"Shall I have the kitchen bring up some carts for you?" The guide asked "Something with a wide varieity?
"Yeah sure."
Waya told her dismissively, not impressed by their impressive suroundings.
"Seriously? Just 'girl and boy' rooms?"
Eliza asked, raising an eyebrow slowly at the two different rooms for the two. At least they'd had seperate living spaces back at the mansion... "And why did you show us the child learning center exactly? I appreciete that you're showing off and all, but I'm tired and none of us have children..."
"You are in the education field correct?" The guide asked "I was under the impression that you ran a school. I thought it would be appropriate to catch a glimpse of some of our facilities before your tour tomorrow."
"We don't run the school... really..."
Jeremy said quietly, scratching his head "I mean I've never attended a lecture in the mansion... I mean what can we all teach each other?" He eyed Eliza slowly "Apart from quantum physics..."
"Yes we run the school."
Waya said looking at Jeremy "Xavier's has never and will never completely close it's doors."
The guide looked a bit nervous and pointed out the thermostat as she was leaving "Your rooms have adjoining doors also."
Well
Maribel for one was very flattered by the rooms. She signed 'thank you' to the guide, not caring if she could understand it or not. It was too bad she didn't bring along her violin and luggage. Speaking of which...she would have to wear the same clothes tomorrow. Maribel frowned at the thought.
Phinagin came up next to the guide and asked. "Do you have roast quail here? I have been craving some since I arrived at that school." He looked at her with the most serious face. "Or even some Chantau 1836?"
"More than likely"
Eliza said, moving forward to go into their rooms cautiosly, waiting for the guide to tell her to stop or something. "Phin could always be a chef I suppose..."
"I can ask Lord Magneto's private chef." The guide told Phinagin "But the drinking age still remains 21, do you have your identification
?"
"I do have identification." Phinagin said and quickly grew an i.d. card that had a picture of him and everything. It also listed his age as 22. "I hope that we will be able to put a rush on this."
Jeremy shook his head slightly at this, rubbing his chest slowly with a long nailed hand; he kinda just wanted to go in and sleep right now, he was having too many mental problems at the moment. "M-maybe this can wait until tomorrow?"
Maribel's stomach growled a little. Though she was a little unsure about what quail would taste like. She also wondered if they would have to reimburse Magneto for the food and stay. Maribel didn't think sleeping on an asteroid was in her budget.
"Right away sir." The guide said and backed out of the room.
Waya was searching the room for bugs or other listening devices, she opened one of the doors to the bedroom and on inspecting the closet announced into the other room "They arranged for clothes too... And they look to be the right sizes?" She came out of the bedroom "This place is too weird for me."
"I swear, you try to enjoy a bit of sophistication and everyone gets legal on you."Phinagin said as he withdrew the bone i.d. into his hand and walked into the room. "This isnt so bad." he said as he looked around.
Maribel went to one of the beds and placed her hands on it, applying gradual pressure. The bed sunk gently as if made of the finest silks and fabrics. She smiled and let her body fall onto it.
"He sells a pretty good bottle of snake oil." Waya said, unknowingly recycling one of her mother's old analogies. She opened the door adjoining the two rooms "Your suite is identical to hours, big surprise." She told Phinagin. "I only amuse this one is ours considering the closets are full of women's clothes. Did I mention they where the proper sizes, how wierd is that?"
"That is...very creepy." Phinagin said peering into the girl's room. He spotted Maribel laying sprawled out on the bed. "Comfortable arent they Maribel?" he said with a chuckle.
Maribel sat up immediately, slightly embarrassed, Lifting a hand, she smiled and signed, 'It's like a cloud...Sorry, but these are better then the ones at school.'
"Home or not, the school beds always were... well school beds" Eliza said, carefully crawling onto her own bed, padding it like a cat slowly and curling up on top of the covers. Sometimes her mother's influence showed through more. "Oh these are comfy..."
"I dont know what your guys are complaining about, my mattress is quite comfortable." Phinagin said examining their closet at looking at the clothes.
Maribel snapped her fingers twice to get Phin's attention before signing, 'You haven't felt these beds yet.'
"Thats true." Phinagin said as he moved over to the bed and sat down. "They are nice, but not nicer then the one I had at my house. Come to think of it I was expecting one to be shipped to the school before we were wisked away by Magneto."
"Making ourselves at home?" Waya asked "Any ideas on how to sabotage 200 war heads?"
"Depends on the manufacturer." Phinagin said as he bounced a bit on the bed. "Some warheads deactivate if the navigation chip and/or systems are removed to prevent missing the target. Some just need a few wires pulled. However, some missle bodies have been made to prevent internal tampering...my father makes ones that can deliver a lethal jolt of electricity or any number of fatal things to any tamperer."
The twins were too busy making hushed remarks to one another about sneeking out to another club when the others went to sleep. Hearing Waya and Phin, they chimed in, "Wait, what? We just got here and-"
"You already want to shut this place down?"
"Why?"
"Who cares if he's got bombs."
"He always does."
"He's Magneto." they said together, "He isn't going to blow Earth up. You are all too paranoid."
Maribel listened to Phin. How could a bed be MORE COZY then this? But when the twins chimed in, she agreed and signed, 'There is no evidence that he is going to attack aggressively.'
"Carefully..." Jeremy muttered to himself, immediatley going to find the bathroom of the rooms. After a minute he came back holding a pair of nail clippers in one hand "Right, ultimate test time for you guys" he spoke to them.
Eliza sighed and rubbed her forehead slowly "If we deactivate them then this place is left largely undefended right? And it's not like people on earth haven't got warheads as well... The only part I don't like is the SNEAKING. If we could at least persuade Magneto to send a message down to the world leaders or something, so they know we're up here AND heaving armed BUT just want it for protection... I mean most people would be glad to have a mutant population up here..." Eliza sighed again as she thought "But... when I've completed my machine, whether it works or not, I want to go back down to the surface. I won't be able to do anything useful up here."
Waya looked at them "Fine." She said not quite giving in "We'll wait to see if the boys find anything tonight."
Just then there was a knock on the door, shortly followed by a bellhop looking guy rolling in a large assortment of fancy food on a cart.
Phinagin saw the trays roll in and quickly stood up and walked over to the servers. "Whats on the menu this evening?"
Jeremy moved slowly towards the cart slowly, wondering just how much they wanted them there. What food were they offering?
Maribel followed with the others to the tray of food. Though she stayed back in behind the group. She would get food after everyone else.
Rhydian walked in after the cart, sniffing the air. "Oh! Something smells good..." He walked to the cart and stared at the contents. "Holy crap! Is that quail??? Did somebody order that or is Magneto trying to bribe us?"
"There was an atashet who requested quail, therefore the kitchen has prepared the menu." The hop replied, he took the lid off a platter "They even fried a few. I'm sure you will be satisfied with the selections. Oh, and of course fowl must be served with a white wine," He showed the bottle to Phinagin for his approval.
"Fried!?" Waya said excitedly and slipped in to snag a piece.
"Jeez, show a little tact, Waya." Rhydian replied as she nearly knocked him over to grab a fried quail for herself.
"Mom used to make it every Christmas." Waya said before the taste and heady aroma drudged up painful memories.
Junior came up through the floor, right next to the hop, "Ooo chicken!"
"Your mom used to make fried quail?" Rhydian asked her, more shocked than curious. "I find that pretty hard to believe."
Waya nodded with her mouth full "We always had a blast hunting them."
"Quail my dear red friend. Its not chicken, its quail. And its not the 1836 I wished for, but it will do." Phinagin said as he examined the bottle of wine. He set it down and reached into a small pocket on his x-suit and pulled out a $100 bill and handed them to the first server. "Thank you, you have a pleasant day."
Maribel waited patiently for whatever would be left on the tray.
The twins snuck over and started to load up their plates.
Jeremy waited back with Maribel, biting his lip and looking at the food on the dishes. He felt hungry, but frankly for his size he didn't really eat much and could wait for the others to eat their fill.
"The hunting bit I can believe" Eliza chuckled, moving over to the cart herself and starting to gaze at the food. She didn't even know you could fry quail... Surely the small bones would snap eventually as you tried to eat it.
Phinagin filled his plate with the roasted quail and a few other items before pouring himself a glass of wine and sitting down to eat.
"Ok, we're all minors." Junior said backing off the cart with his plate. "None of us are 21 and there's ... 3 bottles of wine. Is Maggs trying to bribe us or something?"
"Thank Phinagin." Waya said disapprovingly as she got herself a small glass considering there wasn't anything else to drink. "Comeon Maribel, tuck in." Waya signed to her with a piece of quail still in her hand.
Phinagin raised his glass in a personal toast before taking a smal sip. "Its not like I we are throwing a mixer or a kegger or whatever. I am only taking this opportunity to share a little sophistication with you all."
"You hold your pinkie like this right?" Junior asked holding his pinkie up as he took a sip of the wine.
"Only if your a faerie." Phinagin said with a smirk as he took another sip. "And might I say you do it oh so well."
"Screw you Fancy Pants." Junior said and flipped Phinagin off with his tail.
It wouldn't be proper to smirk at Jr and Phin's little spit, but she couldn't help it and smiled brightly. She looked like she was giggling but only air escaped her lips. Maribel snuck closer and made herself a small plate. Never eating or drinking anything this fancy before, Maribel was a little skepticle.
The twins took their plates. One sat himself on a dresser while the other chose a seat on an end table.
Phinagin chuckled at Juniors response before taking another sip of his wine and setting his glass down. You could tell that he was in a good mood as he is never this jovial.
Eliza filled her plate carefully and moved over to sit down on the bed, turning the quail over and over slowly as if inspecting it for drugs.
Maribel sat on the comfy bed before she started cutting up her meat. She hadn't had quail before, but it tasted wonderful. She wished that she would've not listened to the others earlier when she had her luggage with her. Now she would have to wear either the same clothes again or whatever they had in the closet.
Rhydian helped himself to an overly abundant plate of food and then grabbed a bottle of wine for himself. He took both and went and sat on the edge of the bed. If anyone intended to say something to him about it, he had quite a few choice words to bring up. He needed the subtle comfort of the bottle just now, legal drinking age or not.
"This so tastes like a bribe to me." Waya said taking a seat in one of the view ports. With Earth and her moon so silent laying in a jet bed of stars it was easy to see why so many mutants could fall in love with the idea of Utopia.
"But the view is nice I bet." Junior said taking a distant peek, he'd not exactly been comfortable with the idea of great heights. A fall from a giant sky scraper could be survived but up here there was no falling, out here your insides became your outsides and that was it.
"Course it's a bribe... or a trap... Magnus knows we don't trust him" Eliza sighed, getting up and moving to Rhydian's bed, slumping down beside him without giving an explanation. She gently stripped away some flesh from the Quail with her teeth and chewed at it before swallowing "He's trying to show us the finer life, trying to convince us that this IS a paradise, and probably listening in on a TON of bugs right now. I mean honestly, they made this room up for us. They're spying on us, we're spying on them, all nice spying together."
Maribel lifted her hands while chewing and signed, 'It's working'. She was raised with a single parent in a small cottage in the countryside of France...of course things like this would win her over.
"Magneto wouldn't expect anything less from someone with an X on their chest." Waya said "they're probably going to want to show us the rest of the school tomorrow. To appeal to the "educator" in all of us."
"And you know what? It will. Face it, the guy's a genius when it comes to winning people over. He's a master strategist. Why do you think the X-men were never able to really beat him in all their years of fighting?" Rhydian pointed out and shrugged. He closed his eyes and felt through the room, "You know, i could take care of the bugs, but it would only make them send somebody down to investigate." He sighed and took a drink of the wine. He blanched when the stuff hit his taste buds, but swallowed quickly. "Gah, how can people stand to get drunk?"
"They find something they like to drink first" Jeremy said softly, a small laugh coming from him as he began to nibble at the food. "But... I mean he hasn't won people over" he took a small bite again "Other wise he'd have won right? He's failed at it, but he's good enough to keep people from killing him."
"Does it matter that he is trying to bribe us or listen in on us?" Phinagin asked with slight irritation in his voice. "This is the first time in nearly a month that I have had an amazing meal." he looked to the twins quickly, "No offense but your Lobster Bisque is horrible." He then returned to his topic. "But its not going to change what or how we feel or think and im pretty sure the he knows that...although if I had gotten the wine I asked for I would pressed the launch buttons personally."
Maribel agreed with Phin on more then one account. She liked it here. It was sure as hell better then a school being run by a bunch of teenagers.
"What?!"
"Hey!!" the twins began, getting up from their seats. "It's not our fault the lobster had gone bad." They placed their empty plates on the tray and noticed Maribel sitting all by herself on one of the beds. They looked at one another, snatched the wine and went in for the kill. I mean- she was one of the few they WEREN'T related to....not that they cared. Jaden and Jayden sat on either side of Maribel. "You say you like the beds, hm?"
"They sure are cozy, aren't they?" One poured her glass full again.
"Don't you just want to-" They leaned in closer, their breath on her ivory neck.
"-Roll around in the sheets?" the two said together.
Waya tapped her fork on her plate and pointed to the twins "Down boys." She said before redirecting back to the topic at hand "I'll feel better after you two report in the morning." she told Jeremy and Junior "If you guys can keep from getting spotted we might get some insight on what's going on beneath the surface."
"+5 Cloak of Illusion right here." Junior said using Aunty Lyra's camouflage trick to disappear for a moment and come back.
"I can posses walls, phones, their own security cameras, people..." Jeremy said softly, playing with his food "They won't catch me. But would you guys watch my body while I'm gone? It's being... wierd."
Phinagin saw and heard the twins not so subtle come on and was surprisingly angry. He looked down and realized that his fist was balled and he had four bone spikes coming out of his knuckles. Before he could say anything Waya spoke up so he decided to wait and see if they listen. The thing that bothered him though was why he had gotten mad. Its very disrespectful and ungentlemen like...thats why. he told himself.
Waya lifted her glass and asked, "Whadaya mean wierd?"
"Aww....come on, she is the only one we aren't related to!" the twins fought, wrapping their arms around her shoulder.
Maribel went wide-eyed at the twin's sudden movement towards her. Sometimes words just spoke louder then her signs and she was very thankful towards Waya. Unlike the others, Maribel hadn't really had time to get to know the twins. She knew they were flirtatious, but really never dealt with anything like them in the past. To be honest, she felt rude telling them off. She squirmed a bit, feeling very uncomfortable right now. But she couldn't say anything! And signing only did so much to a couple of loud mouths. Instead, she just sat there awkwardly.
"She doesn't need your hazing." Waya told the Twins "She's in a new place with different languages and she doesn't need you two pawing all over her like some piece of meat."
"Yes MOM." the twins pouted and backed off. "Though you can't really hear her if she screams at night...." they joked with their usual bad taste.
Phinagin made a mental note to rig a trap on the doors incase the twins werent joking. He retracted the bone spikes as he returned to eating and hoped no one noticed.
Maribel nearly choked on her own saliva when she heard that. They weren't- serious, were they? No....they couldn't be. Otherwise Waya would've pummeled them. Needing a moment, she stood up and signed to the group, 'Bathroom. Please.'
"Good god..." Rhydian said to the Twins unbelievable advances on Maribel. That was far even for them. He took a bit of the quail and then another swig of the wine. He was sure he'd sleep well tonight, he'd probably have a headache in the morning but at least he'd sleep good.
Eliza reached out for the bottle of wine, but she didn't seem to be taking it, she wanted her own drink from it; why Rhydian's... well he was hitting the stuff hard. "Just punch them when they get like that Maribel, their pretty little faces down take much of a knocking to get some sense into them."
Seeing as his point about his body acting wierd was lost in the twins' flirting... again... Jeremy just stayed silent and ate his quail.
Rhydian looked at Eliza after she made a move for his bottle. "Did you want some?" He offered her with a smile.
Maribel made her way to the room's bathroom. After a moment of catching a moment for her cheeks to fade to their normal color, the thought about the twin's comment. How rude... Shaking it off, she joined the others once more.
"Just... stop." Waya told the twins. There was no end to their depravity.
Phinagin saw Maribel coming back in and scooted over and patted the space next to him for her to sit down. He figure that if she was next to him then the twins were less likely to continue their conversation.
Maribel placed her two fingers on her chin and gestured forward and down, saying 'Thank you.' Though before she sat, a glisten caught her eye on the second shelf of the meal cart. Investigating, she lifted the cloth over a dessert tray with a variety of different cakes, pies and jellos. A bright smiled grew on her face as she grabbed a small plate of cherry cheesecake. Spinning around, she kept her grin, pleased at her find. Maribel looked at Phinagin and gestured to pick something. She would bring it to him with her own.
Phinagin couldn't see anything immediately that interested him so he simply said, "Is there any Créme Brûleé?"
Maribel blinked when she heard him say the French term. It was nice hearing it every so often. As a matter of fact, it sounded a lot better then the cheesecake she had. Crouching down, she looked on the other side of the tray.
"Yes please" Eliza said, waving a hand slightly at Rhydian to exacerbate her point a bit more "give me a sip at least." She didn't want him to down the entire bottle.
Rhydian sighed and passed her the bottle. "They brought plenty you know."
Maribel found one little cup of Créme Brûleé on the tray. Unfortunately it was the only one. Taking her cheesecake once more, she sat next to Phinagin and handed him the little cup with raspberries on the top.
The twins perked up and pranced over to the meal tray to examine the desserts.
"So you ready Jer?" Junior asked Jeremy "Or you wanna wait till everyone is done eating to leave your body behind?"
Almost choking on his food, Jeremy coughed loudly and tried not to spill anything as he found his mental footing. He was talking about the mission... yes. "I'd like to eat first" he said, indicating his plate.
"Well I want some of yours, sue me" Eliza laughed, taking a gentle sip from the bottle at first.
Phinagin too a spoonful of the dessert and upon putting it in his mouth took on a blissful expression. "We are going to have to take this cook home with us. Whether I have to buy them or kidnap them, they are coming back with us."
"You're a real asshole, you know." Jayden remarked. "We are good cooks." said the other.
Maribel laughed at Phinagin and the twins, but no sound escaped. She pleasantly started to eat her own cheesecake.
"I never said you guys werent good." Phinagin said after taking a bite of his dessert. "Just these cooks are better." he added somewhat under his breath with a smirk.
"Ya'know what, wine kinda grows on'ya." Rhydian said in a semi-slurred manner.
The twins took each a large slice of chocolate cake and leaned their butts against the dresser. They snickered at Rhydian. "That's the spirit, mate."
"It tastes even better at the bottom of the bottle."
"Trust us." they said together.
"Remember we gotta stay on our toes guys." Waya told them "It won't do us any good to get sloshed if something goes down."
"Coming from the woman who can't get drunk." Junior said
"Haven't seen you guys drinking" Eliza said to the twins, taking a large mouthful of the wine in Rhydian's bottle while he was still distracted.
"Why? Want to get us drunk do you? So you can finally fufill your desire of sleepin' with us? Sounds good to us." the twins smirked and looked over at the tray for another bottle of wine.
"no, but you being drunk might make it easier to castrate you" Eliza said, glaring at her cousins.
"Hey....that's harsh." Rhydian told her, grabbing the bottle from her and guzzling some more. He looked over at Waya, and the food tray scuttled backwards. "I'll drinkif I wannna damnit."
"Rhydian" Eliza said in a I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that voice "They're my cousins, who have just suggested that I want to have sex with them, and have been hitting on a girl a moment before. Well I say hitting" she grabbed the bottle back and took another swig "Sounded more like a bombardment with mortar shells. Shock and awe and all that."
Maribel elbowed Phin a little and looked at Eliza and Rhydian. 'Is that a good idea?' she signed, referring to their quickening drunken states.
"Hey! Yea!" the twins moved over to Rhydian and wrapped their arms around his shoulders, "This guy knows where it's at."
"Not in the least my dear Maribel." Phinagin said with a disappointed shake of his head. "I try to bring some sophistication to them and they use it as nothing but a chance to get wasted."
Waya looked at Rhydian, almost with a "who are you?" sort of an expression. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when you're pants are trying to strangle you."
"On that note." Junior stood to discard his empty plate and pick over the desert menu. He chose whatever Phinagin had picked and sat down a few feet away from him and asked "What am I eating?"
Rhydian shook the twins off him. "Knockit off guys. I just want to get tanked and left alone."
"Oh that's not fun at all." the twins remarked, taking their arms back. "Sad really.."
"Its a fancy French cheesecake." Phinagin said as he finished off the last bite of his. He placed his hand on his stomach and laid back on the bed with a satisfied look.
"Not right now guys" Eliza said, prodding at the twins' sides firmly to try to get them to move away from her and Rhydian "Leave him alone ok?"
Maribel glanced to her side where Phinagin was now laying. She felt the same way as she finished her own cheese cake. Getting up, she took Phin's plate with hers and set it back on the tray. Avoiding eye contact with the twins, she sat back down.
"It's kinda custard like." Junior complained but didn't stop eating it.
Waya who'd been practicing her telepathy felt that Rhydian was severely pissed about something. Not having a perfect handle on it just yet she accidentally projected her current thought into his mind. I really hope he's ok...
Rhydian shot a look over to Waya. "Stay out of my head." He said simply, locking his eyes on hers. He still wasn't happy with the little mind flash they all had received a few days ago. But right now his agitation wasn't stemming from that. He was thoroughly exhausted from the trip up here and still hadn't been given a chance to rest, not only that but his powers were reeking havoc on his body every time he used them anymore. Right now he just wanted to be left alone.
"Thank you Maribel." Phinagin said without opening his eyes. He enjoyed this kind of luxury as it was what he was used to before he came to the school. He was slowly trying to transform his room into that of his old house but to accomplish that fully he would have to knock down some walls.
"I didn't mean to." Waya told Rhydian "But are you ok?"
The twins grew bored of the current drama. They started to dig around in the dressers and closets. "You think we should wear these tomorrow, Jeremy?" a twin asked.
"These aren't too bad really- if we end up going back to the school at least we would get a free outfit."
Maribel acknowledged Phinagin's thanks and watched the twins snoop about. It was a shame that she didn't bring her violin. At least then she would have something to do.
"I dunno" Jeremy said, a little surprised at being addressed "Do they have stuff my size? I know that you said they fit, but seriously... sometimes I feel like a ghost even inside my body, just passing right through stuff."
"Why yes, aren't we all but mere renters of our own capsules?" Jayden mocked, posing as if he had a skull in his hand.
"Oh great, you've got him acting again." Jaden rolled his eyes and went on digging around.
"Some more than others, some less" Jeremy said, taking a large bite out of his quail "Blood sweat and tears to create a body that can only cry sweat and bleed. Sometimes I wonder if my powers shorten my life, or prolong it..."
"Why not both? That way it evens out." Jayden suggested.
"Your logic astounds me-" said Jaden
"Oh yea, what's the best you got?"
"Sure as hell better then it 'evening out'!" Their voices grew louder and more agitated.
"HEY! At least it's something- I didn't hear you say anything!"
"That's 'cause I would never waste my time saying something so stupid as that!" The two brothers grabbed one another by the collars and pulled them up close.
"Hey" Eliza giggled slightly, taking another small swig from the wine "Dinner and a show..."
The twins shouted back and forth at one another before the quail hit the fan, specifically Jeremy's. The two fell back swinging and tackling one another to the ground.
As the twins knocked into Jeremy he did what he always did, fell over dead. His ghost glared at the twins, but they didn't seem to notice. They also didn't seem to notice that a creme brulee had been knocked off the food trolley and rolled near to them. In one fell swoop Jeremy disappeared, and a moment later the pudding went ballistic, the custardy internals splattering all over the twins, spraying them with sugar shrapnel.
"I'm fine." Rhydian replied, laying back on the bed and letting Eliza have the rest of the wine. He just wanted to sleep now
Phinagin brought up a small bone shield to block the stray bits of dessert. He stood up and walked over to the twins brawling on the floor and grabbed the collar of the closest one and, with his enhanced strength, effortlessly lifted the twin up off the ground and held him there.
Phin had snatched up Jayden from his brother on the floor. He smiled nonchalantly and said, "Hey-?."
Maribel's lap was splattered with quail from the little brawl that occurred. She frowned and tried to scoop it up with a napkin but it only ended up smearing.
"We can't even get along in paradise." Junior said to himself. "How the hell are we ever gonna make it as X-Men?"
"This place isn't paradise" Eliza said, sighing and pushing her plate away while putting the wine bottle down - since Rhydian showed no more interest in it, not worth drinking it. "It's just... like how it was before our parents dissapeared... just like the mansion."
Phinagin shook his head like a father disapointed in his children. he set Jayden back on his feet. "You guys shouldnt fight one another, especially in front of a lady. Its undignified."
"A lady?" Jaden looked at Maribel for a moment.
Jayden brushed himself off and laughed, "HAH! He doesn't think you two are ladies!" he pointed at Waya and Eliza.
Jaden chuckled along with his brother.
Waya resisted the urge to act upon the twins arachnophobia and manifest a few million shadow spiders.
"You kinda noticed that too?" Junior asked liz. There was a sort of team work air to the whole place, as if everyone within the facility had one goal and that was to build a bright new future for their kind, it certainly was like the school before their parents went missing.
Rhydian waved a hand up in the air and the pillows came to him, sneaking underneath his head, one by one. Then the blanket lifted itself up and fell over top of him.
Maribel frowned at her messy clothing from the twin's little spat. She stood up and went to a dresser. Opening a drawer, she looked around for some pajamas.
Jeremy appeared in midair for a moment, then slipped into the lifeless rag of his own body. Groaning slightly, he turned his head to Junior "So... want to head out now?"
"Yeah." Junior said putting his desert dish on the tolly "Don't wait up for us." He said giving a wave to the others.
"Don't get into any unnecessary trouble ok?" Waya warned "The last thing we need is something going horribly wrong and people thinking we killed Magneto or something." The fact that it was an odd conclusion to come to so abruptly was lost on her.
"Good luck you two." Phinagin said said as he walked towards the boy's bedroom. "Dont do anything stupid and dont get caught. I am going to bed now, good night everyone." after having said that he turned and picked a bed.
Maribel waved at Phinagin as he announced his departure. She then looked to the two who were on lookout and waved them off as well. Afterward, Maribel went on to find fine some pajamas.
"I'm pretty sure the fact they are spying on us, and will have heard every single thing we intend to do, makes us void of suspicious acts, since all we're doing is extending the right to have a tour" Eliza pointed out, shrugging at her own comment.
Jeremy left his body with a small sigh, his ghostly form hanging silvery white in front of them all.
The twins thought they should take their leave with Phinagin. Though they both glanced at Jeremy's dead body, "So- who wants the corpse?" asked a twin. He posed it more so as a joke.
They both went to his limp body and picked it up with one twin at the head and the other at the feet.
Slowly the eyes opened on Jeremy's corpse and stared blankly at the twins, even though he was clearly dead and floating beside them. The eyes just stared as they carried Jeremy.
"Please refrain from molesting his corpse whil he's gone please." Waya reminded the Twins.
Junior chose not to comment and simplay waited by the foor for Jeremy's etherial manifestation.
Jeremy floated past the twins, rubbing his face slightly and sighing without sound. He stood beside Junior, or rather floated, then stuck his head out the door and looked around. Seeing no one he motioned for Junior to follow.
Maribel finally found a pair of pajamas that were her size. They were a pair of shorts with a matching shirt. She would wait until the boys were gone before she undressed.
"Yea yea... something about a corpse..." the twins said, walking into the boy's room. They were actually quite gentle with Jeremy's body when they placed his body on one of the beds. "Hey Phin! You wanna sleep with Jeremy?"
"No thank you." Phinagin said plainly. "The last time I got stuck with his corpse it watched me more then I watched it. And I would hate to have to snap its neck."
"What?" the twins tilted their head, tucking Jeremly into the bed. It was strangely almost fatherly. "A little paranoid?" one asked.
Junior followed Jeremy into the hall and to Asteroid-M
"Paranoid would be me thinking its going to happen for no reason. I know its going to happen cause its happened before." Phinagin said defensively as he fluffed his pillow.
Despite the eyes staring at them, Jayden leaned over Jeremy and slapped his face a bit, "No- I think it's dead." he said, sure of himself.
"Probably just a reflex. There aren't muscles keeping his eyes shut so I guess it would make sense for them to be open."
A moment after the slaps had hit Jeremy's face, it turned slowly towards the one who slapped him. There was no frown, no disapproval, but there was a silent pleading in the eyes that stared at Jayden. Why had he hit Jeremy like that?
Jayden stared at the odd expression and cleared his throat to get his brother's attention.
Jaden turned and saw that Jeremy's corpse was now looking at Jayden. "Hm-" he walked over to the other side of the bed and crouched down. Using a finger, he poked at Jeremy's side.
Maribel had changed into her pajamas now that the boys were out of the room. She fluffed her hair up and went to the restroom to brush her teeth. She hoped there would be new toothbrushes and toothpaste in the drawers.
Phinagin noticed the twins hovering around Jeremy's body. "You guys called me paranoid. At least im not standing watch over him."
"We're not standing watch." a twin said.
"Yea- you're supposed to poke dead things." said the other, lying a bit.
After brushing her teeth, Maribel walked back into he bedroom where Eliza and Waya were. 'So- anyone know good sleep over games?' she signed with a smile. Maribel was so light hearted and was one of the few of the group who didn't have a devastating past.
Waya's answer was a simple "No." to Maribel as she snatched a blue tank top and black sweats to sleep in. She disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments before coming back out with her uniform over her arm and her hair in a ponytail. It wasn't often she wore her hair up, letting her tattoos be completely visible.
Eliza grinned at Waya "Well maybe we should just have a girly night in hmmmm? I haven't had one of those in ages..." She was looking at Waya, she guessed Maribel would be up for that.
Maribel smiled and clapped. 'I would really like to get to know you girls a bit more too.' She went to the bed and sat indian-style in the center.
"I'll share but I'll bite the first person who tries to braid my hair." Waya told Eliza. She took the bed close to the window, turned down her covers and decided to check out what kind of propaganda was being spread on the tv.
"But you'd look cute" Eliza giggled, lying back against the bed head and taking a deep breath as her attention turned to the TV as well "Don't put it too loud, want to listen for the guys screaming. Either the Twins will be stabbed or Phinagin will be molested."
'Wouldn't there be more irony in the twins getting molested?' Maribel signed. She smirked, 'Just saying'. Maribel frowned a little when Waya escaped with the TV. Instead, she paid more attention to Eliza. Wrapping an arm around hers, Maribel pulled her to one of the beds to sit with her.
Eliza blinked, but simply followed Maribel happily to the bed and sat beside her "Not sure Phinagin's like that." She stretched slightly and groaned "So, what do you want to do?"
'Usually the topic of boys is first priority.' Maribel signed with a sly grin. She was curious... I mean, there were many relations in this group, but surely they liked one of the guys.
Eliza raised her eyebrows slightly "Junior is technically my brother-cousin, the twins... cousins, and NO! Jeremy's gay I think... and Phinagin I don't really know." She shrugged and sighed at Maribel "Sorry, not had much time for boys... well... before everyone dissapeared..." Eliza blushed and took a deep breath "But they all left."
'Jeremy is gay? I never would've guessed.' Maribel tilted her head, completely caught off guard. 'Well maybe if this place isn't all bad and we stay here, you will meet new people?'
"Yeah... I'm not sure how many people know though" Eliza chuckled, rubbing her forehead slowly "No time for guys I'm afraid. Still working on my machine, and that'll take up a LOT of my time. After that... maybe."
Seeing that Waya was distracted by the TV, Maribel signed, 'What about her?'
"Not into girls" eliza said, waving her hand slightly before blinking at Maribel "Oh! Oh Waya... Well... you know about that flash right? Were you there for that? The mental image?"
Maribel just stared at her for a moment. She had no clue what Eliza was talking about. She made a face and shook her head.
"That was an accident." Waya said, having been paying attention while she watched a mutant named Dazzler preform on alate night asteroid m talk show "And it's not because I've seen Junior naked, I haven't. The image didn't even come from my head, I only projected it."
"Well you obviously like him" Eliza sighed, lying back on the pillows slowly "And Rhydian obviously likes you... too complicated." She stretched her feet out slowly and wriggled her toes "Does anyone know who Junior likes?"
'It was from some one else's head?' Maribel asked before pausing, 'What WAS the image?'
"I sort of accidently projected a naked image of Junior into everyon's heads." Waya explained exasperatedly "And now Rhydian thinks I like Junior more than him... I know he likes me Liz, but I think I screwed all that up now."
Maribel looked at Waya and lifted her hands, 'So who DO you like?'
"I don't really have enough time for that sort of stuff." Waya signed to her "Maybe after we find the others, but not right now."
Maribel frowned, 'Well if you guys didn't went to tell me who you like- you could've just said it."
"It's not like that... just that... well" Eliza sighed and wriggled about, trying to click her back "The only thing reminding me I'm a woman is once a month I get stabbing pains."
"Just be glad you arent overcome by feral lust every full moon." Waya said, unintentionally sharing more than she probably meant to.
'What?' Maribel asked, looking at Waya. Finally...it was getting good.
"Animal instinct gets a bit into overdrive huh?" Eliza said, trying not to giggle "Surprised you haven't acted out on Rhydian or Junior then. I mean if anything that might help you..."
'Unless you have already?' Maribel added, lifting a suspicious brow to Waya.
"And screw everything up more?" Waya asked Bell "I don't think so."
Eliza sighed and rubbed her forehead "Maybe you should come to me next full moon hmmmm? See if I can't give you a sedative or something. Don't want you going mental and regreting it do we?"
"Sedatives don't work on me remember." Waya reminded Liz "Can we please change the subject from my horomones?"
'I'm just shocked that you've lived with these guys for so long and don't have a crush on any of them.' Maribel sighed, feeling defeated in her attempt to get close to these two.
"Well" Eliza chuckled, rolling over onto her back and gazing at Maribel "Have you got a crush in here? I mean... I've never felt anything closer than a friend to them, and since the only one who I am NOT related to is Rhydian, who is madly attracted to Waya... Well there's not much choice for me is there?"
Maribel was a little caught off guard, but she smiled and lifted her hands, 'Not yet...I haven't exactly gotten to know the guys that well. At least not enough to really define someone as a 'crush'.' She paused and looked at Eliza, 'You are related to Phinagin, too?'
"No. But then again, I haven't known him for very long. And... well, don't YOU get that feeling that he'd rather not be dealing with you, or anyone, at the moment. Even if he's the one talking to you?" Eliza sighed, squirming a bit on the bed "Ohhh... maybe stick you in restraints Waya? But that could make the hormones worse..."
Maribel didn't really follow what Eliza was saying, 'He seems very nice to me.'
"I can teleport,"Waya said as if it where completely obvious. She'd inherited her father's talent for moving threw shadows and since she didn't use if very often she demonstrated for Maribel's sake. By lifting up the covers on her bed she made a dim but workable shadow. The effect was sort of like a stage magician making someone disappear. Once the covers fell there was no indication that anyone was still on the bed "Unless you can make a room that casts no shadow." She stepped out of the dark closet behind the bed both girls where sitting on. "I doubt it would work."
"Sure, why not?" Eliza asked, not shaken at all that Waya had teleported suddenly "I mean... some suspension, some lamps. I mean if it's bothering you that much. If not, nevermind." She scratched her chin and thought for a second "I guess I'm just not used to new people."
Maribel perked up a little, shocked that Waya just walked out of the closet. She smiled and clapped quickly as if she were magic. She only really practiced her powers when she was alone. Having not complete control over them like the others, she was a bit embarrassed by it.
"I'd rather deal with it." Waya told Liz "Cages of any sort don't sit well with me." She'd not inherited her mother's early issues of being overwhelmed by her instincts, but confined spaces had never been a favorite of hers.
"Just trying to help" Eliza said, shrugging gently and rubbing her neck as she felt the tension there "Ugh... wonder if I've got to ask permissions for pain meds now."
'Does your head hurt?' Maribel signed after getting Eliza's attention.
"And back... mostly my head hurts after staring at stuff like string theory for too long, my back hurts because I spend a lot of time hunched over computers, diagrams and pieces of equipment." Eliza grumbled slightly "I just need pain meds every so often, when it's effecting my concentration."
"Just promis me you wont become reliant." Waya told Liz as she got up to scrounge another desert from the cart.
Maribel just sat on the bed with Eliza. She watched Waya before looking at the TV. "I imagine the reception would be really good out here."
"Meh..." Eliza grumbled at Waya before turning to the TV again "I wonder what's on... and if it'll have anything subliminal." She giggled slightly and considered scanning the room for bugs before they slept "Who wants privacy?"
"I checked for bugs already." Waya told Liz "I didn't find any subliminal messages but I havent scanned all the channels yet." She tossed the remote to Liz and retreated to the bathroom to brush her teeth
"Suppose it would be too risky... all the different people... mutations. Might get caught" Eliza mumbled, rubbing her eyes again "CHECK THE BATHROOM! Don't want hour long combination tapes of us all in there..."
And again with the suspisions. Maribel frowned and threw her legs off the side of the bed. So much for a fun girl's night. Maybe all Americans were this serious? She laid herself down and slipped under the covers.
A few moments later Waya's voice called out from the bathroom "Looks clear."
"Hey" Eliza said, frowning at Maribel and stretching over, poking her gently in the butt "Where you off to? Thought we were going to have a girly night?" She shrank her arm back quickly and cocked her head at Maribel "I'll let you braid my hair..."
'You guys are too paranoid- can't you just relax?' Maribel signed, sitting up in bed. 'And be....' she stopped and put her hands down, regretting what she was about to sign.
"I know I'm paranoid" Eliza sighed "And it was a joke Maribel." She sighed and rolled over slightly, then realised she wouldn't be able to see Maribel and rolled over to face her again.
'But why? Why are you paranoid? Why is everyone at that school paranoid?' Maribel adjusted herself and continued, 'I should be able to feel safe at school and at the mansion...and you guys should too.'
"We're not AT the mansion though" Eliza pointed out "We're at the base of one of the old bad guys. You know, the one who tried to kill all humans, and our parents a few times?"
'Well he seems nice.' Maribel signed, feeling a little stupid. She sometimes forgot that their parents were super heros.
"He always seems nice. Up until your face is smeared over the wall" Eliza sighed, still watching Maribel so she could talk. It was a of a bother really, she should work on something to help Maribel speak...
'I just don't see how he has the funds to make something like this and have no one back home notice.' Maribel explained.
"Who's smearing their face on the walls?" Waya asked as she came out of the bathroom. She'd heard Liz's part of the conversation bit for obvious reasons didn't get Maribell's half
"Magneto to others. Or he tries to at least" Eliza said, rubbing her fingers through her hair slowly "Magneto can block radio waves, so no one can pin down what he's doing. He's also quite good at persuading people not to talk..."
'For our sakes I hope he is telling the truth. This place is nice.' Maribel signed.
"Remind me when we get home to show you some of the info cubes about him." Waya signed to Maribelle "You'll see where we're coming from. So long as nothing goes horribly wrong while we're here."
"We're paranoid, I admit it. But this isn't a vacation for us..." Eliza stroked a hand through her hair, trying not to think of the possibilities "We shouldn't all be up here anyway... There's no one left down there to help anyone. No one left to look after people who need us. I mean... you just wondered in, same for Phinagin. We've SAVED people... we shouldn't be up here. It's taking away the X-men from people who might need it."
"Junior caled the Young Avengers before we left." Waya reminded Liz "They'll take up the slack while we're gone, not to mention The Fantastic 4 and Spider-man are still in town. I don't think the world will urn down while we're up here."
Maribel sighed, 'I know you guys feel that you should take the place of the X-men...but you can't. You are a bunch of high schoolers like me.' She paused, not likeing having to tell them this, 'You can't help me, Phinagin or anyone else who wanders in. I think you guys need to stop fooling yourselves.'
Eliza cast Maribel a decidively cold glare, rolling over onto her back and staying silent. It was clear that Maribel had just upset the girl, and since Eliza was lying on her back she had no interest in talking.
"So we're supposed to just sell out and shack up with Magneto?" Waya signed as she spoke. "Leave behind everything the last three generations of X-Men have worked for? Don't get me wrong, I know your new and all, but we've worked really hard to keep the school open and No way Magg's island paradise is going to let us loose sight of our poncho." It was a moment before Waya realized that she mistook the word poncho for "Goals, I mean goals."
'Is it worth losing your youth over?' Maribel asked, being bold.
Waya paused and thought about it. Was that what they where doing? Struggling to do something adults had struggled to do for years. "So what your saying is, maybe we should take Magneto up on his offer and give the school a break?"
Maribel was actually shocked that Waya didn't flip out. Calmly, she nodded.
"No abandoning, just a break?" Waya asked her "Like a few weeks, a year? What?"
"I can't break" Eliza mumbled, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath "Can't take a break. I've got to keep WORKING, keep trying to get through to our parents. You two can enjoy your time up here... I'm just here for the resources."
"No I didn't say I was signing up." Waya told Liz "Just, I can see where Bell is coming from... Mind if I call you Bell?" she signed to Maribelle
"I know... I know" Eliza groaned "I need a break as well... it can be very stressful down there... But I can't stop Waya. I'm so close and so far at the same time..."
'Sure, that's actually what my Dad calls me.' Maribel signed. 'She works for hours on end...Eliza needs a break.' she told Waya since Eliza was facing the other way.
"I agree." Waya told Liz "You've become a coffee junkie and I'm not much better." She paced for a moment thinking "Maybe if the boys don't find anything tonight we should stick around for a few days, take it easy and let those egg heads in the lab make some progress on the machine."
"I still need to do work" Eliza grumbled slightly, both hands laying over her face "Just because they are here now doesn't mean they are suddenly going to do all the work. Waya, you have time off, you deserve a break but I can't ok..."
"Don't make me order you to relax." Waya warned "You can still work, just promis me you'll get a seaweed wrap or something people are age are supposed to do."
"Seaweed wraps? I thought those were for forty year old women who are worried that everything's about to go south and are trying anything to stop it" Eliza mumbled, rolling over so she was face down on the bed.
"Do I look like a seaweed expert?" Waya told Liz "I was making an example. If the boys report clean activity in the morniong I'm ordering you to take at least three hours of persional relaxation time. Your no good to us stressed and stretched to the max."
"I don't wanna" Eliza pouted, but it was clear that she would actually do it; she couldn't disobey an order from Waya. She would relax... grudgingly. But no men!
Maribel looked at Waya and gave her two thumbs up and a wide smile. She then looked at Eliza laying there all pouty. Not on her watch. Maribel perked up and planted her butt right on Eliza's hips.
"Do you feel comfortable taking an order too?" Waya asked Maribelle. She was new and they'd not exactly fully inducted them as one of them but the first place to start was with the issuing of orders. "You think you can make sure she relaxes? It doesn't have to be all at once if she starts getting bitey."
Maribel placed her hand at her forehead and gave her a salut. She then turned to tackle more of Eliza, quickly tickling her sides. Maribel giggled but no sound excaped.
Waya saluted in return and with a triumphant smile shadow-levitated into a laying position on her bed.
"Woo-HEY!" Eliza yelled, jumping up slightly at Maribel's tickles and flailing her arms around. "S-stop that" she said, trying to shuffle away from Maribel.
Maribel smirked and hopped off the bed. Fixing her hair, she went to her own bed and sat.
"You're evil" Eliza pouted, lying face down on the bed again. Maribel was acting like a child, this didn't really bother Eliza; what bothered her was that SHE should as well. Dear god the fun had been sucked out of her.
Maribel felt a lot better now that her feelings were expressed. It even meant more that Waya helped and even agreed. She would sleep well tonight. She signed 'Good night' to Waya and slipped under the sheets
Waya signed a 'night' back and said "We should probably get some sleep, they'll probably send someone for us at the butt crack of dawn."
"You guys are disturbed." Phinagin said as he laid down in his bed and covered up. He rolled over facing away from the twins and close his eyes.
Jeremy's head turned slightly to face the one who poked him, the gaze staring at the twin with the same childish-like hurt eyes. Jeremy didn't say anything, made no motion but the staring, but even that was creepy enough.
"Jeez!" they both shot back, lifting their hands up in defense. "Dead bodies DON'T turn their heads, man." Jayden said, his eyes locked on Jeremy's body.
"Maybe Waya should investigate-" Jaden muttered, trying to think of a reasonable explanation.
Tired of poking the dead body, the twins moved to the bed between Jeremy's and Phinagin's. They took their shirts and pants off but kept on their boxers. They crawled into bed and tried to fall asleep. Jaden couldn't help but open his eyes to check on Jeremy's corpse once in a while.
He could occasionally see a pair of eyes staring out at the room, sometimes quizzical, sometimes gazing at the boys as if still hurt by their poking attack. Jeremy's body was being strange, just as he'd predicted.
Jaden, being he more book smart twin, tried to comprehend a reason for his corpse to ...act out. When something dies, it can undergo several twitches, deficate on itself, exension of nails and hair... but follow you with it's eyes around the room? No, definately not. Perhaps there was part of Jeremy's mind that stays in the body?
Jayden had already begun to snore lightly.
Stumble!