Arrival (Open)

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat was glad to see Kole acting like a human being. Sometimes she was so used to the way he was around her and the rest of the squad, she'd forget he was capable of this sort of thing. She kept a warm smile as Jamie took Kole's proffered arm.

"What...how can you do that?"

The way she tilted her head, how quiet and little she was, she was like a child and Kat was definitely in her mothering mode. She just felt like she wanted to bundle the girl up and keep her from harm. Kat's entire demeanor radiated warmth and kindness and it had nothing to do with her empathy.

"I'm an Empath. It's like telepathy, but with feelings instead of thoughts. I can feel what you're feeling and let you feel what I'm feeling. That means I can help you feel as safe as I do if you want, it'll ease your mind. And I can only do that because I feel safe here too. But I'll only do it if you want me to. I don't use invasive powers on other people without permission." Her tone was full of sincerity. "It's not as cool as turning into a squirrel, but it lets me help people." She grinned broadly, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Turning into a squirrel was pretty damn cool. It could also be seriously useful, being that small and fast, not to mention they could be pretty vicious. She wasn't....overly fond of squirrels, but that didn't take away from the coolness of being able to become something different from oneself .

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[Jamie "Shift" DiFiore]

Once on the ground, Jamie wasn't sure where to go. Her natural instincts told her to bolt but the warmth and kindness that Kat was exuding gave her a sense of comfort.

"That's pretty cool," Jamie replied, a small smile beginning to show on her face. "...maybe you could help me calm down a bit...?" she added in a soft voice.

After a few moments, a sense of calm and safety washed over her. Jamie's could feel the tension that had built up in her body dissolve.

"If you think squirrels are cool, you haven't seen anything yet!" Jamie said more confidently. Wow! Her powers must really be working.

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat used her abilities to sooth Jamie's unease and it was...remarkably easy. The girl was so emotionally open! For someone who had clearly been through a tough time, she was so much more receptive than most people. Kat had helped many new students to feel better when they first arrived, but none had let her in so readily. Kat felt her affection for the girl growing. She was like a bundle of adorable innocence and Kat just wanted to shield her from the big bads of the world forever.

"If you think squirrels are cool, you haven't seen anything yet!"

"Oh?" Kat couldn't help but smile at Jamie's bubbling personality. She was so excited. "Not just squirrels, then?"

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[Jamie "Shift" DiFiore]

Jamie couldn't belive she was actually opening up to these people. She hadn't realized that she had been so starved for human human contact. The way these stranger made her feel so welcome was astonishing to her and she couldn't help but open up.

"I can absorb animal DNA. Any animal I touch, I can become that animal," Jamie said enthusiastically.

As an example of her power, Jamie began the process of shifting into a hawk, but stopped after only her arms had changed into giant wings.

"Or I can shift different parts of my body."

[Kole "Shade" Hannigan]

Kole helped Jamie down and listened to her and Rose talk. When they started talking about their powers he wanted to demonstrate his, but thought better of it since jamie was already on the verge of bolting and his powers were....... visually unsettling to say the least.
Kole's eyes went wide as jamie changed her arms into wings
"thats really cool! I wish I could fly, whats it like?"

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat was legitimately impressed. That was amazing! And the control it must have taken to only shift part-way! She couldn't help but let her eyes go a bit wide. Kole was right, the girl could fly. She felt the familiar pang of jealousy that took her whenever she met a mutant who could soar through the air uninhibited and unfettered.

"That's....amazing!" Kat was all grins, but it was time to start asking questions. "So...why were you..." Kat glanced over her shoulder and noticed that one or two of the children were still standing around staring with wide eyes a ways back where they'd been playing. She smiled a little to herself. Seeing her spot them, most ran off, but Toby walked up behind Kat and grabbed at the hem of her shirt hiding behind her a little. She smiled affectionately and ruffled his hair as he stared at Jamie.

"Can.....can I touch your feathers?" he asked with a smile. It vanished suddenly and he stared up at Kat. "Rose, was that rude?" She'd had to talk to him before about that sort of thing. Kat laughed.

"Not if she says it's okay, Toby." She looked back at Jamie in silent question, hand still on Toby's head.

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[Jamie "Shift" DiFiore]

Jamie couldn't contain the broad smile the spread across her face at seeing the awe her wings inspired in Kat and Kole. Most people would either be running away in fear or chasing her away after seeing her do something like that. But these people understood her. For the first time, Jamie felt accepted.

"Flying is incredible!" Jamie said enthusiastically, smiling at Kole. "You have no idea how truly exhilarating and freeing it is to soar above the earth!"

The boy whose leg had been caught in the grass came over and stood nervously behind Kat.

"Can.....can I touch your feathers?"

Jamie bent down in front of the boy and stretched a wing out. "Of course you can touch my feathers. I don't mind at all," she said with a warm smile.

As the boy reached out a hand to tentatively stroke her feathers, Jamie turned her attention to Kat. "Why was I...what?" she asked.

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Toby reached out and stroked some of Jamie's wing feathers, made an elated face, muttered "cool," and quickly ran away to brag to his friends. Kat watched him as he left with a warm smile on her face. He reminded her of her brother sometimes. Abesntly, she wondered how Andy was doing and thought she might try to swing a visit sometime soon before the semester started. She was pulled from her distracting thoughts my Jamie's question.

"Why was I...what?"

"What?" Kat started, but realized half way through the word what she was talking about and continued quickly. "Oh, I was wondering what you were doing squirrelling around the grounds. I don't think I've ever seen you on campus before, are you here for the new semester?" She shifted her eight to one his and shoved her hands in her pockets casually.

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[Jamie "Shift" DiFiore]

Jamie's smile grew as she saw the excitement on the boy's face before he ran away. Standing up, Jamie mentally pictured herself fully human. Her feathers began dissolving into her skin until they only looked like an interesting tattoo pattern before disappearing completely.

"Oh, I was wondering what you were doing squirrelling around the grounds. I don't think I've ever seen you on campus before, are you here for the new semester?"

Jamie's smile faded as she thought back to why she was there.

"Sometimes I find it difficult to control my powers. People don't really take too well to seeing a person randomly start growing fur or a tail or something. I was chased out of New York for being a mutant," Jamie said, sorrow in her voice. "I was flying away when I saw what looked like mutant children playing out in the open without anyone condemning them. So I decided to get a closer look." Jamie nervously looked down at the ground. "I've spent so much time living as various animals lately that I wasn't used to human contact. It was easier for me to see what was going on if I was an animal. A squirrel seemed inconspicuous."

Not meeting Kole's or Kat's eyes, Jamie added, "I don't really know where I'm going from here..."

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

The smile faded from Kat's face as she listened to Jamie's story.

"You're a mutant with nowhere to go...?" Her face took a determined and serious expression. "Kole," she stated in the tone she usually reserved for giving orders to the squad. "Go find a faculty member."

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[Kole "Shade" Hannigan]

Kole new how the girl felt as she told her story. before coming to the institute he had felt with much of the same problem, everyone he met either wanted to attack him or use him to attack others. he was about to speak up and quote something comforting the professor had said to him when he first got here, when hat said
"Kole, Go find a faculty member."
"I'll see if Rogue is in her office. By the way jamie this is one of my powers."
Kole waved goodbye then vanished into the shadow of the tree the were under.

[Jamie "Shift" DiFiore]

Jamie started getting nervous when she saw the smile fade from Kat's face.

"Kole, go find a faculty member."

At this statement, Jamie's fight or flight response kicked in. Suddenly, she felt like she was being trapped. Why was Kat sending for a faculty member. That couldn't be good.

Jamie's eyes widened as Kole vanished. She started backing up towards the tree, her eyes wide with fear and her heart pounding. "It's ok. You...you don't need to...to get anyone," Jamie stammered. "I'll just be leaving."

Unable to stop the change due to the flood of emotions, Jamie's eyes shifted of their own accord to the yellow eyes of a wolf as fur started appearing on her arms

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat was confused by the sudden panic in Jamie but quickly realized her mistake.

"No, Jamie! It's ok! Rogue is going to come to help you!" She tried to radiate calming emotions and a feeling of saftey. "This school, it's for peopple like you, like us. Mutants come here when they have nowhere to go, the Professor helps us learn to control our powers, gives us somewhere safe to use them. Shade went to get Rogue, she's a teacher here and she helped me when I first arrived. Jamie, please, it's going to be okay, please don't run away." She looked worried. She didn't mean to scare the girl, but realized that it wasn't so unusual a reaction. She would have worried it was a trap too if her mother hadn't vouched for the Professor so avidly. "Just meet her, please, you can trust me..." She found it frustrating that she couldn't think of a way to prove to Jamie that everything she said was true. But surely, she'd seen the other children, seen that they were safe and their powers encouraged. She'd watched firsthand the kind of place this was, and even better she'd seen it with her own eyes when nobody knew she was even looking. She had to know this was real, Rose wasn't about to let that poor girl back onto the streets. She'd been attacked, chased, run out of who knew how many places. She needed the Institute and Rose was not about to let such a sweet girl throw herself back into the waiting arms of mutant-haters.

Her powers also seemed to be emotionally triggered. How long had she had them? How controlled was she? Kat's maternal feelings of concerned radiated from her quite literally as she tried to soothe Jamie's nerves.

"You can trust me, I'm an empath, remember? I can't lie about how I feel when I use my powers..."

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[Anna Marie "Rogue"]

Rogue was in her office, as luck would have it. She was adjusting some papers on her desk and filing them in her drawers for later. She'd finished up writing the test for next week and saved the questions on her computer. She cracked her neck and sat back in her comfy office chair, letting out a sigh. It was a slow day and she didn't have any classes left to teach. Maybe she'd head to the lounge or go bug Remy, she couldn't remember what he'd be up to at that hour. Maybe he'd take her out to eat tonight. She could use a night out.

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[Kole "Shade" Hannigan]

Shade knocked on Rogue office door until she answered when she did he said
"Miss Rogue!, We might have found a new student you need to come with me. She's really cool but kinda skittish so we should hurry."