[IC] The Student Lounge

[Johnny Blair]

John pulls up short at the light show and sighs, shoulders slumping, head hanging , eyes closing.  His body language absolutely reeks of a person who is uncomfortable and being forced to deal with it.  After an extended period of hours that only lasts a few seconds, his head turns to give Ashley a mildly haunted look and he responds in a soft comment "I thought you understood..."

Sighing once more, he shrugs and turns around, walking back into the room with everyone else, deflated.

[Graffiti]

"What do you mean, 'I thought you understood'?  A lot has happened tonight"

[Johnny Blair]

John just sighs and nods.  “Exactly.”

[Donya Lightfoot]

The raven flies down from the chandelier and while hovering around 5' in the air its body suddenly flashes a greenish light and its silhouette expands and morphs into a Native American teenaged girl.  "Hello Niall," she says to him with an outstretched hand.  "It's good to see you again.  We really didn't get a chance to chat much when you were here around 3 months ago, which was more my fault than yours.  Back then I was spending most of my time exploring the mansion as tiny animals.  Even now I feel more comfortable in animal form than in my human avatar.  I know this might all be a little overwhelming but you're among friends here.  Eat, drink and dance as much as you want.  I think we should do what Blink suggested and move this to the Rec room.  There's a lot more to do there."

An look of open amazement came over Niall's face as he watched Donya transform.  Still somewhat dumbfounded, he shakes her hand while nodding and says, "Thanks.  Your transformation is amazing.  What does it feel like?  Can you heal or replace limbs during the change?"  He follows Donya towards the Rec room, obviously forming a list of questions about her power in his mind as he listens closely to her response.

"Well," Donya says with a chuckle.  "I guess it starts with a tingling all over and then it's like my stomach goes all wibbly-wobbly.  Then suddenly my muscles and bones feel like water as my body reshapes itself.  It's not a bad feeling.  It feels like for a moment I'm completely free.  I've never actually tried to heal myself and I'm kinda happy I've never had to test replacing limbs."

[Saleem]

Saleem takes a step toward Jack.  "You better stop acting like an asshole before my fist starts to repeatedly get obsessed with your face."

"I'm so scared," Jack laughs.  "But you're forgetting something..."  Suddenly there's a gust of wind and Jack appears behind Donya.  "You'd have to catch me first!"

"All it takes is one misstep, Jack."  Saleem lets Jack's imagination fill in the blanks.  Suddenly Porche is dragging him toward the Rec Room so he playfully struggles while offering a suggestion to Jack.  "If you want to stay here you better make the decision, quick. The Professor is taking a chance on you but he's no fool!  The offer won't last forever!"  Saleem then pretends to stumble while finally being dragged away by Porche.

[GM Marvel]

Malcom looks at Psy-Jack si8gnifigantly. "W.way b.better than our f.former digs."

Psi-Jack had been just trying to absorb everything that was happening around her.  This place seemed more chaotic than the underground with the Morlocks.  The mansion was a powder keg of hormones ready to explode!  Sounded like it could be fun.  More appealing than fighting off the advances of Masque's mutated, underground dwellers.  

"For sure," Psi-Jack replies.  "The local entertainment isn't half bad, either!  Now I'm kinda wishing I went with you after we escaped that detention center.  But too many weird people spooked me but then ironically I ended up hiding out with the Morlocks.  You can't get much more weird than them!"

[Jessica Peters]

"It beats fighting gangs of drug dealers on the streets, which was what I'd be doing if I stayed in Laredo."

"Well, you haven't been here on pizza night."  Jessica jokes.  "The scramble for the last slice can be truly frightening!"

[Jack Quick]

Saleem takes a step toward Jack.  "You better stop acting like an asshole before my fist starts to repeatedly get obsessed with your face."

"I'm so scared," Jack laughs.  "But you're forgetting something..."  Suddenly there's a gust of wind and Jack appears behind Donya.  "You'd have to catch me first!"

"All it takes is one misstep, Jack."  Saleem lets Jack's imagination fill in the blanks.  Suddenly Porche is dragging him toward the Rec Room so he playfully struggles while offering a suggestion to Jack.  "If you want to stay here you better make the decision, quick. The Professor is taking a chance on you but he's no fool!  The offer won't last forever!"  Saleem then pretends to stumble while finally being dragged away by Porche.

"You guys are way too serious!" Jack replies while shaking his head.  He then starts thinking about if he should stay or not.  Did he want to put up the effort to get back into everyone's good graces?  Lisa would say he was letting his pride get in the way of what's best for him.  If he wanted to stay he'd have to speak with the professor soon.  Jack chuckles to himself if the Professor would accept a PM on the school's private server.

[Jessica Peters]

John just sighs and nods.  “Exactly.”

"We're not forcing you to stay for the celebration." Jessica interrupts.  "If you're exhausted or need a break to process everything that happened today then go to bed.  Explore the mansion.  Go watch a movie.  No one is stopping you.  We've all been the new kid and understand how overwhelming it can be.  We just figured you might feel a little isolated, all alone in a big mansion while everyone else is celebrating today's wins while at the same time welcoming the new students."

[Johnny Blair]

John glances at Jessica, then at Ashley, really not wanting to start any sort of strife here.  So he scratched the back of his neck and shrugs.  “It’s all just a bit too much for me to process right now.  I think I need to be alone for a bit.”

Ordinarily, John would be all about the party and meeting all the peeps. But it really is too much for him.  Not even a month ago he was just an average high school quarterback, then he became much better than average through some means that still baffled him, then he got injured and recovered in about two weeks.  Far too soon for that type of injury.  Then he found out he could feel every single emotion his worry-filled parents and surprisingly naughty older sister could feel, and it pounded at his head like a hammer on nails.  Then he learned that he could fly with a pair of massive bird wings and control other people through their emotions.  Nope.  WAY too much!