Grey runs into Felix who tries to offer some advice.

The telltale sound of a skateboard announces Grey's presence before the waif comes into view around the corner into the parking lot, taking advantage of the open space between the rows of cars to practice a few jumps, finally skidding short to a stop and kicking her skateboard up to grab the nose of it. Blue eyes peer out from behind that mange of dark hair as she takes in her surroundings with an idle sort of interest, looking for something to do now. Doing this at rush hour in a parking lot, however, proves troublesome, as a departing commuter honks, wanting her to get out of the way so he can leave the lot. She gives him a one-fingered salute before sauntering out of the way, extra-slow.

Felix was wandering around the financial district. He'd just got back from visiting Lady Liberty ... something he'd not done yet, despite having been in the city for four years now. Why he'd finally decided to indulge, he wasn't sure. It'd been interesting, at any rate. The racket coming from one of the parking lots in the area made him glance over just in time to see a kid come out on foot, holding a skateboard. One eyebrow lifted at the state of their clothes, and gave a reflexive sniff, not so much to see if they stunk as bad as they looked as because it was mildly irritating to not be sure what sex the kid was. Unfortunately, there were so many other scents that at this range, he couldn't get a good fix. Ah well. He waited for the kid to get clear of the parking lot's entrance before he hailed them. "Hey there."

Grey watches the car impassively as the driver honks again out of annoyance before accelerating out of the lot with the crunch of wheels on gravel. She doesn't notice Felix until he addresses her. Barely visible behind her hair, her gaze flickers over to take him in a moment before she jerks her chin slightly upwards in a sort of acknowledgement. "Yeah," she offers in reply, part statement, part question. There's a certain wariness to the way she studies him, as if she half-expects him to tell her to shove off or yell at her for playing in traffic. And a certain defensiveness that suggests she wouldn't take it without a fight.

Felix restrains a grin as he gets closer. The voice is definitely female. He stops before he gets in grabbing range of the girl, respecting her wariness, understanding it. He glances from her to the impatient driver, then back to her and snorts. "Guess he forgot that pedestrians have the right of way, huh?"

Grey stands her ground as Felix approaches, doing so almost defiantly. She rolls her eyes after the driver as Felix comments before looking back to the man. "Yeah. Goddamn commuters. Who drives in this city, anyway. There's too much traffic to drive," she states disdainfully, though the irony of no one driving because there are too many cars on the road doesn't escape her and she smirks faintly to herself.

"Only the insane drive in the city. I guess that explains taxis, right?" Felix gives an amused snort. "My name's Felix." He says.

"I don't think anything really explains taxis," Grey replies with a wry shrug. She hefts her skateboard a little higher, holding it to her chest with a forearm wrapped around it. "Grey," she offers simply, by way of name.

"Nice to meet you, Grey." Felix says, trying not to laugh because that's Jean's last name. "Whatcha doing in this part of town? They're not too friendly to the 'I don't happen to wear a suit' crowd around here."

"I go where I want," Grey says defiantly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she picks up on Felix's repressed laughter but not his reasons for it. Grey might not be the most common name for a girl, but it's a hell of a lot better than Gladys. "They aren't too friendly anywhere, not to people like me."

"You got the right to." Felix says. "But there's places where it's a little easier to get by without getting hassled, which makes life a lot easier. And better pickings than you'll find around here, that's for sure."

"Who says I'm looking for pickings right now?" Grey asks as she shifts the skateboard a little. "I was /looking/ for a place to skate. But good luck finding cement that isn't covered with cars or stupid topiaries."

Felix gives Grey a grin. "Well, I can help there, too. I know a good spot ... and it's not all that far from here. It's over in Brooklyn."

For some reason, that gets an even more suspicious look from Grey, who's been basically been radiating suspicion throughout this whole conversation. "Oh yeah? Where's that? The place, I mean, not Brooklyn."

Felix is well aware of Grey's suspicion. Which is why he's made no move to touch her, and is doing what he can to keep his body language nonthreatening. He's also keeping his head turned a bit, so she doesn't see his eyes. "It's on the east side of Brooklyn. There's a big movie theater over there ... the parking lot is /never/ full this early in the day. Might be what you're looking for."

Grey considers this, scrunching up her face as she cants her head to the side, her hair parting slightly as she looks up at him through the mess of it. "Yeah, but then I'd be in /Brooklyn/," she points out, as if this is a fate worse than death. Then after a moment, she relents slightly, muttering, "But I'll keep it in mind."

"Hey, it's not all bad." Felix points out. "Fewer people, for starters. Which means more room to skate. And if you really hate Brooklyn, there are spots further north that are good too. I just suggested the movie theater because it was closest."

"I like the city. At least it's not boring." This despite her saying no one treated her well not but a few minutes ago. Grey just shrugs her shoulders again, the motion getting lost in the swathes of clothing. "But I get around. Maybe I'll check it out if I get bored."

Felix grins. "Cool." He gives her a look, trying to guage if he ought to offer her a bit of help, and finally decides to ask /her/. "If I offer you a couple pointers, are you gonna get all pissed?"

Grey has to actually consider this. "Maybe. Depends on the kind of pointers," she replies after a moment, her tone one of indifference. After all, what's it to her if she gets pissed? "Won't know until you try." Clears that right up, no doubt.

Well, at least it hadn't been a flat-out 'yes I will get pissed'. Felix grins. "You've obviously figured some of it out, or you'd be dead by now." He says. "So I won't insult you with the easy stuff. But the Bronx and Harlem are easier to find places to sleep, and get food, than most other places in the city. Might not be the area you prefer to hang out in, but if you run out of places to be warm, dry, and fed around here." He shrugs.

Grey wipes her nose on her sleeve as she considers this, shrugging again or maybe just hefting up her shoulders. "I can look out for myself," she insists, what little of her gaze can be seen going a little flinty. But at least she's not exactly 'pissed' anyway. "You don't look homeless," she points out bluntly a moment later, that suspicion cranked right back up.

"I don't doubt you can, but sometimes, stuff happens that you can't control." Then Felix nods. "I'm not ... not anymore. But I was for a while, about four years back. So I know how it goes."

"I got a few tricks up my sleeve," Grey states firmly. Nothing will happen that she can't handle. She still doesn't seem to entirely trust that Felix is telling the truth here. "A lot can change in four years."

Felix's mouth twitches. Unless this kid is a mutant with superstrength and a super fast healing factor ... there's gonna be shit that happens that she can't handle. Fact of life. But he also knows that trying to tell her that is an exercise in futility. He can only hope she wises up before it's too late. "Yeah, but a lot of things stay the same. And I've stayed friends with the people who helped me back when I was homeless, which is how I know the Harlem/Bronx area is easier to work in when you're looking for a place to sleep for the night. They're a bit more sympathetic up that way. Probably because a lot of them were in the same bind at one point or another in their lives."

As she goes to set her skateboard down, a rough bit of wood catches her shirt, causing her to nearly drop it. Somehow, Grey manages to catch it, even though it almost looks like the /skateboard/ comes back up to meet her hand. But it all happens rather quickly, so maybe she just has good reflexes. Whatever the case, Grey doesn't act like anything is amiss, just setting the butt of the skateboard back down and putting her foot on it to bring it back flat to the ground. "Sure, whatever," is her dismissive reply to the offer of help. "I'm gonna go." She doesn't even bother coming up with an excuse.