7348/A Chance to be Yourself

A Chance to be Yourself
Date of Scene:	28 April 2019
Location:	NYC - Mutant Town
Synopsis:	In Mutant Town, Wolfsbane and Beast Boy meet. A new friendship is created.
Cast of Characters:	Wolfsbane, Beast Boy

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Wolfsbane has posed:
Getting away from Xavier's from time to time has been on Wolfsbane's list of things to do, even with the threat of Sentinels here and there. While 'home' is considered a fairly safe place to be, there are points where it can get stifling, limiting, and there's a side of Rahne that needs to explore, to wander, to experience the world she was sheltered from for so long in the past.

Hence, Mutant Town, where she can go along the sidewalk looking the way she wants without much of a second glance, unless it's from someone who finds her curious, interesting, whether it's the fur and wolfen features blended with the human side, her attire, or both. Most of those features are on the lighter side, given some of the smells in the area, and footwear covers her feet to help guard against any broken glass or other debris she could step on, but for the time being she looks at peace overall. There's even a half-eaten hot dog in one hand.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Even though Gar Logan wasn't a genealogical mutant, his outward appearance lent himself to feel more comfortable in the various mutant ghettos that had popped up since he was a child.

  He understood that he was a bit of a celebrity, and one that was almost unhidable outside of being a lizard or an insect. But Gar took it in stride, always giving a smile to those who asked for a selfie or an autograph. He liked being a role model to others. This was no different, he was wearing a hoodie, resembling his red and white uniform, with a green tiger paw print on the back. "Okay dude, now a goofy one." He held out a cell phone in front of a boy with whiskers and fangs. Gar shifted his teeth to make a pair of saber tooth fangs to match the kid, followed up by a pulling of his own mouth and sticking out his tongue. "Blehhhhh!" Click, and done.

  "O-hay guy." He smiles, still adjusting his dental state to normal, and oh so green. "Have a good one, buddy!" He says, handing the phone back and smiling.

Wolfsbane has posed:
That's a big benefit of Mutant Town. It's a chance to be yourself, whatever that may be at a given time. For some, it's a more outwardly animalistic appearance. For others, there are different types of mutations that leave them unable to blend in with 'normal' society, yet accepted in this area of the city.

For the most part, that is. Members of the Friends of Humanity have raised trouble in the neighborhood at times, but now a group calling itself the Family is said to have been applying some weight on the anti-mutant people. It may not all be on the level from what's been said. To many around here, they don't seem to mind if it means they don't have to worry about being attacked just for being what they are.

As for Wolfsbane, the direction she's heading in brings her closer to the selfie-taking green guy, leading to her slowing to a stop about thirty feet away, head tilting in consideration and curiosity. Something about him /does/ look familiar, and she's trying to recall why that may be as a hand moves up to rub along a pointy ear.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar stands back up and putting his hands in his pockets. He looks to the side and starts walking towards Wolfsbane, not helping but notice she'd been looking at him. "Hey." He says casually, and smiling. There was a myriad of things she could have seen him in, heroing with the Titans, and the Doom Patrol. He'd also been many animals in movies, along with Elphaba's Son in Son of a Witch. "How's it going?" He offers, very genuinely.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's clothing could pass for a costume. It'd be a reasonable guess. Might she be more than the average Mutant Town resident? Closer inspection reveals she has claws, fangs, even a slightly wolfen (or at least canine) nose to go with those ears of hers. A brief and somewhat awkward-looking smile is returned, a hand lifting to offer him a wave before quickly bringing it back down to her side. "Hullo. I feel like I've seen ye somewhere before, but I'm having trouble remembering," she says, her accent notably foreign. "An' sorry, I guess I was starting tae stare."

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar grins, not wanting Wolfsbane to be embarrassed. "It's all good, I'm a Titan. Big building in the shape of a T. I just...feel comfy around here. Like, no one stares cause I'm green." He comments.

  "Where are you from?" He asks gently, not wanting to give her a wiggins. "Ooh, lemme guess? Umm, Australia." It was an overt attempt at getting her to chuckle or laugh, something that he truly enjoyed doing.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane finds something about the green guy's demeanor to help put her more at ease, and she sidesteps a couple people walking past. They don't even look at her twice. That's not bad. "Oh, o' course. I know o' th' Titans, an' I've seen th' building before. I'm.." She hesitates here, for she has to decide on how much to tell him about her side of things. He /is/ one of those types who's done the sorts of things she and her group has, which may help.

Before she can get into that, a brow lifts at the mention of Australia. "Och, nae. Tha's all th' way on th' other side o' th' world an'...oh." That's how long it takes her to get that he was just pulling her leg, or her currently non-existent tail. "Tha' was a joke, right. Nae, I'm from Scotland. Ye can call me Rahne, but especially when I'm like this, I go by Wolfsbane." She gestures to the appearance.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar gives an even bigger grin as she gets the joke. "Scotland's super beautiful. And pine martens are awesome critters. Wolfsbane, kinda ironic, considering." He notes.

  Beast Boy nods, holding out his hand. "I'm Gar, or Beast Boy." He wasn't on duty or anything, but he also had no real secret identity to speak of.

Wolfsbane has posed:
"It's verra pretty," Wolfsbane agrees, a momentarily distant and, perhaps, wistful expression crossing her face. A little daydreaming, no doubt. "I'm surprised ye know o' pine martens, an' why do ye say tha' about muh codename?" she wonders. With them close enough for the handshake, hers extends to meet his, her touch gentle especially with the claws to take into account. "It's nice tae meet ye. An' dinna worry, I was no' going tae ask ye for a selfie. I barely even use muh phone for those things."

Beast Boy has posed:
     "Oh, I know me some pine martens..." He shifts himself a little, before he transforms into a pine marten. "With my powers, I had to study a lot of animals. I should really finish my degree sometime, now that I think about it."

  He climbs up to Rae's shoulder and smiles. "Wolfsbane, a plant that in the old movies, holds werewolves at bay. And you know, you are kinda wolfy. You ever see the old Lon Chaney movies? Pretty good, if you ask me."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Before she fully realizes it, the owner of the hand Wolfsbane was shaking has turned into a green version of an animal that has been a part of the Scottish Highlands and beyond for quite some time. He's able to scramble up her arm and perch next to her head, resulting in her turning enough that she can mostly see him, even if she's all but getting a face full of talking pine marten.

"An' ye can still talk? I canna even do tha' when I shift," she lets out, forgetting that she hasn't told him of her own abilities just yet. "But a degree is good, aye. It'd be nice tae work on one further." A clearing of her throat, and she holds up her arm in case he wishes to crawl along it toward her hand for a better vantage point. "There's..noo tha' I think o' it, aye, there's probably a different reason th' name fit. An' I've watched as many werewolf movies as I could."

This sort of scene might be normal in Mutant Town.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar walks carefully on the extended arm, perching on her wrist. "It's all good, plus it still sounds super schway! Better than...Changeling." He shudders a moment, thinking of the code name he used when he was trying to be grown up.

  The green pine marten scratches an ear with a paw idly. "So, do I make you think of home?"

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane soon realizes how light Beast Boy is as the pine marten, something that surprises her initially but not enough to say anything. It just comes in the way she braces her arm to support more weight than she feels, even with her being stronger than the typical human like this. "I suppose, but it described whit ye can do, I'd say."

Clearing her throat lightly, she explains in a very brief summary, "I had, ye could say, a rough time as a wee lass. Muh mum died in childbirth an' I was raised by a priest who was verra strict an' mean. One day he was punishing me an' th' next thing I knew, I'd turned intae an actual wolf. I was rescued from tha' situation an' came oot here tae th' States for muh schooling an' learning how tae control whit I could do, but for a while I believed it came from sin an' as much as I enjoyed whit I was, it made me afraid." A thin smile leads into her adding, "Thankfully I've grown past most o' tha', an' I love whit I am noo."

She tries for a light scritch at the green marten's other ear, momentarily forgetting about whether it's too forward or just fine. "Ye're making me think o' a lot o' things right noo, if I'm being honest. Home is one o' them."

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar hops off, landing next to his clothes. "Excuse me a sec." He takes the clothing into his maw and scampers off to a nearby alley. When he returns, he is fully clothed again and his normal size.

  "Sorry, I hope I didn't get you down." He comments, blushing slightly.

Wolfsbane has posed:
The good news is Wolfsbane doesn't look like she's in danger of sinking into a deep pit of depression by thinking about her past, plus..she's curious about Beast Boy. That much seems clear just by the way she's studying the way he talks and acts. There's a brief sort of half-chuckle at the clothing thing. "I used tae have tha' same problem, but noo these clothes will shift wi' me when I do. I dinna really understand it, but it works. An' I'm all right. I know ye're just trying tae be nice."

She leaves herself closer to that alley he comes out of, running a hand through her hair before she adjusts her ponytail. "So I guess we have a bit in common, wi' th' shifting thing. Yuirs is just more versatile." Looking side to side, she asks, "Would ye like tae see how mine works?"

Beast Boy has posed:
     "Oh! Unstable molecules? I have one of those...I just don't wear it all the time." He gives a small blush. Looking to the other shifter, and giving a nod. "Sure! I mean, if it's not a problem."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane snaps a finger. "Aye, tha's whit they call it. It's verra useful for someone like me, an' ye, I'm sure." Before anything else, she realizes, "Yuir body temperature is going up a little. Are ye all right?" It's funny, because she often blushes too! About almost everything!

Anyhow, she says, "First.." A fluid shift follows, her form flowing from both wolf and human into an actual wolf with the same reddish-brown fur color seen before. Proving she can't speak like he does in this form, she looks up and greets him with a whuf of some kind.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar watches as Rahe shifts into a wolf, and smiles. "Nice! At least you're not green!" He holds out his hand, allowing a sniff. At least the two were kindred spirits. And it brought a certain warmness to his heart.

Wolfsbane has posed:
The wolf nudges his hand with her muzzle, giving it a single lick. In this form, more than the others, it's when there's the strongest chance for some wolfen instincts and urges to creep in, but she sniffs in response to the comment about not being green, stepping back before the next part of the demonstration follows.

This time, her form flows back into the shape of a human, passing through a brief glimpse of someone with even stronger wolfen features than before, then they're gone in little more than a blink. Left behind? That same outfit, same young woman, but now she looks as normal as any person might aside from her skin being more pale than usual. The red hair offsets it, arms still bare. If there was a question as to her being Scottish, that should be answered by now.

"An' this is th' way I normally am," she finally adds. Now she's got a little color in her cheeks.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar's snaggletooth joins in with a big smile. "You're fantastic!" He offers, it was not a play with an ulterior motive, Gar sees the silver lining in most things.

  "I've been green so long I don't really remember being 'normal'. But it's cool with me. I like being me." He looks to Rahne and puffs up a little, chuffed as it were. "I...heard about the crap going on here, and wanted to make sure those...people knew it wasn't gonna stand." A little explanation of why he was hanging around more. "I hope I can see you around more too."

Wolfsbane has posed:
It's easier to see how this side of Rahne could settle into a more shy state of being. The fur, the fangs, the animalistic features - they're all a good cover to hide some of it, to mask it. So, that coloration floods more of her cheeks and she glances down toward the sidewalk with an awkward smile. "Och, ye flatterer, ye," she answers. "An' I guess ye're rather tidy yuirself." Don't ask what tidy means to a Scot. Don't ask. Just assume she means she thinks he's clean or something.

"I mean..there's nothing wrong wi' being green, especially as long as ye're comfortable wi' who ye are." She can see that puffing up, a show of pride in him, and she chews at her lower lip gently as her green eyes scan the area. Scents are normal. So are sounds. "I heard o' th' trouble as well, an'..ye wid? I mean, ye'd like tae see me more?"

Beast Boy has posed:
     "Yeah, I would! You seem cool, and not a jerkface like some others." Gar replies, positively giddy at making a new friend.

  "Nothing wrong with it, just like Kermit said, it's not so easy sometimes." Gar says, holding his arm with a little shyness. "Anyway, yeah, I'd like to see you again!"

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane holds up her hands, akin to a peace gesture. "I was thinking it, but I didna want tae be th' one tae say it!" she exclaims, finding it easier to smile around Gar for some reason, as if something about his attitude and the way he seems to approach things puts her more at ease than she might have expected.

"Ye seem a verra nice person wi' a good heart an' head on yuir shoulders. I dinna have many friends away from home, so..I think I'd like tae see ye again as well." A short stop to consider what to say next, and in that moment she allows the fuzz and fangs and stuff to return, just enough of a layer to remind of what she can be. "Are ye familiar wi' Salem Center? It's a bit away from th' big city, but I like it oot there. Tha's th' area I'm in, mostly, but if ye fancy a meeting somewhere else, ahh.." She digs around in a pocket hidden in the folds of her top, coming up with a phone. "We could text?"

Beast Boy has posed:
     "Umm, kinda, I normally stay in the city though. But I can make it out there." He responds, then takes out his phone, and offering it up to Rahne, number on full display. "That works too!"

Wolfsbane has posed:
The numbers are exchanged, and Wolfsbane even texts him immediately with an emoji of a wolf. People still use those things! "Maybe next time, we could find somewhere tae eat, or ye could show me some places ye like tae go." They'll have a chance to figure that out! Before going, however, she tucks the phone away - after waiting to see if he texts anything back - and lingers as if unsure how to go about parting ways. Just a wave? Something more? A little help, green guy!

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar responds with the emoji of a frog, and a lizard. Gotta keep up the green. He giggles, before he puts his phone back and smiles. "You bet! I know of some places that serve up some good grub!" Before he exits though, he holds open his arms, inviting for a hug. He was never one for a goodbye handshake between friends.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane grins at the screen before the phone is gone. She's not one who walks around with her nose buried in it all day long, and she didn't even ask for a goofy selfie! "Och, if ye tease me wi' any ye're like tae leave me drooling before we even get tae one," she chides. After a moment longer, the opening for the hug registers and she steps into it, light at first, but she'll adjust to it depending on how much of a hugger he is. Might even get up onto her toes if needed. An intake of breath follows, which will give her a clear sampling of his scent.

Beast Boy has posed:
     Gar gives a strong hug, but not back-breakingly so. He just isn't one to leave things too light.

  Once the moment ends, he releases, and smiles again. "Fair warning, I send a lot of pictures." He says, grinning even more, before waving and heading back towards the general vicinity of Titans Tower. It was a schlep, but he would get there swiftly.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane is a second or two before her arms wrap more snugly around Gar, and for just a moment her cheek brushes against his before they separate. If she had to admit it, that was a pretty nice hug. Warm feelings afterward. "I'll be sure muh phone's set tae quiet mode in tha' case," she replies with one brow uplifted. Of course, she'll have to find out just what kinds of pictures he likes to send, won't she? Then, "I..I'll look forward tae talking again soon. Be safe."

Did Rahne Sinclair just make a new friend away from Xavier's? They'll never believe her.