A lost Jewel

It was Thor that sensed her first. The gray and white Siberian husky raised his head, nose wiggling to draw in the unfamiliar scent. Birds in the nearby trees sang to the morning sun, and Thor sneezed. His jaws clamped down and his eyes lost their focus as he momentarily shook his head. Shin stopped what he was doing, and glanced down at the dog with a hint of worry.

"You okay, Thor?" He asked.

The dog looked up at him, then lowered his head back down to gaze at the massive oak ahead. Inspiration struck. Shin's arm tugged forward towards the tree. He wondered if the dog was allergic to something? Dogs usually didn't sneeze without cause. The Asian loosened his grip on the leash as they neared the tree. This was natural habit now. Dog finds tree, Shin looks away. Dog does what dogs usually do, and they move on. Today was different. Thor broke Shin's grip at the last moment, bounding past the tree towards the front doors of the mansion with a stupid grin on his face.

"Roof!" He noted with a yap. He locked his front legs in front of the new girl in black and stood politely, waiting for her response. "Rough," he added, in case she missed his message from the first comment.

Shin staggered after him, slowing as he approached the front doors. A girl sat there waiting for someone to be helpful. He scratched the back of his head with a half-frown and wondered why the mansion's gates seemed to let people in without clearance more often than not, yet always bugged him for the code... it was something he'd have to take up with Streak. For now, though, he assumed someone had let her in, and that she had an appointment with one of the mansion's many illustrious greeters, of which he was one. A confident grin replaced the look of worry as he approached her. He swung up his arm in a wave.

"Hey! Welcome to the mansion. I assume you have a reservation? My name's Shin. I'm here to talk over any reservations you may have about this school. That's Thor, by the way. He's friendly, but sometimes..." Shin bent down to pick up the leash that trailed from the husky's neck. He gave it a gentle tug of reproach. Thor glanced up at him, tongue lolling out.

"Bark." He explained with sage's wisdom, showing off the whites of his teeth.

"Tough." Shin shook his head.

"Ah, I see. Well then, welcome to the mansion. I can show you around."Shin smiled, and knelt to rub Thor's back. "And go ahead. He's a sweetheart if you let him get to know you." Thor raised his head and brushed her hand so it fell between his ears. Since her parents had signed her up, it seemed as if all the paperwork would be taken care of. All that left Shin with was the job of tour guide and answerer of questions. "And if you have anything you're wondering about," he added. "Ask away. That's what I'm here for."

"A little under a year," Shin replied, opening the door of the mansion for her. He waited until she walked through, then continued. "Its been short, but this place is like a family to me already. The mansion's got a good little community thing going. I'm sure you'll fit right in. This way."

He tilted his head to the right, then started to walk. The entrance to the mansion was high, and if she craned her neck, she could see paintings of various contributors to the mansion on the walls. Amber lights dotted the spacious ceiling of the main hall, and in the center, a chandelier hung. There were staircases nearby, but Shin didn't lead her up the stairs. Instead, he took her down an adjacent hall.

"The teachers here are all nice," He noted as he walked. "Even the mean ones. Have you signed up for classes? We can handle that after we get you settled in. There's quite the selection. We even have classes on self-defense, if you're into that." They passed the danger room and he casually nodded at the locked doors. "Big room for training with permission. Sometimes, the teachers like to bring students in there for PE." He wasn't sure on that last one, but it was believable enough. "And the music teacher here's a friend of mine, if you ever need someone to talk about oboes with. Or, y'know, life. Her name's Raina. Ah, here we are." He finally stopped at Shawn and Sam's office. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted a key. The lock clicked open, and he pushed the door inwards and held it for her. "Have a seat. I've just got to check on which rooms we have opened right now. Might as well check you in while we're here."

The interior of the office was friendly enough. There were a few computers, a desk filled with paperwork, file cabinets, and plaques on the wall reading 'Mansion Greeter' and other affable titles. Three comfortable bluish-black spin-chairs sat in front of the main desk, waiting. After she'd sat down, he walked over the keyboard, leaning inwards to tap in a few keys. A list of rooms came up and he scrolled down it until he came to an open room on the second floor on the girl's side of the dormitories. He jotted it down on a pink post-it note and tore the paper off for future reference. He wrote a second slip and handed it to her. "Your room." With a keystroke, he adjusted the data to assign it 'filled' status.

Finally seating himself, he folded his hands. "So, anything I should know before we sign you in? Do you have any questions?"

Thor sat patiently at his side, waiting through all the business.

Shin nodded. "It's fine, though some people are more willing to talk about things than others. So you control jewels and stuff? That's cool. There's this guy who works here. His name is Shawn. He can coat his entire body is a sort of 'silver/quicksilver' mix. It's pretty neat too. I wonder what effect you'd have on him..." He paused and shook the musing off. It was far beside the point. "I'm sure we can work out some sort of escort service if you need to leave the mansion. "

He paused and turned the palm of his hand upwards on the desk. "If you were curious about my own, then here's a demonstration. I can create and control these little triangular barriers..." An emerald triangle spun up tip-down on his palm. His eyes snapped shut as he focused. Slowly, the triangle shrunk smaller and smaller, until... he broke the focus slightly below 2cm. That was the smallest he'd managed so far. He smiled at her and closed his hand."So you see. With a little more focus, I can make boxes out of them. Practice makes perfect. With a bit more experience, I'm sure you'll get a better understanding of your own strengths."

"I'll show you to it," Shin replied. He was impressed with her control. When mutants came to the mansion, many often lacked that sort of skill. It was nice when they had a clue of what they could and couldn't do. He finished entering the pertinent information on her sheet on the computer, then rose from his chair, handing her Thor's leash. "You can walk him." He smiled. "I'll help you with your bags. They certainly look heavy enough."

With her approval, Shin lifted the bag and began to lead. Her room was on the second floor. He led her through the hallways up a stairwell to the main dormitory hall. After a minute of searching where he compared numbers, glancing from pink note to door to pink note to door, he finally found her room.

"Here we are," He set down the bag. "Your room."

"You know, I never counted. It's a big school, so at least 100 I think... though..." He followed her train of thought. "I don't think it'll be a problem. It's easy enough to get used to. I managed alright. Then again, I guess I was used to it, growing with a big sis and cousins." Shin shrugged. "As for a roommate, that's up to you. Usually, we assign them, but we haven't assigned anyone for this room other than you so far."