Alexandra turned her head away from Xavia and the Mansion Gardener, absently looking at the bald head that was seated in front of her. Man, he must have been tall if his head popped out from the sea of chair like this. Mentally shaking her head at her lack of attention, she focused on the attempt of a conversation that was going on. The molecule manipulator chuckled slightly at hearing that they ought to be more careful. Yeah. They needed to be more careful. Not her, for she wasn’t bearing any incriminating proof with her. Her folder, that now rested on her lap, was different from Lenna and the man’s folder. Hers wasn’t screaming ‘Hey look, we’re all on the same team.’ Kabal shiny badges glued on their forehead were probably the next thing she would see. “Yes… you certainly need to be more careful.” she replied lowering her voice as amused blue eyes traveled to Xavia and the young man beside her.

A sigh left her lips as the mansion’s gardener eyes were locked on her face. She saw recognition there, one that she wasn’t pleased about. Was he a spy as well? Or he just enjoyed taking care of plants in his free time and the Mansion was the most appealing location he had found.? “No. We haven’t met before miss.” Alexandra continued, her voice back to normal now. A smile appeared on her lips as she focused more on the man now. “But me and Lenna here,” A hand rose slightly to gesture to her side toward the blonde “we work for Hermes Group as well.” The molecule manipulator chuckled slightly while eyeing Lenna. She hoped that the woman wouldn’t mind using her lie as a code talk. “I was supposed to leave with another group,” she paused again, a corner of her lip rising slightly while she turned her attention back to the man “you may be familiar with the members of that certain group, mister… but, how to put this?” Alexandra pursed her lips together while searching for the appropriate words to describe the X-Men decision to leave her behind. “But they decided that I wasn’t ready to handle this business. Mister Slate offered his help and I guess I was assigned to his team.”

Alexandra turned her head once again, absently looking at her nails. Code talk was not one of her most developed skills and while letting her eyes travel from her nails to each of her three companions she wondered if she actually managed to slip in the code talk her little lie in a correct manner. She didn’t know what Slate’s plans were but being cautious never hurt. After all, the X-Men finding out that Slate helped her to get to Romania was something she could handle… the X-Men finding out that her shiny Kabal Badge was hidden under her X-Men one… No. That she couldn’t handle.

Careful.

>>“Yes… you certainly need to be more careful.”

"Perhaps," Lenna gave the noncommittal reply. She shook her head at the proffered bag of candy. "No thanks." Because taking candy from strangers was bad, as was shaking hands and giving permission to the unknown... Even if it was polite to share.

And the candy did look good.

Her eyes shifted away from the Skittles, towards the pale man with the gloves. She didn't like the way he was eying Alexandra. Just what was going down here... Alexandra spoke. Lenna turned to face the source of the voice.

>>“No. We haven’t met before miss. But me and Lenna here..."

. . .

>>“we work for Hermes Group as well.”

. . .

>>“I was supposed to leave with another group." “you may be familiar with the members of that certain group, mister… but, how to put this?"

Yes, how.

>>“But they decided that I wasn’t ready to handle this business. Mister Slate offered his help and I guess I was assigned to his team.”

She'd used Lenna's cover story. How clever. "That's right," she bore a fake smile.

The clasp on her briefcase clicked open. Lenna slid the folder away.

"Nice to meet you." A hand extended out towards the woman for a greeting. Then again, towards the pale male.

>> “Yes… you certainly need to be more careful.”

Xavia was starting to get a head ache. What had she signed herself up for? A job, or bickering? The point was that they were all, and yes, that included Alexandra, handling this whole thing totally wrong. Who knows who was listening in on the quartet? She palmed a few more pieces of the fruity bits and wisely tossed them into her mouth to chew, rather than argue. And boy, did she want to argue with the woman who blatantly walked over and sat down without permission. Hah, at least Xavia had the wherewithal to try and be discreet about it, she was trying to be careful.

She sat turned her face toward the window to hide the rolling of her eyes over this maddening situation. As the other continued to talk as if she didn’t just make a mistake, Vi closed her eyes and counted to ten in her head, gritting her teeth.

When she turned her head, she pasted a smile on her face, nodding in “agreement” to whatever was being said without truly listening. When Lenna offered her hand, she took it with a dainty squeeze and shook ever so slightly, nodding. “Nice to meet you,” she said softly, and in a neutral tone, face expressionless. Ah, the poker face. She gave a brief glance to Martin to see if he was alright, and the poor guy just looked uncomfortable.

Making herself busy, she folded the skittles bag in half and tucked it into her briefcase where her own folder was securely stashed and out of sight. She then pulled out a cheap package of cards, closed the briefcase and stashed that at her feet, pulled the tray down, pulled the cards out, shuffled and bridged about ten times, and then proceeded to play an invigorating game of solitaire, thereby giving her yet another excuse to keep her mouth shrewdly shut.

OOC info: Martin reacts quite violently to adepted, because his mutation is so deeply tied into his perception.

He found the azure eyes locked on his face, eyes to drown in, eyes that screamed for attention. If he could only, ah well. He could not, so there was no sense in musing about it, was there? No sense in even thinking about those things. A slight hint of hardness appeared on his fece, as his eyes left the astonishing young figure to link with another one, that was sitting quite close to them. It was just a little bit too much. Four of them. hey all did not know about each other, or mor probably, teams of two that did not know the other one existed. But then why going through the danger of putting them on the same plane? It was all quite confusing to Martin, who had fallen silent as the girls began talking, only to nod at Alexandras mentioning of Hermes group. "It is a very big company apparently."

And then she began talking about the other group...well of course he knew it, knew of it at least. The Xmen that resided at the Masnion. He suspected by now that some people just had to be members. Their behavior was just too... perfect. Save everybody at any cost. Especially non-mutants. What a senseless policy. He found their position to be irrational and harmful, as they were apparently (or so the news said) offering their help to everybody without question. But how were people supposed to learn for themselves, if they could jsut palce a call to get a mutant to fix the problem? Wernt they just making themselvs less valubale, less desirable, less useful that way? Regardless of his position oncerning that other group, he just raised a hand and spoke: "Im indeed familiar with some of their ideas." and reject them. As much was implied. "They seem to be quite restrictive in some areas." What if they knew what you truly are? A murderer? Dangerous? Powerful? Cold? All of the above? Yup? "Its indeed...." And then he trailed off with gritted teeth. This kind of pain, the burning inside him, as decay started to work its way along his spinal chord upwards to his brain, this pain of knowing that nothing would ever be the same, it was almost a welcome excuse to keep his mouth shut and topple over, but seeing the consequences of that action, it was quite unwise.

He.

Had.

No.

Choice.

The pain was overwhelming. He simply tried to get away, Scrambled his legs with all his power, with the least bit of his mind that was still there and ready to act. Away from Lennas extended hand that had brought Martin into her range of action, denied such a big part of what he was, that he was physically hurt by the difference. Strange indeed.

. . . The pale-skinned man had stumbled forwards as her extended hand grew too close. Lenna withdrew it, with all the grace in the world. It was obvious. This man was a mutant who reacted violently to those with auras such as hers.

She'd gotten too close. It had been sloppy. Judging from their seating arrangements, she'd assumed she had been nearer to him when she first sat down than she actually had been. 4.5 feet is not 5 feet, and she could not make it as such.

"... Excuse me," Lenna muttered in Romanian, rising from her seat to walk down the aisle towards the toiletries. She needed a moment to gather her thoughts, let the whole situation with Mr. Paleface cool down. Would he know of her human condition? Had the information been spread? Or would he be as confused as she? Lenna didn't want to explain it here, either way. It was too public, too embarrassing.

Her hand tightened on the door of the bathroom, sliding it open. She slipped in.

Alexandra found this situation quite amusing. She was simply unable not to notice the way Xavia wanted/managed to ignore her. Yes, maybe she had been a little too harsh at telling them that they needed to be more careful… but, when one tells you that, you usually try to see what you did wrong. But no, the woman, Xavia, pulled out a pack of cards. (My, my, does she always travels with a pack of cards and a bunch of other useful things in her briefcase?) Alexandra was half tempted to make a comment… but, the man provided a reason not to. She smiled a smug smile and, in order to resist the temptation she gave her full attention to the man.

"Im indeed familiar with some of their ideas. They seem to be quite restrictive in some areas."

Restrictive? It sounded interesting. Then again, she wondered why this man was working for Slate. The blue-eyed Kabal leader was restrictive as well. Not to mention sloppy. But, those were subjects who could not be discussed with the man. Or the unnecessarily angry woman. “Yes. They are.” With a polite nod, she agreed but refused to go into the details that had been crossing her mind earlier.

A brief moment of her attention was again given to the factions and just how restrictive they were. But, that brief moment was simply enough to miss the little bits that gave away the fact that the man wasn’t on his best day. Her attention was called once again when he moved. Blue eyes narrowed at the man. Was he… loosing control over his (unknown) powers… in a plane… that was already in the air? Slate gained another level of sloppiness in her mind. How exactly could he send a mutant who had so little control over whatever powers did he have on a commercial airplane?

"... Excuse me,"

And, just like that, Lenna slid away from her seat and headed for the bathroom. This whole situation was awfully strange, really. As Lenna’s figure disappeared behind the seat, blue eyes turned concerned toward the man and his lack of control problem. “Are you okay mister… Mansion Gardener? Pale Face? Funny, weren’t names the first thing one was supposed to know about new acquaintances? She shook her head, only slightly. She ought to ask his name. Later. For now… “Do you need…” A glass of water? Maybe Whisky? Peanuts? More Skittles? “Anything?”

She wasn’t angry. One would know if she was truly angry, she wouldn’t be as calm as she was. Not that she knew what Alexandra was thinking of her. Xavia continued to play her solitaire without a word, only glancing up every now and then with concern for her partner. He didn’t look so good right now, perhaps he needed to get on the ground and rest. Her lips thinned into a line and she simply stared at him in observation.

Lenna walked away, then, heading toward the restroom as if a bee flew up into her pant leg. What in the Sam Hill was going on here? Wrong, wrong, all wrong! “Hey, try and get some rest, Mr. Stone.” Smooth, real smooth. He HAD given Xavia that name as a code name, why not use it? “I will flag a stewardess down…” Her voice was low and soft, kind of soothing, at that point, and true concern was a light in her caramel gaze.

When she looked up to Alexandra, there was a glimpse of something akin to confusion and bewilderment. She quickly turned her head toward the tray and began clearing the cards off of the hard plastic so that she could stow it away and go get the promised flight attendant.

Martin's face seemed paler then ever, skin almost ghostish in its ivory sheen. Slightly greenish it was too. Somehow it carried an idea of sickness that had just stricken. A moment ago. He had been healthy. And then. Not. Just like that from health to sickness. And sick he was. The last waves of pain rebounded through his skull just as he understood Xavias last words. "No I don't need a stewardess." He declined her probably well meant offer. The last thing he needed right now was another human he might touch. Another life that might be extinguished by careless handling.

What had happened to him again? The only thing on his mind had been excruciating pain. Extinguishing pain. "It will be OK in a minute." He seemed to be quite shaken by the experience. "I hope." Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a freak accident. It happened to him daily, did it not?

Alexandra sighed, slowly scanning the man once again. In a minute, he said. Or at least he hoped. “You sure? We could ask for a glass of water or something.” The molecule manipulator shrugged slightly, leaning back on the chair but still keeping her head turned toward the troubled man.

His skin was still pale, and for now it didn’t seem that the color planned on getting back any time soon. She sighed again. Trouble, trouble. Just what she needed.

Lenna racked her mind as the door to the bathroom shut. Yet another mutant had been negatively affected by her aura. Another person she'd have to tell Slate would require 'special treatment'. Another problem on the flight, and she didn't care for the troubles. Lenna sighed, and put a hand on the sink's counter, steadying herself.

How far was his seat from hers again? 3... no, Lenna supposed it was at least five feet. She ran her mind through the math, counting on one hand. if she sat as close to the aisle as possible, and refrained from reaching over towards his side... maybe. There was the chance he'd still be too close, the chance he suspected something. Lenna had to act like nothing was wrong. She had to play it cool.

The minutes whipped by. Her hand pressed down the door handle. Lenna stepped out. She slid into her aisle seat, a short time later, and offered Alexandra a weak smile.

"Sorry. Did I miss anything important?"

Miss anything? Hah. There was no action to be missed, simply a strange head ache for Martin, more talking from Alexandra, and confusion from Lenna. No good at all! Xavia opened her mouth to speak again, only to snap it closed and shrink into her seat. The plant mutant was going insane from just sitting there with nothing to do, the person in front of her still smelled like cheese, and the kid behind her was still kicking her damned seat! Gah!

She palmed her face and counted to ten in a silent manner. Something had to give! First, she rotated herself and stared down the kid, just stared, nothing more. The kid started to grow uncomfortable and gave a few more kicks to the seat, before he, himself, shrunk into his seat. Next, after correcting herself in the seat, she bore down a little, and the whole freakin’ coach started to smell like lilac all of the sudden… It was the strangest thing.

What she IMAGINED she did from there:

Last, but certainly not least, she turned a sweet smile to the trio beside her, and said softly, and in a calm voice “If you have business, then state it. Otherwise, be more careful. That goes for you…” she pointed toward Martin, “You,” Lenna, “And most certainly, You.” She pointed to Alexandra. “Now, I know what I am on this plane for,” she lowered her voice even more, speaking now in flawless Romanian, no thanks to the jewel she had yet to swallow, “I have business to do in Romania, and I will be damned if I don’t do my job. It doesn’t matter who else has business, it doesn’t matter if you are going there to join the gymnastics team, and it doesn’t matter if you think someone else is being too obvious about their intentions… Unless you are here to give me a damned mission, then, for the love of god, shut your pie hole or so help me I will shut it for you. This god forsaken flight has finally frayed my last nerves, and I am not in any mood to listen to bicker or useless banter about something we aren’t even supposed to banter about in the first place. For god’s sake, shut up.” She only gave a moment of pause, gazing pointedly at Alexandra, “He doesn’t want help, let him do what he must.” Lastly, she turned to Lenna, “Miss anything? No, not at all.”

What she REALLY did:

She stared off for a few moments to imagine what she was going to say to the trio.

With that long winded tirade she spouted in her mind, she opened her briefcase once more, pulled out a cheap mp3 player, sticking the ear buds into her ears, and turning it up to full blast so the sounds of piano music could be heard by the others. She snatched her bag of skittles and palmed a few, tossing them into her mouth and chewing firmly.