Title: XCorps and Xavier's School for the Gifted: East

Chapter: 3 Breakfast

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel comics or any of their stuff, however much I wish it. I do, however, own Tips, Others, and That Place, Sunny, and Rabbit. Gabriel owns Tom. So fuck you.

Summary: Aiaiai! Tom and Tips are starting to warm up to each other. A normal day in the lives of our Xavier's School: East students

Tom seemed to be warming up to Tips. And I mean that in a friend kind of way, not a Tom kind of way. Of course, Tips has been sticking to me like a glue stick from hell. Seriously. And the fact that he has all the same classes as me? It doesn't help. But we're buddies, so that's okay. Even though I really tease him. Badly, like sticking spiders in his pillow or yelling "Poison!" when he's about to take a bite of something. Anyway, we've all been hanging for about a month. Luckily, Tips is a fast learner, so we've been educating him in the ways of Earth-culture.

And the way Tips is about Tom? Let's just say he idolizes the guy. So Tips and Tom are getting along a lot better than you would have thought, especially since the first time they met Tom was ass naked screaming his head off and Tips was cowering as much as he could, him being in a full nelson and all.

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Tom rather enjoyed playing the bass guitar. After all, he was a bass guitar player. His usual morning routine consisted of a song accompanied by his rather in-tune voice, a hygiene check, and a stalk around the grounds as a cat. Considering the fact that he'd been pretty pissed when he first found out about his... "condition" ... Tom was growing quite used to being, well, a cat. His routine was rather simple, and he wasn't OCD about it or anything. Still, he was rather peeved when, just after a nice leap out the window and only having gone far enough to grab a fat, juicy mouse between his jaws, he heard of furious pounding from outside his bedroom door.

"Fuck it all, Tom, I know you're in there! We heard you playing! You're awake and you better get your scrawny ass out here!"

Tom growled as he quickly became a teenage boy once again and opened the door for his overly aggravating stepsister.

Sunny herself was practically dragging Tips all the way to his room. "We had another cram-fest, Tom-cat," she smiled in that all-too-happy way that just screamed evil demon spawn. Which wasn't what Tom thought of her... most of the time.

Tom flashed that semi-permanent scowl that came from being Tom and turned around when he suddenly heard Tips squealing with fright. Not that that was anything new.

"SPIDER!" The blue-haired boy screeched, disappearing under Tom's bed and promptly becoming transparent as anything.

Shaking his head, Tom bent down and crushed the arachnid under his extended forefinger. Deciding that eating it would just freak the other boy out more, he left the pile of spider-guts on his floor. "It's gone, Tips," he called.

"You're sure?" the other boy called warily.

"Positive," he said in that bored voice that told anyone this was a common occurence. He could hear the sigh of relief that seemed to come from the piles of junk under his bed. "Getting a good show, kids?" he smirked, pulling his clothes on.

"Shut your face, Tom," Sunny returned. "And Tips, get out of there. C'mon, guys, we're going to breakfast."

"Bossy bitch today, aren't we, Sunny?" her stepbrother snorted, tossing his goggles once again behind his feline ears. "What makes you think I'm coming with you?" He used I, knowing that Tips would follow her, mostly out of fright, having already seen her rather explosive power.

"Because, Tom, I have something that I know you want."

"And what's that?" he smirked, qhich was quickly erased as she held up a can of tuna.

Sunny laughed, watching his eyes follow the can as she waved it back and forth. "I thought your stash might be low..."

Tom knew when he was beat.

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Breakfast was always an event. Having things thrown at them by other students, for starters, was not the highlight of their day. Tips didn't end up eating much, especially with Sunny making comments to fuel his paranoia the whole time.

Tom almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He didn't know why he'd taken a sudden dislike to the other boy, but it was mostly the simple look on his face when he'd seen Tom for the first time. Like Tom was going to kill him or something. Like he was a disease, something that didn't belong. Something frightening. It was a similar to the look people gave him when they saw his catlike ears. It was also the look people gave him after finding out he was gay. Which usually was returned by Tom's fist in their face. Now, however, he didn't mind Tips so much.

There was more than one reason for this. The first was that Tips hadn't really given him that look anymore. He'd explained the cause of it as well, explaining that the only creatures he'd ever known to change their shape were the Others, a constant cause of fright in his own world.

Tips was amusing in his own way, what with his paranoia and panic attacks. He didn't understand this world, making things very odd too him, and his natural instinct was to be afraid of everything. He jumped at noises, he whimpered in the dark, he squealed at bugs and mice and other such things.

Not to mention the fact that Tips regarded him as a sort of hero for such actions. He didn't mind that.

He looked over at the other boy. Tips was small. Well, he was only a head shorter than Tom, but he was the thinnest thing the feline teen had ever seen. He looked like he never ate, which may or may not have been true. Also his hair, which Tips had already pointed out was not dyed, was blue. Apparently this was normal where he came from, but Sunny and Tom had to explain that this wasn't normal here, which seemed to surprise him greatly. When he'd first come back to the mansion with them, still in a hospital gown, he'd had to borrow some of Tom's clothes until Sunny could make or buy him some. All of them were a bit too big for him. He also, though unnoticable now that he usual wore long sleeves, seemed to have a number of scars across his pale skin.

"Tom? Hey, yo, Mister-la-la!" Sunny yelled, waving a hand in front of Tom's face. He realized that he'd been staring off into space. Well, not exactly off into space. Because he was still looking straight at Tips who was turning an interesting shade of pink.

The boy in question shifted uncomfortably. "T-Tom? Did I do something?" he asked uncertainly.

"No," Tom grunted. Now he felt stupid for staring like an idiot. Not that he was going to mention it. "Sunny, gimmee the damn tuna can."

"So, who's up for a movie marathon tonight? No more midterms to study for!" Sunny exclaimed.

"As long as it's not anything scary," Tips gasped, eyes widening, which drew smirks from the other two teens.