The sun had just barely risen, and the mansion was quiet. Almost eerily so. Juliette had been glad that she made the decision to move there, but peace and quiet had been difficult to find. Especially during mealtimes.

The woman sat at the large table with an over-sized mug of coffee and a bowl of cereal. She ate slowly, as she still wasn't entirely awake. Typically, she wasn't one for an early wake-up, but she was considering changing that. Especially if it meant that breakfast wasn't quite so noisy for her. 

She sipped her coffee and blinked the sleep out of her eyes as she saw a shape approach. Her eyes were railing against being used that early, but it looked like a little girl. Juliette smiled at her and waved, happy to greet the only other resident that had braved the early wake-up. She didn't even mind the idea of a nice conversation. As long as it was a quiet one, of course.

Abby rubbed at her eye as she walked into the dining room from the kitchen. She had a big plate of bacon, some toast, and some scrambled eggs. She was still waking up, but making herself breakfast had become habit. She woke up before the designated breakfast time. She usually made more than she herself could eat, but it was usually eaten by someone else who woke up early.

There was a woman at the table. Who was waving at her. The little blonde blinked. She didn't think she knew the woman. But she was an adult, probably knew one of the other adults she knew. And she was in the Mansion to begin with.

"Morning," Abby greeted softly. She liked the early morning quiet. No point in destroying it when it was only two people. Both of whom were probably just waking up if the shifter was any judge.

"Morning," Juliette grinned as she mimicked the girl's greeting. She was such a tiny thing, probably no older than ten or eleven, but her plate of breakfast was huge. Juliette had no idea where any of it would go if she were to eat the entire thing. 

She had never seen the girl before, but that seemed to be the case for most of the residents of the mansion. There were very few that she actually had met before. That fact made sure that she was meeting new people everyday, and meant that she hadn't lost any of the social time that being a nurse provided.

"I'm Juliette," the woman said as the little girl sat down at the table. "What's your name?"

Juliette. Huh. Abby wondered if she had heard of the woman before. Probably. Abby heard a lot by being quiet.  But she was in the Mansion.  Cafas, Maya, Sam, Serena and all the other adults wouldn't let someone they didn't trust in the school.  She probably would've had to get past Lori too.  Lori was kinda scary.

"I'm Abby. Want some?" she offered. There was plenty. Abby knew she couldn't eat it all. She rarely did. "I always make more than I can eat." The woman, Juliette, had her own breakfast but Abby had learned manners from her Mommy and it was something she kept up with after she died.

Abby. That was a pretty name. And cute, too. It fit the tiny little girl that was seated in front of her. The pixie cut was almost too much to handle as she grinned at her. That was probably one of her favourite parts about living in the mansion. Before, the only time she got to see kids was when they were crying and in pain. Now, she could actually have a regular conversation with them.

"I might have a little bit," she smiled at Abby and took a piece of bacon off the plate. It really wasn't a hard sell; bacon smelled a million times better than oatmeal. As much as she tried to convince herself that being healthy was the best choice, and she would thank herself in the future, it was hard to turn down something that smell, and tasted that good.

Juliette glanced around the empty dinning room, trying her best to keep her voice low so as not to wake anyone else. "So what are you doing up so early in the morning, Abby?"

Abby smiled a little as Juliette took some bacon. It made a warm feeling in her belly when people ate her food. It was nice.

>>"So what are you doing up so early in the morning, Abby?"

The little blonde shrugged. "I don't like the crowd at mealtimes. I usually eat breakfast before and dinner after the usual times. Are you a new teacher?" Abby was still trying to figure out the teacher thing. Sometimes they wanted to be called by their last name, sometimes they never gave her their last name, sometimes they went by nicknames. She tried to call adults by whatever they told her to. Cafas was a little different, since the Papa thing.

"I'm not much of a crowd person either," Juliette admitted. She didn't particularly mind them, and she was well used to being in them, but eating with just a few people or even alone was far nicer. Plus, one on one conversations like they were having were exceedingly difficult in a large group.

>>"Are you a new teacher?"

Juliette paused as she thought of an answer. That was a matter that was still in question. She didn't mind the idea of being a teacher, considering she already lived at the school and it didn't seem like X-men duties would take up all of her time, but she hadn't quite gotten around to looking into it. She had thought about possibilities, though. Just never out loud with someone who could do something about it.

"Uhm, no. I'm a new member of the X-men. I'm still trying to figure the rest out," she shrugged. It was a poor answer, but the only one she could really give.

Abby nodded at the woman's answer. When she thought about it, the little blonde knew quite a few of the team. Huh. That was a weird thought. Abby knew superheroes.

"Mm, cool. So you know Sam? Or maybe Cafas or Maya," she frowned a bit. She didn't actually know how the team got new people. Serena seemed like a good choice, but Abby doubted her friend wanted to fight like Sam and Cafas seemed to. Though Maya didn't really seem like Cafas or Sam either. Huh... "How do you get to be an X-man?" she asked aloud before taking a bite of eggs.

"I don't know Maya," Juliette pursed her lips as she tried to put a face to the name. Nothing really came to mind, but she realized that also could have been because there were a lot of people at the mansion, and many of them were a blur of faces.

"I do know Cafas, though," she nodded, thinking of the pink-haired mutant. Him she knew quite well, considering he had initiated her into the X-men. "And, uhm, I know Sam too." An awkward one liner was probably all the explanation needed.

>>"How do you get to be an X-man?"

"You need to apply," Juliette explained. "There's a whole process, most of which involves the leader seeing if you'd be a good fit. I think you need to be a little older, though, if you were thinking of applying."

The explanation made some sense. Applying like a job. Abby guessed being an X-Man was kind of like a job. "I don't think I wanna be an X-man. I just wondered." Abby wasn't really into violence. Her lessons in self-defense were more so she could protect herself when she needed to. She didn't really like that she even had to take those lessons. She'd rather there not be a need. But the little shifter was learning that it was better to be prepared than to not have any idea how to handle the situation.

So Juliette knew Papa and Sam. But not Maya. "Sam's nice. He's friends with my friend, sister, Serena. Cafas is my Papa. Maya is nice too. She's kinda my Momma. Maybe," Abby tried to explain. But how did you explain a situation you didn't even understand yourself? "Sam and Serena are helping me learn self defense," she added before stuffing her mouth with toast.

"Cafas is your dad?" Juliette nearly choked on her bacon. Cafas was so young; only a few years older than she was, and while the girl looked young, that would have placed him as having her at a very young age. She was amazed at how many of the X-men had kids to worry about. First it was Sam, and now Cafas.

So Sam and Serena were teaching her self-defense lessons. That made sense, although she didn't know that Serena knew all that much about self-defense. She supposed that if she had been a pupil of Sam's that he would have taught her, and she was passing her knowledge down to Abby. "Do you enjoy the lessons?"

>>"Cafas is your dad?"

Abby shook her head. "No. Daddy died," she tried to explain. "Cafas acts like a daddy though, so I call him Papa."

It was still new to her. Having Cafas be okay with her calling him Papa. Uncle Henry knew though. She had made sure he did before she had ever called Cafas "Papa" even in her head. Uncle Henry had been sad but understanding too. He told the little blonde that so long as she didn't forget her Mommy and Daddy. Abby wasn't afraid of forgetting her parents. And Cafas and Maya didn't seem to be wanting to replace them either.

>>"Do you enjoy the lessons?"

Abby smiled and nodded, chewing her mouthful of food. "Are you living at the school?" There were plenty of adults at the school who just lived there. Most didn't even work at the school. But she hadn't met an X-Man that didn't live at the Mansion.

Juliette let her mouth form into an 'o' shape. "I'm sorry," she frowned at the realization that she had brought up a touchy subject. She couldn't help but feel a little less weirded out that Cafas was merely a father figure rather than her actual father. It seemed like a trend, though. The X-men adopting at-risk children.

"So Cafas is sort of like a surrogate, then. How did that come to be?" She asked the little girl. Most kids that age she met liked to talk about themselves for hours on end, and a simple leading question could get them to do that. She quite enjoyed talking to children, and asking them questions was usually a good way to do so.

She liked the lessons. That was good. She felt a little responsible for them, in some way. If Sam hadn't been doing a good job with things, she would have been disappointed. "What's Sam been teaching you?"

>>"Are you living at the school?"

"Yep," she nodded. "I moved in here pretty recently, actually. I live in the adults hall." It had been a rather nice shift, and it made sense for her to move there. Plus, it meant far less walking through the city than she was used to.

"What about you? Do you live here? And go to school?"

Abby just shrugged at the apology. It didn't hurt as much now to admit her parents were dead. It still made her heart heavy, but she could still smile when talking about it. Small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

>>"So Cafas is sort of like a surrogate, then. How did that come to be?"

The little girl shrugged. "He acts like a Papa so I call him Papa. Maya's the same, but Momma." She wasn't as talkative as others her age. And she wasn't really sure if Cafas and Maya would be okay with her telling other students about their relationship. SHe would have to talk to them about it soon, with school back in session. "Just how to defend myself," she responded to the question about Sam. "I don't really know what else it would be called. I know how to dodge and punch and stand and stuff. I still need to work on everything with shoes though."

>>"What about you? Do you live here? And go to school?"

Abby hummed in agreement. "I have my own room right now. No one wants to be my roommate I think. But that's okay 'cause it means Adder and I can watch movies on the floor. And I don't have to worry about other people's habits. Like snoring or sleep walking. I've heard a lot about those types of things from other kids.

"I really like the school. It has lots to do when there aren't classes. I stayed here over the summer instead of going to see my uncle; I didn't get bored or anything. Though I had to be careful after the Rally. Papa got pretty overprotective then. I had to make sure I had an adult with me when I went out. Now I'm not really worried about leaving. I have a lot of homework and other things to keep me occupied. Though I do want to find a way to earn some money." The little blonde froze as she realized how much she had said. A warm wave washed over her face, probably turning it bright red. She ducked her head so she was looking down and nibbled on her toast.

Juliette's heart melted as she listened Abby talk. No wonder Cafas had become so protective of her; she was absolutely adorable. Right down from the way she described her life at the school to the way she hung her head after talking. How so much cute had managed to be squished into someone so small, she didn't think she would ever find out.

The rally comment did ring a bell in her head. She definitely recognized Abby as the girl who had stepped up to the microphone after Cafas had finished speaking. Her comment had been both impactful and heartwarming. The girl was an expert at wiggling her way into people's heart. It would have to take an absolute monster to think anything but good thoughts about her.

"What classes are you taking?" Juliette asked, hoping to get her talking again. She wanted her to know that it was alright to talk, even if she said more than she meant to. She figured she might get an answer of 'the same ones everyone else is taking', but she wasn't entirely sure how classes worked at the mansion.

She briefly considered offering to accompany her somewhere if she ever wanted to leave, but she realized that the offer had the potential of coming off in a strange way. Instead, she figured that Abby would simply ask whoever was around when she wanted to go somewhere.

"So you're looking for ways to make money?" Juliette prodded the comment. "What kinds of things would you consider doing?" There were likely a bunch of things that could be arranged at the mansion. Anything from helping sort paperwork to raking leaves. It could definitely be looked into if Abby was keen on something.