Summer Breeze | OPEN

[Apollo de Costa]

A p o l l o { s h i e l d } D e C o s t a

>> ftm  >> mutant  >> 21 >> teachers' aide

 
Apollo whistled as he walked down the pathway. In New York there wasn't a ton of green to be found - some trees, protected by wrought-iron cages, some bushes, a couple of window plants that old women or vegans put on their ledges. So the few parks spread here and there were a blessing, even for someone as reclusive as Apollo knew he could get. And he was coming out into the city, ironically, to get some space from other people. With school starting so soon, everywhere in the mansion was being over-run by students and teachers, and occasionally the students' parents or older siblings. It was a madhouse, and Apollo was fervently thankful he wasn't supposed to do much of anything to help out with it.

That didn't mean he didn't still have to deal with it. After the third time a kid had accidentally walked into his room thinking it was theirs, Apollo had decided to lock his door and go for a nice long walk - away from the noise and craziness. And when a quick trip to New York City proper was the key to getting away from the craziness in your life, he wasn't sure what kind of measuring stick you were using anymore. It had been a bit of a walk - the school was closer to the outskirts of town for various reasons, the most glaring of which was that it had originally been a mansion. The most obvious now-a-days was that New Yorkers didn't want to deal with lasers and shape shifters and psychics running around in public. And given his experience with them, well, Apollo didn't blame the Big Apple very much; due to some accidental power flares, the school had already had to rebuild three different walls. The local contractors had been puzzled, but happy with their paychecks.

Apollo sighed, breathing in the warm air. Clouds moved in the sky, a dingy dark grey color. They promised rain, but hadn't amassed enough to make the mutant man worry too much about being caught in a down-pour. Right now he was enjoying the shade, the sun, and the quiet. His power flared up when the man tripped over an errant tree root, and Apollo cursed under his breath, glancing around. Anti-mutant paranoia wasn't bad enough he had to worry about being lynched or anything, but...there were extremists out there. And he was just plain annoyed at his mutation. It wasn't as if he was being shot at, or punched - he'd just almost tripped, and now he was a glowing orange-and-black, man-shaped target for anyone walking by with eyes.

Great.

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[Deleted]

C R I T T E R
> > willow foster

This was one of Willow's favorite kinds of days. The end of summer brought warm, but not hot, weather with lazy clouds and gentle breezes that promised the beginning of autumn. Leaves were painting themselves the bright colors of orange, red, and yellow, and birds were singing to each other to prepare for the inevitable cold seasons that would arrive in just a few short months.

Granted, Willow wasn't very picky about the weather. She tended to find something that she liked about every day.

At the moment, she was trotting around one of New York City's parks, taking a break from setting up her dorm room for another year at Xavier's School for the Gifted. She was currently in the form of a golden retriever, one of her favorite transformations, walking along happily with a wagging tail for anyone that cooed at her. A blue, cotton bandana was fashioned around her neck so no one thought that she was a stray and needed to be taken to the shelter. It was a little loose, but it just made it easier for her to use her nose to slip it on as a canine. Having no thumbs sometimes was a disadvantage.

Her ears perked as she heard the sound of someone fall, a soft thud against the ground. She took a quick glance around and noticed the young man down on the ground with a slight glow about him. As a dog, Willow couldn't see too many colors, just some browns and blues, really, but she noticed enough to recognize that a normal human probably wouldn't be glowing.

With a whine and a tail wag, Willow caught up to the young man and poked at his arm with her nose, wondering if he was hurt.

[Apollo de Costa]

A p o l l o { s h i e l d} D e C o s t a
>> ftm >> mutant >> 21 >> teachers' aide

Apollo let out a yell and jerked forward as he felt something - not touch him, really. It was as if the touch was muffled, somehow. He could feel it, enough for it to startle him, but he could tell innately that it hadn't been his skin registering the motion. His confusion over the not-touch touch turned to sharp, sudden fear as he saw the thing that had touched him - a dog. It wasn't a huge dog, but the closeness and the clear not-smallness of the animal made Apollo scramble away from the animal, putting his hands out in front of him as if to either ward off the dog, protect himself, or placate the golden furred canine.

"G-good dog, good puppy, easy...", he soothed, talking low and calmly, trying to straighten the shakiness he could hear in his voice. "Where's your owners, huh?", he asked, getting up into a crouch slowly, pitch-black eyes never leaving Willow, who looked faintly orange - but so did everything else. Once he was up into a crouch, he stayed that way. Apollo wasn't willing to make the dog angry or aggressive - so staying on its' level was probably better. Or should he run while his shield was up? No, it might attract attention... And he'd rather deal with a curious, on-edge dog than an angry or scared human any day, Apollo thought dryly to himself.

Scowling with mild frustration, Apollo eased into standing straight on his feet, careful to move slowly. The dog didn't look threatening, he thought, just curious, probably. How often would it have seen anything glowing, much less a human? "I'm not going to hurt you, pup. I'm just a bit startled, is all.", he murmured. The dog wagged its' tail, and Apollo took it as a good sign. He turned his hand into a supine position, palm up and hand cupped, holding it out tenderly for the dog to sniff - unsure if it would even be able to smell anything.

[Deleted]

C R I T T E R
> > willow foster

Whoops. Willow hadn't meant to scare the poor guy. Yet, she'll admit, it was rather refreshing to meet someone who took precautions regarding strange animals. Most people she encountered as a golden retriever figured she was friendly (her wagging tail and happy pants helped with that, she knew), mostly due to the fact that she was a breed that was known for its friendliness.

She heard good dog, easy, and something about her owners and their whereabouts. Willow exhaled sharply, her canine version of a sigh, and sat back on her hunches in order to seem less intimidating to the young man. With her head tilted, she watched as he moved slowly to stand up, murmuring soft words all the while.

Her ears perked as he talked and she made sure her tail continued to make slow, wagging motions. The young man cautiously reached out a hand for her to sniff, she presumed, but she had scented enough while waiting for him to get used to her presence.

His glowing blatantly labeled him as a mutant (or, if he wasn't, she was highly curious as to why and how he was glowing), and Willow tasted the scents of multiple people mingled with his own, people that she recalled sensing at the school. Willow didn't recall seeing the young man at all during the last school year, and wondered if he was a new student.

As such, Willow forgo the usual sniffing routine and leaned her snout forward to give the young man's hand a quick lick. It wouldn't do for her to transform back into her human self just yet; not only were there still people about (not that she was trying to hide, of course, but it would seem too odd for a dog to turn into a girl while right next to a guy who glowed orange), but she guessed that may startle the young man even more.

Perhaps the pair could move into a secluded section of the park...

Willow, moving slower than she normally would, with all her exuberance, stood up and trotted off to the young man's side. With a quiet woof, she took a few steps off the beaten path and paused, waiting to see if he would take the hint and follow.

[Apollo de Costa]

A p o l l o { s h i e l d} D e C o s t a
>> ftm >> mutant >> 21 >> teachers' aide

When the dog sighed at him, Apollo had to smile a little sheepishly. Was he being a bit over-worried? Maybe. But the teeth that all dogs had were made for tearing, after all, and if his shield went down, his skin was just as easily tear-able as anyone elses. The wagging tale was a positive sign that the dog he was dealing with was most likely not going to attack him, and also that it more than likely didn’t have rabies, which was always a nice thing to know. Her quick lick of his shielded hand made him jump – it tickled a little, oddly enough, but didn’t feel wet like a lick should. He glanced at his hand, confused as he almost always was when it came to the strange limitations of his mutation. If he was wet when his shield came on, Apollo wondered, would it shove that away like it did everything else?

The blonde-orange dog in front of him shifted position and then moved, sending Apollo’s thoughts back into the present. Debating to himself for a moment as the dog studied him – studied him? A dog? That couldn’t be normal – Apollo decided to follow the retriever. Still cautious in his movements, the teachers’ aide followed behind the dog towards the the edge of the path. He wondered if it was going back to whoever owned it, maybe, or if it wanted to play. Maybe it just smelled something more interesting – animals weren’t usually phased by his shield, Apollo had noticed – maybe the friendly pooch had gotten bored?

Still, it was worth a look. He was sure he couldn’t get lost in the park he’d picked – it wasn’t tiny, but it was small enough that you could trace your way back to the entrance from anywhere inside of it – a useful thing for someone as directionally-challenged as Apollo could be. Thank god for maps, he thought to himself.

[Deleted]

C R I T T E R
> > willow foster

Willow was glad to know that the guy could take a hint. With a cheerful woof, Willow led the way off of the path and toward the small woods.

She didn't take the pair far into the woods, but it was far enough to take them both away from prying eyes. In all honesty, Willow was a bit surprised that not many other people seemed to notice the fact that the young man had been glowing. Perhaps it was due to the time of the year; many people were getting ready for the start of school and all. They may not have noticed the glow with the colors of the sunset.

Once the pair were in a mild clearing, with a few thickets and bushes decorating the area with the trees, Willow turned to look at the young man again. She kept her distance, lest what she was about to do startle the guy even more, and gave her tail one last wag.

After a moment, Willow's canine body glowed slightly before morphing into the shape of a small, young woman. With a cheerful grin and a wave, Willow said, "Hi there! You okay? That's a neat trick you have there. How are you glowing?"

[Apollo de Costa]

A p o l l o { s h i e l d} D e C o s t a
>> ftm >> mutant >> 21 >> teachers' aide

The dog, Apollo noted, had a much easier time of getting through thickets than he did. Possibly it was due to his general lack of experience in woods - he wasn't exactly an outside sort of guy, although he loved basking in the sun whenever he could. Still, it wasn't too difficult; they didn't even go very far. A little bit of a clearing, just a couple of feet wide. Seeing no other people in the area - nor any dead animals, a minor blessing he'd been worried about - he looked back at the dog expectantly, feeling like a bit of a tool for following a dog into the woods. What, was the dog Lassie now? Timmy's stuck in a well? He hoped the animal really didn't have rabies.

Oh. Apollo's eyebrows shot up to his hairline - or where either his hairline or his eyebrows would have been, had they been visible. No, the dog was instead a human - and a young one. A girl - he'd been right in his guess, then. "Uh, y-you - but you were a dog...", he trailed off, weakly. Rubbing the side of his head, Apollo shook it and sighed. "I don't know why I'm surprised.", he muttered to himself. "And - do you, do you go to Xaviers'?" Apollo asked. If she didn't, he would have to speak to her and her parents - and if she did, well, it would explain why she was so calm about him. It didn't explain quite why she wasn't n school, but maybe she'd had the same thoughts as he had - fresh air, away from everyone else. Maybe she'd just wanted to go out as a dog. Apollo couldn't imagine becoming another animal, although flying had always been an attractive alternate if he ever got the chance to switch mutation-given powers.

 At her trio of questions, Apollo blinked and then sighed - he'd forgotten he even had his shield up. As he thought about it, the thing flickered and faded - he wasn't in any danger, or so his mutation had decided. A girl a decade younger than him wasn't much of a threat, Apollo had to admit. Unless she turned into a bear or something. "My shield? Oh, I - I'm not sure how it works the way it does." Apollo shrugged. "It just happens sometmes, when I stub my toe or - whatever. I can't really control it; it has a mind of its' own."

[Deleted]

C R I T T E R
> > willow foster

Willow's grin faded into a crooked smile, but the gleam in her eyes did not die as she waited for the young man to get used to the idea that the golden retriever had just turned into a human.

"Why, yes, I was a dog," she agreed easily, a giggle behind her words. "Now I'm my human-self! I've been able to do that since I was... Oh, I don't know, twelve? Thirteen, maybe?

"Yeah, I go to Xavier's," Willow said, "and I smelled it on you, too! Well, smelled you when I was a dog, not now, because that would be weird. I don't remember seeing you at Xavier's last year, though. Are you a new student? I'm a sophomore this year. Maybe we'll have classes together!"

Her head tilted (much like a confused dog's would) when he spoke of his shield, as he called it. "Well, you were hurt," she said simply. "I guess your mutation wanted to protect you. Which is very nice of it, really, and quite smart of it to be linked to your pain threshold, or whatever it's called. Does it flare up stronger the more pain you're in? Wait, that's probably rude of me to ask, I mean, we just met. Sorry! Ignore that question.

"Speaking of pain, though," Willow said, "are you okay from your fall on the sidewalk? I mean, I hope so, since you just followed me all the way in here."

[Apollo de Costa]

A p o l l o  { s h i e l d } D e C o s t a
>> ftm >> mutant >> 21 >> teachers' aide

The way she was talking, it sounded to Apollo like she was one of the students at the Institute with more control over her mutation. That and the way she was handling the ease of both her transformation and his reaction - startled, but not scared. Clearly, she'd changed in front of other people - mutants, he guessed, classmates - so she was used to surprise and a bit of awe. Still - she seemed modest enough, if a bit...silly, he admitted. Mischievous, he revised, at the gentle teasing she was giving him. He smiled easily back, however, quietly amused at her friendly rambling.

And she was more perceptive than he'd realized, Apollo thought, as Willow mentioned that she'd smelled the Institute on him in her Labrador form. Either that or he smelled. Resisting the urge to sniff his arm - he was in public...technically - the young man just smiled back as Willow kept talking, shaking his head when she asked if he was a new student. "Actually, I'm an old student - I graduated a couple of years ago. I came back because I was offered a job - I'll still see you in class, though.", he explained. "I help out the teachers."

"I'm glad to be back.", Apollo admitted. He tilted his head as she threw out a theory, one he had concidered before. With no way to test it living in an apartment - if his shield didn't come up and protect him, who was to say a neighbor would find him if something went wrong? "I'm not sure if it does or not. It helped me when I got", beaten he stopped himself from saying. "- punched, once, so I guess it's pretty, uh, intuitive. I've never noticed a difference, but maybe I'm just too close to it." he theorized, shrugging a shoulder to indicate he was just spit-balling; he knew about as much as she did.

"Hm?" Having forgotten about his spill onto the ground that had started the whole mess, Apollo glanced down at his knee and bent it experimentally. "No, I'm fine. Don't feel a thing." He looked up again, eyeing the brunette student. "Are you okay? Do you need anything, food or something?"

[Deleted]

C R I T T E R
> > willow foster

She grinned when he mentioned that he was an old student, having graduated from the institute a couple of years ago. "So," she said slowly, "you can technically give me detention, can't you...?"

Willow's grin was mischievous as she asked the question. She wasn't the type to get into trouble, no. Nothing too serious, anyway. She had earned a couple of detentions the previous year for being a bit of a chatterbox and for running late to classes a couple of times. Technically, the few times she was late to class, it had been due to her eating because of her metabolism, and she had never viewed those detentions as fair. When a cool teacher was running the detention, he or she usually allowed snacks for Willow, so she didn't make much of a fuss.

The young man described what he knew of his mutation (which wasn't much more than Willow's little theory, if one was honest), and Willow raised an eyebrow. "Punched?" she echoed. "I hope that guy ended up worse. Didja give him a black eye? Maybe loosen a few teeth?"

He mentioned that he was fine from his little tumble to the ground not too long ago and turned the question on her. Willow waved it off. "Oh, I'm fine," she said. "Well, I am a little hungry, but that's nothing new. I was going to head back to the institute soon for a pre-dinner snack. Care to join me?"