Cameron sighed as the last customer that was in The Flower Peddler morning left, carrying an armful of his best orchids. Now that no one was around, he decided to check on Rose. He slowly reached inside his pocket and pulled out the little seedling his brother had given him for Christmas. She now had four petals and measured three and a half inches tall.

Well it’s about time! She grumbled as she stretched out to her full extent. She yawned slightly. You woke me up too.

“Well if you prefer to stay on my pocket…” Cameron teased as he reached for her.

No! She squeaked defensively. Besides, I needed the sunlight.

Cameron stared at her longingly and grabbed the watering can and a handful of soil. Very carefully, he placed Rose into the soil and gave her two tiny drops of water. She sighed with delight and sucked the water up gleefully. To Cameron’s delight, he watched as Rose grew another half inch and yet another leaf sprouted.

“You’re growing like a weed!” Cameron complimented.

If plants could puff up their chest, if they had any, Rose would have done so at that very moment. But the attempt wore her out, and she fell asleep again. Sighing, Cameron scooped her up and placed her near the windows. As Cameron straightened up, he glanced out of the window. It was snowing even harder then it had that morning, and Cameron thought about Kai. He had left the shop that morning, probably to buy a birthday present for him, and still hadn’t returned.

Cameron shook his head. Kai can take care of himself. Still thinking about Kai, Cameron walked back to the cash register. Mindlessly, he picked up the watering can and watered all the plants that asked for it.

With that task done, Cameron drummed his fingers on the counter and waited. Cameron thought about what exactly he would get Kai for his fifteenth birthday. He felt bad that his present wasn’t as meaningful to Kai as Rose was to him. Still thinking about what to get Kai for his birthday, Cameron gave a start when Rose muttered: Someone’s coming.

Cameron quickly straightened his dirty apron and looked toward the door.

(( ooc: picking up from the coffee shop. ))

> "Shall we take a stroll through the park? It is just across the street."

Sonya nods cheerfully, bolts down the last of her coffee and pie, and heads outside with Garth. It's chilly, but not horribly cold, and walking helps warm her up a bit... and, anyway, it's better than keeping a conversation going with two police officers in the same room.

"So... you 'jump' -- like, teleporting? That's a cool power." Which it is. Useful, too, especially during a breakout... though she assumes Syn has already figured that out. Or at least potentially useful, depending on its constraints. "Can you take other people with you, or is it just you?"

As she listens to his reply, she notices a middle-aged man walking out of a small florist shop with an armful of orchids. Impulsively, she crosses the street and heads towards the shop. "Do you mind a quick pit-stop? I want to order some holiday flowers for my -- " she stops short then, unsure what to say... she'd been about to say "for my family" when she's reminded, yet again, that they aren't really her family anymore, and she can't really contact them.

"Um... for the holidays," she finishes lamely. She no longer has any real reason to go in the shop, she realizes, but inertia takes her through the doors anyway. If nothing else, it's nice and warm in there.

Once inside, she nods to the kid at the counter. "Hi..." Unsure what else to say, given that her initial reason for walking in here has just evaporated, she seizes on the rose seedling as a viable distraction. "Nice little flower," she comments casually... "I didn't realize you grew them locally?"

>"Can you take other people with you, or is it just you?"

"To tell you the truth, I can't answer you. I've never tried." It was a little embarrassing to Garth actually. He hadn't be one to reveal his powers to too many people. Plus he rarely had a friend that he could share that secret with.


Garth grimaced slightly as Sonya talked about the flowers. Of course, she probably wouldn't have noticed anything different with half his face hidden behind a veil of darkness. He grudgingly followed her into the flower shop.

> "To tell you the truth, I can't answer you. I've never tried."

Sonya is startled by that at first... it strikes her as such an obvious question she's surprised he hasn't experimented. On further thought, though, she realizes it's the sort of thing that would require someone else's cooperation, and it's possible that prior to meeting up with Syn, Garth simply didn't know anybody he could trust with the information that he was a mutant.

She can sympathize with that; until recently she was in a similar boat... and even now, she hasn't really been willing to trust most people with knowing her real powers.

"Ah... I understand. Yeah, it's kinda hard to find people to experiment with, huh?" She shrugs lightly. "If you want, we can try it out later. If you can, it would come in very handy."

Cameron watched as the door swung inward with a ding and two people walked in.

>Hi...< said the girl. Cameron then watched in horror as she reached forward and picked up Rose. >Nice little flower. I didn't realize you grew them locally. <

Cameron fidgeted as Rose complained; I don’t like to be picked up! She also wiggled slightly. In attempt to draw her attention away from Rose, Cameron quickly explained.

“We have an insulated green house in the back of the shop,” he said with a smile that hopefully hid his frustration and concern for his little friend. He then nodded at the back of the shop to emphasize his point. They didn’t seem to be paying attention, which was okay. They were talking about something Cameron didn’t understand. Attempting to change the topic, Cameron asked:

“Is there anything that you are looking for specifically?”

Kai hummed happily as he strolled along the streets of New York. He had found, if not the perfect gift, at least a satisfactory birthday present for his brother. It was snowing slightly, but not enough to bother him. He actually kind of liked the snow, though would never admit it to Cameron. He rounded the last corner and saw the brightly colored sign for The Flower Peddler. Home sweet home, he thought, contently. He pushed open the door, amused as ever with the small bell that rung.

"Hey Cam-!" he stopped in midsentence. There were... PEOPLE in the shop. He shrugged. He shouldn't be surprised, it was New York afterall. There were lots of people around. And some of them even wanted to buy flowers. Their little shop was actually doing fairly well.

He smiled to the two strange- customers and caught up with Kai who was gesturing frantically towards the greenhouse and mummbling.

"Can I offer you a tour? It's really quite an interesting process, getting them to grow out of season..."

He let the question hang and drew his brother aside and whispered so that only Cameron could hear. "These aren't 'Special Customers' again, are they?"

> “We have an insulated green house in the back of the shop,”

Sonya nods, just as if she were interested, suddenly feeling awkward. What am I doing here? Her initial impulse to purchase flowers for the holiday feels utterly ridiculous now that she remembers there's nobody to buy them for, and she shrugs apologetically at Garth. He must think I'm an idiot.

"Um... I see. That's very inter--" she's cut off by someone coming in through the door, and does a double-take as an identical boy walks in. What the -- ? More careful analysis reveals certain differences... the shopkeeper has a slightly crooked nose; the boy at the door is wearing an acorn necklace... but they're clearly twins.

> "Can I offer you a tour? It's really quite an interesting process,
> getting them to grow out of season..."

Curiosity overcomes her... she hasn't met any identical twins since developing her powers, and she's curious as to whether they appear identical to her genetic-scan sense... so she nods cheerfuly to the boy at the door. "Sure, that'd be nice."

She offers a hand to Kai in greeting. "I'm Teresa, by the way."

(( OOC: Just so you know, Sonya can sense (among other things) that they're mutants by touching them. ))

Garth was studying a group of poinsettia plants as 'Teresa' and the twins chatted. This wasn't exactly his kind of place: too bright, too pretty. As the other twin walked in, Garth moved to another plant to avoid him. He casted a glance as the new arrival moved to the store clerk. Going back to the plants, Garth pretended to be very interested in watching them grow.

>I'm Teresa, by the way.

"Kai," he answered, he jerked a thumb in Cam's direction "and this is my brother, Cameron."

Kai was normally a little wary of strangers, but friendly enough. He took the offered hand, reaching for the seedling, Rose, with his other hand. "This one is not well established enough to go anywhere yet."

Rose sighed in his hand. She liked him well enough- he had given her life, after all, but she was partial to Cameron.

Kai cast a glance at the shady character regarding the poinsettias. It was a little late in the holiday season to be regarding plants of that type that carefully.

You have got to be kidding me, Sonya thinks as she shakes Kai's hand. Another mutant? How many of us are there, anyway?

On thinking about it a moment, she realizes it's not quite as absurd as it first seems. She's probably met over a hundred people since arriving in Manhattan, and maybe a dozen of those have been mutants. Granted, 10% is still a pretty high fraction, but then again there's enough mutant organizations and stuff based near here that it's not as surprising as it could be.

Kai's mutation is interesting... she's never felt anything quite like it. It tastes just a little like Aisling's talent, which might mean the boy is a telepath... but only a little, which makes it unlikely. She tries to think Hey! Can you hear me? at him, just out of curiosity, but he doesn't seem to react in any way.

> "Kai, and this is my brother, Cameron."

"Nice to meet you both," she replies by social reflex, shaking Cameron's hand as well. Interesting... they really are identical! Or, mostly, anyway. The differences are miniscule, and she can't infer anything from them.

Her curiosity satisfied, Sonya hesitates. Ordinarily, she would just go on with shopping or whatever without letting on that she knew the twins were mutants, but the current circumstances aren't ordinary. Part of her job on the outside, she figures, is to recruit new Resistance members... or at least identify potential allies. What if these two turn out to have some cool power that would make the difference between success and failure? At the very least, their greenhouse would be a better temporary hiding place for obvious mutants than Rupert's apartment.

What the hell, she finally decides. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"So, now that you're both here, I have to admit I'm here under somewhat false pretenses. You see, my employer sent me to make contact with you." Which isn't precisely a lie... Syn hadn't mentioned these two specifically, but Sonya supposes that she would have if she'd known about them. "She has a mechanism for detecting, shall we say, especially gifted individuals? Like yourselves. And me." Again, not quite a lie... granted that Sonya herself is the mechanism, which she's being deliberately misleading about, but it's a mechanism just the same.

"I realize this is somewhat abrupt, but please don't be frightened. We don't mean you any harm... quite the contrary. The truth is, this is not a particularly safe time to be 'gifted,' and my employer feels we will all be safer if we are in a position to assist one another should trouble arise."

That part is a lie... Sonya isn't entirely sure what Syn's real goals are, but she's fairly sure that mutual assistance is at best peripheral to it. Mostly, her impression is that Syn wants power for the sake of power, without any other long-term goals... but of course, she hasn't known the woman long enough to be sure of that.

"If that sounds interesting, we can discuss this further... or, if you'd rather stay on your own, we can walk out that door and never bother you again. The next move is entirely up to you." She considers adding some comment to the effect that if Sonya could find them, it's only a matter of time before the police do, but she decides not to push it... no doubt they can think of that themselves.

What on earth is she talking about? Cameron thought as he tried to reason what the heck she was saying. Still thinking, he stared down at his hands. They were dirty and callused. As they always were these days. Cameron quickly brushed his hands against his apron and looked up again.

The strange girl, “Teresa”, was still standing there as though she expected him to respond. A long pause followed. Then, Cameron was slapped with a sudden revelation. Maybe she was a mutant too! Like him and Kai. They had hitchhiked to New York so they could find other mutants and learn more about their powers. Maybe this was his chance. He would have to talk to Kai about this. Kai was still rooted to the spot, staring at Teresa like she was a psycho. Maybe she was.

Suddenly, Rose wiggled slightly and grew another leaf. Sorry! She apologized. I can’t help it sometimes. Cameron prayed that the strangers hadn’t seen. He was suddenly struck with another idea, which puzzled him even more. Did they want us to be their supplier? How did she find out about their other business? Cameron would have expected something like this from the shady character standing near the poinsettias. A bit late in the season for poinsettias. He shrugged off the idea. Maybe he was some creepy bodyguard. And if there was one thing that he had learned in the “business”, it was that dealers came in all shapes and sizes.

Cameron could tell Kai was thinking the same thing because at that moment, he glanced toward the back room and then at him with kind of an expectant gleam in his eyes. Cameron shrugged and said in a very dull and relaxed voice:

“How many people do you have and how much do they need per day?”

He glanced at Teresa hopefully. They were a little short on cash as their shop was still getting off the ground. A huge deal would help them pay for the next month’s rent.

Sonya blinks in surprise as the rose seedling suddenly sprouts a leaf. What the -- ? Oh. Mutants. Florists. OK, sure. I can roll with that. She's about to make some passing reference to it when Cameron changes the subject bewilderingly.

> “How many people do you have and how much do they need per day?”

"Um..." she pretends to think about the question for a second, furiously trying to figure out what they're talking about. With all her identity-shifting lately, she's gotten into the habit of concealing ignorance in conversation; it genuinely doesn't occur to her that she's not supposed to understand here. Finally, she replies "Well, that depends on, um," think think think, "a variety of factors, of course. What can you offer?"

Kai felt like one of those fancy bobble-head things. He wasn't sure where to look or what was really going on. The girl who introduced herself as Teresa confused him. Teresa was probably a fake name, all dealers seemed to have fake names. Though usually they were more along the lines of "Spike" or something to that effect. In any case, her statements made him a little uncomfortable. He wasn't sure what she meant, but knew that he didn't like this strange game she was playing at. 'Say what you mean, there's no misunderstanding that way,' was a piece of wisdom that his grandfather had always drilled into him. Another such pearl was 'Keep silent if you have nothing intelligent to contribute.'

So he said nothing at first and just processed.

He glanced pointedly at Cameron, then at the back room, indicating that they should talk about this in private. He must have misinterpreted, though, because he immediately blurted out >"How many people do you have and how much do they need per day?"

Stupid! Kai thought at his brother angrily, We know nothing about them! Rose, still in his hand, picked up on his thought and cringed. Sorry, not you, little one, he apologized. If only his thickheaded brother could hear his thoughts...

He was so distracted in his own little world, that he missed most of what the girl was saying- he tuned back in as she was asking >"What can you offer?"

Yep. Definately a dealer.

"Erm..." he stammered. He played with his choker again as he mentally counted the plants. Kai reached out to them and felt many, many tiny balls of indifference, bordering on dislike. "I think we around fourty-five fully grown plants. With our current schedule, we can keep that number constant. If you have more than... two dozen or so people, we'll have to expand and there will be a slight delay for a few weeks."

Why do I know this much about our stupid, illegal plants? And more importantly, why did I let Cam talk me into this, anyway?

Shade could easily overhear their conversation. Something illegal the boys were saling. However, he would rather not get into it. Moving from the poinsettias, Shade began to walk between the aisles admiring the selection of plants. What amazed him the most was the fact that every single one was in perfect health; something that was near impossible. He threw a glance through the shrubbry then continued on his inspection.

There is defintiely something going on with these two.

Shade took up a position off to the left of the group behind some young trees. Something was definitely wrong with these guys. He was making sure he could help 'Teresa' if she needed itt.

> "Erm... I think we around forty-five fully grown plants. With our current schedule,
> we can keep that number constant. If you have more than... two dozen or so
> people, we'll have to expand and there will be a slight delay for a few weeks."

Sonya nods slowly, attempting to look thoughtful rather than confused. Jeez, they sound like dope dealers or something. Which they might well be, she supposes, although at first glance that seems implausibly ordinary given the weird world of mutant conspiracies she's been stumbling through for the last couple of months.

On second thought, though, she realizes she's being silly. Sure, suddenly becoming a mutant has completely redefined her own life, but there's no reason it needs to be like that for everyone. Most mutants are probably just going on about their business and their lives as they were before, just using their abilities to help out when appropriate.

Which is probably what's going on here. Develop the mutant ability to manipulate plants? Open a florist shop! It makes sense. As does their illegal sideline, much as she dislikes it personaly.

All of which is entirely tangential to her actual purpose, though, and she decides it's time to bring the conversation back around to that purpose.

"I see," she responds thoughtfully. "That's an impressive volume for such a small shop. Though I suppose your mutant abilities help with that. Do you force-grow them the way you did that rose? What does that do to product quality?"