[IC] X-Men: The New Era

[PapaOso]

The Ashford Institute for the Gifted: Day 1

Perhaps you’ve truly never had a home to begin with or maybe you were fortunate enough to have loving parents, friends, a lover, a life before you became one of the “Gifted”. Whatever came before is the past and now you are part of the future; the next step in human evolution. Mutant. That is what they call you, and the Ashford Institute for the Gifted is a place where your kind can live without fear of the world rejecting you. It is a place where you will be protected and taught ways to control your gift, or curse depending on personal preference. You have been accepted into this academy, which you have learned to be the sister school to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters; the home of the X-Men. By you having been selected to come to this institute to train your powers, learn what it means to be a mutant, and to be accepted by others like you, your old life is over and a new one has begun; potentially the life of a future among the X-Men yourself. Are you ready?

You’ve been at the institute now for a couple of weeks. Mostly you’re time has been taken up by medical exams, physicals, tours, introductions, and the Institute’s two week long orientation. Now that all of those things have wrapped up it’s time for your journey here to truly begin. Today is a big day; it’s the first day of the Academy and last night after the final day of orientation you returned to your room to find an envelope on your pillow adorned with an old fashioned, beautiful wax seal bearing the Ashford crest. Inside was a letter typed on fine paper explaining that you had been hand selected by Malcolm Ashford himself for a special project that would begin with a meeting bright and early in the morning at 7:00 am. The meeting was being held in the faculty conference room but no other instructions or details were given. What does the future hold here at your new home? Will you fit in? Will you truly become one of the X-Men? Only you can write that story...but that story begins today.

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Nathan's hand hovered over the power switch of his alarm clock for a moment before switching it off. As far as he could tell he had gotten less than three hours of sleep and had awoken long before his 6:30 am alarm. He had simply stared into the pitch black of his room, listening to breaths and occasional movements of his roommate. His tenure here marked the first time that he had ever had to share a room with anyone and that alone would take some getting used to. Justin seemed like a decent human being; enthusiastic and hopeful in ways Nathan had never known, but like an alright guy at the least and that was a good enough start. The first couple weeks here at the Academy had flown by, and Nathan was very much out of his comfort zone. Meeting new people...new “mutants”, and all of the activities and nuances that came with being in a place like this had been more than a little overwhelming for him but he was doing his best to adapt...though he feared even his best might not be good enough.

As he got out of bed and prepared for what was in store for him today he thought of his time here so far. He hadn’t made any friends, hadn’t really talked to anyone other than when he had to, and other than his roommate, who he’s only seen for maybe a few minutes a day other than at orientation or when they’re sleeping, he doesn’t really even know anyone's names or anything about them. He knew that this would have to change, that he would have to change; that he couldn’t fall back on old habits and the isolation of his life before this that though lonely was a comfortable place to be. It was a new start; a fresh start, and hopefully it would be the beginning of good things to come.

The outside air was brisk and almost winter like as he walked towards the massive mansion that was the Academy building. The sun hadn't even truly begun to rise and he saw no one else wandering around at this time. His was early by more than a half an hour, not due to vigilance or excitement even but rather simply because he had grown tired of staring at the dark ceiling above his bed and waiting for the inevitable beeping of his alarm clock. So, early was fine, and even though he had killed some time by relaxing in the hot shower it hadn't been enough to change just how early he was walking into this building. He didn't even know if it was going to be unlocked as he reached his hand up to place his palm on the door scanner. “Good morning Nathaniel”. A robotic voice spoke out to him from the small speaker box at the bottom of the scanner as he heard the clicking of the door unlocking and watched as it began to open for him. He walked inside and towards where he remembered the conference room to be. It took him awhile but after finding it he stepped inside to find that he was alone in a room with a single, long table in the middle with very comfortable looking chairs. The walls that surrounded him him were covered in large mirror panels that immediately made him uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath he stepped over to take a seat in one of the dozen or so chairs around this massive table and waited for a bit before pulling out his phone to kill the time.

[Xandrya]

Lily's alarm went off at 6:20. The phone was right underneath her pillow, and she rushed to turn off the alarm before awaking Natalie. Not that it made much sense since they both had the mysterious meeting at 7 o'clock, but nonetheless, she preferred if the girl got up on her own terms and at her own pace. Lily lay in bed for about a minute or two before getting up and quietly tiptoeing to her desk. Knowing full well in advance that it'd be an early morning, Lily had left out the clothes she'd be wearing that day so that she didn't have to make too much noise. She might as well be dubbed the best roommate in the entire school, but that's because she's never shared a room with anyone and didn't have to worry about someone else sharing such a small and intimate space with her. After she was dressed, Amy grabbed her bag and put the necessary toiletries inside along with some materials she thought would be useful for the day. She wouldn't return to the room after getting ready, and that would give Natalie the privacy she more than likely wanted.

Quietly closing the door behind her, Lily walked to the girl's bathroom. She found she wasn't alone when she got there, and quietly said good morning to one of the other girls whose name she hadn't quite remembered. She reached inside her bag and started brushing her hair, watching her reflection in the mirror as she once more thought what the meeting would be about. Lily then brushed her teeth for a couple of minutes and put on some deodorant. She wasn't feeling particularly hungry, and she decided that she would skip breakfast for now.

After she returned all her belongings back to the bag, she left the bathroom and headed towards the conference room. Lily put in her headphones and listened to her music as she made the 3 or 4 minute walk to her destination. Once she arrived, she noticed one of the taller guys from orientation was already there. The room was empty save for him.

"Guess we're the early birds, huh?" she smiled, taking off her headphones and taking a spot directly across from her classmate.

@ShieldsOfWar

[Greezfhang]

Must have been about 6:40 when Markus started to get ready to head towards the conference room. He was actually up since about 6:20 just taking time getting ready. In no rush, a quick bite was grabbed to eat on the go. So when entered the conference room around a quarter to 7, a breakfast bar was being chewed on. No attempt was done to say morning or even greet any that might have been in the room already. A chair was just found and fallen back into as face said it all. Markus was still tired from not being used to such early mornings. Due to not knowing the meaning behind the meeting, the trench coat and wide brimmed hat were worn in case they traveled off property. Said hat getting lowered to both hide face and keep light out of eyes.

[Silver Carrot]

Natalie's response to being woken was to stir, murmur, and then slip a hand out from under her sheets and give a thumbs up to Lily, before seemingly going back to sleep. In truth, she was just dozing, and waiting for Lily to leave the room before she made her preparations. Natalie had never been a particularly private person in the past, but there was just something about a roommate who could see through your clothes if they so wished. I mean, you know she's not actually going to, but the paranoia's still there, festering and pestering.

Once she heard the door shut, Natalie got up, stretched and yawned, then noisily looked around in all her draws for something to wear. There was still a chill in the morning air, so maybe something long-sleeved. She went with a black cardigan and a red scarf around her neck. She didn't bother with toiletries besides deodorant, so her trip to the bathroom was brief. She would brush her teeth and put on her makeup after breakfast.

As she headed out of her dorm and towards the conference room, Natalie started to muse of the mean that both she and Lily were chosen for a special meeting. She knew it couldn't realistically be, but there was a tiny, childlike part of her that wondered if they were being recruited for the X-Men. The group had become heroes and figure of legend to Natalie since she'd heard of them, and to be added to their ranks would be a dream come true!

After entering the room via a handprint lock that she still couldn't get over how cool it was, or how she'd accidentally broken one on her first day by trying to open the door normally. That was embarrassing...

The room was pretty empty at the moment, but that was understandable given how early they were. Lily was already here, of course, as were that mutant who wore a trenchcoat and hat quite often, and another one who Natalie didn't recognise. She waved at them all, before sitting down.

"So, anyone have any guesses as to what they called us here for?" she asked, curious to see if the two boys shared her ideas about it being for the X-Men. She already knew Lily had her doubts. That of she was just trying to stop Natalie chattering like an excited child and go to sleep.

[Burning Kitty]

Temperance or Scarlett woke up and slithered out of the bed the clingy sheets hugged her like a skin tight dress. She peeled the sheet off and threw it to the side. She walked to her dresser and grabbed some stockings. After putting them on she proceeded to her closet to put on a black leather corset, skirt, and a biker jacket. She went to her collection of shoes and decided on some ankle boots. She grabbed an apple and banana out of a basket in the window. She was nearly out the door when she remembered she forgot something. She walked back to her dresser and sprayed some perfume into the air and walked into it, making sure her eyes and mouth were closed. She grabbed her purse and proceeded to the conference room. Before getting to the conference room she pulled out her AirPods and proceeded to listen to Christian Rap & Christian Hip Hop. Once in the conference room she waived to the occupants and sit the farthest away from them she could.

Before this "gift" she would have been right in the middle now she sits as far away as possible. She also puts up a barrier of superiority, snobbishness, and arrogance to push people away, for their sake. She was glad she could be herself around her roommate her gift prevented direct skin contact, it still felt like skin to Temperance.

In a seat in the corner of the room Temperance looked out a window watching others having fun and even a couple kissing, she missed that the most. When she couldn't watch anymore she pulled out her compact and put on Scarlett red lipstick, the source of her nickname which combined with her last name reminded people of the fictional character Scarlett O'Hara. Once she finished with her lipstick she put her gloves on, they were designed to still allow interaction with her iPhone.

[PapaOso]

"Guess we're the early birds, huh?" Nathan looked up to see a short, brunette pulling her headphones off as she asked him the question. She looked a few years younger than him, and he recognized her from orientation but couldn't remember her name. He realized that longer than a second had gone by since she asked her question and quickly forced a smile in hopes of not seeming awkward as he thought of how to respond.

"You know what they say...the early bird gets the worm." Inside he cursed himself for not thinking of something better than that stupid, age old saying. It was corny and in hindsight he wished he had said something else but he took peace in the fact that at the very least it made sense. Sometimes when caught off guard he had trouble formulating words and a variety of awkward or embarrassing incidents had occurred throughout his life. So, a cheesy response to her question wasn't ideal, but it was a little better than other possibilities and so he was going to take it as a victory.

Before the young woman could respond others began to file into the room. He recognized them all as they entered but for the life of him couldn't remember a single person's name.

[SirSqueakalot91]

Justin had made himself at home in the school, and even liked his roommate. Justin kept doing his podcast, usually during the day so that he won't wake his roommate.

The past two weeks have been spent meeting the teachers, which lead to a slightly awkward, and flirty, moment with Tabby, who he had believed to be another student. After that, he explored the school more, and when he walked in and found the note on his bed, he was incredibly curious about the meeting.

He awoke about 6:45 the next morning, and quickly got dress. He made his way to the conference room and found the doors. He stopped before he opened the door, and idea forming in his head. He grabbed his phone and turned on his music, turning the volume all the way up.

The Song

m.youtube.com/watch?v=-H5LSk-pYtI

Anyone in the room could hear some woman talking, "quiet on the set", followed by the sounds of cameras. Then, someone shouted, "Awesome!", and Justin pushed the doors open, trying to make an entrance. He looked around the room and smiled as he turned the music off.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen." He said and found a chair, sitting down. "Now, I am sure you are all wondering why I have gathered you here today." He was clearly joking, trying to lighten the mood.

[Greezfhang]

Markus barely lifted the rim of hat to check each time heard the door opening. The heavy built male still remaining silent for the moment. Only if greeted directly did he at least give a tip of hat. Attention had shifted to door as heard a ruckus on other side. Upon seeing who was on the other side, a scuff was done to self. One booted foot pulled nearest chair closer and planted both back of heals on the seat. For one reason, not allow any to sit next to him.

[Xandrya]

"You know, that's just exactly what we were wondering..." Lily replied with a smile, rotating her chair around to face Justin, "care to enlighten us?"

She had remembered Justin's name from orientation, mainly after she developed a small crush on him, but as always, she avoided to go forward with the first move. Instead, she resorted to casual flirting and only hoped for the best. Apparently that had worked on her ex-boyfriend, Lucas, and she figured there wouldn't be any harm in trying again.

"But, we should actually get our answer anytime now..." she said to herself, turning back around to face the big, oval table. Realizing she was just now becoming hungry, Lily searched inside her bag for a breakfast bar. She found one of her favorites, the strawberries and cream-flavored kind, and eagerly opened the wrapper to take a bite.

[WanderingSpirit]

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Elijah's bed had already been empty before the morning sun had risen up, an hour before six am, he was already awake as he tossed over some clothing that would be suitable for the morning chill as he left his room as he took the chance to explore the campus. From his dark room into the hallway, he made his away outside where he would be given the ample time to think about what was going on around here. Moving through the silence of the morning, where even the wildlife still seemed to be asleep, he made his rounds around the school and wherever else interested him. Occasionally his phone came into his hands as he snapped a picture of something before continuing on as the morning's cold seemed to not be letting up anytime soon as the hour passed by.

By the time he was finally done and finally making his way back to his dorm, he was a bit sweatier when he left when he found the school's track which was perfect for mindless thinking without getting hurt. His body was a bit out of the loop for his standards, but it would be easier with the facilities on campus would be hopefully fine to be used recreationally for anyone. It had munched on his time much more than he though as he came back to his dorm room five minutes before 6 am as he needed to freshen up for the day ahead since he glossed over that when he first got up.

Leaving the shower and getting himself ready, when he opened the bathroom door the steam trapped in the room seemed to spill out visibly into the cold air of the morning. It was 6:10 by the time he had gotten out as his hair was still wet as he tried to dry some more before began putting on his shoes on again. He walked into the bathroom again as he fixed himself out as he gave himself a small confident spin with a grin as he brought the towel to his hair again in a futile attempt to dry his hair once again. Sighing as he gave up his attempt as he figured it was the driest it was going to be, for now, he laid back on his bed as he began scrolling through his phone. 'Still have 30 more minutes before I really have to worry about anything, I'll make it don't worry' He nonchalantly thought to himself mentally as he looked at the digital clock on his phone and felt his hair before going back to scrolling through the various apps he had on his phone. Eventually, the headphones came out as he began to pull up one of the various playlists he had and began to pass time with that.

Current Track:

Song

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[SirSqueakalot91]

"Well, I figured I would call this meeting so that we could name our team. I was thinking about the League of Justice or something like that." Justin said, clearly joking. "But, since we do have some time to kill, anyone wanna play show and tell?" He asked and stood up, pulling out a pipe that was strapped to his leg.

"Hello everyone, my name Justin, and I'm a alcoholic." He joked as he held the pipe out some. "Ya'll may wanna back up." He chuckled, and once everyone made room, a flame shot out of the pipe, in the shape of a katana blade. "So, I can make flame constructs. Right now, only basic weapons and armor, but maybe more later on." He said, clearly enjoying showing off some.

The flame died down, and he put the pipe down, then held up his arm. Flames formed around his arm, in the shape of knight's armor. "It's pretty cool, unless you come from a racist town down south." He said, putting on a horrible southern accent as he spoke. The flames died down again, and he sat back down in the chair. "Next?"

[Heathen]

Danny Green

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Danny's eyes opened as his alarm from his phone awoke him from his peaceful slumber. His sight was a bit blurry before his pupils adjusted to the dark room. He reached over to his nightstand and picked up his phone, turning the alarm off and reading the time. 6:15. The red haired boy rubbed his eyes as he opened his phone to see if he had any missed messages from his friends or family. Not that there would be seeing as he stayed up all night talking to them on FaceTime. He would normally be up at around 5 in the morning for his daily walk to appreciate his love for nature, but with him being away from his loved ones he decided to put that on hold for just one day. The boy had been homeschooled most of his life and thought his first day of high school was weird. However, being away from his family all together living in a huge mansion was way out of his comfort zone and something that would take getting used to. Danny knew this would be best for him and his abilities if he didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone again. Which was odd to think about given his power seemed quite passive. He never thought in a million years he would be living in a place that would train you on how to use your superpowers. Stuff like that only happened in comic books. But alas, here he was laying in his bed, pinching himself to reassure himself that this was very real. He turned over on his side and noticed his roommate was already awake and ready for the day.

"Oh," he said a little startled. "Good morning." Danny cleared his throat and reached for his water he kept beside his phone. He caught a glimpse of his arm which was green as a plant like the rest of his body at the moment. Being asleep for 8 plus hours indoors with no water caused the side affect of his ability to kick in. As the water started to swirl down his throat, his natural color immediately came back to his skin which he hoped didn't freak out his roommate. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Being indoors with no sun or water for a long time will do this to me."

He proceeded to slide his feet into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He had taken a shower the night before fearing he would be late for their little meeting at 7 if he had taken it in the morning. After getting refreshed, he headed back into the bedroom to get out of his sleeping clothes and get into something more day appropriate. Something comfortable and casual was what he was aiming for. Danny decided to throw on a plain green v-neck and some skinny jeans. He always had to wear something green, ironically. He slipped into some black vans and went back to the bathroom to fix his red mop bed head he had for hair at the moment. And it wasn't just red. It was a bright phoenix red. The type of red that looked unnatural and dyed which people still questioned him about whether it was real or not. After a few minutes of wetting, blow drying, and styling he went into the room to collect a few of his belongings.

"I'm gonna go ahead and start heading out," he said to his roommate in his usual soft spoken voice. Quietly, he exited the room and proceeded to make his way to the conference room. He breathed deeply, inhaling the cool crisp morning air into his lungs. He tried to tell himself it wouldn't be so bad being here. As Danny walked by a dying shrub, his powers unconsciously kicked in causing the plant to sprout back to life looking healthy and green. A few flowers even emerged from it. This happened from time to time when he was in a good mood. After checking in at the automated box, he joined the others who had already arrived. He sat himself down at one of that chairs, quietly saying "good morning" to everyone.

[Greezfhang]

A hand raised to the hat rim to raise it up from face enough to look over towards Justin as heard alcoholic mentioned even if jokingly. This movement gave plenty of light to shine on face to show off full hairy face. And not simply a beard. Since it coated all space besides around eyes and mouth. "A bit of a show off aren't you? Unlike you, I can not just show it off since it's unseen. But if wanted to, everyone, or nearly everyone, might be terrified with shaking knees and crying for their mommy." The hand lowered the hat rim back down as returned to relax in the chair. Feet still propped up on the second one. "So, easy to say. I am not even sure what exactly my 'gift' is due to all know is can effect any nearby. More so if I get very pissed off."

[Burning Kitty]

Temperance stood up. "Which 'gift' would like to see my natural gift of murder and power & memory theft or the gifts of flight and superhuman durability I took from an ISIS terrorist that died in the process?"

She sat back down

[WanderingSpirit]

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Elijah's eyes peered up from his phone as he saw movement in the other bed that his roommate was sleeping in as the alarm from their phone broke the silence of the room. Watching them from the other side of the room, he watched them as they picked their phone and turn off the alarm before looking through its content for a bit, wondering what they were looking at. His roommate then finally turned and adjusted themselves around before finally seeing him, as he gave a small smile to them "Morning" he said to the other before they took a moment to observe himself before fixing it. Grinning even more at the event as he gave a small laugh, taking off his earphones when they apologized for their situation "It's all good, don't worry about it. It's why we are here right?" He said to them as they continued on with their own morning routine which he watched as he connected the four green squares on the scene of his phone before the column fell down with more candy-like shapes to match.

It didn't seem like his roommate was going to take a shower, which he wouldn't put it against him since they did take one last night but he shrugged it off as a difference in habits. Taking a note of the time as his roommate got himself ready, he concluded that he might as finish up as well since his hair wasn't going to dry anytime soon in the cold morning. Letting his eyes occasionally drift from his phone to what the redhead was doing in the room before returning back to whatever he was doing as he waited. Eventually, they picked up their belongings and announced their departure which Elijah gave him a two-fingered salute as confirmation before leaping out of bed as the door closed. Heading into the bathroom to finish up the work in progress that he left on his head as he pulled out the things he needed and began to work on it.

After an another round of trying to dry his hair and finally working on fixing his hair, Elijah finally left the room after refreshing himself up again after his morning exploration. Having familiarized himself with some parts of the campus already and scouted out the building he needed to be at as well on his walk earlier. The walk there wouldn't take long as he put his phone safely into his pocket and plugged in his earphones back and made his walk through the campus as he changed the music playlist once again. Looking around, it seemed like more people were getting up as it seemed like there was more activity than this morning at the crack of dawn. Being glad that he brought more than enough clothing for the weather, as his black sweats and the gray hoodie was doing wonders in the cold as he made his way over. Making his way through the halls, checking out his Fitbit along the way as he went through the procedure of getting himself into the building and made his way back to where he would meet his other peers.

By the time he got there, it seemed like something had already been going on as his eyes plainly saw the fiery redhead that was his roommate as he gave his a wave. Along with his eyes moving on to the others in the room who interested him, especially the girl with red hair like someone he recently met. However, it seemed like something had her on edge which he caught on quickly despite entering the room just a few moments ago as he looked at her. He wondered what happened that would have triggered her, as Elijah went and sat down next to Danny before motioning for him with his hand "What happened to your twin here?" He asked jokingly although unaware of what had transpired just a few moments ago before he had entered.

Current Track:

Song

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[PapaOso]

'Well, that escalated quickly.' Nathan thought to himself as he watched the tension thicken from what was transpiring. ‘ISIS?... Jesus Christ’. It was obvious that he wasn’t the only one who had come from a complicated background. He imagined everyone here had experienced their own struggles and had their own issues, but even for him the mention of ISIS caught him off guard.

He began to wonder where the faculty was, and looked at his phone to see that there was a little bit still before this meeting, or whatever it was to start. He didn’t speak during the verbal confrontation and instead focused the intensity of the participant’s features. He saw pain, shock, and so much more written on their faces and felt bad for his roommate, whom he knew meant no harm in his innocent yet brash show of power. Not everyone was as enthusiastic as their situation as Justin, but it wasn’t fair to punish the “lucky” mutants for getting cooler tricks.

[Xandrya]

"I can see through walls, as well as through all of you. Literally, I mean, not speaking in a metaphorical sense." She cast a quick glance at her roommate, Natalie, as she said does last couple of words to reassure her that she hadn't violated her privacy, nor that she intended to do so in the future, but Natalie probably already believed otherwise. Lily had had the quick "talk" with Natalie about it, mentioning how she understood basic privacy rights and that she wouldn't do that to her roommate, whoever it was, and at the time the issue was dismissed without worry. But given the current tension in the room, Lily felt a bit defensive about it. Some, if not most of the people in the conference room probably thought that Lily took advantage of her ability to some extent, and that refrained her from saying anything else.

[Silver Carrot]

Natalie scoots over until she's sitting next to Lily. "You know I don't actually think you use your power on me, right? It's just...the thought's always there in my head, you know? That you could. I know you won't, but it's...hmmm...it's a little bit like being naked when your friend has their eyes closed. They can't see you, and you trust them not to open them, but you're still naked in their presence and nothing can change that."

She then stands up. "Am I the only person actually excited to be here? Does nobody else think that we may have been called here to join the X-men? We should be a little more upbeat, don't yo think?"

[Burning Kitty]

"My 'gift' means I take away someone's gift permanently and their life leaving me with extra gifts and another voice in my head telling me what to do. The best case scenario is temporarily taking of gifts and I still get a new voice in my head. Any asshole who wants me to use my gift I will gladly use it on him and it won't be the best case scenario, because he is worse than ISIS. I came here to learn to turn it off and possibly an exorcism or whatever you do to remove a stolen consciousness, not to further my daily torture. I have to cover every inch that you might brush up against no matter how hot it is, because if you brush up against my skin with your skin, I get tortured you get tortured. No one wins everyone loses, me more than you because your torture ends either in a rather quick but painful death or a brief hospital stay, my continues on and on and on." She turned the volume on her iPhone all the way up to drown out the screams of the others in her head. She switched over to playing heavy metal, she couldn't understand one word of the awful garbage but she wasn't trying to listen to it. She had more to say but she couldn't concentrate with her vision completely taken over by nightmarish daydreams of the others dying in horrible & grotesque ways.

[Glitter Guppy]

She felt ridiculous.

Lorelai had been hovering like some kind of reedy wallflower outside the conference room for the past five minutes, hand frozen on the handle, watching the other students through the thin window in the door, and she felt absolutely ridiculous.

It wasn't nerves. She'd worked all of those out of her system during orientation, and while a few of the mutants were a bit 'boisterous', most had been amicable enough. This school was a new experience for all of them, whether you were thrilled about it or not, and that simple element of the Ashford Institute undeniably bonded them, student and teacher alike.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be here, either. She did. More than anything, Lorelai wanted to be right here, right now, close to the answers she needed, safe from the outside world and the outside world safe from her. This place had been a beacon in the storm for her, her only chance to try and control what she was so something like Nigeria would never ever happen again.

And perhaps that was it. That's why she was hesitating opening that door and stepping into that conference room. It would mark the end of an era for her, the beginning of more uncertainty, another massive change to her already upside-down life. There'd been moments during the past few weeks where she'd grappled with herself over the feeling that she might not be ready for this, although she'd have some degree of control over her situation this time. But the fact remained that beyond these doors… anything was possible.

And she had two choices.

Open the door and trust in the mysterious but messy ways life guided all.

Or turn around and leave for good, right now.

As it had irritatingly often in the last few weeks, a verse from Proverbs rose from the smoldering ashes of her Christian faith and swam through her mind. "When you go, your way shall be opened up before you, step by step." Her father's homily about taking a leap of faith in life followed, echoing against her numb soul. Perhaps it was God's intervention, reminding her, coaxing her gently, reassuring her. Or maybe it was just the traumatized mind of a survivor scraping for some kind of hope.

Whatever it was, Lorelai was turning the handle and stepping through the double doors before she'd made a conscious decision. Because a leap of faith was all she really had now.

She tried not to make an entrance, closing the doors carefully while the other students did…whatever they were doing. Showing off? She'd just made it for the tail end of Temperance's speech, her heart going out to the girl as she loitered awkwardly in the entrance, blocking the doors for anyone else coming in or going out. The blonde folded her arms across her chest, a defensive posture, hoping no one asked her to 'show and tell'. Hopefully the staff would be by soon to tell them why they were here, because Lorelai had her doubts that it was for any X-Men purposes. They were so young and untrained, everyone here was, and they had years to go before they could be anything close to what the X-Men were.

They were bound to find out soon, either way.