Raina pushed open the big heavy doors to the music classroom and sighed the moment she entered. Dusty again. Safe from a few extracurricular activities Raina had yet to establish a regular routine for those mutants interested in a music class thanks to her constant traveling between her two jobs and Paris and Canada.

She frowned running her fingers along the piano bench as she walked in to see a line of dust. She sighed again and went to work opening all the shades and dusting off what she could see.

It really was a nice classroom Why couldn't she be more assertive about the whole thing? Start a class? Put on a musical? At least have regular band and choir lessons.

Oh yeah... it wasn't like Raina had a regular schedule.

She sat hunched on the piano bench fingering a few odd keys here and there.
She had come to the music classroom with a mission. She wanted to write Luke a song. But now that she was here she wondered if she was even capable.

She ran her fingers back and forth along a scale still feeling uninspired technical wise. She hummed a little and gazed out the open window at the younger mutants playing outside. "Come on Raina."

she hummed a little melody and played a long. Her eyebrows furrowed as it came out wrong and she slammed her hands down on the keys. "I don't think Mozart had this much trouble." she groaned.

Hands were tapping slightly the wood of his good old guitar as he was walking trough the mansion hallways. Surely, many didn’t see Alec as the music type of guy but then again he took pride in calling himself a man full of surprises.

He had been trying to practice his music skills for the last half an hour but every attempt was catalogued as unsuccessful. The main, and for now only problem it seemed to be the location. He had tried his room but after playing a few notes a loud bang coming from the other side of the wall put a stop on his fingers. His fellow mansion resident whether didn’t like music or was trying to take a nap…

With a groan and an unpleasant stream of curses under his breath, Alec left the intimacy of his personal space and headed for the rec room… which was way too crowded and noisy to manage to concentrate on his music. Another unsuccessful attempt. But it was there (along with gaining some appreciative looks and giggles from the female residents) where he learned about the existence of a music classroom.

After getting his directions, Alec had left the room with a happy sigh. No one could bother him about practicing in a music classroom because it was made… oh well, for music. He pushed the heavy doors with a hand and stepped inside… only to find it already occupied. With another sigh he watched the red-headed beauty practice on the piano with a frustrated look on her face. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was taken.” he spoke in firm and disappointed tone. He had chosen a bad day for music.

Raina looked up to see a young attractive man- probably 2 or 3 years younger than her and blushed a bit. "Ah? No don't worry!" she exclaimed motioning for him to come in. "I'm the music teacher here." she admitted sheepishly. "Raina. I was just..." she looked down at the keys "trying to write a song." she admitted with a laugh. "It wasn't going to well." she spyed a guitar case and grinned "ah, a fellow guitarist eh? It's my first instrument of choice. Been relying on my own too much though, trying to branch out." she said absentmindedly hitting a few notes to make a scale with her left hand while giving the young man her attention. "Are you a new resident here?" she asked hopeful.

“Ah.” was about everything Alec could say as he was motioned to come in. With quiet steps he made his way into the classroom as he listened to what the young woman had said. Raina, the music teacher, as she had introduced herself. Well, the mansion certainly had an interesting staff. First Tricity, the young headmistress and now Raina, the red-haired music teacher.

His hand caressed the piano for a second as he smiled to the woman. “I wanted to play so many instruments… including the piano.” a slight tap over the smooth surface and an appreciative look to the instrument followed his comment “But I never found the time. I hope I’ll do it in the near future. I bet the music teacher can help me.” he said with a wink and a full smile.

His gaze fully turned to Raina. “And yeah, I’m a new resident, I came here a few days ago. My name is Alec.” he introduced himself with a courteous bow of his head. “I am pleased to meet you, mademoiselle.”

His eyes fell on the keys as Raina hit them and Alec put a thoughtful look on his face. “So, what’s this song about? You think this fellow guitarist can do something to help?”

Raina smiled up at him while her thoughts ran wild wondering what his mutation was. Really, it was well within her rights and duties to ask but it sounded like Tricity got there first and she'd rather the information be offered up instead. Simply seemed polite was all.
"Well, welcome to the mansion then! " she grinned "It's not that big a jump from guitar to piano. You'd be surprised. Some of the fingering is even the same just flat against the keys." she held up her fingers on an invisible fret and made a c chord, then transferred it to the piano to show him the similarity. "easy as pie." she laughed.

He called her mademoiselle and she couldn't help but blush. Of course that was followed by an aching pain of guilt over her boyfriend Luke. What was she doing blushing at young men? Get a grip Raina!

"Well... I'm writing a song... or well I was hoping to... as a gift for someone. Sorta like a thank-you gift. But to be honest I usually just write a song and decide what it's about later. I'm not used to doing it the other way around."

She really was curious about his mutation, and if she had to sing he was going to find out about hers awfully quick.

Alec slightly bowed his head again as a thank you when Raina welcomed him to the Mansion, his face turning serious for the few seconds he did so. But it didn’t take long for the playful smile to return on his face. He nodded when she explained about the similarity between piano and guitar playing. Yes, he would certainly try piano later on, and with the help with a beautiful teacher like this one, lessons would be easy as pie.

He winked at the red haired woman when she mentioned about the thank-you gift song. From the look on her face it looked like a gift to a boyfriend of something similar. Nodding, he put his guitar down and smiled to her again. “It will come to you, sooner or later. I guess you need to relax and not force yourself to do it.” he said with a shrug. He wasn’t much of a composer and he considered his creations foolish and rubbish but he certainly knew that he couldn’t create anything when he forced his mind to do it. “But if you need any help, I’ll gladly do it.”

His eyes wondered around the room for a bit, taking in every aspect. Well, a bad habit he had ever since he went on missions. His eyes focused back on Raina and decided to be curious. “So, music teacher…” he said slightly leaning against the piano “anything related to powers or just skill and creativity?”

Raina turned her attention back to the piano as much as she could. What was with this guy? Not only was he a few years younger but he was really getting a reaction out of her. She felt a bit embarrassed. But... it wasn't like she was doing anything wrong. She was human afterall and she was sure Luke had this experience more than once with Victoria.

He seemed pleased with the welcome and genuinely interested in learning piano. A lot of students where interested in music programs here at the school.... and she didn't particularly feel like she'd been offering them a whole heck of a lot yet. But, she did need to pay the bills and after living at the mansion for two years now it was important for her that she work outside when she could.


He asked about anything being power related and a little grin came to Raina's face. As if she hadn't heard him she padded away at the keys and hummed a bit. The temperature became noticeably cooler in the room. Then she opened her mouth and sang a few notes without words and a swirling ball of ice formed in the air in front of Alec. She was getting pretty good at that trick. It glistened and rotated as Raina sang to it. It was enthralling really. As soon as she cut off her note it evaporated mid air. She grinned up at Alec "You could say that."

Alec watched Raina focus her attention on the piano… embarrassed? He felt the need to smile at this one. Maybe he did need to stop with this flirting, but unfortunately he was doing everything unconscious. And he wasn’t hurting anyone with this so he actually let himself smile again.

Instead of a verbal answer to his question Raina began to hum while padding the keys and a sudden drop in the room temperature started to give him a slight impression on what her mutation was. A ball of ice began to form in front of him as the red-haired beauty sang without words and began to rotate, glittering in light. Alec watched the sparkling ice creation with interest until it evaporated when Raina stopped singing.

“Beautiful.” he simply said as his eyes drifted slowly from the now empty space to the woman. An adjective addressed both to her display of powers and to her but the second carefully hidden behind the first. “Ice manipulation trough singing.” he stated, to avoid the silence. “Wish I could do something like this.” he said with a shrug and half a smile. Most of the mutants he met could actually do something with their powers when he considered his powers practically useless. “Maybe without the singing part. I think everyone would be terrified if I tried to do it.” he added laughing to lighten up his mood.

"Every power is a great power when you learn how to refine it." said Raina with a smile "and thanks, it took me a while to actually like my power let alone use it for something. It's hard to be a musician and have everything freeze when you sing. A bit embarrassing. And I bet you sing fine." she laughed. He sure looked fine. Mental slap.

"Anyway, it's not big deal. Comes in handy when putting out fires." she winked. "now tit for tat Mister! Tell me about your power?"

“You haven’t heard me trying to sing yet and if you’re lucky you won’t be hearing it anytime soon.” he said laughing. Yeah, he was awful when it came to using his voice to sing. Alec shook his head slightly looking away for a moment then back to Raina. “Anyway, you’ve gained yourself a loyal fan, Raina. I’ll even freeze to death to hear you singing.” he joked, the ever so present smile returning to his face. “Hope I get vip tickets to your performances for my loyalty.” he added. Grabbing one of the nearest chairs he pulled it next to the piano and stood, facing Raina.

“My powers…” he said scratching his chin with a thoughtful look. “I’m an emotion manipulator, in a twisted sort of way…” he finally said as his attention refocused on the woman in front of him. It was kind of hard for him to explain his powers and he was looking for the best way to make Raina understand what his powers did and why he considered them useless.

Raina laughed at his mock fan devotion. "Well, I'll be sure you get tickets to every concert. Back stage VIP too." she added. She watched him sit down and pondered while he took a stab at explaining his power. Oh. Emotion manipulator? Maybe that's why she felt a bit fluttery around him. She'd always been more affected by emotion manipulators than the average mutant or person.

"I have a friend sort of like that. His only pertains to fear though." she said after a moment of silence. "He makes a psychic connection to see what you're afraid of than projects it. Just being around him even when he's not using his powers can make a person feel a little uneasy. But he's a nice guy. You can imagine with a power like that he doesn't exactly get a lot of dates or make a lot of friends... but he's nice." She hoped Flloyd was doing well.

"And hey, you should meet my brother. Well uh, really you shouldn't. If he tells you something you have to do it! You know like, within your means and all. It's kinda crazy. So emotion warping doesn't seem all that twisted to me. It's not like you're ordering people around as your personal slaves."

Alec looked at the shiny surface of the piano for a few seconds after Raina had spoken. Then he abruptly raised his eyes back to her. “Well, I can’t do any of these. I can’t use my powers on you now if I wished, for example.” Alec sighed as he went off in further explaining his powers. “It takes two people for my powers to work. I can change what two people feel for each other. ” he shrugged and half smiled. “There’s nothing impressive about that.” he added. He wasn’t ashamed of his powers, he was almost proud, it just annoyed him that from a whole range of mutant abilities, his seemed the most useless of all.

He thanked God that at least he had his physical training or else he would have been unable to defend himself. How could he defend himself in dangerous situations when his powers were almost useless and took almost a full day to work? Alec sighed again, he wondered why he was thinking like that, he didn’t have any problem until now so what was wrong with him? Well, he hadn’t lived in a house full of mutants with greater and cooler powers until now.

"But hey that could really come in handy!" said Raina after an embarrassing silence. She felt bad for making assumptions about his powers. "I mean, you could maybe make someone let go of a grudge against someone else? Make an argument stop by stopping the anger? Or even help people calm down. Like a walking anti-anxiety" she teased. "I bet it's a lot of pressure though... you likely dont want to meddle with people. It must be tempting though sometimes. Maybe to make the world a better place, or maybe just to make someone shut up."

She wondered what would happen if she and Alec and Rupert were all together. She didn't think about Rupert too much but it would be nice if he would stop hating her.

"So do you think it works on like a chemical level? Maybe endorphins or something?" she asked curiously then blushed a bit "I'm sorry... I really shouldn't pry... it's just always interesting to meet a new person with a new gift." she admitted.

Alec smiled at Raina’s enthusiasm and wished that it could have been as easy as she was making it sound. He tilted his head to one side as he continued to watch Raina in her eyes. “I really wish it could be that effective.” he confessed. “But it needs time, about a day, to see the effects.” he said with a slight tone of disappointment. “And yeah, I’ve been using my powers sometimes although I wasn’t aware of it. It gained me the nickname of Cupid among my friends.” A smirk appeared on his face as he relaxed.

“And no, it’s more of psychic influence over the others. Chemicals have nothing to do with it.” He didn’t know these things before but the meeting with Jackson revealed so many things, including his weaknesses and helped him understand everything better. He could easily say that that meeting was the best thing that happened in his whole life.

"Hmmm..." said Raina leaning back on the piano bench staring into the ceiling. "Its still really interesting." she said dreamily "Ah, from a professional perspective." she choked out again a bit embarrassed.

She smoothed out the folds of her shirt while looking down again avoiding Alec's eyes. Whether they knew it, meant to, or not... mutants with any sort of emotional power tended to effect Raina more than she would like. It was one of her weaknesses.

"So what brought you to the mansion? Are you settling in alright?"