Snort. "I've never done that."

"Are you a shapeshifter, then? My sister is, and she can't duplicate Frost's trick either."

Indistinct shrug. "I am... myself."

"Most people are. Do you want to hear more about the others' abilities?"

"All right."

"I'm a telepath. Like Emma Frost, although I can't turn into diamond, and less defensively oriented. Erik can manipulate metal. I already told you about my sister, and Angel. Of the others we've met--there's a young man named Alex who can throw incredible rings of plasma, and one named Armando whose body adapts to whatever challenges are put before him, and one named Sean who has an incredibly powerful voice."

"What manner of shapeshifter is your sister?"

"She can turn into anyone, clothes and all. She can't turn into animals. I don't know if she could shift as far away from the standard human body plan as you have; she's spent most of her life using her ability to blend into society. In her natural form she has blue skin and scales." There is an immense amount of fondness in his voice when he talks about her.

"All my forms are natural to me."

"That's fortunate for you. Raven has to expend at least a little attention to maintain any shape other than her blue one."

"Perhaps she'll get better with practice," he suggests.

"She has. It used to be--very difficult--for her to stay shapeshifted for very long. It caused her considerable trouble when she was a child."

"I can imagine," he says, amused. "I can look human if I wish, but finding clothes is always such a bother."

"That was almost never a problem for her. Her blue form can wear clothes as well as any."

"Well, as you've noticed, I live in a bear's den."

"I noticed you live in a cave, at least; I didn't notice any bears."

"You wouldn't," he says, amused. "I ate her."

"Then does it still qualify as a bear's den?"

He laughs. "A matter of interpretation, I suppose."

"Well, it would probably be even more difficult to keep clothes if there were a bear still around to wreck them."

Snort. "True."

"If access to clothes is an inhibiting factor, don't worry about it--we have more than sufficient funds to provide for such things."

"He means he's rich and doesn't have anything better to do with his money," Erik snorts. "Suffice to say that more than one of our previous recruits had jobs they left behind, and aren't going to have to worry about being able to find new ones."

"I wouldn't have put it like that."

"No, but it's true."