Chapter 4

As they approached the mansion, the clouds turned a bland grey colour, and a rumble crackled above them. "Ororo must be in a bad mood..." Scott murmured.

"Ororo?"

"With the white hair and bangles; she can influence the weather, a high level mutant who doesn't take well to rowdy students."

"I'll keep that in mind them." Bruce said. He remembered the woman at breakfast; tall, exotic and dark, seeming to command authority in the very air around her. He couldn't imagine anyone daring to upset her, especially if she could electrocute him or her on site.

As they rolled into the garage, Logan was unmounting his motorbike and lowering the stand. Once his head was liberated from his helmet, he brought up a cigar to his lips and lit it. Bruce wondered whether he had one a life's supply of them or something.

Scott marched ahead and huffed at Logan. "Teaching the new student how to efficiently break her neck I see."

Logan raised a hairy eyebrow. "Nice to see ya' too, Chuck. But being a mutant is probably a good way as well ya' know."

"She's too young to learn how to ride a motorcycle! Not everyone has a healing factor you know!"

Bruce quietly exited as Scott's voice rose into a higher pitch.

After a bit of wandering, he found himself in the main foyer again, and followed the main stair case back to his room.

Hurried running and laughing could be heard, and the occasional bang and profanity; everyone seemed to be home by now, entertaining themselves in one way or another. He nudged him door open with his hip and emptied his shopping swiftly.

Unlike Aurora's trilogy of a day, he and Scott had quickly worked their way through the necessary shops, picking up bed sheets, clothes, toiletries, and other tidbits. The most satisfying stop was the bookstore, where Bruce procured a mountain of reading material to fill his shelves. He stood back, a little tired now, hands on hips and swivelling to survey his domain; his room seemed to come alive now, feeling more personal and homely. Neither he nor Aurora had really ever had a permanent home, as they'd move from house to house in the village to avoid alerting the neighbours. While they were both fairly clean people, neither had ever tried to personalise their dwellings other than lay their possessions in a corner of the room. He was surprised how satisfied he felt, knowing that he was in charge of this room, of his kingdom.

Bruce kicked off his socks and shoes next to the door and wandered around it, feeling the furniture and parts of interest. The bottle green carpet hairs were plush and warm, matching the dark forest like walls; all the furniture was stained a blackish red, and gave off a potent of grapes and dirt for Bruce's nose to enjoy; the only hanging decorations were a greying landscape of a moor, and a larger oil painting of a Man O' War that had enticed Bruce from the window of a dusty charity shop. Its painted gold frame stood out and reminded him of buried treasure.

He stripped off his jacket, hung it on a wobbly coat rack and placed himself in the desk chair that he pulled towards the window.

If he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could let his thoughts go, and rely purely on his senses. The bombarding rain against the glass; shuffling footsteps from the other side of the mansion; Aurora's light slumbering breathing next door; even the chopping of something that smelled of citrus downstairs on the kitchen counter. His clothes tightened and tore at the seems as he morphed into his black shell of armour and ripped flesh; his cranium expanded and his hair sucked into the scalp as canines grew to prick the bottom of his lips and thick black talons engulfed the grips of the armchair. After several minutes, Bruce flicked his eyes open and launched out of the window, following the heartbeat of a nearby hare in the grounds of the Mansion.

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Aurora awoke from her nap having never felt this rested; she sighed loudly, rolling her body over the soft sheets like a kitten, feeling euphorically cuddly. After scouting the house and mentally plotting a map, she had emptied her bags and retired without a second thought, already asleep in seconds. As Aurora swung out of bed, she mused at her deep sleep; usually she never slept in the day, and for so long! Her new bedside clock told her that it was half five, meaning she'd been asleep for 3 hours. Her normal sleep patterns were punctuated by waking up every hour of so, then drifting back to sleep or going for a nocturnal wander. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't woken till the morning last night either.

She moved to the window, flung it open and stuck her head out into the rain; eyes closed, and took a deep breath. She loved the rain, the enhanced smells, the tickling on her skin (or fur).

Opening her eyes, she saw Bruce in his mutant form disappear into the edge of a thick forest on all fours. Aurora scowled a little at being left behind for a hunt, but then shrugged, shook her head wildly and closed the window. The smell of chocolate and the beckoning of shrill TV music taught her notice, sending a small rumble from her belly. She looked at the pile of bags and huffed, sorted out the ones with books and desk objects, then abandoned the rest in favour of heading downstairs.

Aurora slipped into the common room, which was occupied by several guys eating sweets and popcorn and drinking. After contemplating sneaking out before they noticed her, she spotted Logan among them with a beer in the corner, and crept around the back of the sofas until she reached his side and tentatively propped herself on the floor with a disguarded cushion. The TV was flashing some sort of gory movie, full of flying limbs and swearing. Everyone's attention was fixed on the screen like zombies until Logan gruffed a greeting at her, making everyone jump and stare at Aurora. She cringed a little at them, silently cursing Logan. "Nice ter see ya' kid. You're quiet, I'll give ya' that."

She looked up at him, a tiny tug at her lips. "Not enough for you?"

"I didn't hear ya' but you sure smell darlin'." He grinned at her flushing face. "Not like that, I'm sure you wash when an' where you're supposed to."

Aurora tucked her hair back, trying to cool down her heated face; most of the others were now watching the TV again, apart from the blonde boy at breakfast, watching her like a cat and its mouse from the other end of the room, whose shirt she was still wearing. It suddenly felt cursed and itchy, so she tried to ignore her discomfort. "What do I err… smell of then? I don't really smell myself that…often, or well I guess."

"Lavender, berries…." He sniffed the air above her head lazily, "coconut? Yeah that's it. Also Jean and Bobby." At her quizzical expression, Logan added, "You're wearing their clothes, kid."

So that meant Bobby was the blonde guy who was still staring. He seemed to have heard everything, because now he was smirking broadly, not even breaking eye contact when he caught a flying popcorn in his mouth. Aurora resisted the urge to throw the shirt in his face; logic determined that being in her bra would be much worse. She ripped her eyes away from their staring contact and tried to ignore him again. "Do you wanna know what you smell of?"

Logan gave her an amused expression, accompanied by a long gulp of beer. "Leather, cigars and alcohol, as I've been informed."

"…Don't forget the man-stink"

"I thought that was obvious." He shot back with a grin. Logan watched her return a mirror of his grin with a shrug; she wasn't as bad as he'd thought she'd be, considering all the running and screaming she did when they rescued the Arkens. "You settlin' in alright? Where's ya' brother?"

"Well, thanks. He's gone hunting in the forest." Aurora's face darkened a little. "Without me, as you can see."

Logan barked a laugh that made the other guy's heads turn briefly. "So you've been abandoned, kid?"

"Yep." She popped the 'p'. "I think he wants to do it alone, cause I can out run the prey faster than him."

"Don't worry, if he spends enough time with Scott he'll decide to argue with the prey rather than hunt it."

Aurora forgot where she was and release a pail of loud chiming giggles, shocking Logan and everyone else. After a few seconds, she caught Logan's amused face and flushed a deep red, leaving quickly to the next-door kitchen.

What made it worse was the sudden rise in voices, then the hush as someone told them to shut up and watch the movie.

That's not embarrassing at all.

Aurora reached the large fridge, pausing and debating whether she was allowed to just take anything. She tentatively peered inside, surprised to find it overflowing with food. Her mouth slightly dampened when she saw thick tubs of ice cream, and a few slices of cakes and what not. She picked up a plate of blue berry cheesecake, and sniffed it longingly, before sighing and putting it back.

She closed the fridge door, only to yelp and leap backwards at the sight of Bobby standing a few inches away, still wearing a devilish smirk and twinkling blue eyes. He walked forward to Aurora, then at the last moment turned and opened the fridge door again, retrieving the cheesecake and a fork from a nearby cupboard. He looked back at her, happy to note her wide eyes and red face. "You're pretty," He took a bite of cheesecake swiftly, "-selfish you know that? First you take my shirt, then my food…don't think I won't call in a favour one day."

Aurora felt like melting to the ground, or punching him, she wasn't sure which. After a few seconds of internal battles she wittily replied, "…Oh."

"You betcha' chubby cheeks. What's you're name?"

"Arken."

"That's a sucky name, so much so I'm guessing it's not your first name." Aurora forced herself to make her face blank and wordlessly glare Bobby back. When he was certain she wasn't going to reply, he snorted, "You sure are scary, chubby cheeks." He leaned a little closer, his body heat tickling Aurora's skin, "I never knew Satan smelled of lavender."

If Aurora got any redder, she would probably burst into flames. Her plan of keeping her cool was out the window. She balled up her fists and glared fiercely at her torturer. "I do not smell of lavender!" she growled. Turning on her heels, she almost ran out the kitchen and outside to find Bruce, fur sprouting out of her as she pelted across the grass to the trees. Bobby lazily walked to the window and watched with a wild grin, his eyes absorbing the transformation of long brunette locks and pale skin into a feline blur of cream fur. "Oh boy…" he swooned.