Adder had told Austin to wait. Austin complied, stopping in the middle of a hallway lined with doors, presumably leading bedrooms. “Ok, why are we stopp-.” A door shut behind him. Austin turned his head just in time to hear the lock to a door click. He spun fully around, seeing only an empty hallway. Adder was gone. He was alone. “Hey!” He said in a shouting whisper, still fully aware of the kids that must be sleeping behind every door. “Get back here!” He whispered furiously, as a new sound found his ears. Footsteps.

Whipping his head back down the hallway, Austin trained his ears toward the source. He didn’t move as they approached from around the corner, the footfalls becoming increasingly heavy on the floor at his feet. Whoever was coming was big. For a split second, Austin contemplated running, or hiding. But quickly he decided against it. That’s ridiculous, he thought to himself. I have every right to be here.

At one time he was confident, fearless. That was before he learned of his mutation. He had begun to become physically small and mentally he soon followed. Standing there, he made the decision to change that. No longer would he be the unsure lost kid wandering the streets. It was time to bring back the three sport varsity athlete, the grade A student, the life of the party on prom night.

Austin straightened his shirt, and turned to face the person rounding the corner. Who knows? Maybe they’d be just the person he needed to see.

Cafas had left his communicator in Maya's room at the mansion. The little device was pretty much the one device he couldn't stand to be without. Memories of past missions, emergencies, and calls for back-up refused to leave his mind when he didn't have it. How easily his friends and teammates could have died, or indeed how easily he could have been killed, were it not for their 24/7 ability to contact each other.

Yeah I can't sleep without that. What if something happened?

He rounded into the adult's corridor, footsteps carrying well in the semi-still of the night. He most certainly wouldn't be the only person up and about in the Mansion. Indeed, it was only a moment later he discovered he wasn't even the only person up and about in that corridor. In itself unremarkable except for, as Cafas came to realise while he closed the distance, he didn't even passingly recognise the guy in front of him.

Cafas stopped short to examine the kid more closely. Kid seemed like the right word, though at an age he'd probably resent being called one. Second observation confirmed he'd never seen the kid before. The gap between first seeing the guy and confirmation took less than a second, though to Cafas it seemed longer, a trick of the mind when trying to take in so much detail.

Not sure I'd really remember his face that well anyway.

"Hey, new student? Lose your room?" It happened. There were so many doors, so many numbers, and nobody wanted to be the guy that accidentally walks into someone else's bedroom, especially not in the dead of night. That would be a pretty awkward situation. Despite the urgent drive his brain was feeding him to get his communicator, he figured he should probably help the kid out.

Austin was not really prepared for what he saw. Looking back, he probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was, given that he was standing in an all-mutant mansion and had just met a kid who was practically half-wolf, but that hadn’t fully sunken in yet. A man of massive proportions rounded the corner, but it wasn’t his height or musculature that caught Austin off guard. Rather, it was the man’s neon pink hair and light blue eyes. And light blue meaning light light blue, as in, unnatural. Quickly, Austin shook it off, understanding that it must just be a part of a physical mutation of his.

The moment the man turned the corner and saw Austin he stopped. After a second of furrowing his brow and looking him once up and down, he said “Hey, new student? Lose your room?” Austin opened his mouth to speak, but for a moment no sound came out as he just motioned back to where Adder was just a moment ago.

“Uh…I…” He looked back to the man, before composing himself and finding the words he wanted to say. “I just got here. Adder brought me but he kinda…left.” He finished, looking for the proper way to describe his unusual situation. Hopefully this was the guy to talk to. Austin opened his mouth slowly, feeling the uncomfortably words force their way out like a lump of coal. “My family doesn’t take too kindly to mutants, so I ran out. It’s been six months getting here, and I’m just looking for a place to stay and learn how to control my mutation.” He paused again, now feeling uncertain about the validity of his request, after just appearing in the hallways unannounced. “Is it okay if I stay here? Just for a while?” He asked somewhat sheepishly.

Cafas patiently waited for the explanation to extract itself from the boy before him. He seemed a little lost, maybe nervous too. Like he was expecting to be kicked out or something. That could be easily explained away by Adder having brought him in. Poor paranoid wolf probably didn't explain anything, and now this guy was riding the wave of paranoid energy that Adder brought with him. Cafasshook his head, an exasperated sigh passing through his nose as he eyes Adder's door.

Suppose the communicator can wait.

"Sure, but you can't stay in the corridor. Come on, let's get you signed in." Cafas motioned with his head the direction of the offices as he turned. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Austin was following as the metal manipulator paced his way along a familiar path.

"Unfortunately, yours is all too common a story. Here at Xavier's, we offer refuge, protection, and education to those in your position. That's how I ended up here, halfway around the world." He'd been working on his introduction. He'd been bringing so many people in recently. It good to see them helping more kids, though the need was as disheartening as ever.

"We have residents who's families just thought this was the best option, of course. Our students come from all across the globe, from all walks of life. We all do have one thing in common though." The X-man dropped a wink at the new arrival. He felt kind of fake with the big, formal seeming introduction. He was kind of just trying it on for size.

"So, how did you run into Adder?" Cafas had something of a vested interest in keeping tabs on the Wolf-boy. He had started feeling increasingly responsible for the young run away. Probably should sign him up for some classes... His mind wandered somewhat as they entered the Mansion offices. Empty, unsurprisingly, though Sam may well be in his office.

“Is it okay if I stay here? Just for a while?” He asked. The man shook his head, sighing through his nose as he eyed one of the doors.

“Sure, but you can’t stay in the corridor.” The man responded. “Come on, let’s get you signed in.” He motioned with his head the direction to take as he turned. Austin put a skip in his first step to catch up with the big man, ending up beside him. He followed him in silence briefly as they made their way through the halls.

“Unfortunately, yours is all too common a story. Here at Xavier’s, we offer refuge, protection, and education to those in your position. That’s how I ended up here, halfway around the world.” Austin listened intently to his words. Somewhere in knowing that lots of mutants had it hard like he did, experienced what he went through, he found comfort. It made him feel safer. A part of something. Maybe a little less small.

“We have residents whose families just thought this was the best option, of course.” He continued. “Our students come from all across the globe, from all walks of life. We all do have one thing in common though.” Austin looked up into his eyes just in time to catch a wink. With a tinge of guilt as if he should be ashamed, Austin knew it was their mutations to which he was referring. Still, Austin smiled and kept his guard up.

“I’m happy I found the right place then.” He said with a grin. “I’ve only met a couple of mutants before, just tonight actually.” He admitted, looking around at the doors, as if behind each one a mutant with neon purple skin and webbed feet was waiting to jump out just to fulfill Austin’s deep rooted stereotypes instilled in him by his mother.

“So, how did you run into Adder?” The man said, his interest seeming to spike.

“It was just an accident, actually. I was wandering around New York City and saw his wolf ears, so I asked him for help.” Austin replied, trying to remember back to that which had only happened hours ago. It already seemed as if the memory was so ancient. Austin looked up at the man again, watching to see if this was the answer he was looking for. They approached a door finally that the man stepped forward and, after crossing through the threshold himself, remained to hold the door for Austin.

“Thank you Mr…sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” He said, stepping into and observing an empty office room.

“It was just an accident, actually. I was wandering around New York City and saw his wolf ears, so I asked him for help.”

"Lucked out there. The first obvious mutant I ran into was on of the city's worst murderers." She'd done her best to convince him to follow her, too. The Sanctuary just hadn't sounded as nice as the Mansion. The mutilation had kind of put him off too. Not that it had seemed so bad then. Funny to think how much his sense of morality had grown. "Adder's a good kid. You could do much worse than to count him as a friend." So much worse.


“Thank you Mr…sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

Oh. He needed to pick up more acting work clearly. Dusk had been a few years ago. There was that action script. Still folded in his bedside drawer. But with Maya... The timing was just wrong. "Johnson, but we have too many Johnson's around to call me that. Go with Cafas."

The X-man traced a well trod path to the admission paper work, grabbed a set, and returned to the boy, pulling out a chair for him. "How about you? What's your name?" Cafas gave the boy a knowing look, holding out pen and paper, a blank name box ready to be filled out.

A chance to leave it all behind.

"The form's easy enough. Name, age, mutation, medical history, dietary requirements. Pretty normal stuff. Well, maybe not the mutation, but some people need special arrangements to manage their abilities. After you fill that out, we can talk classes, if you like." Cafas half sat on an empty section of desk, not wanting to put too much weight on it. Classes weren't every kid's priority. Some weren't exactly given a choice, the younger ones, but anyone legally old enough to leave school certainly was.

“Adder’s a good kid. You could do much worse than to count him as a friend.” The man said.

Austin almost laughed. “He doesn’t seem like the friend type all that much.” He said, before walking past the door held open by the big man. “Thank you Mr…sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” He said, turning back to face the man while simultaneously observing the new space.

“Johnson, but we have too many Johnson’s around to call me that. Go with Cafas.” He said with a smile as he made his way on a trodden path through the clutter to a stack of papers. As he compiled the papers he needed, Austin wondered at what he had just said. What kind of name was Cafas?

Cafas returned with a set of papers and pulled out a chair, motioning for Austin to sit. “How about you? What’s your name?” He asked, holding out a pen and the papers for him to fill out.

“Austin.” He said with a head nod, attempting to combine both his name and the message of thank you into one word. Without another word he then took what he was handed and bent forward over the table to read the required information.

“The form’s easy enough. Name, age mutation, medical history, dietary requirements. Pretty normal stuff.” Cafas paused. “Well, maybe not the mutation, but some people need special arrangements to manage their abilities. After you fill that out, we can talk classes, if you like.” He finished, half sitting on an empty section of the desk.

Austin heard his words and nodded eagerly. “Alright, gotcha.” If that meant learning to control his mutation then sign him up! He ducked his head down and wrote as if he were on the clock. Name: Austin Tyler Matthews. Age: 17. Mutation – he paused – size shifter. And so on. Not soon enough, he had written in every box. He sighed and shook the cramp out of his hand as he shelved the papers on the desk next to Cafas, before looking up at the man and speaking.

“So what are the classes like here? Is it normal stuff, or are we learning how to…you know…” He still didn’t like talking about his mutation, so he just hoped Cafas could get the gist of where he was headed.

Austin. Yeah, he looked like an Austin. Cafas watched him fill in the form with mild interest. He could write well enough, that was good. He also seemed to know the information well enough for it not to be false. That was noteworthy. Either nothing to hide, or didn't think they'd follow up. They usually did, they just didn't act on most tings. Warrants for major crimes, sure, otherwise not really.

Got lucky being from another country, on that front.

Eventually Cafas got the forms back. He scanned them while he answered Austin's question, taking note of the mutation. No special needs for his room then, hopefully. "Both. We have regular classes; calc, bio, Phys. Ed., that sort of thing, and we can arrange for power tutoring. That's a bit less straight forward, given that mutations tend to be pretty unique." The X-man circled the age on Austin's forms. "Guessing you didn't finish school? We think of that as a priority, unsurprisingly. You are old enough to decide for your self if you want to though."

Cafas looked up, pen poised over the office use section of the forms. Ultimately, he couldn't force Austin to take classes. It was actually kind of unfortunate how many people elected to leave their education unfinished. He'd only finished his own years after arriving. The priorities of youth hadn't really highlighted it. No, he'd wanted to be an X-man, to play video games, to live the Ferris Bueller's day off life. Calley had convinced him, in the end.

Wonder how he's doing...