xp_logs | Terry and Crystal - a tour of the school

Terry is put in charge of giving a tour to the school's latest arrival. Crystal is unprepared for the shocks she is about to receive.

Terry hurtled down the steps to the first floor, checking her watch and catching a last look at herself in the large mirror at the landing on the turn. The short girl with vividly red hair that grinned back at her was clad in clothes that looked just a little bit preppy but first impressions were vital right? And she'd promised to represent the school, so it was important to look good.

She jumped the last few steps and ran to her appointed place, not even breathing hard which was the result of both her voice training and her powers training. She check her watch again, tilted her head, listening intently then slid a genuinely warm and welcoming smile onto her face as the door to the Professor's office opened and her charge came out. "Hello, I'm Theresa Cassidy. Call me Terry. The Professor asked me to give you a tour of the school." Her voice lilted just slightly with the sound of Ireland.

The pretty, petite girl stood outside of the office and smiled back. "Greetings, I am Crystal Amaquelin of Attilan," she said, offering a curtsy. She eyed Terry curiously, wondering what gifts and abilities the red-head possessed.

Terry didn't recognize the accent but Attilan pinged a part of her brain. "Great to meet you," she said cheerfully, letting her mind sort out what it knew about Attilan on its own. "Well, you've already seen the Professor's office. His quarters are down here too. Generally, you're not going to be in this area too much so let's go look at stuff that's more interesting." She started down the hall and gestured for the girl to come with her.

Crystal paused for a moment, then walked after Terry. Her green eyes took in all of the sights around her, mentally comparing the architecture of the mansion to that of the palace in Attilan. "How long have you been attending classes here?" she asked.

"Just graduated, actually. Class of '06." Terry paused at a door and listened for moment before pushing it open, "I've been here for almost seven years. This is one of the class rooms. As you can see, they're pretty boring. Teachers all have their own offices but they usually have favourite rooms too. Class size is always small, less than 15 usually."

Crystal's eyes widened. Ten or more students... other than me? "Wow. The classes are that... small?" she queried in an attempt to cover her surprise. She was used to being privately tutored with her sister, and the thought of attending classes with so many other students came as a bit of a shock.

"Some are smaller. Powers classes usually are, particularly in the higher levels because things get so individual." Terry's mind finally located what it was looking for about Attilan, "Is Attilan nice this time of year? You're a bit further north than were I grew up."

"We're in the rainy season right now," Crystal replied. "Good for plants, but not so much fun for people. That's why we were on vacation in Hawaii. It's much nicer there right now." She paused for a moment, remembering what had brought her to the school. "Of course, I had to come along and bring a little touch of rain with me."

"Are you a weather worker then? Like Ms Munroe?" Terry asked as she led them back out of the classroom and down the halls to something more interesting. "I don't know if you've met her yet. You can't miss her. Very calm, very pretty. White hair."

"No, I have not met her, but she sounds nice." Crystal's eyes drifted to the side as she pondered the rest of her response. "I'm... I'm not quite sure, actually. A little bit yes, a little bit no. As far as we can tell, my powers have to do with the atmosphere, so yes in that respect. However, I haven't caused any real changes in the weather, nor have I brought about thunder and lightning." She offered a slight smile and continued, "For eight years, I have been able to do things involving air, like this." She waved her hand and sent a slight gust of wind throughout the hall, causing the girls' hair to sway slightly along with any curtains and light wall-hangings. "Now it turns out that I can also cause water to form."

Terry smiled and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "Very cool. Eight years, huh? You manifested early. And I thought I was ahead of the curve there." There was no jealousy in her laugh. Terry truly enjoyed other people's powers. "This is the sunroom. It's mostly quiet. People like to read in here or nap. Have quiet conversations." There was indeed someone inside, curled up in a sunbeam on the rug like there was nothing strange about that. Terry waved at the purple haired girl when she blinked sleepy eyes at them then led Crystal on. "That was Catseye."

Crystal gave Catseye a curious look before continuing on, but her face showed no surprise upon seeing the purple hair. "When did you first manifest?" she asked Terry. "And if I may ask, what are your powers?" Crystal tried hard to be polite and unobtrusive, but she couldn't contain her natural curiousity about the powers of other mutants.

"Oh, at 10. My uncle and I were at a pub and he got into a bit of a brawl. Someone decided I'd be a fine bit of leverage until I started screaming. I've got a bit of a voice, you see." As always when talking of home, Terry's voice started to slip back to her native accent. "There's all sorts of technical terms for it but basically I scream and I can focus the sound into sonic waves. Have you seen those old movies where they turn on the TV or stand by a speaker and get knocked over? That's a bit the same."

Crystal's eyes widened. "Your voice. You can control it? Yes, of course you can." What a stupid question, Crystal. "You see, my cousin cannot speak. Or rather, he can speak, but if he did he would kill anyone in the vicinity. Even a whisper would kill. He's been attempting to control his voice while in seclusion, but no one really wants to test out whether or not his voice continues to harm living beings."

Terry blinked. "That's terrible." She thought of her long struggle to get her voice under control. The way she was lucky to have had Alison, who simply absorbed otherwise destructive slips. Then she thought about how Paige and Forge would love to know how that mutation worked. "Um...this is the rec room."

Noisy as always, with a foosball game in fierce play, the TV blaring while someone played Guitar Hero and a couple of shouted conversations. Terry grinned fiercely, the chaos was bewildering and it was entirely home. "I'd introduce you but as you can see, they're all deeply engaged. Everything here you can use, the movie library is limitless but it is locked by age group. Don't give in to the wee ones. They like to try to convince the new kids to get them stuff not on their list."

Crystal stared into the room full of people, slightly taken aback. "This is the opposite of the sunroom, I see. No naps in here, I take it."

"Exactly right." Terry could tell the girl was a bit shell-shocked so she gestured her to move on. Better than having the inhabitants of the room notice their new prey and latch on. New kids were so exciting. "Tennis, basketball, football are all out back. There's an equipment shack but we'll skip that for now. Let me show you the kitchen. That'll be quieter and we may even get a snack out of Lorna if she's in a good mood."

After giving one last glance into the noisy, chaotic rec-room, Crystal continued walking after Terry. "Oh, is Lorna one of the chefs?" she asked.. Unused to fending for herself in regard to food, she automatically assumed that the mansion would have a full kitchen staff.

"Lorna's a teacher. She's also the Kitchen Goddess and staying on her good side is imperative if you want snacks. Do you cook at all? She has a sort of bias against rich kids who don't cook. They all end up with remedial Cooking on their schedule." Terry pushed open the kitchen door and sighed, "Darn, empty. I'll have to introduce you some other time. But this is the kitchen. They make three meals a day, mostly for the younger kids. Most people fend for themselves to a certain extent."

"The last time I tried to cook," Crystal explained. "I burned half of the kitchen. They don't let me do that anymore." Smiling weakly, she added, "I suppose that means I can look forward to Remedial Cooking."

Terry smiled apologetically, "Probably. It's not so bad though. Are you hungry at all? We can grab something now

Crystal thought about it for a moment, but she really felt more nervous than hungry. "No, thank you," she responded. "I had something to eat on the flight." She eyed the stove warily, hoping that she would not bring about its doom.

"All right then." Terry grabbed herself an orange for later. "Your choice. Up to the rooms or outside to see the grounds?"

"I'd like to go ahead and see the set-up of the rooms, please," Crystal replied. She was anxious to see her room, as her parents had warned her not to expect the same accommodations she was used to at home.

Terry nodded and took Crystal up to the second floor, chattering as she went. "The rooms are pretty nice, for a school. They're set up in suites, three rooms in a suite and two students each. They each have a shower and kitchenette plus a common area. The teachers live on the third floor in their own suites except for the few who drive in every day."

She rapped on a door and opened it after a moment, "Where is everyone today? Here's the basic setup. Pretty simple you can see."

Three rooms... two people per room... Crystal quickly did the math and her eyes flew open in shock as she realized what this meant. Six people in each suite. Two people per room. A roommate. Forcing a smile, she stepped into the room for a better look. Bring on the new experiences.