Huge flakes tumbled like feathers, settling on his cheeks. They didn't melt right away, a sure sign he'd been out there too long. It was cold. It was snowing in the dead of a New York winter kind of cold. How many feet had the weather lady said they were getting?
He'd shivered till the muscles in his sides cramped, and he couldn't feel his thighs, fingers or toes anymore, but he refused to go home. His eyes were still wet and that wouldn't be cool.
Usually coming out cheered him up. Well, people watching did. Even at night when the monsters came out, he knew the right spots to go see the other side. He could cover a good bit of the city to find what he was looking for, and often it seemed he didn't have to go very far. The Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, and Central Park were among his favorite spots, but the list of viewpoints was long, and what he was in search of, that list was short-ish.
The city was teeming with life, so much it had a current, a constant heartbeat of energy that seeped into his skin and fired him up. But it also made his heart ache, sometimes with envy, often with empathy, and occasionally fury.
People walked right by one another, each on their own path, sometimes intertwining, more often not. There were all types, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, loners, and socialites, from the homeless to mansion dwellers, book readers to thrill seekers, then there were always thugs and sometimes heroes. They came in all ages, colors, shapes, and sizes, and they almost always brought a smile to his face.
Humans were like snowflakes, every single one different in some way, no two alike. His gaze shifted to the two identical faces standing outside the movie theater, both with blonde hair and blue eyes, gloved hands in their pockets. Even their puffy coats were the same shade of pink. One pulled out a small box, tapping it against the back of her glove. She lit a cigarette, raising her shoulders to her ears as she stomped her feet in place and took a draw. The other grimaced and waved away the smoke. Even when they looked alike, they weren't.
The small gray cloud carried up to him, the scent of chemicals catching in his throat and he knew he was too close. So close. He couldn't help wanting to be down there, near enough to see the pores on their skin, or maybe to feel hair between his fingers, it was such a curious thing, hair...
He wanted to know everything about them. He wanted what they had, to be able to walk down the street with the sun on his face and friends by his side. His stiff fingers curled within his three-fingered knit gloves and his heart picked up pace. He was ready to explore the insides of the buildings he knew the outsides of so very well.
Somewhere in the distance sirens wailed and car horns honked, reminding him that even when the weather kept most indoors, the restless were still out about. Maybe that was him, too. Restless. Eager. Waiting for his chance, for an opportunity to touch everything he'd been wishing for so long.
Across the street a woman wearing a baby carrier strained against the wind carrying two armloads of groceries as she trudged through the mounding snow. If she wouldn't be terrified of him, he could help her. His biceps twitched ready to carry her burden, it was all he could do to keep his shell on the fire escape.
The iron he perched on creaked and a light came on inside the apartment behind him. He sprung from one rail to the next one up, flipping, pushing, flying, free for little fractions of seconds until he landed on the rooftop. Pain shot up through his feet, like he'd landed on ice blocks. He lifted one foot frowning at the hole in his pieced together footwear. Time for a new pair.
Shrieks from nearby caught his attention. He tipped his head, listening for direction as the sound grew louder and was joined with a smaller one of a different pitch. The park. It was coming from the park. His heart hammered against his plastron as he sprinted across rooftops, arms pumping as bitter air stung his lungs, while his blood rushed hot, bringing a chill to his flesh. He slid to a stop, sending a spray of snow up around him. A squeal pierced the air and he scrambled down the fire escape, across the sidewalk and road, entering the park through cover of clusters of trees.
When he spied the source of the noise, he let out a relieved sigh. Amused by the sight before him, he leaned up against a tree trunk and crossed his arms. A small copper-haired woman dragged a sled around the outside of the playground, while a perfect miniature of her with rosy cheeks, giggled while grabbing fistfuls of snow. She threw a handful at the woman hauling her around. "Faster, Mommy! Faster!"
"Alli, I can't- ha, I can't- stop throwing snow at me, you crazy girl!" The tiny woman laughed so hard her eyes closed, while the toddler flung snow at her mom. He snickered as a mess of it landed across the mother's cheek, sprinkling her eyelashes in tiny white flakes. The woman dropped the string attached to the sled and wiped her eyes. "Oh, you are so gonna get it."
His amusement waivered as the girl's mom stomped through the snow with a scowl on her face. The child's dark blue eyes became wide as saucers. Just as his legs threatened to propel him forward to save the tot, the mother's angry face faltered breaking into a smile as she bent over and tickled the giggling little girl. "I'm gonna get you! I'm the mommy monster and I get little girls that throw snow at their mommy!" She buried her face in the little girl's shoulder while tickling her sides. "Nom, nom, nom!"
"EEEEEEE! Mommy, ha, ha, stop, ha, heeeee, stop!" The little one shrieked amid a fit of hysteria.
The mom's fingers halted and she pulled the little girl close. The tots arms and legs snaked around her mom like a spider monkey. The woman's eyes were clamped shut, her mouth drawn back in the corners as if she might cry. As she turned to collect the sled the little girl's face came in view, her eyes were closed too, a huge smile on her face.
"I love you, Alli." The mother's whisper carried to him on a breeze of snowflakes, laced with the scent of strawberries, stirring in him a fresh yearning he could not put to words.
The little girl's gloved fingers clutched her mother's coat. "I love you, Mommy."
"Awww, ain't that sweet." His brother's voice hit his ears before his hand came down on his shoulder, jerking him well out of earshot. Raph spun him around, then whacked him over the back of the head. "What the shell are you doin'? The whole worlds gettin' ready to go to war and you're out here stalkin' the family life? What is wrong with you?"
His brother's mouth was so big, he was pretty sure Jersey could hear him, not to mention the family playing not far enough behind them. "Shhh, gees. You yell at me, but have you listened to yourself? I was-"
Raph's eye ridges rose. "You were what? Dude, Mikey, forget it. You don't stand a chance with a normal chick, let alone one with a kid. She's probably married, anyway."
"I wasn't- I just-" he sighed. "You don't get it. You never get it."
He turned to stomp off, but his brother put a hand against his plastron. "Well, then help me get it. Explain it to me."
He peered beyond the various trunks to where the mother and daughter where collecting up their sled, ready to leave the park. Moonlight reflected off the snow, making the woman's hair stand out a bright carrot orange against the brown of her jacket. What was it about people that fascinated him? Was it all the amazing things they did? From sledding, skiing, surfing, to amusement parks, skydiving, zip lining? Gods the list of fun was endless. That was a solid yes. But what else? Was it the way they treated one another? Sometimes they'd yell, curse, steal, and take what they want whether it was theirs or not. No, those bits weren't for him.
But then there was something he could see, but not explain. It was on their faces when he watched them, in the moments that really mattered. The way in the face of a civil war, when buildings were crumbling, hands were reached out and they lifted one another up, though they were strangers. And in those moments, when the dust coated their bodies, it did not matter what color they were, or whether they were tall or short, ugly or beautiful, whether they were gay or straight, friendly or not, smart or stupid, able or not, it did not matter what they were like as individuals. They were unified with the desire to live, and they came together to fight for it.
Families had fractured in a battle to bring mutants out of hiding, free to walk the streets and live normal lives, as normal as a mutants could get anyway. And however big or small his journey might turn out, he wanted to try. He wanted that experience and all that came with it.
"There aren't words for it, Raph. I just know that tomorrow when we wake up, those new laws will be real and they're going to change my whole life. And whether you or anyone else like it or not, I'm going to go out there and take advantage of every single one of them."
Raph sighed, and though Mikey could feel his brother's eyes on him, he kept his sights ahead, always looking forward to the future.