Laundry time

[Animaux]

Cal, full from a pasta dinner and with nothing better to do with her evening, had finished up her laundry. She hauled the basket down the hallway of the girls' dormitory until she got to her room, second from the end.

Animaux had a single room, not because of any particular anti-social tendencies, but rather because she needed a large bed; she had a problem with shapeshifting during dreams, which Xavier had promised to help her overcome. But that was... well, it wasn't a long time ago, but it FELT like a long time. Cal hadn't worked on honing her powers for a few weeks now. Nor had she been good about attending classes. Truthfully, she had rather faded into the background.

She left the door open, feeling slightly lonely, although she wasn't actually sure what she would say if someone walked by and visited her. She dumped her laundry on the bed, leapt up next to it and began to sort through.


[OOC: La la, not sure what to do... anyone's free to say hello... la la...]

[haxxor]

"This is so not the main office," Sam muttered to herself for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

She'd gotten to and out of the city fine. The train station in Westchester was small, but quaint; she'd had dinner there, buying an overpriced ham sandwich with some of her meager funds and finishing off the chips she'd bought on the bus ride from Ohio in the cab to the mansion. She'd paid the guy and everything and started up the walk, but as soon as she'd gotten into the actual mansion - which didn't appear to actually have anyone in it, or at least in the entrance hall, though that might've been the hour; it was almost ten at night, and everyone would probably be either out on the town or flopping around the cozy student lounges pictured in the brochure.

But there had been a very imposing staircase, and maybe the offices were on the next level up. It was a good a try as anything else, so Sam hauled her ancient American Tourister suitcase up the stairs, panted and puffed at the first landing, and then hauled it the rest of the way up to the second level.

There were no offices. What there was was a lot of doors, spaced evenly apart, with nameplates on them. Dorms. Boys' dorms, by the look of the names.

"Christ," Sam muttered and tried to follow the humming noise that was probably an elevator to its source, but she couldn't find it, only a cylindrical bump of wood paneling and a door to more stairs, these remarkably less glamorous than the massive staircase she'd originally found. And, even better, when she tried to return to it, Sam found that she'd rounded too many corners and now had absolutely no clue where she was. But how much junk could there be on the first floor, anyway?

She took the cement stairs next to the bump down, but something seemed off about the distance between the flights. Something was, in fact, off, she realized, when she emerged into a gleaming white-and-blue hallway with no windows - she must be underground. It was all very scientific, but... it wasn't the main office, either.

Thankfully, this floor had an elevator, and when she pushed the single button the door opened with a satisfying whoosh, but as soon as she stepped in it closed and started moving up - she had no idea which button she'd pressed on the way in, but it seemed to know where it was going, and she wasn't about to argue with it.

It reopened... on the dorm floor. But this wasn't the dorm floor she remembered. For one thing, it smelled entirely too clean to be a boys' dorm, and for another, when she checked, the names on the shiny nameplates were different - girls' names. A girls' dorm. Now she really had no idea where she was.

But one of the doors was open, so Sam steeled herself and dragged the suitcase further down the hallway to the room, peering in at... bum bum bum, some random chick doing laundry.

"Hey," she said. "You know where the office is? I'm totally lost."

[Animaux]

Cal looked up from her pile of pants to see a strange dark-haired girl with a suitcase in her doorway.

Her first thought was Holy crap, she's shorter than I am.

Possibly unfortunately, the "Holy crap!" part came out of her mouth.

"Uh, I mean... it's late, you're new, eh?" She hopped off the bed with a strangely monkey-like movement, and came towards the door. "It's late to be new, I mean.

"And that depends on what office you're looking for. Not that it matters," she frowned and shook her head slightly, quickly - "office hours are long over. You need to see Storm I'd gather, have you seen Storm yet?

"Wait who are you?" Her confusion and lack of social skills were both coming very clear.


[OOC: Nice timing actually, this will perfectly take place after the conversation that Storm's currently starting on with Forge... ah managing RP timelines ; ).]

[haxxor]

[OOC: God, I hate messing with time. It weirds me out not to have a "it's this week" thing at the top of the board. And isn't it sometime in April? This is weird. BLAH!]

"Holy crap!"

...

Okay then.

"Uh, I mean... it's late, you're new, eh?"

"Yes," Sam said slowly. The girl jumped off the bed with an animalistic spring and precision, and Sam resisted the urge to back up a step. She was not intimidated by these people. "Yes, it is late, I am new... eh."

"It's late to be new, I mean."

"Oh, yeah," Sam said, back on a normal subject. "The bus to the city didn't get in 'til late and then the train took, like, forever, and then I had to get a cab. Public transit blows."

"And that depends on what office you're looking for. Not that it matters, office hours are long over. You need to see Storm I'd gather, have you seen Storm yet?"

Well, crap. If office hours were over, how was she supposed to get signed in or anything? "My mom said she called ahead," Sam said, no longer sure that this was actually the case. It would be like her mom to just not call and hope that the inconvenience was enough to bring her youngest home. "But no, I haven't seen... Storm."

Did these people not have names? Names that weren't freaking battle codes?

"Wait who are you?"

God, this place was already a nightmare. Looked like escaping from the public school system didn't mean she was going to avoid the retards of the world for any longer. "I'm Sam Meyers," she said. "New kid, remember? Like you just said?"

[Animaux]

"Public transit sucks, yeah. I prefer to run everywhere."

"Your mum called ahead? I wouldn't know about that, but Storm is who you need to see. Ms. Munroe, she's the headmistress I guess. No worries about office hours or anything, we all live here together, I'm sure she's around someplace." Cal smiled; she was feeling rather friendly at this point, one of her moods. Perhaps tonight she was channeling a puppy. "Stash your stuff here and we'll have a look."

She barrelled on, regardless of the newcomer's attitude. "Yeah, new, but your name. Nice to meet you Sam, I'm Cal." She started to lean in to sniff the other girl, but remembered just in time and put out a hand.


[OOC: Oh yeah, good idea. Mention it to RogueMarie... we had that thread on time a while back but it'd be nice to have it up top. Truthfully I find like, hours and minutes more confusing, heh. Poor Storm has like twenty people to talk to tonight because we keep getting new applications! No offense though, I'm sure she'll squeeze Sam in ; ).]

[haxxor]

"Public transit sucks, yeah. I prefer to run everywhere."

Um.

"Your mum called ahead? I wouldn't know about that, but Storm is who you need to see. Ms. Munroe, she's the headmistress I guess. No worries about office hours or anything, we all live here together, I'm sure she's around someplace."

"'Kay," Sam said. Must be whoever'd taken over after Charles Xavier bit the big one.

"Stash your stuff here and we'll have a look."

Sam dropped her suitcase on the girl's floor, just inside the door, hoping no one would steal it. You never knew, really. "Thanks," she said anyway.

"Yeah, new, but your name. Nice to meet you Sam, I'm Cal."

Cal started to lean in and Sam automatically backed off, giving her the crazy eye. "Nice to meet you too," she said, trying not to antagonize anyone who might potentially, like, jump on her and do something drastic. "Which way to Ms. Munroe?"

[Animaux]

Cal was completely oblivious to the fact that the new girl thought she was crazy. She figured Sam didn't shake her hand because she was busy with the suitcase.

She put her hand down and took a subtle sniff anyway as she stepped into the hall next to Sam and closed the door. "Your stuff'll be safe, I dunno anyone to steal around here and we definitely don't go uninvited into each other's rooms. You never know when someone will be like... spitting poison or something, eh?"

Cal was getting into this whole tour-guide idea now, and she began to trot down the hall enthusiastically. "I don't know where Ms. Munroe is right now, but she'll probably be somewhere in the common areas, and if not we can go up to her rooms, last resort. If someone new comes she needs to know about it. But she's nice, not in a bad way."

"So," she continued cheerfully, "What do YOU do? That's the best part of meeting people around here." If she had had a tail it would have been wagging.

[haxxor]

Cal joined her in the hallway and, call her crazy, Sam could've sworn she just got sniffed. Ew. So weird.

"Your stuff'll be safe, I dunno anyone to steal around here and we definitely don't go uninvited into each other's rooms. You never know when someone will be like... spitting poison or something, eh?"

"Charming," Sam said, following Cal down the hallway. "It better not get stolen."

"I don't know where Ms. Munroe is right now, but she'll probably be somewhere in the common areas, and if not we can go up to her rooms, last resort. If someone new comes she needs to know about it. But she's nice, not in a bad way."

"You can be nice in a bad way?" Sam asked, quite lost by now, and not in the comforting we-can-find-a-way-out-of-this way she'd been before.

"So, what do YOU do? That's the best part of meeting people around here."

There we go. At least now Sam actually knew what she was talking about. And wasn't being sniffed. "I control bioelectricity," Sam said with no little pride. "Power produced by the brain. I can heal and stuff, and I make little spark thingies."

Okay, so it wasn't impressive as some of the stuff she'd seen on the news, but seriously - how many other kids at the Institute could say Don't mess with me, I can stop your heart with a thought?

"What do you do?" she asked, filing away the threat for future intimidation.

[Animaux]

"No, no, she needs to know about newcomers, but not in a bad way. She's nice. Did I say that?" Cal stopped, confusedly, and cocked her head, before continuing on.

"Bioelectricity! Very fancy, eh? Wow, healing... that's a nice one. You'll have to meet Wolverine. And little spark thingies sound exciting. Like fireworks? Or wintergreen?"

Cal grinned at the return question, and stuck her tongue out almost like a panting dog. "Oh I can turn into any animal you could think of. I'd say try me but I end up naked when I change back, so that's for another day, eh?"

She turned a corner and started down a flight of stairs. "First floor's mostly common, we'll check out the den and kitchen."

[haxxor]

"No, no, she needs to know about newcomers, but not in a bad way. She's nice. Did I say that?"

"Okay, yeah, whatever," Sam said, feeling it was best laid by the wayside. Apparently Ms. "Storm" Munroe was nice, which was all that counted.

"Bioelectricity! Very fancy, eh? Wow, healing... that's a nice one. You'll have to meet Wolverine. And little spark thingies sound exciting. Like fireworks? Or wintergreen?"

Sam didn't quite want to know anyone called "Wolverine," especially not since she'd seen someone fairly animalistic on TV stabbing people with gigantic claws (and really bad hair). "Closer to the gum than fireworks," Sam said, considering. "But bigger. Than gum, not fireworks. I don't know. It's tough to explain."

At least when you didn't have many years' grounding in science, like Sam did, and couldn't understand when she started rattling off complicated words full of latin prefixes.

"Oh I can turn into any animal you could think of. I'd say try me but I end up naked when I change back, so that's for another day, eh?"

"Another century," Sam said. No wonder the girl was kind of freaky. At least it made the sniffing thing more understandable, if not less creepy.

"First floor's mostly common, we'll check out the den and kitchen."

Ooh, kitchen. For someone as small as she was, Sam had a voracious appetite; she always hoped it meant that she was growing into a growth spurt, but had come to accept that she just needed more fuel to keep her overclocked metabolism happy. "Do I get a room at any point?" Sam asked. "So I don't have to keep leaving my junk in yours and stuff."

[Animaux]

"Great," Cal said enthusiastically at the discussion of sparks, "I'd love to see that sometime. I like shiny things."

She cocked her head again and looked baffled. "What is it with humans and naked? Ms. Munroe says people didn't like it when she got naked either. I don't understand that, I mean we all know what's underneath our clothes, don't we?"

By this time she was trit-trotting down the stairs. But as she turned the corner at the bottom of the stairwell, she ran smack into Ms. Munroe herself.

She hopped to the side with a wide-eyed look. "Oh hullo, eh?"

[Storm]

'Ms. Munroe' suppressed a smile and looked at Cal with mock sternness. "Are you telling indecent stories about me again, Cal?" She reached out to lightly stroke the much shorter girl's blonde hair, before turning to the unfamiliar face.

"Well hello. The mansion is full of newcomers tonight. I see you met Animaux; was she planning on taking you to an authority figure at any point?" She gave the dark-haired girl a wry look.

[haxxor]

"Great. I'd love to see that sometime. I like shiny things."

"Uh-huh," Sam said, backing up a little to widen the distance between herself and the other girl as they walked (or, in the other's case, trotted) down the hallway.

"What is it with humans and naked? Ms. Munroe says people didn't like it when she got naked either. I don't understand that, I mean we all know what's underneath our clothes, don't we?"

"Doesn't mean I want to see it," Sam said. "You've obviously never seen a nude beach in old, hairy man season."

At home, sometimes the Meyers had driven up to Columbus and the dam that served the river. There was a long sandy stretch that everyone called 'the beach,' simply because the other closest beach was on a lake made of glacier water and bordered Canada. And there had been a nude section.

A section in which it was always old, hairy man season, even, probably, in the dead of winter. Their co-avoidance of the beach was one of the few times Sam had ever talked Joy into coming into a comic book store with her.

Lost in thought, Sam barely noticed when Cal smacked into someone else around a corner, though she did manage to stop before making the fender-bender into a three-car pileup. Apparently they'd managed to smack into someone over eighteen, which was an improvement - maybe Ms. Tall, Dark and Multicultural would know where Ms. Munroe was.

"Are you telling indecent stories about me again, Cal?"

How many naked-lovers WERE there in the mansion? Sam was going to turn off her optic nerves if this got any worse.

"Well hello. The mansion is full of newcomers tonight. I see you met Animaux; was she planning on taking you to an authority figure at any point?"

"No clue," Sam said cheerfully. "Are you an authority figure? Because apparently I'm supposed to talk to Ms. Munroe and get everything settled. I'm not sure my mom even called ahead, so yeah."

[Animaux]

Cal looked sheepish; at least, as sheepish as she could look without actually turning into a sheep.

She nudged Sam and whispered "This IS Ms Munroe." And turning to Storm, she coughed and smiled and said "Uh good evening, sorry I bumped into you, this is Sam. Sam.... Mayyy...er."

[Storm]

Storm looked at the newcomer, concerned. "No, no one called ahead. I am indeed an authority figure, if you want to put it that way." She gave Cal another amused look and put out a hand. "Sam, it's nice to meet you. I'm Ororo Munroe, I'm the headmistress here at Xavier's."

"I was just heading over to my office, but I can take a moment. Why don't we find you a room? It's late and I'm sure you'd like a place to sleep tonight."

[haxxor]

Sam felt a prod in her side and instinctively raised a hand annoyedly to shove the finger away, but remembered before she followed through.

"This IS Ms Munroe."

"Oh," Sam whispered back and tried not to look too delinquent-ish.

"Uh good evening, sorry I bumped into you, this is Sam. Sam.... Mayyy...er."

"Meyers," Sam clarified. She rolled her eyes when Ms. Munroe mentioned that no one had actually called - she knew it. Well, whatever. Sam would be placing a call herself later. Probably a very angry call...

"I was just heading up to my office, but on the way why don't we find you a room. It's late and I'm sure you'd like a place to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, actually," Sam said, still mildly irate, though at her parents now rather than at anyone actually in a reasonable distance. "Sorry about that, my mom's kind of... strange... where's your office? I'm totally lost. Still."

[Storm]

"It's nice to meet you, Sam." Ororo smiled, but noted the girl's unhappiness. Family problems, it seemed. It would be interesting, as always, to find out her story. But that was for another time.

[OOC: I edited my last post now that we've decided where the offices are, haha.]

"My office is in the other wing of the building, on the first floor, but I can take a moment for you. Come on back upstairs." With light steps, Ororo began to ascend the staircase.

She chatted on the way. "So Sam, welcome. What brings you here? And something we should know before putting you in a room -" she smiled and caught Cal's eye for a moment, as if powers were some great secret, before turning back to Sam - "what are your abilities?"

[haxxor]

Sam nodded vaguely to the introduction. She always hated that part. She so rarely actually was pleased to meet anyone; she'd had a friend that ranted incessantly on the insidious lies of American society and had made her rethink all the nice-to-meet-yous and such that people used without thought.

"My office is in the other wing of the building, on the first floor, but I can take a moment for you. Come on back upstairs."

Sam followed her up the stairs, wondering how she'd dropped back down.

"So Sam, welcome. What brings you here? And something we should know before putting you in a room - what are your abilities?"

Sam caught the little glance and felt a little excited again, her spirits reviving after being dampened by the huge quantity of public transit, the confusing building, and crazy animal girls.

"Bioelectricity," she said simply - she hated explaining her power, though she was proud of it; it always took too long to set up. "It's what runs the body. I can control it, which I guess technically just means I can control the body. I heal and stuff, and I can make little balls of it, and I... spark, I guess, when I get mad. But sometimes, if I get really scared or just really out of control, I can do regular electricity too. Sort of. It hurts. You might not want to put me too close to any power lines or a life support system or anything, but anything I short out I can put back together, so don't worry about that. And someplace with a fire extinguisher."

No one ever thought about electrical fires. Faulty wiring could be as dangerous as grease fires in kitchens or traditional fires of wood or paper; and around Sam, there tended to be a few power surges every now and then. Not that she couldn't fix them, but if she had a nightmare and didn't wake up soon enough and the room started burning, people could asphyxiate.

[Storm]

Ororo stopped at the entrance to the section of dorms from which Cal and Sam had just come. She thought for a moment as Sam spoke, and nodded slowly at the mention of a fire extinguisher.

"So I gather you would rather have a single than share with a roommate?" She led the way down the hall to a doorway near Cal's. Fishing a set of keys out of her pocket, she unlocked the door and opened it. There was a single twin bed, complete with sheets, a desk with a lamp, and a rug on the floor. A window looked out onto the basketball court.

"Would this suit you, Sam?" She looked at the petite girl intently.

[haxxor]

The fire extinguisher request had gone without even a look askance; well, here, they must be used to it. The people at the church camps she'd gone to every summer of her life had always just thought she was paranoid and had tried to pray it out of her.

"So I gather you would rather have a single than share with a roommate?"

"Not unless they're made of Teflon," Sam said. It was a good excuse for wanting to be alone. Sam wasn't the human race's biggest fan to begin with, and sharing a room at home with three sisters had not endeared her to group living.

They walked back up a little towards Cal's room and Ms. Munroe pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked a door, pushing it open. It looked strangely like a high-end hotel room, but without the ice bucket and sanitary glasses.

"Would this suit you, Sam?"

"Sure," she said, peering into the room, one hand braced on the doorframe. "This place is nice."