Serena smiled. It was such a beautiful day, And Serena had decided to take advantage of it. The sun was shining, heat was Radiating across the mansion, and smiles were pretty much unanimous among it's students, everyone seemed happy.

Although, Serena found it amusing that nobody had gone straight for the swimming pool... Well, nobody but her that is. All of the other students were running around outside or messing around with their powers in the sun.

Serena on the other hand was lying on a bench next to the pool, in an extremely pretty blue bikini, she was wearing sunglasses and looked completely happy and content.

She had the pool area all to herself. For now.

So it had to be like 80 degrees Fahrenheit tops. And from where Cole was from, that was winter temperatures. Therefore, it was perfectly acceptable for the blond haired youth to be wrapped in a thick sweater and still be cold. He had been on the campus of the famous Xavier Institute for only about a month now, and it was turning out to be a real bummer so far. He had managed to get on the wrong side of the law on his first outing and had ended up arriving at the mansion in the back of a NYPD squad car. After that little incident, which he was perfectly innocent, the teachers had locked down Cole's freedom from leaving the mansion for the rest of the month. So he had spent that time exploring, Cole had explored every corner of the mansion (at least he had thought so) and was in the process of doing the same with the grounds.

That was when his eyes suddenly spotted a pretty little blond in a bright blue bikini sunbathing...in this weather!? She must have been crazy. It was way too cold to be sunbathing! However, Cole's mischievous eyes caught sight of an even more interesting fact. The blond haired teenager was lying perilously close to the edge of the water, well within the splash zone. It took only a moment of mental fighting with himself over being cold or ruining the blonde's day. Of course, Cole went with the later.

With the snoozing girl oblivious to her fate, the well muscled teen quickly removed his shirt, shoes, and socks along with the valuables from his jeans. Rolling up his pants to his knees, the Florida teen was ready for some mischief. As he prepared for the plunge into the pool, Cole felt a slight shiver run through his body as the chilly air blew across his half naked body. This was going to be rather cold...but totally worth it! Building himself into a sprint, Cole launched himself off the edge of the pool and pulled his body into a jackknife for maximum splash power.

"YAHOOOO!" Cole yelled as his body smashed into the cold, calm waters of the pool. The resulting splash was sure to soak any potential victims that might be lying peacefully near the pool.

Serena let the heat wash over her. God this felt good. She had been cooped up inside most days studying, studying and then studying some more. So she decided, it would be good for her if she took a little time off and absorbed some rays.

Ah the sun, the warm, the quiet, the...

>>"YAHOOOO!"

Serena felt a massive surge of water from the pool pretty much cover her. Great. At least she wasn't in clothes. She was wearing a bikini. A slightly revealing bikini. Odd... She should feel cooled off slightly from getting soaked. She felt hot. Red hot in the face.

Her pale skin was highlighted in the glow of the sun and she stood up (thankfully, her towel was not wet.)She reflexively crossed her arms across her chest and went completely red.

She glared down at the blonde male who had just entered the pool. "Happy with ourselves are we?" She swore, if he was so childish as to do this, if he made fun of her accent. He.Would.Get.It.

Oh, that was cold! Cole thought to himself as he floated beneath the water for a moment before pushing himself off the bottom and coming up to the surface. The pretty blonde girl in the bright blue bikini was there to greet him with a very angry look on her face. Her pale skin caused her anger to show even more as her face was as red as blood. Man, did she look pissed (Of course, that only added Cole's enjoyment)! And when she spoke...was that an English accent he heard? Well, that was a surprise. Treading in the water, Cole gave his victim a charming smile.

"Absolutely delighted!" Cole responded mimicking her accent. "Care for a dip in the pool? Maybe afterwards, we can go for tea and crumpets?"

Getting used to the coolness of the water, the adventurous teen found that the water was not too terribly cold. He was just used to the sub-tropic temperatures of south Miami. As he treaded, Cole playfully splashed at the ill-tempered young girl in front of him. Maybe he was a little bit of a jerk, but he did not mean anything of it. He was only having some much deserved fun.

Serena glared directly at the blonde boy. He was bloody annoying, she just wanted to lie down in the summer sun and this little blonde arse had to come and ruin it.

>>"Absolutely delighted!"

Oh no, he isn't going to...

>> "Care for a dip in the pool? Maybe afterwards, we can go for tea and crumpets?"

He was soooooooooo dead. Serena studied the trouble making teenager. He was well toned, appeared to have some muscle on him, and had a massive, goofy grin on his face. She had to find a way to get revenge...

She made a mental note to get to get him back. Maybe she would offer him tea... with salt. Although she wouldn't tell him there was salt in it.

The blonde simply glared at the other blonde.

"Nice to see the mansion's students are all mature."

~"Nice to see the mansion's students are all mature."

"Ah, calm down, doll." Cole said, his voice returning to its natural southern draw. "I was just having some fun."

Swimming towards the edge of the pool, the short haired youth propped himself up on the pool wall on his elbows as he leaned over towards the attractive girl in front of him. She appeared to be around his age. There seemed to be a short supply of older teens at the mansion presently. Mostly, Cole had seen young children around the ages of thirteen or fourteen. He had also seen a lot of older people hanging around. He was not sure if they were teachers or other important adults. However, it made the mansion feel like more of a shelter for mutants than a school for them. At least, Cole could try to make one friend at his new location.

"Please, I apologize for that. My name is Cole. What is yours?" The mischievous youth asked, offering a hand to the young woman.

Serena noted he had a southern accent. Oh, how typical a southerner taking the piss out of a British accent. The irony.

Her glare began to fade. Yeah, cool it off Serena, he was just messing around.she began to relax. He was just a bit of a trouble maker, someone that was mischievous, similar to the impression she got when she first spoke to Carrick.

The thought made her smile slightly. She was still a little red, but it was definitely fading now. She smiled sweetly when he apologized and offered his hand.

She walked forward "Hi Cole, I'm Serenaa-"

SPLASH!

She had reached for his hand. And slipped. Straight.Into.The.Pool.

Her skin was now even redder. Although, thankfully it was rather warm. And she was wearing a bikini, at least it was made for going into the water.

As Cole reached for the blonde girl's hand, the young woman introduced herself as Serena. However, that was all she managed to say before she tumbled into the pool, apparently from slipping on the water-covered pool deck. Cole jumped out of the way as the surprised girl's face slammed into the water. She appeared a moment later, completely soaked and extremely red in the face. Cole put a hand to his face as he could not help but break into a fit of laughter.

"Are you okay?" Cole managed to say before another fit of laughter stole his voice. After a while, the laughter subsided, allowing him to finally catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, but that was an epic wipe out!" Cole said with a massive grin plastered across his face.

Serena was SO embarrassed. Why did that have to happen? She wasn't really that clumsy, or normally, to her knowledge. That had to be the first time she had actually fallen into a pool from a standing position outside of a pool.

Again, Serena thought to herself, at least she was wearing a bikini, and not a shirt. Although that thought certainly did not help at all with her red faced problem. The boy, Cole, was still laughing, understandably so.

Was she okay? No She was not okay! She had just completely embarrassed herself in front of a complete stranger, twice.

She grabbed her sides again, completely embarrassed. "I'm fine, just a little embarrassed."

"Anyway, yes, My name Is Serena... It is nice to meet you Cole." She offered him a hand again... Hopefully she wouldn't slip inside of the pool.

"Well I am glad you are okay. It is a pleasure to meet you as well." Cole said, keeping to his natural tone. He took the offered hand from the blonde girl and shook it firmly. The young teen could not help but notice how amazing Serena looked in her bikini. However, he managed to keep his eyes from wandering too much. After releasing his grip of her hand, Cole drifted away from the young slightly while lower himself in the pool more to reduce the cold wind from blowing across his exposed skin.

"So I'm kind of new here." Cole said suddenly. "What is there to do around here for fun?"

"Well I am glad you are okay. It is a pleasure to meet you as well." Cole said, keeping to his natural tone. He took the offered hand from the blonde girl and shook it firmly. The young teen could not help but notice how amazing Serena looked in her bikini. However, he managed to keep his eyes from wandering too much. After releasing his grip of her hand, Cole drifted away from the young slightly while lower himself in the pool more to reduce the cold wind from blowing across his exposed skin.

"So I'm kind of new here." Cole said suddenly. "What is there to do around here for fun?"

Serena's red face calmed and she began to smile at Cole, who drifted away from her. She Allowed herself to drift slowly. She felt the cool caress of the water licking across her skin. It felt so serene.

She smiled to Cole and then frowned at his comment. "Quite honestly, I am not that sure... I have been here a few months, but I have been studying a lot recently, because I missed a couple of months of classes due to... unforeseen circumstances."

She wondered what Cole did for fun. He seemed to be a little mischievous and like he enjoyed pranking people, Serena could probably connect the dots.

Studying? Who studied nowadays? Had Cole stumbled onto the book worm of the Mansion? The blond haired girl even kind of looked like a goody-two-shoes. He would have to change that. Then the girl talked about missing class for "unseen circumstances". Obviously, that meant she did not want to talk about that. However, the main thing that Cole took away from her was that she did not seem to know how to have fun. He would have to change that too.

"Well, if you do not know what there is to do for fun around here, then we should go find some." Cole said, matter of factually as a mischievous smile spread across his face. He gave Serena a small splash of water to her face before springing at her while she was distracted. Cole meant to grab her arm and under her legs to dunk her under the water.

As Serena was about to respond to him she felt a splash of water make contact with her face, a freeze frame of her face would show the shock of the cold water touching her face.

She was about to respond with an attack of her own, but she felt a hand grab onto her arm, and another one on her leg. "Hey what are you... Eeeep!"

The next thing the pale blonde felt was her body submerging under water.....

That's it. He was going down.

Serena came back up and had a slightly red, mischevious glare aimed at him. She brushed the wet hair out of her face with one hand and then made a quick dive for him, both hands aimed at his waist to grab for him and treat him to the same cold dunk that she had received...

His tactic worked perfectly! Cole was able to slide his arms under the girl and dump her unceremoniously into the water, causing her to utter a small scream of surprise before disappearing beneath the waves. The teenage boy was chuckling at his prank as the girl reemerged from the wave with her hair plastered to her face. Serena was quick to remove the long hair from her vision. Her face had a hint of pink to it. If it was due to her embarrassment or the chill of the water, Cole never discovered as she returned Cole's grin with a stern look before launching an assault of her own.

"Oh no!" Cole exclaimed in mocked fright before breaking into laughter as the slender girl tried to wrestle him underwater. He struggled against her efforts for a while before falling beneath the surface, dragging her along with him. He twisted and turned under the water, trying to escape her grasp. If the girl was able to hold on, she could expect a dizzying dance beneath the waves. Resurfacing in a splash of water, Cole was surprised to see that the water around him was the color of oil, and it appeared to be emanating from him.

Oh no! Not now! The teenager thought as he tried to swish away the black colored water. However, his ability was in full affect, his anxiety spurring it on. The more Cole tried to disperse the black water, the more of it seemed to appear. It was seeping through the water, turning the entire pool into an black pit. He could feel the strange prickling on his skin and the ache in his bones as the carbon was released from his skin. Cole was cursing silently in his head as he looked at the blonde girl. Suddenly, Cole had lost of his swagger. He appeared almost frightened.

"Please, I'm sorry. I can't control it. It just happens." The teenage boy said, as he tried desperately to disperse the black liquid. Although by this point, it was futile.