Serena hummed as she moved through the mansions hallways. It was around 11 in the morning, most people were up. All of the student aged residents of the mansion certainly seemed to be, bustling around the lounges and classrooms. She smiled and sighed to herself. She remembered what it was like to be here. The blonde found herself more and more often feeling nostalgic about these kinds of things.

She passed a few students messing around and drawing on things. She shook her head in passing by. Even as a teenager the blonde hadn't ever been particularly mischievous. She had definitely been around people that did though. She smirked at the memory of Cafas and her ex-roommate Liz. Sadly that hadn't ended all that well, mauling people and all. But it had been a fun time while it lasted.

She wasn't here today for nostalgia though, she was actually here by request. The councilor and burning angel slapping Badass Gemma had asked her to come and speak to a member of the X-men. To her knowledge, the youngest member. Having said that, Mirror was a little older than her but as far as Serena was aware they didn't have any current occupation or education plans beyond being an X-man.

So she took a breath in as she reached the mutant's bedroom door and wrapped her knuckles on it softly but firmly a few times.

"Come in!"

Maya was lounging on her bed, half reading a novel and half trying to push Angua's nose out of her face. The wolfhound was usually a piece of furniture, but when her owner got too quiet, she liked to check if everything was all right, and she did so by pushing her large, wet nose against Maya's, and giving her a couple of licks too.

"Ew!" the mirrorwalker chuckled, wiping dog drool off her face. The opening of the door distracted Angua, and she jogged over happily to greet the girl that smelled familiar. Maya sar up too, running a hand through her messy hair, and putting the book face down on the bedside table.

"Hey Serena" she smiled at the blonde "What's up?"

Serena smiled as she heard the invitation to enter and gently pushed the door open. The blonde stepped inside to see a lovely wolfhound greeting her. She smiled and softly rubbed the top of the dogs head. She really should get herself a pet. Like a kitten or something. She looked up at the girl on the bed from the doorway with a big smile on her face.

She hadn't really socialised with Maya, but she found the sex shifting mutant to be quite likable. "Hi there Maya!" She greeted enthusiastically. The blonde went back to greeting the likable ball of fluff that was displaying affection towards her legs.

She looked back up and smiled at Maya again. "How have you been?" She asked. She'd probably make some small talk before she spoke about what Gemma had requested she speak to Maya about.

>>"How have you been?"

"Ehhh... keeping busy" Maya shrugged, letting Angua do her usual greeting routine as she cleared up a chair for Serena to sit on. The room was in relative order - or rather, now that she didn't have a roommate, Maya had the option to spread the clutter out... But she managed to free up a chair and offer a seat to Serena.

"We've been going on missions, helping the police. The usual stuff. Keeping an eye on new students... same old, I guess" Maya shrugged again, not sure why Serena was asking her. Maybe this was just a social call.

"What have you been up to?"

Serena had helped them with some cases, but she wasn't on the X-men team; Mirror didn't see her as often as her teammates. She was curious what the girl had been doing, other than helping out.

((OOC note: Angua is a large dog She probably reaches up to Serena's waist easily))

Serena wasn't really aware of much of Mirror's history, she just knew that it was heavily involved with Sam, and that they had been an X-man for quite a long time. She also knew that the mutant had been involved with Amelia at some point, when she was a teenage girl with a crush on said brunette she remembered this fact triggering some level of jealously.

Serena patted the large, affectionate canine on the head before moving over to sit down gently on the space Maya cleared her with a thank you.

"Yeah, I can imagine. It's not been an easy couple of years for the city." She lingered on memories for a moment. "I remember the tensions of the last big round of riots started just around the time I was moving in, that was not a fun time for anybody to discover they were a mutant, seems to be even worse now." She shook her head, mostly just in disappointment at the state of the world.

The blonde gave an exasperated shrug. "School mostly, I've bitten off more people than most students can chew, so mostly just dealing with that. I have a lighter load this coming year anyway, focusing on a dissertation and all." She smiled. "Still help out here when I can though. Which brings me to the reason for my visit"

>>"Yeah, I can imagine. It's not been an easy couple of years for the city... I remember the tensions of the last big round of riots started just around the time I was moving in, that was not a fun time for anybody to discover they were a mutant, seems to be even worse now."

"Yeah" Maya wrinkled her nose, pulling her knees up as she sat back on the bed "There's a lot of work to go around, and not enough X-men or qualified police... and then they had to go and get the damn METAs..." she sighed, waving a hand in the air "Sorry, I could go on forever."

Sometimes it was stressful to be an adult, even if one was a part-time superhero.

>>"School mostly, I've bitten off more people than most students can chew, so mostly just dealing with that. I have a lighter load this coming year anyway, focusing on a dissertation and all... Still help out here when I can though. Which brings me to the reason for my visit"

"Oh?" Maya tilted her head. She had assumed this was not a social visit; not that she didn't like Serena, or even considered her a friend, but there was something about the way she came in that told the mirrorwalker that she was here for a reason. And the way she talked about school... maybe it had something to do with her college? Campuses were always a hotbed for mutant-related trouble.

"Sure... What's up?"

Serena nodded in agreement with Mirror. She could kind of see why Metabots might make some people feel safer in theory, but in practice they were an awful idea that just contributed to the environment of danger and alienation that was going on. She suspected since the bombing there were more and more of them that were being damaged, or becoming a problem. "It's fine, I understand stress, trust me."

Serena withheld her opinion of the X-men still basically being slightly differently labelled police. Mirror didn't need to hear that right now, especially considering all that was going on, she could imagine that Maya was getting pretty tired with all that had been happening, it was depressing really .

She smiled at the girl and leaned forwards a bit. "Well, long story short Gemma asked me to come and give you a what do you want to be when you grow up speech." She giggled. "Honestly, I think people just wanted to know if there is a direction you want to take your life beyond the X-men, College obviously springs to mind, and I'm kind of a poster child for a displaced mutant getting success there."

She grinned. "I know it sounds a bit patronising and silly, but honestly do you have any plans at the moment?"

>> "Well, long story short Gemma asked me to come and give you a what do you want to be when you grow up speech."

Maya groaned and flopped back on the bed. She knew this was coming, a long way off; Miss Taylor was very focused when it came to the students' well-being, which in her eyes included getting a proper education, and a life outside the Mansion. But still, Maya had been avoiding the school counselor as much as she could. She had things to do, and things to... not think about.

>>"Honestly, I think people just wanted to know if there is a direction you want to take your life beyond the X-men, College obviously springs to mind, and I'm kind of a poster child for a displaced mutant getting success there... I know it sounds a bit patronising and silly, but honestly do you have any plans at the moment?"

Poster child indeed. Maya knew with the rational part of her brain that she'd eventually have to get an education (since she never technically finished high school either), but she was not entirely sure what Serena was expected to do about that.

"Well, given that the X-men are kinda understaffed at the moment" she muttered "And I have duties at the Mansion... no, not really. This is... as close to home for me as I'll get, and honestly, I like it here. And my powers are useful for the team. And I like being an X-man."

Why did people have to poke at things that were not broken?...

"This is the best place to get training in using my powers for good. Why would I go somewhere else?..."

Serena giggled as the other girl groaned and lay back, it brought a memory back into her mind. She was back in her bedroom in high school, looking up at a letter from the school Councillor, at age 16 being expected to know what the rest of her life was going to be like, what she wanted to do when she exited education. She hadn't given it all that much thought and it frustrated her endlessly.

She smiled at Maya with endless patience, letting her speak. She nodded. "I've noticed, actually. You guys spread quite thin." She admitted. She felt bad for it, but what could she do? To begin with she didn't think they should be responding to petty crimes as much as they did, but they carried the weight of the world on their shoulders, and not in a not so fun, Atlas-kinda way. They did it voluntarily.

Serena leaned forwards and gently put her hand on Mirror's knee "Hey, look. It's me, I'm not some mansion staff member, Sam, or some kind of government personal telling you what to do. I'm asking you as a friend, have you ever given any thought to it? You know I'm not against you being an X-man, you are frankly one of the most remarkable people on the planet for doing what you do." She soothed.

She giggled. "And you don't HAVE to move away from here to study or try to get into something you like doing, I just chose to. I needed... to be independent. Truly independent." She smiled.

>> "I've noticed, actually. You guys spread quite thin."

Wasn't that the understatement of the year. Especially since they could not just train everyone with a useful power and the right age... Free will and volunteering and all that. Maya sighed.

Serena seemed to backtrack on her push about school, once she heard (and saw) Maya's reaction.

>>"Hey, look. It's me, I'm not some mansion staff member, Sam, or some kind of government personal telling you what to do. I'm asking you as a friend, have you ever given any thought to it? You know I'm not against you being an X-man, you are frankly one of the most remarkable people on the planet for doing what you do."

Okay so she was not a staff member... but she was sent by one. Maya tried to guess if this whole thing had been Serena's idea, or Miss T's, or maybe both of them came up with it together. She was not sure which one worried her the most. Stroking her X-men ego only made her feel mildly better.

>>"And you don't HAVE to move away from here to study or try to get into something you like doing, I just chose to. I needed... to be independent. Truly independent."

Here was the thing, though: Maya liked training. And doing archery. And jumping through mirrors. Sure, she liked doing other things as well... but she doubted there was a school program for those. She sighed as she peered up at Serena.

"When I was little, I wanted to be an actor" she confessed with a smirk "But it would be kinda awkward, with the gender shifting an' all. And I've been independent since I was thirteen. I like having a home here... if I went for anything, I'd do something that I can use within the Mansion..."

Serena sighed gently and smiled at the woman. She admired Maya, quite a lot actually. The half-female was definitely one of the most balanced members of staff, let along the X-men, that tended to hang around the mansion, and she was strong. Not just physically, she seemed to have quite a lot of mental fortitude, which again she respected greatly in a person.

Serena chuckled. The woman did seem to be fairly independent, but Serena suspected she didn't pay all that much in the way of bills, living at the mansion and all. Inner New York tended to be a bit more crazy with all that stuff, though having said that the blonde herself didn't have all that much income and she seemed to get along just fine. If the next book did as well as the last she'd definitely have a good chunk of savings.

"An Actor? I can imagine that. You seem like the type who'd be good at something like that." She mused. The blonde looked up at the ceiling for a moment, putting herself in Maya's shoes. She felt a grim smile touch her lips and she looked back. "I remember wanting nothing more than to be a Police officer when I Was little." She remembered outloud. God, things changed. She'd changed.

"Well, there is a lot of online stuff you can do. Especially if it's something fairly academic you're interested in." Serena had almost done that herself, before she gathered up the courage to move out of the mansion. She smirked in amusement at Maya. "Hell, you're an X-person, you can do pretty much anything you want to." She added reassuringly.

>>"An Actor? I can imagine that. You seem like the type who'd be good at something like that... I remember wanting nothing more than to be a Police officer when I Was little."

Maya chuckled at that. How times changed. People looked up to the police... but mutants, especially, tended to be let down, recently, due to the whole mess with the META bots. No wonder someone smart and right like Serena reconsidered joining their ranks.
No wonder she and Sam were having serious conversations about working with the cops...

>>"Well, there is a lot of online stuff you can do. Especially if it's something fairly academic you're interested in. Hell, you're an X-person, you can do pretty much anything you want to."

"Thanks, Miss Inspiration" Maya chuckled, glancing up at Serena as she folded her arms behind her head "I don't think there is anything about me that screams academic... But the way the Brats look at me, at this point I might as well be a teacher. Horror of horrors, huh."

Growing up this fast had never been in the plans to begin with...

Serena smiled at Mirror. Her thoughts on the police were nowhere near aligned with most of the mutant community, she was raised by two of them. And they were some of the most genuine, wonderful people she had ever met in life. Sadly, the two of them being taken away by the life they led had resulted in her having some resentment towards the police for her adolescent years.

She giggled lightly at Mirror's response. "You'd be surpised Mirror, there are all kinds of academic success. Artists do exist as a thing, you know." she winked. She then sighed and smiled sympathetically. "I know how you feel." She paused. "I help out here when I can, on my own time. But once or twice recently, teenage kids have been looking to me for advice, and then it dawns on me that I'm an adult. And I frantically feel like I should search for... I don't know, and adultier adult." She finished, with another chuckle.

>> "You'd be surpised Mirror, there are all kinds of academic success. Artists do exist as a thing, you know."

Maya smirked at that. She had never thought of academic success as a career choice of any kind. She had date exceptionally smart and talented women who all wanted to go that way... but never considered it as an option for herself.

>>"I know how you feel... I help out here when I can, on my own time. But once or twice recently, teenage kids have been looking to me for advice, and then it dawns on me that I'm an adult. And I frantically feel like I should search for... I don't know, and adultier adult."

"Yeah." the mirrorwalked chuckled "Thank God for Miss T, huh..."

Had it not been for the guidance counselor, the Mansion would have fallen apart a long time ago.

"I guess it would make the most sense if I got a teaching degree" Maya mused "Although I can't even imagine what subject... I haven't exactly... been a model student so far."

Serena gave Mirror a playful smile at that response. "I could imagine you being an excellent teacher. you'd definitely be a better role model than Mr-Drink-himself dead is right now." She responded, a little bitterness creeping into her voice, she was kind of sick about worrying over Sam all things considered.

Serena giggled at Mirror's comment about Gemma. "Goodness, she is such a terrifying woman when she wants to be, I heard rumours when I was at school here about her slapping a flaming angel across the face." She mused with another giggle.

"Also, I think you're an excellent role model. I definitely looked up to you when I lived here, and I can name some 10 other students that I've gotten to know around the school that feel the same way about you. You're a fantastic X-person and all things considered, you're a very likable, well balanced individual." She complimented.