Understandably, the kids had some questions, so Nate waited until a few piled up so he could answer in short order. "Yes, it's kind of like shapeshifting, since I become something new. It happens whenever I'm in trouble so I can't get hurt. I can also change shape like my shadows, or I will be able to... eventually." Truthfully, Nate was still struggling to manipulate his own form. There was something difficult about willingly changing one's own body structure. He had no idea how someone like Jorge could so easily become something as turbulent as water.

"So yes... off to the kitchen." The group exited the library after Nate placed the heavy book on a nearby table.

While walking through the halls, Nate looked over Victoria with his only unimpaired sense. It should not have been very shocking given the girl's inability to get some sun, but Victoria was incredibly pale. "So are you not able to go out in the day at all, Victoria? Or could you go on a cloudy, rainy day?" Nate was still struggling to figure out why invulnerability would carry a weakness to sunlight. Something was off, but he could not figure out what.

Mister Holloway’s explanation made sense to the girl. Part of her was glad he had such an ability. She was liking her teacher the more she got to be around him so she was glad he couldn’t get hurt. He made her feel more comfortable the more they talked and just the way he talked to her was kind and polite.

Making their way to the kitchen Mister Holloway asked a question that, for once, made her feel uncomfortable. “I never go out during the daytime.” Victoria shook her head and wrapped herself in her own arms. "It hurts so much." The girl avoided any and all contact with sunlight as much as possible as she didn't want to chance getting burned.

The way Victoria spoke, it was apparent that her inability to go out into the daylight was not simply genetic; over time, the girl developed a true psychological fear that left her with the inability to go outside if there was even a chance of the sun appearing.

There were probably ways to go around her hindrance, such as Gemma's adapted field or even his own shadow constructs, but there was no point in mentioning those. It would be some time before Victoria would willingly take a step out in the afternoon, regardless of provided protection. "That's a shame. I'm sorry to hear it."

At a loss for what to say next, Nate was glad they were crossing the threshold into the kitchen. "Ah yes. Here's the kitchen. It's open to students whenever, so don't be shy about coming down. Earlier in the day, there is usually staff who can make something for you if you get hungry." There was the worry that the staff would not be around for most of Victoria's waking hours, but they could just as easily set aside meals for her to eat when she woke up.

"Are either of you hungry?" He was not a master chef, but Nate was fairly skilled with cooking when provided with a kitchen as stocked as the Mansion's was.

Chase was the silent listener, until this point, quietly trailing behind Mr. Holloway and Victoria while they spoke. Now that Chase was done drinking his water, he nibbled lightly on the edge of the cup, his eyes skirting about the quiet halls. Yes, he was breaking curfew, but he was breaking curfew with a teacher. So, that made it alright.

They found their way to the kitchen, and Chase jogged over to the sink, depositing his cup there. He then clambered onto the stool as Mr. Holloway continued to speak, reaching across the table towards a bowl of fruit. It was around the time that he inquired if either of the children were hungry. Chase froze, as if caught in the act of doing something he wasn’t supposed to. The boy gave a half-smile, retracting his hand.

“Yeah,” Chase confessed. But, he was always hungry, so this shouldn’t have been too great of a surprise.

Entering the kitchen Victoria looked around at all the cabinets and utensils. It was a pretty big set up from what she could guess. She thought back to the kitchen at her home. It wasn’t this full of stuff but it was still nice.

Victoria caught herself from speaking about what she eats, thinking it wasn’t a good time for such topic. For now she would play along like she had done before growing up in Estonia. She would pretend to be hungry for items most people call food.

Chase spoke up first but Victoria nodded in agreement with the boy. Victoria guessed Chase was just shy since he didn’t speak much. He seemed like an ok boy though. Maybe they would be friends someday.

Both kids seemed interested in a late night snack, so Nate looked through the fridge trying to think about a nice, quick thing to whip up for two little ones. It was still late and the two should be in bed sooner rather than later, but there was nothing wrong with a late night snack.

A quick scan found sliced turkey and ham. A sandwich was an easy fix and a classic nonetheless. "Are you kids okay with sandwiches?"

Nate grabbed the meats and a package of bread with his shadowy hands when his body began to re-form, from the tips of his fingers and toes inward to his stomach until he was a full flesh-and-blood mutant being again, feeling a churning in his gut in response to the event.

Slightly paler than usual, Nate chuckled the whole thing off. "See? Told you I'd turn back eventually." He seriously needed to get a handle on transforming at will; he was growing tired of surprises.

"I like sandwiches," Chase admonished, round eyes watching as the shadow-ghost version of Mr. Holloway pried open the fridge and retrieved ingredients for sandwiches. It was kind-of cool, watching someone shapeshift.

"I wonder if I could be shadow-you," Chase mused, watching the real Mr. Holloway return, "Or if shadow-you is not like people-you in stuff-ish-ness..."

What was the genetic composition of a person-shadown, anyways? The child shifted so that he sat on his knees on the bar stool, absently tracing the outlines of tiles on the countertop as Mr. Holloway prepared snacks.

"That would be cool, if I was like person-someone," Chase mumbled into the counter-top, not lifting his gaze from tile-tracing, "And I could be like mutant-someone, too! Then I could control water, like Daddy J. And be a water-person!"