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Well, the random guy wasn't openly violently anti-mutant, at least? Although that wasn't really the worst option, all things considered. But anyway. He nodded briefly but kept an eye on the Ryan-person, just in case he gave some sign that might lead to events detrimental to Ai's health.

The re-extension of the phone helped to calm Ai's still baby-routed nerves, and he did take it this time. Okay, if the pin was his location... Phew. He wasn't really that far at all. So if he went this way for this many blocks, then turned there... Yeah, that should do it. He glanced back at Ryan. "Thanks," he said quietly, handing the phone back.

Okay, random guy was being helpful. Aiden was still entirely wary, but knowing how to get where he was going would kind of be very helpful. And be just a little bit more likely to keep him alive than wandering around the city forever.

... Holding out the map-providing phone so Ai could see was not quite as helpful as handing the phone over for Aiden to use, even if he didn't really know how to use it and the other guy would probably worry about it being stolen if he was at all normal. Not that Aiden would even consider stealing it, but you know, standard paranoia. Strangers were liable to steal valuables put in their hands by other complete strangers.

... Was someone still a complete stranger if you knew their name? Because apparently this guy wasn't particularly keen to stay a stranger, if that were the case. Aiden blinked. "Er - Aiden. I'm trying to get back to my school." The mansion was publicly a school, right? What was it officially called again? Aiden tried to think. "I got dropped off before the person I was with remembered to tell me how to get there from here." And out of things to say to stall. And he still couldn't remember. Greeeaaat. "I can never remember the name - everyone just calls it the mansion - but if I know where here is I should be able to get back."

"Then you are clearly the smartest person on the planet."

That may not have been the most tactful thing to say. Oh well. If he recognized that it was tactless, even if it was after he said it, that was probably still an improvement. Cafas'd probably appreciate it.

A thought occurred to him. "Why would you consider scientific studies and then just accept whatever your priests say?" Even more improvement! His infantile tact-sense kicked in before he described what the priests were clearly saying. Or maybe that was his refusal to swear. Hm.

Blood loss. Remember the blood loss. At least remember it enough not to go over and smack Persi again. He didn't have blood to spare for bruising, no matter how much he deserved it.

He really deserved it. He deserved it just as much, if not more, as when Ai had actually hit him. That was before he remembered the blood loss, though, so he had to resist and not try to straighten out Persi's head quite right now. Leaving him deluded wasn't really an option either, of course, but Aiden was very limited by his roommate's condition.

And bullheaded idiocy. But mostly his condition.

"More like have a different amount of intelligence," Aiden muttered.

"Cars are tools, like everything else. It's what use you put them to. I have swords. I don't use them to hurt people. Tools aren't inherently anything, even if they might be easier to put to one use than another." He shook his head. You could kill someone with a paperclip, at least theoretically, or a shield - shields made pretty effective weapons, actually - just as much as you could use weapons to keep yourself healthy or, say, repurpose them into some other tool. A bowstring could become a fishing line, with the bow itself forming the rod.

Persi's mood just wasn't a good one for learning or understanding anything. "If you start walking, or running, you can never stop. It's a matter of principle, but it isn't just theoretical." Aiden had run before, and he had since realized just how much harder it was to regain a forfeited position than it was to hold onto it. It wasn't just that your opponent, whoever or whatever that entity might be, had the chance to strengthen their hold. If you've lost before, you will always know it's possible to lose again, and be more likely to let yourself fail.

He nodded faintly and tried to ignore the brother comment. "I used to drink it," he admitted, but shrugged a shoulder and gestured vaguely at the snow behind them. "Iced tea loses some of the appeal after a while, though, and it's only just grown cool enough that I don't have to worry about heat anymore." Except when someone jacked some of the heat in the mansion, like at the doors. Why did people do that? Walking from nice cold air into a huge blast of overheated dusty air was about as welcome as that warm air being the breath of an enormous hungry monster.

On second thought, it was less welcome. The monster might at least be interesting for a few moments.

Hm. Where did talking to random people fit into that scale? At the moment, Serena seemed less unwelcome than a slap of heat, but he wasn't yet convinced she beat out the theoretical monster's potential curiosity with her lack of physical intimidation. Other people probably had no chance at all.

Aiden stilled as soon as the mature-not-mature voice rang out in the dim hallway. He might be stressed out of his bloody mind - and with no shortage of excellent rationale for the state - but he wasn't quite oblivious enough to fail to notice that the speaker didn't sound as old as the tone and words tried to suggest.

Goody-two-shoes kid was not much better.

He slowly palmed his tools and glanced sideways, a disheveled fence of hair hanging in the way and dividing the youngish girl into narrow bands. Something tugged and tingled at the back of his mind, but he couldn't place her. He'd probably just passed her in the halls at some point, since they clearly both lived in the same place.

So, what reaction to take? Flee? He couldn't trust that he could outrun her, given the range of invisible mutations she could well have, but if she didn't have something related to pursuit then he probably could. If she reported him he would be rather recognizable, but his reputation may or may not protect him.

Or he could tell her the truth and hope for her mercy.

Mercy.

From a stranger.

Aiden had never met a merciful kid. Then again, he hadn't really met a merciful anyone before he had arrived here nearly a year before, though he wasn't entirely sure he would actually apply 'merciful' to anyone he did know here. 'Not cruel' and 'not bad,' sure. Merciful was another label altogether.

Was saving Persi worth risking the kid's reaction? It was worth this pathetic attempt to break into the office. A roll of the dice, and if need be he could still make a run for it. "Since my mutation doesn't protect people from idiots crazy enough to convince people to kill themselves or open doors, yes. Yes I am." And running on three... two...