Mera smiled as Orya walked into her study.  "Not terribly, there's so much noise I can't really focus.  I've read the same sentence six times."  She slipped a bookmark between the pages and set the book down.  "Are you okay?  Did someone hurt you?  I heard someone shouting."  Though she hadn't made it common knowledge yet, she suspected some of the other mutants, and even some of the humans, at least suspected that she had better hearing than a normal human.  A side effect of constantly changing into an animal.  Mera's smile never faltered as she stood and stretched, slipping into her flats.  She'd given up on wearing tennis shoes, they had a tendency to get ruined if she ever shifted in an emergency, and her feet were not made for walking on the rough ground that was now their home.  Fortunately, shoes were surprisingly easy to come by these days.  Many mutants retained their traditional human bodies, but since the event that destroyed the world, many mutants had slipped into less human physiques, as if the radiation poisoning affected their bodies.  Some were simply more exotic, while others were disfigured.  No one batted an eyelash as the changes now, especially since it separated the humans from the mutants more solidly.  Mera had not been so lucky; her form changed so often that it held onto the original version like a vice.  She couldn't say she was entirely upset about that fact, as it made her more approachable to the humans who still existed.  Her ears were slightly pointed, like an elf's, but they hid solidly behind her chestnut hair, another secret she kept from most of the public eye.<br/><br/>Mera met Orya at the door frame.  "Come on, let's go for a walk and we can talk about it.  It's probably time to check on things anyway.  I promised to help with the gardening once I was feeling better after the hunt.  Someone needs to dig those holes, and who better to do so than a tail-wagging dog?"  She grinned at her joke and ushered Orya outside into the warm sun.  "What's bothering you?"