|
|
Post by James West on Sept 29, 2011 22:21:04 GMT -5
A soft breeze blew through the stables as the horses grazed in the small paddock they were held in. The grass in the paddock was still green despite the chilling weather. The trees at the edge of the forest blew gently in the breeze and it was very quiet, only the soft laughter and talking of students back at the mansion could be heard. The stables themselves were empty of anyone, save for a single person leaning against the fence and staring out into the small pasture.
James had been at the mansion for a couple days now and was mostly settled in, though still waiting for his classes to start and to find out who his mentor was. Rose had been completely right about how crazy mansion life was, absolutely insane was a better word for it. Living in a mansion full of teenagers was one thing, a mansion full of teenage mutants was just... An experience, as she had so eloquently put it. Speaking of Rose, he hadn't heard anything from her, or even seen her, since he got here.
The whole garage fiasco had apparently driven her away. Though he didn't feel bad for what he had done, he was a little surprised that she wasn't talking to him at all. Maybe she really didn't like him, but then, did he really care? Right now his mind was on bigger things anyways, namely his home. He hadn't even gotten a call from his brother in well over a week since he left, he was beginning to get a little worried; and admittedly a little homesick...
Which brought everything back to the stables. Living in a city was definitely unique, and fun, as far as James had been here but he missed the wide open ranges back home. It seemed as though his very heart craved the wilds of the frontier once more. Sadly, the stables were as close as he could get to it for the time being. He was so lost in thought, in fact, that he barely noticed the sound of footsteps behind him.
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 29, 2011 22:55:07 GMT -5
This was Pandora’s first time to Xavier’s school. Before now, she’d stayed strictly in France. Finally though, curiosity had gotten to her. It was a good thing the Jet shuttled back and forth every couple days, and you were still able to keep up your classes if you traveled to the other school!
Anyway, she had gotten lost… Horribly, horribly lost. Initially, she’d started inside the mansion, just wandering, but somehow she found herself outside, following random trails through the forest. There were dozens, and, after about twenty minutes she was so turned around she’d probably never find her way out. Thank the Gods, she found herself at a stable… The school’s stable. She’d be able to find her way back to the institute from here. First though… She was curious, wanting to explore a little.
Bright yellow eyes took in everything as she slowly wandered. She didn’t see anyone around at first, but finally…. She spotted a lone figure, clear on the other side of the pasture. Obviously, she didn’t recognize the guy, how could she? And, he didn’t even seem to realize she was there. She started to make her way around, her pace slow as she waited to see if he’d even look up and see her.
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 29, 2011 23:10:45 GMT -5
As James leaned against the fence, he let out a deep sigh. What was wrong with him? He had never gotten homesick in his life, yet now, so far from home he just wanted to be back for a few days. Just thinking about it made him realize how wimpy he sounded. Quickly he straightened up a little, trying to force himself to be happy again. As he did so, something caught his eye; his hand. As he glanced down at his hand, he saw that it was a pasty white color, but not just white... but WHITE... He had no natural skin to at all. With a slightly dropped jaw he slowly lifted his hand up and examined it.
This had been happening more frequently lately, but never to this extent. James looked down his arm, his wrist, and forearm were just as white. The white faded into natural skin color around the middle of his elbow, what was even more strange though was that it his skin seemed to be... Changing. As he stared at it, it shifted colors, turning different shades of white and grey. Both fascinated, and horrified, he was completely enthralled with it either way. At least until the sound of someone coming finally reached his ears.
James jumped slightly as a movement caught his eye on the other side of the small field. It looked like another student, and she was coming his way. Quickly he began rubbing at his arm frantically, as if trying to wipe away the white skin; but the blasted thing just stayed there. It hadn't occurred to him that it actually WAS his skin and not something covering it. Thinking quick, he hurried and faced the direction the girl was coming, leaning calmly against the fence on his left shoulder and folding his arms behind his back to hide the strange deformity.
"You lost?" James called out slightly, acting incredibly calm for a person who just watched their arm mutate before their eyes...
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 30, 2011 1:26:06 GMT -5
The closer she got, the more she thought it’d be a bad idea to approach him. He looked like he just wanted to be left alone right now. But maybe that was just the situation talking. He was the only one out here. And, like most people, when she needed space to think, she went someplace quiet. Pandora just sighed. Oh well. At least she had found the way back to the mansion… Or what she thought was the way. Who knew, maybe she’d get lost again…
That was the plan… Until he called out to her. Blinking those freakish yellow eyes of hers, she paused, slowly looking at him once more. No, she hadn’t imagined that. He really had spoken. And it’d been simple enough for her to understand with her limited knowledge of the English language. She didn't respond for a moment, instead getting a little closer so they didn't have to yell to talk. ”Ah…. Yes.... And no….” She paused, trying to think of the right word. ”In between?” Most people would just say ‘sort of’, but, you had to remember, her only experience with English up until now, had been in a high school classroom.
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 30, 2011 1:48:40 GMT -5
The closer that the girl got, the more that James realized she was very attractive. Unfortunately, the closer that she got, the he realized there was something very wrong with her eyes. By the time she was within ear shot he was full on staring at those bright yellow orbs. There was absolutely no doubt she was a mutant, they were absolutely freaky! Disturbing even, yet strangely alluring... Was James disturbed for even thinking that? Yes, yes he was. It looked as though not even the disturbingly strange eyes could knock him off a hunt.
Though, it also seems that hew as quite the hypocrite, immediately calling his attention to her eyes and mentally bashing her for them... As he stood there with his freakishly mutated arm behind his back. Though he would never admit he was a freak, it was just a skin rash more likely than not, "In between what?" James asked with a raised brow, instantly taking note of her accen.t Definitely European.
"You're not from around here are you?" He asked with a charming smile, "So, how is it that you are lost, but you aren't lost at the same time?" Thankfully, James didn't pick up much a southern accent from where he grew up. However, he did naturally talk a little slower than most people here in New York. It was something he had always noticed, but her accent... Her accent was very... Unique, he'd never heard it before. Nor had he ever seen anyone with eyes that look like they belong to a frikin lizard. Seems today was a first for a lot of things.
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 30, 2011 2:13:15 GMT -5
Pandora got the eye thing a lot. Before, they’d just been an unnerving yellow. As she got older though…. They’d started to get worse, to the point where you could spot her as a mutant on sight. It was strange…. How something so small could brand you a freak…. Sadly, that wasn’t the only strange thing about her. Her other mutation though… Well, there was a reason she didn’t let people touch her.
”Uuh….” Great. He didn’t get it. She thought he would. Well, this was a little awkward. She didn’t know what the right word was though! ”Sorry, English is…. ‘ard. Different word… Similar meening?” This was going to get on her nerves now. What was the stinking word she was looking for? No matter how hard she thought though, she couldn’t think of it!
His question made her shake her head. ”okhi.” Crap. Wrong language. ”Not okay. I mean no. okhi, it meens no.” People who didn’t speak Greek ALWAYS mixed up yes and no. Yes was ne, sounding no ‘nah’, and no was okhi, sounding like ‘okay’. She smiled a little, but that smile vanished when he went on. Lots of words, but she managed to keep up. It was a good thing he spoke slower than most Americans. ”Uh…. I was before-“ She purposely avoided using the word stable because she didn’t know the English word for it. ”I tzink…. Tzere is a road somewhere to tze school from ‘ere….” Basically? She figured she wasn’t lost anymore, but there was still a chance. Obviously she’d never been out here before now and come across it purely by chance.
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 30, 2011 2:35:52 GMT -5
James honestly could not make himself take his eyes away from her, he knew he was staring but he just couldn't stop. They were so strange that they actually went to the point of being hypnotic. Finally she spoke though, and her very strong accent managed to snap him back to reality, "Different word same meaning? A synonym? Ok.... So... A synonym is in between something?" James was absolutely confused to say the least. Despite both speaking English right now, they were beginning to get a little lost in translation.
As she started speaking again, talking faster than before, he was having trouble keeping up with what she was saying. Finally he just laughed a little, giving up trying to follow her, "I have no idea what you were saying gorgeous, but it sure was pretty." He said with a charming smile, if the girl wasn't from around her, but she was at the school and obviously a mutant, then were exactly was she from?
"Yeah, you're quite a ways from the school out here, but there is a road back... We're you trying to get back to the mansion?" James asked, slightly confused again. He could not place a location to the accent she had, but whatever it was, it was making it really hard to get anything through to each other.
"Where are you from? Or did you just fall out of heaven?" James said with yet another charming smile. The entire time though, he was making sure to keep his arms folded behind his back. He had no idea if his arm was still mutated but if it was, no doubt it'd send this girl running and he just HAD to see if he could flirt with her a little before that happened...
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 30, 2011 2:50:14 GMT -5
The staring was a little unnerving…. But sadly…. Pandora was used to it. People always stared. If it wasn’t the eyes, it was the height. Even this guy… He looked to be her own height… Maybe even a little shorter. As sad as it was, most guys she met were a little shorter then her…
Synonym…? Her expression looked just as confused as she felt. Honestly, she had never heard that English word before. ”…. Huh?” Strangely though, he seemed just as confused as she was. Well.. She’d somehow managed to confuse and English speaker in their own language. That was a first.
”Uh…” She had to stop for a moment. Wait, she’d spoken to fast, hadn’t she..? Great. That was always the hard thing about speaking English. Sometimes people had no idea what she was trying to say because her accent was so thick. ”It…. Wasn’t important.” She finally said. Was he trying to flirt with her..? Another first. Being hit on by an American.
Finally though, they seemed to communicate, and she nodded. ”Yes, mansion.” Thank the gods he knew what she was talking about. She was beginning to wonder if her accent was too thick for him to understand!
Heaven? Suddenly, Pandora smiled, glancing over her shoulders to make sure she hadn’t grown a pair of appendages. ”No wings. Can not fly with out tzem.” She paused for a moment. ”I am from Athens.” She rarely had to say the name of her home country. Basically everyone knew where Athens was. If he didn’t though… Well, that would seriously be a first. ”And you are American.” Where in America…. She had no clue. Maybe he’d say.
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 30, 2011 3:09:00 GMT -5
It seemed as though they were both struggling a little with English. Well, at least James was speaking English, he had no idea what she was speaking, "Well, if you're headed to the mansion just follow me, I was headed back anyways." James said, motioning with his "normal hand", toward a dirt trail. As he walked along he glanced down at his mutated arm, thankfully it was beginning to turn a normal flesh color again. So he was finally able to let it relax, honestly though, he'd have to speak with someone about this. He knew that growing up brought changes in your body but this was just ridiculous.
"Sorry for staring at your eyes, it's just that I've never seen anything like that before." James admitted, he figured there was no point in beating around the bush. Why not call attention to the fact that she was a mutant? After all, it wasn't like it was going to be news to her... "They are very unique, beautiful, I like them." He said with another of his trademark, charming smiles. Yes, he was flirting with someone who barely spoke english? Why?... A challenge mostly...
When she began talking about having wings, James paused for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about before he finally busted up laughing. She had no idea what he was referring to before, "Athens huh? I'm guessing you aren't talking about Athens, Georgia." He said as his laughter slowly died down. "Yeah, I'm American, I come from a ranch down in a Texas... I'm a cowboy." He said, pointing towards the boots and belt-buckle, considering they were trademark signs of a cowboy, he figured she might understand it... Surely they had some form of a cowboy where she came from...
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 30, 2011 3:23:45 GMT -5
This was really sad. He barely seemed to recognize half her words as English. So, to compensate, she would make a conscious effort to speak a little slower…. And try to pronounce the words a bit clearer. ”Efkharistó.” She made a face, realizing to late it was the wrong language. ”I meen… Thank you. I appreciate it.” She moved to follow him, but even alongside him, she was cautious, making sure she was close enough he wouldn’t think something was up, but at the same time far enough that she could jump out of the way if he tried to touch her. People’s reactions to her ‘skin’…. It was rarely pleasant…
She smiled when he complimented her eyes. But, that little voice in the back of her head reminded her he wouldn’t think so if he knew her whole mutation. ”A side effect of my power.” It wasn’t a thanks, exactly, but the smile was warm. Even with their language issues, it seemed he was able to successfully flirt with this girl.
That smile brightened when he laughed. That had been the whole point. Pandora was a people pleaser, after all. She liked making people happy, even if it meant embarrassing herself a little in the process. His question though made her tilt her head a little. ”Geergia?” Damn vowels…. She had issues pronouncing two different ones right after each other. ”Athens, Greece.” She waited for the ‘So you believe in the Greek Gods?’ question that usually came after…..
Cowboy… Why did that sound so familiar? It took several moments, but his little hints helped, finally making it click in her head. ”Oh! Like tze Westerns!” Okay, a little sad that that was the only way she knew what a cowboy was…. But they didn’t actually have any in Greece…
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 30, 2011 3:45:21 GMT -5
"F-ka what?" James asked with a confused expression, did she just cuss at him? When she corrected herself, he smiled again, apparently it had been another language. Either that, or she really had cursed at him and was covering it up by "pretending" to use another language. James had done that numerous times, for now though, he'd give her the benefit of a doubt and guess that it was a mistake. If it wasn't, well... that was pretty funny.
As she mentioned her powers, he couldn't help but look her over slightly, trying to figure out just what her powers might be that would give her yellow eyes. It was only then that he realized that some mutants DID have side-effects to their powers like physical mutations... What if what was going on with him was exactly that? He shuddered at the thought but quickly focused back on this new girl.
"Well they are very beautiful..." He said with a slight grin, "So, is unnatural beauty part of your power, or is that just natural for you?" Once again, James was flirting fairly bold. Though, the girl was giggling and smiling at his last flirt, so why not step it up a notch.
What she said next made James grin a little wider, "Hehe, yeah, like in the westerns." Though it was a little sad to him, she wasn't the only one who only knew cowboys from western movies. In fact, most people in America didn't even know a real one when they saw it, James was one of the last of a dying breed...
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 30, 2011 3:58:39 GMT -5
Pandora noticed how lost he looked from her slip of Greek. Chuckling a little, she shook her head. ” Efkharistó” She spoke it very slowly, like a person would if they were teaching a foreign word to a tourist. ”It means thank you in Greek.” Of course she hadn’t been swearing. She didn’t know any English swear words….
It was strange, she sort of expected him to ask what her power was when she mentioned it. Instead, he twisted it around to where he could continue flirting. This was a clever one… ”Tze opposite.” It sounded cheerful, and normal… But the actual words weren’t. People thought her physical mutation… freaky. And, most people could look past the eyes after the while. Scales… Not so much.
Pandora hadn’t been exposed to American culture that much, so, sadly, old Western movies were the only reason she knew what a Cowboy was. A goofy grin crossed her lips as a sudden thought struck. ”I ‘ave met my first cowboy.” She paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that she didn’t even know the cowboy’s name. ”I am sorry. I did not introduce myself. I am Pandora.” Nope, wasn’t going to give him her real name. She didn’t go by it. She also didn’t hold out a hand to shake his, like most people would. She wondered what she might do if he did hold his own out….
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 30, 2011 10:33:48 GMT -5
"Efcrisco... Efkeersco... You know what, thank you works just fine for me." James said with a slight grin, sure, he could speak Spanish but that was only because he grew up on the border. Whatever she was speaking, Greek if she was from Athens, was a helluva lot harder... Either way, if she hung around James long enough she was going to pick up more than a few curse words. After all, he may not be the most eloquent talker, but he knew more curse words than any three sailors put together. After all... he was a cowboy...
James smiled charmingly at her, "The opposite? Well, it doesn't look that way from where I'm standing." Of course James wasn't going to ask her what her powers were, largely because he didn't like people asking him for his. It was a personal thing to him and using them was like showing off in his mind. Besides, lately, the more he used his powers the more frequently things went... weird, to put it simply. "So are you going to school here? I haven't seen you around, and I'm certain that a person as good looking as you would catch my eye if you were." He said with another charming smile, though, he was beginning to wonder if any of the flirtatious tones were even translating to her.
Again, what she said made James laugh a little, "Well, so you have, and I've met my first Greek as well." As she introduced herself, James paused for a moment before holding out his hand for her to shake, "I'm James... Pandora huh, like the whole Pandora's box story?" He asked with a slightly raised brow, he had heard the story plenty of times. About the beautiful and mysterious girl Pandora and the box she guarded that held untold power, and untold horrors. Something told James that it wasn't her real name, and that she was called that for a very good reason...
|
|
|
|
Post by pandora on Sept 30, 2011 13:24:43 GMT -5
Pandora started to laugh, his attempts to say, what she thought was a simple word, were absolutely hilarious. Well, as he thought, if they around each other, he was bound to pick up a few Greek words from her. The girl often made the mistake of converting back to her native language (Albanian was pretty native to…. But, she spoke Greek more. She resorted to Greek before Albanian.). ”People tzink Greek is hard.”
She smiled a little at his compliment. He was flirting pretty heavily, but it was only mildly translating. If this had been a few weeks before, it would have been a lost cause, because he English was so poor. She still had a lot to learn though. ”Ah…. Not ‘ere.” She paused, smiling. ”I go to Tze…. Sister school. In France.” The concept was still pretty new, most Xavier kids didn’t know that much about the Exile castle.
And there it was. He held his hand out to shake her own. She hesitated. ”Promise not to… to…. What was the English saying? ”Freak out?” She waited a few moments, before, against her better judgment, she reached out to shake his hand. He’d realize, instantly, that something was off. Her ‘skin’ didn’t feel like skin. It was…. Like smooth, soft, scales. It felt like…. Almost velvet. She held his hand barely long enough to shake, before pulling her own back to herself, releasing him. ”Yes. Like Pandora’s Box.” Pandora didn’t go by her real name. Not since learning just what her power was…
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by James West on Sept 30, 2011 22:16:45 GMT -5
The woman was probably right, if they talked enough between here and the mansion, James just might pick up a few Greek words and she would probably learn a few new ones from him. The major difference was that he would probably learn basic words like hello, and what not, while she would learn words that were better used for describing bodily functions and/or bodily processes... "Well, apparently English isn't that easy either." He said with a slight laugh, teasing her a little.
As they talked more and more, James was beginning to get the feeling that she wasn't completely picking up on his adavances. A normal person would take that to mean that maybe they should back off because the girl obviously wasn't getting any of it. For James on the other hand, it simply meant 'turn up the heat'. After all, even if you didn't understand a fire, you'd feel the burn eventually... so to speak, "I didn't know it had a sister school... So, how do you like France then? I hear they are amazing kissers, but not quite as good as the Greeks." A sly smile spread across his face, that was definitely turning it up a notch.
"Of course, why would I freak out?" James said with a slight laugh as he reached out to grab her hand. This girl seemed very jumpy, as if she was going to scare James or somethi... He paused slightly as her hand touched his and he slowly looked down, staring at his hand even after she pulled hers away. "I think you... got something on your hand..." James said slowly, surely what he felt wasn't what he thought he felt...
|
|
