I'm back! Luckily, I did not get bitten by a rattlesnake, or have any run-ins with rogue goats. Though I was threatened by an angry llama and fell of the back of some sort of intense, off-roading golf cart. Don't worry, I walked away with nothing more than a bruised ego and a sore tail-bone. And a wicked face sunburn.
Lee woke up much too early the next morning. The sun had yet to come up, and she desperately wanted to go back to sleep. Lee screwed her eyes shut and stretched her limbs out. Lee startled herself when her foot kicked something. Lee ran her foot along whatever she had kicked to figure out what it was. It didn't take long to realize that it was a leg. Lee rolled over to make out Charles' bare back in the darkness. Lee pulled the covers up to her chin and smiled to herself. Charles Xavier was in her bed. Lee sighed happily, and did her best to go back to sleep.
Savannah took to life in the mansion quickly. She was a smart, outgoing girl. She took pleasure in taunting Sean, because he could do nothing to retaliate without getting in trouble. It looked bad if a seventeen year old boy was picking on a thirteen year old girl. But if Savannah was the one doing the taunting, it was cute. Sean hated the double standard, but he eventually bonded with her. Every once in a while, they would team up and harass Alex, who would only ever respond with a glare, or would simply walk away. He was getting better at his anger management.
Robin was quiet, and mostly spent time in her room or one of the libraries. Charles was occasionally successful in coaxing her out of her room for several training sessions. Though, her sessions were much less physical than what Charles had Alex, Sean, and Andy doing. Lee witnessed one of their meetings through the kitchen window. They were in the garden, just talking. It took Lee a minute to realize that the plants in the immediate area were growing. It was slow, but they were definitely growing. Buds sprouted and bloomed into large flowers. Robin had some sort of control over plant life, which explained her intended major of botany.
Lee left the window and sat down at the table with a glass of water and a magazine. She leafed through the pages, only looking at the pictures, paying the useless articles no mind, until Charles and Robin came in from the garden. Lee lifted her gaze from the magazine to the pair and smiled.
"How'd it go?" Lee asked, directing her question to Robin. She shrugged in response, and poured herself a glass of water.
"I think it went quite well! Robin's mutation is extraordinary, though I'm well aware that you already knew that," exclaimed Charles, letting Lee know that he knew that she had been watching them. Ever since their night spent together, Lee was glad to see that nothing had changed between them. She originally worried that Charles would treat her differently, or would act differently than normal. Luckily, the only way Charles had changed was that he was in a better mood than usual.
"Good. Hey, Robin, why don't you have a seat," Lee offered, gesturing towards the empty chair across from her. Lee was determined to get Robin out of her shell.
"I'll leave you two alone. I need to check on the boys," Charles dismissed himself from the room, winking quickly at Lee as he left. He hoped desperately that Lee would be able to get Robin to open up.
Robin sat down hesitantly. She sat on the edge of the seat, as if she was expecting to leave very soon. She clutched the glass as if her life depended on it, causing her knuckles to turn white. Lee wondered how the poor girl ever got through university if she dreaded being around people so much.
"So, how do you like it here?" Lee asked in a weak attempt at starting a conversation. She wasn't sure what else to say.
"It's good," Robin shrugged again. Lee notice how Robin only ever looked down at the table, or at a spot just past Lee's head, so as to avoid eye contact.
"So you're studying botany. That's very… interesting. What interests you about it?" Lee asked, hoping that changing the topic to something she perceived Robin to be passionate about would spice up the conversation.
"Isn't it obvious?" Robin scoffed.
"I suppose it is…" Lee frowned a little, trying to come up with something else she could talk about with the girl.
"Can I go? I'd like to finish my book," Robin asked, looking from her glass of water to the door.
"Would you like to see the lab?" Lee blurted. She was desperate to keep Robin out of her room.
"The what?"
"The lab. Hank's lab. The blue guy?" Lee explained, though very poorly. Robin had only met Hank once, and Lee got the impression that his appearance frightened her a bit, but Lee knew she would be interested in seeing the lab.
"You guys have a lab here?" Robin asked, interestedly. Lee smiled and stood from her seat. Robin hesitantly followed her through the mansion and to the thick wooden doors leading to Hank's disorganized lab. It had been a while since Lee had time to visit, or clean up, and she dreaded seeing the state that it was in. She had been much too busy helping Charles with the other children to clear the room of Hank's discarded candy wrappers. But, to her surprise, the lab wasn't in as sorry a state as she anticipated.
Robin looked around the room interestedly, gazing intently at objects, but never touching. Lee walked up to Hank's drafting table, where he was intently staring down at the plans for the new Cerebro. His focus was so intense, he hadn't even noticed his visitors.
"Ah, taking a break I see," Lee joked, setting a hand on Hank's shoulder, interrupting his focus.
"What's up?" he mumbled, not even looking up.
"I've brought a visitor," said Lee, causing Hank to lift his gaze from the table long enough to spot Robin across the room, peering down at a series of graduated cylinders filled with who knows what.
"I'm trying to get these plans finished. I want to start working on this in the next few days. Are you going to be around?" asked Hank, not even phased by the newcomer.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
"Charles is sending you out a lot, I just want to make sure that my work horse won't be a hundred miles away recruiting teenagers," Hank shrugged. Lee rolled her eyes. She should have known that Hank was too fixated on his project to care about the mutants in the mansion. He had a one-track mind.
"If I'm going to help, why don't you show Robin around the lab? She's a botany major at Brown. Maybe you can show her a few things," Lee suggested in a low voice, hoping Robin wouldn't hear.
"Like what?" Hank huffed.
"Be nice to her. She's shy, and I think you might be able to crack that shell. You have a common interest here," explained Lee, still whispering, as she grabbed the pen form Hank's hand, forcing him to fully pay attention to her.
"Fine. But not right now. Bring her back later. Sometime next week would be good," he said, making a grab for the pen. Lee reacted quickly enough so that Hank failed at retrieving the pen.
"You be nice," Lee warned, still firmly holding Hank's pen out of his reach.
"Fine. By the way, that's for you," Hank grumbled, then pointed to a box on a work table. Lee looked from the box to Hank, then back. She walked up to the table, and lifted the lid off of the box. Inside was a crumpled heap of navy fabric. Lee pulled it out of the box and shook it out, revealing a navy body suit with yellow embellishments. The fabric was thick and tough. Remaining in the box were sleek gloves and shiny black boots.
"What's this?" Lee asked, running her hands over the fabric. Robin had taken notice, and was watching the scene from across the lab. Lee knew the answer to her question; she had seen similar suits belonging to Alex, Sean, and Charles.
"If you're going to be an X-Man, you need to have one of those. It should fit, but I doubt you'll need it. I figured you've been here long enough, you're one of us now," explained Hank. Lee couldn't help but smile at the gesture.
Oh, that's nice of him. He's accepted her as one of them.
Also, the end is like, really close.
