It was a strange and strangely contended feeling that followed Juka as he walked the streets of New York City once again. It had been 2 years since he last stepped upon its streets and in those two years far too much had happened to him. He didn't look the same as when he left and he didn't particularly feel the same as when he left. Coming back brought with it a rush of memories and, in a strange way, made him feel a little more like himself again. Maybe there was actually hope to get over the ghosts of his past.

Presently, Juka had on a pastel blue dress with black lace frills around the arms and bottom of the skirt. Sure, he might be a 14 year old homeless boy now, but that was no reason not to dress up to his usual fabulous standards. Besides, he also happened to be fantastically wealthy, despite not having an actual place to call his own. He'd always been well off in the past, but since inheriting the fortunes of Jonathan, he was more wealthy than he could have possibly imagined back then. What else was he going to do with such wealth than buy amazing clothes?

Maybe it was the euphoria of being back in the city he called home or maybe it was the simple joy of being a child again. Whatever it was, it quickly became clear that Juka was not exercising the best in the way of critical thinking skills or common sense. With a gleeful childlike smile on his face, he pranced up to the nearest teenage boy, wrapped his arms around him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Unwrapping his arms he grinned and bowed, preparing to turn away and continue on his way. Unfortunately the boy and his friends had other ideas, the anger plain to see on their faces.

Juka wasn't the only one that had just returned to the city recently. It had been almost a year since Ruby had been in the city let alone in one of the busier parts. The small fox girl carried one of her grandmothers home made back packs over her shoulder, for she was planing to restock on some supplies at the local hardware store. She needed new screws, newer tools and all sorts of other little parts if she was going to keep her mini business afloat so she needed to restock as much as humanely possible.

Ruby's ears were hidden by awell-knit hat that was pulled over her twitching little fox ears. She was able to hear everything everything in perfect clarity still, due to holes being in the top of it to circulate air through it. Her tail was cleverly hidden with her dark green hoodie tied around her waist that managed to cover the overly fluffy tail. Other than that she wore pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

The fox girl walked through the commercial area, aware, but happy. that she was back and could restock without sending a request mainland. With that awareness, Ruby manage to catch wind of the boys angry comments to the other boy who seemed to have run up to one of them and kissed him. How did Ruby Know he was a boy, because no boy would be that angry about a girl kissing him, especially if it was a pretty girl. A pretty boy on the other hand might cause more problems.

The small, boned, innocent looking fox girls ran up to the boys, her innocent looking face bright with one of those smiles that could melt any ones hearts.

"Hi guys, I'm really sorry about this, he's my cousin, don't worry about him. He's harmless really, he's just silly sometimes" Ruby explained, shrugging her shoulders a little comically.

Juka realized almost immediately his mistake after kissing the boy. It wasn't really his fault anyway; how was he supposed to remember that he was no longer on Paradise Island and people over hear weren't always quite so open to strange guys coming up and kissing them? Besides, he hadn't even kissed the teen on the lips, just on the cheek and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that. If it was the fact that he was a guy, well, he was pretty enough to be a girl by any measure and that should have been enough.

As soon as Juka saw the dark expressions, not just of the boy he had kissed but also of his surrounding friends, he put his hands up in placating fashion. "Boys, boys, I didn't mean a thing by it. The sun is shining, the city bustles happily around us and you're friend simply looked too delightful not to offer a hug and a kiss too. No harm done at all." It was not the right thing to say and dark expressions turned even darker, the boys muttering discontentedly to one another.

"Hi guys, I'm really sorry about this, he's my cousin, don't worry about him. He's harmless really, he's just silly sometimes"

All the boys turned around at the voice, Juka included. He blinked at her, rather confused for a moment, before bursting into a grin. She was a cute little thing and, it seemed, prepared to save him from his own stupidity. Sometimes he needed his own personal little savior and guardian of common sense.

"Oh, my dearest cousin, I fear I've gone and done it again. I overstepped my bounds and now I fear these poor boys want to make me suffer for it." Juka bowed his head sadly, skits ruffling around him. The teens, more confused than ever, continued to mutter amongst themselves. At least they hadn't actually tried anything yet.

The confused look on all the boys' faces made Ruby's tail twitch nervously beneath her jacket. Luckily, there was a quick breeze when that happened, so it made it seem like the wind was blowing her jacket instead of part of her body moving beneath it. Once the other boy played along, however, the young fox girl smiled and walked up next to Juka, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. She tried to feign the utmost look of comfort, and she did it successfully.

"It's alright, cousin. You didn't know. Things are so different, here. I'm sorry, guys. This won't happen again! Come along, now. Let's go home. Mom's cooking your favorite," Ruby smiled sweetly at him, tail swishing a little again beneath her jacket, but she was once again covered up by another gust of wind. The young fox girl lead him quietly away from the group of boys, trying her best to do a little damage control. She figured if they couldn’t see or were out of range of the overly affectionate boy, so they wouldn’t try to do anything else.

Ruby calmly escorted the crazily dressed boy away from the small group, trying to keep a distance between them. Once they were far enough away, she turned to the younger looking boy with exasperation on her face. It was fine that he wanted to be friendly to others, but not that friendly. That was going overboard, and if he wasn’t careful, it would get in him in way too much trouble. Even her elder sisters knew when to tone it down when their safety or the safety of others was at risk.

“You really should be more careful,” Ruby sighed, giving him a worried look. “Some people aren’t very nice, and that sort of thing could have gotten you in trouble if you did it to the wrong people. “

((Got permission to lead Juka away))

Sometimes it was just better to follow those wiser and more knowing than oneself and, Juka decided, this was one of those times. The adorable girl clearly had more of an idea about what to do in present circumstances than he did, so it stood to reason that following the adorable girl would be just the right course of action. So, with a blissful smile, he did just that.

Not that Juka had been in all that much danger, not really. Or so he told himself anyway, if only to protect his ego from his own lack of common sense. The boys, angry though they might have been, surely couldn't have followed him into the sky, could they? Nope, not at all. Unless they were mutants. And that would be...not particularly good at all.

"I'll be sure to be more careful next time," Juka agreed, his voice properly apologetic. "Sometimes I just get all excited and don't think before I act. I guess I should work on that." He grinned down at her, hardly able to keep a somber tone at all.

"My little darling, I do so thank you for saving my ignorant self. Whatever might I do to repay your angelic kindess? Might I get the name of my savior?"

Ruby was a little confused as to why the young man wanted to be that…out there in public. While people were a little more accepting than they used to be, not everyone was and it was far better to be safe than sorry. Maybe it was just her old paranoia from her past experiences speaking to her, but it would be like if she always had her tail and ears out. She did have them out some times, but unlike her older sister, she couldn’t always defend herself immediately and at times, it was far more of a risk. Not that she was ashamed of her mutation, no she just didn’t want to cause others trouble.

“It’s alright, you should really be more careful though, I don’t know what I could have done if those guys attacked you or anything like that.” Ruby explained, soft green eyes filled with worry. She was concerned about others and didn’t like seeing them get hurt. The young kit would have been able to defend the other boy but she didn’t want to out herself that easily.

Ruby shifted the backpack on her shoulder when he asked for her name, its contents clanking about. Considering his rather, harmless look the young girl didn’t see any problem giving him her name. “Ruby, Ruby Lupin,” Ruby told him, blushing a little at his flattery. “Really I can’t think of anything for you to do for me, sir, just try your best to keep safe if anything.”

The fox girl still walked in the general direction of the hardware store, planning on restocking her supplies before it got dark. The last thing she needed was to be wandering about in New York, by herself at night. She was pretty sure Emerald would never forgive her if she stayed out past dark. In fact, she wasn’t sure that her older sister wouldn’t be angry at her for going to the Hard Ware Store without her.