Gemma had escaped the noise and business of the Mansion for a few hours, to get some gardening work done. It was technically not her job to keep the Mansion grounds in shape, but every once in a while, she enjoyed getting her hands in the soil, planting some things, weeding some things, and doing other simple tasks that set her mind in a relaxed, almost meditative state. She had a small, private corner hidden in the twists and folds of the hedge maze; only a few flowerbeds ad some spices, mostly for the scent. She would steal away there and kneel in the dirt, humming as she did her work. It was a quiet corner, close enough to the Mansion, but hidden by the bushes and the hedges. Sometimes, children played in the maze, and more often than not, they forgot scattered things in there. Gemma tended to pick them up and return them to the building later.

Today, she knelt by the flower beds, almost completely invisible until someone turned the right corner in the hedge maze, wearing a straw hat and an apron. She was doing some weeding, inhaling the faint scent of the spices; she lulled herself into a quiet afternoon, and for once, she was not paying much attention to her surroundings...

Jack stood at the mouth of the hedge maze, rocking on her feet. Her shift had just ended, and she couldn’t shake the niggling feeling at the back of her skull—she had been thinking back to her exchange with the young blonde student, the other night. She was lucky that the kid had left the maze on her own volition. If the kid’s wherewithal been anymore in-tact, she could have easily shaken the prawn. Jack needed to learn the hedge maze, for future reference.

Once upon a time, Jack had heard it’d be impossible to get lost in a maze, if one kept their arm to a wall and followed the wall through the maze, so she extended a primary arm and began walking, leaves and twigs prickling at the sensitive underside of her palm. Jack tread lightly, inhaling the scent of soil. Noises were muted, here. It’d be easy to forget the time. As she walked, Jack made note of the various twists and turns in her mind. Left… right… right…

At some point, she lost track. Ah, well. It was peaceful in here, and the prawn was happy to get a little lost. There was birdsong overhead.

Jack rounded a corner—and for the first time since she entered the maze, she had found someone else. From behind, the prawn could see glimpses of dark skin. Her figure and the fact that she was tending to a garden led the prawn to believe the person was older, but perhaps not.

“Hello,” the prawn clicked softly, not wanting to startle them. It didn’t seem right to be loud in a quiet maze like this, “Nice day.”

Gemma did not look up at the rustling behind her; she was too deep in thought, delegating all sounds to the background as the wind moved between the hedges. If anyone was walking in the maze, they had a right to be here; until they started a conversation with her, Gemma was not on high alert. She only noticed the soft clicking when the person behind her spoke, and she set her tools down to look.

>>“Hello. Nice day.”

"Oh. Hi." Gemma stood up, wiping her apron in the same movement, hoping to greet the person face to face... What she did not prepare for, however, was that her legs had fallen asleep while she was working on the flowerbeds. She leaned forward and stumbled, and by the time she managed to regain her footing, holding on to the hedge as blood rushed back into her legs with a million pin prickles, she was several steps closer to the newcomer as she had intended to be.

Which meant, Jack was not just within the edge of her aura.

The woman greeted Jack without turning, initially, quickly rising to her feet. She had to have been sitting for a while, for she tottered forward, nearly eating dirt. Jack, forgetting herself, also stepped forward, extending a primary arm to catch the woman, lest she actually did face-plant.

She seemed to catch herself on a branch, much to Jack's relief. For as she drew closer, she too was sent reeling. Her vision tunneled and dimmed, and a sharp pain went right down her spine. Reflexively, the prawn grasped at her chest, stumbling backwards. What the f**k?

Stumbling backwards carried her back out of the woman's aura, but the prawn was not fully aware of what had happened. She looked at one of her hands as her vision flickered. Everything looked so muted and greyish. Slowly, the scope of her vision widened, and the full brilliance of colors returned. And-- whoa-- were her spikes getting bigger? Had they gotten smaller?

"I..." the prawn began, unsure of how to explain what she'd just experienced. Her head had been reeling, and that pain was... incredible. She'd only experienced pain like that once before, but it wasn't possible! She was already a behemoth mantis-shrimp creature, she couldn't transform again, "I sink I need sun water."

Dehydration was the obvious answer to this. Maybe the spasm of pain was a massive cramp, and the tunneling vision was Jack nearly passing-out. She shook her head, touching a massive hand to her forehead.

Gemma stumbled, and the larger mutant moved forward to catch her. It was a helpful gesture, but it never quite reached her; the moment Jack was inside her aura she recoiled as if in pain, spikes and armor receding on her extended arm as the adapted field started to do its work. Gemma noticed in a split second that she was too close to someone with obvious, full-body physical mutations, and she backpedaled as fast as she could on her numb feet, making sure to put distance between them. She watched as Jack's shrimp-like parts reorganized themselves.

>>"I... I sink I need sun water."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Gemma waved a hand, keeping her distance "That was totally my fault. I apologize, I should have warned you. I'm an adapted. You will want to stay more than eight feet away from me."

She had a bottle of water by her gardening basket; she picked it up, looking at Jack reluctantly before she tossed it her way. "You can have this if you need water."

Jack sank on her haunches, her head still reeling-- no, sitting was better. She needed to sit. She felt ill. Jack sank lower, onto her rump, extending her legs out in front of her. The woman (now that they were facing one another, Jack could confirm that she was, in fact, older) all the while backpedaled, sputtering an apology. The prawn looked blearily at the lady, unhooking her surgical mask.

>> "That was totally my fault. I apologize, I should have warned you. I'm an adapted. You will want to stay more than eight feet away from me."

"A... what?" the prawn grunted, catching the water bottle, "Shanks." she cracked the lid open, artfully pouring a swig of water into her mouth. The water helped. She replaced the cap, "What's an... ada'ted? Was it?"

>>"A... what? Shanks."

The shrimp-woman sat down heavily, probably to regain her bearings after her physical mutation had almost been stripped away by Gemma's aura. Gemma sat too, massaging her calves that now started cramping up from the sudden use. She made sure they were sitting far enough from each other to be safe, but close enough to carry a conversation without shouting. The water seemed to help; Gemma made a hand motion letting Jack know that she could keep drinking it if she wanted to.

>>"What's an... ada'ted? Was it?"

"I... am the opposite of a mutant" Gemma sighed. She really had to make a note somewhere to inform all Mansion residents and visitors about her powers; otherwise, she was going to keep running into situations like this one "I have an aura that nullifies mutant powers. You accidentally walked into it. I should have warned you."

A what? Though the woman explained her abilities, in plain English, Jack looked dumbfounded. An aura that what now? Her brow twitched into a furrow, her mouthparts moving wordlessly as she attempted to process what the woman was saying.

"You nean to say..." Jack reiterated, "Dat iss I stayed around you long e-nuss... I... night look hyu-nan?"

That's what her power was, wasn't it? Looking like some rainbow-buggy motherf**ker. The opposite of her mutation was looking normal. Jack hoisted herself back up to her feet, with a minor struggle, and edged closer to the woman. Maybe... it wasn't a matter of being "in the woman's aura", but being "too far into it"? Or maybe she really was dehydrated and cramping.

Jack extended her hand, crossing the invisible barrier. As soon as she did, pain surged up her arm, the carapace beginning to slowly diminish before her eyes. It crackled like a tree uprooting itself as it fell. It was too much. Jack pulled her hand back, muttering a swear as she held her hand.

"Dat is..." Jack mused, "Wow. Sun-sing." She shook her hand, "Dat's incredi'le."

She rolled the water bottle back towards the woman, three-quarters of it consumed, as she replaced her surgical mask, sinking back into a seating position at a safe distance. Jack was curious to see what she'd look like as a human, but to endure the pain of reverting and then re-transforming... unthinkable. It was unthinkable.

"I'n Jack," she introduced herself, "Jacquelyn Dyer. On security."

The woman seemed stunned by the revelation of Gemma's abilities. Adapteds, while they were more commonly known now than they had been years before (thanks to social media, and stunts like the AMA she had grudgingly agreed to do), were still news to many people, and a mystery to most. Mutants tended to be cautious about them at best, unless they knew them personally, which is why Gemma was convinced it was a good idea for her to work in the city's only mutant school. Most of the time, it was.

>>"You nean to say... Dat iss I stayed around you long e-nuss... I... night look hyu-nan?"

"Yes" she nodded slowly "If you spent enough time within my aura, your physical mutation would recede to its inactive state. So yes, as long as you'd be near me, you'd look human." She had seen it happen to some students before.

>>"Dat is... Wow. Sun-sing. Dat's incredi'le."

"It is... quite rare." Gemma admitted "I only know of a handful of others, much less than mutants. The size of their aura varies, but the ability is basically the same every time." It was not a mutation, that was for sure.

>>"I'n Jack. Jacquelyn Dyer. On security."

"Gemma Taylor. I'm the school counselor." she smiled, waving a hand, since shaking them was not really an option. "Nice to meet you."

Jack's experience of the world was relatively insular-- she scarcely used her computer, was not connected to any social media, and spent any chunk of free time with Zinnia or wood-working. So, sufficeth to say, she was not aware of Adapteds. Prior to this, anyways.

"Too 'ad dat turning hyu-nan hurts as nuch as it did to turn nyu-tant," the prawn remarked, mostly to herself, "Dat'd 'e cool to see."

Not only were there others, but the range of their aura varied. Good to know. At least she'd know about the source for spontaneous body-pain and shrinking in the future.

The prawn saluted the other woman from her seating position.

"Nice to neet you," she echoed. She'd hangout while regaining her bearings. Her head still reeled a bit, and venturing back into her aura a second time had only encouraged the sensation to return.

"Sink I heard uzz you," the prawn said, as an after thought, "Srun a student. An-der." She held up her hands, covering her face so that only her eyes showed, pantomiming the face-covering worn by the student, "An-der? You know her?" She meant Amber. It was the girl's fault for having two unpronounceable consonants.

>>"Too 'ad dat turning hyu-nan hurts as nuch as it did to turn nyu-tant. Dat'd 'e cool to see."

Gemma could tell from the previous experiment that shifting back into human form, even partially as she ahd stuck her hand inside the aura, caused a great deal of pain to Jack. It was not uncommon for physical mutations to work that way. Many mutant teens, when they first manifested, went through a lot of pain or discomfort until they reached their normal form.

"So... you don't usually shape-shift, I assume?" she ventured. Shifters had an easier time in her aura than set mutations did.

>>"Nice to neet you. Sink I heard uzz you. Srun a student. An-der. An-der? You know her?"

Gemma blinked, then the syllables fell into place.

"Oh, Amber?" she smiled "The dinosaur shifter? Yes, I know her. Very friendly girl."

It was good to know that Amber was making some friends at the Mansion.

"So... you work security?" she tilted her head "I think I saw your name on the list. How is that going so far?"

Jack shook her head, exhaling sharply.

"Like dis, all duh tine," the prawn avowed, "Sha'e-shist-ed only once."

If you got her drift. Jack readjusted her surgical mask.

When Gemma pieced together that Jack was talking about Amber, the prawn nodded eagerly. Amber was exactly who she meant! Amber was nice. A good person. She didn't seem bothered by the prawn's appearance in the least. Kind-of like Gemma!

>> "So... you work security? I think I saw your name on the list. How is that going so far?"

The prawn clicked to herself, pondering the question.

"Like it nore den nightclu's..." the prawn murmured, laughing faintly. It was her attempt at humor. Then, more emphatically, "I luzz duh kids. Dey're... awe-sun. Ne'er taught I'd actually... y'know, 'e good 'iss kids. E'er."

Working with a demographic that was always inebriated in one way or another made Jack jaded about working with people overall. Some nights made her wish she was still working construction. But working with kids was the outlet Jack never knew she'd enjoy.

"What your jaw entail?" the prawn inquired, returning the question, "Is a school counselor like a... psychiatrist?"

Psychiatrist was a good word. It was so easy to pronounce.

>>"Like dis, all duh tine. Sha'e-shist-ed only once."

So, it was a full physical mutation, not just a chosen form. Now that Gemma got a good look at Jack from a safe distance, she had to admit that her mutations was quite stunning. She seemed comfortable in it, and it was sort of pretty to look at. In an unusual way. She was sure that someone like her being responsible for the Mansion's security would make her very memorable.

>>"Like it nore den nightclu's... I luzz duh kids. Dey're... awe-sun. Ne'er taught I'd actually... y'know, 'e good 'iss kids. E'er."

"The Mansion tends to surprise people like that" Gemma chuckled. She liked the kids too, and kids who lived at Xavier's, while they were in no way better or nicer than non-mutant kids their age, were definitely a privilege to work with. And all unique in their own ways.

>>"What your jaw entail? Is a school counselor like a... psychiatrist?"

"Sort of." Gemma mused "I talk to kids who need to talk to someone. I help students figure out what they want to do, and how to do it. Studies, living arrangement, training with their powers, higher education..." she chuckled "I also make sure the fridge is stocked and everyone has clean clothes, that the records are updated, and that we don't get sued by parents or guardians. It is... a versatile job. But I like it."

As Gemma detailed all of her duties and responsibilities, the prawn listened, intrigued. That's right, high school counselors handled more than just psychological stuff. Some of it sounded pretty par for the course, but then, when she listed the additional things like "food, clothing, defense against parents", the prawn's respect for the woman deepened.

"So you're like... duh nuzzer hen at X'aier's?" Jack summarized. "Mother hen" was in no way meant to be reductive of Gemma's position. Moms were important, especially if relations with biological parents were shaky at best. If Gemma was the mom, that would make Jack... maybe an uncle of some sort. A weird, socially inept uncle.

>>"So you're like... duh nuzzer hen at X'aier's?"

Gemma laughed at the question. It was an accurate assessment of her position at the school; she had arrived expecting to take a counselor job, but ended up doing a lot more than that - to the point when she now considered the Mansion residents her family. Some of them, like Jorge and Chase, were legally family, but the others were no less important either.

"I would prefer den mother, but yes, that about covers it." she grinned at Jack. "And being an adapted helps with powers that might get out of control. Although I have really only used them defensively once so far..."