Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chi-Chi was already feeling better as she munched on one half of the sandwich Gabe gave her. She would have to thank him some way later. Maybe she could make him something in return? As she contemplated about it, Gabe revealed another sandwich that was... what could only be something of legends. And Dimitri seemed to agree.

Seeing just how much Dimitri was salivating at the sight of the Fat Sandwich, and if they hadn’t heard her stomach earlier, she could certainly hear his growling in hunger. She looked down at her own sandwich, deciding half was enough to hold her over until the kitchen was free later. She moved over closer to the edge of the pool by them, placing half of her sandwich next to Dimitri. Whether or not he was going to take it, she wasn’t going to hear him say no with how hungry he looked. One half would be enough to hold her over until she could get something later.

After describing her abilities, Dimitri brought up that if she could teleport, why would she even need to climb walls? It would make sense to jump around from place to place all the time, if it wasn't so draining. “I can only teleport where I can see. I can’t go off of memories or anywhere I don’t have vision of, and the wall climbing helps me get to places with better vision. It's also quicker and I need energy to teleport. But that's… part of the hard to explain thing.”

Gabe apologized for making her uncomfortable, which she waved off with a hand, “It’s fine, I should be over talking about it. It never matters how long it’s been for me, I still have trouble talking about what I can do like its normal.” She thought hard, trying to place an example that might make it easier to understand. Maybe if she explained it using someone else they might know? “Do you know Christian? How he looked all different and had big claws when he went werewolf? It’s kind of like that for me.” She motioned claws with her hands, continuing, “The claws help me latch on to stuff and climb fast, even if the surface is smooth. But I can climb without them, it's just easier doing it with.”

Talking about it that way definitely made her feel more comfortable. By using someone else as an example, it wasn't all on her. It helped her relax and smile more. Since she introduced both her names and abilities, the boys each took their turns explaining their powers and codenames. As she listened, she munched on her half of the sandwich quietly.

She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as Dimitri gave his codename, "Playboy? Like the magazine?" How did he even get a name like that? Did it have some other kind of meaning she didn't get? It didn't really match up with his powers. You'd think someone with lava powers might get some kind of name based on fire.

She watched as he heated up his legs to a much higher temperature than normal, making the water of the pool bubble and steam up just when he dipped his toes again. She leaned over to the edge of the pool and dipped her fingers in the water only for a second to feel the difference in the water’s temperature. “That’s really cool! Have you been training for a while? It definitely seems like you've got great control of your powers.”

Gabe was up next, and as she took a second listening to him describe his powers to her, taking in exactly what (…) She swallowed the last bite of her sandwich, raising an eyebrow at him. “So you’re… a human gun?” She kind of wanted to see him use his powers so she might understand better, but when he explained he might hurt himself trying, she shook her hands as if to say don't do it. “No no, its fine, you don’t have to show anything, I get it!”

“You’re right, it is nice out… “ She leaned back and closed her eyes for a minute, thinking about how the weather must be at home, and how much her mom and dad would have liked it here.

She opened her eyes once more to see a cute girl in summery clothes trot over. She had a big smile on her face, making Chi-Chi smile back happily, but was surprised when she held out her phone in front of her. She read the message, wondering how she already knew her name, but smiled back as she answered, "Hi! It's nice to meet you."

As Collin waved over to the others and typed her next message, Chi-Chi couldn't help but notice what was going on in her other hand. She leaned over a little to look behind her at what looked like some sort of line of plasma-like energy behind her, connecting to someone a little ways behind her like one of those sticky stretch hands you could get from a gumball machine or arcade. And who was at the end of it?

Her face changed slightly as she saw Collin's next message, her cheeks felt warm as she read Wraith's name on the phone. She tried to keep her composure as she nodded to Collin's request. Next thing she knew, Collin gave a hard pull on the plasma leash, dragging him over towards the group. Chi-Chi covered her mouth and face, worried he might trip or fall over if she pulled too hard.

As he came over, she lowered her hands, giving a small wave as she mumbled shyly, "H-hi Lex..."

Schooling her expression as best she could, hints of her mirth quirked at the corners of her lips at Lachlan’s surprise over Felix. Nodding her head, she shrugged. “He’s usually sweet to me.” She added, her naivety shining through over all else in that moment. “Mind you, he’s a shameless flirt much of the time, but I don’t think he ever means anything by it.” After all, how could he when he knew that she counted Raine as one of her closest friends?

If the strong man appeared skeptical of Roland’s motives, the telekinetic didn’t quite catch it - too amused at the thought of the armored man trying to keep the speedster from doing anything he damn well pleased. Especially if Roland wanted it. Their rivalry was something of legend throughout the school - almost as much as the age-old battle of Alphas vs. Omegas.

There was several moments that fell awkwardly into silence, mostly out of her own want to bury her head in the sand and forget her mistakes on the field. As her new leader, she understood his need to talk about what had transpired, but it did not make facing her inadequacies any easier. Lachlan confirmed that Bella had gone off on her own, and had she known the feelings still lingering in Lachlan’s heart, she would have spared him her speculation.

Glancing over to him, her sparkling eyes dulled as he appeared crestfallen, even for the briefest of seconds. Taking a few seconds to contemplate the weight of her statement, her features settled into sympathy for him as he shook himself from a daze. “I’m sorry.” She murmured, guilt flooding the statement. “I…” At a loss for words, she smoothed her expression into a small smile and let out an airy chuckle, forcing her jealousy of the soundstress down like a charred entree from a nervous cook. Was there anyone on this campus, other than herself and Katerina, who didn’t think that the sun rose and set simply for Isabella Stone’s pleasure? “It seems everyone on campus is under the Siren’s spell.” Though she hadn’t meant for the words to slip out, they were no less true for being spoken. “But, had I known… I’d not have said anything.” The would-be ballerina promised. Tempted to bare her own heart to Lachlan in an effort to ease his embarrassment, she breathed out a heavy sigh that revealed all too well that she shared in his pain in some way.

Shifting their conversation’s focus to Lachlan’s promotion, Aurelie could scarcely veil the pride she felt for him. Though he seemed unsure of his footing as the team lead now, he shone of great potential. The way he handled the chaos at the sentinel base only further proved what she had guessed about him. He countered the idea by asking why they hadn’t crowned her, and she bit down on her lip. “He and I talked about it. Scott…” She paused, searching for the phrasing that wouldn’t sound boastful or the slightest bit envious, for she was neither in regards to this. “Knows me very well. He’s been a very much like a father to me since I came to the X-men.” No doubt, Lachlan had access to her file now, her time on the Corsairs, a lesser team in the school, had given her plenty of one on one time with the headmaster.

“As you’ve seen, I have a tendency to prioritize everyone else over myself when it comes down to the line.” Remembering all too well the “talk” that Scott had had with her over this very thing, pink slowly crept into her cheeks. “It’s a ‘self-destructive pattern’ that I need to get myself out of before he could responsibly ask me to look over others.” Not to mention her lack of self confidence, her shy tendencies in new social circles… While taking some of the leadership during the last mission had shown improvement on the prior issue, she wasn’t far enough along to be an effective captain. Plus, she didn’t want it. That much, even during his long litany at her bedside, she made clear to Cyclops. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she made the wrong call.

Reiterating her statement that none of what had happened to the alphas was his blame to shoulder, he didn’t seem convinced. “You did the best you could with what was handed to you. You got us out.” For her, that was enough.

“The boys shouldn’t have gotten so far ahead of the team. At that point, you weren’t calling the shots - Bella was. I questioned their rush when we still had so much to deal with where we stood, but maybe I should have been louder.”

That he already faced resistance over the promotion left her reeling as she tried to decipher who. Deciding that everyone - from Collin to August had every reason to thank him, was left only with memories of him snapping at Alex. Her mouth contorted like she tasted something sour as the thought flitted through her mind, and she then built a case to help boost his confidence. Though it might have been hard to hear, especially now… knowing that he carried somewhat of a candle for Bella, she didn’t hold back any punches in regards to the former leader’s approach to being the command.

“I’m sure you’re up to the task. Scott took a lot of time to think about who could run the team in Bella’s stead.” He had even asked her for her opinion, and the strong mutant had really been their only choice, short of pulling one of the Omegas over, and that would have gone about as well as a lead balloon flying. “You aren’t going to do any worse than any of the other student leads.” She assured him kindly. “You definitely have your work cut out for you, but that’s less to do with you, and more to do with the disrepair that this team has been in for the last year.”

Making a case that the Alphas really could be as powerful as the Omegas, he didn’t disagree. “You’ll get us whipped into shape in no time.” Inevitably, Lachlan got around to actually being her captain then. Holding up a hand to pause what she felt would be an hour long litany, she lightened the tension with a little joke. She had already heard this song before, multiple times over, as though it were a number 1 hit on the radio that you just couldn’t escape every time you tuned in. His tirade about her reckless behavior was far less long-winded than Scott’s or Jean’s had been, and for that, she remained quiet until he finished his bit, her gaze piercing his as he spoke so that he knew she was actually listening and not choosing to tune him out. A grin played at the corners of her lips, still hidden like a secret on a coded map when he called her a friend.

Those sayings about the troops becoming brothers in arms bled very well into their lives. Before, he appeared hesitant around her - something she attributed to her close association to a certain Hydra agent. But, after what they’d gone through… she wouldn’t complain at all with a little faith in that department. “Me too.” She said, silently lamenting that Katerina would not be in her corner on the next mission. He suggested they find other methods to achieve their goals that went beyond using her as a meatshield for the team, and she bobbed her head along vigorously with the suggestion. “I would like that.” Her quiet voice rang with sincerity.

It was all that Bella had ever used her for; one of the myriad of reasons that the shapeshifter hadn’t let up on her animosity for the woman. “There is only so much I can do, even if I have a more… versatile mutation than some.” She agreed, her shoulders falling into something more relaxed with the confession tingling on the tip of her tongue. “It’s a lot of pressure to be expected to have eyes on everything, to be able to stop anything.” Exhausting even.

“And I don’t mind shielding the team from danger; it’s something I can offer to them so that we all get home. I don’t want you to think badly of me for saying that. But, getting the team to a point where they aren’t necessarily relying on me to be able to fix everything seconds after a disaster would likely make me better equipped to handle things when it does get to that point.” Embarrassed now, her chest all the way to the tips of her ears were darkening, knowing she was botching what she meant to say. “By the time we get down to the wire, I’ve usually already over-extended beyond what I should have… and it’s then that I give whatever is left to something that I might have been able to handle if I hadn’t stretched my capacity.”

He asked how she was doing, and she made a glib remark about getting as much sleep as an old lady with forty-seven cats. Unsure of how to respond, Lachlan maneuvered through any awkwardness pretty easily. “Forty-seven. That’s how many cats I’m going to have. I already have a list of names picked out.” She said, deadpan.

Aurelie asked if she could help make his transition any easier, and she nodded once in sympathy to his uphill battle comment. “It’s both good and sad that you already understand that leadership isn’t always about being our buddies. Sometimes, you’re going to make calls that we may not like. You may have to have conversations like the one you just had with me. Is it fun? No… but eventually they’ll see the reasoning behind it isn’t malicious, but because we need it.” And that was already more than his predecessor had ever done. “We will be a better team for it.”

Of that, she was sure.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxOmega - Lounge


Eating competition. Now that sounded like something he would be good at. “Oh, I promise you, I’m already trained up for this sort of thing.” He said, cheesing as Alice laughed. Claiming that this was one thing he wouldn’t be lazy about, the earth-shaker seemed to have an entirely different picture of him than most. “Innovative.” He said, rubbing his chin philosophically as he tested the word. “I like it.” He sobered momentarily then, looking directly at her through chocolate-hued eyes. “But I won’t lie… I usually am lazy. Things like Scooter’s ethics class… US Government… not really my speed.”

Going back to this hotdog thing, Aren assured her that he wouldn’t die from choking on a hotdog, and that he wouldn’t need his mutation to help him win. Nodding along with her silly suggestion that all his food was secretly channeled out to another planet by a secondary mutation, he pictured the idea. “Oh man… that planet’s just a wasteland now. You wouldn’t want to visit, even just to verify it’s existence. My Na’a would die. The sight of chewed up food always left her queasy.” Laughing at a memory that surfaced then, he couldn’t help but share it with his teammate. “So, naturally all three of us boys would make sure she got see-food at dinner.”

“Well, there was one that stayed for a long time. Though, I guess you didn’t get to meet her.” Aren reminisced with a sigh. “She was a student here, but long before either of us found the institute, she was a stray that my tribe was all too happy to take in.” He said when Alice mentioned her doubts of being able to stay on the rez. “Everyone here knew her as Shandra. I called her Moahk because it fit her. Her hair was ruby red, so it made sense.”

Going back to their first encounter, Aren teased her about how grouchy she had been to be left in his care. “A lot of women bite. It’s a fair guess.” He argued, his lopsided grin never letting the light leave his eyes. “Now I know better.”

Confessing that he had felt the need to change his name in order to be accepted here, Alice’s shock and assurances that Peta wasn’t a girly name gave him some comfort. “Rhinestone Cowboy.” He repeated with a laugh, trying to imagine how the Texan had taken to that moniker. The mention of Blake brought them to the topic of training - an activity that Aren had no qualms of avoiding entirely.

“Not really.” Aren answered after some consideration. “If there weren’t real people in them, why did anyone actually care?” He posited, confused as to why that would matter so much. “Obviously, don’t do that with real people in them, but I don’t think they would have put you on the team if they didn’t think you had some semblance of morality.” He had honestly thought the idea was genius from a tactical, gaming standpoint. Narcissa had approved as well.

The blond next to him lazed in her chair as she lamented about her complete lack of love life. Aren reasoned that many probably thought she had something going on with their new leader, and he cracked a smile when she asked about making a t-shirt that said otherwise. “You could try.” He said with a shrug. He could hear just a hint of jealousy when she mentioned other girls shacking up with multiple guys before anyone even looked her direction, and the size shifter shrugged sympathetically. As a guy, it usually wasn’t all that hard to find someone to spend some time with. And up until his fascination with Narcissa, he had. Now that she had left him with his soul intact, he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted.

For girls, it might have been harder. They had scruples and all that. Plus, the guys usually were overrun with estrogen. “I don’t know about all of that. There’s a few girls on the teams that are just crazy and should be avoided at all costs in that department.” Heaving a sigh, he looked over at her with all the sincerity he had. “Honestly though, if they don’t like a little fire and sass, it’s their loss. Not yours.” A grin took shape at his lips, evaporating the sober expression he had had before. “I personally can go either way. But, the ones that aren’t afraid to hold their own tend to be more fun than the wishy-washy shy girls.”

After she mentioned her bet with Blake, Aren offered to be the bookie, and then they moved onto something with a bit more substance: their futures. He chuckled at her calling him perceptive, letting his chocolate orbs wander back to the floor. “Don’t tell anyone that, then they’ll think I have ideas… and expect me to work at them.”

At the idea of peace, Aren paused.

“It’s been my people’s experience that peace is never attained. And those that want it the most are the ones that end up making concessions they shouldn’t.” The strong line of his jaw hardened then. “Peace for mutants will require sacrifices I don’t think a lot of us would be willing to make. We’re bred to resist. Because of this, there will always be opportunities like this one.”

Lachlan merely offered the blonde telekinetic a skeptical raising of his eyebrow as she insisted that Felix of all people was usually sweet to her. He wasn’t sure whether it would really be of benefit to press her further on the matter. In all honesty, it wasn’t really his business though he’d be lying if he were to say he didn’t suspect ulterior motives from the speedster. In all honesty, he was surprised Aurelie didn’t. Felix, plain and simply, just didn’t seem like the type of guy to be nice to someone for no reason other than out of the goodness of his heart.

“I suppose,” he said with a hesitant shrug of his shoulders, clearly not convinced but too polite to challenge her, “you would know him better than I would.”

Upon Aurelie’s apology, the gentle giant merely shook his head serenely and waved off her apology. “Don’t be,” he added for some verbal reassurance. He’d held a small torch for Bella, merely an ember, though, as it hadn’t been given the time to properly kindle. Her departure had definitely been a disappointing discovery for the farm boy but nothing he wouldn’t recover from with a little time.

He avoided commenting on Aurelie’s observation on how she felt everyone on campus was supposedly under the Siren’s spell. Lachlan wasn’t about to contest or deny the fact he’d been fond of the songstress, clearly it had been written all over his face if she’d come to that conclusion that quickly. “Like I said,” he assured, appearing somewhat sheepish over the matter, “don’t worry about it. I know you meant no harm: no harm, no foul.”

Aurelie’s pride and confidence in the super strong mutant definitely dwarfed his own. He was not particularly looking forward to having to make the adjustment seeing as his first order of business had already gone rather sour. However, he became a little more invested in the conversation once the focus shifted to Aurelie as she described her relationship with Scott. “It’s always nice,” he said with a genuine smile of reassurance, “to have someone watching out for you. Although, I suppose it could very well be a pain in your rear at times as well.”

“I’m pretty sure,” Lachlan said with an amused smirk, trying to keep the mood light by gently heckling her, “everyone has noticed that. It’s pretty hard to miss.” Although it seemed that certain members on the team actually possessed a degree of tunnel vision that might actually make the obvious fully possible to miss. A small inward grimace assailed him at the thought of his prior conversation and the implications behind it.

“Scott’s,” Lachlan said with a nod of approval, “a wise man, then. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of his students is something some would expect but there’s so many of us that I can’t imagine how daunting a task it actually is. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but I agree with him. I suppose that’s kind of why I’m here to begin with, anyway. I don’t want want to see anything bad happen to you on the field. I also do want to emphasize that I don’t want you shielding the team and draining yourself. It’s our responsibility to watch out for ourselves and each other. That responsibly shouldn’t solely rest on one member’s shoulders.”

“I got some of us out,” Lachlan corrected. “If Aren and Daylia hadn’t come to help out and check up on us when they did then I don’t even want to think about what could have happened. We really owe them. I know some people perpetuate the blue versus red but it’s nice to know that some are able to see past that rivalry in critical moments like that.”

“Yeah,” Lachlan somewhat relented, though not fully, “I wish someone had made the call to rein them in. If that happens again I just might have to consider slapping a few kid leashes on them.” The second portion of his statement was clearly a joke, although it was pretty clear if he decided to do such a thing then the boys would have no chance of getting away, not if they were leashed to the super strong mutant at the very least.

“He honestly didn’t have much of a crop to choose from but I’m still a little surprised he chose me of all his options. Surely he could have found someone with more experience or possibly transferred someone if he really had to.” As she attempted to assure him that he couldn’t possibly do any worse than any of the other student leads, he couldn’t say it sounded like the biggest vote of confidence initially. However, when he took a moment to further contemplate the notion, he did realize how few options there really had been. “I suppose,” he responded somewhat distracted, still contemplating the situation.

“I hope so. At least, that’s the goal. However, having a plan and goal doesn’t mean things will go according to how I want them to. I’m sure we’ll eventually get there but with this crew I feel it’s best to try and expect the unexpected. I’m probably going to have to get a little better at improvising.” There were a lot of wild cards he now had to deal with and it remained to be seen whether they would be a headache or not.

“I intend to make changes that will hopefully be for the better of the team. It will probably be a long road but I suppose I’m in it for the long haul until Bella returns...” He couldn’t help but worry about the possibility of her not returning. Would he be able to become a permanent team lead? It was an avenue of thinking he preferred not to wander down. Still, there was a part of him that couldn’t help but feel he might never see the Siren again. That thought was enough to cause his stomach to turn.

“You have your limits, just as all of us do and expecting you to go above and beyond those just isn’t a reasonable or acceptable expectation on my part. I would never ask that nor expect it of you. And I promise there will be changes as far as that goes. It will do the rest of the team some good to be more responsible for themselves. Perhaps they won’t be so rash knowing they don’t have you to lean back on if they decide to make poor decisions. You’re not their mother or babysitter, you’re their teammate and they need to be more conscious of that.” Lachan had no intention of dropping such a burden on the telekinetic’s shoulders, instead, he would expect more from his team as a whole as opposed to having one person make up for the rest. One person didn’t make a team, no matter how powerful or talented they might be.

“I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page where that is concerned, Aurelie. I will do my best to assure you aren’t overexerting yourself and that the team isn’t expecting you to make up for their rashness. Of course, we are a team at the end of the day and I expect you’re able to use your discretion for when someone actually deserves or needs to be helped versus being coddled. We can’t coddle them or they’ll never learn for themselves. Unfortunately, sometimes people have to learn the hard way.” He hated to see things that way but he wasn’t fully convinced all of them had learned their lesson just yet even though some of them had lost more than they’d likely bargained for this past mission.

“That sounds like,” he said with an amiable chuckle, “an awful lot of fur, hair balls and litter to be cleaning up. Probably a good thing you don’t need your hands to do that.”

“Frankly,” Lachlan said with a sheepish smile and shrug of his shoulders in the hopes she wouldn’t think his comment pertained to her, “I feel like it’s watching over a bunch of children. And as much as I would like to have them like me and think I’m the coolest guy in the world, that’s not necessarily what’s best for them. So I guess sometimes I’m going to have to seem like the bad guy with the goal being they’ll eventually have the ability to self reflect enough to see I had good intentions.”

“I hope so,” he said in regards to the team being better for it comment. He really did.

"Not to be rude," he said with yet another sheepish smile, "but I should probably find Aren and Daylia and actually thank them in person on behalf of the rest of us. I'd invite you along but I don't know if you've been cleared or not and I don't want to get yelled at by the nurses."

“Why am I not surprised?” she said in regards to Aren already being ready to join an eating competition. She had noticed enough things about being on the team that Aren was insatiable when it came to food. He could eat a small country’s worth of provisions in a single day if he was allowed to. She grinned when she called him innovative rather than lazy when it came to training. She understood his plight, but she really liked breaking s**t.

“Well that just makes sense, though. The US Governmet historically, has done nothing but lie out their asses. It’s the only thing they are really consistent at.” She put in her own theory about where the food he ate had gone, and he played with the idea of it all disappearing to Hala. The planet itself was a wasteland, and their theory of Aren’s chewed up food disappearing there didn’t make it that much more desirable to vacation to. She shook her head, “Pretty sure my grandma would have knocked me with a cookie sheet if she saw me try that.” She missed that woman more than anyone else. She was the only family that Alice considered that she had.

“Does that happen often? Because I’m totally down to get adopted.” There was a bit of hopefulness in her voice, but she wasn’t going to rely on it. The idea of having a home, something other than the institute, where she actually belonged and felt like she was honored there. That she could be helpful. Maybe it could help calm the hate that she felt in her heart all the time. The anger she felt that drove her to destroy things because it was a hell of a lot easier than talking about her feelings.

They reminisced about their first encounter. She grinned a bit when she said that she wouldn’t dare to go as low as biting, before saying that she would break his ribs before she would ever dare to bite. It was messy. And often times, it didn’t do enough damage. Sure, the human body could bite off a finger with the same amount of effort that it took to bite a carrot, but that didn’t mean her brain was telling her to bite off fingers.

She waved him off before she turned their conversation to Blake and names. She would call Aren whatever the hell he wanted. But, she would always tease her best friend. “The Blues had their panties in a twist over it, that’s for sure. Moral to the core, even with imaginary people in imaginary buildings. Or whatever.” She shrugged her shoulders without a care in the world about the opinions of those twats. Especially not the opinion of Bella after what she did.

She lazed in the chair, complaining about her lack of a love life before mentioning getting a T-shirt that would state loud and clear that she wasn’t bumpin uglies with Blake Tanner. “He just needs to get a girlfriend or something so then all you other idiots get the picture.” She looked sideways at Aren before turning her attention to the ceiling, her hands resting on her stomach.

“Guys like crazy girls. At least that’s what the world’s fascination with Harley Quinn means, anyway.” She huffed just thinking about it. He tried to raise her moral, giving her it’s their loss, not hers speech. “Well, it kind of is because I’m still not getting laid. Every dude that tried to hit on me in Nashville was gross and drunk off their asses. Turns out that resting b***h face keeps people from talking to her unless they were three-sheets to dead."

She turned their conversation to how she could be. She could be the fashionable date to a gala. And there was a bet on it. Aren offered up to be the bookie and she took the offer immediately. She had to make sure that Tanner didn’t go back on her deal. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Just don’t tell anyone that I could totally pull off that femme fatale Scarlett Johansson look.”

Their conversation turned to something that neither of them knew personally. And maybe they would never know. Aren had a deeper understanding of the concept of peace and Alice fell silent as she listened to him. She lulled her head to the side to look at him as his jaw tightened. After he finished, there was a pause before she rolled her head back and was looking up to the ceiling again. “You know, you’re a lot smarter than you look. Maybe those ethics classes are paying off and you just don’t know it yet.” She grinned before she sat up. “I’m not gonna ever get my hopes up. Even without mutants in the picture, humans would still suck.”

As Chi-Chi finished up the last few bites of her half of the sandwich, she listened in with Dimitri about just how many calories Gabe needed to consume to make up for how much was lost. She wasn't as well aware of how it all worked besides the basics on metabolism. She gestured a hand at Gabe's stockade of sandwiches, "So if it has been a month of you doing... this, shouldn't you back to your normal levels by now? If you're still trying to gain back energy reserves, wouldn't working and moving more be counterproductive? Especially late at night?"

The more she tried to make sense of Gabe's eating habits, the more it confused her. After a while, she finally gave up on asking and just let him be the judge of how it all worked. She turned her efforts towards Dimitri, the sound of his stomach loudly growling beside her. The smell of the sandwiches was making him hungry too, so she did something nice and offered him the other half of her sandwich. She was a little annoyed at first when Dimitri initially declined her offer, but smiled as he finally took it and started eating.

She liked his description of how her teleportation was her ace, reminding her of when her dad first taught her poker. "Yeah, you could describe it like that!" She wasn't expecting the compliment about her nails, though, which made her cheeks warm. She looked down at her hands, inspecting them. It hadn't even occurred to her how nice they were, since she had always just done the basics of upkeeping them. "O-oh! T-thanks.."

When asking if his name was like the magazine, he played clueless, joking about it. What he said about keeping people guessing made sense to her, and she hadn't thought about it like that before. People could easily guess what your powers were just by your hero name if it was something closely related to them. If someone heard her codename, they would have some idea of what to expect. His gave him a little bit of an edge. It was actually really clever.

When she commented on Dimitri's mastery of his abilities, he joked about getting practice in and out of the gym when he could, and asked how she trained her abilities. "I'm uh... not that good at fighting up close with people. I try, but mostly the only way I can train my powers is by practicing with parkour or rock climbing." Thinking back reminded her of the years spent with her father, and what he had taught her. She tapped a finger to her temple, smiling shyly, "Most of my abilities need focus up here. I don't really do well with my abilities if I'm stressed or not thinking straight, so yoga helps clear my mind, and parkour helps me think fast. But besides those things, I don't do much. I'm not that good at hand to hand stuff. There weren't exactly many self-protection classes in my area... unless you count hunting."

As she leaned back and closed her eyes to enjoy the weather, Dimitri brought up the subject of what else she liked to do. "Hobbies?" She blushed as her eyes opened once more, looking over at him. Was he asking just to change the subject, or was he asking to try and get to know her better? She stumbled to find the right words "Um... I like simple things like reading or cooking, but with everyone in the kitchen all the time, I don't usually get to."

She was about to ask him the same question when Collin came over and introduced herself. She wasn't prepared for what would happen next, as she explained the situation and why she was there over her phone. As Collin dragged Lex over, Chi-Chi covered her face, both in shock and worry, but also to hide the warmth she was already beginning to feel in her face. She wasn't expecting her to do something like this, and from Lex's reaction, as she pulled him along, he wasn't expecting it either. She could see him trying to break it, but to no avail, a look of terror clear across his face. Was it because of she was doing? Or was it because she was there?

When Wraith was finally in front of them, she couldn't help but take a moment to really look at him. Since the events a month ago, she had only seen the initial damage to everyone from the fight in the infirmary, and since then had refused to revisit. Part of it was her anger at herself for not doing enough during the battle, for possibly being able to help more, but the other part was seeing him. Seeing him in pain. She remembered too vividly the damage he was in back then. Now, he looked just as good as he did back in Canada, even if some things were different.

She tried her best to keep calm, lowering her hands from her face and mumbling out a shy hello. She could only hope her face wasn't as on fire as it felt, trying to maintain composure. His voice sounded different as he spoke back to her, barely mumbling just like she was. She wanted to speak more to him, but her throat felt locked up tight. She watched as he turned to his companions, speaking with them with an entirely different tone, one that seemed more relaxed and familiar with those he knew well. They joked about Gabe's metabolism and how Dimitri was healing up. They joked around easily like good friends, almost making her a little jealous of how well they all got along.

Lex turned his attention back to her, mentioning he had something he wanted to say to them, but he had something private he wanted to speak with her about first. Alone. The moment he said that, she froze. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Was this about her avoiding him? Or was it about back before even that?

"S-Sure. I don't mind." She nodded and slowly stood up, waving at Dimitri, and Gabe, "I guess I'll talk with you guys again later. See ya." She turned to Collin, waving with a smile, "It was nice to meet you!"

Chi-Chi walked with him in silence for a bit, at least until they were far enough away that they could talk. She wasn't even sure if they were going anywhere or just meandering at this point. She tried to break some of the silence as she stumbled on her words, "You, um... you don't look dumb... with the eyepatch... by the way."

Her hand held onto her other arm tightly, looking down at her feet to try and hide her red face and nerves, only looking over at him every now and then to see if he was looking at her. If he was feeling the same nerves as her, he did a good job hiding it with his calm demeanor. There was something about him that pulled at her heart like threads and made it hard for her to find the right words. She could only hope he would understand.

Daylia frowned before heaving a sigh. "If I had known we were allowed to bring snacks, I would have been doing it this whole time too." She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Blake’s next comment. "What is with you boys and the fear of mentioning poop?" She asked as she folded her arms over her chest. "It seriously can’t just be my family."

She nodded to Lucianna. "Fair enough." It was the only rebuttal she could offer, though seeing as the woman was new to the X-Life, it probably didn’t count… Much, even if Blake agreed. "Yeah, he told me not to touch those." She sighed again.

Soon they got to the actual good news, however Lucianna didn’t seem to be as enthused with the proposal as everyone else. She bought up a few examples of other people and their powers and just how much of a danger everyone in the school could be.After accidentally giving an extra use of her own powers, she tried to cover it up sheepishly. However Blake didn’t seem to buy it. She gave him a droll stare. "Right, like I’d ever want to willingly touch him again."

Her attention returned to Lucianna. "You misunderstand me, I don’t want it to be a competition either, I just want you to understand you’re not the only one. You’re not alone here. A lot of us are in the same boat trying to bail the water." It was just a fact of the world they lived in. Regardless of being on a team, this would probably be the best place for the young woman.

The dark haired fair skinned woman talked about her powers, how she couldn’t shut them off and how they affected other people. She felt for her, she really did. As she mad her comment about the suits, D nodded. "Oh yeah, dude is ******** smart as hell. Between Beast and Forge, you’ll have to do something stupid to get past it."

As Blake explained his suit and why he liked it, D couldn’t help but toss a barb or two, even going as far as to drag Luci in. A grin crossed her face as he said she was incorrigible. A brow rose on her face as she gave him a slow once over. "Can you really blame me though?" Poor Lucianna couldn’t fight the rush of blood that colored her face. It only caused her grin to widen. "See, she’s blushing, she has to agree, she’s just being nice."

With her ability to bounce from one topic to the next then back so fluidly, she returned to Lucianna’s problem, suggesting that maybe they carry a quick acting antidote. She held up her hands as the other woman mentioned the labs. "Hey, I never said send you to the labs. I was going more like just piss in a cup and hand it to someone rout." If the woman exuded the poison all the time, then there had to be some in her urine. Right? She nodded as Blake added in his two sense. "See, noninvasive."

"But, only when you’re comfortable with it." She agreed. She hated watching the girl get a little worked up over the thought. It certainly hadn’t been her intention.

Thankfully, the conversation started away from the lab talk. Daylia hadn’t missed the look Blake had given her over drinking out of the juice carton and choose to call him out on it. "Then only drink out of cans, bruh." She said as she tossed the empty plastic jug into the recycle. It would probably be the best way to make sure you were not getting anyone elses backwash.

Blake asked about Gracie and if the woman would be following D into the kitchen. That lead to a conversation about their inability to cook. D couldn’t help but suggest the cowboy cook for them. He declined the offer, claiming that he was only good at take-out. "Everyone is good at take-out." She said in a droll tone. Though as Roland wheeled himself in, Blake tried to shove D off onto him. It wa something she was not excited about.

It wasn’t that she hated Roland, she was just irritated with him at the moment. If he hadn’t been the hard-headed show off he was, he wouldn’t have been sitting in that chair right now. Not to mention he rendered her useless, and no one wants to be made to feel useless.

She fought against rolling her eyes as Blake continued, saying that it was worth a shot. Please, like she would actually trust something he cooked. Not wanting to be a complete and utter a**, she let the others steer the conversation. However as Roland opened his mouth, this time she didn’t care if he saw the eye roll at his comment ‘perhaps it's better if no one knows who made them’. Not everyone was irritated with him, and she couldn’t help but feel that the man was just feeling sorry for himself.

Lucianna apologized for not visiting him, and she felt for the girl once again.

She tapped her fingers against the countertop as her eyes darted back and forth between Blake and Luci as they talked about scheduling. He told her it was best that she visit Forge first so he could get started on a uniform. "I can show you the way there whenever you’re ready." D offered, hoping that she would want to go now and get D out of the kitchen.

Apparently Lucianna wasn’t the only one who needed their new team leads schedule. It appeared that Blake was in just high demand a the moment.






Ｌｏｃａｔｉｏｎ: Kitchen
Ｔｈｉｎｋｉｎｇ: Ugh
Ｗｉｔｈ: Blake, Luci, and Roland

""

Luci nodded in thanks to Blake pointing out that she was welcome to take as many showers as she needed. “Thank you.” He was so willing to make sure that she was comfortable, with everything. It wasn’t something that she was used to. Normally, she would be treated like an inconvenience. She bowed her head when he pointed out the reason that the school was built. It was for all of them, not just those mutants that were easier to handle. She would need time to get used to being treated like she was welcomed. She wasn’t an inconvenience or a lab rat anymore.

Daylia joined up with them in the kitchen and Luci greeted her. They talked about Aren, and his snacks. She couldn’t put in much of her own opinions, but she could make Daylia feel a little less left out in the grand scheme of things. She was just as new to the idea as the redhead. Blake pointed out that he had been willing to share his favorite snacks with the poison generator. “They were so good, especially compared to what I had been eating for months.” They were cheesy, processed, triangles of heaven.

The two of them started talking about things and people she didn’t know well yet, so she kept to herself and worked at cleaning up her own mess in the kitchen before the conversation went to the good news of her joining the team. Good news was still a relative term to her, though the other two tried their bests to make her comfortable.

She explained her powers. Laying out for them in violent color. It was hard not to remember her own mistakes when they surfaced. The people she had hurt. Her own family. People she cared about. She looked to Blake when he pointed out Forge knowing what he was doing. Daylia was right there with him. “Maybe I’ll finally be able to touch someone. Honestly," she looked to Daylia, “You helping me out of that cell was the first time I had touched another person in years. I’m really happy that I didn’t make you sick.” If she thought about it too long, her eyes would start to swim. So she tried to express appreciation on her face rather than loneliness.

They spoke about the suits more, and Blake’s own powers. His suit changed with him, so he wouldn’t end up naked on mission. Daylia was a spitfire in her reply, pointing out that most wouldn’t mind before she put Luci on the spot. The fair skinned woman immediately turned pink. Blake was grateful that she didn’t look at him with hungry eyes like some other people would have, while Daylia pointed out the blush on her cheeks.

She was unsure about the labs, which Daylia was quick to try to cover the bases that she didn’t have to step into the labs. They could take non-invasive samples. “I don’t know how my body generates it, honestly. Everyone is really settling in right now, and I don’t want to be a bother. Spending a few weeks being extra careful is no hassle, really. I’ve done it for this long. I think I can just be safe until we are all adjusted.”

She thought about all the things that she could finally do if she had a suit that made her tasks a million times easier. She wouldn’t have to worry about people getting sick just from being too close. Her thoughts started to drown out the conversation that Daylia and Blake were having about open cartons and kitchen chaos. She would never be able to drink out of the same glass as someone, but she could hold hands. Hug. She could be the shoulder to cry on, or offer a comforting touch to someone she cared about. And then, she could learn control. She could learn how to exist like a normal person without needed some botched cure. She could fix herself with her own strength. And maybe, just maybe, she could truly love someone without being afraid of killing them in the middle of the night.

Roland entered the room then, and she apologized to him for not coming to see him while he was recovering. She was embarrassed to admit that she didn’t know her way around the mansion very well. He was understanding and accepting of her apologies. She passed up the offer of food from Roland. She had just eaten and pointed out her meat free diet. He seemed interested in testing out recipes that were a bit out of his comfort zone and she nodded, “It’s really not too different. Just x the meat.”

She asked Blake about their schedules and he said that he would email her a copy of his, otherwise right off the top, he would be available at four. “I think getting started right away would be best. Where do you want to meet?” He also suggested that she see Forge to get her own suit, and Daylia offered to take her there. She nodded to the redhead. “That would be great, thank you. Knowing me, I’d get terribly lost like a damsel in an old black and white film.” Judy Garland, searching for her dog, was exactly what she imagined as she spoke.

“I’m ready now.” She smiled, stepping away from the counter where she stood. She looked to Blake, “See you at four?” she asked before waving to Roland after getting her answer and heading out of the kitchen with the redhead.

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