Sarah leaned back against the bench she was seated on. Her dark blue jean clad legs were stretched out in front of her. The heels of her black boot clad heels positioned on the ground, though not truly giving her support. Her arms were laying on the bench back lazily, pulling the light cream button up tight against her skin. Her mainly brown eyes were shadowed by her black baseball cap. Her brown hair was braided and pulled through the cap, keeping it out of her face. She was completely relaxed.

What had started as a trip to sketch the park, had turned into a time dedicated to relaxing.

People were walking past her, minding their own business. Not one seemed to actually see her. Sarah watched as mother's pulled children along, business men talked into cell phones, teens and other children played games, and other types of people. It was relaxing to just watch people again.

"When was the last time I did this?" Sarah asked herself. "A few weeks, I would think," she answered after a moment of thought.

'The last few weeks have been rough,' she thought. 'I'm so happy Boss gave me the next few days off.'

The dark skinned woman's thoughts were interrupted as a woman passed by, trying to calm her screaming baby. The woman was bouncing her baby trying to find something. Sarah watched the woman's eyes flow over the unusually full benches of the area.

"Ma'am!" Sarah called out. "You can sit here!"

When the woman turned to look in Sarah's direction, the dark haired woman stood, grabbing the bag full of art supplies as she did so. The mother smiled weakly as she sat down in the now empty bench. When Sarah was sure the woman was alright, she started walking down the path. Her relaxed position was gone, but her relaxed mood was not. With a small smile on her face, she continued walking in Central Park.

Life was not going Nate's way as of late. After many really good months on the straight and narrow with an amazing woman and a rewarding job, the hand of mutant misfortune had to smack him down. Now, Quin knew about his past and Nate was left waiting on her decision to know whether or not he was still in a happy relationship or if he was single. Or incarcerated.

If that mess was not bad enough, Nate was now stalking his own giant arachnid. On an everyday walk, Parker heard something in the distance and took advantage of Nate's dazed and depressed state. The leash slipped out of his hand and Parker was gone, so now, it was Nate's task to look around Central Park before someone shot Parker or the spider did something to get his owner arrested.

"Parker! Parker, come back here!"

There was one thing to be said about New Yorkers: they handled weird well. For some reason, there was no one running away or screaming. Parker might have been just compact and fast enough that they assumed he was a cat. That was good panic-wise, but it left little in the way of a trail.

"Parker, when I find you, you better--oh, sorry!" By walking backward and shouting for his pet, Nate predictably bumped into someone. He turned to apologize to the tan young woman for his rudeness. "My fault. Hey, by any chance have you seen a stray-- er, pet running around?" If she did not see Parker, there was no need to throw out the "s" word.

Sarah cursed herself for being stupid. She took the quiet of the park as a sign no one was around. She had closed her eyes, and apparently her ears, for a moment and suddenly she was hit by someone. She stumbled back a bit as whoever it was spoke to her. As she stumbled she heard the tall tale sound of her art supplies dropping from her slightly opened bag.

>>"--oh, sorry!"

Sarah looked at the person as she crouched down to pick up her things. They were definitely male. He had brown hair and looked to be several inches taller than her, even with her heeled boots.

"It's all good," she mumbled as she picked up a paint set.

>>"My fault. Hey, by any chance have you seen a stray-- er, pet running around?"

Sarah looked up at the man's word stumble. He seemed upset about something. The young artist had the idea it wasn't his lost pet that was bugging him. Sarah's thoughts put her back in the present.

"Uh, I don't think so. I kinda had my eyes closed when we bumped into each other," she laughed lightly.

She picked up a pack of colored pencils before pausing. Her relaxed mood was gone and she had the urge to be helpful. She turned her brown eyes to the man.

Before her mind even registered the words, she was speaking. "I can help you look if you want. I have some free time, and besides, two sets of eyes might be able to find your pet faster."

Inside, Sarah was cursing herself. 'If I get kidnapped because of this, I am so blaming Mom. Only I would take on the most dangerous quality of my mother: being too helpful.'

As a form of apology, Nate crouched down and helped her collect art supplies, which he had to admit intrigued him.

>> "Uh, I don't think so. I kinda had my eyes closed when we bumped into each other."

So Parker had not passed by recently, or at least not recently enough for the girl to notice. "You mean when I bumped into you," he joked. "Darn."

>> "I can help you look if you want. I have some free time, and besides, two sets of eyes might be able to find your pet faster."

The offer was generous, and he could not deny how helpful she would be, but... he might have to explain what his pet was. Maybe he would deal with that when he came to it. "Really? Well, if you're sure, thank you very much, miss!" He extended a hand of introduction. "I'm Nate."

As the search resumed, Nate decided to question the contents of her bag he had been curious about. "So I'm guessing you're an artist?"

Sarah was happy that he didn't just leave her to pick up her things on her own. She often found people in New York City didn't care that someone had things on the ground. They usually stepped on them instead.

>> "You mean when I bumped into you."

Sarah smiled at his joke. 'I think it was a combination of things. But I don't wanna argue.'[/color]

>>"Really? Well, if you're sure, thank you very much, miss!"

Sarah smiled as she took his hand after putting her things in her bag. He seemed nice enough to her. If she did get kidnapped, she'd still blame her mother.

>>"I'm Nate."

"I'm Sarah," she told him as she stood.

>>"So I'm guessing you're an artist?"

Sarah smiled widely. "Yeah, I am. I have an art degree. Though it doesn't do me much good with the job I have right now," she laughed.

She gazed around the park, looking for any anomalies around the park. There were some kids playing in a grassy area, though they seemed to only be playing on their game. A group of women with children, who Sarah thought were nannies, were walking away from them, towards where the dark skinned woman had been. Other than the women and kids, the path was relatively empty for the day.

The path they were on was sided by bushes, making easy hiding places for small animals. Sarah tried to take note of any rustling in the bushes, but the breeze was making it difficult. Her hat was becoming a hinder now that she was actually needing her full site, so she carefully pulled her hair from the hat and shoved the black material down her back pocket, the bill sticking out.

"So where do you wanna start?" she asked as she looked around.

>> "I'm Sarah."

Nate replied to her act of kindness with a winning smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sarah!"

>> "Yeah, I am. I have an art degree. Though it doesn't do me much good with the job I have right now."

Nate's chuckle was meant to be quietly to himself, but in the end it was loud enough for her to hear it. "Well, I feel bad now! Here I am self-taught and teaching art." Admittedly, his life was not the type to get him into a fancy school, but at least his work was high-quality enough to pass for the real things he replaced with them. "New York's an art mecca; I'm sure you'll find something worthy of your talents," he assured her with a wink.

>> "So where do you wanna start?"

It was a good question; Central Park was a big place. "Um... well, Parker tends to gravitate toward trees and bushes, so maybe keep near those? Or maybe he found someone else's pet?" No, if that happened by now, there would be screaming as a pet owner watched his dog being nibbled on.

Sarah smiled widely as she walked towards a line of bushes. To her, Nate seemed like a nice enough guy. He was one of the nicest people he had met in New York City. She lightly wondered where he grew up, considering NYC natives weren't usually kind.

"So where do you work?" Sarah asked before quickly adding more. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Sarah felt her cheeks flame up. She knew even her dark skin would show the blush spreading across her cheeks. She wasn't often so flustered, but she felt embarrassed by her blunt question. She turned her focus back on shifting through the bushes, trying to find Nate's pet.

Then she realized she had no idea what type of pet it was. She thought about asking, but not after her bluntness had embarrassed her. She would wait to ask another question. If she ever got the nerve.

She moved a section of leaves away so she could look into the bushes. After moving the leaves away, Sarah felt as if something was watching her. The feeling was strange and caused Sarah to look deeper into the bush.

Nate shook off the disclaimer, smiling at the curiosity of another artist. "No trouble at all. I work as an art teacher at a... private school in the city." For the moment, it was probably best to avoid the use of the term "mutant school." After all, there was truth to the statement: the Mansion was a very private school.

Nate focused his search on a different bush, since it was wisest to spread the search. Unbeknownst to him, Parker was in another bush happily nibbling on a discarded hot dog until he noticed the leaves being moved. Through his collective eyes, he spotted a young woman, and if she was looking for him, she obviously wanted to play.

Parker jumped off the ground and out of the bush, aiming for the woman's chest as a place to land so he could playfully nibble on her hair with his fuzzy mandibles.

Hearing Nate's reply had calmed Sarah down significantly. After getting control of her flushed cheeks, Sarah looked deeper into the bushes. She could see something moving in there, but she wasn't sure what it was. With a sigh she briefly wondered if she would need to put her hand in the bush. The idea wasn't very appealing to her. Nate's pet might decide to bite her.

'Really didn't think this through, did I?'[/color] she asked herself.

With a quick sigh she tried to get the courage to reach into the bush. While she gather her courage, she noticed whatever was moving in the bush had disappeared from her view. Suddenly she felt something on her chest. When she looked down she was staring at a... very... large... spider.

Sarah's body straightened instantly. Her body frozen expect for her lungs as they were filled with air. She prepared to scream.

Nate was wondering if the search was futile; Parker was not in his bush, and if he made it into the trees, it would be almost impossible to find him. Parker knew how to get to the apartment, so if Nate ended the spider scavenger hunt, things would probably work out anyway.

The defeated pet owner turned to let Sarah know he was giving up, but to his surprise, she succeeded in finding Parker, and Parker succeeded at finding her chest and neck. The situation had become critical very quickly, leaving very little time to problem-solve.

Nate jumped toward Sarah, grabbing Parker carefully by the body, making sure to avoid accidentally making contact with the poor girl's already traumatized chest. "Bad Parker!" Nate clipped the clasp of the leash on Parker's collar before placing him back on the ground.

Now it was time to run damage control, so Nate spoke quickly. "I'm real sorry. He didn't hurt you or nothing, right?" Parker could be very "playful," but he rarely caused any real harm.

Her shocked mind tried to comprehend what was going on. Her scream had died in her throat as soon as Nate had grabbed the spider. However, she felt her scream just waiting to come out. Then, he was chastising the spider.

'What is going on?'[/color] she asked herself.

Nate was placing the spider on the ground, a leash connecting the two. Her mind put two together. The spider was his pet. The spider was Parker.

>>"I'm real sorry. He didn't hurt you or nothing, right?"

'What?'[/color] Sarah asked herself. 'Is he serious?'[/color]

Sarah's mind was screaming at her to run, but her body wouldn't move. There seemed to be a problem with the connection between her brain and her body. It was a slow process to get feeling back in her body, but she did it. She got her body back under control of her brain.

"I think I'm alright," she whispered when she had her voice back. "That's Parker?" She cringed inwardly. She had meant it to be a statement, but somehow it came out as a question.

Sarah slowly seemed to release the adrenaline that was pent up and ready to escape as a scream. Nate was glad she refrained from yelling, because he was generally not a fan of "attention," and as the only man near a screaming woman, he would be receiving a lot of it, in an almost exclusive shade of negative.

She did not scream, but she was still obviously apprehensive, and he could not blame her. If anything, she would probably be angry at Nate for keeping the only piece of crucial information to himself.

> "I think I'm alright. That's Parker?"

Nate looked back at his pet, who was now nibbling on the tip of his shoe. "Yep. This is Parker."

There was not much he could say that would not sound stupid, which would probably explain why what he said next sounded so... well, stupid. "Yeah, I guess you've noticed, but he's sort of a... well, with the legs and all... um, I'm sorry I didn't mention Parker was a big spider?" Yeah, that sounded like an apology or something.

Sarah watched Nate after he confirmed her question. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. A sign he was crazy? Maybe...

>>"Yeah, I guess you've noticed, but he's sort of a... well, with the legs and all... um, I'm sorry I didn't mention Parker was a big spider?"

After he spoke, the brunette had the urge to laugh. Instead of being polite, her still muddled mind let go. She laughed. 'Well, it's more of a giggle,'[/color] a part of her stated.

She knew she probably looked weird, laughing and all. It was just... To her the way Nate had spoken made him sound so confused. It was so strange to her, that she just laughed. A part of her wondered if it was just the pent up fear escaping, but that didn't stop her from laughing.

"I'm sorry," Sarah apologized through her laughter. "It's just... giggles And you... giggles I just thought..." She couldn't seem to create a straight sentence.

Nate was worried that she was going to scream or shout or even swear, but it was far more surprising to see her laugh. In truth, it was the last thing he was expecting, but he was pleased enough by it.

>> "I'm sorry, It's just... giggles And you... giggles I just thought..."

Nate finally felt safe to smile. "Yeah, he ain't exactly a puppy, but he's... relatively harmless." Wouldn't want to say anything he might later regret.

It was probably best for him to give Sarah some form of explanation to his rather unique situation. "Parker sort of grew on me after a weird night with a mutant that spawned mutant spiders. He needed a home, and my night was weird enough as it was, so I kept him."

Nate nudged Parker with the tip of his shoe. "Say hi and apologies to the nice young woman."

Realizing he made a mistake by his owner's disappointed tone, Parker rose on it's hind legs and "bowed" on his front, making a pitiful warbling sound.

Nate smiled, hoping Parker's endearing charm would work yet again. "There, that was probably a sorry, right? Is everything okay now?"

As Nate smiled, Sarah's laughter started to die. She had missed what he said, but it didn't matter at the moment. She could put pieces together if it was. Or just ask him to repeat.

>>"Parker sort of grew on me after a weird night with a mutant that spawned mutant spiders. He needed a home, and my night was weird enough as it was, so I kept him."

As soon as he had said the word mutant her mind was in focus. She had heard of mutants who hated humans, but his words seemed to mean he and the mutant were on okay terms.

"Must have been some night," she smiled warily. She still trusted him, but her mind was wandering.

>>"Say hi and apologies to the nice young woman."

Sarah's brown gaze turned to the spider in shock. Parker had did a sort of bowing motion that made Sarah's laughter return. She was giggling quietly this time. Though, she was sure Nate could hear it.

>>"There, that was probably a sorry, right? Is everything okay now?"

Sarah nodded as her giggles turned into another smile. "I do believe Parker is beginning to grow on me." It shocked her as she said it, but it was true. "And yes, everything is okay. I guess... Well, I have a horrible fear of spiders. Have since I was little."

She was very shocked to find that she could move again. It had been her impression that spiders made her immobile. Then again, she had been speaking for a bit now. She smiled softly at Parker before looking back at Nate.

"This may seem strange of me to ask, but are you okay? I forgot to ask you earlier, but you seemed a bit, well, sad." She hoped she wasn't being too forward, but she wanted to help if she could.