She held her camera in one hand while with the other she pushed the door of her room quietly looking around. No one. Good. She walked all the way to the end of the hallway then turned around, once again checking her surroundings.
Making sure she was about the only one in the Bedrooms Area, she opened her camera and started to record. She walked, and opened the first door. It wasn't the one of her room, she knew that. With her camera still recording, she entered, looked around, getting on tape about every angle possible.
And she didn't stop there. There was a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth and even a sixth door, but as soon as she was preparing herself to close the door of the sixth door, footsteps could be clearly heard right behind her. Footsteps that stopped at seeing her getting out of the room. Darn.
Pouting, she hit the floor with her leg and breathed annoyed.
"Damn! I got the wrong door again!" she said, loud enough for those behind her to hear, but not so loud to make them believe she was trying to have them hearing what she said. Turning around, pout still on her face, Alexandra played it off like she wasn't aware of their presence there. She recognized Shin, but not the young woman beside him.
She looked at them startled, then putting her hand on her heart as if trying to calm herself down, she spoke.
"Guys! You scared the hell out of me! I didn't hear you coming this way..."

Time went on. No matter what, time always seemed to continue. Even if everything sucked and nothing seemed to be getting better in the foreseeable future, time kept marching on.

Lee wasn't even completely sure how long she'd been at the mansion since she'd gotten the call that Tarin was there. Wasn't completely sure how long Tarin had been in a coma. They days were just kind of running together, one long, dragging, heart wrenching day after the next as she sat at Tarin's bedside, waiting for a change that had not come yet.

Well, no change other than the fact that Lee thought she was going crazy. Every now and then, a number of times a day, Lee would feel through her siphoning as if someone was approaching, or just there, and yet she'd be alone. It wasn't even limited to the infirmary where she had first felt it, over the days she'd been at the mansion, Lee had also felt that feeling in the halls, in the kitchen, even in her room.

Maybe she was going crazy. That worry was why Lee hadn't actually told DocProf about what she had been feeling.

It hadn't all been imagined, though. Sometimes people did come to visit her and Tarin down there in the infirmary, and Lee did run into people, students and adults alike, when she was upstairs getting food or whatever.

Shin was one of those people who visited, and like that first night he had come down after he'd let her into the mansion, each time he came he brought coffee. That was something else that had changed. Especially since Christmas, drinking coffee had been done more out of habit than out of real need any more. Between either spending the night with Tarin or having too much energy to be able to sleep, and then spending the whole day in the shop with Tarin, Lee hadn't exactly been in need of coffee much.

Coffee was once again a necessity for Lee, not only to drag herself out of bed but also to simply make it through the day, and when she'd run back to the apartment to grab clothes she had made sure to grab her coffee maker so she'd have one for her room.

Shin had come to visit again, once again bearing coffee, to see how Tarin was doing. That, the coffee, was quickly helping Shin climb to the top of Lee's favourite people list. But Lee had been feeling cooped up, restless despite the real lack of energy, and had talked Shin into going for a bit of a walk with her. Inside the mansion. She wasn't feeling like going out in the cold despite how restless she was feeling.

So, coffee cup in hand, Lee walked through the halls with Shin, talking a bit as they went. Glad that she had the company, Lee hadn't had any of those strange 'someone's there but not there' feelings when she actually had someone near her so far.

At least she was walking and somewhat chatting until they came across a young woman, who apparently had the wrong room. Cocking her head to the side slightly, Lee looked at her as she came to a stop. She and Shin hadn't been noisy, but they hadn't been extremely quiet, either.

"Sorry, didn't mean to," Lee said, not even noticing the quiet, slightly sad tone of her voice. It had been normal for her by this point. "Why, are you new, getting turned around here?" Well, after that first day in the mansion, Lee hadn't had a problem finding her room. Then again, hers was right beside the elevator.

Shin tilted his head at Alex, raising a furtive eyebrow. Getting lost in a mansion so big wasn’t abnormal, unless you had a room in a very obvious, easy-to-locate place… so…

“Don’t worry about it,” he nodded understandingly, speaking more to both of them than to one in particular. “Honest mistake. That’s my room by the way, Al.” Shin took a few steps forwards, pulling open the door and gesturing for them to all have a look-see at his castle within. The walls had pictures of basketball players and giant robots. The book case was filled with leather-backed volumes of a few of the classics, and hard-covered copies of more of the basics of science fiction. A few comic books and graphic novels were tossed among the Asimovs and Arthur C. Clarkes of the world. Yotsuba, Gundam, Azumanga Daioh, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho… he certainly had a good selection. On top of the book case, one lone model of a black steel robot stood: The Big O. Out of everything, only his bedspread looked normal.

It was red.

“So as you can see, no worries. What’s with the video camera, though? Are you making a documentary… or maybe you were…” His eyes narrowed accusatorily, and his voice lowered. “Recording so you’d have a video diary of where your room was so wouldn’t get lost again…?”

Yes, that must’ve been it. She couldn’t possibly be a spy. The thought had never once crossed his mind!

“So, do you need any help finding your room? I could check the registry, and…”

Alexandra watched anxious as Shin and the girl next to him reacted to her excuse, but no emotion could be seen on her perfectly still face. She let out a small relieved sigh in the back of her mind as the girl said it was normal in a low tone then ask her if she was new. Before she could answer, her eyes searched for Shin, needing to see his reaction. And she let another mental relieved sigh as he agreed with her. And also added another bit of information: the room she was just getting out from was his. She wondered how was it that he was so cool about it. In his place, she would have thrown the intruder out or at least be suspicious about it instead of opening his door to reveal his room once again. She mentally snorted. Like she didn't have every angle of his room already on her camera. But she looked inside it, a curious look carefully plastered on her face.
So, it wasn't as hard as it looked in the beginning, she thought to herself. The X-Men were naive and she had to use this advantage as long as she could. After all, she couldn't pretend forever that she had the wrong room. She folded her camera in front of them, drawing their attention on it. It was a bold move, but she trusted her instincts. Shin's eyes immediately moved toward the small object in her hand. His face suddenly turned suspicious.
“So as you can see, no worries. What’s with the video camera, though? Are you making a documentary… or maybe you were…”
He paused and Alexandra held back a smile. Shin was way to naive. She was certain that the thought of her being a spy suddenly crossed his mind but he trusted the good nature of people too much to speak it aloud.
“Recording so you’d have a video diary of where your room was so wouldn’t get lost again…?”
Alexandra let out a smile at hearing this then heard him offering his help to find her room. The smile didn't fade of her face; instead she turned for a second to put the camera in her bag. Her eyes turned on the girl she didn't know.
“Yeah, new around here.” she spoke, a ditz smile on her face. “I’m Alexandra Kettler, by the way. But call me Alex.” she said, extending her hand, a brief but sincerely looking smile on her face. As soon as the introduction was over, her eyes turned to Shin.
“Actually Shin, I was making a documentary.” She patted the bag where she was holding the camera lightly.”There’s a reason I’ve come to the Mansion.” Alexandra admitted. Well, she wasn’t lying about that. As she had said before, the best cover was the truth. She blinked and continued. “There’s no other place in the world that would show humans that we’re still people… even if we have…” she paused, looking for the right word. “Gifts.” she said as soon as the word came in to her mind. She shot a piercing look at Shin. “That’s my dream. To show people that we’re still normal, that we can leave peacefully.” she ended, in a dramatic tone, letting her voice drift away, a sad look now appearing on her face. She knew that the excuse she was delivering needed a strong personal reason. And she had that reason prepared, in case anyone would ask about it.

Apparently the room that this young woman had mistaken as hers ended up being Shin's. Well, you learned something new every day, didn't you? After all the time that she had been at the mansion, all the time she had spent with Shin (besides Tarin, he was probably the person she had ended up spending the most time with, though that wasn't necessarily saying a lot), Lee hadn't known until just now where his room actually was. Sam's, she knew, but not Shin's.

And, even though this woman had been about to enter his room by mistake, Shin went ahead and showed his room off to both of them, almost as if he were proud of it. Though, it did look more lived in than her room did, hers almost looked like she was staying in a hotel room still.

Room inspection done, Lee stepped back into the hallway to have the other woman introducing herself, hand outstretched. Shifting her coffee cup to her other hand, Lee reached out as well to shake Alex's hand. "Lee...Brooks," she replied slowly. She was still getting used to actually using her new last name; even though it had been two months since they had gotten married, Lee hadn't exactly used it much.

Apparently Alex was wandering around, trying to put together a documentary to show that even though they were mutants, they were still normal people. Very admirable, very useful; pretty much all of her life Lee had simply tried, and failed repeatedly, to be able to just live as normal a life as possible. With Tarin, she had been both the closest and furthest from that wish as she had ever been.

But there was something about Alex, something about what she had said, that didn't quite click and make sense for Lee. Cocking her head slightly, she looked over at the other woman, her eyebrows pulled together in thought. "Wouldn't something like that work better if you actually asked people to help you out?" she asked. "Wouldn't you be able to get more out of it that way, rather than simply wandering around like this?"

“Hey, yeaaaaahhh…” Shin trailed off of Lee’s last thought, turning it over in his head with cupped chin. People, documentary, filming… was she volunteering them both? “I suppose we could help you with it… if you were okay with that, Lee?” She probably had heavier things on her mind than documentaries, but this might be good. A little something to get their minds off of Tarin for a while, he figured.

He’d visited the guy over the past few days, and things still weren’t improving. It pained him to see that sort of undetermined extended period of stasis. Shin had never seen a situation like that before in his life. Of course, when his grandfather had been on his deathbed it had been sobering. The old man was so weak he couldn’t respond to any outside stimulus. All he did was lay there like a log… he hoped Tarin wouldn’t start growing moss, for all their sakes.

Eyes shifting back to Alexandra, he considered what she’d said. On a normal day, he’d be gung-ho to believe it. ‘Trust everyone until they give you a reason not to’- that was his motto. But today, he had too much on his mind to be boggled down by something that didn’t quite click… and so he volunteered them for a part in her movie. How very logical.
“And we could show the world something special…” His thoughts drifted off as he slipped back on the faux smile. He nodded brightly at Circe. “I’d love to be in your film.”

Strange…

“What have you got so far?”

Alexandra shrugged at Lee's comment about why is she not asking people to help her with the documentary. Hey, I was just wondering, would you mind talking about your powers, weaknesses and all for my spy mission? Yes? Oh, thanks, it's so sweet of you! She mentally laughed and turned to Shin who was just offering himself... and Lee to help her with her documentary. His question, what did she have so far, put her in difficulty for the moment. She shrugged as she looked at Lee with a casual smile on her face.
"Yeah, I actually tried that too but people have this strange tendency to act as goofiest as possible whenever there's a camera near them."
She put a hand on her chin, pretending to think. "But if you would like to help me with this one I'd be so thrilled." she said, the needed happy smile on her face. She looked around at the doors in the large hallway then turned back to Shin with a damsel in distress face.
"Maybe I should put a sticker or something on my door so I wouldn't miss it next time." She looked at her camera with an innocent smile. "I need to change batteries before we could do something. Shin you were saying something about helping me with finding my room?"
She gestured toward the doors, looking embarrassed about the situation.
"I don't have much," she continued saying, remembering Shin's question. "Just some kids in the hallways, some of your movie night and my unsuccessful attempt to reach my door."
She scanned the two mutants and grinned. "You have something in mind for this?"
Back in her mind, she just wished she got to her room as quick as possible.

Lee blinked and turned to look at Shin when he said that he figured they could help Alex out with her little documentary. That wasn't what she had meant, that was not what Lee had meant, but...if it worked out, if it actually helped, that was something Lee had been hoping for for most of her life.

Damn it, she couldn't really say no, at least not completely, even though her mind was largely elsewhere.

Apparently Alex had tried the whole asking people for help, and that hadn't worked. Then Lee remembered why that probably was; other than DocProf, she and Tarin almost seemed to be about the oldest people there in the mansion. That many youngsters, throw in a camera...ok, maybe it was understandable why Alex hadn't been asking for volunteers.

At this point, Lee's lack of refusal seemed to be all that was really needed to indicate her help with the film. Well, if it worked out, it was for a decent cause, and she did have a couple hours left to kill that day before she could head back to the infirmary.

"That's all you've got?" Lee couldn't help but ask once Alex stated how much she had already filmed. Or rather, how little. Then she shook her head before continuing. "Sorry, I'm really not feeling at all creative recently. Shin, do you have any ideas?"

"Wait, movie night? I didn't see you there..." Shin blinked, then looked at Lee when she asked if he had any ideas. "Dunno. If she already has some clips of movie night, that's a heck of a starting point. We watched a show about a guy in golden armor cutting down demons, and... yeah." He scratched the back of his head with a weak laugh. "Seriously, it's strange I didn't see you there, seeing as I organized the whole thing..."

Suspicious... Oh well!

"I guess we could go sit in on some classes, or do something to show the school's unity. We really shouldn't do the danger room... that wouldn't send the right signal to the public. We want them to think of mutants as peaceful, and no different than any human out there. Honestly, I don't understand why they wouldn't think that in the first place, but eh. Some people actually think that illegal aliens cause the crime rate to go up. I'm still trying to understand the logic behind that... I mean, they spent so much energy trying to -get in-, why would they want to destroy those opportunities they strove for?"

But he was off-topic. "I guess we could just film family things and other boring stuff... just people in their average settings on their average days. We can splice in some explosions and use editing magic to turn it into something great." He actually winked. "So, yup!"

He was drawing a blank...

“That’s all you’ve got?” came Lee’s reply as she shook her head before continuing. The girl didn’t seem in the best of her moods was Alexandra’s impression but she didn’t bother to ask. She wasn’t the one to mind other people’s business. She had her own troubles to deal with. She told her on what it seemed an apologetically tone that she wasn’t feeling her creative side lately. For Alexandra it seemed just an confirmation of her previous thoughts. Lee then turned to Shin, asking him if he had any ideas on the documentary. Alexandra was quite anxious to hear what Shin would have to say about this. After her session in the Danger Room, she found out about the first part being all Shin’s ‘fault’. So Alexandra couldn’t help but think that he was a little to creative.
Her attention was half on Shin’s response, half on thinking about her next move. She listened to his confusion about her being with them during the movie night then his idea about the documentary then back to the movie night. Alexandra frowned mentally as she wished he would drop the subject at once but kept her face composed, the same mask as before in place. Although, her eyes were focused on Shin her mind went far beyond him. Sighing gratefully in the back of her mind as he began to speak about the documentary again, she carefully thought her answer.
Shin was talking about making the documentary all human-like. Now, that, that wouldn’t do it at all. She wasn’t here to see a bunch of teenagers watch movies and hang around. She couldn’t ditch all of Shin’s ideas. The classroom part was actually appealing and the fact that he didn’t want the Danger Room sessions on tape was understandable. For now… Until she would find some good enough excuse to go there as well.
“Well,” she began saying as soon as Shin finished speaking “I’ve had this documentary in mind for quite a while but didn’t think of actually doing it until we were safe to be mutants” she continued explaining, hinting to the Registration Act, something that was nothing pleasant to be mentioned during a normal conversation “and until I had enough ‘material’ to work with.” she smiled at her last phrase as she looked at Lee “And I’ve been here for just a couple of days. That’s all I managed to get on tape.
A comforting smile appeared on her lips as she turned to Shin.
“And, yes, I’ve been there on the movie night without you noticing me.” she admitted. “That was my purpose. To be invisible. Although I think one of your friends saw me.”
She sighed and then changed the subject back to her ‘documentary’.
“I like your idea about school unity and not filming the Danger Room. But I do not agree completely with all the boring stuff.” she paused for a moment to watch Shin’s reaction then continued. “It’s like an action movie without the action.” she shrugged careless-like “I was thinking more about showing people we’re mutant without fearing them. I don’t know… Maybe like a game of some sort, have fun just accepting what you are, maybe throw in some heroic things… Like saving some kitten from a tree or something. I think it would blend perfectly with human stuff.”
Her eyes brightened up as an idea popped in her mind.
“I actually got an idea for the not-so-distant future. You’ll love it!” Alexandra grinned at both of them, mostly at Shin, Lee seeming a bit too mature for a game. “But for now, I’ll stick with the boring stuff.”
Her mind drifted away, planning in advance. She had just the right thing in mind. A game of truth or dare. She couldn’t imagine that teenager mutants will be able to stick with normal, human dares. And then, she would just have to be there and press ‘record’.

Classes, school unity, and family things. Sounded like great ideas for the documentary, if that's what Alex was really working on. But not at all interesting to Lee right then. If she had wanted to go sit in on a class or two, she would have already done that before now. Plus, there was the fact that they were all high school classes, and the last time she had actually sat in a class room like that had been ten years ago.

That, and the fact that her mood would likely bring down the fun mood developing between Shin and Alex rather quickly, caused Lee to make her decision.

"You two go ahead, I'd probably just drag the movie down," Lee told them. "I think I'm going to go grab a shower then try and wake up a bit before heading back downstairs. DocProf doesn't exactly like it when I'm dozing down there. Thanks again for the coffee, Shin," Lee finished, looking at him then turning back to Alex. "And good luck with your movie."

>>"You two go ahead, I'd probably just drag the movie down," Lee told them. "I think I'm going to go grab a shower then try and wake up a bit before heading back downstairs. DocProf doesn't exactly like it when I'm dozing down there. Thanks again for the coffee, Shin," Lee finished, looking at him then turning back to Alex. "And good luck with your movie."

Shin nodded, watching her go. “See you later, then. I’ll stop in to check on Tarin and DocProf around five.” The usual time. Turning back to Alex, Shin’s tone changed. “Yeah. I guess that makes sense. What kind of game were you thinking of? It sounds like something we could definitely get some of the younger students involved in. Maybe even some of the teachers. As for getting a kitten down from a tree… well, how often does that happen? We’d actually have to put it up in the tree to stage the scene, and that’s just awful. Who’d toss a kitten up into a tree?” Some of their ideas were good. Others were oh-so-obviously bad. He wondered what category the game fell into.

Alexandra nodded as Lee wished her good luck with her movie then left. Her focus turned on Shin as he was babbling something about how awful it's to toss a kitty in a tree. She blinked.
"You can have someone with telekinesis hold the kitten there, Shin." she joked half-heartedly. She sighed and looked around.
"I was thinking about truth or dare... Don't know if the teachers are up to it, but" she shrugged and winked, the corner of her lip raising in a devilish smile "I think is gonna be much more fun without them."

“Gasp! Truth or dare!? … What’s truth or dare?” Shin had never heard of that game before in his life. Mentally, he tried to dissect the title. Truth… that meant the opposite of a lie, and dare meant… Drug Abuse Resistance Education? No, that couldn’t be right. If you were daring, you did something brave that you wouldn’t normally do, so… hmmm.

He hoped she’d explain it to him soon. The fact it’d be even more fun without the teachers made him a little wary of the idea. Some of the teachers at the school were really entertaining. Leaving them out would be like leaving the clown out of the rodeo; Just not right, and someone might get gored.

“Are you sure it’d be better without teachers?”

“Gasp! Truth or dare!? … What’s truth or dare?”
Alexandra blinked, first not being able to understand Shin's question. Then she decided to raise an eyebrow. How could someone not know how to play Truth or Dare? She shook her head, still not wanting to believe. But the next question hit her in the head.
“Are you sure it’d be better without teachers?”
She kept the silence for a moment. "Ummmm... I'm gonna have to explain to you sometime what's Truth or Dare." With a deep sigh, she continued "And of course it would be better without the teachers. Didn't you ever do something ...." she paused, looking for the right word "I don't know, something wrong?"
She emphasized the word 'wrong', not wanting to believe that Shiny-boy in front of her did everything by the book all of his life.