Todd was leaning against a tree in a very relaxed manner, his shoulder resting on the bark, his hands in his pockets. His eyes were half-lidded and he was smiling smugly, a sign that he was very, very happy about something that could be very bothersome to another person. It was a look one quickly associated with bad things.

"Toad!" Kurt cried out in shock as he shot to his feet, now standing on the table, his heart beginning to race. How long had he been standing there? How much had he seen? Would he tell? Who would he tell? Should Kurt get rid of him, even though Toad was a mutant too? Should he run, and hope the boy would keep quiet?

Todd didn't move, only watched quietly as Kurt stood upright, stuttering and his tail-tip twitching in aggravation and worry. Kurt then said desperately, "It's not what it looks like!"

Todd laughed, asking slyly, "You sure, fool? Cuz I think I just saw you eat a human being that was somehow three inches tall." Kurt gulped visibly, and Todd pressed gleefully, "Am I right?"

The blue mutant's tail was going crazy, swishing back and forth as the blue-boy muttered, "Umm…"

Todd then pushed himself off the tree and came a few steps forwards, saying with a smile that revealed his yellow teeth, "Nice job."

Kurt, who had been wondering what to say next, was stunned and asked in utter confusion, "Huh?"

Todd came close to the table, seeing as how fuzzy wasn't running or 'porting, and said lazily, "I was beginning to wonder if you really were a plushy-all fur and no fang. Guess I was wrong."

Kurt backed away from Toad, but didn't run. He was on one end of the table with Todd on the other. He then asked softly, "You… you're not…bothered?"

Todd laughed and answered, "Dude, you're talking to a guy whose diet is 90-percent tiny creatures, okay?" As if to prove his point, a moth that been fluttering gaily through the night vanished with a 'snap' into his mouth. He chewed a bit and swallowed while Kurt stared.

Kurt then got down off the table, landing silently on the floor on his two-toed feet, saying while watching Todd, "But I just ate a human." He rubbed at his chest to strike the point home, asking, "Doesn't that bother you?"

Todd licked his lips, getting the moth's wing-powder off his lips as he answered easily, "Not in the least, yo." He then turned towards Kurt, asking eagerly, "Now, I have a question for you: what was it like?"

Kurt didn't answer for a while. He just stared at Todd, barely four feet away from him, leaning casually on the table as if nothing was odd about having a conversation about how it felt to eat a shrunken human being. Then Kurt realized something was off and asked, "Why aren't you threatening to turn me in? Tell my mother or the guys at the institute or your buddies?"

Todd chuckled darkly, and in a tone Kurt had never heard him use before, whispered, "Cuz if I did, I'd never get the chance to try it for myself." He then surprised Kurt by swiftly closing the distance between them and shoving his hand onto Kurt's stomach, digging his fingers into the fur and flesh.

Kurt yelped in surprise and shoved Todd from him, making him fall onto the bench while he 'ported into the tree. Twenty feet above Todd, clinging to a branch with hands, feet and tail, Kurt called down angrily, "What was that for?"

Todd rubbed his spine where he had smacked the table, but looked up at Kurt, saying, "Aww come on! I just wanted to feel 'im squirm!"

Kurt stared down at Todd in silence for a while before saying bluntly, "You can't. He's already long gone."

Grumbling, Todd slumped down on the seat, muttering, "No fair!"

Kurt found it odd that Todd wasn't disgusted by the idea. If anything, he seemed excited about it. Kurt easily and silently crept down to a lower branch, and asked, "Why?"

Todd grinned slyly, saying, "You want the full story? Fine. Poof your fuzzy butt back down here and I'll tell you." Kurt 'ported back down to the bench, sitting down on the opposite side of the bench.

Todd grinned at him, and then said, "Firstly, I was born like this. Webbed hand and feet, green tongue, yellow teeth." He spread his fingers, showing the webbing and then opened his mouth. He shrugged and then said, "Mamma was okay with it, but pops… he left."

Kurt nodded, saying quietly, "Okay."

Todd then said bluntly, "Well, we weren't rich. Translation: we had nothing. I learned really fast that if you had food offered to ya, ya take it fast and take as much as ya can. Ya never know when you get food again. Got it so far, fuzzy?" Kurt nodded again and Todd went on. "Well, in time, I found out that I had the ability to do like frogs and toads do, to take huge mouthfuls and swallow them. I mean I could eat an orange whole. Didn't even have to chew it. I would break into grocery stores, stuff myself in a matter of seconds on anything I could grab and bring home big old bags for mamma. And the really neat thing is that when I did that, I didn't need to eat for a week. It was perfect!" He smiled as he remembered the happy look on his mom's face at all the food he brought home. She knew he had stolen it, but for her it was only important that no one got hurt.

Kurt's voice jerked Todd back to reality. He turned to look at the blue mutant, who asked suspiciously, "Okay, but what does that have to do with me and my… talent?"

The toad-mutant grinned widely, saying, "Well, I grew older, and found I could do bigger and bigger things. Got to where I am now. Right now, if I wanted, I could down a large grapefruit easy as pie." He then grimaced and stuck out his tongue, muttering, "They're really nasty, though. Very, very sour. Be sure to eat plenty of sugar with 'em!" He then shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Anyway, I started getting beat up, right? By punks like Duncan and his gang. And I kept wanting to show them who was boss, but how? I fight back, I get pummeled. Then, one night I had a funky dream about actually eating 'em. Kinda like you just did."

He looked at Kurt with eager eyes and Kurt quickly figured out where Todd was going with this and said bluntly, "You want me to help you." and it wasn't a question.

The other mutant shrugged, saying smoothly, "Yeah. I do."

Kurt then crossed his arms over his chest, asking, "And why should I?"

Todd stretched backwards, saying, "Well… if ya do, I can promise two things right here and now. I won't beat you up anymore, and no one but me and you will know about this, yo."

Kurt started to nod, but then looked indignant. He then said firmly, "Firstly, I'm the one who beats you up, and secondly, how do I know you won't break your word?"

Todd relaxed from his stretch and looked at Kurt. His head was tilted so his brown bangs hung down above his eyes. But the light-green orbs stared at him with an air of knowing and Todd then said slyly, "From yo smart little attitude, I'm guessing that talent of yours don't just work on normal humans, right?"

Kurt was taken aback. How had Todd figured that out? But he decided not to look surprised and said confidently, "Yeah. It does."

Todd then stood up, saying as he straightened out his shirt, "So there you go. I keep my mouth shut; we both have a good time. I blab; I'm just one more missing kid and you're not as hungry as usual."

The last part was said so casually it worried Kurt. Didn't Todd have any regard for his life? He suddenly remembered the time he and Todd had met, how he had 'ported them into the Danger Room and how it had activated, how scared Todd had been. Now it was like he didn't care if he saw another sunrise. Kurt then stood up, asking in confusion, "Doesn't the prospect of becoming a meal bother you?"

Todd shrugged and crouched down to leap, saying easily, "Nah, not really."

This didn't feel right to Kurt and before Todd could jump off, he put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Wait." Todd relaxed and stood up. Kurt then asked softly, "Why doesn't it bother you? I want to know."

Todd shrugged, saying, "Well, in this world, there are much, much worse ways to go." He then began to tick off on his fingers, "I could be avalanched, mentally assaulted, phased into a wall and left there, be blasted by laser-eyes into a brick wall, poofed high into the air and left to fall, get my life-force sucked outta me, get fire-crackered off a roof, get attacked by a crazy man with knives in his hands, get put into a giant metal blender and ground up into Toad-paste, get a crazy shape-shifter to turn into a monster and rip me limb from limb, get hexed into oblivion, be dragged around at high speed until I can't breath and die, get barbecued by a white-haired weather-witch, and for the grand finale, I might be at the wrong place at the wrong time and be sat on by a kid weighing over half a ton." He laughed dryly while Kurt felt a little uneasy at the tone of the smaller boy before him. "After thinking about all that, how painful that would be, the idea of slipping into wet, warm darkness, going unconscious from lack of air and then, when I'm not even awake to feel the pain of it, being burnt away by acids…" Todd shrugged and came next to the blue mutant and put his palm on Kurt's stomach, peering up into the elf's face as he said with a wry grin, "It sounds like a much better prospect to me." He then pushed a little, pressing his hand into the fur, feeling the well-developed muscles underneath, saying in a teasing tone, "And if you're as soft on the inside as you are on the outside, fuzzy, it might even be worth it."

Kurt didn't move away from Todd's touch, but just stared at him with wide, yellow eyes before saying in shock, "You scare me, Toad. Really, REALLY badly."

Todd laughed again and, lightening fast, crouched down and leapt into the tree, landing on the same branch Kurt had perched on earlier. He then called down, "Yeah, that seems to be my thing." He then grinned, asking "So, can I expect to see ya here at six tomorrow night, freak?"

Kurt was silent for a long time, looking down at his feet, thinking. But then he looked up, his golden eyes blazing as he said with a toothy grin, "Sure. See you then."