A little Rain won't hurt...

Since early in the morning clouds had loomed above the island. The various weather reports had hinted at a mild storm, and atmosphere outside backed that up with the ever looming feeling of an impending rain. Many students had flocked inside today, fearing what could be a downpour. Aylin on the other hand had slipped outside for her lunch today, avoiding the ever crowded cafeteria. her own highly tuned senses hinted that a down pour was not on the way, but instead a light summer shower, which on it's own was little to worry about. Still too be safe she had taken refuge under one of the many gazebos spread out around the school pond. often these were places for many of the other students to gather, but today they sat almost empty.

The air was still warm even as the first few drops of water began to fall from the sky. It was one of those nice summer showers that left everything feeling renewed, so she had not bothered to pull her tail into the gazebo for shelter, choosing instead to stretch it out on the grass while she ate comfortably inside. Aylin unzipped her hoodie as she pulled her rather large bag of food from beside her and slowly began to unload its contents onto the bench beside her. Most everything was meat of some sort. Dried steak pieces, sliced ham, roast beef, even a few left over pork chops from the night prior. All carefully prepared and stored neatly in various containers. All in all it looked like a lunch meant for three or four people.

A few people scurried by heading for the cafeteria causing Aylin to look up from her meal. No doubt they had gotten caught in the drizzle, and were fleeing the potential soaked clothing. She chuckled to herself as she popped open the container of dried steak pieces and popped one into her mouth, before producing a can of soda from her bag. (it was one of her favorite treats). In the far distance the feint rumble of thunder rolled gently by, as the storm tried to convince her of it's fury. This caused her to smile a little more as she lazily swept her tail from side to side in the damp grass.

it was a shame there weren't others who were brave enough to face the storm and come out here. She would have welcomed the company.

“Uh, hey. Mind if I join you?”

A voice broke the silence and Aylin looked up. Her mouth was full of food at the moment. Not in a gross way, she had just simply popped a larger steak piece into her mouth moments before she had been addressed. The man in question was standing out in the rain, water dripping off of his leather coat. A tray in his hands containing his lunch, which if not for the fact that it was wrapped would have been considered sea food. Try as she might the piece of meat in her mouth was too big too immediately swallow, so rather than attempt to speak she nodded and gestured frantically for him to come inside under the Gazebo.

She began to flush a bright red as she tried to chew the steak piece as fast as she could in an attempt to swallow it so that she might properly communicate with the dampened man. She even felt as though she might choke at one point, which only added to the embarrassment of the situation. This was probably one of the reasons why people often said to take smaller bites.

After a few moments of feverish chewing she was able to get the meat down with a small gulping sound. Before she could speak a small squeak of a burp escaped her throat. causing her to raise her hand to cover her mouth and a small apology to follow. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." She said with a timid smile as she looked over her new companion. He wasn't an unkempt man, in fact he looked very well groomed. from the top of his styled (Now damp) hair right down to his boots. He had a casual yet cleaned appearance.

"Lovely weather isn't it?" She asked with a chuckle as she pulled her gaze from him to look around outside. Her tail was still stretched out over the grass and she gave it a quick shake before settling it back where it was. "Or were you just trying to escape the crowds too?" There was the off chance that he didn't enjoy this weather, but like her had felt the need to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy cafeteria.

"i'm Aylin. It's a pleasure to meet you Hudson." Aylin responded with a gently smile before taking another bite of her steak pieces. This one was much smaller and she had little issue chewing it down quickly. Just moments ago Hudson had mentioned how he liked the snow. In truth she did as well, though the cold was always a problem for her. She would get so sleepy, and then there was the risk of slipping into a hibernation based coma and succumbing to death. In the winter she would rarely venture outside needlessly, and her home was often heated up considerably. She had often longed for a winter companion to spend those cold days and nights with. someone who enjoyed curling up under a warm blanket and keeping her warm with their own body. It was one of those romantic fantasies that she kept to herself.

"I love the snow. It's just way too cold for me." as she spoke she began to move her tail inside, running its length along the far side of the Gazebo so as to keep it out of the way. due to the nature of her scales the rain water had simply beaded off of it, causing it to be almost dry as she brought it in. He had also mentioned aside from being ok with the weather, to needing to get away from the crowded cafeteria. this was something she could empathize with entirely. She could only imagine how packed it was inside, and had she been in there how many times she would have been stepped on. out here was much better.

Aylin casually picked up a thick slice of ham and rolled it up into a tightly wrapped tube before taking a bite of it. While she chewed she thoughtfully looked over his lunch. An apple, which he had already started, a wrapped sandwich (to which she was unsure of the type) and a can of cola. She had often marveled at how easy it was for humans to eat. Something so simple could keep them going all day. She herself would do three large meals a day, almost exclusively consisting of foods high in protein. She looked down to her own soda can, noticing that she had picked cream soda today. Back at the house she had several large flats that contained many different flavors, It was very rarely that she actually looked at which one she grabbed until it was too late.

"So the cold reminds you of home? Where would that be?" She half expected him to say the arctic, or somewhere with penguins. She had always loved penguins, but had never actually seen a real one.

Aylin watched curiously as Hudson unwrapped his sandwich. It appeared and smelled like egg salad, though it seemed some of the rain had managed to get into it leaving it's appearance a little more than questionable. At least in her eyes. Then again to her bread was questionable dry or soggy. After a moment or so though He started explaining where he was from and she stripped her gaze from his food to look back up at him.

Hudson explained that he was from a place in Canada, which she knew to be cold. But apparently it did get warm, which was something she didn't know. Maybe that meant that one day it would be worth a visit. he even went so far as to explain how cold it was. She had learned about temperatures and such here, but had never experienced anything like what he had described. Somehow that sounded both amazing and terrible. On one hand it was amazing to think that nature could be so powerful, on the other, She shuddered thinking how fast she would freeze.

she continued to eat while he spoke, finishing off the remainder of ham she had brought along before turning to the roast beef. After a moment Hudson had finished explaining about where he had come from and even asked about her own origins. In truth she had no idea where she had come from. In her own mind she had just sort of appeared here one day and that was really it. Anything before the age of 15 seemed to just not exist.of course she had always had trouble explaining this to people, most she had tried with expected there to be something more or some sort of minute memory fragment that hinted about her path. But for her there was nothing.

"I have sort of just lived here all my life." She knew that that had to be alive as there had been no reason to believe she was born here, after all she had no family here. "Yeah, nothing fancy for me. I graduated high school here, and moved onto college. Now I live in town because the facilities here can't accommodate me and my... uhh special needs." As she spoke she pushed the container of cooked steak pieces towards Hudson, offering him some if he should like. Lord knows it would prove tastier than half a watered down egg salad sandwich.

"So now I study Music. Im a second year Cellist. What do you take?"

Aylin knew that everyone here was different in someway. They were different from normal people, and different from each other. That was part of why this place was so special. It gave them all the chance to have somewhere to safely call home. They could live, and work, dream and explore without the fear of prejudice or harassment. But some people were not happy about their powers. Some wanted to be normal, and not worry about things. Given that there was no way for her to be human, she had often forgotten that some people either didn't want to be the way they were, and some had no idea why they were to begin with. Hudson appeared to be one of these people. The way he seemed to tense up as he tried to explain himself. It felt like he was really struggling with something, most likely his gift or power.

Aylin began to wonder now what might be going on. Not to be nosey, but because she wanted to help. She wanted to make him feel better, and help him better understand himself if that's what he was looking for. Sadly she was not great scholastically, having her gifts appear to be more musical than anything. But, if he ever was interested in talking about things, she could be there to listen. Of course being as they had just met, it would seem odd to randomly suggest he spill his secrets to her. That would take time, and given that she was starting to like him, she would be ok building up his trust and being his friend.

A silence rose between them as he vaguely explained how he wanted to know more about himself. It lasted a few awkward moments before Hudson cunningly changed the subject. "I like it. There are so many interesting people to meet. And it seems there are new ones everyday arriving." Perhaps one of Aylin's favorite things about this place were the new people she could interact with. With no two being the same there was always some new thing to learn. "And downtown is great too. A great mall, with lots of local business's. And so many after hours places on the strip. If your into the club scene." She smiled again now thinking of taking a trip to the mall to pick up a few things after class today. "And most of the houses and apartment buildings are nice too. Like I said Im forced to live on my own in a house, because of things..." She gestured to her long tail as she spoke. "All in all though, this is a great place to live." She had wanted to say that she was going to be in need of a roommate. In truth Need wasn't really the word, more so wanting one. But again such a topic was better left till later.

"Are you staying in the dorms? Or do you have a place?"