party at a rich dude's house [ota]

[welcomeprofessor]

Who: X-Mansion people, visitors, whoever else.
When: Through May
Where: R5, Residence 15
What: *see the subject line, it's Ke$ha time. Miscellany.
Warnings: See individual top levels for applicable warnings.

Comments

[ota.]

[welcomeprofessor]

i. office hours
[Despite his worries, it is alarmingly easy to fall into a routine. It could be the place, or desperate grasping for some kind of place where he earnestly shouldn't have one, but it takes Charles little time at all to sequester himself back into "his" office. He may not have classes to mentor (not yet anyway), but out of habit, he keeps the door open as he quietly mills around regardless, looking through the last lingering pieces of a life--maybe his, maybe not--left behind.]


ii. breaking into the liquor cabinet
[It's all so different, despite the constant, somewhat haunting reminders of his home back home. For days now, ever since his arrival and this somewhat serendipitous living situation set in his lap, he's been waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. Time moves so slowly here, or ar least in comparison to all his worries back home it seems to. He remembers nothing after yelling at Alex to destroy Cerebro (and how many times are they going to have to rebuild that?), but there are still startling flashes. Fire, ash, and something larger that causes his chest to seize on random occasion without explanation.

This is what has led him to raiding the upstairs liquor cabinet. Or what he assumes must be, hidden away as he's so used to. (It's an unnecessary precaution when he would know if something was amiss, but it's something to see that even if some other version of himself has made questionable choices, it isn't all completely unfamiliar.

It would be easy, like this, to get caught up in aimless reminiscing and regrets. The "I shouldn't be here" (despite however true it is), or the endlessly painful "remember when." Luckily, he hears someone (or something, the distinction is unimportant) approach from behind. He turns at the sound with a smile not entirely unlike a teenager caught doing something he ought to have not. It's a difficult habit to kick.]


iii. wildcard
[I'm up to plot whatever you like, if you want a prompt beyond these!]

ii because this is clearly the best idea ever

[frankensteinian]

[He's out and about in the mansion a lot now, more than he had been when he first arrived. He's still not exactly social, but he's settled in somewhat now, and the fact that there haven't been any attempts to force him out of the house helps too. So it's not entirely a surprise that in his wanderings, he comes across other residents.

He can't take credit for the stash of alcohol, but he knows by now that it's there. So it doesn't surprise him that Charles has found it.]

You won't get any judgement from me for that.

hey-yo; also #1

[retrovirion]

[ Some other guy named Peter mentioned this place a while ago - like. A while ago - and it's taken this particular Peter that long to work his way up to coming around. He's been so careful about keeping this new part of himself separate from everything else about himself, but the longer he's here the more he thinks that maybe he doesn't need to. Here, at least. Maybe he could even learn something useful! That would be cool. That would be... Maybe really helpful, actually.

Anyway, he's not really sure what to expect, but there's no one telling him not to come in, no one looking at him like he shouldn't be here, no one so far making his venture in any way discouraging whatsoever.

Aside from that he has no idea where to actually go now that he's finally decided to come over. There's an open door over there though, and he's still trying to figure out how much he wants to try and investigate; how much he wants to potentially risk just coming here, even though it might not be a risk, but it might be. It's another universe - who actually knows the rules for that? ]

Oh, sorry, I was just - you know, I was just looking around. Kind of new here. [ blend in, peter, come on ] Second floor homeroom?

[ shot in the dark, but technically literally an educated guess ]

i

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda can't help but notice when another telepath is near - their minds feel different from everyone else's and on closer inspection she knows this one. Living with Jean and Charles (even if he disappeared last month) has given her a certain familiarity with how their minds feel, the same way she would always know Steve or Vision or Natasha.

Charles might feel a rather red brush against his mind - nothing intrusive, just a way of saying hello.

A few minutes later Wanda peers around the door of his office.]

You're back.

2

[brokeassgoing]

[that's funny because Badou is also caught red handed-- of course he wasn't looking for anything like booze, just, you know, information on this place, on the past, that sort of innocent thing.

His face freezes once they lock eyes. Then he raises a hand:]

Yo. The brats finally drove you to it, huh.

i.

[a_shadow]

[ She doesn't quite believe it when she realizes Charles is back around in the mansion again. She heard it on the grape vine, and she knows how trustworthy rumors can be sometimes. But out of idle curiosity and a sense that it's important, she heads there and peers into his office. Yes, there he is. Tex doesn't waste any time making her presence known, after that. ]

I'd greet you like an old friend except I feel like there's too big of a chance you won't recognize me.

[ She's gone through this before, after all, with Church and now with Carolina. She knows there's no guarantee Charles remembers meeting her before. ]

iii. cw: blood and terrible shit k

[el_paso]

[ It starts with the pressure in his skull. Faint, but it's there nonetheless, a slow poison leaching apprehension down his spine. Something isn't quite right.

He's looking for Laura, following the scent of sunshine and grass and rubber-coated fingers, the metal beneath it all that leads him to the library. Of course. Probably helping Jean while she sorted and filed away books... ]

Hey. Laura-

[ The door is open, the sun in the high windows throwing patterns across the wood floor, so Logan strolls right in, thumbing through contacts in his TAB when he finally looks up. A gleam of brushed steel catches his eye first, then the back of a chair, its occupant turned away, but he knows; he knows who it is, because Charles Xavier fills a room with his presence the very same way he always has.

The world narrows in scope.

He doesn't hear his TAB when it clatters to the floor, doesn't feel the racing of his heart, or the way his breath hitches high in his throat. Pain, though, that comes rushing back in a fierce tidal wave. There's blood that isn't his, the scent so thick he can taste it on his tongue; a body at his feet and the thing with his face retreating out into the night and Charles-

Charles is-

His heel hits a box of books when he recoils, gutted by sharp, sudden panic that sends him sprawling. Backing himself against a table leg, claws catching the sunlight, he's drawn his knees up to his chest and pressed his hands to his ears in a desperate bid to block out the sounds only he can hear, Laura's high-pitched shrieks interwoven with the screams of dying men. ]

i

[culver]

[Nill had spoken to Charles--a Charles, at least--over the network. But as far as in-person interactions, they'd hardly been in the same room at the same time. She'd met him once she and Badou had moved into the mansion, of course, but that had been about it. He'd always been teaching classes she hadn't taken. She knows where his office is, as does everyone in the school, but she'd rarely seen him in there. So when she passes and sees the door ajar, she can't help but peek inside.

When she actually sees him, her wings flare in surprise, feathers rustling, and her eyes go wide. The door creaks as she leans on it to get a better look at him, and her cheeks go pink with embarrassment. Maybe he hadn't heard her? Maybe she can just sneak away?]

1.

[nimbi]

[ It is entirely by design that Ororo has stayed clear of Charles' office for as long as she's lived in this place. Actually, back home it's her office now, but she has yet to reach the point where she can think of it that way. Here, she has no wish to claim any territory. The place is in the hands of Erik, and those hands are not ones in which she wants to place more of herself than she has to.

It is strange enough to live in this house that is so much like home and yet so very different. She doesn't have to relive the experience of entering that room, knowing that Charles is gone.

But eventually, some sort of vaguely masochistic curiosity takes her there anyway. It makes her chest feel tight to see the door ajar, just like he used to leave it. She can hear sounds inside, and she wonders who she would find in there were she to enter.

She almost turns around and leaves again, this moment something too private for her to really want to share it with anyone, but in the end she pushes the door open and enters.

The sight of the wheelchair makes her gasp, thinking at first that she has to be hallucinating, conjuring up what she wants to see. But it isn't what she wants to see, not entirely. Because this vision of Charles is not the older gentleman she misses so desperately. This man is young, with hair on his head even... perhaps he is too young to even know her. Jean all over again.

Still, she is overjoyed to see him, how could she not be? Ignoring the tears rolling down her cheeks, she smiles. ]

Hello, Charles.

@ i

[geomagnetically]

[Lorna hadn't had a chance to meet Charles -- the Charles that had been yanked from here a few days after her arrival, but maybe this was that same Charles, who knows; it didn't much matter to her since she hadn't met him yet here.

But, since she is staying at a room in here, she goes to his office to introduce herself and chat. She's assuming he won't know who she is because not many here have recognized her yet. Her outfit today is more on the business casual side, and her long green hair is being worn down. His door my be open, but she still gently knocks on the doorframe to try to catch his attention and not just straight up barging in first.]

ii

[coercive]

[She knows that he's here. Charles Xavier is a beam of light that draws her in toward him nearly every waking hour since he's arrived here. But memories of the last time she saw him play in her mind, and it was the way her heart twisted painfully in her chest and then dropped down to her stomach that kept her from approaching him. He was too young to know her, anyway. But still, she crept and hid around corners to observe him, and peeked her head in his office when she thought he wouldn't notice her.

His being here is supposed to be a happy thing. But all she can feel is an overwhelming sadness that she doesn't know what to do with. She can't talk to her dad about it, because she doesn't want to upset him. So she bottles up that sadness and tries to get through day to day life without getting in Charles' way.

When she stumbles upon him raiding the liquor cabinet, she looks over at him like she's seen a ghost. Her face visibly pales and she comes close to screaming the way she had the night she lost him. She sees him in the back of the truck, she can feel the monster with her father's face claws inside her. She can feel the loss and it overwhelms her.

But he won't know about any of that. So she lets tears fill her eyes and she looks up at him with great upset. There's many social situations where Laura doesn't know what to do. This is by far the worst she's experienced so far.]

i. - several days after asteroid party

[justonetouch]

[She's heard by now that he's back, and that he doesn't remember being here. She's not too certain what to think about that, but after the return of an older Logan, Rogue's not too surprised. Meeting him the first time had been a surprise for her, although it will be a bit less in her case this time. He's still not he man that she knows, but she has met him here once before.

It isn't as if she's planned on heading in his direction, but when she finds herself outside of his office, she pauses. The door is open, and after a moment, she gives a little knock.]

Hi. [That awkward pause, because he has no idea who she is, and she knows it.] 'm Rogue. I- am one of your future students.

i.

[modelsixtythree]

Natasha had heard mentions that something like the entire X-Mansion had ended up on Kauto, though it's taken her a little while to go investigate. But as sanguine as she's tried to be about everything so far, there are moments when apparently being a universe out of step from everyone else is tiring. She hasn't spent a huge amount of time at the mansion, but at the moment it's likely the most familiar thing in this corner of the universe that she's like to find.

She's making her way through the halls thanks to a layout based on half-remembered past visits, and she's relatively sure she hasn't gotten too turned around yet. It's only a kneejerk reaction that has her glancing into the open doorway she passes -- but it's conscious thought that has her backtracking to stare inside.

It definitely looks like Xavier's office, from the few times she's been inside. Which means that the man with the wheelchair sitting comfortably inside can only be --] Xavier?

i

[shadowblends]

[It's taken him a while to perfect these metamorphing abilities, but as soon as he's able to, he's fashioned himself a 'human' form - something that's oddly familiar to his normal blue, yet entirely different in the fact that he doesn't look like himself.

Thankfully, in the case of others, his accent is undeniable and that's how he knows people will recognize him, even if his appearance isn't what it normally is. The confusion is sure to be there, no matter how brief and admittedly, it's the prankster side within him that delights in the idea of throwing people a curveball.

He hesitates at the door for now, silently watching the professor poke through things that are in the office, although they may not exactly his. Kurt's lips curve into a smile because no matter where they are or how many times they have to begin again, Charles will always be ... well, Charles.]

Finding anything of interest?

i. arrives late with starbucks

[brainiest]

[ After seeing Erik's post on the network and agreeing to actually try and teach lessons on magic, practical or otherwise, Hermione thinks it might be a rather good idea to go and investigate the place she might be teaching - and the place she might be learning at, too, if she manages to organise herself enough to go to the lessons Mr. Lehnsherr suggested. She hasn't taught any magic since she was introducing people to shard magic and that feels like eons ago, now, even though it was barely a handful of weeks.

It seems rude to just wander around without actually seeing if she can find someone to talk to and she's a little uncomfortable, even as she tries to figure out where she's going. The awkwardness carries on with her even as she steps through towards the sound of someone moving around and doing something. It's easy to chase after it, and she steps up to the office and peeks her head inside.

And her heart stops.

Kurt had told her that Charles was gone, that he'd gone home, but... He's right here. He's moving around in an office that seems to fit and for a moment her mind is a touch overwhelmed, her eyes drinking in the sight of him before she swallows. There's no way for her to really grasp at any kind of hope that he might recognise her or know her, but at the same time... Katsa knew her. Katsa remembered her. ]

... Charles?

ota

[frankensteinian]

[He's back to his mostly nighttime hours of wandering the mansion now, since even though this is a large house, being about and about in the middle of the night is the surest way not to come across Charles. After their recent conversation, he'd really rather not come across Charles. During the day, he has the excuse of his self-defense classes, or an odd job he picks up here or there, but once he's home for the day he has no such excuse.

Most of his out-and-about time is spent in the kitchen, searching out food or coffee, but when he suspects that the coast is clear, he ventures as far as the day room, where he finds a quiet place to sit with a book for a few hours.]

[geomagnetically]

[Lorna has already found the coffee and made some; still dressed in her sleepwear -- yoga pants and a loose short sleeved shirt -- her hair still in a messy braid that she slept in as well, she's leaning against a countertop with her back to it, and cupping her coffee mug in both hands.]

Hey. [She offers a small smile.] Morning. How are you?

[coercive]

[Is that Erik enjoying a quiet place with a book? Not on her watch.

She hardly ever sleeps at night since arriving. There's too many nightmares and restless nights of insomnia. Ones that she doesn't want to worry her father with, so she tries to stay quiet and hidden. She's got her horse toy in one hand and is making her way through the house as if she's letting the toy walk the entire mansion. When she spots Erik she pauses and almost sneaks away. But in the end she clutches hold of her horse toy and creeps in close enough that she can try climbing up to sit on the arm of the chair he's sitting in.]

It is late to be reading.

[brokeassgoing]

[okay but can he not stand out in the kitchen, thinking about the exact part of Charles' hair in the dark? Because its on one of these days Badou slinks into the manor, goes in the kitchen to get a snack and-- sees Erik.]

BLINDING FOREHEAD--

[shadowblends]

[Midnight snack runs are nothing new to Kurt. What is, though, would be running into Erik at the same time, since the metal-manipulator is technically a teacher here.

Padding silently down the length of the hall, the blue boy slips his way into the kitchen, readying himself to creep over to the counter where he'd left a bag of muffins the other day, only to immediately halt in his tracks when he sees Erik at the fridge. Their last meeting had been left on ... tense terms, but he didn't feel like there was any malice between them.

So, why doesn't he say anything right away? Instead, he simply stands there, staring like a dumbstruck child until he can find his voice.] Erik?

ota . mentions of asteroid dreams

[justonetouch]

[Rogue had gone to the gathering on the Asteroid, although she had had only a little to drink, with more to eat. All jokes and jests aside, she didn't exactly have a taste for alcohol. Overall, it had been interesting enough, getting Rogue out of the slump that she had been in. The evening had progressed, had wound down, and she had been ready to go find her bed. That was until the dream.

Wide emptiness. Vengeance and loss. Blood...

The sticky liquid. A thrashing monster in a sea of corpses. Jagged fingers lashing towards-]

[a. early morning after the gathering]

[The feeling remained, the burning sensation as she had thrown up, and yet there was nothing... It was all so real, and Rogue wasn't certain whether or not she imagined it or not. How she had even gotten back to the mansion, she couldn't tell. Her body had been on autopilot, leaving as quickly as she could, stealing away like a shadow in the night.

Yet sleep hadn't come. The images had remained, rising like a tide each time she closed her eyes. The ripping, the drowning... She can still smell the coppery tang now. It was how she had ended up in the kitchen at the wee hours of the morning, a cup of tea in her hand, although her mind was clearly elsewhere as she stood there at the island. Her fingers remained curled around the cup, although she made no motion to move, nor did she seem to notice the world around her.]

[b. two days after the gathering]

[Even now it lingered, creeping at the back of her mind. Nipping, biting, reminding. The hunger was still there, although Rogue couldn't explain it, nor could she explain the hollowness within her mind. It was... she couldn't explain it though. Almost the opposite of her abilities, maybe? Or perhaps it was what people felt like after she had touched them, like something wasn't quite right, yet she didn't trust anyone well enough to actually look at her.

She looked tired, felt it. It was like a cold that she couldn't shake, but there was no sniffling or sneezing or even fever. Still, retreating back, she had made herself scarce yesterday. She had gone to work, slipping off early in the morning, and had returned straight to her room right after. The same course had been taken this morning, although she had run a little late coming back.

It was why she was trying to sneak back in, even if she did live right there.]

[c. wildcard scenario - find her at the mansion or around]

b

[brokeassgoing]

[Badou....also doesn't want to talk about any of that shit. And anyhow, sneaking in and out of the mansion is old hat to him, having done it since he'd first been offered a place here. He'd noticed the lack of her lately but he's definitely surprised to nearly collide with her upon his grand entrance.]

Well, well. Didn't think they gave you guys a curfew. That old man with the claws gonna be shitty if he finds out you changed clothes or something?

ota!

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda's general distrust of doctors and scientists (and of going in a database) prevent her from actually coming forward about her recent travels. She was barely on Asteroid-276 and left as soon as she'd realized what they were doing, diplomatic efforts be damned. Anyone who reminded her so strongly of Strucker was not someone she wanted to be around.

She hadn't gone to the party. She hadn't even touched any refreshments, but apparently it didn't matter.

Still, she can admit that something probably should be done, but there's no reason she can't handle it herself. It's not hard to separate what is self and what is other, but normally when she passes the scarlet through herself she's targeting something behind her, not anything foreign inside her. And on this micro level, it's anything but painless. She'd think it might not be working at all if she wasn't completely ravenous by the time she was done.

Wanda's fellow telepaths might be able to feel the surge of pain coming from her, but even someone walking by her room can hear that something's not right in there. There's a cry of pain and then a loud thud like someone's collapsed hard to the floor.

...it's probably better than whatever they would have done to her?]

ota

[shadowblends]

❧ room (after may 9th)

[When Kurt gets up to start his day, nothing seems out of the ordinary; he musses the bangs of his newly acquired haircut, ponders styling them, decides against it and moves to his closet to get dressed.

He settles with something simple, the button-up shirt open and the sleeves rolled to his elbows. As he steps past the mirror, he stops, blinks rapidly then backpedals to stare at himself in the looking glass.

His eyes grow almost impossibly wide, mouth hanging open in astonishment at the person staring back at him. He draws his hands up to run over the smoothness of his cheeks, up the bridge of his nose to his forehead and back down. Then, without warning, there's a loud shriek that's sure to be audible throughout the entirety of the dorms at the very least. He rushes away from his reflection toward the nearest wall and begins to scale it, cramming himself into the corner between the beams.

Should anyone come to check on him, they're going to be faced with a partially messed up room, an overturned lounge chair and an unfamiliar teen clinging to the rafters like a lifeline. It's not what it looks like; he's honestly not an intruder!]

❧ shapeshifting practice

[Once he's gotten through his initial freak-out of having these new powers, the blue boy has taken some of his free time and headed outside to try them out. Whatever he can shift into, he does so; people he knows, others he's seen on Thisavrou and he even dares to fashion himself other features - like the wings he's currently working on.

He knows what they look like because of pictures and seeing Warren's large white ones during the cage fights should have been enough of a real-life visual, but he can't seem to get them quite right. They either end up being the wrong color or are far too small for him to even hover with. Although, when they shift into something far more demonic, he's so appalled by the leathery things sprouting from his shoulderblades that he attempts to shift back into his normal blue form as quickly as possible, hoping that nobody is around that might have seen them.

There's no reason for him to frighten people with wings like that when he already looks like a devilish little creature all the time. Well, aside from when he's using the new metamorphing abilities to look 'human' or whatever it would be called.

His hands lift to scrub over his face, brushing his bangs onto the top of his head, wide citrine eyes focusing on his feet near the edge of the stone path of the maze he'd disappeared into a while back to train on honing these new powers. So far, it doesn't feel like he's getting anywhere fast and that abrupt shift had startled him out of attempting anything else for the moment.

With a huff, he strides over to a nearby bench, drops into a sit on it and props his elbows up on his knees, fingers still tangled through his hair, thumbs absently rubbing his temples to ward off the oncoming headache.]

❧ wildcard

[ooc: if you'd like something else, let's plot some stuff!!]

[im so sorry | ota]

[chaoticlootral]

[ the day after this ]

[ Being good(ish) at heart, and having made a commitment (or rather one of them made a commitment, and the other had absolutely nothing at all better to do), the Dos Horny Boys show up as promised the next day and hopefully at the right place. They aren't super great at directions, so really they should probably be praised for even making it to the right region, let alone the correct address.

You now have one (1) elf wizard and (1) human dude on your presumably private property. They've somehow found their way into the foyer - whether the front door was locked or not hasn't managed to stop an industrious wizard yet - and Taako is now making a show of cupping his hands around his mouth and trying to catch someone's attention. ]

Hellooooo? It's Taako and The Boys Pipe Cleanings Etcetera. You, uh, requested our services?

[ruffboi]

[Following Taako in just rudely walking right into someone's house comes what can only be The Boys. He looks like a plumber, maybe? He's big and he's got a lot of tools, although one of them definitely just looks like a large axe.]

Which way looks like a bathroom? It's gotta be the rowdiest toilet in this place.