Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)(Takes place Saturday, March 17th, the day people are told of the teams moving)
A new line-up, a new start? *I think not.* Or if it was, that Aurora felt quite certain about, it’d be for the worse. This, as she was trying to convince herself while waiting near the staircase leading down to the first floor and thus away from the team dormitories, yes, this wasn’t her being pessimistic. It was a matter of hard-earned experience and realism. People were placed as a part of Exiles only if they were outsiders, troublesome or just plain difficult, and it was her ungrateful task to try and make this impossible ‘team’ work. There had been some progress made with the old group, but newbies meant problems. The ties that had formed especially during the training island disaster, as fragile as they might have been, were now mostly torn. Without Gypsy, Max didn’t have a partner in crime, and considering that there were only six members, two with or without some stabilising factor did make a difference.
Aurora had told Storm about her concerns. Of course she had. And as always, the older woman had listened silently, and understandingly as Garnet had thought, but in the end had given the same answer as the few times before when Exiles’ leader had mentioned her worries. “See this as your personal challenge, Aurora.” And then she had added something, friendlily, Circe was still fuming inwardly about, something she had not shown - she would never show.
“Where is your optimism?” Now where would it be?! She had lost it. It was as simple as that. When it came to her ‘team’, optimism was not only stupid and in vain, it was dangerous. It looked trusting, thus weak, and the feeble, grudging respect she had earned was mostly based on them respecting her toughness. She couldn’t risk that. Not even for a little peace of mind. And so she waited for the things to come. The new members she had read up on, of course she had. Thoroughness was something that helped avoid quite a lot of negative surprises, or at least reduce them. So she hoped.
Via com badge, which had been given go the students in question along with the news of them being on this particular team, Aurora Garnet Ferelle had ordered them to attend this very first meeting of the “new and improved” team. It was also the unofficial housewarming party; though the ebony-haired girl was quite sure that this term had a whole different meaning when it came to this special breed of people. Or maybe not. Maybe things would be different. A sigh escaped her lips and she threw a glance at the far too expensive and thus rather impractical watch her father had bought for her birthday. Ten minutes. She had to try as hard as she could. Expect little, demand a lot and see where the road would take them. As common for the X-Men, it would probably be quite a rocky one. She could not know just how right this estimation of hers would turn out to have been…
TBC – Exiles
There comes a time in everyone's life when we have to take over responsibility.
The question remains whether there is also a time when we can get rid of it again.
This thing was officially evil. If Michael thought he plagued her existence, he should meet this thing! Being given this had been the start of a bad week, and considering the message it had carried, things really weren’t looking up. Not that the emerald eyed mutant was actually disappointed over leaving this room. Slitted pupils widened slightly as she looked round the room once more. This place had been home for three months. But then, home had been a thousand places before. Sure this was comfortable, but surely the new room was to have a bed. That was the luxury she admitted she would miss.
In fact, moving really didn’t bother Racheal at all. It was more who else was moving with her. After the ‘disaster’ on the training island, she had thought that they would have let the Exiles disperse. But no. Whoever was behind this idea seemed determined to make it work. But there was a change in the air, she knew that much. In all honesty, there was only really one person the feline morpher had a problem with. Max Chadstone. Racheal wasn’t easy to anger, but that didn’t mean it never happened. And that boy knew just how to work her last nerve. Though he was actually yet to fight her. Pity really... maybe she should suggest he go take a swim…
As for the others? Well, Garnet she allowed to have some respect simply because she did have to lead the group. But that didn’t exactly mean Racheal like her. And not just because of her fire abilities. But she couldn’t help but feel that their leader was still to prove herself as such. And part of Feral wanted to dislike her more for not having had someone else look for food Saturday night. True, her suggestion had been mid-argument with Max, but that didn’t mean it had to be forgotten. But Aurora’s mutation didn’t help either. With a deathly fear of fires, was it really any surprise. If she had been more integrated in the school, or had been planning to stay longer than two-three weeks, she might have asked to be taken off the team, or moved perhaps. Surely fearing your leader wasn’t a good thing.
The others though hadn’t really done much to really annoy her. Sure, sometimes she felt more could have been done. But honestly they hadn’t grated her nerves too much or accidentally played her fears. If anything, the reverse was true! Paige had been terrified of her. And Casey hadn’t seemed much better off. An outsider of outsiders. Each member of the group seemed to have a knowledge. A reason, or at least a connection with the group. Except her. The morpher sighed softly to herself, one elongated canine biting her lip. Well, at least it wouldn’t be for long.
Compared to many of the old dorm rooms, her’s seemed empty even before she’d put her stuff away. Three photos on the desk, with curled, worn edges, one of them slightly singed. Two books, one from the library and one of her own, the former being ‘The Just So Stories’ by Rudyard Kipling, almost like a present in the fact that Michael Grant had helped her to read some of it. The latter was an animal identification pocket book, useful when you want to know what beast you are at any one time. And lastly, the only things visible, were a card, box of still unopened chocolates and a cuddly tiger, still bandaged the way it was when Angela had left it down in the Medical bay for her.
Racheal had found a smallish shoulder bag that she could fit everything in, her original bag having worn thin, and too small to fit something such as the tiger into it. Despite her sometimes wild ways, she had packed amazingly neatly, each item cherished strongly for one reason or another. And now.. now her room looked even more bare. She sighed slightly, remembering the inside of a few other rooms she had seen, mostly decorated in some fashion. Pulling herself from her thoughts, she reminded herself of one thing. With less owned, there was less to pack! She had put it off as long as possible, and considering how little she had, it didn’t look out of place for her to carry just a shoulder bag to the meeting Garnet had called.
With another sigh and a shrug, she left her room, staring at the key in her hand rather cluelessly. That first day.. She remembered it vividly. Connor had given her that key after she had returned from a ride. A reminder of how stupid she had been then. Leaving her possessions where others could take them so easily. But then, it had been a hellava day! Eventually, she locked the door, leaving the key in the door, reading her name plaque for, what she believed, the last time. Ever since her twin had vanished, her time at the institute had been the longest amount of time she’d spent anywhere. And yes, sure there was nostalgia. But at the same time, she was counting her days till her freedom.
***
She was rather surprised that, by the time she made it to the meeting place, she was the first one there. Apart from Garnet of course. With her bag swung over one shoulder, the Feral almost looked like she’d been gotten back from some sort of school outing. After a moment of absorbing the fact that by some strange miracle she wasn’t exactly late, the feral offered her leader a vague hint of a smile.
”Hey..” She said simply, voice neither showing her enthusiasm nor her pessimism about the whole situation, though if anything it sounded more detached than ever before. After a moment, she leant back against a wall slightly, her bag actually between her back and the wall. Her eyes lowered briefly, for the thousandth time examining the almost completely faded mottle brown affect on her arms. The bruises on her arms and the central one on her forehead were almost completely gone now, thanks to Dr McCoy’s little home remedy. Even the more major bruises on her hip, abdomen and ribs were fading nicely, and no longer painful, though her hip was still sore at times.
Not that Racheal felt any self pity. How could she? From the little she’d gathered, Garnet had been the worst off of all of them. Except Paige of course. But Paige wasn’t at the fight. Then again, Racheal hadn’t known about Mac’s wound either, else there was a chance she might have spared a little pity even for him! Her hatred for guns was more than her hatred of any living being. As it was though, none of the team had escaped unscathed in someway. And she was quietly impressed of them, at least a little anyway. After all, they had all survived. And at the time, Racheal had had serious doubts over it.
As it was, she let silence reign. Sure, in the last few days she had been more social than normal, but that didn’t mean she had to now. Even it was awkward. Surely someone else would be there in a minute anyway.
"I was wrong, to think that I might belong. But I will never forget what I was... Who I am.. What I did, just to learn that"
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Jess Mariano wasn't quite sure what to think when he first heard that the teams were being shuffled around. Half of him wondered hopefully if they were going to give up this charade and let him be, removing him from the team or, failing that, removing Max to make conditions better. The other half however thought that maybe it hadn't been so bad being on the team, tedious as the team missions had been. Some people on the team didn't seem so bad. He was warming up to Casey, they have developed somesort of unspoken and never shown respect for one another, the feline girl whose him he couldn't remember didn't seem so bad and Jess had hit it off with Gypsy.
"As long as there isn't another shitty training mission," he muttered aloud to no one in particular, sulky dark gaze suiting the tone of his words. The training mission would have been bad enough but throw in an actual threat beyond the opposing teams and it had gone from bad to unbearable. Maybe if the teachers managed to avoid any bright ideas like that in the future it wouldn't be so bad.
The message which would lead to the first assembly of the new team came, via com badge, from Aurora. Now she was one of the things Jess wasn't fond of. Barbie hadn't done so badly with them he supposed but that didn't mean he had to like the woman or even act as though he did. Maybe if he continued to ignore her, after all she wouldn't be living with them theoretically.
Living together. That brought to mind the real problem Jess had with these new team arrangements, the dorm style living. He liked his room, his privacy. He sure as hell didn't want to share the bathroom or to have to spend even more time than the team meetings themselves with the other Exiles members. He guessed it supposed to bring them closer together. Jess thought it was more likely they would all throttle eachother and save the problem of teams themselves. He considered taking bets on how long they would last with a joined living situation like this before someone got hurt. As long as he wasn't the one being hurt. Oh he'd get in it if Max ever gave him reason to but otherwise Jess figured on ignoring each and every one of them. He wondered what their fearless leader would say to that.
The New Yorker debated the option of not showing up at all to the first meeting. He wondered how that would be taken and what the consequences would be but finally decided, with great reluctance, against the idea. Jack Harmony had been good to him here even if not many other people really had. There was some twisted form of loyalty there so Jess packed a bag and began a slow-paced walk which involved much glaring at anyone who passed him in the halls and an unspoken threat to anyone who dared cross him today.
The canvas bag was slung over his shoulder. It wasn't as though he had much of value. Some clothes, a few books, some CD's. There was an absence of anything which seemed personal. No photos within sight, although a few were crumpled and buried inside his wallet, and no sentimental possessions. If anyone had really bothered to look within his bag they might have found it sad or lonely. As it were no one came close and Jess continued his solitary existance.
Leaving the room meant nothing to him. He had lived in worse before, he had lived in better but no matter the place his existance seemed the same. To Jess it didn't matter in the least where he spent his time. He was consumed in a book or the latest in music anyway and he didn't need interesting decor to be entertained. It had been a place to stay but it hadn't been a home. Jess wondered briefly if anything ever really been a home to him.
Despite his determined mosy Jess arrived second at the pre-determined meeting place. Barbie and Catgirl awaited him. Looking over the feline morpher Jess saw little in the way of bruises and he remembered vaguely how she had looked after the fight. Absently he thought of his own injuries. Most had faded by now but the remnants of a black eye still circled his left eye and a few bruises and scrapes were still evident on his chin and cheek. He had beared worse and the marks meant little to him now.
"Hey," he offered. In a way it was a peace offering, at least for the time being. Unless he was provoked Jess wasn't interested in raising hell anyway. He'd actively ignore them all or offer only monosyllabic or sarcastic comments as speech but maybe, just maybe, he could be okay for the first day. Give Barbie one less thing to put up with since he had a fair idea she was no happier about the team and its changes than the rest of them. Jess wondered what Garnet had done in order to get stuck with them. Had she pissed off one of the older professors or was it some form of a test for her? Surely it couldn't have been a coincidence that she was their leader, could it? Beyond his one greeting Jess had nothing to say and, anticipating an awkward silence to follow, he pulled a book from his back pocket, openned it to page seventy-three and began to read.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
There was little else to do, people would start talking if Max remained secluded.. what if they already started talking? People did that.. they talked, gossiped about everything, his mother was famed for it, woman in general definitely talked and Max knew a lot of woman. Each one would start going on about any slight change in behaviour, they'd start guessing and creating excuses for it, they might even have seen something... how many people had seem Max with that guy!? It was always packed at the dying star... but if Max made it out like a big deal had happened then people always focused on it and made things so much worse. Imagine photos in the magazines.. stories!! The young spoiled youth found himself nauseous just by thinking of it all.
Everyone had been requested to go to selected rooms, Max didn't want to go, he didn't want to be around people, especially the kind of people from his team. Max had already started up an argument on how he didn't want to be living with his team, how he wanted to remain on his own and have his privacy.. he'd even pay for it, but this wasn't something money seemed able to fix. Jean quiet politely insisted for Max to give it a try and so here he was, outside the door that might as well have been the gateway to hell. OR some place worse, considering Max felt as if he had walked through that aforementioned doorway but a few short days earlier.
Weak fingers took hold of the railing, leaving him to move forward a step at a time, each one seeming hard to tackle then the last. It would be so much easier to just disappear back to his room, so much more freeing to confine himself away where others could not judge or hurt... People crowded the top of the stairs.. The faces.. Already he recognized them despite the scant short two days of spending time with the team. Garnet.. his eyes seemed to refuse to leave her face for a moment before he withdrew his gaze and stood there with a strangely subdued manner. There wasn't the defiant glare or the arrogant or cocky smirk, there was nothing but a detached and distant look, his gaze merely emptily staring from one thing to another, unfocused and so unlike the unmanageable youth Max was famed for being..
If she hadn't dumped him then he wouldn't have been out there on his own trying to get back with her.. he wouldn't have needed to have left the school to have a good time, they could have spent the night drinking in his room and cheerfully take things from there. It felt nice blaming people and with the current rush of thoughts Max found his blame laying squarely on Garnet's shoulders.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Nick had not been at the school more than about a week before it became apparent that his father had left instructions about how he should be treated here. Not the kind of instructions like he must always do his homework after lessons or anything like that, it was more like find something for him to do so that he doesn’t get himself into trouble. So earlier on that day he had been given a little round badge with an X on it that functioned as a communicator. His father had told him about the X-men as Nick was not stupid and would have figured it out sooner or later as somehow these people had been able to send Nightwing into space.
Nick had listened carefully during his brief stay here and he had managed to pick up a few scraps of information about how the whole X-man thing worked around here. It appeared that there were teams for students and if you paid enough attention you could spot these nifty little communicator devices as a student took his shirt off or as they opened their bags. It was hard to keep something hidden all the time when you had to have it close enough to be able to use it as a phone. He had spent hours examining his to see if he could fathom how it worked, but it seemed to be out of his somewhat limited mechanical skills.
He figured that the fact he had been given one of these communicators meant that he was going to be put on one of these teams. This prospect was not particularly appealing as for one he was no mutant and secondly he was hoping that his stay here would be short lived… but he knew that was only wishful thinking and that his father was not coming back any time soon. But at least this way he would have a possibility to meet new people and maybe make himself some new friends.
A message had come through the communicator revealing two things to him. The first was that the team he was to join was the Exiles, which sounded joyful… and the second was that they had a meeting in their new group dorms. Nick was less that rejoicing about the whole group dorm thing as he had gone from a mansion with a hundred rooms to an overcrowded school. He did not like the prospect of having to be sociable first thing in the morning; he quite liked to be given some time to clear the sleep fuzziness first. But it seemed like there was no room for debate at Xavier’s and he had no intention of getting into trouble until at least his second week there.
He decided he would leave his suitcases in the guest room until he knew exactly where he was going. He had a vague indeed as the dorms were apparently situated up stair so that’s the way he headed. He felt somewhat insulted that no one had bothered to give him any instructions as to how to get to this aforementioned meeting but he was a big boy he would deal with it.
As he walked down the corridors he made sure to pay close attention to everything he passed. For being a crime fighter himself he knew that the likely hood of everything in this place being what it seemed was slim. He and his father had taken over the bat cave and used that on a regular basis so if this place held that many X-men the secret areas must be reasonably large. He had found one place that looked like it might hide something but he had yet to find a time when there was no one around to disturb his investigations.
As he rounded a corner he saw a boy climbing the stairs before him, looking up at the group of people at the top of the stairs. Could this be it? The so called Exiles meeting? Nick shrugged he would only find that out if he when up there and asked. So he started up the stairs refraining his urge to take them two at a time as if he did he would quickly end up overtaking the boy ahead. So he mounted them slowly and upon his arrival at the top he was met with a very sorry looking bunch of individuals. None of them looked pleased to be there and most of them supported some kind of bruising. It looked like he had got himself in over his head here.
Bryce sighed softly as he climbed the stairs to the team dormitories, still trying to figure out why he had agreed to even join this team. After all he had never really worked all that well with teams. He had up and left two “teams” in the last month, neither of which were the type of organizations that one just walks away from carefree, especially if the person trying to run away was spawned by an influential member of both.
So why was he trudging up the stairs to meet the team that seemed to be the joke of the institute and who would probably hate him? The reason was simple; he was a sucker for beautiful women, even though he was one hundred percent gay.
He had been taking his morning run around the institute, when the ebony goddess dropped from the sky in front of him. Bryce had certainly heard of Storm, she had been part of the X-men for years, so naturally the Hellfire Club had nothing to positive to say about her. But the short conversation Bryce had had with the white haired stromtress had proven what he had always assumed, the woman was far more intelligent and persuasive than the Hellfire Club had made her out to be. Which was why he was climbing the stairs to meet his new team, The Exiles.
Rubbing his thumb over the com device he held in between his fingers, Bryce just couldn’t help but think about all the possible problems that could and most likely ensue from him joining the Exiles. Team dorms meant very little privacy, which in turn meant if his teammates weren’t found of ex-Massachusetts Academy, Hellfire Club inner circle member homosexuals it was going to be extremely uncomfortable in the close quarters of a team dorm.
But if worse came to worse, he could always spend all his free time away from the rest of the Exiles, it wasn’t like he hadn’t meet other people since he arrived here. Dr. McCoy and Talia had seemed nice that first day, so he could volunteer at the medlab, and he could always continue to seclude and punish himself for his past by running the grounds and playing the piano.
No matter how these people treated him, he would do his best to prove himself better than his past. His time in school was coming to an end and so he must prepare for his future. Whether he was going to work for the family corporation, make something new with his life or even by some random chance stick around the Xavier Institute he was going to need to improve his social interaction skills. There was no place in the world for a self-defeating man.
“Today is the day I turn over a new leaf. No more thinking of the past. No more remembering Emma. I am Bryce Frost-Shaw, I am the White Prince now and forever,” Bryce said to himself, climbing the last of the stairs and looking from person to person, unconsciously sizing everyone else up.
“I’m not late am I?” he asked, sensing the tension the group already had between them.
Garnet
One by one they had turned up; one after another taking up some space there in front of the entrance to the dorms. *One face friendlier than the other, all smiles and full of the Exiles team spirit,* Aurora thought sarcastically, though the latter was quite true, albeit in a warped sense. None of them really wanted to be there. None of them cared about the aims, the ideology behind or even the mere concept of this team. And yet they were here. Not for the first time since she had taken over this position of questionable recognition, the fire-elemental wondered why exactly they even bothered coming to the meetings, or being part of, well, this in the first place. Was there something she – like more than only once before – had not been told? Random images of Logan hissing threats into troublesome students’ ears popped up in her mind, yet were chased off quickly.
Ridiculous.
That was quite a well-fitting word, wasn’t it? So many situations in life, in her life, earned that attribute. A team leader without respect nor authority, wanting to be where she was about as much as the rest but being too proud to admit defeat; with a status just enough above the average team member to grant her at least the right to give orders (that were mostly even followed, though accompanied by sarcastic comments and not exactly enthusiastically), but not enough privileges to even so much as be informed of basic things concerning her team. The training mission came back to mind again and was forced away by sheer strength of will. As ironic as it was, the Brotherhood’s interference had at least had the positive side effect that they wouldn’t have to repeat the whole thing any time soon.
Ridiculous.
Yes, a perfect word as she bitterly admitted upon Max’s arrival. Lead a team your hopelessly polygamous ex is a part of – sure, why not? It really had been the most idiotic idea of the century to start anything with him whatsoever. She should have known. Heck, she had known this could only mean trouble in the long run, and yet there had been this sudden rebellion against all reason and responsibility. The infamous school bully, increasingly tamer around her, had unknowingly answered the secret call even Garnet herself hadn’t fully been aware of. The simple wish to be desired. To end the loneliness that came with her intimidating perfection. He had been the first who appealed to her in several ways, and who was seriously trying to get through to her. Not exactly subtle either – but for some reason she hadn’t minded that. It was refreshing to see he didn’t care about what others had seen as an insurmountable obstacle, her so-called superiority. And for a few days, so short a time and yet so precious, Aurora Garnet Ferelle… had been happy.
It was strange really. She had arranged herself with the life she led; limitless credit cards, dazzling looks and an astounding control over her powers weren’t exactly things that anyone would have minded to have, though still they formed her curse at the same time. In a way, it had something of the one King Midas had placed upon himself. She was caught in a cage of gold nobody could get through - or wanted to, fearing he might not be able to exist beside her as an equal but rather as a metallic statue whose opinion did not matter, an accessory.
*Don’t.* This wasn’t the time to think about these things, not now. She had to move on. Granted it hadn’t really been a long time since she had broken up with him. Granted she had had her revenge – which by the looks of it had been highly successful. But a bitter victory it was, and one she couldn’t really savour at that. Hurt pride and public humiliation didn’t change anything about the fact that Circe was drawn to him – just that their short relationship had revealed a they simply did not work out.
In a way, it was quite an advantage that her ‘team’ didn’t consist of the most talkative of people. It gave her some time to finish her thoughts, which, however, didn’t mean Aurora was miles away. She did reply, though shortly – something that probably wasn’t all that bad considering the others’ greetings had mostly consisted of one word. A smile, small but friendly, was sent Racheal’s way. The feral had been the most cooperative; actually the only one showing at least some team spirit, and Fate (like the bitch she was) had treated her worse than most in return. But what was fair anyway?
Jess was being himself – something Garnet could live with, as she thought, if he rather stuck to saying nothing than firing sarcastic comments at her every other minute – while Max wasn’t. Well, the reason she thought to know quite well and so her surprise was only minor, if existent at all. “Exiles?” And again someone not really excelling in the politeness department, yet the times when she had expected any courtesy from them were long gone, and that included new members. Nightwing’s son was no exception, however, with lowered expectations, her reaction towards these things had changed too. She was not really bothered by a lack of manners anymore – up to a certain point anyway. “Yes, that would be we,” Aurora replied, her voice not an unfriendly one while wondering how it must feel to be the only human at a school full of mutants. The reverse she had never really experienced herself, being sent to Xavier’s as soon as her mutation had become apparent. In a way, it was quite ironic, this situation Nick found himself in, and she couldn’t help but wonder, whether he was aware of the grotesqueness of it all.
“I’m not late, am I?” What was that? Consideration, politeness even? A quick glance was thrown at her files, matching the face to a profile to make sure the good-looking young man actually was where he belonged. Much to her surprise, he did. Question being what he had done to be made a part of Exiles – unless he was just there for some balancing of course. “No, you are not. Actually there is still one to come after you…” Another glance, at her watch this time. “I say we give her some more minutes to find us…,” she said, inwardly continuing cynically *…and don’t you bond too much in that time so she won’t feel left out.* Ah, there it was. Now she was in the right state of mind for what was to come. The only question she refused to even so much as consider was whether this was really a good place to be in.
There comes a time in everyone's life when we have to take over responsibility.
The question remains whether there is also a time when we can get rid of it again.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Garent’s silent smile didn’t go unnoticed by the once homeless girl. Just ignored. The morpher wasn’t naturally sarcastic, heck, she even struggled to understand it half the time. But at the moment, that was exactly what it was. There was no energy left for her to give this group. Sure, maybe she hadn’t given her all completely. But she had tried. Which, for an anti-socialite was pretty good. And what happens? Not only does she get beaten down to a pulp, but she gets insulted and terrified. By her own team mates. And scares half of them herself. Brilliant. Just.. Perfect. Could anyone honestly blame her for not caring for this group of misfits? She was only going with this farce because it was easier than speaking out.
Then she heard an echo. Well, not quite. But it seemed Jess had arrived with about the same amount enthusiasm as she had. And with his own collection of bruises still. She wasn’t surprised. If she remembered correctly, when it came to the actual fight, they were the only two to actually end up in hand to hand (or claw to claw) combat. The others? She wasn’t honestly sure about Casey. Had he been injured? The others had been taken out somehow, but it hadn’t seemed physical, at least from her rather limited perspective. At least her bruises had faded though, most thanks to the Dr’s homemade remedy – and his patience.
No words accompanied the next arrival. They didn’t need to. Every muscle actually tensed across her shoulders as her eyes turned towards the footsteps. Max. Sure, his behaviour was different, but she didn’t care. It was still Max, the guy who dared to insult one of the few precious things in her life. Normally, the feral mutant was slow to anger. But she made an exception in his case. Although there was no facial reaction to Max’s presence, her mind raced. She still had patience. And that was one hell of a virtue. Especially with the Exiles. Silently, Racheal just prayed that she could have some freedom. She felt caged before. Now she felt trapped and wanted out. Patience, she reminded herself.
The next, however, wasn’t a familiar face. Wasn’t an Exile. As the newcomer reached them, her head actually tilted slightly. ~That’s it..~ She figured quietly. ~Be curious and ignore Max. let’s see if we can last ten minuter without a fight…”. “Exiles?” Feline eyes were as silent as her voice. The was nothing truly cruel even in her huntress’ eyes. Actually, she kind of pitied him. She wondered how many of the students had heard of the Exiles – the outcasts, the troublesome kids. It seemed you had to be one or the other to be on this team.
After they disbanded the other team she was on, Racheal figured she truly was the outcasts amongst outcasts. Saying that, with a change of teams, and with the visible.. tension maybe?… between Max and Garnet, it seemed any bonds on made on the island were more or less gone. Well, other than the oh so special bond when you get pummelled into the ground. Part of her had seen the team as a chance to socialise. Yeah, right. She’d managed to be more social with people who had disturbed her continuously than this little group! Her mind wandered to Michael before making the link to the book in her bag. As soon as she had a chance she was going to delve into that. At least she could loose herself in the stories. Maybe find more out about armadillos…
“Yes, that would be we,” Garnet’s words interrupted her thoughts, dragging her back to the reality of the here and now. Part of her wondered what possible mutation this newcomer could have, not realising that the answer was a simple ‘none’. He didn’t seem to have any obvious mutations. That didn’t mean much though. If she had realised he was a non-mutant, she would have been quietly keeping an eye on Max. After their argument on the island, she wouldn’t have trusted a non-mutant near him. When she had ranted on the island, told him that mutant powers weren’t everything, there had been a look in his eyes which had caused her guard to rise immediately, a strong disagreement reigning in them. But the thought of a non-mutant on the team seemed ridiculous, if it had crossed her mind. The teacher’s wouldn’t be that foolish… surely?
” “I’m not late am I?” Another new comer? And… another guy. Well, this could make the dynamics of the group interesting, though she consoled herself with the simple knowledge that they wouldn’t be socialising any more than was seriously necessary. Heck, they could be in the same room and still not be socialising! Well, she could happily assume that these two new group members would be in for quite a shock. After all, Exiles gave a whole new meaning to team work.
“No, you are not. Actually there is still one to come after you…” Feline eyes turned to their fiery leader as she spoke. There was someone else? New or old? Actually, Feral realised, she didn’t care. Of the old team, Paige had been terrified of her and quietly the morpher would be glad for her not to be there. Probably better for the girl as well seeing as fear was never a good thing. As for Gypsy and Casey… well, she hadn’t had much to do with either of them. Though a few exchanged words with Casey had hinted that he wasn’t scared of her – which was actually a nice relief despite the fact the words had come timidly. Still, as Circe continued, she doubted that any of the original team where this mystery new member. “I say we give her some more minutes to find us…,” No, if she needed to find them, it couldn’t be an original. For one simple reason. She highly doubted with Paige or Gypsy would want to find them in the first place! But at least it was a girl. That was one saving grace. Even so, there was a look of curiosity in her eyes as she watched their leader for a moment – the most enthusiasm she had mustered since arriving.
Her eyes drifted again to the two new members of the group again. Poor guys. She wondered what they had managed to do to get stuck with this little group of outcasts. Well, either she would soon find out, or they would be put through hell by the team. She was sure at least one of the unsocial group would be having ago at them at some point. That was just how the Exiles worked.
"I was wrong, to think that I might belong. But I will never forget what I was... Who I am.. What I did, just to learn that"
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)edited for a few spelling errors
Winifred Mason was late; Again. It wasn't exactly a new occurance and yet it took her by something as close to surprise as the apathetic teen could muster each time it happened. She had set her alarm, laid out her clothes and eaten a not-so-balanced meal. She had done everything right and yet she was late so Fred had come to a conclusion, the very same conclusion she had come to several times before when things inexplicably went wrong just like this. The universe was trying to screw her over.
She practically ran out the door, Doc Martens thudding against the floor with each successive step. Fred ran a brush through her long, dirty blonde hair on the way to the door and pulled it back into a hurried ponytail on her way out. The corridor posed another problem and the deceased teen tried to remember how exactly she was supposed to get to the meeting place in the first place. Sure that she had written it down she searched the pockets of her faded dark jeans and won a small victory. Universe - 1, Fred - 1. A post-it containned scrawled directions and she followed them at an unusually brisk pace.
To be honest, and Fred always was, she didn't even know why she was going to this meeting. Throughout high school she had been little miss uninvolved. Fred was intelligent and had she applied herself she probably could have been right up there with the nerds and geeks of the school but she hadn't wanted to. She also hadn't wanted to play a team sport, join any variety of club or make a whole circle of friends. What Fred wanted was to be left alone until she passed and got the h*ll out of there. What she received were rolled eyes from her mother and disgruntled comments from her teachers on each and every report card. Eventually they had given up but apparently the teachers here at Xavier's Institute hadn't yet figured this out and here she was being roped into somesort of team; a team that, from the sounds of it, wasn't usually for school newbies. So Fred asked herself the same question she had every day since her death although this time she asked it in a different context. Why me?
She was still getting used to this school with its huge living space and large number of friendly but strange students. She was still getting used to wearing this com-badge that reminded her of something out of Star Trek on her chest. She was still getting used to being dead.
Now it seemed she would have to get used to living with a bunch of people she had never even met before. Fred hoped they weren't as perky as the blonde who had sat next to her in English yesterday, she didn't think she could handle that kind of optimism on a daily basis. On the otherhand this team she was about to join was apparently named the 'Exiles'. That didn't exactly lend itself to shiny happy people in Fred's estimation.
At long last she came to the meeting place and slowed as she came into view of what seemed to be a group. "S-hit, I'm late," Fred swore, suddenly realising that she might be within earshot of the group. She hoped not. Fred wasn't particularly concerned with how others saw her, at least not openly, but even still she didn't want her first words to a group of strangers to be curses. Abruptly the blonde clapped her mouth shut as she drew closer.
Her first thought was, 'whoa testosterone' as she took in the guy to girl ratio of the assembled group. Four guys, two girls and, from the looks of things, one of the girls was the leader who had contacted her via com-badge. Had Fred been the type to notice guys she certainly would have noticed this lot, troubled as a few of them seemed to be they were undeniably attractive.
Fred next wondered if those assembled had been through somesort of hell for two of the lot bore bruises. In particular her chocolate gaze fell on the dark-haired guy who currently had his nose in a book. Even a paperback couldn't hide the black eye he sported and a few healing cuts also marred his face. The one girl on the team seemed worse for the wear as well and a small amount of anxiety crept into Fred as she wondered if she would end up bruised like them.
Noticing the bags carried by a few of the group Fred bit back a groan. In her rush out the door she knew she had forgotten something and she had. They were moving into these new dormrooms as a team, surely she should have brought a backpack containing her clothes with her or something. Again the blonde cursed but this time she managed to keep it from being uttered aloud, cursing inwardly instead. She wasn't neccessarily a big one for using those types of words but on a bad day she couldn't help herself and her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.
The tension was so thick she would need a chainsaw to cut through it and Fred seemed to be the center of attention, the new arrival and the last to appear. She didn't need to glance at her watch to know she was late and she didn't need anyone to point out the irony in the late dead girl.
In all they made seven and Fred was very tempted to give them all dwarf names although their fearless leader, with her ebony hair, would have made a more fitting Snow White. Broody in the corner was attempting to look as uninterested and occupied as possible while still trying to seize her up out of the corner of his eye. Did he care as little as she did? Was that even possible? Some of the others seemed to be starring though and Fred figured she might as well speak up. "Hi, and I'm guessing Exiles." She didn't bother phrasing it as a question, presuming herself to be right in her assessment. The assembled Exiles; bruised, uninterested and dead. This was bound to be a new experience for her if not exactly one she wanted to take part in.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)“Yes, that would be we,”
Well at least he was in the right place which was nice, but it looked like the pleasantries ended there. Judging by the looks on the faces of those around him they were slightly less than pleased to be here and he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of history they shared and if those bruises had anything to do with it. But he did not have time to finish that train of thought before another came up the stairs to join them.
“I’m not late, am I?” “No, you are not. Actually there is still one to come after you… I say we give her some more minutes to find us…,”
So there was to be seven of them… it seemed like quite a large group to put in close quarters especially if there was some bad blood here. Nick sincerely hoped that things would go well as he was not used to sharing a small living space with lots of people he was more the sharing a mansion between three type. And he was dreading the idea of having no where to retreat to in order to be truly alone. His survival instinct told him that he better just keep quiet for the moment and wait and see what happened next, if he did not want to instantly be the centre of some not quite so kind attention.
But as it turned out they did not have to wait to long for their last member. He heard her before he saw her as she swore in realisation that she was late. Nick was happy that she was a girl as he living in a dorm with only heavily opinionated guys really did not appeal to him and in his past experience girls had most often been the voice of reason in heated situations. And it seemed that the leader of this merry little band was as much a woman as anyone could hope to be. She was well dressed, well groomed and wore a strange look between resignation and despair and total determination. Nick was aware that most men would have instantly found themselves attracted to her but that was simply not the way his mind worked, yes she was attractive but as far as he was concerned it ended there.
"Hi, and I'm guessing Exiles."
So their group was finally gathered, now it was up to their leader to decide what they were to do next. Would she introduce them or would she just lead them through and show them their rooms? Nick knew fool well that if there were no introductions made now that it might take them a few days before they even got to know one another’s names. For this situation was not one that automatically lead to communication, they could quite happily ignore each other and never have to ask anything more that “will you pass the salt”. So Nick was curious to see how this was going to work out.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Arms folded across Max’s chest as he waited, this was boring, regardless of the scant seconds he had been there he wanted to break the group up and declare how stupid this all was and how they might as well get it over with so they could carry on their day, as he had little desire to socialize and currently the group seemed to only be growing in size.
“Exiles?” The voice came, the words crisp and to the point, Max didn’t much glance at the boys face, just recoiled further into his shell. Maybe sleep would be good, a nice peaceful and dreamless sleep, another hide away from all the things occurring around him lately. “Yes, that would be we,” The fire elemental wielding mutant replied, Max’s sapphire gaze momentarily watched her, a coldness to them which lurked handsome face. If only Max knew that the new arrival was not a mutant, perhaps that’d spark enough of a cord that the bully could surge back to life. Nick may not be the only human in the school, but that didn’t mean Max relented in his disapproval of THEIR KIND in the institute.
“I’m not late, am I?” Another voice, another new face, Max turned his eyes towards Bryce, frowning at all the newbies thrown in on the team. Looked like Paige wouldn’t be joining them, which was perhaps a good thing, as she didn’t hold up well on the island, at this point the young Chadstone entirely overlooked the fact Casey wasn’t part of the team any more, the boy was never really much of an issue for Max and so easily overlooked. “No, you are not. Actually there is still one to come after you…” Another one? Well then perhaps Paige was coming after all… “I say we give her some more minutes to find us…,” The way Garnet added the last comment caused Max to hesitate on his thoughts regarding the last addition being Paige, surely she’d know how to find the group, but then again, the girl was a hand in the med lab, maybe that explained her lateness?
And there, finally, a figure trailed up the stairs, smaller and amazingly even younger than Paige and Max could have been on the verge of a rather cynical scoffing laugh had he not been in the mood he was in. Mentally, however, he did scoff… what was a kid doing on their team? "Hi, and I'm guessing Exiles." Well, attitude seemed to fit, if that was all Max could see in similarities however he hoped she had one killer of a power. Even impatience overwhelmed Max in his state; he couldn’t imagine how the others must feel. There was a sigh, the tone of which was rather clear, yet before Max was able to voice his annoyance the movement of yet another body ascending the stairs caught his eyes. Naturally he didn’t assume it had to do with them, that didn’t mean the passer by would miss out on a random scolding from Max. However, that scolding never came, the troublesome youth letting his arms fall to his sides as he noted the familiar face of the attractive ‘hermit’ that came into view… The short blonde haired girl moved with a more dominative air of assurance and near arrogance, like some cruel blend of heaven and hell, all entwined within the luscious curves of her feminine figure… enticing as it was off putting…
While Max’s eyes were deep, a darker shade of elegant blue, the new arrival had brighter, clearer eyes. A heavy contrast to the ebony beauty assigned to lead the team… more so then a mere glance could ever allude to. Darkly done eyes only enhanced Frost’s brightly lit gems as she gazed only towards Garnet, an almost mocking, twisted smirk on her lips. Annoyed… yeah, Frost was annoyed… but boy, did she find herself ever so eager to spy on the happenings occurring within this messed up lot of misfits. Besides, the young Ms Drake was hardly one to deny her own nature, she was one to embrace it and enjoy it with all the benefits her kind received, suffering the draw backs that were brought along with her attitude… every step in life had some sort of backlash after all. A slender, well cared for hand lifted, a note held between two fingers, the nails polished, well trimmed and tended, and air of perfection despite the reckless behaviour that, at odd times, gave a sense of a tomboy nature.
"Apparently the detentions aren’t doing wonders for me." One of the things Frost was known for, it was her unusual get ups at times… most, if not all, of her more promiscuous attires were made by herself in the textiles classes. If there was one skill that Frost had above even that of her masterful control over her sharp tongue and cold attitude…it was her remarkable ability to design and create clothes. Long elbow length white gloves adorned her arms, the fingers of which were cut. Matching white boots zipped up to her knees, crisp white shorts and white top that dipped enough over her shirt to show some cleavage without looking all that indecent. Short sleeves tipped over her shoulders, a perfect fit all round… an eye catcher as far as most guys went and yet at the same time Frost was never one to openly flirt, a strange contrast to most who dressed as she did, if anything, Frost tended to become annoyed and irritated by people who pushed themselves constantly on her in an attempt to get her attention…unfortunately when the realized they did have her attention they usually wished they didn’t. At this point such occurrences were rare and far between, there was a divided thought, half assuming Frost slept with any guy who trotted past her, the other half thinking she’d never had a guy in her life, and Frost was hardly going to admit to the latter being correct.
Fingers drew the note into Frost’s palm, which was simply informing Garnet that Anne was being placed on her team, reasons weren’t entirely made clear as Jean was not about to get into the constant bickering between Madi and Frost, with Connor’s current situation Madison didn’t need any added aggravation from anyone. The ice elemental mutant tightened her grip on it, scrunching the delicate paper and allowing a cool crisp chill to soak the sheet, another step forward moved the niece of Bobby Drake closer to Garnet, her hand lifting to hold out an rough looking heart shaped ice cube, within which the small note was held at the corer, an edge or two partly peeking from the icy trinket.
"Be gentle with my heart, it’s fragile." The wobbly edged heart was far from a perfect heart shaped item, but there was only so much talent one could put in a small hand in so little time. Frost kept her soft smirk, knowing that Garnet had few options regarding the item Frost held out for her… she either melted the ice to read the letter, thus melting the heart and letting the ink smudge, regardless of how masterfully Garnet attempted to thaw the thing… or she did a few others things that both amused and one or two options which definitely annoyed the whitely dressed young woman.
(Talked briefly to Matt about this… I’m gonna place Frost as a possible member, I’ll throw her in now, and we’ll see if she stays or not…)
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
The overall mood was so perfectly summing up what Exiles was and had been ever since they had first assembled, that Garnet wasn't sure whether she should release the slightly hysterical laughter lurking at the back of her throat, seemingly randomly burst into tears or just pull through it all with a devil-may-care attitude and as few cases of personal involvement as humanly feasible. In the end, it'd probably be a combination of some of the above when no one was looking, and the same dogged determination to somehow make the best of what she had got the fire-elemental had already had the chance to test.
They say one thing that means the difference between humans and animals is the ability to learn of mistakes. –
Well, there had to be a matching exception for every rule, and really, what other options did she have? Give up? That certainly was an attitude Aurora couldn't be having with, and so she kept up her little welcoming smile as one by one arrived, hoping the newbies would help make this whole thing bearable. Sort of. Reminding herself of the preciseness Jean had matched the bad with the worse socially troubled students in the past, however, Circe could only doubt it.
When Fred had managed to find them, Garnet completely ignored the fact the girl had been late. When you had been "working" with Exiles, you started to see things differently; especially when you were the so-called leader. Punctuality had been important in a different life, or so she felt when nodding a hello at the new member and had but a tiny voice inside her timidly asking whatever had happened to those classical values she had been brought up to believe in. Well, they certainly did still apply. Just not necessarily while being here.
Six people on her team then, well, that was quite alright. Challenging, certainly, considering that every single one of them probably needed a horde of psychiatrists to begin with; but as she had no one but herself to blame for still being here and in this position, there was nothing left for her to do than to make the best of it. It was like a mantra really, her thoughts, all of them, spinning in circles inside and around her, like moons around a forlorn planet. Moving without an aim, without changing anything. She really had to get rid of that blasted self-pity.
It was time to show them their rooms then, the thought of all of them living together still sounding like a test from Boiling Point as much as it had when Storm had told her of these plans for the first time. Cram all the misfits in as small a place as possible and wait until things explode. Of course she hadn't had a say in this. *Ah, again with the self-pity, you've just lost a hundred bucks Miss Ferelle,* Aurora thought ironically as she took a deep breath to start her introductory blah. "Al-," was the impressive manifestation of her eloquence that most certainly nobody noticed, a meaningless syllable that had hoped to once become a word but would never get the chance to due to another arrival's appearance.
*What the hell is she doing here?!* Aurora thought with an untypical lack of care in her choice of words. Then again, she really hadn't ever been all that polite when only she could hear it. She wasn't that odd. A mild frown was the only sign of irritation upon the girl's entry, hard to interpret as anything much more negative than what any interruption of speech would cause. And even that dissolved quickly as Exiles' leader remembered the simple fact that behind her were the team dormitories. It actually was a miracle no other non-Exiles member had showed up before to get to their rooms as it was highly unlikely that they were the first to move in.
"Apparently the detentions aren’t doing wonders for me," Anna Drake said and all Aurora could think was the question why she didn't just get to her room and out of her sight. But no, this wouldn't have been very much like her. She needed to be the centre of attention, that Garnet was sure of and so far, there hadn't been anything to prove the contrary. The note in Anna's hand was ignored for the time being when she walked straight to the fire-elemental who braced herself to stand her ground. She wanted to get past Circe? Well there was plenty of space beside her to get through the door. Aurora Garnet Ferelle certainly wouldn't step aside for that minx who had used her undercooled charms to trick her boyfriend into cheating on her.
For an uninvolved psychic observer, it surely would have been funny to see how suddenly the scales shifted to Max's favour, making him the victim as someone so much easier to detest appeared on the scene. It didn't help that Frost had been considerably hostile right from the start, back then when they had both been on Gold Strike Force. Just another piece adding to the picture that simply read 'F*uck off!*
She was close now, stopping in front of her but not seeming to try and make Garnet go out of the way. The raised hand held a clump of clear ice with a note in it. Jean's handwriting was a clear one as you'd expect of someone like her, it took but a glimpse for Aurora to recognise it. A note from Jean, brought to her by Anna Drake. Brought to her by the girl she was so close to hating that there wasn't much of a difference to the real thing anymore. Jean Grey, the headmistress who organised the teams. An almost desperate glance, hopefully covered well enough by that façade she wore as a mask, was thrown at the note, managing to decipher two words.
…Anna... Exiles...
"Be gentle with my heart, it’s fragile," Frostbite said and all Circe could hear was the rushing of her own blood, seemingly stopping in silence, only to start boiling with ferocious might a mere split of a second after. Jean couldn't have... she wouldn't... surely... Fragments of sentences, random words, they all formed a chaotic maelstrom inside her head that threatened to suck in reality and leave but a blank sheet of paper, neatly labelled with "Aurora's Mind". The truth was, that the headmistress probably didn't have the faintest idea that there was something vaguely resembling a feud going on between the two girls. Then again... she was a telepath...
Angrily forcing her mind to think straight, Exiles' leader took the frozen note with a second's delay. Another glance was directed its way, Aurora hoping against all odds that she had misread the words. Yet although there was only little she could decipher without closer inspection (the satisfaction of which she surely wouldn't let Anna have), it was more than evident what it was about. She didn't need Gypsy to send her to hell. She was already there.
The same welcoming smile she had given the others, just a tad sweeter, played around Aurora's lips as she looked straight into Frostbite's unsettlingly cold eyes. The seething anger inside was scaring her, yet felt strangely... good at the same time.
The clump hovered above her hand for a moment, warm air holding it in midair, before a sudden flame engulfed Anna's heart. Over-reaction? Certainly. But some things just had to be done to at least remotely secure your peace of mind. "No worries...," the fire elemental said quietly, her smile unwavering and she lowered her now empty hand again. "I'll take good care of it." Challenge accepted. "Welcome aboard." And with that said, she turned to enter the dorms that would become their new home. Or Gehenna, as Aurora felt she'd be inclined to call it in the future. "Please follow me inside, everyone."
Make the best of it.
There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to take over responsibility.
The question remains whether there is also a time when we can get rid of it again.
A brow raised slightly at Garnet’s smile, so perfect Frost knew it was fake. It was a common smile given to her, the ‘you’re pushing me, but I won’t crack’ expression that the young mutant had gotten used to growing up. Why was it that Frost had the abilities to push peoples buttons? Not that she’s really upset about it, it’d been going on for so many years that Frost stopped caring, it was the only way to push forward and move on with her life, at least, that’s how she felt. Garnet may have been upset over Frost unintentionally obtaining her ex’s attention, but Frost was still furious with Garnet’s reckless behaviour back on their first mission together. What kind of moron turns up the heat so high when there’s an ice cube not far behind her? Frost and Madison may act like careless bullies at times… or most of the time… but they’d hardly do something so utterly stupid. If Madison wanted to really hurt Frost, Anna knew well and truly the power absorbing mutant could just mimic a fire based power and expose the icy elemental to the extreme heats she’s so mortally weakened against.
Pale blue crystals watched the chocolaty pools of Garnet’s gaze, never wavering even as fire erupted and engulfed the innocent heart that fell victim to Garnet’s revengeful reply. "No worries...," Perfect… without realizing it, without really intending for it to happen, Frost had set up Garnet and Garnet had cheerfully waltzed into the little set up. Of course she would, that’s who Garnet was, the prissy little snob that seemed to think the world evolved around her, that she was the one who suffered unjustly, woe ways her, the reckless dark beauty. The arrogant bίtch who, regardless if it was intentional or not, acted as if she were a class above all others. "I'll take good care of it."No. You won’t. Frost didn’t need to say anything, her eyes seethed of the fact that Garnet was not trusted to keep her word, Frost didn’t WANT Garnet to keep her word, because if Garnet tried to help, she’d do her idiotic routine of ‘look at me, I make pretty fire balls’ and end up causing more harm then the enemy! "Welcome aboard." The icy mutant made no attempt to follow at first, allowing Garnet a few feet leeway before even considering following her inside. "Please follow me inside, everyone."
"Typical." Frost declared, her tone almost self righteous despite the disapproving way she spoke. "Always so eager to show of the special effects, thoughtless and naïve towards others around her, that, my dear team mates, is our fearlessly stupid leader. Able to leap from one idiotic act to another in a single bound. Aren’t you proud she’s all ours?" Eyes passed over Racheal, Max, then shot at the others as well, they all better not hope for miracles from their ‘perfect leader’ because they’d be sorely let down. Tall boots which adorned Frost’s legs carried her forward a step, only a slight pause as she looked back at the group and then offered a motion of her hand elegantly towards the door. "Ladies first.."
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Being in an undeniably ‘sulky’ mood, Racheal’s eyes decided, it seemed on their own accord, to half close. Not that she was tired. Just bored. This was… just… ridiculous! Had they put another team together just to be chucked into a situation which would get them all half killed again. Bitter? Of course she was. She had put herself forward into this team, okay, she wasn’t the biggest team player in history, but she had tried. And a glance at her marbled arms reminded her of why she was giving up on them.
"Hi, and I'm guessing Exiles." Slowly the feline eyes opened, turning towards the new girl. So this was it then? Their motley crew. Two girls, a ‘barbie’ leader, in Jess words, and four guys, one of which she would quite merrily disown as being anything above snail intelligence. Not that that might actually be true. But Racheal’s opinions of Max sunk lower than that even. Her mood wasn’t helping any either. Even so, she watched the girl quietly for a moment in thought. Younger, but that meant little. Being late wasn’t a sign of character in Racheal’s books, especially as she was awful at time keeping herself. She hadn’t missed the scoff from Max, and her back tensed hearing it. Was he really so arrogant? Of course, she knew the answer to that. It was a bad day. And she was near breaking point.
Suddenly though, there was someone else to draw her attention away. ~I know you~ She thought instantly. But why, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t the looks which had cued her in, but her movement. It was a vague memory, a one off perhaps? Maybe more, she wasn’t sure. Was she there at the training missions? Or even on the rescue mission? Again maybe. Her emerald eyes watched the other female carefully. What was she doing here though? Their team was complete and she wasn’t acting like some passerby. The attire reminded her of what she had tried to describe on her first day to Heath as the inappropriate clothing some girls wore to go clubbing. Though, she also acknowledged it could be far less decent.
"Apparently the detentions aren’t doing wonders for me." Although some of that phrase was lost on the socially isolated mutant, not all of it was. And she was intelligent to work out that she considered this some sort of punishment. And she supposed, in many ways, it was. Though the feral was still trying to work out just what she had done wrong in the first place!
"Be gentle with my heart, it’s fragile." Feline eyes looked at the rather roughly shaped ice heart as it was handed from one girl to the other. It wasn’t difficult to guess this mutant’s abilities at least, and a small smile found it’s way to the morpher’s face. And ice elemental under the leadership of a fire elemental. Personally, Racheal would much prefer water, but ice was, in her books, more favourable. Although not the person to normally find disputes between others amusing, this was one which held her interest if nothing more.
The tension in the air only seemed to grow, as she watched their fiery leader’s reaction carefully. A feud between them maybe? That just made this all the more interesting. She watched, the silent observer as so often she was. Her back was pressed against the wall, her hands flat against the wall beneath the small of her back. A strange position perhaps. But oddly comfortable. She watched as Garnet immersed the delicate ice heart in flames. She had to admit, that wasn’t unexpected. Although Circe tended, as a rule, to keep herself in control around her team, this wasn’t the first time she’d seen this fiery, showman side to her. The training island had given Racheal a chance to watch her team mates to some degree. And there were still a few things which irked her about how they had been lead. Expecting teamwork, but passing up on the opportunities presented to work as a team. Possibly the one which annoyed her most was that moment when Garnet and Max had been trapped in the pit. She had offered to help them out, and Casey, even Jess, had agreed to help until that opportunity was stolen from them by Garnet working by herself. Sure, it might be quicker, but the purpose of the exercise wasn’t to win but to build on teamwork. But then, maybe that point had escaped the rest of the team.
"No worries...," … "I'll take good care of it." Racheal hid the sigh that threatened to escape her lips. Another rivalry in the group was not what they needed. Even before there was her and max, there seemed to be Jess and Max at least. Some of the team had clearly known each other before meeting. Her eyes closed for a brief moment as she leant her head against the wall as Garnet continued. "Welcome aboard." So, there it was, official. This latest girl was the last member of their team assumedly. Things were going to get interesting from now on it seemed.
"Please follow me inside, everyone." Feline eyes opened again, head turning to allow her eyes to follow the movement of the fiery leader. Joys. At least it would get them out of the more crowded corridor. Slowly, her hands pushed back against the wall, almost as if she was lazily pushing herself away, body curving briefly as she stretched her back, rearranging the small bag on her back.
"Typical." A small smirk found her lips at Frost’s words. Well, not only had the ice and fire temptresses met before, but it seemed the former had a somewhat low opinion of the latter. Racheal held a minimal respect for their leader. She had, just about, got them alive off that island, though truthfully she wasn’t sure if that was because of her or not. If the other teams hadn’t arrived, Racheal was pretty sure that she’d have been killed in tiger form. But still, Garnet was their leader. Besides, as far as she was concerned, she didn’t exactly have to put for it for long. So no harm right? It wasn’t like anyone would be foolish enough to stick these misfits on a mission together.
"Always so eager to show of the special effects, thoughtless and naïve towards others around her, that, my dear team mates, is our fearlessly stupid leader. Able to leap from one idiotic act to another in a single bound. Aren’t you proud she’s all ours?" Couldn’t help but glance at Jess as the newest fae spoke. Max’s opinions would be happily flawed by what had happened recently, but she couldn’t help but wonder what the silent reader of the group thought of these at least semi-accurate words. Not that Racheal actually agreed as such. Not yet anyway. But today was one of those days it seemed, and Racheal just wanted to annoy someone. Or at least be a little spiteful. As out of character as it was for her, everyone needed a break from the norm sometimes. "Ladies first.."
Racheal finished her ‘almost’ stretch against the wall as finally she broke her contact with it. Again, she passed her eyes slowly over the gathering. Herself, Jess, Max and of course Garnet were the only members of the original team left. Her mind cast quietly over the members withdrawn from the team. Paige... now Racheal couldn’t help but think of her leaving as a blessing of sorts. After all, the young healer had been terrified of the morpher. Anger between team members could be worked with. But blind fear? It was bad enough with the underlying fear Racheal had of Garnet. But at least the feral could work with the fire welider as a general rule. She got the feeling that would have never happened with Paige. Casey… it was a shame to loose him. He was the sort who would be useful if you asked him, and he had worked well with Jess from the little she’d seen. Lastly there was Gypsy. Feral’s opinion of her had never remained secure, one moment seeing the sort of person she might get on with, the next seeing someone who rivalled the annoyance of Max. But now that didn’t matter. They had these new members. The ice woman would be an interesting character, if nothing else. Then there was the youngest girl. A small furrow crossed the morpher’s brow. There was something about her that set her fur on edge, but she couldn’t yet work out what. Mentally, she tried to shake that feeling of wrongness from her. The two new males.. well.. they seemed normal enough. Though they must have reasons, she realised, for landing themselves here.
With a sigh, she took a step to follow Garnet and Frost, before pausing, glancing over her shoulder. ”While we’re at this.. I suppose introductions are a good plan. Personally I don’t want to be running into people I don’t know the names of. Plus it gives Max a chance to actually remember his name this time” She didn’t even look at the stone mutant as she spoke, her words calm, as if it was a simple off the shoulder comment. Of course, it hadn’t taken her long to figure his name out, even if he had failed to introduce himself. But she had an inner want to point out that it didn’t matter how famous you thought you were, there was always going to be someone who had no idea who you were, even if it was her.
”And I guess someone should set the ball rolling” She sighed slightly. Last time she’d done this, she’d interrupted Paige. First impressions. She screwed up then, but she didn’t really care anymore. ”I’m Racheal Felis. And I want to be here as much as the next person, but the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get on with our lives.” Another sigh escaped her lips. It had been the same attitude on the island. Fake it if need be, but if you can reach you’re goal quicker and with the same affect so be it. Not that she’d endanger people for that goal. She just didn’t want to be stuck around too long.
”Oh… and I’m an animal morpher.. with a feline speciality” She decided to add on the end. Powers were also a good thing to know. After all, considering the variety on offer she didn’t really want to be caught off guard. She never thought, of course, about mentioning her own telepathic abilities when in morph. It never occurred to her to do so. But on mentioning her powers, little did she know the kettle of worms she may unknowingly open, as she wandered after Garnet slowly, guessing the other's would follow soon enough, taking their own time as well.
"I was wrong, to think that I might belong. But I will never forget what I was... Who I am.. What I did, just to learn that"
"You know. I have this power. And yet.... I've yet to sneak in to a girl's changing room!"
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)'Damn', thought Jess to himself as the team members kept pouring in. Not being Mr. Involved in any context he hated the fact that, excepting their team leader, he had been second to arrive. That was almost like making a good impression and that was something he didn't do. It was right up there with play sports and hit pretty girls. He was, however, curious about the changes that had occurred since their last less than successful outing. In the end he hadn't actually done so badly, although he sported a nasty black eyes and a few other bruises, and he had Casey of all people to thank for it. However Jess was beginning to doubt that he would even get that opportunity, not that it was one he would have seized upon anyway. Surely if Casey had still been on the team he would have beaten Jess to the meeting wouldn't he have?
The dark-haired mutant wasn't about to waste valuable time pondering over the fate of that alarmingly azure-eyed kid though and he moved on to other things. Max was next to arrive and Jess ignored him with practiced apathy. He had a novel and he didn't have blinkers on and that was all it took not to look at Max Chadstone.
The first newbie to arrive was another guy and from then the people continued to pour in. Jess began to realize that not only was Casey not going to be on his team anymore but neither was Gypsy. 'Great', he thought. 'Take away the only two people I actually liked. Just Perfect.' His apathy began to turn into something a little less easy to deal with and the expression on his face became a darkened glower at each new person who dared approach their team. Apparently there was still one more to come but he didn't hold his breath. The two guys at that point didn't look like they'd be joining him in sarcastic bliss and he didn't hold high hopes for the next person to walk over to their band of merry men.
The girl who approached them looked just that, a girl. She was what, fourteen maybe? How did they get stuck with a kid? Maybe she was the daughter of one of the originals or something and got special treatment. Jess' opinion of the girl lightened a little as the first words out of her mouth were a curse. Her gaze seemed fixed on him and he could guess why with the bruises scattered across his skin. He stared back, daring her to say anything or to look away first and she didn't. Pretending he didn't care Jess Mariano shifted his gaze back down to the paperback he still held.
So that was it right? Everyone on the team was now accounted for? Jess threw a brief glance in Barbie's direction trying to wonder without looking like he was wondering. Meanwhile Fred was still seizing everyone in the group up. Snow White seemed pretty straight forward unless there was something more to the team leader than met the eye. Fred wouldn't have bet on it. Rebel without a cause still had his nose in a book as, she suspected, cover so that he could look suitably disinterested at any point in the limited conversation spewing forth. Had she not been in the company of a bunch of strangers who she might have to get along with in the future she would have called him on his bullshit.
Fred had assumed, from her tardyness, that she was last to arrive at the group and yet there was another one, this new arrival a girl with short blonde hair and clear blue eyes that contrasted sharply with her longer honey blonde hair and chocolate eyes. "Apparently the detentions aren’t doing wonders for me," she said and while Fred didn't react, the corner of Jess' mouth turned up in the faintest trace of a smile. She was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a very attractive woman and Jess knew that his cover of disinterest had, in that instant, been blown as he watched Anna Drake. Even had her heritage not been known she made her powers clear quickly by forming an ice heart, which she handed to Garnet. Jess liked her already.
With the arrival of the ice mutant they were complete, in a fragmented individual kind of way. Aurora was leading them into the dorms and asking them to follow her inside. Having nothing better to do Fred followed, the look on her face decidedly blank since she had decided right off the bat that she wasn't going to be anymore involved in this team than she had been with any team in high school. The stakes got larger but she didn't change. If she hadn't gone for that job in the first place she wouldn't have been dead right about now so being a follower and having ambition really wasn't looking so good in Winifred Mason's book right about now.
Jess, in typical slacker mode, followed further behind but at the words of Frost his already slow pace decreased. "Always so eager to show of the special effects, thoughtless and naïve towards others around her, that, my dear team mates, is our fearlessly stupid leader. Able to leap from one idiotic act to another in a single bound. Aren’t you proud she’s all ours?" A dark-eyed gaze that was currently displaying great surprise found Barbie, wondering how she was taking this assault on her character. This ice mutant was new to the team but obviously this was not the first time they had met and he raised his eyebrow, wondering about the history between the blonde and the ebony-haired beauties. "Ladies first.." Frost finished with, which was fine since he hadn't been planning on diving on in to their new living accomodations anyway. Frost's words were ringing true and it appeared that she might be the truth-speaker of the team, now that Gypsy was gone. Once the surprise had subsided Jess' expression was one of partial satisfaction. No Cheshire cat but he did seem to approve of the blonde's choice critique.
Fred had watched all of this without a change in facial expression. The ice elemental's haughty attitude was evident and not exactly something she appreciated and the way she was dressed spoke to the girls in high school that Fred had done her best to avoid. She had no issue with authority, just with being put on a team and asked to participate with anything more than forced acceptance and she didn't intend to give Garnet a hard time unless Snow White asked for it. Why did it seem like so far everyone on their team was vying for supremacy?
Yet that wasn't entirely true. The remaining girl on the team had been entirely quiet this whole time and seemed to hold herself apart from the others. Fred wondered what she was like for, although she vehemently denied it to herself, she was looking for a friend in a new situation. Just as she was thinking of the other girl she spoke up, "While we’re at this.. I suppose introductions are a good plan. Personally I don’t want to be running into people I don’t know the names of. Plus it gives Max a chance to actually remember his name this time”. Max. Fred wondered which one he was and glanced around the male members of their team. Obviously this mutant didn't hold a high opinion of him. Introductions seemed wise to her. Saved her having to call them all by nicknames anyway and she nodded a little, blonde ponytail bobbing as she did so.
"And I guess someone should set the ball rolling.” Well they didn't exactly look like a team with initiative so someone starting seemed wise to Fred. Inwardly Jess was groaning about having to introduce himself all over again. A pained expression replaced the satisfied smirk upon his face.
"I’m Racheal Felis." Finally, a name for the nameless. Since her demeanor had told Fred next to nothing about her, she hadn't seen the girl's powers and there was nothing striking to nickname her having an actual name was a huge bonus.
"And I want to be here as much as the next person, but the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get on with our lives.” Well they wouldn't be winning any prizes for enthusiasm anytime soon and Fred was beginning to understand exactly why she had ended up on this particular team.
"Oh… and I’m an animal morpher.. with a feline speciality,” Rachael added and Fred's chocolate eyes glanced over at her. She hadn't really met a mutant before attending this school and seeing everyone's powers was still new and different for her. She wasn't sure yet if that was offputting or just plain cool.
The Seattle native wondered if she was supposed to speak up next. Did the ice mutant's 'ladies first' apply to introductions as well as to who entered the room first? She was saved the trouble of deciding whether or not to speak up as James Dean spoke up. His voice was a low mumble and slightly gruff and he was of few words. He was exactly what she had expected.
Deciding he would rather speak up now then wait in line Jess threw out his introduction in a hurry and with obvious disregard for the other members of the team. "Jess." There was a moment's pause before he gave in and added, "Mariano." He really didn't want to elaborate on his powers and there wasn't a simple way of explaining them like one would explain being a shapeshifter or an ice elemental. The New Yorker left it at that, not handing out his powers and, with a dark glower, dared anyone to ask about them. If they really wanted to know they could ask Circe because he sure as hell wasn't going through this again.
Since no one else seemed to be stepping up to the plate Fred decided it was her turn. So James Dean had a name, well good for him and if he didn't want to share his powers than she didn't really care. She couldn't criticize him since she wasn't exactly willing to share her's either. The blonde could imagine the reaction she'd get.
"Okay well I'm Fred...Mason and basically I'm dead," she said, stating it in the bluntest way possible because censorship was overrated. There was a pause between her first and last name as she remembered she probably couldn't just introduce herself by one name around here, and as she remembered Jess' attempt to be known by a single name like Cher. "Somehow I resurrected myself and now I can sense death. It's f-cking weird." She wore without even realising she was doing it for while Fred was a good kid generally she had been cursing regularly since she was five and she wasn't about to stop just because some black-haired barbie thought her language was a bit much.
Feeling all eyes on her the dead girl walking said, in as normal a tone as a person talking about washing their car might have used, "Next."
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Nick had turned to face Garnet and therefore was surprised when another voice came from behind him. It was female and not one he had heard so far… maybe the bruised girl that had been leaning against the wall? As he turned to identify the speaker he was surprised to find yet another addition to this strange and rather gloomy little gang. He had to admit that this new girl was rather striking, the kind of person you could not pass without glancing at. He knew that her eyes alone would have caught peoples attention but it seemed that she liked to put the rest of her on display as well… this was perhaps because what would pass as uncommon and exceptional in the rest of the world was not quite special enough to attract attention here at Xavier’s. He had to admit that cool blue eyes could not quite match up to some of the stranger physical differences some of the students bore. For just two days ago he had passed a girl with pink skin and white eyes in the corridors which made this girl look surprisingly normal.
But he had to admit that this new arrival had presence… she would have to in order to wear clothes like those, which was something all of the people gathered here so far seemed to lack. None of the previously assembled team members wanted to be noticed by the others, not because they were shy but because they wanted nothing to do with these people. But the almost bleach blond girl seemed to have no problem with having all eyes on her; it was as if she wanted to be watched like she was an actress that needed an audience. Nick couldn’t help but wonder what she was going to do and whether she was in fact going to join them as the girl leading them had not mentioned her.
"Apparently the detentions aren’t doing wonders for me."
They had detentions in this place? He wondered what kind of room the students were put in to insure that they did not just teleport out or amuse themselves by burning down half the things in the room. He would like to see the look on the face of the poor teacher stuck with making sure that a bunch of rebellious mutant teenagers learned their lesson. Maybe he could do something to land himself in detention in order to satisfy his curiosity on the matter.
Nick’s thoughts however were quickly drawn back to what was happening around him. The new arrival had closed her hand over a small piece of paper and with a small crackling sound formed a thick layer of ice around it. When she opened her hand again the small note was encased in what looked like a heart made out of solid ice. It was one of those rare moments where Nick regretted not possessing any powers of his own. There were a few things that he really wished he could do and elemental manipulation was one of them. But he knew that his lack of super abilities only helped him stay on the straight and narrow. There was no temptation to abuse something you didn’t have. And so he stood back as a bias observer and watched the exchange that followed.
"Be gentle with my heart, it’s fragile."
There was something in the way that the new girl offered her ice heart to the brunette that instantly revealed that they knew each other. What the relationship between the two of them was exactly was not yet clear but he knew that Garnet’s reaction would give him all the information he needed on that subject. He watched her hesitate then pick up the object being held out and smile sweetly to the new arrival. Nick would have known that smile anywhere as he had spent enough time in the company of warring cheerleaders to recognise it. it meant “I hate you and wish you would go to hell, but I’m not going to give you the privilege of seeing me loose my composure in front of all these people”. And then came the power version of a bitch slap when the girl that was to lead them proceeded to engulf the small heart in flames.
"No worries..., I'll take good care of it. Welcome aboard. Please follow me inside, everyone."
This was why Nick had a instinctive distrust of mutants for who could feel safe around two feuding teenage girl that had the power to either roast you or freeze you where you stood on a whim. In his eyes this was an even more dangerous situation than being with a dangerous criminal, at least then you knew that his intention really was to kill you and you could act accordingly. In situations like this team meeting Nick felt very edgy and like the world was spinning out of his control.
"Typical. Always so eager to show of the special effects, thoughtless and naïve towards others around her, that, my dear team mates, is our fearlessly stupid leader. Able to leap from one idiotic act to another in a single bound. Aren’t you proud she’s all ours?"
So this feud was not something that was new was it? That probably just made things worse as they had had time to create a set mental picture of how evil the other one was and he was pretty sure that it would be impossible to convince them to change their opinions. And he was also pretty sure that no one here was even going to bother trying to insure that the team got on… not even the leader. He wasn’t very sure why this fire wielding mutant had been given the job of leading them as she seemed neither delighted at the prospect of it nor very proficient at it. Oh maybe this whole team thing would only be temporary. However what was said next seemed to suggest that that was not the case as it seemed that this was not a new team.
”While we’re at this.. I suppose introductions are a good plan. Personally I don’t want to be running into people I don’t know the names of. Plus it gives Max a chance to actually remember his name this time. And I guess someone should set the ball rolling. I’m Racheal Felis. And I want to be here as much as the next person, but the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get on with our lives.”
Nick could not help but wonder which of the other three guys stood in front of the dorm doors was Max. How could someone forget their own name? Though judging by the look of a couple of people here it was more than possible one of the members had become amnesic from being dropped on his head once to often. The girl that spoke was the most discreet of all members and it was obvious that she did not really want to be here and that she did not harbour any joy or pride about her team. It seemed that she was just resigned to being here and that she was just trying to make everything go as smoothly as possible so that she could get out of the way.
“Oh… and I’m an animal morpher.. with a feline speciality”
It seemed to Nick that her power was a bit different from a lot that he had encountered, so far but it was definitely not one that he was envious of. He saw no real benefit in becoming various animals as the only one that he could see doing some serious damage were either really big or aquatic. But he duly noted her powers so that he could try and see how she could be useful in various situations. He supposed it was easier to see the uses when it came to obviously offensive powers like fire or ice manipulation but some of the more obscure things would not be so easy to use strategically. But in the end he didn’t really care, he had worked on his own without powers for years, he knew that he did not need them to help him. Though he did not say that the added bonus of having a team at his back would not be a good thing… he could just see it going horribly wrong if they did not work together.
"Jess."
"Mariano."
Well it seemed that the antisocial dark haired guy with the book was not Max, which only left two. Nick waited for a second to hear what this guys powers were but it seemed like the information was not forthcoming and the youngest of the group jumped into the silence. She did seem a bit young to be on this team but who knew maybe she was indestructible with laser eye beams like superman on something.
"Okay well I'm Fred...Mason and basically I'm dead,"
Nick knew that the look of shock on his face must have been priceless, and that the kid was probably pulling their leg. Besides she looked very much alive to him, so was this her idea of a joke because quite frankly he was in no mood to put up with this kind of weird crap. But as she continued it seemed that she was not joking just being brutally, horribly honest.
"Somehow I resurrected myself and now I can sense death. It's f-cking weird."
Well he hadn’t been all that far off when he had guessed she was indestructible, for how did you kill someone who was already dead. But the one thing that was a bit of a problem was that she didn’t look like she could do anything offensive. So what was she going to do sense people to death? He rolled his eyes and as she demanded that the next person introduce themselves he figured he might as well bight the bullet and get it over with. At least with him it was going to be short and sweet as he had no powers to state.
“I’m Nicolas Grayson, though I’m mostly just known as Nick.”
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Garnet didn't have to be Logan or anyone else with enhanced hearing to pick up Frost's words, and she was just glad everybody was behind her so nobody saw one of her eyebrows twitch. Just what was this impertinent person doing on her team?! The way she mentally stressed the word, 'person' seemed like an insult, albeit a rather helpless one. Oh yes, she possessed the power to turn that arrogant ice cube into a pile of ashes or less... but despite her anger she knew that neither was there enough of a reason for that nor would she kill someone whose greatest offence had been to act like a complete twat just because she personally felt inclined to do so.
But she had done it once, hadn't she? Back in the Initiative's underground base. She had killed several guards without second thought, and it had taken a few days before this truth had actually sunk in. Regret, as futile as it was, had been struggling to overcome the knowledge that it had been the right thing to do. And that's why it was different in this case. The men there had been keeping students imprisoned against their will with the intention to experiment on them. They had been willing to kill; in fact, they had even tried to. She had had every right to do what she had done. Those arguments were all old and known, and still they helped calming down the part of her that was well aware of the amount of power she wielded and what she could do with it.
Had Circe not been too distracted by restoring her calm and trying to figure out how to get out of this hole her temporary slip of emotional control had torn open, this might have been the point for her to realise that – had things just developed slightly different – she might just as well have become a member of the Brotherhood. As it stood, however, she just took a deep, yet silent breath and slowed down, ultimately stopping in front of what was to become their quarters.
"Right," she began in the attempt to get their attention, "while we are at introducing ourselves: for those who are new here, I am Aurora Garnet Ferelle, codename Circe." She had spoken with an impressively matter-of-fact tone considering the rage that had turned her dark eyes to burning coals just a few minutes ago. It was time to gather the shards of exactly that fury. "And despite what it might occasionally seem like, I am Exiles' leader," Garnet added after the slightest of pauses, subtle self-mockery in her voice. Gallows humour – the straw to cling to. Inwardly, she was already beginning to curse herself for tapping into the snare Anna had set her. From now on, Aurora vowed, she would strictly separate team matters from her personal life. In all regards, as she mentally added with a glance at Max.
Opening the door that led to their future dorms, she continued. "From now on, this will be Exiles territory. For those who have not got any yet, please drop by at some point soon to get your com badge and key card. The latter, in combination with the respective code, will not only grant you access to the dorms but also be a means to use the Danger Room which some of you I know have already made use of." Tick basics. *Now to get to the tricky bit...,* the fire-elemental thought, wondering how she should tell them to behave and control themselves when she, as the leader, had just showed so very lacking in that department.
A sigh was suppressed, the shadows of a smile gracing her lips instead. "I know it is far from being the easiest thing to do, but let's try to become an actual team. Difference are there to be surmounted." And there would come a time when she had to forgive Frost and somehow manage to at least get along with her. How this would be accomplished, however, Aurora didn't have the faintest idea.
Stepping inside, she continued the introductory talk that she hoped wouldn't seem too much as if learned off by heart. There was a high risk of that considering she kind of had, terrified she might screw up. As she already had managed that, however, it didn't really matter whether or not this little speech was perfect or even good or not. Not anymore. "Maybe our regular training sessions will help at that." Or maybe they'd make things more difficult as people started attacking each other...
"Team matters aside, we are also proud owners of a quite well-equipped common room..." Her voice trailed off a little as she ticked her mental list, trying to figure out whether anything essential was missing. Well, they'd probably ask if there was something she hadn't covered. A wide gesture encompassed the room. "Feel free to have a look around and do not hesitate to ask questions should you have any."
There, that was done. Now how would they react? In spite of the small smile that stayed glued to her lips, Aurora expected the worst. There could only be positive surprises. That was the upside of this so very unfortunate situation.
There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to take over responsibility.
The question remains whether there is also a time when we can get rid of it again.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
The move to pass the thresh hold of the doorway seemed to trigger a call out of names, each one of which Frost actually tried to take note of and could be seen doing so by letting her eyes pass over each face that spoke out. The play boy Chadstone on the other hand seemed off in his own world and either didn’t notice or didn’t care for the mentioning of names and he trailed after the others as they moved, his attention as far off and distant as the day since Max spent his first night with a girl.
"And for me, Frostbite, but I’m usually called Frost." Disregarding her birth name entirely, as Anna tended to do, the ice mutant gave a relatively neutral smirk before following Racheal and Garnet into the room. Already the raven haired fire elemental was jabbering on about one thing or another… talking about team cooperation right after displaying the exact opposite sentiments moments earlier with Frost. It’s nice to be a witness of hypocrisy, but hey, if it makes Garnet feel better by saying ‘play nice’ while she sets fire to their foundations at her will, then who was Frost to shatter Garnets deluded little world of fantasy?
The voice went on, addressing the group in a plea it seemed, a request to try and make things work, maybe things would have been better if Garnet wasn’t the leader, all caught up in her own little world. Then again, both young woman both had sever misunderstandings towards each other and it was those misunderstandings that set them apart, their anger and silence keeping the unspoken feud ignited.
Loose strands of white fell before Anna’s eyes, soon after being brushed aside casually as the blonde blinked only slightly bothered by her white fringe getting partially snagged on her thick lashes. There was a hallway off to the side, which had doors to the rooms as Frost noted the beds through the open door. Perhaps it looked like Frost wasn’t paying attention to Garnet… and well… actually looks weren’t all that deceiving right now, but Frost did have a reason for trying to see what rooms were located where. The ones closer to the main room would be far easily kept warmer, while the ones further down the hall required the heating vents to keep warm. And Frost can just shut the heating vent off, lest it makes her ill from over exposure to warmth.
The room right at the end of the hall was the laundry, and the nearness was not so appealing but Ann didn’t walk into the hall, only standing staring in and looking inside the rooms nearby that she could without going in on her own. Turning around and peering back at the group, Frost tried to assess who would be the most difficult, and to be honest, Max’s annoyance aside, Garnet was seeming to be the one who would cause Frost the most strife for now. At least Lara wasn’t around… then again Max might bring his lady friend-thingy-whatsit to the dorm room… well just because others were around wouldn’t mean that Frost was going to hold back from repaying that bimbo for her earlier assault. Humiliating as it had been, it was only worsened by the fact others had seen Frost in the state Lara put her in, damn that intoxicating mutant ability of Ms Lara “Spreads Legs” Jones! …Well, that’s how Frost thought of her, not that the ice elemental gave the topic of Lara or Max or anyone really aside from Madison much verbal thought.
"So, enough of all the ‘please, please I beg of you, please behave’ talks…" Amazingly enough, Frost managed to say that without any malice in her tone, almost as if she were talking of some movie she recently saw and was of neutral emotions on the story. Unfortunately the words themselves were enough of an annoyance most likely that her tone was hardly needed to make her comment sound aggravated. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't really paid attention to must of what was said save that questions were welcomed and Garnet plaing for cooperation, as Frost thought of Garnet's earlier statements. "The knit and grit of all this, I know dinner times we’re restricted to eating here – together – but are there any other rules of accommodation? In essence Madam Leader," Frost motion her address towards Garnet as a near curious tone peeked out from Frost’s more often sarcastic nature. "Do we have chores? Do we assign cooks? For permanent or selected nights? Right now, I think that’s rather important to discuss, making sure everyone knows what’s going on may help them all settle in." Was this Frost, or was Frost just playing smart in order to make Garnet look bad? It was so hard to tell considering people really didn’t know her and Frost seemed to swing from smug to silent without much warning. In truth? Frost was just getting damn tired of listening to some dolled up cannonball begging for peace and cooperation.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
Introductions. She hated the idea of leading them, but hey, it seemed to work if nothing else. Even if some of the introductions were given rather grudgingly. Not that she could blame Jess, and she only listened because he was close enough to hear as they entered the dorms. They had already gone through the introduction process, and the four original team members were doomed to learn nothing about each other from that brief moment. But the new group might. And that was more important to her, even if it was only for a few weeks. And the information could be useful.
"Okay well I'm Fred...Mason and basically I'm dead," Woah. Wait. Stop, rewind, repeat… had she just said she was dead? Eyes were cast back to Fred for a moment, suddenly realising what had set her nerves off before. Lack of breathing. A shiver ran down her spine as she looked at the young seeming girl as she continued. "Somehow I resurrected myself and now I can sense death. It's f-cking weird." Weird?? It was unnatural, wrong. Every feral instinct Racheal had seemed to ring alarm bells as she tried to calm herself mentally. Fred might have been dead but she seemed to be living and was part of this team. And it had to be a power. But as the girl opened the floor for everyone else, she couldn’t help but rub one arm. It suddenly felt very cold in here to her.
“I’m Nicolas Grayson, though I’m mostly just known as Nick.” Nick. Right. Fred and Nick were two of the new people, and both, thankfully, had names she could remember with ease. It didn’t seem like he was prepared to step forward with his power, and she guessed they would discover that in time. It was still unnerving though, to only know some of the powers around them, especially if they had to fight at any point. In time, she reminded herself quietly. In time.
As Frost and Garnet both introduced themselves, the two rival females having already made their elemental powers clear, her eyes turned to Max briefly, noticing his rather.. distracted expression. A sigh found her throat, eyes rolling. Even if there was something on his mind, she couldn’t help but feel some level of despair. Clearly to self important to think giving his name was actually of importance. Racheal wasn’t in a foul mood. Of course not.
As they seemed to draw to a stop in the main area, she listened as Garnet started to go through the use of the key cards and the comm. Badges, only have listening. She was wearing her’s, though half the time she was tempted to remove it, and the key card was… somewhere. She didn’t like the idea of using the danger room, even though they had only used it the one time for the rather unsuccessful training session where she had ended up in panther morph, watching the others with a somewhat bemused expression.
"I know it is far from being the easiest thing to do, but let's try to become an actual team. Difference are there to be surmounted." Was she dreaming? They come close before, true. Minus the fact that everyone managed to ruffle everyone elses feathers. And it seemed that with the fire-ice clash, things weren’t looking up. It was a defeatist attitude maybe, but why bother? She was only here to stop people getting on her back, and she intended to spend no time with her team mates unless forced. Already eyes were looking towards the rooms, wondering if the windows would be large enough for her morphs to escape through. She had seem some that weren’t.
"Maybe our regular training sessions will help at that." That, Racheal figured, depended. If their fiery leader choose to have them fight each other again, she doubted it. If perhaps she gave them challenges which made them work together rather than against each other, they stood more of a chance. They had to find each other’s strengths and weaknesses, had to learn where each member of the team fitted. She was learning that quickly, though some of it was innate from her herd animal instincts. And packs didn’t fight within themselves. That only caused more conflict.
"Team matters aside, we are also proud owners of a quite well-equipped common room..." …"Feel free to have a look around and do not hesitate to ask questions should you have any." Question: Could she leave now? Inwardly the feral sighed. She didn’t care for the common room, why should she? She had no intention of using it. TV held no appeal, nor did any other entertainment device really, except books. And those she would read in peace in her room.
"So, enough of all the ‘please, please I beg of you, please behave’ talks…" Despite the lack of malice in the other’s voice, her eyes turned to Frost in surprised. She hadn’t really thought of it like that, but she supposed on the same level that it could easily be seen like that, especially considering how the Exiles were. After all, the biggest disagreement to record had actually been between herself and Max on the island, where it had near to blows, on her part anyway, until she realised that they did have an audience and decided to ignore the temptation to show him just how much damage a ‘kitty’ could do.
"The knit and grit of all this, I know dinner times we’re restricted to eating here – together – but are there any other rules of accommodation? In essence Madam Leader," … "Do we have chores? Do we assign cooks? For permanent or selected nights? Right now, I think that’s rather important to discuss, making sure everyone knows what’s going on may help them all settle in." No, she’d settle in happier without the reminder that she had to be here. The fact that they and to eat together annoyed her enough as it was, but chores, cooking. She might have been able to scrape by out on the field, but using a kitchen was somewhat beyond her. The feral mutant had never tried to cook here, instead she just popped by the canteen and took some food when she needed it. She would do other things if she had to, but she would much prefer not to full stop. Given some help, she could possibly cook some simple things, but they might have ended up with bacon, sausages and toast.. if she was feeling brace.
The question was, should she say that now. She shifted the bag on her shoulder slightly, fingers teasing the strap in a moment of discomfort. ”I’m not cooking..” She finally stated, quietly, but calmly, sounding more like a blunt refusal from stubbornness than incapability. ”If I have to, I’ll do other things… but I’m not going to cook” There, a compromise off her, an offer than she wasn’t going to be completely negative about the entire thing. Her eyes wandered back towards the dorms. She would take whatever was left open, she decided. It was unlike Racheal really, to be so forwardly blunt like that. But she needed them to know that simple fact straight off. She fell silent again, her eyes turning back to the team with a quiet message in her eyes as she looked at them. Agree… else you’ll be going hungry one night a week.
"I was wrong, to think that I might belong. But I will never forget what I was... Who I am.. What I did, just to learn that"
"You know. I have this power. And yet.... I've yet to sneak in to a girl's changing room!"
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
The reactions to Fred's announcement of her admittedly creepy powers was as she expected it to be. Disbelief followed by shock and of course the slight ick factor. She didn't blame them; Hadn't that been her reaction to her own death afterall? Death was one thing but dead girl walking was another and she didn't exactly expect people to accept something like that. And here I thought they stuck me on Exiles for my optimism and people person nature, she thought sarcastically to herself. She was an exile alright. Technically Winifred Mason was six feet under so she couldn't use that name again. Instead she tended to call herself Fred (short for Fredrica and not for Winifred) Mace. It stopped people from asking questions.
Now, However, she was among mutants, each of them with powers. Powers considerably less gross than her own but still powers. As she figured it they were more likely to believe her than say your average employer or the person who sits beside you in college. Some small deluded part of her had hoped that they'd accept her for the freak that she was, hoped they'd welcome her into their school for weirdos and teach her the way of her people, so to speak. No such luck. Instead she had spent the small amount of time that she had spent here dutifully avoiding people and making as little conversation as she possibly could. The gods who had screwed up her existence once already by killing her and exiling her from her normalish family had had other plans. A team placement and on a team named the Exiles. Why had she thought there might be a small chance for a new and not entirely miserable life again? Oh yes, that was right, pesky optimism again. Put aside your usual philosophy and get burned. Wasn't that the way life worked?
Fred figured if you never had any expectations you would never be disappointed and never rejected. Unfortunately this also meant you never looked forward to something and there was no light at the end of the long dark tunnel. No 'the sun will come up tomorrow' attitudes were found here. The sun would probably come up but anything was possible and maybe it wouldn't. There was no way to sure. For all one knew they could end up dead the next day...Fred had.
Her run-on internal thoughts were interrupted by the introduction of one of the guys on the team who called himself Nick. Fred seized him up and decided he seemed pleasantish and unlikely to be the big troublemaker of the team.
"Right". As soon as the woman spoke Fred knew she was about to get their attention and give the big speech. Blah blah my name is, blah blah teamwork, blah blah fearless leader, blah blah dorms. There the entire speech in less than a minute, Fred thought but she didn't let on. Unlike Jess, who felt the need to let every sarcastic comment that came to mind cross his lips, Fred kept them bottled up inside.
While we are at introducing ourselves: for those who are new here, I am Aurora Garnet Ferelle, codename Circe." Like the sorceress of greek myth? Fred wondered, suddenly ever so slightly intrigued. She had always cared for myth and for legend.
"And despite what it might occasionally seem like, I am Exiles' leader," the woman was continuing. Could it be? Yup Fred sensed humour, however unsuccessful the attempt might have been. Tough crowd, she though, the slightest smile curving the corner of her mouth upwards as she thought of this bitter lot laughing in a comedy club. Not at all likely.
With the opening of a door came the first peek into the Exiles Dorms. Once again Fred was reminded of her pitiful lack of luggage. There wasn't much to bring in the first place. Perhaps the Egyptions had been on the right track after all when they left the Pharoh's belongings in the tomb for him to enjoy in the afterlife. She wished her parents had left her belongings somewhere she could enjoy them. It was a better option than a job and a paycheck anyway.
The Danger Room peaked Fred's interest. If she had been a horse her ears would have pricked forward in interest. Being new to both the Institute and the idea of 'X-men' Fred had no idea what a Danger Room was although she feared she would find out far too soon for her liking. She had no desire to be killed once more.
"I know it is far from being the easiest thing to do, but let's try to become an actual team. Differences are there to be surmounted." Fred had to stop the smirk from crossing her face at this point. Hadn't she predicted all of this? Perhaps her next job would be as a psychic.
"Maybe our regular training sessions will help at that." They were to have regular training sessions? Somehow that hadn't even crossed the undead mutant's mind and she found herself slightly appalled at the thought of participating in stupid training sessions and slight curious at what exactly they would have to do. More worrysome was the idea of what exactly she was supposed to do. Surely the teachers had known something she didn't when they placed her on this team because Fred didn't seem to have what she had heard others call an "active power". She didn't even have a particularly useful power unless your name happened to be Fred Mason and you were about to die.
"Team matters aside, we are also proud owners of a quite well-equipped common room..." That sounded slightly more appealing and Fred began to glance around the room, her sweeping gaze trying to take in everything. This was in sharp contrast to Jess Mariano who was still playing the role of dark, brooding and not in the least listening, over by the wall. He was putting up a pretty good show of pretending to have absolutely no interest in his new accomodations but anyone who took a closer look at the New York teen would know the truth.
Out of the corner of her eye Fred noticed the girl who was truly set apart, even among these outcasts, the girl with the white blonde hair was scoping out room choices. The new mutant decided this was probably a pretty good idea but she stayed put and continued to just half-watch Frostbite.
"So, enough of all the ‘please, please I beg of you, please behave’ talks…" This was Frost speaking, big shocker there. Still Winifred Mason found herself agreeing. They had all heard the talk before and whether a new team or not the basics were all pretty much the same and the ash blonde-haired girl had had her fill of pep rallys in high school.
"The knit and grit of all this, I know dinner times we’re restricted to eating here – together – but are there any other rules of accommodation? In essence Madam Leader, do we have chores? Do we assign cooks? For permanent or selected nights? Right now, I think that’s rather important to discuss, making sure everyone knows what’s going on may help them all settle in."
She had a point here and Fred noticed that even Jess had temporarily put a hold on feigning apathy and was listening silently from the back of the pack. As for Fred? Well, she was curious herself. The ressurection-powered mutant hadn't even known that they all had to eat together. This she could rationalize. It was like having a family dinner together every night. Even if you were in disagreement with your family and would really rather be anywhere else on the planet these weren't people you could easily shed. Your family was always with you, or at least they were until you died. Afterwards you were supposed to meet older members of your family... unless you were Fred. It was flattering to be the exception to the rule but did it have to be this rule? Couldn't she be the exception to the junk food gives you cavities and makes you unhealthy rule? Still the general principle of dinners as a team was sound and Fred wasn't about to argue.
Cooking was another matter altogether. Fred couldn't cook to save her life, pardon the pun, she thought bitterly. It seemed she wasn't the only one with a lack of ability to cook. The other girl on the team, the first to introduce herself originally, offered a statement of fact. A very simple, "I'm not cooking."
"If I have to, I’ll do other things… but I’m not going to cook.” Fair enough, thought Fred and she was pretty sure mr. broody couldn't care any less about who cooked. That left the question of what she would do though. Fred had only in the past several months begun to take minimal responsibility for herself. Living at home meant your parents cooked, your mom did the laundrey and everything was kept clean. Things were different when you were out on your own, even if 'out on your own' in this case meant living with a bunch of other people.
"Ditto. I'm not cooking either unless you guys are keen on Mac and Cheese 24/7," Fred quickly added. It seemed only right to put that on the table now.
Jess was looking slightly uncomfortable from his position near the back. "I can cook," he said, stressing the 'can' and making it clear there might be a difference between 'can' and 'would'. It was far from an offer but it was the closest Jess would get. He would never willingly volunteer himself for something but if asked nicely he'd at least consider it. He kept himself from worrying because his unique powers meant that if he was asked directly to do anything he could refuse and that would be the end of it. Saying he could cook had been a grudging acknowledgement of the new Exiles team and it's arrangements. It wasn't exactly a handshake or a vow but it meant that Jess might not stir up any trouble for while...might, especially if left alone as he wanted and not provoked into action.
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
As Nick made his way into what was to be his new home he studied the face of his new team mates and wondered what exactly was needed to qualify for a spot on the Exiles team. Was it that all of these people were misfits, to shy or different to fit in anywhere else? If that was the case he could see where he fitted into the picture… one of the only humans in a school created exclusively for mutants. Not exactly an easy position to be in. And it was easy enough to imagine Fred, who was well… dead being shunned. So maybe this team was simply the schools way of giving a helping hand to those who did not fit in.
Though there was one thing that troubled him. Why put a bunch of social rejects under the leadership of possibly the most prissy little miss cheerleader he had seen in a long while. Surely that only rubbed salt on the wound reminding some of popularity they could never achieve. Personally he was not all that bothered about who did what as long as it was done efficiently.
To his shame however, it seemed that Garnet had in fact been trying to organise the team and explain things pertaining to their new lodgings while he had been lost in his own thoughts. He quickly glanced around to see whether or not his lack of interest had been noted by the others but as it turned out most of them either looked bored or weren’t paying attention to the fire mutant’s speech at all. He half smiled, who could blame them? Introductory speeches were boring at the best of time and if you didn’t really listen to what Garnet was saying you could almost imagine her saying “blah blah blah shoes blah blah blah…”.
"Feel free to have a look around and do not hesitate to ask questions should you have any."
Looking around yes, question no. He decided he was going to use the same rules here as he did when unpacking a new gadget. Turn it on and play with all the button and under no circumstances read the instructions. But it seemed that some of his team mates were a bit more pragmatic than he was and did indeed have some questions they wished to ask.
"Do we have chores? Do we assign cooks? For permanent or selected nights? Right now, I think that’s rather important to discuss, making sure everyone knows what’s going on may help them all settle in."
It was in itself a good question but not one the young Grayson would ever have thought of asking. For up until a few weeks ago he had a butler that took care of those things for him. However even if he did have someone to do it for him he was still quite proficient at chores, for his father had seen to it that he learned these things. Richard Grayson had not been born into a wealthy family and wanted to insure that he passed down more of his heritage to his son that acrobatics.
It seemed however that some of his other team mates had qualms about trying their hands at making a meal for there fellow students. And he was surprised to find that Jess offered the fact that he could cook though it did not look hopeful that he was actually going to use his skills any time soon. As for the girls they seemed appalled at the idea of having to spend any time in the kitchen. And then there was the other guy, the one who still remained nameless but who Nick could guess was probably Max. He just stood there seemingly letting the world wash over him…. Nick sighed, didn’t look like he was going to be of any help either. So the young Robin figured he might as well bite the bullet and get it over with.
“I can cook, though I might be a little rusty. I haven’t had to for a while.”
Re: Exiles Dorm: Déjà-vu (ALL TEAM MEMBERS)
There was but a twitching of an eye that gave away the effect Anna's aggressive comment had on her. Matching tone or not, the content was what dealt the blow. And there was no way she could retaliate without risking to ruin her reputation even more! Had considerations of life's fairness not long since been called cancelled, this would have been just another perfect opportunity for just that. Circe was too busy keeping herself from exploding to have her features enough under control and keep the surprise Frost's sensible question triggered out of her face. It was even more of a disgrace to not be the first one saying something entirely neutral to the other, but she grudgingly had to give the ice-elemental credit for that.
The replies coming from the others gave the fiery mutant some time to regain her composure, and as everybody's focus seemed to have been on Anna, she sincerely hoped nobody had noticed her slip-up. At this point it was actually a relieve to get replies of any kind, even if they were negative ones. To hear two of them actually saying they were able to cook amazed Garnet to no end. That was how low her expectations had already become! At least it gave her the advantage of the pessimists: high chances of encountering a lot of positive surprises.
Nodding at the answers given, she said: "Yes, we will have to split chores and if those able to cook do not mind, I would suggest they take over that part for the time being. Maybe we could form two small groups with one person each showing the others some basics every now and then." Personally, the high society girl had never had the need to prepare food for herself. At home they had a chef de cuisine, here she could simply go to the dining hall, but if she ever wanted to get rid of her spoiled rich girl image, that too had to change. Independence! What followed mirrored those thoughts. "That would ultimately make the task sharing fairer and, well, at some point we will probably all need to be able to do it anyway."
An inconspicuous side glance was directed towards Racheal. Her brusque reaction had reminded Exiles' leader of several occasions when it had become obvious the feral preferred to stay as far away from any form of fire as she could, and it was this that made her add: "Whoever is up for it, that is... otherwise there are plenty of other things that need doing." Aurora hoped that had been diplomatic enough, but knowing people's attitude she of course couldn't be all too sure of that. "The common rooms have to be cleaned every now and then. Everybody is of course responsible for their own rooms; it is your decision how tidy they will be, but I would like people to be able to walk in them without risking choking or getting lost, please." Trying for a more light-hearted tone there, Garnet considered that topic covered, unless people felt the need to comment on it. The Exiles had that tendency of throwing in some words sideways just when you thought you were done with discussing something – though in this particular case there hadn't been much talk about the subject yet so it'd actually just be fair to give them the opportunity to do just that.
"Any comments on that, or other questions?" she asked, looking around once again. "We can always discuss the details after everybody has moved in... that would be more comfortable than doing it standing in the hallway anyway." How exactly this experiment of living together would work out, the ebony-haired girl could not dare to guess, but maybe they would be able to find an arrangement that didn't make them all go insane after a week. That would have been of advantage, really.
For everyone comes the time when they have to take over responsibility. It stands to argue whether there is also a time when they can get rid of it again.
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