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It was a gorgeous day outside. Too cool to go without a coat, but warm enough that the coat didn't have to be buttoned up. As was often the case, Sebastian had his small summoning device attached to his hip, supposedly it would beep if he was needed back at the infirmary. He walked out of the Sanctuary and turned towards the park. It was one of the only green places in the city, and one of his favorite places to stroll.

The park was much busier than normal, and a large section of it was corded off and guarded by uniformed officers that looked to be on edge. Was it just him, or did their uniforms look rather bulky, like they might be wearing some sort of armor underneath the top layers of matching clothing? He could have sworn that at least one of the uniformed officers gave him a funny look as he passed, as if he wasn't quite welcome to be walking in this public place. Or as if his horn and tail were unwelcome. Such glances were not uncommon these days. The unicorn man wondered what on earth they could be guarding when he walked around a bend and saw a large striped tent rising above the trees.

Workers in button down shirts and colorful smocks were taking tickets and money at several entrances to the roped off areas. A sign by each entrance read “Second Annual Pi is to Pie as... Amateur Pie Baking Contest”. It also proclaimed that tickets were a mere five US dollars and that all proceeds were to go directly to the New York City Public School System. It seemed like a worthy cause, and Sebastian was curious to see what was hidden within the colorful circus tent, so he paid for a ticket and wandered his way through bustling people toward the central attractions under the canvas canopy.

There were all sorts of interesting things to look at, from vendors selling special pie plates to a pushy man trying to get everyone in sight to order a copy of the book publishing the winners' recipes. There was a table stacked high with every kind of ingredient imaginable for the contest, and there were lots of chairs were spectators could sit and watch the chefs in action. The chefs themselves each had a station with all of the devices they would need to make their pies. Sebastian wondered if there would be samples later as he found himself a seat between two matronly women in a row that faced two of the younger candidates, both male. One of them had short brown hair and wore sunglasses, even indoors, while the other had curly black hair and an eyebrow ring. They were both kind of cute, though if he had to chose between them, the one with the interesting piercings was probably more his type. He was always fell for the curly haired ones, and this particular one had such a carefree and pleasant looking face.

Sebastian heard light footsteps going past his doorway. Light feet first, then hooves, then heavy sounding feet. One person running could be normal, but three individuals all headed in the same direction at such a pace meant something was afoot. Curiously he poked his horned head out of his doorway just in time to see a flash of cloth disappearing around the corner at the end of the hall. It wasn't everyday that one could hear the pitter patter of feet in any kind of a hurry around here. The unicorn man decided to check it out.

He followed where he thought was the direction everyone had been hurrying towards, which was down to the main entryway to the shelter. He didn't find the scurriers, but he did find a very odd situation, worthy perhaps of causing people to scurry about. Three things were out of place. Two of them were the Ghiberti style doors that normally covered the portals to the Sanctuary, and the other was the receptionist, Lisa, who was still hunched over her desk where she had been left to slumber.

Sebastian didn't worry too much about the cold winter sunbeams streaming into the hall, but he was worried about Lisa. He bent over her and felt her neck for a pulse. He was not surprised to feel the bitter tingle of cold at his fingertips as his healing power activated. There was some sort of toxin in her bloodstream keeping her from waking, floating where his tingling energies couldn't reach it as easily as if it were a superficial wound. Certainly, she would awaken of her own accord after a few hours time, for there was nothing significantly wrong with her. Even knowing this, Sebastian chose to intervene in her drug induced slumber. After all, he was the Sanctuary's resident healer. He hadn't had anyone to heal since he had moved into the Sanctuary, which meant that he wasn't giving back equally to the home and the group of mutants that had sheltered him when no others would do so.

The horned man glanced around Lisa's desk for something sharp, a letter opener or a pen, but found none, as the secretary's desk was immaculately clean on the surface and he didn't dare search through her desk drawers (the woman would probably rather remain unconscious than have someone trespass through her belongings). His horn wouldn't do either, for though it was remarkably sharp it would heal the wound too quickly. Finally, after finding no other alternative, he positioned the tip of his finger between his canines and bit down as hard as he could until he could taste his own silvery blood. Healer or not, it really hurt. White hot pain shot up his arm as burning cold sparks rushed downward toward his fingertip. Tears wavered at the corners of his eyes, uninvited guest.

Quickly, before his finger could mend itself, Sebastian stuck his finger in the Lisa's mouth and carefully closed her lips around it with his other hand. Even in her unconscious state, she would automatically swallow after a few moments, which would disperse the antitoxin throughout her system where it could counteract whatever drug had caused her unnatural slumber.

A few moments later, the fastidious receptionist was blinking her eyes open, none the wiser about Sebastian's method or reviving her. Moments after she had awakened once more, she was on her feet asking questions in a manner that was more demand and less request:

“How long have I been out? Has anyone informed Syn about the theft? Have the thieves been apprehended?”

Sebastian crossed his arms in response, “I think the others went after the thieves, I heard a lot of running anyway. You, however, need to stop worrying about it right now and go lie down to rest. You've been attacked and all this,” he waved his now completely healed hand indicating the entire scene of the crime, “is not good for your health.”

Lisa glared at him, daring him to force her to do anything. It was a ferocious glare, of a variety that would make even the bravest of young warriors run for cover and whimper for their mothers. Luckily, Sebastian was no young warrior, but a veteran healer and he had seen this type of glare before. It was the glare of a patient without the patience for recuperating, one that said I'm perfectly fine, so don't you tell me to rest. He returned the look with narrowed eyes and a raised eyebrow that said indicated he would have no excuses.

“Leave your communication machine here, and go to the infirmary for a well deserved rest. Doctor's orders.”

Lisa set her cell phone none too gently in Sebastian's outstretched hand with a hmph. Then she stormed off in the direction of the infirmary to fume, leaving Sebastian at the front desk, guarding the gaping opening where the front doors used to stand so proudly. He would wait and see what happened next. It seemed that the theft of the symbolic portals would incite quite a few of the inhabitants the resided within them. Some sort of scuffle seemed inevitable. If the unicorn man was correct, his healing abilities would come in handy very shortly.

Ho hum, went the conversation. Clatter crash went the cups. KLAXON! went the alarm. Into the air went Melissa Rivers.

Melissa leaped to her feet and attempted to muffle the sound with her hand. That listening equipment of Mr. Recruit's was sensitive. Melissa swore and shook her head in an attempt to clear the ringing from her ears.

“Is something the matter,” came the concerned call of the sales associate.

“Uh... Erm... I thought I saw a mouse. I... I have to leave now,” Melissa swept past the alarmed looking girl and out the door again, grabbing the umbrella on her way. Time to find out what exactly had happened in the coffee shop.

--

Wet again. Sebastian frowned as his coffee treats were diluted with rusty sprinkler pipe water and waitresses and patrons alike scrambled to find the exits. Not that there were many patrons left, after the mass exodus when the mutant group had made their entrance. Sebastian nodded at Iris' statement and yelled back over the alarm, “Good idea.”

Outside there was chaos as people scrambling to find overhangs and cars for shelter. In the distance, Sebastian could hear a siren's wail, the authorities coming to check on what had happened he assumed.

“This way,” the unicorn man pointed down the street, opposite the direction of the approaching siren. His chosen route would lead them past a bookstore where a woman was just exiting with an umbrella, and eventually would lead back to the Sanctuary. Perhaps they could seek shelter there, and even, gods forbid, get dry.

(ooc: I accidentally left Melissa's part out of Seb's last post, so I have now put it back in. It's nothing earth shattering or plot changing.)

The sound quality through the cell phone was impressive, for such a rainy day. Normally short-range transmission signals were all but useless in this kind of weather. Melissa couldn't wait to see what her new acquaintance could do once he he was on Mondragon's budget.

>>>“It is my pleasure to meet you, my lady. My name is Sebastian.”
>>>”I-I-Iris...”
>>>"Well met, Sebastian. The pleasure is all yours."
Her new acquaintance was quiet. That was to be expected.

Whomever this “Hy- Hyl- Hylonme” person was, she definitely had an attitude, despite her stuttering. Then again, Iris was stuttering now, too. Perhaps it was chilly in the coffee shop.

Melissa picked up a book off the shelf and flipped it open to a random page. Slowly she meandered her way to the window at the front of the shop and positioned herself at one of the bistro style tables, facing out into the rain.
-----------------------------
He had no idea that his attempt to see her face, towering three feet above his own had been interpreted as him checking her out. Nor did he realize that his attempt to be polite was interpreted as a pickup line.

So, Sebastian was a bit taken aback by the lofty centaur's reply. Considering she had interrupted them and introduced herself, and he had been as polite as he possibly could have been, he was a bit confused. He thought to himself that perhaps this was one of those New York cultural things that he still wasn't used to. Or perhaps she not being as rude as she seemed, and was merely using some sort of slang that all today's youth were using. At least, on the scale of rudeness, she was less rude than the people exiting the cafe simply because a unicorn, a centaur, and a tired young woman had come in to warm themselves up with a cup of hot liquid.

The short unicorn man was unsure of how to proceed, so he defaulted to politeness, as he usually did.

“We,” he indicated himself and Iris, “were about to order a cup of coffee. Would you care to join us?” He wasn't sure if she would want to sit or stand, but he knew Iris needed to sit down, so he steered her gently towards a small round table next to an aisle that already had three chairs around it and an empty side of the table facing the aisle. How ever the centaur wanted to do things, she was perfectly welcome to join them.

Sebastian did not miss the small smile that played across Iris' lips. It was a nice smile, Sebastian thought.

>>>"I hope you don't mind me being nosey, Mr. Csendes. I know why I'm here. But what brings you out on a night like this? Most people think nights like this are dreary."

“Not in the least, you may ask whatever you like. I work as a healer at a homeless shelter not far from here, and the nurses rather insisted that I take the night off. They may have mentioned something about mother hens before shoving me out the door.” Sebastian smiled at the thought of the plucky nurses. They probably needed the time away from him more than he needed the time away from the infirmary. Before he had come along, the infirmary had been ruled exclusively by the fairer sex and his presence probably disrupted their gossip time.

“I figured I might as well stretch my legs and get some fresh air so long as I was exiled from the infirmary, even if the weather is a bit 'dreary'. The rain does make beautiful reflections, and the raindrops can be rather poetic. They cold just seeps into the bones after a time.”

As he spoke, the rain seemed to lessen, then cease falling on him once again. At first he thought the rain was stopping, but as he realized it was still raining elsewhere he gave a thankful smile to his companion. “Ah, thank you, once again. I greatly appreciate it.”

------------------

Melissa noted the raised eyebrow in response to her statement about the third mutant group. He had a pretty good poker face. She'd like to see him play against Charles Triggs, if she ended up convincing him to join. If information was one form of currency, she had just given him a fairly valuable nugget and he had taken it rather well.

>>>"Sounds mutually beneficial. You're on. Though, why would a mutant group enlist a human? My skills are well polished and practiced, but I lack the genetic edge that most do. I have to shore up said deficiency with even more skill and a killing streak.”

“My dear sir, humans can be very useful. We have assets that mutants sometimes lack, since we must rely on our wits and skills rather than on some special ability. Our group recognizes the usefulness of all special abilities. Of course, humans start at a bit less pay until they prove their usefulness.”

>>>“...perhaps we can speak of it more afterward. I must take a stab at the thought that the man or the woman may know you. Perhaps I can further your confidence by having a warm cup o tea myself. I have my own wires, so no need to prep me."

Melissa smiled, nodded, and took the phone that he handed her. He was eager to prove his value, which was fine with her. Neither of the two up ahead was likely to recognize her, but the less often she was seen nearby the less suspicious she would be. And he was already wired. Did she know how to pick them, or what? He was even a gentleman and had left her the umbrella.

The unicorn heard the dragon bellow out an enraged and uncompleted inquiry as to his location. At least, he assumed that he was the “little...” to which the dragon was referring. The unicorn watched him sniff and glide his way towards a dumpster, and got ready to dash into a new hiding place while the dragon was busy inspecting the...

The dragon's head swiveled. Even from his location, the unicorn could see the dragon's nostrils quivering. Stupid downwind. He finished scampering down the junk pile as the dragon swooped toward him, claws extended. The unicorn tumbled as a claw scraped across his back leaving a fine trail of red. He stumbled the rest of the way to the ground, found his footing again and was off, ducking here and there between garbage mountains. Their game of hide and seek had just been upgraded to tag.

He doubled back around a rusty car heap, scampered up the side like his mountain goat relative and prepared to... Was he really preparing to attack the dragon? The peaceful little unicorn would never think of attacking someone would he? In self defense, perhaps. For the protection of others, yes indeed.

He didn't have fangs or claws or wings or super strength, but he did have four sharp hooves and a set of teeth that were none to dull. His horn was likewise sharp, but had the tendency to heal wounds as it inflicted them. It caused pain, but not lasting damage. The unicorn wasn't interested in lasting damage anyway. Just enough to put the dragon out of commission long enough to switch back into a form in which he could talk some sense into it. Or maybe tire it out enough that it would switch back into whatever smaller form it was before.

He waited. If it glided below him, he'd attempt to slash at it with his hooves. If it was above him, he'd try to slice at its tender stomach with his horn.

Along his own back, the cut was already healing, leaving only a red stain on his fur.

Sebastian followed Virote outside. He would have grabbed his bag on the way out, but the young teacher had already grabbed it and was affixing it to his back as they walked out the doors to the front lawn of the community center.

Sebastian's mind raced as he walked, simultaneously memorizing Virote's advice about not choking him (good advice, that) and trying to think of anything he had forgotten. He had his laptop so he could keep in contact with the school and he had a change of clothing. He had a cell phone with speed dial numbers preprogrammed by Thomas and his cheat sheet for the computer and cell phone, in case he couldn't remember how to do something. Was there anything else he needed? No, he was just trying to stall or distract his brain for the coming...

FLIGHT!

Oh gods... oh gods... oh gods...

His feet were no longer on solid ground. They were dangling. In the air. Sebastian clasped his hands tightly behind Virote's neck with his eyes shut. The air flew past as if there had been a sudden gust from above. They were falling in reverse.

As they rose higher and higher, it felt to Sebastian like he had left his stomach behind on the lawn and all the acids that had been contained within were now floating freely inside of his abdomen with no barriers to keep them in their rightful place. No bars to the bile crawling its way up his esophagus. His muscles clenched all over his body, in his lungs, in his throat, in the place where his stomach should have been. He tried to swallow, but it didn't relieve the nauseous feeling of his insides crawling around where they shouldn't be. Sebastian, who had never been sick a day in his life, felt all of his muscles heave at once. He tried to turn his head, to lean over to the side, so he wouldn't throw up on Virote.

He should not have eaten grass for breakfast, should not have had breakfast at all.