Celestina was going to have a big day! They had some new volunteers joining them. Several of the older ones had either quit, moved on, found jobs, got busy, or simply didn't want to do it anymore. It was understandable - most people came and went when it came to the library. It was annoying have to train new people and she felt bad for Booker having to interview, find them, and hope they're competent enough to do basic stuff in a library.

In either case, Celeste came in that day in a grey shirt, sweater, and a light blue skirt that went below her knees. It was a perfect library outfit that didn't look like a granny outfit but was young, hip, or whatever was the popular term now a days. She was too busy to really care, especially between school, work, volunteering, and her new found passion for mutant rights and politics. One thing she'd never do though is give up on the library. It was her refuge in her hard times - it always had been. This was especially the case ever since she made it to New York City. From her very first day, the library is what kept her going.

It was only right to give back just as much to it as it had given to her. She walked into the volunteers slotted for 12-4pm fairly content and happy. Maybe they'd be really good, maybe she'd become really good friends one of them. Or even all of them. Honestly, Celeste just hoped they'd all be civil and get along. No drama. Of course, she wouldn't really know until she met them. She wasn't even sure if they were already working or if they started when her shift started. It wasn't like she was Booker and had the schedules for everyone, anyways.

She yawned as she walked into the library and headed towards the area where the volunteers usually congregated before their shifts started. One bad sign of the day? She was so sleepy. It wasn't unusual for her to be sleepy, after all, but she just felt it extra hard today. She could see the little name tags on a few individuals and knew it must be them. She quickly pulled hers out and stuck it onto right side, above her breast. She gave a smile as she approached, trying to stop another yawn from surprising her. 

(OOC: Larraine Compton ) 

Another tedious had day passed, it was an outright unpleasant sight as she had awoken at twelve in the afternoon to find herself festered in an alleyway, speedily changing appropriately into the outfit she had planned a day earlier. An overwhelming thought had been continuously looping in the back of her mind, it was an urge to find proper meaning in her life. She had hoped that volunteering could perhaps assist her with realizing whom she is as a person and how to correct her current living situation.

An hour had passed as she traveled by foot, feeling elevated and yet tense the moment she arrived in the front of the library. An empty, soulless glance was reflected back to the girl as she stared through the window of the library. "Baby-steps, Larraine. Don't overthink." It was an oddity for the female to experience no form of disease whatsoever in her body for an entire week. She wouldn't want to endure the pain that her abilities brought until needed, as the risk of causing her body contamination is definitely an understandable worry. At least one disease, no matter how minor, would be flowing throughout her body, however.

Consequently, she was apprehensive about entering the library at first, however, the silence from within the library other than a few distant voices convinced her otherwise. Wearing an approachable and suitable cherry red coloured cotton shirt, Larraine eased into her surroundings knowing she was able to at least make a decent impression on those around her. "I almost forgot," Larraine mumbled to herself, attaching an oversized name-tag to the front of her shirt as she followed behind another volunteer into their apparent meet-up area. 

"Haven't had your coffee today?" She assumed the yawning woman was in charge solely based on the appearance of the other volunteers compared to her. Seconds afterward, an enforced yawn escaped from Larraine. "You seem to be contagious, but don't worry, I'm quite the contagious person myself." She laughed, investigating her surroundings, intrigued by the comfortable presence of the library, especially as her eyes scanned the different genres of books; longing to even read a passage from a book. Homelessness seemed to be glamorized, but it definitely wasn't a convenient situation to be placed in, especially as a teenager. Her mind wandered briefly, a 'deer in the headlights' type of expression on her face as she stared blankly at the woman before conversing once again. "What's the first order of business? Stocking books?" She occupied her mind with something was changeable instead of repressive thoughts.  

(OOC: Celestina De Ward ) 

Celeste, still in her extra sleepy state, nearly missed the first question from the girl. She cracked a grin after a few seconds, "Yeah, you can say that. Phewwww, I'm so sleepy." She chuckled a little before looking towards the woman's name tag. Larraine. That was a really pretty name. 

She chuckled at the woman's joke. It was corny but totally the type of jokes Celeste loved. She was happy there was some energy from the young woman - it was going to make things a lot more interesting and a lot more fun. She looked at a couple other volunteers and gave them a smile. They were all set up to work in 2 person pairs. She instructed them to introduce each other to their partner, gave them their assigned areas, and then waved them off. Once completed, it was only her and Larraine. That meant that she and Larraine were going to be reorganizing some sections & restocking some others. At least, that was what her email last night had said. She was pretty sure it hadn't changed. It hadn't before.

"Well, first order, is introductions! It looks like we'll be working together. I'm Celestina, but you can call me Celeste." She gave the woman a smile. She was ready to hop straight into it. Celeste could definitely respect that. Most of the time the volunteers at the library didn't take it seriously or were lazy - sometimes it was community service requirements, sometimes it was for their school or college classes, and rarely it was just because they wanted to help. Of course, Celeste had no idea which category that Larraine falled in to, but she was pretty sure it wasn't the first one at least.

"And yeah, we're going to be reorganizing the science fiction section & then stocking depending on needs in a couple hours." She dug in her purse and pulled out a surgical mask and offered one to Larraine, "It can get very dusty in some of the areas. When me and Booker, the librarian, worked together we nearly choked to death because of it. These are handy safety precautions that I learned the hard way." 

She would be able to spot the tiredness of Celestina from a mile away, relating to her predicament and overall consistency of energy. "Coffee around these parts is way too expensive, anyway." Her words spoke volumes about her situation, pondering in the back of her mind before she responded. "I'm Larraine, but you can call me... Larraine." She expressed discomfort in her choice of words, then furrowing her eyebrows in Celestina's direction. Celestine seemed familiar to the girl, however, she couldn't recall wherever or not she knew the woman. Maybe she simply reminded her of someone?

Whoever this woman was, she was smiling in Larraine's direction. When you're homeless, you're not often treated with respect and dignity, although Celestina's actions were well-intentioned, it made her feel uncomfortable. "Science fiction?" Her interest had been sparked as she began to babble momentarily. "I prefer to read non-fiction, but I really liked 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Maybe you could read it sometime? I don't know, it's just a recommendation..." 

It would be noticeable that Larraine had brief spans of vigorous conversation and then she would abruptly stop the conversation altogether, focusing on the other person instead. Her description of the library had given her the perception or illusion of it being unclean. "I never thought I'd be taken out by dust, but I guess we're all destined for different endings in this life." She complained, grinning as she adjusted the surgical mask around her face. "I'm ready to start whenever you're ready," Larraine's words were muffled behind the mask. "I also find it kind of ironic that there was someone named Booker in a library." A chuckle could be heard behind the mask as she followed behind Celestina to partake in any task that she needed assistance with.

(Celestina De Ward )

She perked a brow. Coffee could be expensive, but most people could afford it every now and then. Or they had a coffee maker, which wasn't too expensive to buy the coffee for them. She gave the woman a smile, "Well, when we go on break, how about I treat you to some good coffee? There's a little cafe right around the block." 

Celeste smiled at the girls word choice, "It's nice to meet you, Larraine." She seemed friendly and funny. It was going to be a good day working with her. Plus, she could work towards getting that coffee later in the day with her. Nothing could beat getting some coffee! 

She nodded her approval as the woman talked about her book recommendation. Celeste noticed that she would ramble and suddenly stop talking. And then start again. She was probably nervous, it was always a bit nerve wrecking to do new stuff like this. "I need to read it, definitely. I'm kinda surprised I haven't. I love all books, honestly." It was true, too. She had read and continued to read all sorts of books. She currently had a copy of one of her favorites, the Postmortals, in her purse. It was more science fiction. A future where no one could age due to a vaccine for aging. It was a good book, but it had some drawbacks. 

She laughed at her comment and she shrugged, "This is true, but hey, you never know. All sorts of weird things kill people. Luckily, I don't think it's fatal and I'm a bit of an exaggerator." She chuckled and began to head over to the science fiction section in toe with her. She pulled her mask on as they arrived at the first long, long shelf. Celeste checked their section on the email one more time and she sighed, "Yep... This is it." She went a couple aisles down and pulled two book shelves carts. One for her and one for Larraine. It was time to dig in, "It is a little dusty. Not as bad as the section me and Booker worked on."

She couldn't help but laugh at the mention of Booker's name, "Oh yeah, and guess what? His last name is Bookman. It's honestly the best thing ever." 

Her generous offer had left her teary-eyed. "You don't have to do that," Larraine insisted. "I am not in the best situation at the moment, that's all." Without going too into detail, she had shared personal information with the female - she deemed sharing information with strangers an unacceptable thing to do. But maybe they were on their way to becoming acquaintances or even friends. "Sorry, I don't don't really open up to people that much. I must seem crazy." She definitely felt self-conscious after sharing additional information, however, she decided to beam a grin in Celestina's direction in between chews of her hair. "It's nice to meet you too." 

An organization of books began to happen, cleaning the dust from each shelf in hopes of finding something that would catch her interest whilst working. "You're quite the book lover yourself, huh? Is there anything that you're reading at this moment? ..I'm personally a selective reader myself." Her index finger glided against a book to clean any excess dust on it, a small smile appearing on her face after being informed of Booker's full name. "That's quite the name." 

Although indulging in the organization of books and other activities as time passed in pure silence, she would still aimlessly study Celestina before she decided to question her. "Sorry for asking this, but do I know you from somewhere? I swear that I've met you or seen you from somewhere before." Larraine felt frustrated with herself for asking this question, but it had been playing throughout her mind since she met the woman.

(Celestina De Ward )

Celeste noted the teary eyes in the woman and she gave a concerned smile towards her as she explained that she wasn't in the best situation. Celeste understood how she felt - at least, being in difficult situations. Celeste had no idea what the girl was going through but she knew that she could be there for her - after all, that was what a good person would do good. Celeste nodded as she listened to Larraine speak.

Once she finished speaking, she nodded her head slightly, "We all go through some rough times, it's nothing to be ashamed of. And you're definitely not crazy." She put her hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. After all, Celeste was living on Booker's couch at the moment. Granted, she was going to be moving in to the Mansion in the coming week or so and going to the dorms for college. In the meantime, though, she was still on a couch. Without a real home. But she was happy, and that was the important thing, at least. 

She nodded, "It's one of my favorite hobbies but... I'm not reading anything right now." She sighed as she put a book onto the book cart, "I'm so busy, I barely have any free time. Between finishing up high school, getting ready for college, volunteering, and working, I'm just swamped." They were making some good progress on dusting and everything else, "What's your favorite book?" She asked a few seconds later.

She giggled, "It is, it really is. But he's one of the greatest guys you could possibly meet. I'm sure you'll meet him, being in the library and all." 

After a couple shelves, Celeste heard Larraine mention that she seemed familiar. Celeste shrugged, unsure, and then analysed the girls face for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure if she had ever met her, but maybe? "Hm... I don't think so? Not off the top of my head, at least." She paused, trying to rack her brain if she ever had met someone named Larraine or seen someone like her.

Suddenly, a couple hours passed by. Celeste checked her watch her eyes wide, "Oh, it's break time! Let's go to that coffee shop!" 

After a few moments, they were outside and heading over to the coffee shop.

Lately, Larraine felt as if there was something missing in her life. After asking Celestina if they had met before, a distant memory had blossomed in her mind; a not so fortunate one. She was appreciative of the woman squeezing her shoulder, an attempt to comfort her, she assumed. "As long as you don't think I'm crazy, then I guess I'll live the world forever as a free woman." She lightheartedly joked. 

"There's a number of books that I like," she stated in a thought-provoking manner. "But a new favorite of mine is 'When Breath Becomes Air'. It's an autobiography about a man's journey with lung cancer and life in general - I can relate to it quite a lot." The library's atmosphere was peaceful, calming enough that Larraine seemed more at ease and less defensive. Another reason she may have possibly been more at ease could have been due to the company around her as well. 

She sighed, "I wish I could go to college." There was no further explanation, other than a brief mope of frustration. "But I can understand why that would be tough to handle. I mean, is there any way that I could help you shift into the situation easier? I wouldn't mind taking on more volunteer work.." The idea she suggested was considerate and kind-hearted. But it would also benefit her in the long-run. 

A few hours had passed by, following behind Celestina as they would go on break, entering the coffee shop. "I've never been in one of these before," Larraine whispered to the woman with monotonous glee. "It seems so fancy, and look at those angsty-writers sitting over there. So cliche and cute." She whispered as her eyes darted over to the table of full of aspiring authors, script-writers and alike. Before Celestina could order, Larraine squeezed her shoulder in a thankful manner; assuming that she would understand her action, as Celestina squeezed her shoulder earlier to comfort her. 

Celeste felt like the woman had been through a lot and to be honest, it made Celeste feel pretty sad for her. The world was a sh*tty place and people who didn't deserve things had a lot of sh*t thrown at them. Celeste learned it a long time ago due to her own reasons, but ever since being in New York and meeting so many people. She realized her own situation really isn't all that unique. People were treated like a crap no matter where or who they could go. 

She grinned and nodded, "Oh? I haven't heard of that one before. I'll have to check it out sometime and read it." She nodded a confirmation. It sounded like an interesting book. Although, the girl could relate to it? Did someone in her family have cancer, specifically lung cancer? Did she? All of those thoughts made her worry even more for the girl. She gave a concerned smile. On a side note, "I think my favorite book is My Sister's Keeper. It's about a young girl with cancer and her sister is born only to be her organ donor, basically. It's pretty intense. I cried through the whole freaking book, honestly. Probably followed by the Chronicles of Narnia, honestly." 

She perked a brow and non-nonchalantly, "Why do you think you can't?" It was quiet, in a soft, caring way. She hoped the girl wouldn't take it the wrong way. She nodded, "It's just busy right now, mainly. I mean, we can work it out if you don't mind." She gave the girl a smile. It would help, after all. She wouldn't be swamped with a million things to do and she could focus on more important things. She would feel bad leaving Booker alone. She'd have to see how Larraine worked before she could commit to anything, though.

Once inside the coffee shop, she giggled as Larraine mentioned she'd never been in one and as she watched the writers. It was pretty cliche and cute, so she had to nod, although she was curious as to why Larraine had never been in a coffee shop. With a perked brow, "What? You've never been in a coffee shop before? What about like... Starbucks?" That was a popular, extensively well known possibility. They were kinda similar - it's just usually the coffee shops had better coffee. Usually, anyways. Feeling a squeeze on her shoulder, she gave the woman a smile as she stepped up to the cashier, "Um, a double chocolate chip frappe for me, and whatever this awesome chick would like." She motioned for Larraine to tell the cashier what she would want. 

Larraine frowned, "I'm homeless. Don't tell anyone that I told you this." The teenager confirmed her status, however not wanting Celestina to tell anyone else, defensive of being in the position she was in. "I have high academic scores, but I still doubt I would be able to get into a position such as yours - I don't have any money to my name. I wouldn't be able to afford a single term, probably." Larraine wasn't too adamant about over-sharing information with her, not wanting to overwhelm Celestina as the time for their break counted down. 

She initially ignored her mentioning 'My Sister's Keeper', she, however, responded to Celestina to change the topic. "I have also read that book you mentioned earlier," Larraine cleared her throat. "It definitely is supposed to make you cry, that's for sure. I couldn't make it through the entire book myself." As she uttered those words, it turned out that it was time for their break. 

She began to lightly sweat after entering the coffee shop. The heating of the coffee shop nerved her, as she was not custom to it. "I think we've all been in a Starbucks at least once, but I have never ordered a coffee before. I don't have the time to do so." The girl wouldn't understand why she felt as anxious as she did. It could be due to the important people surrounding her, or another reason, beginning to blush as she overheard Celestina calling her 'an awesome chick'. 

For an entire minute, she scanned the choices she could choose from - an impatient customer nitpicking her indecisiveness behind the two of them. "Could I have a French Vanilla Mocha? Please?" A sigh of relief could be heard from behind the girls, much to Larraine's frustration. The man's bitterness wasn't worth getting into an altercation, or so she thought. But as he continued to irritate her, she turned her head in the man's direction, clenching her jaw in a hostile manner; utilizing her powers against the exasperating stranger, transmitting pain to the individual and in an instance, the man fell onto the floor and was wincing in pain. It wouldn't bother the girl much to conflict pain to troublemakers. Celestina may have been able to put two and two together, however, it wouldn't be exceptionally noticeable that the girl had caused him pain unless the man noticed the transference. 

Celeste nodded, concern quickly showing across her face. She was homeless? The poor girl. Life was so freaking unfair. She knew there was something going on with the girl, but she didn't know what until she just told her. She gave her a concerned smile, "I won't tell a soul, pinky promise." She sighed, depressed about the girls' situation. She wished she could help but heck, she was living on Booker's couch. She'd be in the Mansion soon. "What about financial aid...?" That might could help, at least get her into a community college. Pell grants and stuff. 

She nodded, "It's a hard read, that's for sure." Celeste yawned as they moved a bit forward in the line bit by bit. It was pretty busy, surprisingly busy. She turned to look towards Larraine. She wondered why Larraine was homeless. Mutant? LGBT? Run away? She may not ever know unless they became closer but it wasn't something Celeste was sure if she could ask at this point.

She chuckled, "Trueee... Busy, busy, eh. I use to work at one back in Canada. It was stressful but I enjoyed it enough." She shrugged a little. It was only a second later that she had her order and then waited for Larraine to tell the cashier what she wanted. The cashier seemed fine, getting a minute to breath from the influx of customers. Celeste heard some noise from a man behind her, but rolled her eyes and looked forward. Lots of people were jerks, impatient, and didn't give a rats *ss who knew it. It was really annoying.

French Vanilla Mocha. Yummy choice! Celeste nodded her approval, paid the cashier, and took their ticket number. It'd be a couple minutes. She glared back towards the guy, about to say something until she saw Larraine do... Something? The man was on the floor in pain pretty quickly, though. Either way, Celeste was impressed. Maybe it was just a coincidence? The man, however, disagreed with that - "You b*tch!!! YOU! What did you do to me?!" He groaned in agony, squirming on the ground. Celeste kept mostly quiet, kinda wanting to kick the guy. She glared towards the cashier, who nodded and actually went over to help make their order. 

Celeste went over to the guy, "She didn't do sh*t to you, you d*uchenozzle. Karma." She had a small flare building up in her arm, just in case. Maybe she did do it to him, though? If that was the case, she was a mutant. And if that was the case, maybe she could go to the Mansion...? 

"Ticket number 356!" the cashier rang out quickly trying to hand over the coffee to the two girls. Celeste glared and grabbed both coffees and handed Larraine's to her. She motioned for them to begin leaving as she eyed the guy. Never know what a crazy guy might do.

She respected that Celestina could keep conversational boundaries after she informed the woman of her being homeless. It wasn't a topic that she was comfortable discussing, nor was it a fun topic to bring up. It was, however, an important part of her life. "Financial aid could help," Larraine mumbled. "I haven't tried that yet." It would be evident that at this point in time, she wasn't comfortable talking about this. Maybe later on, but in this exact moment; not yet. 

After the young girl inflicted pain onto the stranger, witnessing him squirm across the floor, a scowl became present across her face. To the common eye, it wasn't factual that she was positioning him through torture. All that was noticeable were his taunts. "I didn't do anything to you." She lied through her teeth with a calm tone. "You all saw how he reacted earlier, he must just be crazy." She spoke to the crowd of people surrounding the man. In addition to mocking the man's mental state, Larraine decided that she wasn't entirely finished with him, glancing in his direction; beginning to increase the pain. The man began to show severe symptoms, as blood began spiraling down from both his mouth and eyes. In comparison to the man, similar specs of blood that could be compared to the man's symptoms began to drain from her nose.

Distress began to show in the coffee shop and as soon as it arrived, so did their orders. She offered Celestina a stressed and yet thankful smile after grabbing her coffee, following the woman once she motioned for them to leave. "Why do people act that way to other humans? We're all one in the same." She sighed, unable to make eye contact with Celestina due to the guilt surrounding her actions. How could one admit that they were such a freak?

Celeste didn't want to cause any discomfort to the woman, so she figured she'd drop the conversation fairly quickly. She mumbled something about financial aid and something about trying but she chose not to go further with the conversation. She probably already thought about it, anyways. 

Celeste wasn't entirely sure but the man was sure, especially after his pain and the blood began to pour out of him. Gross. Celeste perked a brow to Larraine and watched the guy. It was pretty convenient - the pain he felt just as she was saying he was crazy. A few 911 calls from concerned people and Celeste knew they had to leave. If they found out there was a mutant causing this, they'd bring in a METAbot and they'd all be screwed.

Once outside, Celeste motioned for her to follow her into another store that was about a block down. She closed the door after Larraine, "People are disgusting, but... Are you a mutant?" She raised her arm, the flickers of her radiation still filtering through the light. "It's okay if you are, I don't blame you. He deserved it." She sighed as she released her charge into the wall.

(OOC: Sorry, it's short!)

An anxious demeanor was brought onto the girl due to the police being phoned. But in her defense, they were directed towards her, she made an unacceptable decision to hurt a stranger and for this reason, she was overwhelmed with regret. "They are disgusting," Larraine empathized her words. "There's no point in denying anything. It's probably obvious by this point." Her response was straight-to-the-point, rushing out of the coffee shop, directing Celestina through a shortcut; hoping that the police wouldn't be able to tell their whereabouts or even who they are if they changed directions. 

"I understand if you don't want to be around me anymore." She moped beforehand, bewildered as Celestina informed her of her powers, witnessing radiation erupt from the woman's hands. The dust particles in the air floated around her, aiming an unsure glimpse of expression in Celestina's direction. "You're a mutant too?" She furrowed her brows in suspicion, although feeling more at ease now knowing the acquaintance is more similar to her than she originally assumed.

"I don't often act like that. I'm ashamed of how I acted back there. It's just proving more to the stereotype that mutants are reactive and dangerous." She ranted briefly, as they headed back in the direction of the library, consuming the drink she gripped onto as fast as humanly possible. In this particular instance, Larraine was ashamed of her actions, even seemingly distraught by her actions as she ignored her surroundings; even the female. "I shouldn't have done that. It was wrong, but I don't know how to control them - my powers, I mean. What do you think I should have done?"

 Escaping out of the coffee shop didn’t take long. And she doubted they would be followed or even questioned by the police either way. It wasn’t like they had committed a crime – technically. Not one they could prove, anyways. She nodded her agreement, “People are d*uchenozzles, that’s for sure.” 

She shrugged and grinned a little, “You being a mutant is obvious? I mean, I can tell… But I am one too, so I kinda feel it. I don’t know, it’s weird. I doubt the other people there knew anything besides the guy. You could tell the people thought he was crazy, anyways.” 

She nodded, “I am. Radiation. Spooky stuff.” She chuckled.

On their way back to the library, she shook her head as Larraine began to apologize. It really didn’t bother Celeste and while Larraine definitely could definitely should pick her battles more carefully, it wasn’t something that bothered Celeste. The guy did deserve it, after all. 

“No, no, don’t apologize. You’re fine. He deserved it, honestly. It can just be… Dangerous. This city is pretty open towards mutants but there is some really bad people here, too. I’ve been attacked just walking down the street, getting off a bus stop with another mutant… Just be careful, okay.” She gave the girl a smile and gave her shoulder a small, encouraging squeeze again. With a little chuckle, "I can't have my new favorite librarian volunteer getting hurt due to some bigots with an attitude problem." 

She was homeless and didn’t know how to control her powers. It broke Celeste’s heart, truly. She didn’t understand how the world could be so cruel to good people – and she could tell Larraine was a good people. What would she have done? Personally, she would have ignored it, but she could control her powers. Most of the time, anyways. She chewed her lip as she thought, “I’m not sure. Probably just ignored it, personally. But, I mean, it’s not like I haven’t went crazy before. I gave a bunch of kids radiation sickness in my class when I was younger. Literally everyone.” She shrugged.

She thought for another moment, “Have you… Considered checking out Xavier’s Sister School for the Gifted? It’s a school for mutants… They provide housing and stuff. I go there, actually.”