Today was a book-reading, tea-sipping kind of day, a day to relax in the mansion's library with a good ol' novel and quiet atmosphere. The three story section of the school was an immense blessing to all of the bookworms of Xavier's, and Alice Tyler was intent on spending her entire afternoon there. Summertime meant more time for devouring books she wanted to read and not ones she was forced to for academic purposes. (Getting tested on the action of a novel or play always sucked the fun out of reading it, in her opinion.)

And the best part of the library was that there were certain closed-off sections where no talking was allowed, for the students who wanted to pore over their selected texts in silence. Of course, teenagers being who they are, there was still some whispering here and there, but it was a nice contrast to the chaotic noise of the rest of the mansion. While Alice was no mute wallflower, she could appreciate a nice break from the hustle and bustle every once in a while.

Especially when accompanied by a worn copy of Peter Pan (yes, she was reading it again) and a nice, steaming mug of chai tea.

Though she had spent much time away from Xavier's, she still remembered the way to her favorite spot, walking almost mechanically to the secret alcove hidden behind a particularly large bookshelf. There was a stash of comfy beanbag chairs calling her name--

--except there was someone already sitting on that stash.

"Hey, that's my spot," she said petulantly. Whoops. She immediately regretted the childish words--thinking before speaking was not her forte--but it was too late (and impossible) to unspeak them.

"Uh...I mean. Hi. Do you want to share the spot or...?" There was room for two, if the boy didn't mind the invasion of his personal space.

Curling up on a beanbag chair was only marginally better than curling up in his bed and hoping that his roommate didn't happen by. The only advantage was that there was no sign that anyone really came to this corner of the library, and there were enough other places for people to sit in solitude that there was absolutely no reason for them to intrude upon him.

He didn't want to deal with anyone. Even looking at a student he didn't know, here in this place, was enough to remind him of mutants, that he was a mutant, and thus that his mutation had killed his brother.

He blinked slowly, trying to clear his eyes enough to see the page in front of him. Once upon a time, the abused paperback novel - one of a minority in his collection, in that it was a western novel and not manga - had been able to keep his mind off anything, even the impending visit of Conri's then-girlfriend. If it had somehow kept this from happening, he would have gladly been nicer to her, and not just made for the back woods as soon as she was spotted in the driveway.

He would have done a lot more than be nice to her, if it had kept this from happening. Even if she always looked askance at him in public, and never said a real word to him when they passed each other in private. Even if she had actually hated his guts. Not that he'd blame her. If he had the energy, he'd hate his guts too. He certainly deserved it. He deserved a lot more than mere hatred.

"Hey, that's my spot."

Aiden blinked, and then slowly looked up. The library was well-lit, so it wasn't much trouble to see that the girl who had spoken to him wasn't one he had come across so far. Probably younger than him, in different classes. He looked around at the little seating nook, though too distractedly too really take in much of it. "Oh..." he said softly and rather bleakly. He curled his toes. Asleep and probably going to start tingling and prickling like mad if he tried to walk. Not that he had anywhere to go. What, back to his room? Some corner of the forest, out in the disgusting heat? Maybe if he wanted to risk making himself overheat and faint, only to be found by some random mutants and 'taken care of.' He tucked his feet up beneath himself a little more and tried to forget that the girl was undoubtedly a mutant, because what normal person in their right mind would be in a place like this?

"You can sit," he said quietly. He didn't have the energy to try to find somewhere else to exist.

Alice glanced at the boy for a moment more, taking in his features. He looked older than her and not the least bit comfortable. The way he had spoken was sullen and gloomy, and not just in a typical moody teenage way. There was more veracity behind his tone, an indication that his behavior wasn't just an act.

For a second, she pondered if she should join him. He didn't look like he desired any company...but then again, it was her beloved spot. And he did say she could sit, however reluctantly. And who knew? Maybe he was actually just lonely, and having someone around would improve his mood.

"Thanks!" she chirped before happily claiming the adjacent beanbag. She placed the hot mug of tea down and slid down the seat a bit, squiggling around to find a comfortable position. She knocked shoulders and elbows a few times with the boy but hoped he didn't mind. After all, he did agree to share the little alcove. Surely he knew to expect some physical contact.

After some more jostling, she finally settled down, her shoulders lightly brushing his. The fifteen-year-old let out a contented sigh.

"Hey, what's your name?" she whispered, belatedly remembering that that part of the library demanded quiet. Depending on who was on librarian duty, she could really get chewed out if she wasn't careful. "I'm Alice." The young mutant offered a hand to the long-haired boy, partly in jest because of their close proximity. She wasn't so much extending her arm as contracting it to make room.

"Whatcha reading, by the way?"

Oh sure, of all the people to come haunt him, it had to be some girl with absolutely no cares in the world. She probably loved kittens and unicorns and butterflies too.

Aiden didn't bother protesting the first time she knocked into him, or the second. By the third, he figured he'd put up with it long enough that trying to tell her off now would be useless, and just suffered mutely through the rest. The least she could have done was sit on his other side, though. He tried to shift away from her a bit, since the position she finally seemed satisfied with had her kind of leaning directly on the section of scar running over his shoulder. There wasn't enough space for that, though, so he sighed and gave up on it. It wasn't worth the effort. Not really. It wasn't as if she was going to see through his shirt, and he knew full well that there wasn't really any change in texture to the scar. It was just a glistening white line that cut through everything and never let him forget.

He brushed a bit more hair to the right side of his face, automatically trying to ensure that what scar wasn't covered by his sunglasses was still hidden. The gesture was little more than rote, though. It mattered about as much as his arm, in the grand scheme of things. None of this really mattered, in the grand scheme of things. "Aiden," he said dully. At least she had a normal name. That was kind of something, he supposed. Not enough to be grateful for, by any stretch of the imagination, but still. It was better than nothing.

The hand he stared at, though. Not as a dangerous thing, but as a reminder to be polite that would be a little unwelcome if he had the energy to care about something so inane. After a long sigh, one so drawn out as to hardly be recognizable as one anymore, he contorted himself to shake her hand, and then stared blankly at his book. He'd gone and lost the page. Not that reading it had been at all helpful, or that he had made it very far into it. He let it fall completely closed. "Oh... nothing really..." He angled the book a bit to expose the blue cover and the title 'Fire Bringer.' A stag rose out of the misty twilight with his antlers spread in full glory.

Alice remained smiling throughout the entire interaction, mostly through a force of habit and a genuine jubilation in meeting new people. She was always open to forging new friendships, even with mysterious boys who hid behind sunglasses. Which, she realized, was odd for her neighbor (introduced as Aiden) to be doing indoors. Not that she would question it. She had been at Xavier's long enough to know to never question those sort of quirks. More often then not, the explanations were mutation-based and quite uncomfortable. She would not be repeating another social faux pas like that, no matter how curious she was.

The young mutant could feel her grin sag a bit when the older boy seemed to reciprocate none of the enthusiasm she was demonstrating. In fact, he seemed like he would rather not hang around her at all, though clearly he had the option of leaving the little nook any time he wanted. The fifteen-year-old furrowed her brows a bit, confused by his demeanor.

Boys were weird.

Aiden's sigh seemed to fill up the entire section of the library they were in. There were so many unspoken feelings contained in the sigh that she almost felt like bolting right then and there. Alice did not like feeling disliked or unwanted, even if from a stranger. But before she could awkwardly escape the situation, the older boy shook her hand and even answered her question about his book.

Again, boys were weird.

Perhaps all was not lost, then. Maybe he was having a bad day and inadvertently taking some of it out on her. She could deal with that. Especially if he was going to introduce her to a new book, something she could always appreciate.

"Fire Bringer. Cool beans. What's it about?" she asked, taking a sip of her chai tea. The cover of Aiden's book entailed some sort of nature theme, but she knew that covers could be misleading.

The overly-cheerful girl's smile faltered a bit, and Aiden felt a small pang of regret. He hadn't meant to be rude or upset her. It wasn't like he was particularly good company, though, and it really wasn't in her best interest to be around him, but telling her to leave now wasn't likely to work, or it might but while being very rude, which wasn't much of an option even now.

Cool beans. People said that? Really? Maybe it was just Alice. Some people were weird with the turns of phrase they used. What did it really matter, though? So she had an unusual speech pattern. She was hardly difficult to understand. Her request was more than clear enough to get him shifting in his seat slightly and drawing a thumb across the page edges. "A deer," he said slowly, not sure what she would think of it, not sure if he cared, and not sure if either caring about her reaction or telling her and getting to see the reaction was worth the effort. "There's a prophecy about a deer, born with a white mark on his forehead like an oak leaf. There's a coup in his herd the night he's born, and the new stag in power is very superstitious. He ends up wandering all over Scotland trying to find the truth of the prophecy, the story behind the villain, and make sense of his place in the world."

Story described as best he could, given his general enthusiasm for, well, everything, Ai sat back a little and waited for her reaction. Not everyone liked stories about animals. Fire Bringer had only a couple of human characters altogether, and they didn't hang around for long. It wasn't their world, and the world was dark enough without them. Struggles for power existed regardless of the species - singular or plural - involved. Someone always wanted to be on top, and would sacrifice whoever got in their way to get there.