Alex and 'Nica (and later Dom) || Mansion Exploration (Backdated)

[xp-havok.livejournal.com]

Alex and 'Nica get lost exploring the mansion and end up getting (hopefully correct) directions from Dom. Backdated to August 12.



"Uh, no, wait, the room with the glass ceiling was that way...right?" Alex turned in the direction they'd come from, and saw an intersection of hallways behind them. "....Well then."

"This place is crazy," Monica muttered. She had thought she had a great sense of direction, but after the third or fourth circuit, she was completely bewildered. "Which floor are we on, any way? The second or the third?"

"Uh...." Alex looked around. "Ooooh, window!" He hurried over, a bit of a limp still visible in his step but if it caused him any pain he didn't let it show. He peeked out the window, looking down. "Um third floor. Definitely third floor. Jesus Christ this place is huge."

"Typical conspicuous consumption," Monica agreed. "The 1% of their time showing off just how much they had with giant mansions they needed a gazillion servants to take care of. Still, at least it means they've got plenty of room for us waifs and strays." She joined Alex at the window, looking out over the lawns. "Fuck me, the grounds are even bigger."

"Actually though. I had to share a room with my sister at one point, meanwhile you got people living in places like these." Alex scanned the grounds, pointing to a corner. "See, right over there. That's where I'm gonna build a ramp as soon as I can find some wood. And an exit. But I'm pretty sure this place has eaten us and we're never gonna see the outside world again."

"I'm starting to think you're right." Monica followed the direction Alex was pointing. "Sweet. How long have you been skating?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuh." He pursed his lips, trying to think. "About eleven years. Long enough that I've broken or sprained everything at least once trying to do some stupid impossible stunt. You skate?"

Monica shook her head. "Not really my thing," she replied. "But anyone who works at something that long has my respect, man. You must be pretty good after that long, huh?"

"I like to think I am, yeah." He wasn't one to brag, generally. Okay that was a lie but bragging to a kid just seemed a little...weird. "Come on, we should keep moving. So what do you do for fun, then?"

Monica shrugged. "I used to play soccer, back before I manifested - that's the right word, yeah? - but after that I kind of dropped out of sight. Too dangerous, my dad said." They reached the end of the hall and she peered down the left turn. "Looks like the living area," she remarked, considering the various doors, some with post-it notes stuck to them. "Maybe we can get directions?"

"That's the word I usually use." It was the best word Alex had found, anyways. "That's pretty cool though." He looked around at the doors. "Yeah, I'm sure someone can help us. Or at least give us a map."

"That's the thing about this whole mutant... thing." Monica sighed. "There's a whole new culture and language and everything that goes with it, and unless you've been tapped into it already, it's like winding up in a new country. Except at least when I moved to Germany, no-one expected me to know everything already. And I don't want to be an asshole and insult people, but then they give me crap for asking things." She huffed. "Stupid adults, thinking they know it all."

"Yeah, I've noticed that a bit," Alex admitted. "It sucks coming in with a learning curve. Not everyone's bad though. And hopefully we can find one of those not bad people to help us out."

There were voices in the hall - unfamiliar voices, but then, half the people Dom ran into walking through mansion she could've sworn she had never before. And half she'd probably never see again, given how big the place was.

"--opefully we can find one of those not bad people to help us out."

Hah. She wasn't the only one who found it overwhelmingly huge, then.

"Hey," she commented, sticking a head out into the corridor and taking in the two newbies standing there. "You guys lost?"

Alex turned to the sound of the voice, grinning when he saw the woman. "Yes! Hi. I mean. I don't know if I would call it lost, we're not really looking for anywhere in particular. More like we've misplaced ourselves. Hi, I'm Alex."

"And I'm 'Nica." Monica looked the strange woman up and down. There were sure a lot of random people in this place. "And you are?"

"Dom." She smirked and leaned against the doorjamb, crossing her arms over her chest. "So you went exploring and got turned around? Happens to the best of us. You've made it to civilisation, at least - we've got TV in here."

"Well TV is the only thing we need, then," Alex said with a grin. "We'll just have to move in with you and live with you forever. You've got food, right?"

"Depends - does ramen and beer count as food?"

Monica wrinkled her nose. "American beer and instant noodles can't be considered food in any sense of the word," she declared. "So, what's with all the adults in this place, any way? Are you all old students who never moved out?"

"Nope. I just got here, actually. I just really love hanging out with teenagers. Syd would say it's because I'm permanently mentally sixteen years old, but he's permanently sixty so what does he know."

"You've clearly never been a poor college student 'Nica." Beer and noodles had made up a few of Alex's and Lorna's meals. He wasn't ashamed. "Scott told me this place is like a sanctuary. Ya know, for anyone who needs it. I'm sure kids usually need it more since, ya know, kids, just learning their mutations, etc. But everyone needs a safe place sometimes."

Monica shrugged. "I guess I never thought about it like that. Who's Syd?"

"He's my partner," Dom replied, then furrowed her brow. She really needed a better term. "Like, work partner, not romantic. We're basically spies." Were they supposed to tell kids that? Probably not.

"Spies?" Alex repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you don't mean like, James Bond."

"No... real spies are a lot less glamorous than that. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it as a career path. It's a lot of sitting around and talking to guys who smell like they rolled around in Fritos before stepping outside."

Nica's eyes had grown round with surprise. "Somehow they didn't put that part in the brochure," she said, blinking at Domino. "This is probably one of those 'I'll have to kill you if I tell you' questions, but why does a mutant training school need spies?"

"We're not really part of the school, we just live here. We're all mutants, right?" Dom raised her eyebrows, reaching up to comb her fingers through her unruly hair. "Speaking of which, what do you guys do? That's what everybody asks when they meet someone new around here apparently."

"Is it?" Alex asked, tilting his head. "I'm so behind on my mutant etiquette. Er well, I explode. I won't demonstrate that for ya, don't worry."

"And I glow." Nica did demonstrate, holding up her hands and letting them light up for a moment. "What about you, 007? What's your thing?"

It took Dom a few moments to respond, distracted as she was by the human nightlight. Although she supposed it could come in handy... "Huh? Oh, yeah, nothing as impressive as that. Or exploding," she added with an 'are you kidding me' look at Alex. "I'm just lucky. Y'know, rabbit's foot, four-leaf clover, big end of the wishbone sort of thing."

"So, no matter what happens, you get out of it? Sweet power you have there. But how did you work it out? It's not like there's anything physical to notice... is there?" Nica's curiosity overwhelmed her previous caution.

"It wasn't me that figured it out," Dom said with a shrug. "The... people I was working with a couple years ago had their suspicions so they put me through some tests to confirm them. Y'know, threw dodgeballs at my face, very scientific." That certainly wasn't all they had done but she was trying to keep this PG.

"Sounds more like gym class than science," Alex said with a wince. Dodgeball had always been his least favorite part of gym glass. He hadn't missed it when he'd gone to home schooling.

"I like it better than the usual way," Nica pointed out with a snort. "All explosions and angst."

"True I did level a house and almost kill one of my moms," Alex said thoughtfully. "Maybe having a ball chucked at my head would've been better."

"Well, maybe we can suggest it to the people in charge. Y'know, make it a new protocol or whatever. Mandatory dodgeball to the face when you hit puberty or whenever it is you're supposed to get your powers."

Nica giggled. "It could be a whole new testing program," she agreed. Here, she decided, was one adult who didn't have a stick up their butt. "Any chance you can use your luck to steer us in the right direction to get back to the kitchen? I have a feeling I'm not supposed to be up here, if it's where all the random people live."

"Yeah, in more ways than one." Dom smirked, then pointed a finger down the hall. "Go back that way, turn left at the end, go down a flight and then back out into the hall, past the library and all the way down to the other set of stairs, then turn right when you get to the bottom. And hands off my American beer," she added warningly with a wink to Monica. "Got it?"

"Uh....yes." No. Maybe. They'd figure it out. Alex grinned. "Thanks a lot for the help."

"No problem. I'm sure I'll see you both around - take it easy, yeah?" With that the older woman gave them a little wave and then disappeared back into her room, leaving them to navigate their way - hopefully successfully - back to their destination.