A Couple Of Strays (Calley/Luke/Neena)

>> "Be there in a sec. Lookin' forward to this explanation, kiddo."

Calley cringed a little as the intercom fell silent again. She was looking forward to his explanation, huh. Honestly, so was he. He hadn't had much time to think about it. Before the fight, he hadn't been thinking this far ahead. The future had been rather a blank slate. Now that he was living it... he was still waiting for it to feel exciting and new, he guessed. Like the world had somehow realized what had happened, and had changed because of it.

He had a good five minutes to try and get his thoughts to form in the foggy mess of his recently shredded brain. Luke was standing at his side the whole time, but he couldn't bring himself to look at the older man, much less try and strike up another batch of small talk with him. Had the gates always looked so heavy? Had he ever cared before? A familiar face walked down the path, and opened them with ease.

>> "I'm guessing I don't need to ask which one is sick?"

The air was damp with a promise of rain. Each breath in and out seemed harder than it should be. The woman was a little over a decade older than him. She'd been one of the first people he'd met, when he'd come to the Mansion as a permanent sort of infiltrator, instead of an in-and-out operator. She'd been invisible at the time, due to some trick of Danger Room magic--he'd only known she was there by scent. She'd petted him. It had been the day he'd documented all of the new X-Men Trainee's abilities for the Kabal's viewing pleasure, while simultaneously slinking his own way onto the team.

For a moment, he stood perfectly still, like a spider playing dead so the bird will pass by. Then he opened his mouth, and tried to be as truthful with her as he could without getting himself tossed on the street. The Mansion was a pretty forgiving place. He knew that. But with some things, it was better not to ask forgiveness at all. Let the jumbled truths begin.

"Hi, Neena. So... I guess you might have been wondering where I've been. These last few days. If you noticed I was gone. Which... I guess you did." It wasn't the most eloquent beginning. He swallowed--hard--and plunged along: "Okay. First off, this is Mister Luke Jacobs. We met earlier tonight, just sort of by the usual accident--he helped me out a little, and was interested in the place, so I brought him here. He's got nothing else to do with me. Just so we're clear." Disassociation: it was soon to be a favor.

"Umm, and about me. So." He gulped in a breath. His blue eyes were locked on the woman's nearly white gaze, like a fox staring at a trap. "Pretty much everything you know about me is a lie. And by pretty much everything... I mean pretty much everything. I'm not an orphan--my parents didn't die in some fire, like my records say. My mom died in traffic accident. My dad is still alive, and doesn't much care to have me in the family; hence why he was willing to pay to forge my records. He kind of insisted, in fact. He kind of pays me a lot to keep away--I, ah, actually have my own apartment in the city. A pretty nice one. If you've ever wondered where I'm sleeping, when I'm not here some nights. So... sorry for freeloading without paying tuition. I can. Umm, and my name isn't Caleb Yeldham. It's Caleb Swartz. I do go by Calley, though." That was the only true thing she knew about him, in all likelihood.

It got better.

"Also, I'm not a tiger shifter. I'm a multi-shifter. Always have been. I can change to any animal I've met, as far as I can tell. Tiger isn't even my favorite. I like house cats, personally. Umm... but about that." He had the good decency to pause a second to slam a palm into his face. "About that," he repeated, trying to figure out how to phrase this. It called for delicacy. "Isabel Duskmoor. You know Isabel Duskmoor? The girl who stabbed all those cops? Well, I kind of lived in the Sanctuary for awhile. As her cat. I kind of lived as a cat for awhile, period--probably about two years, maybe a little more. I lost track of time. And I'm really sorry about lying to you about my power and all, but I'm pretty sure she might stab me when she finds out that little cat who was there when she was sleeping and taking showers and getting changed was little old me. Oh," he let his palm drop, with a little laugh. "And I'm dating her. Ah, as a human. I have been since before I registered here. I was actually living around the Sanctuary as a human a little, too. Some of the Order are pretty good friends of mine. Like Abyss, and Geo. Not so much Syn. I, ah, tried to steal her hairbrush once. It was a joke. I was a monkey. She... nearly brained me with a shoe, actually. I'm pretty sure she's on the waiting list to stab me, too, so profuse apologies about lying about my power, but I've got several scary women from an evil faction just waiting to kill me, as soon as they figure out who I am, and it didn't seem smart to advertise."

"But I guess that doesn't explain why I've been missing the past few days. So. Why I've been missing is this: I kind of went to visit my dad. Because I was kind of sick of pretending I didn't exist in exchange for some anonymous checks into a bank account, and I wanted to see my sister, and maybe even some of my old friends. And... he may have overreacted."

Calley scratched at the back of his neck. A little. Yes... His 'father' may have overreacted 'a little'. "Umm, turns out he's actually a mutant, too. Just really, really deep in the closet, and not keen on having around a kid who can't help but wake up furry most mornings. Too much potential for it to reflect back on him, I guess. And apparently he's pretty strong, too, power-wise. We kind of fought. And I kind of had a power growth. And... I think I might have come really close to dying. I passed out for awhile, and I couldn't use my powers at all for about a day, and I my brain still feels like some raw oozing scrape. And... I really didn't want you to see me like this, but I figured I should come back and explain things before I chickened out and made up a whole new slew of lies." Perish the thought of doing that. "If I'm off the X-Men Trainees list in the morning, I'll understand. Completely. Either way, I'm going to try and make a new start of things, if you'll still let me stay here."

"Oh," he added, almost as a surprised after-thought. "And I stole a dog. He's in the back seat over there. He's the one that needs help--his owner sucks, and he's probably going to die soon if the DocProf can't do anything for him. I don't know how much he can do with animals, but... I think that dog's the reason I got the power growth, and I think the power growth saved my life in that battle no matter what else it did to my head, so I'd appreciate it if the Doc could at least try."

Calley stopped talking. His breath was coming short and quick--that's what long, wide-eyed nervous spillways of information sewage will do to a teen. None of that information was probably wise. None of it was even necessary. But the Mansion was the best place he'd ever stayed, and it would feel beyond good to be able to give these people some version of the truth. To be able to sit down at conversations and admit to having a sister and a mother who loved him; to be able to curl up for a nap as a cat. To be able to try and train his new power growth in the Danger Room; something every other student here seemed to take fore granted.

He caught his breath, his eyes still locked on the woman. The woman who'd petted a purring tiger, and done absolutely nothing to deserve being catalogued in the Kabal's database. Description, powers, leadership style, late-night habits: everything Calley knew about the woman, the staff at Mondragon Labs knew. But anything he learned from here on out was his own, and just his own, unless he choose otherwise. A sudden grin cracked over his face. "It's good to see you again, Neena. Really. I... wasn't sure I would." It was the most honest thing he'd ever said to her. She was the first familiar face he'd seen since leaving Mondragon Labs. Calley had an urge to hug her, or be hugged. Stupid.

(OOC: My apologies for the length. Calley.... that post radiated Win. ;D)

"Hi, Neena. So... I guess you might have been wondering where I've been. These last few days. If you noticed I was gone. Which... I guess you did."

Neena didn't reply to the obvious.

"Okay. First off, this is Mister Luke Jacobs. We met earlier tonight, just sort of by the usual accident--he helped me out a little, and was interested in the place, so I brought him here. He's got nothing else to do with me. Just so we're clear."

She nodded at the man next to Calley. "Nice to meetcha, Luke. Thanks for helping him out."

Before she could say anything further, Calley began speaking once more, and started an impressive imitation of a breaking dam. Very slowly, Neena's expression reverted to the blank stare she'd arrived with.

"Umm, and about me. So. Pretty much everything you know about me is a lie. And by pretty much everything... I mean pretty much everything...."

First crack in the cement, leading to a small leak. So the kid did have family after all. No harm, no foul. A lot of young mutants came here searching for refuge from hateful families. She couldn't fault him for keeping that secret. The apartment and a solid cash flow? That would have been nice to know before alerting the police to his disappearance. Still, on the whole, not such a big deal.

"Also, I'm not a tiger shifter. I'm a multi-shifter. Always have been. I can change to any animal I've met, as far as I can tell. Tiger isn't even my favorite. I like house cats, personally. Umm... but about that."

Again, not such a big deal. Would have been nice to know, especially since such a versatile mutation could be helpful to his teammates, moreso than simple tiger-shifting.

"About that.... Isabel Duskmoor. You know Isabel Duskmoor? The girl who stabbed all those cops? Well, I kind of lived in the Sanctuary for awhile."

..... And there was Crack Number Two, setting into motion a much, much larger leak.

As she listened, Neena couldn't help but narrow her eyes slightly, though not to full 'glare' status. More like.... 'You did what?' type narrowed. It wouldn't be far fetched to say that she was not pleased with his revalation that he had involvement with the Sanctuary, the source of the midnight intruder, who had nearly killed a good friend and put the entire Mansion in danger in the process.

All right, so a small bit of anger was beginning to surface slightly.

"....But I guess that doesn't explain why I've been missing the past few days."

There was more. Lovely. She crossed her arms to watch the rest of the dam crumble.

Fighting with Father fell into the earlier category of 'Stupid, but Not Surprising'. There seemed to be a pattern developing here.... She would be very interested in seeing this new power growth, though.

"If I'm off the X-Men Trainees list in the morning, I'll understand. Completely. Either way, I'm going to try and make a new start of things, if you'll still let me stay here."

Yeah, they'd need to talk about that one. At length.

"Oh!"

.....

"And I stole a dog."

And there goes the dam. Lovely.... Just lovely....

Her gaze flicked over to the car that looked about ready to die itself, and its equally 'tunnel-traveling' passenger.

"It's good to see you again, Neena. Really. I... wasn't sure I would."

She pegged the scraggly youth with a supremely neutral look, totally devoid of any emotion, good or bad, for a full thirty seconds.

Finally she placed a hand over her eyes, and let out a resigned sigh so deep, it made the Grand Canyon look shallow.

"All right, kiddo. Take it inside, and tell the Doc I'll be right there. Then get your multi-shifting rear to you room and keep it there, until we can talk. Understood?"

She waited for the young man to retrieve his wheezing package, before turning to the older man and shaking her head.

"Well Luke, welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Her tone indicated that 'gifted' might not be quite the appropriate word. 'Troubled' would be a good substitute....

"Well Luke, welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Neena finally spoke to him as she turned her focus away from the young man. She had put emphesis on the word gifted and it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was more than a touch annoyed with Calley.

Stepping away from the car and turning to face the woman Luke smiled slightly, "Thank you very much... Neena I believe Calley said."

"Thanks again. Hope you like the place." Calley muttered just loud enough for Luke to hear before he walked off towards the mansion.

"Take care Calley." Luke called after hime before turning his attention back to the young woman once more.

"I probably need to appologize to you for being involved in that... I'm sorry if I heard anything that I shouldn't have." The blind man said rather apologetically as stood easily with his cane broken down and gripped in his left hand, "He seems like a good guy... a little messed up on his idea of right and wrong but a decent guy. But, you're probably wondering why I'm here when I'm well out of school... I've had a couple of people mention about a mansion where other mutants were trained and when Calley said he actually knew where it was I was curious enough to hitch a ride. I hope that's not a problem."

Inwardly Luke had braced himself just in case things didn't work out. It was quite possible that he would be told visiting hours were over or that this was a private accademy that he couldn't enter without either being a student or a student's guardian. Really he had no idea how this place worked so inwardly he was ready for the worst. As Wraith he could easily slip in past the walls but there was no way he would even attempt something like that. As he had told Calley before... breaking and entering was deffinately a crime and trespassing fit in that same category.

As the young woman made a motion for him to follow, Luke began to take a step forward only to stop as the woman apparently saw his cane and glasses.

"My apologies. I didn't notice your eyes before. Are you completely blind, or just in the eyes?" She said in a rather appologetic sounded voice.

Chuckling softly Luke shook his head and removed the sunglasses, sliding them into the breast pocket of his shirt with practiced east. "Visually... I'm completely blind. Can't see a color, shape, or anything else." He replied with an easiness that he rarely felt. This was a mutant friendly place so why should he try to hide what he had been given? "But I've been blessed with enhanced hearing and a sonar that keeps me from running into anything. It's difficult to make out actual facial characterics unless I'm up close but I can still identify people from a distance by their movements and actions. Since I can't see the face I've become rather adept at noticing people's habits."

Moving forward without the slightest stumble Luke pushed his collapsed cane into the back pocket of his jeans and then shrugged off his sport coat and held it folded over his left arm as he moved to stand near Neena, though not so close that she would think he was attempting anything. "I'd enjoy talking with you about your organization and its purpose if you have the time. It's become so normal for me to hide my ability that it's nice to just act free for at least a few minutes."

"At least I haven't been thrown out on my ear... that's a positive." Luke thought to himself as he waited for Neena to respond, "Maybe there's a chance I can do some good here... at the very least provide some extra funding or something but we'll have to see what she says about the place."

"Professor Xavier founded this school as an extension of his first. We basically offer classes up through high school graduation, connections for college if needed, and a refuge for ousted mutants. Most of our residents are teenagers, actually, but there are ages as young as six and old as late sixties. That's our resident healer, the DocProf." Neena spoke in a soft voice. If it was up to Luke he would guess she was maintaining a soft voice in order to keep from disturing anyone sleeping in the mansion. Reflexively Luke turned down his sonar so that he was only reading about five or six feet around him... that should be enough to keep from disturbing anyone sleeping in other rooms but still far enough out to keep him from actually running into anything.

"I spent most of my school years in Europe attending different private schools that would help me with my business studies. Uncle Oliver didn't really want to have a whole lot to do with me since he was more interested in running the family business." Luke replied softly but still loud enough for Neena to hear, "I was blessed that my mutation wasn't extremely obvious and I could still blend in... not knowing about a place like this I have no idea what I would have done if the situation had been different."

For several moments Luke fell silent before speaking up again. "What do you do for funding, if you don't mind my asking? I know a lot of parents, not all but quite a few, have problems with their children having the X-Gene. Do enough parents pay tuition to support the school or do you have outside donors?"

The thought of a whole school devoted to mutants was still extremely new to Luke and as he listened to Neena talk he tried to wrap his mind around this whole development. He had deffinately beeen blessed as a kid but there were lots of people that had mutations that kept them from blending in with most humans. It was absolutely necessary someplace like this operated in order to provide them support and an education so that they would have a chance in the future.

Luke took the offered map and paperwork without comments, making a show of running his fingers over the map as though he could feel the difference in texture. Sadly, as he expected, the map was printed on a laser jet printer like most documents in the current day and age, keeping him from being able to discern any difference in texture. "To bad... I'll just have to take it to a print shop and have them copy it into a texture form that I can feel." Luke thought to himself as he folded the paper and tucked it in the rear pocket of his jeans.

"Well if funds are ever running low please give me a call." The blind man spoke up as he fished a business card out of his side pocket and then held it out to Neena, "'Jacobs & Jacobs Security' may not be as big as some companies but we pull in enough profits that I'm sure we can work out some arrangement. My Uncle Oliver may not be the happiest decision but I can over rule him, thankfully."

Extending the range of his sonar just a touch Luke took in the size of the entryway as he tried to guess just how big the mansion really was. Obviously from the size of the grounds and the size of this room it was extremely large and able to house plenty of mutant teenagers and youngsters.

"Does a girl named Vega live here?" Luke suddenly spoke up as he remembered the girl he had met several days before at a bookstore, "Or... she said she's known as Ghost."