Derek was getting used to the idea of being around other mutants. It was therapeutic in a way to be around like minded individuals. It certainly allowed some stress to evaporate. It was around 3:00 or when Derek decided to walk out of his bedroom and headed to the living room to sit down on one of the couches. He brought his laptop with him just to look at a couple of universities that were close by.

The mutant sat down near one of the windows and let out a sigh of contentment. With a grin, Derek opened his laptop and started to tap away.

Gina was on break from her volunteering gig. Today, she was with Mama T, helping her with files and the like. Out of all the staff she assisted, Mama T was one of her favorites. Social work and counseling seemed the most directly connected, after all.

Mama needed to meet with a student, however, which was strictly confidential, so Gina was given a break. She meandered into the residential area, to the living room. Oo, thank god, an empty couch! There was a guy in there, sitting by the window with his laptop nearby.

"Hey," Gina greeted casually. She kept the salutation short, lest he did not want to be disturbed. She fanned her wings as she sat, ensuring they weren't under her, before collapsing onto the couch. She was fishing-out her phone to tap away at some game or app until the counseling appointment finished.

Derek continued to type with various tabs open to different universities and apartments. He was about to open another one tab when he heard someone walk into the living room. He had to do a double take only because the mutant looked different. She had bat-like wings, gray skin, and two horns resting on either side of her forehead. She reminded Derek of some sort of gargoyle.

"Hey," Derek greeted back with a warm smile, "how are you today?" He reached out for a Starbucks cup that wasn't there. Damn, he could've really gone for a black mango ice tea right about now. Maybe he'll get one later when he goes off campus again. Derek tried to play it off the best he could by rubbing the back of his neck. "It's beautiful today."

"Mm, pretty good," the gargoyle hummed in response, her brown eyes flicking towards the young man once again. He had to be in his upper teens, at least. His voice was lower than a kid's might be. Like, post-puberty low.

The gargoyle gathered her knees to her chest and wrapped her tail around her feet, so as to curl up on one end of the couch.

"I'm Gina," she introduced herself, "I volunteer here sometimes. Are you a student?"

Derek peeled his face from his laptop screen to look at female mutant. "Nice to meet you, Gina. I'm Derek." He greeted back with a warm and inviting smile. When she asked him if he was a student here, he really had to think. He didn't consider himself one since he didn't take any classes here. The only thing that he did was take up room and help Xavia out in the greenhouse.

"Uh, no. Not in an educational sense, but I am one in a...power-sense?" Derek didn't know what to call it. "Actually, I'm looking for somewhere else to go. Xavia offered me a place at her boarding house, but I'm not quite sure I want to stay there yet." With a sigh, he looked back at his computer screen.

Oh, so he was just a resident. The gargoyle nodded, signifying that she understood. Sometimes people just moved there because they needed a place to stay. Xavier's was, however, a school first and foremost. Most people made a hasty departure after being surrounded by adolescents for an extended period of time.

"Xavier's isn't the worst place to be," Gina assured the guy, "I went to high school here. But I can understand wanting to move elsewhere." After all, that's what Gina did. She'd moved after she graduated.

Gina wasn't familiar with Xavia, but offered, "If you've got a connection, I say go for it. Housing's crazy... then again, if you look hard enough, there's plenty of mutant-friendly places."

Derek turned his head to look at Gina again when she started talking. He always had problems multitasking. Plus, Derek wanted Gina to know that he was paying attention to her. "Really? That's cool. I just...-- well, I'm thinking about going to school at NYU. If anything, this place is where I can hone my powers and abilities. I don't even know if I want to be an X-Men. That was the end game for me when I arrived, but now I'm unsure." The good thing about being in New York was that you could reinvent yourself and find out you wanted to be. This was Derek's chance to do just that.

"Yeah, that's true," Derek paused, "I heard about this one place. It's called a Co-op. Have you heard about it?"

The gargoyle inclined her head as Derek spoke, a smile cracking across her lips. She went to NYU. Of course, a bunch of people went there—nearly fifty-thousand to be precise. Derek explained that he wanted to hone is powers and abilities, possibly become an X-Men…

“Best of luck to you,” the gargoyle said cheerfully. Both endeavors were admirable and yet challenging. She could scarcely imagine balancing both school and serving the X-Men concurrently.

>> "Yeah, that's true. I heard about this one place. It's called a Co-op. Have you heard about it?"

Gina’s eyes glittered at the mention of the Co-Op.

“The Co-Op?” the gargoyle echoed excitedly, “Yeah, I’ve heard of it—I live there! You’re thinking of moving to the Co-Op!?”

Derek started to smile when Gina did. When she told him that she lived there, Derek got excited too.

"Really?! That's so cool! Yeah, I'm thinking about moving there. It's really competitive to get there, though. I'll probably have to write a letter to whoever owns the apartment building of why I want to be apart of the Co-op community. I can see why it's hard to get in there, though. It looks really interesting and I love the concept of it." Derek turned so that his body was facing Gina's.

"Actually, I just scheduled a tour there at five o'clock so hopefully that'll be fun. How do you like living there?"

Gina nodded at Derek’s hopeful announcement. Truth be told, although the townhouse was open to any interested members of the mutant community, a majority of the people it attracted were attending college or, at the very least, college-aged. As such, there was a period of time (end of May, beginning of June, and all the summer months) where a number of residents moved-out and new residents took their place.

Unfortunately, Gina’s floor was not one of the floors where people were coming and going. Gina could petition to change rooms, but moving her stuff would be a hassle. For now she was stuck with the storm clouds.

“It is really cool set-up,” she said wholeheartedly, “Like, you have your own space, but there’s a group-dinner weekly on Sundays, game nights, movie nights… it’s like the dorm experience away from campus.”

She wouldn’t scare him with tales of her roommates, specifically.


“I love it,” the gargoyle said. This was true, she loved the living situation. It was just her roommates that posed a challenge, “It’s hard to feel lonely when you’ve got sixteen other people co-habitating with you. It’s pretty liberal. Pretty chill. And it’s a requirement to be ‘mutant or mutant-friendly’ so you don’t have to worry about… y’know, zealots or anything, trying to cramp your style.”

Perhaps this wasn’t as big of a concern for someone who wasn’t physically mutated, but Gina felt that it was pertinent to mention.

OOC: Nice color for Gina!

BIC: "Ah," Derek through his head back, "that sounds so amazing! I can hear the fire cracklin' now." He straightened his head back up and laughed. In all seriousness, the thought about living with others cooperating together for dinner and games sounded like something Derek would really enjoy.

"That's good. I read it was for mutants and mutant-friendly humans which I find wonderful." This would also be a chance for Derek to get to know other people from different walks a lives and experiences. "I'm happy to see that it comes furnished so that will be something I don't have to worry about."

Gina smiled at Derek’s own fantastical imaginings, nodding and listening. He also commented about the pre-furnished option.

“It is really convenient,” the gargoyle agreed, “I mean, if you think about it, it’s almost like a dormitory, except the living arrangement isn’t exclusive to college students. It’s for all sorts of people.”

The gargoyle tapped at her phone a bit, checking for messages—nothing.

“Do you know what floor the opening is on?”

A droll part of Gina was hoping it was the fourth floor.

"Exactly! I'm totally excited to see how it looks in person," Derek started to click through the pictures of the inside of it. Whoever came up with this idea is not only smart, but very, very creative. "I bet it's better than the pictures

Derek moistened his lips and clicked to see what floors were open. "Ah, the third! What floor are you on?"

Gina smiled politely at that… the pictures on The Co-Op’s website made it seem much more spacious. Truth be told, the apartments were long and narrow, as it was housed next to an identical building. But it was a decently-sized space, not cramped by any means. The pictures were also rather staged—they were taken before the apartments were moved-into by the first round of tenants. Each floor was a little different.

Ah, a third floor opening. Hopefully it wasn’t Richard or Simon, they were pretty nice guys.

“Fourth,” Gina reported, “At the far end of the hall! If you get in, you should swing by some time.”

"That would be amazing! We can roast marshmallows out on the patio too! Or watch Binge in one of the living rooms," Derek trailed off with a happy smile on his face. He was excited about the idea of moving into a place like this especially if Gina was going to be there. If his other fourteen roommates are anything like she is, then he was really going to enjoy himself.

"I honestly can't wait," closed down his laptop and sighed with contentment, "how are the Sunday dinners?"