Mary
*Connor pulled his coat even tighter around himself and placed his hands in his pockets. He wasn't used to the winters up here, and even though he always had his winter coat on it still wasn't enough for him to suppress the cold. All he needed to do was move around a bit and he'd heat up, but he felt... Oddly lethargic. So, he simply sat against a wall outside one of the buildings - floating in the air, of course, but sitting against a building nonetheless.*
Thomas
Far below the boy, a familiar figure dragged itself through the snow, then turned away and looked at the building's wall. *Nah. Nothing up there.* It turned around again and continued off into the forest. It didn't seem to be dressed very well for the winter, but for those who *Have* Seen her it would be hard to dismiss the giant mane of curls, even if only some of it was sticking out of the hood draped over her head. What she'd do next would unmistakably give her away. 

She pulled back the hood and her currently oversized clothes writhed slowly as the girl within would grow into a gangly, spike-headed monster. It looked around slowly then headed off into the trees. *Best that no-one sees... I hate the look they get on their faces.*
Mary
"...Yari?" *Connor called down, letting himself float down a little. He removed his hands from his pockets, the chains on his shackles clinking slightly, and let himself kick off the wall and drift closer to Yari in his own zero gravity* "Hey. Haven't seen you in a little bit. You doing alright?" *He asked nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just seen what could easily be described as a Lovecraftian horror magical girl transformation.*
Thomas
The thing makes a deep, rumbling exhale, presumably a sigh. "Hello..." It turned around and finished its unenthusiastic greeting, "Connor." It stopped in its tracks, but its head had turned to fully face the boy, whom the girl was now easily three times the height of. Even when her skin, now solid-white, was torn and shredded to make way for the extreme transformations to her body, one could tell that the expression was a frown by the way the stretched and torn skin wrapped around the elongated, blood-red teeth.

"Just need a walk in the forest, bro." Any guesswork about her mood that Connor would have to do was somewhat negated by the voice, even if it was warped, grainy and in a far lower pitch than usual, the way she spoke, with such irritation in her voice, was mostly just revealing that she didn't *Really* Want to speak.

She starts to walk away, mostly just to avoid anyone else seeing her like this, lest they scream or start throwing shit at her to provoke her, she didn't really know who to trust at the moment. Her current mistrust towards most people was mostly just stemming from her occasional anxiety that still stuck with her, the fear of being seen as a monster and whatnot.
Mary
"I could go for one too. Mind if I join you?" *Connor asked, letting himself land on the ground.* "We don't have to talk. I just feel like it might be nice to have some company. Haven't really had any meaningful human interaction in... I don't know. Class isn't really meaningful." *Connor shrugged and gave about a quarter of a smile, not quite a smirk but not really a regular smile either.* "We could go to that lake you took me to when we first met. If you're interested at all."
Thomas
"Hm. Fine." After a few more steps she seemed to turn towards that particular area. She couldn't place it, but something about this irked her a bit. "Hate class. Hate everyone there." She moved some branches out of her way, snapping some in the process. She didn't pay attention to her surroudings, Connor's presence distracted her too much. She didn't know what he'd do if she said no, but she didn't want to deal with this right now, she just wanted it over with.

*I don't hate him. Why do I feel like this?*
Mary
"Yeah. There's a couple fun people but I mostly just tune it all out." *Connor let his body loosen a bit as he floated beside Yarimiel.* "School's never been good for me. Not for, like, a decade. I was a kid last time I enjoyed class. Still wonder whether I'm really still a kid or not, after what I've been through."
Thomas
"I can't relate... To anyone. I hear about whatever they've been through and can only wonder how one lives a normal life. Like, *Why the fuck did those demons keep me in one spot!? Did they get off on my suffering or did they just not care? Might as well have ||killed me or tossed me into the trees as a baby||!" Her voice watped more and got even louder. "*WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!?*" Her hands clenched into fists and ripped off the branches of a nearby tree while trying to get them out of her way, tossing them aside immediately after.
Mary
"Oh." *Connor went silent for a moment, and became still. It was not out of fear, just... He didn't know how to react, honestly.* "I'm... Sorry." *Connor let himself land on the ground and walked over to Yari carefully. As he approached, he stumbled over his own desire to say something without actually knowing what to say, and he eventually settled on just standing next to Yari silently. Just... With her.*
Thomas
She stood still. She sat down and sighed, she couldn't continue. She wasn't really sad or that angry, she was just tired. She remained as the giant gangly creature, but honestly she didn't feel like changing back, she felt more at home as this thing rather than herself. She looked over at Connor and just burtled out, blunt and unfiltered, "What are you even apologizing for? I don't expect anyone to *Fix* Me, I just can't leave myself to, well, myself."
She remained quiet, and didn't expect Connor to say much.
"Are you scared of me? Of this?" She now looked directly at him, making eye contact.
Mary
"I've been in some pretty bad places before. But I can't say I've met anyone... Exactly like you." *He began.* "I'm not scared, though. I just don't know what to say." *Connor sat down, too, not using gravity to float or anything; for one of the first times in a while, he chose to actually feel the ground beneath his feet.* 

"Prison is weird. The people there were just as unknown to me as you and anyone else here. Yeah, they didn't have powers or anything, but..." *He paused.* "I wasn't there for murder or anything, like most of them. I was just a delinquent with a bad reputation in my area and a special power. And then suddenly I'm here behind these bars, chained up, and the people there see me... As a threat? I don't know, I was sort of an odd one out." *Connor stopped for a second and readjusted the way he was sitting.* 

"I don't know. But I don't fear you, or anyone else here. To me, all of you are just people like me who have weird powers and maybe some odd personality traits. But you're not unknowable or anything, it's not like you're warping the fabric of the universe around me. And even then, I tend to warp it more than most, so I'd probably be fine." *He chuckled to himself and smiled, the first real smile he'd given to another person in ages. And then he was quiet again.*
Thomas
She didn't exactly know how to reply. The cold was nipping at her skin but she didn't really mind. She just thought about what he said, her mind painting a picture based on what little she knew, placing him in different situations, trying to replicate the mindset of someone experienced and understanding. She was quite literally attempting to manifest a better mindset, but as she snapped back into reality, she looked down to Connor. "I guess no-one here is really an odd one out. But I know we can't be put into boxes. But that's not what this place is about, is it?"

She picked up handfuls of snow just to crush them and feel them melt on her cold, exaggerated hands. An odd, almost crushing-type sound came from the girl, her features *Very slowly* Returning back to normal, her torn skin, warped bones and, in some places, enlarged musculature, all shrinking and constricting themselves back into their original sizes and shapes. "I don't feel like I can forget the past, but I guess the best I can do is to just live with it. I don't know if I have the energy to carry on, though."

She put her forehead on her knees as the transformation finished undoing itself. "I don't know if I can keep going when I constantly feel like..." She finished the sentence with a small groan, one could try guessing what she was trying to say. It could be anything.
Mary
"Yeah." *Connor replied quietly.* "I don't like talking about the past. It's stupid and it sucks. But yeah, all I can do- all *We* Can really do is just... Try to live with it." *Connor looked to Yari as she sat on the ground next to him.* "I believe in you. And... I'll be here if you need me." *He darted his eyes away, not really used to* Being there *For other people. But it felt... Okay.*
Thomas
She chose to not reply, merely sitting there, appearing as normal. She was only thinking of her future, what she'd do later, how she should process this. She didn't know how to think that far ahead since most of her thinking was either angry, crying, about dying or going out at night to dumpster dive and gnaw on some random animal. 

After about a minute of silence, she asked "How do I do that? Live with it?"
Mary
"God, I wish I knew." *Connor answered.* "I'll tell you if I ever figure it out. But there's no harm in trying in the meantime. That's the reason I'm still hanging in here.

"You gonna be okay?"
Thomas
"Don't know." She looked down at the snow. For once, she felt calm. "Maybe."

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