Starting at five-fifty in the morning, Alex woke up to find himself in not so familiar territory. It took him a few seconds to remember that yes he was living in a house, with a bed and a roof and air conditioning. Blinking up at the ceiling he found it...odd, almost dream-like, to be in a place like this after so long. No more bug bites, no more bed of leaves, not more stars above him at night. Sitting up slowly he looked at the window to get a view of the time. The sun was coming up, starting it's drudging march up the sky, just barely peeking over the horizon.

A yawn cracking his jaw, he got out of bed and then to the shower and got dressed afterward. The mansion was still quiet. Any nocturnal mutants going to bed while any others were still blissfully asleep. It was the summer after all, so most of the mansion students were getting all the sleep they could get. So by the time he left his room around six-thirty there was no one to witness him going downstairs and outside to the backyard.

There he gathered materials, made his favored hawk companion, and sent the bird to hunt. It was routine for him, an every morning thing. While he had been told that the mansion would provide all the food he could eat. He just couldn't give up the idea of catching and making his own. While Ace was hunting he let himself stretch and enjoy the morning light. By the time Ace returned with a rabbit clutched in claw, Alex was more awake.

The rabbit was a nice surprise. Lean meat that would do well for breakfast. He gathered some essentials to keep the mess to a minimum, cutting boards, bowls, etc. Carefully, he laid the animal down on one of the larger cutting boards he found. Taking his hunting knife from his back pocket he removed the lower legs as well at the head, putting them aside in a bowl. Then came the slow cutting and peeling of the skin...

Gemma got an early start at the morning, as usual. There was always something to do in the Mansion before classes started. Most kids took care of breakfast for themselves, but some of the younger ones could not be trusted with operating the stove yet. Most mornings Gemma started her day in the kitchen, making pancakes or scrambled eggs, and a generous amount of coffee for herself and for teachers coming in. It was nice to have a morning routine to one's life.

Which is why she stopped dead in her tracks when she was faced with the bloody display occupying the kitchen table.

"What the..." she gulped. She was not a particularly queasy person, but butchery on an empty stomach was not her idea of a good wake-up smell. "Um... hey there. I don't think we have met?..."

Alex hummed Peter and the Wolf as he got the skin to slip off easily. A good catch from the looks of it. Part of him wished he could actually repay Ace for all of his hard work. Lost in thought he didn't hear someone step into the kitchen.

"Um... hey there. I don't think we have met?..."

He froze for a half second, one hand still gripping the skin the other holding the knife. He blinked over at the woman, before attempting to give her a shy smile. "Oh hey, no we haven't. Um, good morning, I'm Alex. I just moved in. I'd shake your hand but uh..." He gave a soft laugh looking down at his messy hands. Definitely not good manners to shake hands when you're bloody. Well really it wasn't that much blood but he was sure it was more blood than most folks are used to.

A lot more blood than she was used to it looked like. Oh, he was going to get in trouble wasn't he...

>>"Oh hey, no we haven't. Um, good morning, I'm Alex. I just moved in. I'd shake your hand but uh..."

Gemma nodded at the introduction, and edged further into the kitchen.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gemma Taylor, the school's guidance counselor. Can I ask by any chance where you got that..."

What was it, anyway?

"... rabbit?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gemma Taylor, the school's guidance counselor. Can I ask by any chance where you got that...rabbit?"

He forced himself not to freak out when he heard guidance counselor. If his memory served correctly, Gawain told him that this was the woman who could suppress power. He hoped she didn't get too close. He really didn't want to know what that was like. He glanced over at Ace, the bird had perched himself on the counter.

"My construct, Ace, he did a bit of hunting for me this morning and well...it's kind of something I've gotten used to, doing this I mean. Ya know, hunting, preparing my own food and such."he said looking down at the rabbit again. Oh, he still had to gut the thing and he was pretty sure Miss T was not going to pleased with that.

>>"My construct, Ace, he did a bit of hunting for me this morning and well...it's kind of something I've gotten used to, doing this I mean. Ya know, hunting, preparing my own food and such."

Gemma glanced at the bird on the counter. It seemed very calm, for a bird in an inside space. It was far from unusual for animals to be inside the Mansion. She noticed that the boy called Alex referred to it as his 'construct'. She hoped someone had already checked him in and noted his powers. For better or worse, she made sure she stood far away from both boy and bird to leave them outside her aura.

"I see" she noted "Don't take this the wrong way, Alex, but here is something you need to know: We have more than one mutant living in the Mansion who are animal shifters. Because of that, it is a general rule that animals of any kind are off limits for... hunting or eating. Most of them don't have the ability to talk in their animal forms, you see."

She did hope the rabbit on the table was not Calley.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Alex, but here is something you need to know: We have more than one mutant living in the Mansion who are animal shifters. Because of that, it is a general rule that animals of any kind are off limits for... hunting or eating. Most of them don't have the ability to talk in their animal forms, you see."

He blinked, he hadn't even thought that. That any of the animals that he had eaten could be a mutant. He swallowed down the nausea that threatened to over take his stomach. He tried to keep in mind that any animal shifter mutant would have had plenty of time to shift out and tell him before being killed. "I don't think you have to worry. Ace didn't hunt on school grounds, so I'm pretty sure this isn't a mutant."

He looked over at Ace, giving the bird a skeptical look. He hadn't kept a focused eye on Ace's flight because he had trusted his companion to do as instructed. "You did hunt off school grounds, right?" The bird gave an indignant look, if birds could do that, feathers puffing out slightly. Through their mental link Ace gave him a glimpse at the hunting grounds, well outside the boundaries of the city. "Yeah, yeah, he went outside the city to find prey."he sighed in relief. He trusted Ace but as the constructs personality grew he worried about rebellion growing to.

>>"I don't think you have to worry. Ace didn't hunt on school grounds, so I'm pretty sure this isn't a mutant... You did hunt off school grounds, right?... Yeah, yeah, he went outside the city to find prey."

Gemma released the breath she had been holding. The curious interaction between bird and boy passed her by due to the relief she felt over not having to start her day with a Mansion student butchered in the kitchen.

"Well, be careful about that in the future." she nodded, moving towards the coffee maker. She needed coffee to get the morning back on track.

"Also, for future reference... People who use the kitchen are responsible for cleaning it up. And if you insist on butchering prey, we'll need to find a better place for you to do it. Some of the Mansion residents might not approve of the sight this early in the morning..."

Gemma was nothing if not accommodating. But the Mansion also had residents that needed to coexist.

He was glad she was relieved, half expecting to get kicked out right then and there. So he went back to removing the skin, leaving the rabbit looking like a strange looking chicken. The skin was tossed in the bowl with the rest of the inedible pieces.

"Also, for future reference... People who use the kitchen are responsible for cleaning it up. And if you insist on butchering prey, we'll need to find a better place for you to do it. Some of the Mansion residents might not approve of the sight this early in the morning..."

"Right, well as far as the clean up goes I got that covered."he said, holding his hands over the bowl. In a few minuets the both the blood on his hands and the mess in the bowl had been converted into two black and white rats. "Tada, the mess has magically disappeared."he chuckled. It certainly made cleaning up easier for him. At least with sort of thing it was.

"As for a place...Well I'm used to doing it outside if it'll make folks more comfortable." He picked up the rats and set them outside the bowl before picking up the knife. "You might not wanna look this way for a few seconds."he said, making sure she wasn't looking before taking the knife and carefully cutting from the clavicle to the groin. The internal organs had to be removed carefully so has not to spill any of the grosser fluids.

Once that was taken care of, organs tossed in the bowl along with the knife, he transformed that and the blood on the knife into a couple of butterflies he was sure the early morning-ers would enjoy. "There now for the actual cooking part."he sighed happily, going over to the sink to wash his hands properly.

>>"Right, well as far as the clean up goes I got that covered. Tada, the mess has magically disappeared."

Gemma blinked once, twice at the rats on the kitchen table. Rats in the kitchen were not exactly an improvement in terms of sanitary rules, but the kid's powers were sill quite impressive. Making live creatures out of another dead creature? She made a mental note to investigate that later.

"Close enough."

>>"As for a place...Well I'm used to doing it outside if it'll make folks more comfortable. You might not wanna look this way for a few seconds... There now for the actual cooking part."

By the time she turned around from the coffee maker, all the gruesome parts were gone, replaced by a cloud of butterflies. Gemma couldn't help but smile.

"That is quite impressive."

"That is quite impressive."

He smiled, always happy to impress. "Thanks, it takes a little work but it's totally worth it. No muss, no fuss, ya know." Once his hands were clean he brought over the rabbit next to the stove top, putting the bowl in the sink to clean later. The two rats clambered up his arms with ease to settle on his shoulders while he worked.

A cut down the spine, carefully remove that, off came the legs, then the bottom from the rest. All in all, it looked like cuts of chicken meat. He grabbed a sauce pan to warm it on the stove and some butter from fridge. He looked into the fridge for a little while longer before grabbing the carton of eggs as well. "Don't usually get extra stuff like this."he said softly before glancing at the school counselor, "Actually, if you want we could share or I can at least make you some scrabbled eggs to make up for the scare earlier."

>>"Thanks, it takes a little work but it's totally worth it. No muss, no fuss, ya know... Don't usually get extra stuff like this. Actually, if you want we could share or I can at least make you some scrabbled eggs to make up for the scare earlier."

"Thank you, I'd love to try." Gemma smiled. Now that she was fairly sure the guy was not cooking Calley on the stove, she finally noticed that the cooking meat smelled quite good.

"So, you just moved in, I assume?" Gemma was not always completely up to date on the comings and goings of the many Mansion students, but she did her best to stay on top of everything.

"What brings you to the Mansion?" she added, and then turned back to the coffee machine "Also, would you like some coffee with your breakfast?"

"Thank you, I'd love to try."

He nodded, letting the meat cook for a while he grabbed a bowl. He cracked some eggs in the bowl, enough for a couple of good portions of scrambled eggs. As he used a spoon to mix the eggs he nodded to her question.

"So, you just moved in, I assume?"

"Yeah, a little while ago. Gawain brought me in."he said with a shrug. He wasn't surprised he hadn't run into the the counselor. He tended to stick to his assigned room or walk about the city, just exploring. Plus this place was pretty big.

"What brings you to the Mansion? Also, would you like some coffee with your breakfast?"

"I would like some coffee thanks. As for what brings me here, four walls and roof mostly. Free food is a nice bonus as is the free education."he said grinning, "Oh and not having to go back to Idaho." He set the bowl of mixed eggs down and turned the meat on the pan. Nearly done, he added a bit more water to keep it from burning.

>>"Yeah, a little while ago. Gawain brought me in. I would like some coffee thanks. As for what brings me here, four walls and roof mostly. Free food is a nice bonus as is the free education. Oh and not having to go back to Idaho."

Gemma nodded as she prepared two mugs of coffee with practiced movements, working her way around the counter so she did not hinder him from his cooking activities. Gawain brought him in, that was a good sign, it meant that someone actually checked the kid in and made sure he was official on Mansion grounds. He also passed the first look, apparently.

"Yeah, it is a nice place to be, and we keep it as safe as possible" she nodded, not giving him any illusions. The Mansion was safer than most of New York City, but not impregnable.

"So, what brought you to New York from Idaho? I assume they already asked you these questions, but I like to hear people tell me their stories, rather than reading it in a file..."

"So, what brought you to New York from Idaho? I assume they already asked you these questions, but I like to hear people tell me their stories, rather than reading it in a file..."

He thought about it for a moment. Yes he had answered that question before but every time it came up he wondered how much he should give away. In the end he went with the stander answer. "I ran away a bit after my mutation appeared. I felt unsafe so I left."he shrugged and went to grab a couple plates to put the nearly done meat on, "Since it was a foster home I was more afraid of, heh, being handed over to some government goons than being disowned. It's kinda silly looking back on it."

"But yeah, I hoofed it from Idaho to here for no particular reason. Just ended up going east this whole time." He added some salt to the meat, just enough to help flavor it. He waited a little bit longer before finally moving the food from the pan to the plates. Adding more butter to the pan he poured in the eggs next and began to cook them.