Rooftop Reflections [[Open]]

[Sofia Mantega]

Making her way on to the rooftop was no spectacular feat for an aerokinetic. Just fly right on up there and land. Simple. And dressed warmly in a pair of stone-washed jeans, black snow boots, and a black turtleneck with a warm, black bubble vest over it. She didn't care about the labels attached to them. The jeans she had because she liked them. The turtleneck she already had. The bubble vest had been cute and warm and she hadn't seen one anywhere else. The designer snow boots? A gift Said he couldn't have his girlfriend freezing her little feet off. Sofia peered down at her boots and gave them a little shake. Some snow fell off, as Sofia's lengthy legs were dangling off the roof. Hm, she did have fairly small feet. Strange that she hadn't noticed before.

Anyway, she was up here to think. She wasn't really in the mood to fly around. The Latina just wanted to sit and think for a minute. She actually needed to talk to someone, but everyone seemed so busy... Sofia didn't want to bother anyone. Her mind had drifted here and there and now she was just staring out at the lightly falling snow. Her hair was down and flecked with the little white dots. The teen sat there kicking her legs for a while, sort of spacing out on the world. Maybe all she had needed was just some piece and quiet. Nevermind talking out stuff. Several people, mostly students, had been advised to see the school's therapist after the virus fiasco. Sofia hadn't been one of the advised, not that she would have gone anyway. "Therapy never helped me anyway," she mumbled to herself.

Derek had wanted for her to get some counseling. Not just for her mother's death, but for the not-so-happy life with her uncle who didn't want the burden of caring for some mutant kid who'd gotten his only sister killed, the unpleasant stay at the sweatshop, the not-so-nice stay with her father, the ping-pong game her uncle and father had had going... Derek didn't know about Juan and what had happened there, so there was no suggested therapy for that. She had gone once...twice...three times and then begged not to go to another session. She couldn't stand some stranger prying into her past. She was fine just burying it all and trying to move on. It was working for her mostly...sort of...not really...okay, so she was just barely convincing herself now.

Sofia drew her knees up and folded her arms over them. Laying her head down, Sofia wondered when she had started wondering about these things. She never gave them much thought before. What had changed between here and there, besides coming to the school?

Sofia suddenly became aware of someone else on the roof via a voice sounding very close. She yelped and when she turned sharply to see who was there, she slipped, and slid right off the roof. The girl 'caught herself' in the air. She sat in the air as if the wind was cradling her. Blinking rapidly, Sofia looked up at the person who was now peering down at her. She flushed, embarrassed.

"Uh...hi."

[Santo Vaccarro]

School had never really done much for Santo Vaccarro even before he grew two feet and turned into solid rock, and as a result lost all of his friends. He had enjoyed playing soccer, he was good at video games and had long ago decided that if he could not learn something from watching television it most likely was not worth knowing. For example how would he have known about Suri Cruise if he had to read it in a book? As if any of the stupid books at school had information that important, they were all obsessed with things like who invented Caesar Salad and Hitler.

Screw Hitler, stupid man with a stupid mustache. Maybe if they had video games in school, or soccer. Still he had relented when his parents had wanted him to try this new school for mutants like him. At least here being an eight foot giant was not going to get him shunned, or so he had thought. It turned out that there was not exactly any other giant rock people there, and so in all likelihood he was once again going to be the outcast freak. Which was fine by him, he'd give it a couple of months and then leave to join the WWE as a pro-wrestler. He'd already picked his new name out, Kid Rock.

On a tour of the school with some woman dressed in red, whose mutant power seemed to be having a nice set of boobs and a cute butt, Santo had taken a wrong turn and was now on the roof. He grumbled, wanting to get back to the tour and the hot teacher. Then before turning back and heading down the stairs he saw someone else on the roof and she was hot too.

Whatever else he might learn about this mutant school, he was starting to believe that it had a high rate of total hotness.

He walked towards her as quietly as a large man made of rock can, that she did not notice him until he was right next to her trying to look down her shirt meant that she was more wrapped up in her own thoughts than she was paying attention to the outside word. Sadly he was thwarted in his quest by the fact that she had a turtleneck sweater on. He cleared his throat, "Hey."

She fell off the roof in surprise. Ten minutes here and he'd managed to kill someone. Not good. He tried to grab her but he was too slow, thankfully apart she seemed to be able to fly. He blinked in surprise as she floated there just a bit below the roof.

"Uh...hi."

It took Santo a moment to realize that she was talking to him and to get his wits about him for a reply, "Hey, babe I don't know if you know this but you're totally flying. You can come back on the roof though, I won't eat you." He stepped back from the side of the roof to give her room to land and so that she could tell that eating her was really not in his plans.

[Sofia Mantega]

You know, Sofia could miss out on a lot when she wandered into her own little world. She wasn’t space-y or a bubble-head, but she could really get deep into her thoughts and just ignore her surroundings. Like meditating or being in a trance without the benefit of feeling focused and refreshed afterward. However lost she may get, Sofia liked to think she would not miss out on something as apparent as a very tall person with rock skin. She had managed to be completely oblivious to a large rock man walking up to her. Well tha’s jus’ a brand new level of obliviousness for you. This was so going in her diary. Yes, she kept a diary – don’t judge! It helped.

The Latina floated there for a moment, staring stupidly at Rockslide. Honestly not sure what to say, Reina continued to float in that odd position. She blinked slowly once or twice. She managed a surprised greeting, but did little else. It was rude to stare this way, she knew, but Reina had never seen a man of rock before. Sure there were plenty of physically-mutated students running around, but she had yet to see one like..this one. He probably thought it terribly rude and Rei flushed again at the thought, but she couldn’t help it. I mean, there was an 8-feet-even guy made of rock standing right there on the roof. She was tall for a girl, so most guys didn’t make her feel very short. This one dwarfed her easily.

He seemed surprised too, but probably just at the fact that she hadn’t been splattered on the ground below. Her smile was sheepish; she hadn’t meant to scare him by falling off the roof that way. He must have been new. For one, Sofia liked to think that she would remember seeing someone like this before. Seriously. And two, his alarm over her falling off told her that he didn’t know that she could fly. Practically everyone knew she could, if only because she could often be seen flying around the mansion.

"Hey, babe I don't know if you know this but you're totally flying. You can come back on the roof though, I won't eat you."

Sofia shifted and rose up some so that she appeared to just be standing on the air. He promised not to eat her and she giggled at the comment. She didn’t think that he’d eat her. Did she think it was possible? Uh..well, maybe he could? She didn’t know. Slowly, Sofia flew forward and touched down on the roof with her usual grace. “Hi,” she repeated now that she was upright. Wow, he was much taller up close. Sofia had to lift her chin almost straight up to look him in the face. Resisting the urge to poke his rock-like skin, an idea popped into her head. Summoning up some currents, Wind Dancer floated up to Santo’s level. She folded her legs and sat there. Sofia offered up her ever-present cheery smile. “My name is Sofia. You’re new ‘ere righ?”

[Santo Vaccarro]

“My name is Sofia. You’re new ‘ere righ?”

The wind was strong, but Santo's hide was too thick for him to notice. He merely nodded, still not quite sure how she was flying. He could tell that it was windy out simply by noticing how her hair was blowing about in the breeze, though truthfully her hair was one of the things he was paying the least attention to. She was small, compared with him, feminine and seemingly not repulsed. Perhaps school wouldn't be as lame as he had imagined.

"Yeah," he said still staring at her, "I'm new here. You do know that you're floating or something right? Is that your like mutant thing?" He had not really known any mutants before, but he supposed they all couldn't be big and rocky. That teacher, the one dressed in red, hadn't been and he supposed that she was a mutant. Then there was a guy in sunglasses, his mutant thing was probably that he had no eyes.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" he asked somewhat hopefully. It seemed somewhat unlikely, he was probably too big and heavy to fly, it probably required being quite small and light like her. Unless he was using some kind of rocket boots.

Damn, rocket boots would be awesome.

[Sofia Mantega]

"Yeah," he replied. Good, so she had guessed right. It also meant that she wasn’t as unobservant as she feared [not seriously] she was becoming. It wouldn’t do for her to be that out-of-the-loop. He was looking rather intently at her and Sofia wondered what was so fascinating. It didn’t occur to her that he’d be so interested in the fact that she was, pretty much, sitting on air. Sofia had been very exposed to mutants, being enslaved [for lack of a better word] with many mutant kids. They weren’t supposed to show or use their powers. The punishments were harsh enough that few dared, but a little show every now and again – identification – was something they all tried to get away with at one point or another. Anyway, though Sofia had more exposure, she was still just as intrigued by any mutation she saw. The physical were always interesting too. Fur and wings seemed to be the most popular at the mansion. The winged-mutants, that she knew of, all had such pretty feathered wings. …And the owners of said wings were usually pretty too. Handsome, pretty, whatever – they looked good. Fur was…fun. Yes, fun. Soft, fuzzy people were awesome. That’s how it went for Sofia.

"I'm new here. You do know that you're floating or something right? Is that your like mutant thing?"

Sofia blinked at Santo, tilting her head a little. It took a moment, consisting of her looking below herself and then back up at Santo again. He must be asking how she was able to fly. “Yes, I know I’m floating. You’re very tall,” she explained to him. “So I thought tha’ it’d be easier if I rose to yo’r level.” It was a lot better than her craning her neck and him stooping down the entire time. It wouldn’t be very comfortable for either of them. Santo didn’t seem to be any less confused than before and it was then that the Latina recalled that she had yet to explain /how/ she was floating. Sofia had only told him why thus far.

“I, eh,” – how could she make this as uncomplicated as possible? – “I control the wind.” There – simple as can be. No complicated, lengthy explanations with a bunch of scientific what-not in there, just ‘I control the wind’. Sofia was satisfied with this basic, albeit grand, answer. “They call me Wind Dancer,” she added.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Again, Sofia blinked slowly. This time she was trying to figure out if Santo was joking or not. “Eh…” Sofia bit her lip. “You wan’ to fly?” Rephrase. “You wan’ me to teach you to fly?”

While Sofia would have loved to teach Santo the finer points of flying, she didn’t really think it’d be doable. “Do your powers allow you to fly?” she asked. She had seen cases where mutants who didn’t appear to have a direct way to fly, could still go airborne. There was an Asian teen here that had the power of the sun packed in her, but she could fly on really, really hot air currents that she made. Bobby had ice powers, but he could get in the air via ice-slide. Maybe Santo had something similar? Doubtful, but, well, you never know.

[Santo Vaccarro]

“They call me Wind Dancer.”

First she was Sofia and now she was Wind Dancer? Was this some kind of hippie thing? They always had funny names like Earth Child and Bright Star and Scarlet Witch. Wait the woman doing the tour had said she was the Scarlet Witch and also that she was Wanda. Oh damn, had he joined some kind of hippie school? Damn hippies.

Before he could accuse her of being a hippie she asked him about his powers to fly, which broke his mind in two.

“Do your powers allow you to fly?”

Santo blinked, his powers could allow him to fly? That was news to him, all he'd learned how to do was detach his fingers and throw them at his brother. A broad smile crossed his face, this was going to be so much better than he had thought it would be. An hour at this mutant school and already he'd been told he could fly, that was amazing. He made a gesture for Sofia to move out of the way and clear a path for him and then he began to think about flying. It was, he figured, probably fairly simple if she could do it. All he had to do was think about it.

"Okay, here it goes," he said and took off running towards the edge of the roof. Each footfall was loud, shaking the roof slightly and creating even more noise and motion in the mansion below. When he reached the edge of the roof he leapt up and spread his arms and thought really hard about flying. Really hard.

Then he fell straight to the ground like an incredibly heavy teenager made of rock. He hit the ground below with a dull thud, leaving a large Santo shaped imprint in the ground. He sat up and moaned, not noticing that his left arm had come detached.

"I thought you said I could fly," he yelled up towards the roof where he had left Sofia, "This better not end up on Youtube."

[Julian Keller]

The meteorologist on channel six had been very clear when he explained todays weather forecast this morning on the morning news station. He was a very funny looking old man. Short and stocky, and his head was beginning to show signs of balding too. It became obvious as he turned to display the wind currents on the digital map, that he commonly fixed his hair in a comb over, hoping that the public eye might not catch sight of the signs if aging. His attempts failed miserably though, and Julian was the first to break into a laugh at his degenerating traits. It was quite funny really, to see this man make a fool out of himself for something so meaningless and vain. Sure, many men went through this same stage and reacted in similar fashions, but to the pompous telekinetic this just meant that there was more for him to mock at. He was nineteen years old and dashingly handsome. His midnight blue eyes were a compliment and highlight to his darker brown hair set atop his well structured face. His body was nothing to overlook either, cut and chiseled into prime condition by the constant training exercises he engaged in. In all fairness, Julian Keller had every reason to feel superior to this less than attractive weatherman on the television. Too bad the teenage telekinetic was well aware of it though.

Belittled as the man on the news station was, his reports were keeping the telekinetic's ear. Julian was curious what the weather would be like for this coming week. Honest and truly, he hoped very much that he and Melody might catch a sunny, reasonably pleasant day to fly and catch some warm air drafts over the bay. It was a common pass time the two had come to engage in...giving them plenty of quality time together in result. Everything was going perfect in that respect, or so Julian thought anyway. He was sure that if Melody Guthrie was having a difficult time with him then she would sure as hell be the first to set him straight. Hell, it was really what attracted the Psion to the flyer in the first place. Her spirit was uncanny and unconquerable...much like his own. The question now was would they be able to release that spirit in the air this week or not?

Leaning on one of the many chair in the common room, Julian found scraps of patience hidden inside himself that kept him still in waiting. Finally, after almost thirty seconds of bogus wind currents over the mid-atlantic, the weatherman switched his view screen to the five day forecast. Four out of the five days indicated cloudy skies with moderate to cooler temperatures. The fifth day, this coming Friday, was to witness mild snow flurries, but nothing major. It seemed like a perfect week ahead to plan a small, quick getaway for the two. Hellion couldn't help but smirk at the thoughts of his airborne love interest floating around with layers of winter jackets on. It was a hilarious sight to watch, especially to those that couldn't quite feel the cold as much as the Southern. One might think that Melody was ready to enter the South Pole when she went flying in these New York winter months.

CLANG - CLANG...CLANG - CLANG...CLANG - CLANG

BOOOSH!

The mansion trembled in a thunderous cloud of noise. Julian was distracted out of the dirty thoughts his mind had begun to weave over Melody as he watched all the younger students run for shelter. What was that noise? It had sounded like a thunderstorm, with blitzing lightning and the crack of thunder...yet it wasn't raining, or even mildly upset outside. Julian moved over to the windows, spying what he could behind the three children that had decided to huddle together in case it might have been an attack. Of course it wasn't though. Hellion had detected no stray mental patterns or sudden thoughts of terrorism. The school alarms had refused to sound. If this was even the smallest attempt at an attack on the Institute, there would have at least been an X-Men or two climbing down the stairs. But there wasn't...so what had made such an uproar if it weren't the weather or an attack?

In the distant garden, just South of the East Wing, Julian spotted a small dust cloud rising from the ground nearby. It wasn't very much, but there was still evident debris that indicated that something had fallen from the ceiling...or the roof. Now more curious than ever, Julian opened up the sliding glass doorway and exited the common room into the gardens outside. The cold bit at his skin immediately, but the cocky teenager was quick to shrug it off and continue onward. He let his telekinetic powers take hold and levitate him up and over the roof of the school where he could see two figures, one in the air and the other embedded in the ground where the dust was coming from. Low and behold, Julian spotted his ex-girlfriend, Sofia Mantega, and the schools newest addition, Santo Vaccarro.

Santo was quite large and obnoxious, a point in the order of why Xaviers was such an important place for mutant teenagers, for he was not a big person, but rather a big mutated hunk of rock. Yes, that was how Julian chose to describe him to Emma on the day of his arrival. Santo Vaccarro, the living rockslide. And so he was too. Quicker than expected, Rockslide had made an impression on Hellion that few could ever dream to make. The physically different mutant wasn't book smart, but he knew how to handle himself...and he liked to smash stuff. Of course when combined with his own pompous nature, Santo had been placed on the Hellions, per Julian's own request.

Floating just over the two, Julian laughed. Santo thought he could fly? Fat chance. Why would Sofia even encourage such a thing? "Wind Dancer, are you trying to teach my rock how to fly?"[/color]The Psi asked, landing gracefully on the ground next to his unattached teammate. With blue eyes finding stoney gems in return, Julian helped Santo find his pieces again and reform. "Santo...buddy...pal...do you know what happens when you throw a rock off a really high point?"[/color] Hellion asked with little patience left to allow the mutant to respond. "It falls...just like you."[/color]

Telekinetically sorting the mutant rock back together with his powers, Julian didn't care to notice if Santo was ashamed or offended by his help. He wasn't getting it regardless. Every now and then Julian chose to look favorable upon select mutant students. Rockslide would be his new charity case...and who knows, maybe even his new friend if the lug played his cards right. "Make sure Sofia doesn't teach you how to swim next time."[/color] He finished as Rockslide came together again.

The girl up above and behind him remained unspoken to for a moment. Hellion and Sofia hadn't quite spoken since their separation from one another. To be fair though, events had shifted out of control recently...especially with the Decimation and all. Finding now as good a time as any, Julian turned to his ex and acknowledged her. "So...aside teaching a rock how to grow wings...how have you been, Sofia?"[/color]

[Sofia Mantega]

She asked if his powers could fly and he just looked as confused as she was. That seemed to be the key emotion in their conversation - mass confusion. She was getting a feeling that this was a really bad thing to ask when Santo smiled widely. "Is tha' a yes?" Now, had Sofia known that Rockslide was new to the Institute /and/ to the wonderful world of mutants, she would have handled this a little differently. But he hadn't said anything about it and she hadn't asked so...yeah. Anyway, he was smiling, apparently excited or something, and Sofia just smiled back. Okay, so he could make a rock-slide like Iceman could make an ice-slide...right? That's what the Latina was guessing, but there was still this iffy feeling. This was the Institute though, so she couldn't knock it just yet. Santo took some steps back and motioned for her to move. Sofia shifted out of his way and watched Santo run towards the end. Strange, Bobby never had to do that...

Sofia paled and flew right behind him. "Wait! Don't--"

*BOOOM*

Sofia stopped speaking as a resounding thud came from the ground below. Actually, it was more like a *boom*, like a bomb had gone off. She sighed and finished her sentence, "--jump." Either Santo couldn't make a rock-slide or didn't know how just yet. The aerokinetic peered down from the edge, now kneeling on the roof. He looked okay - she had yet to notice the very much dislocated shoulder. "Eh.." What was she supposed to say to him now? Sorry? She /had/ tried to stop him. Sort of. He called up to her, yelling out something about her telling him he could fly. Sofia made a face. She had said no such thing. She had /asked/ if his powers allowed him to fly. It was his idea to jump. She had only let him do it because she had thought he was showing her how his powers allowed him to hit the skies. Sadly, all Rockslide hit was the ground.

Hard.

"This better not end up on Youtube."

If it was possible for an anime-styled sweatdrop to appear on the back of Sofia's head, now would be the time to draw it in. This wasn't filmed, but there was no telling whose attention it would have grabbed. Rockslide's fall was far from quiet, hardly graceful in landing. To be fair, however, the boy /had/ been trying to fly... No one had come out yet though and she heard no cries of an earthquake being at hand, however unlikely that would be. So maybe they were off the hook here and she could just--

"Wind Dancer, are you trying to teach my rock how to fly?"

Ah, it was too much to hope for. Sofia didn't respond, only stared as Julian Keller appeared, investigating the noises no doubt. My? Oh, the guy was a Hellion then. Sofia looked at Santo. Well, he was big and rocky. It was likely that it'd take a great deal of effort, like shoving him off a very high roof, to ground him even momentarily. A nice addition to the powerhouse teen group. Baring the arm Julian had to re-attach...or something, Santo was just dandy. Well, save for him possibly being miffed about his inability to fly. Sofia sat on the roof again, deciding it was best if she just stayed where she was. Not that she feared Santo trying to swat her for the failed 'lesson'; it just--it was best she stayed up here. Let's leave it at that for a few minutes.

Julian kindly informed his teammate that he, in fact, could not fly - a fact that Santo and Sofia had just learned. The Latina remained suspiciously silent, only watching to make very certain that no irreparable damagehad been done to the rocky titan of a teen. She never very well that one could /appear/ to be okay..and not be. Not at all. She didn't know how Santo would respond to Hellion's particular brand of advise-giving, but she didn't utter a word otherwise. In fact, she was thinking maybe she should just shout down an apology and..and go visit the orphanage or something. Yes, stop to grab her bag, down a pill [her stomach seemed to be knotting], and go. But...it'd be terribly rude to just leave Santo there after he'd hopped off the roof, even with Julian standing there. There was no telling or much [or how little] time Julian would stick around after piecing Santo together again. If she left now, he could end up by himself. She hadn't been here so long that she had forgotten how awkward her first couple of days had been here... I'll stay a little longer then.

Lengthy legs dangling over the edge as she sat on the roof, it seemed that Sofia had taken up her original position again. Though instead of staring into space, she was staring at the two boys on the ground. She hadn't spoken to Hellion, at all, since their break up. Sure, a lot had been going on, but there was another roadblock - she'd been avoiding him. Sofia had been dodging her ex. Not out of bitterness...it was just awkward. He'd been her first actual boyfriend in a free-will environment so it was taking her a little longer than normal to get over it. Julian, however, had no such issues. She was quite aware of just how well-adjusted he was [cost of being so popular you know, people talk] and so to make it easier on herself, she avoided him and his normal circle of friends/associates. Nothing special, just making sure she wasn't around a lot. Any free time was spent in the Danger Room, out volunteering, or practicing some dance or another. She figured with a little time to sort things in her head, she would be able to act normal again as if nothing had ever happened. Seems tha' my 'time' is up, she concluded mentally.

Seemingly up to capitalize on a perfect opportunity, Hellion addressed her. "So...aside teaching a rock how to grow wings...how have you been, Sofia?"

"..." Sofia said nothing initially, only looked at Hellion curiously. Not that anything particularly spectacular or shocking had been said...she just didn't know what to say. A voice in her head was telling her that this really shouldn't be so hard - it wasn't rocket science as the saying goes, but the tall Latina had yet [in these first few seconds] to do anything beyond look at the dark-haired telekinetic. ¿Qué es usted? ¿Estúpido? And she still had nothing. ¡El le preguntó un genio muy sencillo de pregunta - dice algo! "I'm fine," she said simply with a shrug. A voice in her head coughed around the word 'liar', but that's what Sofia was going with. Simple question, simple answer. She was half proud, considering. Her voice had been steady, she had [sort of] maintained eye contact, and she even managed to continue kicking her legs out as she had been before. That served as a wonderful distraction by the way. It was like the kicking took some pressure off. Sofia over to Santo. This she could handle. "You /are/ okay aren't you?" She felt so guilty now...



Translations:
[¿Qué es usted? ¿Estúpido?] = What are you? Stupid?
[¡El le preguntó un genio muy sencillo de pregunta - dice algo a él!] = He asked you a very simple question - say something!

[Santo Vaccarro]

Santo had not been at the school for more than an hour and now there was a second flying person confronting him. He'd been introduced to Julian when he had first arrived and something had been said about him being on Julian's "team" but Santo had not been quite sure that that meant. Here again he was hearing about this team.

Still he supposed as far as things went Julian was his friend. Or sort of. The handsome young man was already teasing him about his failed attempt to fly. "Santo...buddy...pal...do you know what happens when you throw a rock off a really high point? It falls...just like you."

"Yeah, thanks," he muttered. That information would have been much more useful three minutes ago.

Santon grunted, noticing that his arm had fallen off. Picking it up with his other one he pressed it hard against his body. There was the sound of rock scrapping against rock as it reattached itself to his body. Standing he frowned noticing the Santo shapped imprint he had left on the ground where he had fallen. Meanwhile Julian and Sofia were now talking, and he was basically a prop in their banter. This was too familiar to him. As soon as the good looking non-freaks showed up he was forgotten about.

"You /are/ okay aren't you?"

Santo nodded. He couldn't fly and even here the same rules for social interaction applied. He was a freak. At least he could have fun and maybe make some friends.

"I'm fine," he said and then glancing at Julian stage whispered, "Dude you know her? She's totally hot."

Inspecting her from this angel, her long legs dangling down, he agreed with his own statement. She was hot, probably the hottest girl his own age that he'd ever seen. The only thing that kept him from proposing marriage or an evening in bed, was that he had a feeling she would say no and he'd probably crush her if things got a little too spicy in between the sheets.

[Julian Keller]

Feeling the awkward tension begin to gather around the teenagers like a swarm of nasty insects, Julian decided to stick close to Santo. For more than one reason the living Rock needed his help and aide, but more so Julian needed him right now for distractions sake. Perhaps Sofia might fly off or otherwise leave, or perhaps simply continue to ignore him much like she was now. Either way, Julian had and would keep the upper-hand in this situation. Santo was very much new here, but was very much Julian's teammate. He was on his side...or would be, regardless of the situation. Sofia was quite attractive, but even her foreign charm wouldn't be enough to convince Rockslide otherwise.

Until he talked that was...and then Julian wanted to shatter the mumbling Stonehenge into a one thousand tiny pebbles.

"Dude you know her? She's totally hot."

Julian floated lower to the side of his rock-skinned friend. He let out an audible sigh and preceded to answer his question in an equally quiet tone. It wouldn't help though because Sofia would doubtlessly carry his whispered words on the wind and listen in. She was not one to ease drop, but Julian was all too good at reading people, especially his ex-girlfriends, to know what they would do. Was this vain to think? Yes, of course. Was this true though? You bet your ass. So, instead, Julian choose an alternate method speaking.

The Rock's mind was all too easy to penetrate. Julian wasn't digging deep for information or anything of the sort, though his telepathic abilities had matured since their manifestation. No, instead, Hellion only chose to leave a quick thought inside Rockslide's mind. ~Yes, one could say I do, Santo. Sofia and I used to date.[/color][/i] ~He said with a mental tone of annoyance.~ ~And now we can cut the awkwardness with a knife. But lucky for you I'm quite adept in these tight situations~[/color]

The moment of silence was brief when Julian chose to look toward Sofia once again. He smiled at her, passing the awkwardness off as if it were nothing but the wind...which, in this case, it was. "So, Sofia, I haven't seen you around lately."[/color] Julian said as he took a balanced seat on Rockslide's massive shoulder. His arrogance was astounding sometimes, but he knew Santo would do nothing about it. Not right now. "You've clearly found the time to meet my new friend Santo though. Tell us, what have you been up to?"[/color]

[Sofia Mantega]

While apparently non-plussed by the situation, Santo indicated that he was okay by nodding his head to her inquiry. Sofia half-squinted, biting her lip. “Are you sure?” Had to be sure. “‘Cause there’s this big crater beneath you an’ tha’ sounded like it hurt.” Oh yeah. “An’ you lost yo’r arm too…” The Latina offered up an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry; I tried to yell for you to stop at tha’ last minute, pero I guess you didn’t hear me.” Obviously, since he had continued on his path, jumped off, and fell several yards to the ground where he proceeded to create an imprint in the shape of his own body. It was like an earth-made body outline – you know, like the ones from crime scenes where a dead body was found.

Santo was looking up at her funny and she tilted her head in response. What? For a moment, she wondered if it wasn’t something else up here. The Latina looked around, but she was by herself on the roof. Looking up at the sky above her got her nothing but snow flakes in her face. Okay, so she was right then, he’d been staring at her. Maybe he thought that she was pretty. Sofia was a bit on the naïve side mostly, but she wasn’t stupid. She did tend to catch on after a while in this particular department. She was more accustomed to the attentions her looks seemed to warrant now. Guys looked, and continued to look, at her because they thought her pretty. That was fine with her. Not out of vanity or because she loved the attention, but only because it wasn’t really hurting anyone for them to look.

Julian and Santo were awfully silent and it seemed very suspicious to Sofia. They weren’t quite huddled up together, but Sofia’s hazel-colored eyes narrowed in suspicion. Why did she feel like something almost foul was going on? The girl rolled her eyes. Boys.

Sofia went back to staring out into space, trying to think of something else, but failing miserably of course. She couldn’t think now. She knew that her expression would change to give away that she wasn’t thinking of anything particularly pleasant or, worse yet, Julian would pick up on something or see something in her head that she didn’t want him to. It was tha’ secretiveness tha’ helped you get trouble in the first place! a mental voice hissed.

Sofia looked down, ending up looking at Julian. I was protecting him, so sue me. And now she was mentally talking to herself – great.

He smiled and she only tilted her head again; what was he up to? "So, Sofia, I haven't seen you around lately." Crap. So he had noticed her lack of presence around the mansion or heard about it…or was he guessing? Sofia shrugged. “I’ve been busy.” She most certainly wouldn’t tell him why she had been so scarce lately. Not that he really wanted to know, Julian was a good tension diffuser when he wanted to be. No need to expose Santo to the awkwardness of the situation any more than he already had been. Not like she was lying to him though. She /had/ been busy. The kids at the orphanage took up time, her schoolwork took up time, and practice took up more time. She had a follow-up meeting with her dream college some time next month and it took /a lot/ of work to keep up with their demands. It’d be worth it though; she knew it would.

Sofia wondered, again, if Santo wasn’t offended by Julian’s action – the telekinetic had made a seat of his shoulder now. But it wasn’t her problem, nothing she could or felt compelled to ‘correct’. Maybe Santo didn’t mind being a perch for Julian. Doubtful.

"You've clearly found the time to meet my new friend Santo though. Tell us, what have you been up to?"

Was that a dig? No, no, what would Julian care if she wasn’t around as much? As said before, her dodgy behavior hadn’t been just for her. Deciding that she was imagining things, Sofia shrugged yet again. “Actually, yo’r amigo found me,” she corrected. Scared her right off the roof, in fact. She giggled lightly to herself, hand hovering over her mouth. In retrospect, it had been pretty funny. Journal worthy? Sure, why not? It was a unique experience. No one had ever startled her into falling off a roof.

The brunette looked down at the expectant duo below. In the back of her mind, Sofia pondered over the chances of this becoming an interrogation. Peaceful girl she was, Sofia wouldn’t flip out and make a confrontation out of this – it wasn’t in her nature to make a huge fuss over nothing. She had her limits, but this hardly pressed them. This was harmless – at the moment. Sofia consciously suppressed the feeling of being ganged up on and after a brief déjà vu moment concerning this moment and her old school so long ago, Sofia answered him. “I started volunteering at an orphanage after that viral outbreak. I like it there and I…understand their situation…a bit better than others would, so that helps.” Oh, but Sofia wasn’t an orphan…right? Right?

“Other than finishing up a few courses, I’ve been practicing in a dance studio courtesy of the dance studio for college.” Yes, that was part of why the Danger Room had been tied up so much lately. She was in there practicing and when she did, Sofia liked to input a ‘lock-down’ command. It disabled access to the observation deck and prevented her session from being intruded upon. Only the staff could override the command. Nevermind how Sofia even figured out how to get that particular input sequence, it worked wonderfully. For dance and personal training sessions when she wasn't feeling so...cheery. Like now for instance.

She smiled then as if asking 'Satisfied?'.

[Santo Vaccarro]

“I’m so sorry; I tried to yell for you to stop at tha’ last minute, pero I guess you didn’t hear me.”

Santo shrugged and then waved off her apology, "Don't worry about it, things fall off all the time. Besides how was I going to know until I tried to fly? At least I had a good teacher."

~Yes, one could say I do, Santo. Sofia and I used to date. ~

Hearing Julian's voice in his head surprised Rockslide. So much so that he looked around as if someone had played that trick on him where they tap his shoulder and then go stand on the other side of him and pretend they had not tapped his shoulder. He hated that trick. How Julian was throwing his voice escaped him, because he was focused on the information he had been given telepathically. It was fairly surprising bit of news, and his natural response was to blurt out loud so both Julian and Sofia could hear, "You dated her? Right on man, did you two do it?"

He looked from Sofia to Julian and then back to Sofia. He suddenly realized that the pair of them had been talking to each other for some time, but since he had been busy trying to sort out how Julian had been talking in his head without moving his lips, Santo had not noticed. Now he realized that they had been having one of those boring and awkward conversations that ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends have when they suddenly find themselves next to each other in the food court line up for Koya Japan. Back before his rockification he had an amazing tendency to say the exact wrong thing at the wrong time whenever his friends were having those conversations. Now he realized he had done it once more.


Groaning audibly he buried his head in his hands and groaned, not needing to be told how far into his mouth he had managed to jam his foot. Glancing up at Sofia and her long, long, sexy legs and two perfect... he apologized in his own way, "I just meant that you're so hot and that any guy would want to do you."

Tragically it was the most romantic thing he had ever said.

[Julian Keller]

The morning workings were beginning to grew tediously boring. Julian found himself desiring freedom from the encounter, but yet was compelled to stay for many reasons. Sofia's face was easy to read. The thin line that pressed together where her lips had been meant she was not happy, but then again it wasn't a frown. She was curious, yet evasive. Her thought patterns were reeling to and fro, almost battling each word that she imagined. Had their break-up caused Sofia so much grief that she was suddenly struck with a schizophrenia diagnosis? That's what her mind looked like from the outside of the glass, but Julian had no wishes to pursue anything else, or even enter the proverbial shop. Instead he found his calm, confidant words to be doing the job for him. God, how smooth he was when he wanted something. No...there would be no awkwardness. Not on his part at least.

Sofia lost herself in her own conversation. Or rather, Julian had decided that it was less important to listen to the foreign beauty's story and more so to read her face. He would continuously catch a word here and there. Something about an orphanage....a dance studio...and what-not. It really didn't matter in the end, but still Julian chose to poke around.

"An orphanage...how...charitable of you."[/color] He said, almost appalled that a girl of her beauty would step into a place of disgust like an orphanage. "Try not to catch something. It'd be tragic to see you sick for all of your good deeds. Especially from a snot-nosed little --"[/color]

"You dated her? Right on man, did you two do it?"

Yes. It was then fair to say that Julian Keller, the confidant of his time, the handsome Psion of Xaviers, was struck with shock. His face turned in almost an instant. His midnight blue eyes pierced Santo's rocky gems. From atop his shoulder, still sitting, Julian's powers took grasp of the giant and levitated him upward. Climbing near of thirty feet in the air, Julian finally stopped and continued to stare. "Do you really want to learn how to fly today, Santo?"[/color] Julian said through his teeth. He lifted off Rockslide's shoulder and flew five or so feet in front of him. "I wonder how many pieces you can split into before you become just another part of the garden walk way?"[/color]

On any other occasion Santo's question would have been a bragging right for Julian to share. They would have laughed, maybe slapped shoulders, and joked about the girls at the Institute. But now Rockslide had single handedly manage to ruin Julian's strength among the conversation. Sofia certainly would also be taken back, but she was already in the hot seat before this. Of course neither would answer the question, but their minds would certainly retrace several steps in their relationship.

"I just meant that you're so hot and that any guy would want to do you." Rockslide continued, still pondering the thoughts of his earlier question. Perhaps he was beginning to see the implications of causing Julian even minor distress.

"I know you're new here, Santo, but you're a Hellion. You're therefore a symbol of confidence and strength. A marvel of your own age and power. Such a person does not ask ridiculous questions at ridiculous times like this."[/color] Julian said sternly. Pausing for a moment of dramatic, climatic struggle, Julian again broke the mental barriers of Rockslide's mind and spoke to him. ~Stick with me and you'll find quick merit at Xaviers, Santo. I can promise you that...but for the love of all you know don't make me look like a fool.~[/color][/i] He spoke telepathically, before finishing with, ~And please...don't speak outloud like last time...I can hear your thoughts as if they were your actual voice. Now, let's move passed the 'doing' her part. They'll be time for storytelling later.~[/color][/i] He almost felt bad for treating Rockslide like this, but the moment his pride was shot at he went into kill mode. Santo had unfortunately triggered that such instinct. Later on though, Julian would be sure to fake an apology and perhaps tell Santo some great stories of his past relationships...and maybe even a few from his current. It couldn't hurt to bond a little, after all he was his teammate.

[Stepford Cuckoos]

Winter was usually noted as a season for joy and mirth, a season in which to celebrate life and all the joys that it brings. Christmas occurs during winter, as the does the passage into the New Year, but for the Three-in-One it was just another two week vacation from school and the beauty of white snow. Nothing more, nothing less. The blistery winds that blew outside was nothing if not annoying and though many students were out of doors today, enjoying the winter weather and doing what it was normal children do, Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe were sitting comfortably inside their dorm room reviewing a chapter on Exobiology and pertinent facts regarding the health of mutants with exoskeletons. Though they didn’t really believe the information would come up in their mutant biology lessons, the girls felt it a good use of time to learn what they could in order to better show up the peers…or possibly the professor.

What do you suppose it’s like having an exoskeleton?[/b][/color] Phoebe’s voice asked the quiet room, her words not echoing off the walls but rather inside three skulls.

Itchy.[/b][/color] was all the reply that came. Three young blondes sat studiously at three desks situated close together. Clustered was how the Cuckoos felt literally all the time. They never parted from each other unless the circumstances called for it and it was only natural as the girls’ mutant gift required close proximity to one another.

True.[/b][/color] Phoebe said thoughtfully, a question already looming on the horizon of her mind. But do you suppose…[/b][/color]

Phoebe, honestly…you should save your questions for…[/b][/color] An admonishment formed upon the telepathic lips of the eldest Cuckoo but was quickly drowned out by a thunderous clanging from above and then quickly followed by a crash that resonated through the air, through the walls, through their bodies and shook the very foundations of the school itself. Fearing another attack upon the only home they had until their eighteenth birthday, the girls rose from their chairs ready for combat. They thrust their minds outward as far as they could, feeling the rushing of other telepathic minds brushing against their combined minds. Among those they felt were the psion Hellion, the knife edge mind of Psylocke and their mentor Emma Frost. No communication was need as all three knew what they sought. No crisis was here upon the mansion and no need for talk among the X-Men or students. Withdrawing back down to their bodies, the girls felt equally fleeting psychic presences disperse. Sitting back at their seats, the girls felt their hearts beat furiously as they knew adrenaline had secreted into their bloodstream with that great and appalling ruckus. It was nothing more than a new student screwing around with Wind Dancer and now apparently Hellion. Tsk. It was such a pity that Hellion hung around such questionable people. First there was his infatuation with the Latin flier which had ended – as the girls had predicted it would – but now he was seeing that Guthrie girl. A definite downgrade if you asked the girls. While Julian’s friendship with Peter was ‘okay’ by the girls’ standards, his new companion was a mutant rock. Like they thought….Tsk.[/b][/i] Yet, though Julian was their leader in the Junior X-Squad, the Hellions, and their respect for him and his abilities were among the top rated in their list of respected peers, the girls were beginning to feel a bit of superiority over the young man. And as Paige Guthrie would likely tell anyone, no one was exempt from the girls’ superiority.

Girls? Who else feels like a walk?[/i][/color] Her meaning was quite clear in the gestalt and her twin sisters agreed that they could do with a little less studying and a little more fun. They closed their books in unison and stood back up, gently tucking chairs into desks and adorning white turtleneck coats to compliment the blue jeans they wore. They walked without much concern as to their pace, content to just be walking with chins held high and looking down their noses at others despite their height. Eventually they found their way up to attic just below the roof and, with their minds, listened to the thoughts and conversation above them. There was tension and eagerness and ignorance and more tension and sorrow and awkwardness and regret. All the things you’d expect from an ordinary teenage conversation. The girls smirked bemusedly as they caught up the last thought. Despite the fact that Julian was a telepath, he was of such a low order that his ability to block out others from intercepting his directed thoughts was laughable.

~Stick with me and you'll find quick merit at Xavier’s, Santo. I can promise you that...but for the love of all you know don't make me look like a fool. And please...don't speak out loud like last time...I can hear your thoughts as if they were your actual voice. Now, let's move passed the 'doing' her part. They'll be time for storytelling later.~[/i][/color]

~Now, now, Hellion. We all know you are quite capable of looking like a fool all on your own. We mean, look who you date. But we would gladly help you with that, if you’re too embarrassed to ask. By all means, let’s have story time now so we may broadcast your message to the entire school.~[/b][/color] Thinking aloud for the benefit of Sofia and the rock thing, the girls ascended those steps to the roof gracefully and without a single stray or out-of-step step among them. Their eyes were aglow that eerie white their peers had grown accustomed to, but not comfortable with.

[Sofia Mantega]

"Don't worry about it, things fall off all the time. Besides how was I going to know until I tried to fly? At least I had a good teacher."

It seemed that Santo wasn’t too upset with her for letting him hop off the roof. She smiled at the last part; it was sweet. “Bueno.” She was happy that he wasn’t mad at her or anything. The last thing she needed was another Hellion on her case. With Julian no longer serving as a safeguard of sorts, the other Hellions were no longer obligated to tolerate her. She kept her distance like everyone else did now. Santo started looking around and Sofia wondered why, she didn’t see—Julian. It was the only explanation. Only wondering what he was saying for all of five seconds, Sofia went on answering Julian’s question. His reply?

"An orphanage...how...charitable of you." Sofia rolled her eyes. Of course Julian would care very little for such a thing. She couldn’t picture him ‘slumming it’ with the unfortunate for any reason. Unfathomable to him, but satisfying to her. "Try not to catch something. It'd be tragic to see you sick for all of your good deeds. Especially from a snot-nosed little --" Sofia’s eyes narrowed and it was a good thing that Julian had been cut off or she would have had something decidedly unpleasant to say. She wouldn’t sit and let him pick on those poor kids just because he didn’t understand their situation or care about it. Her flared anger flew out the window at this though:

"You dated her? Right on man, did you two do it?"

Julian had been cut off, only for her to hear this? There was a silence from Sofia as she looked down at Santo in shock. Speechless, she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. It had been directed to Julian anyway, and even so..what on earth would she say? Fortunately, or not, Julian was a bit quicker to act. Suitably ticked, Julian lifted Santo several yards into the air and glared at him. "Do you really want to learn how to fly today, Santo?"

Crap, she’d almost forgotten how touchy Julian could get at times. Sofia flew down from her perch. “Julian wait!” Not that she seriously thought that Julian would harm Santo…it was just a precaution. The blue-eyed psion could get a little carried away when he was angry and Sofia didn’t really want Santo traumatized by this. "I wonder how many pieces you can split into before you become just another part of the garden walk way?"

“Julian, he didn’t mean anything by it; please put him down. You two are on the same team; you won’ get far by suspending him 30 feet in the air.” She placed a hand on his arm. “Really, it’s not tha’ big of a deal.” Sofia had to admit that she found Julian’s actions a tad odd. She figured that he wouldn’t have cared at all, aloof and distant as he’d been acting. When Santo had asked the question, Sofia hadn’t expected Julian to say anything to answer it – he wouldn’t want to answer really. She had half-expected a simple smirk and nothing more. With her right there, Julian certainly couldn’t answer and retain that precious pride of his. They had, after all, never slept together. Close, but no cigar. Julian wouldn’t want anything said about that.

"I just meant that you're so hot and that any guy would want to do you."

Sofia closed her eyes and sighed. If Julian had been close to calming down before, he certainly wouldn’t be now. The Latina rubbed her temples as Julian scolded Rockslide yet again. She just hoped he didn’t drop the boy.

~Now, now, Hellion. We all know you are quite capable of looking like a fool all on your own. We mean, look who you date. But we would gladly help you with that, if you’re too embarrassed to ask. By all means, let’s have story time now so we may broadcast your message to the entire school.~

Sofia refrained from looking around confusedly and just sighed again. She looked off to the side in time to see the Stepford sisters appearing on the scene, eyes aglow as usual. Five Hellions and one her. She had come out here to think and sort things around in her head. Usually this sort of free time would have been devoted to something constructive…and not at the Institute. The one time she stuck around and this was how it turned out. “¿Y esto acaba de mantener a mejorarse y mejor para mí hace no?,” she muttered to herself.


Translation:
*[¿Y esto acaba de mantener a mejorarse y mejor para mí hace no?] = And this just keeps on getting better and better for me doesn't it?