It was big.
It was white.
It was fluffy.
It flew.
...
It must have been a pillow trown by God.

Angua, the hellhound-meets-wolfhound resident adorable guard dog of the Mansion, bounded across the lawn with her tongue lolling out. She had spotted the movement a while off and decided it must have meant fun. She knew better to attack random critters by now - any critter can be a Calley around the Mansion, after all - but playing was okay, as long as no one played rough.

Gawain sprinted after the dog for good measure. Sometimes Angua got carried away. She wasn's a bad dog, she was just not entirely aware of her considerable mass, or the physics that came with the package.

"Easy, girl!" he yelled after the dog as he rounded the corner and spotted the white flurry diveing off a tree. He came up short a few feet away, just like Angua did.

What was that thing?!

It looked like a snow owl, one of those fluff things from the Henry Porter books, but it was... huge. The same thing must have gone through Angua's mind too, because she wagged her tail with excitement.

Was that Calley with a shift gone wrong?
...
Or was that thing eating Calley with a shift gone wrong?!

Angua barked.

"Hey!"

Being a mutant was good. Not that she was a supremacist or anything but Athena did enjoy flying around the city of a night. As an owl she didn't have to worry about petty day to day concerns. She could soar on the air currents, chase mice, and terrorize the local cats and dogs. That last one was particularly fun. People got upset when you killed their pets. But excite a dog into a barking frenzy and they got mad at the dog. It was quite enjoyable to watch.

Tonight Athena was about the business of chasing mice. She'd already left 3 for the local strays. She killed them easily enough but despite owlish instincts telling her they were good eating Athena couldn't bring herself to eat one. Call it pest control. The neighborhood was in now had some larger homes. Large enough that they could probably hire people to do this for them. The mice she found proved that they didn't. This particular house was quite large with large grounds as well. Probably good hunting for her.

Athena perched herself in a tree and waited for one. It was only a minute before her eyes caught movement in the dim light and her ears heard the tell tale sounds of a mouse. Diving off of the branch, she descended on the soon to be dead rodent. Just before she might have made the catch a bark sounded. Athena's attention veered, the mouse zagged, and her prey got away. She circled back to the tree and fixed her vision on the dog and it's owner. Damn.

"Well, may as well give the boy a show before berating him for not controlling that hound."

With such thoughts in her mind she leaped off of the branch onto the ground. Athena shifted out of owl form and leaned against the tree. For someone stark naked she looked remarkably composed.

Angua barked as the owl circled and took it as an invitation to chase. Gawain saw the mouse get away and then bolted after the hound a moment later, concluding that, Calley or no Calley, snowy owls were probably protected or some stuff.

He came to a skidding halt a moment later and momentarily forgot how to... do stuff.

Instead of an owl, there was a girl, simple as that.
Also, um. What's the word?
Naked.

Mirror prided himself in being a responsible adult now, but that did not mean that he was completely over the teenage hormone thing at the age of 20. Guys never really got the hang of that.
Also, naked.

"Ah... um." blink, blink "... where did the owl go?..."

If your mouth is already hanging open, might as well put a foot in it.

The boy's reaction to her sudden appearance was about what she'd come to expect. Naked women did not just randomly appear before a man and expect him to keep his powers of thought. The blood that fueled thought was usually needed elsewhere in that circumstance. His brilliant question prompted laughter on her part. A light chortle that lingered for a few moments before Athena smirked at him.

"I was the owl."

Athena walked over to the dog and squatted down in front of it. It was a nice enough dog. She held a hand out to the creature despite its interruption of her hunt so that it could smell her. As she did this she turned her head town the boy once more.

"You and your hound interrupted my hunt you know."

She smiled prettily at the dog. Athena wasn't truly upset about the loss of the mouse. It would be easy enough to hunt down another. The interruption was vexing though. That more than anything was her problem.

>>"I was the owl."

That, in resrospect, made a lot of sense. Gawain blinked again. Sense.

Angua was just as bewildered by the sudden shift as her master. Tail wagging commenced once again though when she was offered attention and the possibility of petting. Nuzzing her nose to the girl's palm, Angua made puppy noises that sounded all kinds of weird from such a huge creature.

>>"You and your hound interrupted my hunt you know."

"Um... we're sorry?" Gawain tried his best to talk to her without actually looking. Knight instincts finally kicked in and he shrugged out of his X-men jacket, handing it over to the owl girl, trying to not look like he was trying to not catch a glimpse.

"So... mutant, huh?"

His awkward apology fell as Athena began petting the large dog. For a canine of its size it didn't act like much more than a puppy. She smirked at the apology while he stated the obvious.

"Mmm, that obvious is it?"

After all a woman turning into an owl could be any number of things other than a mutant. A hallucination brought on by drugs for instance. Athena eyed the jacket and heaved a tiny sigh. It would be to his benefit if she put it on. The young man was obviously uncomfortable with her nudity. With a final pet for the furry interruption, Athena stood and took the jacket. She would never understand the embarrassment nakedness caused other people. Especially when it wasn't their own. Athena was quite comfortable in her own skin. She only put the jacket on to make things easier on the poor dog owner.

She didn't close the jacket though.

"My name is Jones, Athena Jones."

The woman paused for a moment and wrinkled her nose at the unintentional corruption of a movie quote. She had not meant to say her name quite like that.

>>"Mmm, that obvious is it?"

"Well, ya're kinda in the right place for it." he muttered, relieved that she put on the jacket. The relief was short-lived though, because she seemed all too comfortable with being naked in his presence, even with the jacket on.
Gawain tried his best not to blush.
He turned red instead.

>>"My name is Jones, Athena Jones."

"Athena? Cool!"

For some reason, that name for an owl girl amused him enough to forget about the blushing. He grinned and held ot a greeting hand.

"Gawain Morris. I'm your official Mansion greeter. Welcome to Xavier's."

His embarrassment was cute. It made her all too tempted to reach up and tossle his hair. It'd be a reach though since she was so short compared to him. She shifted a little, ignoring his discomfort with her lack of clothing aside from his jacket. Though his reaction to her name was novel. Much of the time she got confusion or jokes. Though perhaps seeing her owl form first made it obvious. Athena just smiled at his reaction and took the offered hand.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Gawain Morris. Though you say Mansion and Xavier's like I should know them."

It obviously had something to do with mutants or he probably would have been more shocked about her transformation. She did remember hearing about a school for such things once or twice but Athena hadn't paid much attention to it. She had other things to worry about most times and truthfully had not cared too much. Since she was here though she may as well investigate.

"Well then Mr. Greeter maybe you'd oblige me with a tour?"

She didn't think he'd say no. Not with her standing there wearing his jacket and nothing else.

>>"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Gawain Morris. Though you say Mansion and Xavier's like I should know them. Well then Mr. Greeter maybe you'd oblige me with a tour?"

Gawain blinked again. They really had to find a way of stopping mutants from waltzing into the Mansion. Most of them were harmless, but if they got in, there was no way of telling if the bad ones would stay out.
Also, some of them were still semi-naked.

"Um, sure..." he agreed, happy to walk instead of standing around awkwardly "This way."

He led her back around the building towards the front door, hoping to God Sam did not show up. Mirror would never live it down. Angua bounded after and around them happily.

"So, this is Xavier's Sister School, also known as the Mansion. It's basically a boarding school for mutants, although not everyone who lives here is a student. It's kind of a safe haven away from... people. And bad guys. We also have mutant students who just come in for the classes but don't live here. It's a diverse bunch of people."

He glanced at her.

"So, Athena... are you from around here?"

Athena absentmindedly petted the dog as they headed toward the house. Gawain had agree to give her a tour. Athena couldn't help but smirk. A man named after a mythological knight showing a woman named after a goddess around. She may have to start addressing him as Sir Gawain. Apparently this place was some sort of combination school and sanctuary for mutants. Her suspicions were confirmed then. The large building made more sense in that context. Athena spared a glance at the building and kept walking.

"I see." was her response to his narration of the place's purpose.

He followed up with a question about her and Athena gave him a smirk as his eyes drifted her way.

"Yes and no. I was born abroad and home schooled by my parents until senior year of high school. After my mutation kicked in and certain incidents, they felt it was safer to leave me here in New York. I've lived here on my own since."

Given that the place was a boarding school of sorts Athena imagined they got plenty of run aways with no where else to turn. A brief pang of sympathy hit her. It left just as quickly, leaving Athena to turn back to Gawain.

"Though if you were inquiring whether I live in this neighborhood I'm sad to say my apartment, and my clothes, are far away Sir Gawain."

>>"Yes and no. I was born abroad and home schooled by my parents until senior year of high school. After my mutation kicked in and certain incidents, they felt it was safer to leave me here in New York. I've lived here on my own since."

"I see" he mirrored her as they walked. He hoped no one was staring at them out the windows. It looked like owl girl had a better childhood as a mutant than most of the students.

"My mom home schooled me too. My powers kicked in early."

>>"Though if you were inquiring whether I live in this neighborhood I'm sad to say my apartment, and my clothes, are far away Sir Gawain."

One point for the feathery chick, no pun intended. Gawain smirked at being addressed as a knight.
"Well, you win some, you lose some." he muttered as they walked up to the front door.

"I mean, khm, I can lend you some clothes if you need them. Not like, you know, you are not fun to look at, which you are, I mean, not like I was looking, but... er. People might react weirdly. This is a school, after all..."

Nice job, Sir Gawain.

She smirked as she followed Gawain. This one would be fun to tease. Athena considered it payback for not keeping his hound under control. Not that she disliked the furball for it. He was just doing what a predator ought to do. No, she simply hated being interrupted mid hunt.

"Early? And what sort of powers would prevent a normal education?"

Athena knew well enough that there were plenty of powers that fell under this distinction. However his power did not seem to affect his appearance so there was no need to worry about that. Ergo it must have been something else and she was curious. As the conversation and the tour moved on Athena had to smirk again at Gawain's frustration that her apartment wasn't close enough for her to just shoo, go away and get clothes. Ridiculous developed nations and their body taboos. Athena had spent portions of her childhood wearing next to nothing alongside her parents as they adapted to the cultures they were studying. Combine that with her medical studies for her EMT license and naked bodies just weren't all that frightening a prospect.

"Very well Sir Gawain, if you insist. Though considering the time of night I'd say that if any student was out of bed then they take their chances." Athena chuckled lightly, "Besides, I doubt I'm the first person whose clothing was affected by their mutation."

She paused and a wicked grin crossed her face. At the very least she might manage to embarrass him further by returning during the day to return his clothes.

>>"Early? And what sort of powers would prevent a normal education?"

"That's kind of a personal question" Gawain smirked. She might have been toying with his brains on purpose, but that was no reason why he should just give up on the banter. Plus 'I turn into a girl' was just not the most badass thing to admit to a naked chick.

>>"Very well Sir Gawain, if you insist. Though considering the time of night I'd say that if any student was out of bed then they take their chances. Besides, I doubt I'm the first person whose clothing was affected by their mutation."

"Well, ya're right on that one. Calley's just not that much fun to look at." Gawain grinned. He had no qualms about outing the cat shifter. It was his own fault most Mansion students have gotten an eyeful at one point or another.

He led the way back to the dorms and grabbed some of Maya's clothing from his room. Angua pounced around, excited at meeting a new person.