do was get back to her room, drop off her things, and be on her merry way. Her speed picked up once more as she wildly turned a corner…

((OOC: Feel free to make the ensuing crash as big/small as you see fit!))

It wasn't often Emerald Lupin wandered aimlessly around the mansions halls. Usually,she was out on the grounds, working out or otherwise. To be honest, she wasn't around as much as she used to be. It wasn't that she didn't check up on her new, young pack though, Emerald actually checked in on them more often than not. Occasionally making sure that everything was alright, just like a good Alpha should. Emerald hadn't done that for her previous pack and to her, that's part of what lead to it's disbandment in the first place.

That, and the fact a certain mutant decided to leave without saying a real goodbye. After that happened, everyone just sort of drifted apart becoming less of a pack and more like group of loners, something that Emerald couldn't forgive herself or the person that caused it for. The Alpha Female knew how to hold a grudge and just that feeling of utter helplessness she felt as she watched everyone drift away was enough to develop a strong feeling of disdain for the whole thing that caused it, as well as a feeling of self loathing.

The wolf girl tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her mutilated left ear, trying not to think about the incident that caused it's mauling in the first place. That was what caused her to drift away from her pack, the need to retain the her mind after that incident. It felt like at that time, she was going to loose herself and the people relied on to help her weren't there in the end, which caused her to almost sink to the bottom if she wasn't so damn stubborn that is.

Now wasn't time to dwell upon the past though, it was the time to live in the future, she had a new pack, a new boyfriend and a lot more people that she cared deeply about. While she did want to know how everyone was doing from her past, she didn't want to dwell on it, it wasn't like she was going to run into them.

WHACK!

This was when Emerald collided into someone which of course made her let out a growl. While it could have been the fact that she wasn't looking where she was going in the chaotic halls of the mansion, it could have also been the fact that the other person wasn't looking where they were going. The wolf girl was clad in a sleeveless workout top and long sweatpants, her usual garb for a lazy day around the mansion, her most recent scar on her left arm from the bear trap the most glaringly obvious of the girls arms Battle scars.

"Ow, Watch where you are going ya da-" Emerald snarled angrily, her quick temper flaring up. She stopped when she realized who she was talking to, the scent hitting her before the girl's appearance did. Then again, Emerald's own apperance had changed, being taller and more muscular than she used to be along with some of the newer scars. It took her a few moments to take it all in, but the she-wolf soon realized in full who it was. "Twyla? What are you doing here?"

Emerald's voice was hesitant and yet still in a way semi angry, she wasn't snarling or growling but she sounded a little hurt. Sure she was hppy to see Twyla, but why was Twyla back? After all, she left a pretty final sounding note to Emerald, was that...just a lie?

The collision knocked the wind out of the blonde woman. It also knocked her grocery bag to the floor, spilling a bottle of shampoo, a bag of kit-kats, new socks, and other random drugstore goods across the wood. It was a feat for the young woman to remain on her feet after the crash—whatever she hit had been Solid. The Solid Thing spoke a moment later while Twyla was still disoriented, expressing anger before radically changing tone and saying her name. At first the twenty year old was too out of sorts to process the familiar voice. She held a hand to her forehead, blocking her vision for a moment so she could catch her breath once more.

Deep breaths. The last few seconds flooded through the young woman rapidly. She blinked. ”Twyla? What are you doing here? It wasn’t hard to hear the hurt in Emerald’s voice. Emerald… The hand fell to her side and she took in the sight of her old friend. The wolf girl looked different—more beast-like than she’d been before Twyla left but the red hair was unmistakable.

Em,
I can’t really explain this right in a note and I’m sorry but I’ve got to go. I can’t be in New York anymore. It’s all too much for me to handle. Just know that none of this is anyone’s fault but my own.
By the time you’ve gotten this I’ve left.
I’m sorry.
Promise we’ll still be friends? Twy

The note she’d left for her friend flashed in Twyla’s mind. She’d abandoned the wolf girl just like she’d abandoned everything else in New York. This reunion, while it still made a guilty flush stain Twyla’s cheeks, didn’t startle her nearly as much as running into Gawain on her first day back had. She didn’t hesitate and maybe it was inappropriate, but she flung herself at the taller girl and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Twyla’s hugs were no match for Em’s bear-wolf-hugs but she did her best at conveying as much honest emotion into the gesture as possible.

“Em! I’m so-so-so-so-so-sorry. I missed you so-so-so-so-so-much.” And she had. A million times she’d thought about calling the friends she’d left behind but…the young woman had been dealing with her own demons. She’d been selfish, knowing that it would hurt to hear how others felt about her leaving. It prevented her from calling. She’d been weak and she knew it but wallowing in past mistakes wasn’t productive. All she could do at this point was listen to what everyone had to say, try to explain herself, and do her best to rise from the ashes of immaturity to make a new life for herself. Silently she hoped that this chance encounter wouldn’t be as awkward as running into her ex had been. Regardless, Twyla was prepared to handle whatever Emerald threw her way—she deserved whatever was coming to her.

It seemed to take Twyla just as much time to process the whole thing as it did Emerald. The two hadn't seen each other and almost a year now and a lot had chanced since the day Twyla left. The only huge thing that happened to the mansion was the fact it didn't get destroyed again by any colossal force, but otherwise, all the changes were personal ones. The air was tense for a moment, that is before Twyla launched herself at the wolf girl and wrapped her arms around her tightly.

At first, Emerald didn't know what to do, she didn't quite know what Twyla was expecting, to be welcomed back with open arm. This girl did a lot of damage to the small group and for that she deserved a good deal of scolding. However, with Twyla's quick apologies and how tightly she was hugging the werewolf, it seemed that Emerald needed to take care of the pleasantries first.

The wolf girl returned the hug with one of her own, the traditional Lupin bear/wolf hug. Memories of what happened before Twyla left flooded the werewolf's mind, as if they happened just a few days before. The haunted house, the talks they had, just the general bonding the two shared. Her and Twyla had a close friends relationship, even if Emerald didn't divulge everything to the younger girl. Being Alpha by nature, she knew better than to release her own problems onto the girl that seemed to have so many insecurities about things. That said, this didn't mean that Emerald didn't need someone back then, someone that she didn't get.

After some time, Emerald broke that hug, her look turning into a stern one. If there was one thing Emerald wasn't known for, it was her tact. The she-wolf wasn't going beat around the bush about this.

"I missed you to," Emerald said, her voice still coming off stern because of what she was about to ask. "But can I be one of the first people to ask where the hell were you? You just up left one day without barely saying a damn word to any us! What the hell was so important that you couldn't talk to us about it?"

Emerald voiced her righteous anger at the girl, but there was more hurt in her voice than anything else. Those blue eyes of hers filled with confused emotions not knowing weather to hug the girl again or punch her. The big strong wolf girl, known for bringing fear in some of the newer mutants hearts did not take abandonment well, she put her trust in others very seldom and when betrayed she lashed out at others.

The hug she received in return didn’t disappoint. It made all the bones in her body creak in protest at the amount of feeling put into the gesture. It also made Twyla want to cry—not out of physical pain but because it was so normal, so expected. Memories of earlier times at the Mansion flooded through the young woman. Her stomach clenched up. It all felt like too much.

The hug lasted a long time and then the two stepped apart. In true Emerald fashion Twyla was given little time to recollect herself before the questions she’d expected burst from the wolf-girl’s mouth. She sounded stern when she spoke to the blonde and Twyla resisted the urge to wince. This is what she deserved, wasn’t it? Leaving and coming back meant dealing with hurt feelings and answering questions that made the camouflage girl want to slide out of her mutated skin.

She blushed the colors of the hallway behind her, feeling the heat of embarrassment crawl all the way down her neck. Twyla’s powers made her look like a partially disembodied face as everything from her cheeks down to her chest turned pink and then camo. The happy feeling that had overwhelmed her just moments before began to seep out of her pores, deflating the mutant. Her friend sounded so angry but it was the hurt in her tone that made Twyla want to sink into the floor. She had no right to make other people feel that way, least of all those she cared about. Old guilt rapidly replaced the happiness.

There was no good way to explain herself. No magic words to make everything go back to normal. She knew this, told herself she didn’t want normal. The chance at something new was enough. Incorporating old friends would be difficult, but she wanted them in her life. Probably she didn’t deserve it, but she’d been selfish most of her life to this point—why not continue the tradition? “Look Em, I…” Her hands came up as if to pluck the right words out of the air. Nothing fell into her hands. Damn.

“It wasn’t right or fair to any of you, leaving like I did. I didn’t think—I was just so stressed…Everything was changing in my life so fast with college and getting a job and being a trainee and…” She trailed off, eyes trailing down to the bag of kit-kats still sitting on the floor where they’d fallen. She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Emerald was a fair person; Twyla knew she’d listen to her so long as she was completely honest. Looking back up she continued: “I know that it was wrong. I ran away from my problems. It won’t happen again—I’ve changed a lot.” Her last sentence was tinged with something that sounded nothing like Old Twyla and everything like the harder person she had become.

Emerald knew that look, that was the look of Shy-Twy coming back, the sudden change into camo was notification eough. The younger girl felt bad, as she should in the wolf girls opinion. Emerald had left before too, but it wasn't because of that, it was always family oriented or hell even retaining her own sanity oriented. She had been through some hard stuff before Twyla left and when she needed her she wasn't there and htere was no excuse for that.

In a way however, Emerald did understand, the redhead knew all to well of what it was like to feel like she had to get away. But the difference was that she ever left anyone behind for that long, she was always the one that was left behind first, forgotten, like she meant nothign to other person and that hurt more than she could possibly say.

"Twy, if you were so overwhelmed then why didn't you ask for help? I know it's like to need to get away for a while, but I have never left anyone behind for that long," Emerald started, clenching her fists at her side. Blue eyes looking down at her feet, a mixture of emotions going through them. "I'm usually the one thats left behind first."

It's said that when a packmate leaves, the wolves spend a day or two in mourning of what they loss, sometimes longer. This seemed to be the case with the forever loyal Alpha.

"I'm sorry, I just don't get It I don't think. I want to yell at you and tell you everything that happened after you left, but..seems sort of pointless now. What's done is done right?" Emerald shrugged her shoulders weakilly, looking back up at Twyla.

She would tuck her hair behind her ear, the one that looked as if part of it had been ripped off. Something that Twyla, no doubt didn't notice before she left the mansion. Right before that day, Emerald had kept her hair over her ear to hide it, not wanting anyone to worry, but now it seemed to be part of a nervous habit of hers.

((Sorry It's a little short, but this was what immediatly spawned in my head)

And there it was. The question you’ve all been dying to hear the answer to folks: “Twy, if you were so overwhelmed then why didn’t you ask for help?” It echoed all of the questions that her family had asked when she ran away from home due to her mutation and then the ones they asked when she came back from running away from the Mansion. It was the Burning Question, the one that would unlock her entire reasoning for every majorly bad decision she’d ever made. The problem? Twyla Ashby didn’t have a suitable answer to it. No matter how many different ways she framed a response in her mind the answer wasn’t good enough. She understood her reasoning about as well as the bottle of shampoo she’d dropped did.

She watched as Emerald’s body language became more strained. Twyla almost took a step back in response but held her ground, listening to the questions and the accusations with a look of calm determination on her face. She wouldn’t interrupt—her friend needed to get these feelings out. Twyla wished she hadn’t waited so long to come back. Ripping off old Band-Aids from year-old wounds was never a fun experience. The girl forced herself to watch the emotions rolling over the wolf-girl’s face. She couldn’t totally understand what Em was going through but she did her best to take in as much of it as possible.

”What’s done is done right?” The way the other girl looked made Twyla reach out to pat her arm subconsciously. She nodded at her last words, paused, and then shook her head. “It doesn’t have to be so final as that. What’s done is done but that doesn’t mean new things can’t overwrite the old.” She wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or the other woman more. Shaking her head again she responded to the first question: “To be honest, I don’t know exactly why I left. It’s obvious now that things would have worked out if I’d talked to someone—figured out my issues but at the time…” Thin shoulders shrugged, she was at a loss. “I don’t know why it didn’t seem like an option. I think it was cowardice.” She added the last bit in an almost whisper, shame crawling around in her stomach. Admitting these feelings aloud made her feel slimy and weak.

Emerald ducked some hair behind her ear. It looked scarred up, like it had been mangled. Instantly brown eyes narrowed. Twyla’s face assumed an all too familiar worried-mother position—the face reserved for Mirror and Emerald when they got hurt. She hadn’t used it in ages but it popped on her face out of habit. “Em, what happened to your ear?” Her tone was not hesitant as it had been when she tried to explain herself. Twyla sounded like her old, concerned, and stubborn self. The tone demanded an explanation, all history forgotten.

Without thinking the blonde took a step forward to get a better look at the damage. She could tell that it was an older mark. An eyebrow shot up and her curiosity and worry were piqued. When had it happened? What had her friend gone through while she’d been away battling her own demons? Was it her place to even ask about the ear…it had been so long…

Emerald listened to Twyla talk abot her Cowardice and while she didn't think Twyla was a complete coward, she did think that the girl needed to learn to be a lot braver. Maybe it was because of how she herself was brought up, or maybe it was the dumb fact that she really didn't have any fear at times but She wanted Twyla in a way. Emerald didn't want them to not be friend anymore, she just wanted things to be a little more normal between them now.

While they weren't nearly as close as Twyla and Henri were, they were still good friends and in Emerald's Alpha mind, Twyla was a packmate who left her previous pack. The Alpha in her wanted to get angrier, it wanted to out her for some sort of betrayel, but thats not what happened at all. She left because she was just overwhelmed and the pack couldn't seem to help her. Maybe it was because she failed as an Alpha? Emerald would shake her head at that thought, Twyla had said it wasn't her fault and she was going to believe her. With a few cleansing breathes, any anger Emerald felt was rapidly disspating.

Her anger was receding a little, which was good, because it made those constantly tense muscles relax a bit, making her look a little less intimidating which was a feat for the werewolf.

"Twyla, you aren't a coward, ya just didn't know what to do. I'm the blockhead that barely has any fear," Emerald would grin sheepishly putting her arm behind the back of her head. She tried to alleviate the mood a little, while Emerald was known to hold grudges, she didn't want to do that Twyla. She was angry sure, but she was more wounded anything else and it helped was apologizing to her about it." I'm still irritated that you left, don't get me wrong here, but I want us to get back to the way things were, I missed you alot and a lot of things changed after you left."

This was when the Camofloging girl noted the wolf girl's mutilated ear, something that cause Emerald to instinctively wince. She tried her best to keep the thoughts from that day out of her mind, but at times she found it harder to do so than others. Akshay had asked her the same question and she had finally told him, albiet the censored version after he had saved her from the bear trap. Emerald did sort of remember mentioning something to Twyla but it had been a while ago and she wasn't sure if she told her how it happened and she wasn't going to.

"Happened right before ya left, wanted to tell ya about it, ya left before I could. It's Not important." Emerald bit her lip with those sharpened fangs of hers, shifting uncomfortably. Her hands were clenched into fists again with her fingernails digging into her palms, sometimes that was the only way to make those memories go away.

Twyla let the comment about not being a coward slide—she’d had that discussion with too many people too many times. Besides, that was Old Twyla. New Twyla had a better handle on things. She wasn’t perfect, mind you, but she had her priorities in place once more. She’d done a lot of changing in the time she was gone. She’d made promises to herself that involved not being ruled by fear and she planned on sticking to them. No, there was no need to rehash an old argument.

The young woman appreciated Emerald’s honesty. Straight up telling her that she was still mad at Twyla for leaving was relieving in a way. She didn’t have to worry about where they stood; things began to align themselves in a relatable pattern. She nodded, to show her friend that she understood where she was coming from. Really it made sense and Twyla wasn’t asking for things to go instantly back the way they were. What she really wanted was to work with what was left and create a new patchwork life.

She wanted to know how things had changed, but saved her questions for after the ear was explained. Emerald brushed it off. Twyla quirked and eyebrow but decided not to push their reunion by pestering Emerald with worried questions. “Fair enough.” Her tone was calm and her expression was apologetic. If she wanted to tell Twyla about it she’d do it on her own time. There were things that the blonde had gone through recently that she didn’t want to talk about so she’d be a hypocrite if she pried. Her brown eyes were curious however, as she glanced over the wolf-girl. What sorts of trouble could Emmy get into in a year? Twyla guessed quite a lot.

The things she’d dropped on the ground were begging to be cleaned up before they got trampled. The blush she’d felt so intensely earlier faded away as she looked at her shampoo and candy. They reached up with their imaginary arms, wanting to be back in a bag. Stooping down, Twyla acquiesced to their silent request. Looking up at Em she asked: “Anything exciting I should know? How’s…your life been, I guess.” Her voice was bright and curious. She hoped that things had been going well for Em like they’d been going well for Twyla before her boss and then community found out about her mutation.

It only took a few seconds for everything to be safely back in the paper bag. Twyla stood up and brushed off her knees. “I should drop this stuff in my room—do you want to head somewhere to catch up properly?” Her smile was hesitant, unsure if Emerald would want to have that kind of chat so soon or if she was too upset by Twyla’s sudden reappearance to have an old-friend-like conversation. Either way Twyla was content with how things had gone thus far. She’d been expecting everything she got. Perhaps she’d be able to work up the courage to ask Emerald to forgive her one day. That day was not the right time, obviously, but it was something to think about.

Emerald remembered the Haunted house incident, the incident where Twyla was forced to face the fact that she ran away from things far more often the she should have. However, even back then the group was trying to convince the stealthy young mutant that she wasn’t a coward, not completely anyways. She just didn’t seem to handle troubles well and while Emerald no poster child for this, she seemed to handle things that were, and non-traumatizing of course, a good deal better than Twyla did.

Emerald was worried though, extremely worried that her old friend would address her ear again, trying to pry too deeply into something Emerald didn’t want total to her about at the moment. Once Twyla dropped the matter, wolf girl’s body relaxed considerably, former tension all but disappeared in that quick moment. In a subconscious move, Emerald brushed her hair back over the ear, trying her to cover it again, just as she covered up most of her past. Sometimes, things were easier to push to the back of one’s mind then to completely erase them. Erasing things took a lot of time and not enough time had passed between that day and now to completely forget about it.

Twyla bent down to pick her stuff up and Emerald was about to help her when the younger girl gathered all her things and made asked Emerald if there was anything new going on in her life.

I’m planning on Fighting in a Cage match sponsored by lucrative crime lords, I had a tree fall on top of me while it was on fire, been recovering from a horrible trauma I suffered almost a year ago now which makes me have horrible flashbacks at times, Oh and I’m a Vigilante that roams the streets at night fighting for justice. Emerald thought

“Nothing much really, Ruby’s training with mom so she can become a better fighter, I went home for a while to help her out and then came back here,” Emerald explained, trying her best to censor out the lest than warm and fuzzy stories for Twyla’s sake. “I also have a boyfriend now who’s a comic book artist.”

Given Emerald’s previous track record with men, this was sort of an event and the way that she said the word boyfriend made her grin and made her tail wag back and forth happily. Sometimes when she talked about him she felt like an untrained pup, bouncing about all giddy and all of that stuff. What was she some sort of girly girl? The werewolf calmed dawn that happily wagging tail and quickly wiped that dopey grin off her face. It had been far too long since she had been in a relationship, but she should have known better than to act that way.

Twyla then suggested about going someplace to talk about things better and Emerald paused for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she was fully okay with that, after all Twyla did just sort of drop in. What sort of old buddies chat did she expect, “Hey I did all these things while you were back here wondering where I went.” Emerald shook her head at that thought. Twyla wasn’t that type of person, she wasn’t evil, she wasn’t snobby, nothing like that and that sort of extremely negative thought bugged her. Maybe sometimes the beast came out more than she thought it did. The beast tended to want to be more agressive to others.

“Yeah sure, not sure what ya want to talk about, but I wouldn’t mind asking where you have been all this time. We could go out near Ruby’s scrap metal shed” Emerald suggested crossing her arms over her chest. It was surprising to see her be this forgiving especially with the feelings going through her. However, it would be better if the girls talked for a while alone, rather than in public.

Things seemed to have settled into small talk between the girls. Twyla hadn’t been expecting much else—she realized that things at the Mansion would be awkward for a while. Hopefully she and Emerald could get back some semblance of the relationship they’d had before she’d left and if not…that was Twyla’s fault and she deal with the consequences. Emerald did say something, however, that made her hears perk up. Em’s got a boyfriend? This was new and (as far as the blonde could remember) unheard of.

She peeked at the wolf-girl. You go. A smile twitched at her lips. Emerald was wagging her tail. That was cute. So who was this guy? A million questions burned inside the young woman but she managed to contain herself. She didn’t want to come off as nosy after…everything. It seemed like everyone that she bumped into was in a relationship. Gawain, my roommate, and now Em. How many do you need for an epidemic? These were things that Twyla liked to see. It made her oddly happy to see other people happy with each other. Seeing everyone else with someone almost made the twenty year old jealous in a way but she didn’t dwell on it—she was more important at the moment. Sometimes you gotta do you. Twyla needed to work on Twyla. Besides, being in a relationship sounded like work and she was planning on having enough on her plate.

That didn’t, of course, mean that she couldn’t wonder all about Em’s boyfriend—how they met, what he was like, if he was a mutant, all those things. She made a note to ask her old friend at the most appropriate opportunity. If she was lucky she’d be able to weasel in some questions that afternoon. Gah. It almost hurt not to ask. It was odd, normally Twyla didn’t really pay attention to those kinds of things but she’d missed the beginning of Em’s relationship—all the buildup and everything that she would have taken for granted had she been in New York still. This was Big News to someone that had just plopped back into a social life at the Mansion. Usually Twyla wasn’t a relationship gossip, but she had a lot of catch-up to play.

The young woman was glad that her friend still wanted to talk to her. She almost winced when asking about where she’d been was suggested. There were things from the past year, especially recent things, that she wasn’t ready to talk about with anyone. Instead of showing her discomfort however, the girl smiled up at the taller young woman brightly. At least they’d be alone out on the grounds. “Sounds good to me, I just gotta drop these things off—come with me to my room?”

Twyla led the way to the bedroom that she shared with Rebecca and quickly deposited her backpack and bag of assorted goodies on her bed. Her side of the room was still bare as none of the boxes her parents had sent to her had arrived yet. She’d probably still be living in the things she’d brought in her backpack for the rest of the week. As the pair headed for the shed Twyla picked up the conversation once more: “As far as what to talk about, I think that you need to tell me about this comic artist boyfriend and I’ll be sure to ‘ooh’ and ‘aaah’ in all the right places.” There was a laugh in her voice. “But seriously.” She looked at Emerald expectantly, both eyebrows raised. Twyla would ask as many questions as it took to keep Emerald off the subject of her…er, time away… and she was still ridiculously curious.

Emerald had this creeping feeling that it would take a while for her ant Twyla's relationship to be similar to how it once was. The two girls didn't seem to take any mind of it for now though, for the she-wolf found that it was best to talk about other things, like what had been going on in both of their respective lives. However, it didn't take her much to figure out that Twyla was a little more int rested in talking about Emerald's life than she was her own.

Considering the fact that Twyla had been gone for as long a she had Emerald wasn't exactly surprised that the other girl wanted to talk more about Emerald's love life than the life that she had lived outside the mansion. While Emerald did want to know what had happened to her friend while she was gone, in a way, the werewolf understood the meaning of privacy and she would let it slide for now. When Twyla felt comfortable enough, she would talk about it.

While she tagged along to Twyla's room, Emerald couldn't help but catch the scent of another that inhabited the room with her. A smirk appeared on the werewolf's face, Rebbecca would be a good roommate for Twyla and it would be a good way for Emerald to keep tabs on the girl, just in case if she tried to high tail it out of there again like a frightened rabbit. If there was one thing Emerald was good at, it was hunting down frightened rabbits.

Once the pair began to walk the twenty-one year old began to relax a little, tail still wagging a little back and forth from before. The way they were walking together made things feel a little more normal again and once they made their way onto the grounds the wolf girl's feet hit the grass and she felt a lot more comfortable. Being cooped up indoors was never Emerald's style, while Ruby was perfectly content with it, she tended to get stir crazy from being cooped up too long.

"He's a nice guy, which is a sort of nice change of pace for me," Emerald admit ed, feeling a little sheepish about her affections for a certain comic book geek. "His name's Akshay and he's a complete nerd, but not in a bad or weird way. I don't know what it is about him but I feel more at ease than I feel around most people like I don't have to be afraid of showing him my more wolfish side. He's really one of the only people that seems to be comfortable with that aspect of my personality, it's kind of nice." Emerald admitted, the fondness in her voice seeping in.

To be honest, she had no idea why she felt htis strongly about the comic book nerd. Maybe it was because she had enough of strong guys trying to one up her, or save her butt, maybe she needed a sort of normal guy to just mellow her out a little.

"He's got this ability to say a word and it materializes in mid air and falls to the ground. Not laser vision,but to be honest, I don't mind his abilities my powers are destructive enough as it and to have someone who I'm with that doesn't have those sort of abilities is a relief to say the least." Emerald told her friend, as they made their way over to the shed.

The shed was an older shed, but it looked pretty well kept up. Emerald opened the door to her little sisters shed, looking around at the workshop her sister made so long ago. With a quick flip of a light switch, the room lit up, including the fan on the top, several tools and pieces of metal thrown about. Emerald gestured over to one of the rolling chairs near the desk and sat down in the older of the two.

"What other questions about him do you have?" Emerald asked, slightly curious, she wasn't too good at this girl talk thing but maybe Twyla would help with that.

As her friend talked, Twyla made a list of given characteristics to this ‘Akshay’ fellow. The blonde was glad that he was nicer than the other party favors that Emerald seemed to have a habit of attracting. Nerdy was also a good characteristic as was the fact that Em felt so comfortable around him. It seemed like this type of relationship was something new for the wolf-girl; Twyla hoped that things would work out for them. People deserved to find people that they could be themselves around.

The young woman refused to let memories of her past relationship surface. They remained in the nice little box she’d placed them in before she’d shoved them in the back of her mind’s closet. Safe and unseen.

Materializing words? Very cool. Twyla made a mental note to pester Emerald about meeting this guy…after the relationship between the wolf-girl and the camouflager had righted itself a bit more. The young woman quirked her lips into a satisfied smile as the pair headed into the shed. She plopped herself into the offered chair with the ease of a teenager, curling her legs up under herself and otherwise making the seated position comfortable.

What else did she want to know? Oh, there were lots of things. Twyla just wasn’t sure how to ask them or in what order. Usually she wasn’t very interested in these kinds of ooey-gooey things. Of course, usually one didn’t just materialize like a discolored ghost back into a social life, missing all the important things between ‘I met this guy’ and ‘We’re dating’. One of her sisters or friends from high school was probably better at making this kind of ‘girly’ conversation and for a moment the blonde wished that she’d been better at talking about boys when she was younger. Oh well, no use in crying over spilt perfume…

“So…how did you guys meet?” She leaned towards Emmy to show her interest, cocking her head to the side and putting just a little too much emphasis on the ‘o’ in ‘so’. That was right, wasn’t it? The logical next question to ask now that she had a basic sketch of what this guy was about was to ask where they’d met. If it wasn’t she doubted that Emerald would care—neither girl had been particularly gushy about this kind of stuff when they’d been closer all those months ago. Twyla was friends with all kinds of girls—Em was the type more likely to defend a friend in a fistfight then go out for coffee and gossip. Perhaps this wasn’t the best conversation to get their relationship on track seeing as how neither young woman was particularly good at it.

Silently Twyla wondered why all of the relationships she’d seen in the last few days had been between mutant and mutant partnering. Back home it was non-mutant and non-mutant. It seemed like a telling separation—who you date represents who you relate to, right? Could she ever have a lasting relationship with someone without a mutation? It was an interesting question that was put on the back burner to boil and be served later.

The conversation pretty much went normally for a subject like this and it looked like neither girl was a huge expert on talking to other girls about boys. Especially not Emerald, the poor girl had no idea what to do half the time during discussions like this and the only reason she was doing as well as she was, was for the sheer fact she was able to tell facts. It wasn't silly questions like she had heard other girls talk about like, "Will you two get married?" or anything like that, no just normal questions which made the wolf girl very grateful.

"We met in the park, I was doing my normal work out routine and he was sketching out stuff for his new comic and since he draws a super hero comic, guess he found inspiration from the girl that was shadow boxing around the park," Emerald smiled a little bit, still kind of sheepish about the whole thing. She still couldn't believe he found her inspirational in a way or the fact that he had called her beautiful so quick when they had first met. He barely knew her and yet he acted surprisingly well around her,with one of the best things being that he wasn't remotely scared of her.
"It was sort of nice, I'm used to people being terrified of me when I'm in work out mode and he just kinda walked up to me without any fear and started talking to me."

While Emerald did put out a very frightening appearance at times,that didn't mean she wanted people to be scared of her all the time. There were some times she wished people would approach her, especially if they needed help with anything because in general she could be a very helpful person but the werewolf thing sort of put people off. Emerald didn't really blame them completely because her wolfish self could be scary at times,but while didn't care what people thought of her most the time, she did at times want to come off as someone approachable.

The wolf girl's blue eyes glanced over at Twyla with a little hint of curiosity in them. What she was about to ask was a loaded question but she figured she would get this out of the way first.

"Did you see anyone else from our old posse when you came back in town?" Emerald asked, leaning back against the chair. Even if Twyla left, she did leave a big impact on everyone and she was curious to see if any of the old group was going to come back now. The Alpha wouldn't get her hopes up though.