Serena had woken up around the same time as Victoria, she had dusted off her clothes, and brushed her hair. Unfortunatly for Serena, it was pretty much all she could do. She hadn't really had much time to grab anything, all she had with her was her hair brush and some make up.

After a quick Touch up. She was ready to go. It was late evening.. Didn't look like any of the students were really up must've been asleep or out. The sun was already down, It was a cloudy evening. The two girls exited the room.

As Serena started walking into the corridor, she realised how tired her power usage made her feel. She felt incredibly energetic. She assumed it was due to the contrast of her energy levels last night... she only used it twice. What would happen if she used it three times?

She took a quick glance at Victoria, She hadn't actually asked her what her age was. She looked about 12 or 13. "Sorry, I was a little out of it last night, so I wasn't really as friendly as I normally am." Serena said with a very warm and friendly smile.

Everything about her showed more energy then it had the night before. Her body language. Her smile, her posture, the way she looked at things and the way that she spoke. Everything was more welcoming. She spoke with the kind of tone that made you want to smile from refreshing friendliness.

After their strange tour the night before with Emerald was over, Victoria offered to let Serena stay in her room since she didn’t have any place to go. It was the least the girl could do for the older blonde. She wanted to help as much as she could.

The next evening Victoria woke up just a little before Serena, but the older girl didn’t stay asleep much longer. So they freshened up, Victoria changed dresses and they set out into the hallways again. “It’s ok Serena. You were probably just tired.” Looking up at the taller girl Victoria noticed the increased energy in Serena. Maybe it was from getting a good day’s sleep.

Victoria was used to the hallways being fairly quiet when she was awake. Once in awhile she’d cross paths with others in the mansion. Tonight they hoped to find someone who could officially accept Serena to the mansion and get her a room and everything.

Gemma was hopelessly behind on paperwork.

It was no wonder really; even with her uncanny superpowers for getting work done, it was near impossible to orchestrate the Mansion Christmas, manage the Christmas with her own family (both sides, Jorge and Chase and the kids), and keep an eye on what the X-men were up to, especially with everything that had been happening lately in New York. Paperwork was not going anywhere. Definitely not into the "Finished" folder.

There were quite a few new additions to the Mansion. The holidays were always a troubled time even for normal kids, but for mutant teens and pre-teens, they were probably the worst for the year. Gemma was grateful that the X-men who were around took their fair share of greeting and helping, but it made keeping track of the new residents more complicated.

Gemma turned to the oldest tricks in the book to catch up on the new faces:
Food.

This evening she was in the kitchen, working on dinner that was fast expanding into a minor feast, and post-Christmas gingerbread baking in the oven. If the smell of food was not going to lure the kids out, she was not worth the title of Mother.

Serena and Victoria continued to walk the hallways. They still hadn't actually seen anyone. Serena was supprised. She expected kids to be running about being all giddy 'Cause of the Christmas spirit. Serena, of course, wasn't really one to talk.

She was normally giddy all year round. Not tonight though. Or the night before. Everything was a little too much for her. She expected. If she could get this whole situation sorted out. Everything would be fine and she could return to her normal self.

Who was she kidding. She might return to being cheerful, but she was never going to be quite the same as she was. All of her school friends would quite possibly never see her again. Her brother was gone and she had to deal with this power.

She turned to Victoria. "So... Is everyone that lives here a mutant? Do they all have the same problem with controlling powers and stuff?" That was silly of her. She had hinted at that she couldn't control her power. What if they wouldn't accept her because of that. Who would want a potentially dangerous blood weaver around?

Victoria was a kid though, maybe she hadn't picked up on it. Or if she had maybe she wouldn't say anything, or just wouldn't care. She seemed lovely, after all she had let Serena sleep in her dorm all day and was not trying to help her get accepted.

It was getting on into the evening. The sun was setting in the danger room, although as far as Shin knew, it could have been much later than that. The Danger Room didn't operate on the same timeline as New York did (unless you really wanted it to). The cityscape was quiet, but for the falling flaming debris in the sky, chunks of meteor rock and brimstone. In other words, it wasn't quiet at all. Doomsday. Was that what it was? It would be, if he didn't stop whatever it was that was causing it. Eh. Easy peasy.

The big radioactive-looking alien pig man stomped, leaned forward, and sent spittle flying onto the pavement as he roared.

Shin lifted his hand, focusing on the small silver band on his ring finger. Built up energy behind it, and then... let it fly. The ring shot out the back of the pig man's chest. The pig man slumped to the side, and drooled no more.

Overhead, emergency crew helicopters and other government help flew by. His work was done here. He'd killed the alien. The ring drifted back onto his finger, and everything was cool.

"Danger Room simulation, end." he stated. The room was hasty to oblige.

Snagging a towel from a chair in the corner, the Asian patted himself dry as he left the room, on his way upstairs.

Walking the mansion hallways was almost like a maze…ok, it was a maze to someone who was still learning it’s inner workings. It didn’t even dawn on the girl to bring the map she had been given by Emerald. So they were on their own wandering around hoping to find someone to help Serena.

Heading down one of the halls Serena questioned the smaller girl about the people in the mansion. “I haven’t met everyone here. Really I’ve only met a handful of people, but they were all mutants.” The second question Victoria knew even less about. “Umm…I’m not sure but I’d say it might be possible.” Was her own mutation under control?

The mansion seemed nice enough, after all Victoria had let Serena stay in her room that night. Victoria really was a lovely girl. Serena was glad she had met her, infact she felt slightly protective of Victoria, she seemed like a sweet, but naive young girl and Serena knew that there were people who would try to take advantage of her.

Even Emerald, who had been aggressive, or at least seemed like it at first, had turned out to be really nice. She was a bit socially awkward if anything. That was alright though. Serena had lived with cops all her life, they normally weren't exactly the most socially flexible...

"Well, so far the mansion seems nice enough, I guess I just haven't seen that many people 'Cause I got her late last night and then slept through all of today" Serena said quietly.

Up with the elevators, and through the halls he walked. Maybe he'd grab a snack before he went home to Kealey? Shin wasn't usually at the mansion in the evenings. Most of the time, he had work at the station, or other things to preoccupy his attention. But today, he had had time for a danger room scenario. It had been fun.

A whistle escaped his lips, blowing a few notes from the opening tune of a Japanese special effects show about golden lion knights fighting horrors, as he linked his fingers behind his head, walking along confidently, eyes closed. The Asian knew the halls, blindfolded.

As he rounded a corner, Shin opened his eyes. He heard something. Two girls came into his vision grid, and he took note of them. He knew neither. He tipped his head in a brief nod. "Evening, ladies. Finding everything, alright?"

New students and residents sometimes got lost. And even if they hadn't, there was no harm in being polite.

Victoria listened as Serena commented on her experience in the mansion so far. It brought a little smile to the girl’s face. The taller blonde had been very nice so far. Victoria was liking her more and more as they continued to talk and hang out.

When the girl was about to say something a new person crossed their path. Victoria hadn’t seen this person before, but he sounded helpful enough. “Umm..hi! I’m Victoria! We’re trying to find someone who can help my friend Serena.” Victoria gave a slight gesture to the taller blonde. “She got her last night, but we haven’t found anyone who can say it’s ok for her to stay here and get a room and stuff.”

As they were walking down the corridor a friendly looking japanese man turned the corner and greeted them. But, before Serena could say anything to him Victoria spoke to him and explained the whole problem quickly. Good, that meant that Serena wouldn't have to think of the best way to explain the situation to him.

She did feel a little awkward... Wait, since when was she awkward around other people? She was known for being a little bit of a social butterfly... She guessed she was probably still at little broken because of what happened to her older brother.

She put that the the corner of her mind. She would have to deal with that at some point, but for now, this was what mattered. Getting accepted into the mansion and possibly learning how to better control her powers so that she didn't hurt anyone. "Hi... I'm Serena. Nice to meet you." She introduced herself with a friendly smile.

The Asian nodded. "I see."

While it was strange they hadn't found anyone to help them, he figured maybe they'd simply been looking in the wrong places, or at the wrong times. It was an easy enough situation to fix.

"People call me Shin," He said. "I used to work here. I should be able to help you out. If you check by the staff office, there used to be forms to fill out. Someone in the offices usually helps with the sign-ups, too. They must've been off-duty, whenever you arrived. Bet I can get in and get you one, if they moved em. Usually, people call ahead so it isn't an issue, but it's no big."

He nodded in the general direction of the offices. "They're that-a-way, if you wanted to handle it now."

It was nice that this Shin person was going to try to help with Serena’s situation. He mentioned a staff office, but Victoria didn’t recall having to do that. Then again, she had been expected and that’s why her teacher showed her around.

Figuring this was more Serena’s deal Victoria waited to see what the taller blonde’s response would be.

Serena smiled at the asian. "That'd be great Shin!" She was pleased that they had managed to find someone who could help them, even if he didn't directly work at the mansion anymore he was still able to help.

Serena was very pleased, she'd love to get into the school properly. It would give her something to take her mind off of things. Serena wondered if people had individual rooms or if they were put into dorms with other people... It was an interesting question.

She was fairly sure that they wouldn't group people of opposite genders together, now way, this was a school. They most certainly wouldn't encourage 'Sexual activities' especially among minors. Which also led to the question. how many students did the school actually have?

It was settled, then. Off Serena, Victoria, and Shin went. Shin led the way. They went down a few halls, around a few corners. As they went, he pointed out small things in the mansion they might not have noticed, and gave them a mini tour of the downstairs. Wasn't much more than 'classrooms over there', 'library over here', but it fit in nicely. Finally, they arrived at the office doors.

Shin knocked. It was late. If nobody was in, he could get in and help them out. It didn't hurt to check, though.

The Asian glanced back at the two girls with a smile. "I think usually it's Gawain working the greeting duties. Not sure who is on-duty right now, though." He hadn't really done much interacting with Gawain, or the current mansion staff. Too busy being a cop and getting married. He had a ring on his ring finger, and everything.

With the gingerbread safely out of the oven, Gemma decided to take a trip to the office and pick up some long overdue paperwork. Now that the cooking was mostly done or simmering, she might as well do some work while she sits around in the kitchen...

In front of her office she came across Shin and two your girl, knocking on the door.

"No one in there" she smiled cheerfully "But if you would like to join me in the kitchen... there are cookies."

Not many people ever said no to cookies, guests or not.