Rebecca's parents figured that, if anything could help their poor daughter in her recovery, the kitty she had been long since missing from her Scotland home might do it. Always a lover of animals and adorable, fluffy things, Domino was near and dear to Becca's heart and a welcome presence for her in the Mansion while so much of her life was foreign and scary.

...Except the darn cat was nowhere to be found!

Rebecca went to take a shower (apprehensively) after Agnes left for class (amidst weak and adorable protest) but when she emerged, it appeared that Agnes did not close the door securely enough before taking her leave. A quick search of the room and Rebecca was certain her stubbornly curious cat found its way into the halls.

In her flannel pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt, the girl slipped on her slippers, took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and nervously stepped into the Mansion halls on her own for the first time since her return.

It was a slow process, especially when she came to corners. This was a mansion for mutants; she could hardly be blamed for worrying what might spring out of nowhere. She did not want to draw attention to herself, but she had to make an effort to find her poor, most likely lost kitty.

"D-domino... here kitty-kitty," she called out in a whispered voice.

Serena had woken to another cold sweat. Another bloody nightmare... Literally. She was sick of this, no matter what she did, it was like she just could not escape them. She got out of bed and looked around to see Liz still wasn't here.

Dammit, she must have missed Liz, just before she went to class. Serena wandered into the bathroom, took off her sleep wear, threw it into the basket, and then ran herself a warm shower. It felt good. As if the heat was washing away all of the bad feelings she had been cooped up in this room with.

On the bright side, she should start lessons the day after tomorrow. Serena finished washing her hair, and stepped out to get dressed. Alright, she was up and her hair was still drying... Only one thing to do in this situation, time for a cup of tea!

She stopped by her table to pick up her hair pins, then cursed because her hair was still drying. Oh well, she slipped on a sleeveless top and stepped outside.

Serena turned the corner, then heard a nervous scottish accent calling out to a kitten. She peeked around the corner, and saw a girl, maybe slightly older than her, moving slowly around. Serena decided to greet her.

"Hi there. Have you lost a friend?" Serena said in a very warm and friendly voice. She was starting to get the hang of this social stuff again.

>> "Hi there. Have you lost a friend?"

The sound of a voice startled Rebecca. She was not yet used to new voices; the ones she was ready to recognize were limited to Agnes and Gina. Looking around herself anxiously like a mouse, her original assessment was that she was alone. There was the worry that the voice was coming from her own head again, as she sometimes dealt with when left alone. The voice did not match up to what she was used to; not "American," but not her Scottish lilt either.

Finally, Rebecca caught a peek of the another girl peeking around another corner. She was not recognizable, but even some of her friends were not yet committed to memory after a year of not seeing them. "Um, h-hi... kitty." The girl asked if she was looking for a friend, but it was not really a "friend" in the person sense. Her voice was shaky, and she was still working on expressing her thoughts vocally. "Looking for a kitty. M-my kitty."

Rebecca moved away from her spot peeking around the corner to actually enter the hallway with the girl. Despite a better look at the pretty young woman, Rebecca could not place a finger on who she was. (Placing a finger on a stranger would probably be inappropriate.) "Um, Ah'm really sorry. Ah dornt know you, right? L-like, if Ah dae, Ah'm sorry." She was not sure if all her friends at the Mansion knew what happened, and it could be rude to forget who someone was after not seeing them for only a few weeks.

The red head seemed a little startled. Serena felt a bit bad if she had scared her. She spoke very nervously, Serena guessed she must have been feeling very shy or unconfined. Serena understood that feeling. Although she had just felt that she wasn't herself, she didn't sound physically shaky.

She was missing a cat. Serena might as well help her, she seemed nice enough, if not a little shy. She had a rather heavy Scottish accent, it was nice to meet someone else from the isles, like Carrick. It made her slightly homesick, well her home was there, then it was in new york, now, more specifically it was here.

Serena shook her head slightly at the comment "Nope, I don't think so, I'm Serena. Nice to meet you" She said with a smile. This girl seemed really nice. Serena thought that she might be able to make friends with her, and as she was going to live here for the foreseeable future.

She made sure she had a very bubbly tone. She was trying to show the girl that she didn't need to be shy around her, was slightly surprising that she was shy, she looked older than Serena... Oh well, it wasn't the strangest thing Serena had ever seen.

The girl was not one of Rebecca's old friends, which caused the strawberry blonde to shrink slightly. The last "new person" she was around besides hospital people was the Ragman, and that ended very badly. She had to remind herself that she was not in some alley in New York; she was in the Mansion, and they let nice people in the Mansion.

"Hi Serena," she replied bashfully. "M-my name's R-Rebecca." Interacting with a new person, Rebecca was now very self-conscious of her now lacking social abilities. "And Ah'm nae usually, y'know, s-sae shy..." Why was it so darn hard not to stutter now?

Part of her wanted to explain why she was behaving the way she was, but dropping the "trapped in a void space dimension for a year and now I'm kinda broken and insane" bomb on a stranger was probably a terrible way to make new friends. "Ah cannae remember the hallways and stuff here yet... c-can you help me find Domino?" Without help, she was almost guaranteed to wander in circles for an hour.

Serena smiled. She could do this social butterfly charade for now. She could manage it. Even if she wasn't back to normal, she could act like she was, the only person who'd realise that she wasn't would probably be Liz, and that'd only be because of the nightmares.

"Nice to meet you Rebecca, you're very pretty." The girl stuttered a little though her speech. Yeah, she was definitly not very socially confident at the moment, which suited Serena just fine. As long as they could understand eachother, Serena could offer help.

A chance to help find a kitten? Hell yeah Serena was up for that. It was a far better activity than sitting in her room stressing over nightmares. Serena gave a gentle smile. "It's fine, and I'd love to help you find your cat."

The nice girl named Serena seemed very willing to help her find Domino, which was plenty of reason to be happy to meet her and take a chance on trusting a stranger. She also happened to call Rebecca pretty, which was plenty of reason for the redhead who was not good at taking compliments normally to feel her cheeks flood with hot blood, turning them crimson.

Rebecca giggled at the comment before remembering all the trouble she caused herself with Gawain and Lexi. Her giggling abruptly stopped. "Um, thank you very much. Bit jist sae you know, Ah have a girlfriend. So yeah." There, she protected herself from causing more trouble! It was important to set ground rules, because Rebecca thought Serena was pretty as well, so it was best to be careful.

But was she not also being rude to just take the compliment like that without replying? That could not hurt too much. "And you're pretty too. Really nice eyes." There, now she was being proper and nice.

Pleased with herself, she approached Serena so she could follow the girl's lead through the vaguely remembered halls of the Mansion. "Sae Serena, lead the way?"

Rebecca's cheeks turned a little red. Then at her comment, Serena turned full on red. "Oh! No no no, I wasn't trying to sound flirty at all, I'm sorry it sounded like that."

She then felt herself blush slightly at the next comment. "Thank you, apparently they are my mothers eyes, well that's what my brother told me anyway..."

The red head approached Serena and asked her to lead the way... Alright, she had been learning the hallways. She could do this. Serena wondered how long Rebecca had been here. Less time than her? Surely. After all, Serena was still relatively new to the mansion.

She led Rebecca through the hallways, and turned her head slightly to smile at Rebecca "So, Rebecca, how long have you been here for? At the mansion." Serena was working overtime to get a new friend.

Serena's apology sounded genuine to the point where Rebecca was worried that she made the girl feel far more guilt than she deserved. "It's fine, really really. Ah sound flirty by accident sometimes. It was jist a 'be careful' thing, promise."

Rebecca's compliment was well received, according to Serena's reaction, as well as the reaction in her cheeks. The girl's inability to catch certain social cues did sadly lead to her missing the relevance of the brother comment. "Your mom has nice eyes, too then," she added with a smile.

Asked about her time at the Mansion, Rebecca was not fully sure how to answer. "Well, it's been over a year now." Just leaving it there made it sound like Rebecca was either inept or had the worst sense of direction in history. "Bit then Ah was away for a year." But it was not really a year! "Bit it was also jist a week."

There; the world's most confusing storyline. "It was bad. Mutants were involved." And that would hopefully handwave the details.

Serena's face darkened for just a moment "I wouldn't know, I never got to meet my mother." Then she shook it off and smiled again at Rebecca. She really needed to work on letting her problems show physically...

Serena was confused for a minute, what did she mean a year, but just a week? Then when Rebecca mentioned it was to do with a mutant, Serena decided that it was probably better not to push, if Rebecca and her became friends and she wanted to talk, Serena would listen, but only if Rebecca started the conversation. "Ah... I see."

Trying to stay bright and cheerful to carry on the friendliness she had going between her and Rebecca, Serena spun around and gave Rebecca a very warm smile "So, Rebecca, do you have any idea where you're cat may have gotten off to?"

It was not hard to tell that Rebecca made a serious misstep with her comment regarding Serena's mother. The blonde girl's demeanor shifted, even if she followed up by shifting it back. Rebecca could feel the sensation of guilt creeping up. Giving up her hesitation toward non-Agnes contact for a moment, without warning, Rebecca wrapped Serena up in a squeezing hug.

Releasing the slender girl, Rebecca immediately transitioned to the next question. Scratching her head, she did her best to predict her cat's behaviors. "Well, for such a wee kitty, Domino loves food... sae maybe the kitchen? And he loves attention. Sae maybe the lounge?" It was not an exact science predicting the feline mind.

Rebecca wrapped Serena into a quick hug. She felt a little shocked... what was it with her, new people and hugs? She smiled and accepted the hug. Then Rebecca broke contact and replied to Serena's question about the possible location of her cat.

A cat that likes food? That was a new one... Serena thought on it for a moment. Then decided. "Well, it's been rather cold recently, so the lounge is probably a safe bet. Also, its a bit closer so we can try there first, if Domino isn't there, I think I know how to get to the kitchen relatively easily from the lounge" Serena gave Rebecca a full faced smile.

Serena took Rebecca's suggestions and created a path for them that made enough sense to the Scot. There was no rush; after all, what threats or trouble could her kitten find at the Mansion? ...Actually, it was probably better not to think about the possibilities. "The plan sounds good. Lead the way, Rena!"

Sticking close to her new friend and guide, Rebecca thought of a normal question to ask a new person in hopes of acting socially normal. "So how long hae you been at the Mansion? Oh, and where are you from?" Two questions was probably enough for now, lest she just start prattling on with a list.

Serena smiled sweetly at Rebecca. "I've been here a few weeks now. They were giving me a while to 'adapt' before I start lessons." The thought did annoy her slightly, she had hated feeling trapped this whole time, although on the bright side she had made quite a few friends.

She gave another smile to Rebecca, who was clearly Scottish. "Can't you tell," Serena winked playfully. "I'm from England. I actually stayed in Scotland for a little while before I came here." Serena said, giving Rebecca a reassuring smile.

She wondered what exactly this cat looked like. "Hey Rebecca? How old is Domino and what exactly does he look like?" Serena asked her.

Rebecca was sure Serena's accent was familiar, and when the girl revealed it to be British, she could instantly recall her father's own British dialect, albeit a much deeper, much sterner one than the young girl.

Excited to know another girl from the United Kingdoms, Rebecca flailed her hands with joy. "Ooh! Ooh! A hae England in me too!" Her flailing stopped when she realized there was clearly something wrong with the structure of her sentence. "Wait. Um. Ah'm a wee bit British too. On my pa's side. Yeah, that's better." It was nice to know that she at least caught herself.

Moving onto the kitten questions, Rebecca thought for a moment. "Um, three years old now? And short-haired, white and black. He has a black spot on his right eye. Makes me think of dominoes. Dae you have any kitties or pets?" It was not a relevant question, but Rebecca was curious regardless.