Alex wasn't usually the type to stay up late. More likely he'd wake up at four am than stay up to it. But sharing a room with someone who could as easily walk into his brain as he could the bathroom made him uneasy. It made it hard to shut off his brain and stop worrying about the possibility that the guy could take over his body and walk him off campus, alerting every cop nearby that he was attempting to run away.

Even though in that case it wouldn't be his fault, but who was going to buy possession. Okay, maybe they would, but they wouldn't buy it right away and he already had enough close calls with death in the last couple of weeks. Nobody could blame him for being nervous and seeking the comfort of the kitchen over that of his own bed.

So here he was, at midnight in the kitchen, taking whatever food he liked because he honestly couldn't be bothered with being polite any more. He'd deal with the consequences later, if anybody bothered hunting down whoever dared steal the food with their name on it. Some of the food required cooking but the rest he could make sandwiches and snacks easily enough.

More calories than he usually ate. The idea of being fat and content was actually a nice one. At least for him, maybe not to someone whose life didn't consist of constantly battling for one's life. Nature was an unkind bitch and it was looking more and more like she was set on rubbing his genes out before he could ruin anything.

He pushed the thoughts away, focused on making a meal fit for several kings and their kingdoms. Focused on the basic want of food. An instinct to want and want and want, something Mary purred in the back of his mind at. The more calories he put in, the more likely he'd use it all to make her an appropriate body. Something fit for a mountain lion. She was already filling his head with ideas, hoping he'd pick one for her. He wasn't too sure about that. But maybe...

The ceiling was interesting this time of night, and Janelle was...lonely. There were an odd number of girls in the Mansion at this point, so for now she didn't have a roommate. It was a temporary situation, of course, but until another teenage girl arrived, it was quiet, solitude, and blank walls across the room.

It was only midnight, and Janelle sighed. Maybe someone would still be up? It only took a few moments for the redhead to pull on her slipper socks and grab a zip up hoodie before her pajama-clad legs were slipping out the door and into the hallways.

The hallways were deserted, and the same seemed true for the common areas, unless that one invisible kid was hanging out and watching the TV that had been on in the seemingly empty room. If that had been the case though, he'd been invisible and Janelle took that to mean he didn't want to be bothered. All initial ideas exhausted, she headed for the kitchen, if nothing else, she'd have a snack.

Pushing the door open, Janelle couldn't help but gape for a moment at the veritable buffet that had been set up on the table. "Having a little midnight snack?" she said once she'd recovered a bit, and made her way to the fridge to grab some milk for the cookies she thought she'd seen earlier that night. Finding success in her venture, the redhead grabbed a glass and set it in some free space on the table, "I don't think we've met. I'm Janelle."

He looked up, sandwich already stuffed in his gob, and blinked owlishly at the girl. He gave a nod at her question, chewing quickly so he could actually speak to her. He felt a ting of embarrassment, having laid out so much food just for himself. But then again, hectic couple of weeks, he deserved a treat or twenty. He watched her grab the milk from the fridge, then the cookies and made herself a spot at the table.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Janelle."

He swallowed before answering, "Alex...Are you new?" Taking another bite of his sandwich, he considered her. He hadn't seen her around, when he first joined and definitely not since he's been back. Then again he didn't know everyone who lived here, but he was familiar with most of the faces around here. A little bit of sneaking about via his insect constructs helped with that. He wasn't spying on any one necessarily. But he did like to be aware of who was living here, at least their faces.

It made him feel safer in a place that basically had an open door policy. Any number of new mutants could walk in and easily make this place home. It was a wonder that this place hadn't been over run yet. Or maybe it had in the past and the security got better...Too many thoughts for midnight, he really should concentrate on finishing what he started.

"New-ish" Janelle said, pulling out the chair nearest to her and sitting at the table. "Been here about a week." Now that she had milk and cookies, all seemed well in the world and she was pleased to find that she'd even selected a glass with a mouth wide enough to dip the whole cookie. Perfect.

Once the first bite had been accomplished, Janelle took the opportunity to look around at the food spread. There was some pretty good looking stuff around, and maybe cookies wouldn't be enough. They wouldn't take very long to eat anyway, and she wasn't quite ready to go back to the empty room that was waiting.

"I don't have a roommate yet." she admitted, another cooking getting demolished in the process. "There were an odd number of girls when I moved in, so I was bored." Janelle explained, "Not a lot of night life in these parts." She gestured at the table,"Going to eat all that or can I have some?"

He nodded quietly, absorbing the information without actually really paying too much attention. He took another bite of his sandwich, enjoying the small bout of companionable silence while it lasted. Given how terrifying the last few weeks had been, this odd moment of normal was nice. Though there was a part of him that said there was no way something like this could last.

"I don't have a roommate yet. There were an odd number of girls when I moved in, so I was bored. Not a lot of night life in these parts...Going to eat all that or can I have some?"

He smiled and nodded, "Yeah, go ahead, help yourself. I kind of grab all this without really thinking." Well it was more like he had a sudden need to be selfish for once. He wanted to take more than was reasonable. Now with someone sitting with him it seemed strange to try and eat it all by himself. At the very least, if anybody got upset, he could say he had someone help him eat all that food.

Permission granted, Janelle reached out and grabbed one of those grocery store take-out boxes that contained pudding and vanilla wafers, dotted with whipped cream. Nobody had written their name on it, so the redhead assumed that this was put into the fridge with the intention of sharing.

Popping open the container, Janelle noted her lack of spoon and scooted back her chair to make her way to the bank of drawers across the room. It took a moment of digging, but eventually she found a spoon and returned to the table to claim her prize. It was delicious. Of course. Who cared if she was consuming a week’s worth of fun calories in a single sitting.

“You know,” she said after a moment of savory silence and pudding noms, “I think you were thinking when you grabbed all of this stuff. Do you have psychic powers or something? Because I swear you knew exactly what I wanted before I did. This stuff is awesome, want some?”

“You know, I think you were thinking when you grabbed all of this stuff. Do you have psychic powers or something? Because I swear you knew exactly what I wanted before I did. This stuff is awesome, want some?”

He chuckled and shook his head, "Nah, everybody loves sugars though. Sugar and fat, two very common human cravings." He finished off his sandwich and reached for another he had made, along with a bag of chips. Hopefully by the time he was done eating Jiri would be fast asleep and he wouldn't have to be worried about being possessed.

Though honestly he was just getting a bit of cabin fever being stuck with nearly nothing to do. "But, speaking of powers, what's yours? If you don't mind me asking." It was something to catch his attention at least. From what he's seen, most powers were unique to the individual, and he was starting to get a sense of a pattern based on not only attitude but surroundings.

There just weren't enough studies to confirm this pattern. Which was odd given how much the world seemed terrified of mutants existence. One would think that they'd look at every possible reason for this to be happening. Still, as thoughts after midnight usually were, it was a fleeting notion with his focus on her.

Ahhh, the inevitable power discussion, it was better than acknowledging that whole fat and sugar thing. Janelle smiled at her snack-friend and shrugged her shoulders, looking around the kitchen. There was a little cactus sitting on a counter, as was often the case with kitchens. People always seemed to think that succulents belonged in cooking rooms. It was kind of a weird tradition, but served her purpose well enough.

“I’ll show you.” She said as she once again scooted back her chair and went to retrieve her little friend. Walking back to the table, the redhead held the little plastic pot in her palm and squinted her eyes at the prickly little plant. The squinting was obviously necessary.

Momentarily, the little cactus sprouted a couple of flowers. They were bright and pink, and the whole little plant had a new healthy glow that it hadn’t possessed before. “People think that because it’s a cactus, it doesn’t need water.” She said, setting the pot down in the middle of the late-night buffet. “Basically I can do stuff with plants.” Eying the buffet, and Alex, she grinned, “That isn’t for eating, just decoration. What do you really do? Convert food into super speed? Use food to fly? Something not at all related to food?”

He grinned at her little show. It was a pretty power, he'd giver her that. Definitely something non-mutants wouldn't mind having around. He was willing to bet that her power showed up in a moment of calm or happiness. Probably was wonderful for her. No, he wasn't jealous, really he wasn't.

“That isn’t for eating, just decoration. What do you really do? Convert food into super speed? Use food to fly? Something not at all related to food?”

He chuckled at her comments, "Well it's actually more food related than you think." He poured the chips on top of his partially eaten second sandwich and held his hand over it. It wasn't a necessary motion but it helped a little. The food broke down under his power and reformed into a cluster of blue winged moths. The little creatures scattered for effect.

"Decaying organic matter into organic life."he smirked, knowing the reaction by now would be a positive one.

Alex reacted the same way that people generally reacted to her powers. Somewhere, deep down, Janelle knew that it was because absolutely nothing about what she could do looked threatening. Flowers were pretty and when she demonstrated what she could do, it was generally to, Oooooh’s and Ahhhh’s not panicked screaming. Janelle knew it wasn’t the same story for everyone, and she figured that’s why it was almost a required part of every meeting between two mutants to reveal their powers at the earliest opportunity. Janelle had obliged, and she watched as Alex demonstrated his abilities.

“Oooohhhh…” she breathed as the potato moths scattered into the kitchen. “That’s snazzy.” She admitted, eyes trailing one moth in particular as it landed on the flowers she’d made on the cactus. “How long do they last?”

"Well they last as long as I want them to. Or rather as long as I can stay awake and eat the right amount of food." He grabbed one of the bag of baby carrots and opened it, spilling it's contents onto his plate. He munched on them for a little while, watching his moth rest on her flower. It was an idyllic scene with some strange undertones.

"So, what are you doing awake? You don't look like the nocturnal type." There were plenty of students that were, some even fit the bill of vampire. But she didn't seem to be like that and here powers would certainly indicate someone who spent a lot if not all their time in the sun. If his pattern held this would be true or if only partially true.

Well, that seemed like a bit of a double edged sword, didn’t it? Alex could keep his constructs alive as long as he wanted, but at the cost of his own energy and sleep. “Mine kind of works the same way.” Janelle shrugged, “One of the teachers tried to explain it to me during orientation when we were doing that wishy washy thing where everyone shares about their powers. You can’t make something from nothing, so when I make plants grow, or seeds spout, the energy they use to do that has to come from somewhere.” Janelle’s didn’t go away after she stopped giving them energy though, as long as they were given food and water in the ratio that the plant needed they could live indefinitely. The redhead didn’t mention that though, she didn’t want to seem like she was bragging.

Back to the pudding. As Janelle ate, Alex asked questions. After a few moments thought, the teen shrugged her shoulders.

“It was too quiet. You know?” She said, “It’s a big house, and I kept looking across the room at the empty bed and shelves and I guess I got kind of lonely.” There was no shame in admitting that, right? After all, this guy had raided half the fridge. “Nobody was in any of the other common spaces, so I figured I’d get a snack and head back. I guess I was lucky though. Not only did I find cookies, but company too!”

He nodded in agreement, the conservation of energy a familiar concept for him when it came to powers. "You can’t make something from nothing, so when I make plants grow, or seeds spout, the energy they use to do that has to come from somewhere.” Was a pretty fair point. Though one had to ask how all that energy got from point A to point B. If this was being studied at all he was sure that for both him and Janelle it'd end up like a particle or electrical current. Or some sort of energy conversion wave. There had to be something going on.

And it seemed like he was right on the nose about her not being nocturnal. She was in fact lonely. Perhaps an extrovert or maybe she was just too new to have any friends to bother in the mansion at this time of night. He was willing to guess the second because she was new-ish, in her own words. "Indeed you did. Personally I'm just here to avoid my roommate and indulge in food I shouldn't be having at this hour." He might end up waking up sick but it was worth it.

“Avoiding your roommate?” Janelle’s eyebrows rose as she took yet another spoon full of pudding. Was she going about this whole, ‘lack of roommate’ thing the wrong way? Was it actually a blessing in disguise?

“That’s the kind of irony only an English teacher could love. You’re here avoiding your roommate, and I’m here because I’m sad over not having one.”

Janelle leaned back in her chair, pushing against the floor with the tips of her toes so that the front two legs came up just a bit. “So what’s the problem? Is he a slob? I don’t know how well I would handle a roommate who is a slob. I’m a bit, ‘Type A’ I guess you could say.”

"I'm pretty sure there's a lot more than irony going on in this school most days. Probably could write a novel on just the coincidences that happen in this school. Let alone the irony." he laughed, there was so much going on that he wouldn't doubt she would run into some coincidences of her own.

He smiled and waved off her concern.  "He's not too bad cleanliness-wise. It's more like his mutation just interrupts my dream state. So I'm just kind of waiting for him to get started. I don't want to sleep walk off the grounds." It wouldn't do to have Jiri walk him right in to police arms.

"Would you like to switch rooms?" He chuckled, it wouldn't be allowed given the gender divide. But he'd dare anyone to spend tea time with the "Almighty Jiri" every night and not wish for a break.