Luna had needed to work off frustration. She had left the Mansion grounds exactly once since she had been here and had been attacked by Anti Mutant gang members, other mutants had arrived to help and she was grateful but her deep seated fear of humans had only gotten worse from the incident. She could still hear the gunshots and the screams.

She tried to push the fear away, she did not want people thinking she was a future mutant terrorist. Looking down at her paws she shook her head, More importantly she knew not all Humans were bad, no group was ever all one thing. Still the moment she was around someone she thought was human, her fear skyrocketed and her nerves frayed instantly. Worse was when she recalled images of the school incident she had gotten her powers at. 

The issue was she had no idea how to do that.  She knew she could not restrict herself to the Mansion forever though she was trying. She had turned down several trips into town by other students. Starting out wanting to go and then suddenly finding an excuse not to go.

Luna had found the spot shortly after she had arrived. The Manson bordered a wooded area and some for the Trees even stretched their way onto the grounds. She liked the shade and the privacy the area presented. To that end she had filled her backpack with her gamestation and several novels. Including several of the Perry Hotter books, which she had read thrue once before, some Mystic the Assembly novels as well which many people did not realize existed.

She had intended to be back in the Mansion before curfew but instead had fallen asleep reading using a flashlight  once it had gotten dark out. So engrossed in the reading she lost track of time. The Mansion grounds lacked any dangerous animals and so Luna made it thrue the night just fine and any who might have checked her out could see the thick white stripe.

She had awoke to the sound of  thunder and the flash of lightning less then two hours after dawn. She barely had time to get her stuff in her backpack before the rain started, by the time she made the mansion doors, her fur was soaked and dripping and her body felt heavy from the rain clinging to her fur. The door was open luckily and was glad to get in out of the rain. She shivered a bit as she considered weather or not to go to her room and track water all over the place or ask someone for a towel. Her cloths were soaked and dirty from rolling in the dirt as she slept. She was still making her choice when she heard footsteps approach.

It wasn’t the sound of thunder that had awakened her. No, it was the downpour of panic that had flooded her that caused Liz to bolt upright out of her nap as almost every single pet in the mansion had started reacting to the thunder. It was plenty enough to get her heart pumping and her eyes rapidly scanning her classroom for threats.

And then she’d realized she was alone and the panic wasn’t hers. Liz rolled her eyes and as she brushed her hair out of her face, she cast a wave of serenity and far as she could reach, stilling the fears of the many animals on the estate grounds and giving her a measure of control over herself.

Oh boy, what a wake-up call.

Liz glanced around at her classroom, where she’d been working since about six that morning, inspired by an idea she’d had late in the night for organizing it. She was still trying to figure out exactly how she wanted to configure and customize the room. But clearly her mildly sleep-deprived mind (from reduced sleep the night before and getting up way too early this morning) wasn’t the most brilliant with it’s creative inspirations.

Which is why all the desks were basically a maze and party streamers ran along the walls.

She needed a break. Obviously her nap had been self-dense in order to stop herself from making more of a mess.

Working out a kink in her neck, Liz decided to make her way to the kitchen, where she was planning on some kind of snack or snack-like thing. Sleep was food and food was sleep. All the while she was sending periodic pulses of peace to every animal in her vicinity.

Liz was passing by the front doors of the mansion when they opened, emitting a girl along with some wind and rain. Uncharitably, Liz thought the girl looked like a drowned rat, an impression only aided by her...fur? And so much dirt, too.

“Oh dear, you look drenched!” Liz exclaimed as she veered her path toward the girl. “Are you okay? Did something happen to you?” Worry etched across Elizabeth’s face and a trickle of alarm began bleeding into mansion pets. It might be nothing. But then again, a girl showing up at the mansion in the middle of a storm, covered in mud, and so early in the morning was setting off a bunch of red flags.

Even with her ears she did not hear the women over the morning storm. She opened and even pushed the door closed behind her. Her cat like ears twitched atop her head at the stopping footfalls and froze herself. She was sure she would be in some trouble for this and considered a few scenarios in her head. Maybe she should have waited another half hour, or ran. Why did she even let herself fall asleep?

Luna could blush but she had picked up her own embarrassed ticks. She ran the short claws on her right hand onto the fur in her left."No Ma'am, I am so sorry, i was reading and fell asleep." she tried to explain. Though she was 5'1 she stood several inches shorter then that due to her now natural bent posture. She blinked and realized she could hardly see the woman who was pretty concerned which made her feel bad for worrying the woman. She slipped her glasses under her shirt for a moment rubbing them against her fur before replacing them and blinking.

"Please do not worry but um if you could show me a towel...or like eight and a blow dryer i would be so grateful."" she said. her fur feeling heavy with the rain clinging to her fur. Luckily skunk fur was warm and so it kept her from being to cold, but her tail and back did not like the added weight. To demonstrate her point she reached behind and pulling her tail forward, she showed the dripping tail fur the long guard hairs hanging near two inches.

"Oh right! My name, I am Luna Light, i have been here just a few weeks now. I'm fourteen and new to the mutant thing" she said letting the claws from her free hand stroke the tail fur. "So um what;s your name and am in trouble?" she asked her nose twitching slightly as it took in the mansions scents as well as her own wet fur smell.

Liz blinked at the girl. “Oh thank goodness,” she breathed, tension visibly flowing away. Her psychic alarm died off and peace resumed. Nothing was wrong, just wet. Liz had seen way worse. But this? This was nothing.

“No, no, no, my dear,” Liz said quickly. “You’re not in trouble. Quite the opposite. This we can take care of.” Liz’ eyes dropped to the girl’s feet and did some quick calculations. There was a line closet that she knew of not too far away. She made her decision.

“I’m Ms. Sundance, a teacher who just started here myself. A pleasure to meet you, Luna. I’ll be right back with a towel, so just hang out for sec,” Liz said with a smile. She turned and started power walking a bit back the way she’d come.

She was gone for about two minutes before she returned bearing an armload of variously colored towels. “Try these,” she said, pushing the towels toward the girl. “And here, let’s get away from the main doors in case someone comes in, okay?” She beckoned the door off to the side.

She may not of been effected by Liz's powers but she could easily see the relief drain from Liz as she realized the the fur ball in front of her was not dying and instead lived there. She looked back at the door wondering just what other pitiful creatures had come thrue them. It occurred to her that Liz had thought of that instead of drowned resident rodent. The confidence helped put Luna in a calmer mood herself almost happier her mental nightmare scenarios did no play out.

The wording of a towel cast doubt for Luna on the understanding of her issue but Luna's fears were again disproves as Liz brought a large stack of towels. She took the towels and followed liz into the side room, not looking around the room much before she layed two of them on the floor to cover the water dripping from her and then used the others to begin drying her fur. "Thank you for the help" she said as she used a towel on her head giving her a fluffy look and making the white stripe stretching from her nose over her head, between her ears and down the back of her head until her shirt covered it.

"On one hand fur is nice and warm even when wet and most animals won't go near me so i am pretty safe even out there. On the other hand you would not believe the upkeep in the brushing and hair care products" she said shaking her head a bit. This was likly not the best first impression to give a teacher. She had decided not to mention the part about fleas, it had happened before.

"Good to meet you as well. Kinda weird being in an actual school again.
she said not really acknowledging this place was much different then any boarding school. She scratched her ear nervously not sure what else to say. Luna had avoided people since the age of level as much as she could and had never really just talked to a teacher. "I am the amazing Skunk girl, slayer of shampoo and conditioner, conqueror of blow dryers and mutalater of combs and brushes" she said trying to make a fur joke to lighten the mood.

“No problem at all,” Liz said warmly and she left the girl to dry off. “Helping you youngsters is pretty much my job description.” She laughed. She had to - she was way too young to be using “youngsters” unironically. She was what, only a decade or so older than this girl? If that?

Physical mutations made it hard to guess ages.

“I couldn’t even imagine the time it takes to care for your fur,” the blonde said as she started casting her eyes around the room for something like paper towels or a mop. Although Luna was on a towel now, there were still partial mud-tracks leading from the mansion’s entrance. It wasn’t a huge deal, and Lord knew the mansion had dealt with worse, but Liz wasn’t thrilled with just leaving an obvious mess up to someone else when she could do something about it then.

“But you needn’t worry about dangerous animals anyway. We don’t have any of those here on campus, unless you happen to be allergic to bees or something.” Liz knew that one for a fact. She was starting to incorporate spot possessions in her walks and jogs with Zorro in order to keep her nose to the ground, so to speak.

Not seeing a mop immediately, Liz glanced back at Luna, who now looked like she belonged with The Supremes. Liz hid the huge smile that threatened to burst onto her face and settled for a small grin. “Loving the hair,” she said, swiftly following up with a chuckle at Luna’s joke. “Heh, I should hire you to take care of my hair,” she said with an exaggerated toss of her wavy blonde locks. “We could bring back all those looks from the 80s.”

Liz specifically didn’t pay attention to the ear scratching or the various other little signs of nerves. What kid liked that being focused on? What adult, even? So she sought to do something to get the girl’s mind off being potentially embarrassed or anxious or whatever (Liz couldn’t feel her emotions, so sue her for guessing). “How about after you dry off a little we go see if we can scrounge up some hot chocolate?”

She supposed it was, as she kept at getting dry. She was going to need a land bath for this one. Still she could not think of any of her other Teachers who would have helped and been cheerful about it before the mansion. Though it had been years since she was in actual school. She also knew the Mansion was a different and beautiful place.

She smiled. "It does and i quickly learned the lessons of not keeping up. Matting and i even got fleas shortly after i got the power. When i spray people it can get in the fur as well and well i don't mind the smell others very much notice" she said with a laugh. It had been an issue early on when she was more prone to spraying out of fear then need.

She had been trying to allay Liz's fears when she mentioned predators but now she considered that might not of been the best idea. She laughed "That's true, I guess if their was anything dangerous it would have long since left or been removed. Real skunks will break into a bee nest and eat the bee's and the honeycomb. I think the fur would prevent the stinging but i would not wanna try it out" she said having actually considered it on a few occasions only for her worry s to prevent her from it.

She laughed again, enjoying Liz's company quite a bit. "You would have to show me them but we could try. I am fourteen so i missed that era by a bit" she said sounding a little apologetic at the end. Her taste music wise was more in line with the Taylor swift and other more modern pop culture icons. "I think this year might be more fun then i thought. Been Three years since i was in an actual classroom. My mom home schooled me for the last two" she said even as she bent down searching through her pack.

She extracted a boar bristle brush and removed her glasses began trying to get the fur on her face and head to at least behave and got some success at it, putting her glasses back on. "We have that here? Sounds great, I Love it but had been two afraid to go the store for some." she said honestly and revealing a bit more then she had meant to.

Her embarrassment was evident as she wrestled with asking a question. "Do you find Humans scary?" she said almost regretting the question before it left her muzzle. She knew or atleast felt it was wrong but Humans or those she did not know were Mutants terrified her and tended to send her right to wanting to flee very fast.

“My, that sounds like an awful experience!” Liz chuckled. Thankfully Luna seemed to have her spraying power under control. If her spray was as powerful as an actual skunk’s, she could foresee it being a terrible doom when accidentally unleashed. “I agree,” Liz added. “Probably best not to risk messing with bees.”

It was refreshing to interact with someone so lighthearted, even after apparently spending the night outside and getting caught in the rain, which would be far more of a concern for a fur-covered person than someone with mostly hairless skin. And then:

“How old do you think I am?!” Liz said with a laugh. “Wait, don’t answer that. I missed the 80s too, but we still have shows and movies and music videos from then.” She held up her hands in surrender. Granted, being homeschooled could account for that. Well, if you lived under a rock. “We’ll have to make you a playlist or something. So much...culture...to absorb.”

Liz waved the girl off. “You shouldn’t need to worry about buying your own food, not unless you want something specific. We take care of that here, although don’t go overboard,” she said, making sure to get that last part in. The last thing she needed was to accidentally kick off midnight smorgasbords every night. “I haven’t checked, but when I used to attend there was always a stock of cocoa mix.” She smiled warmly at the skunk girl.

And her smile froze.

Luna was afraid of humans.



Liz opened her mouth and froze again. She frowned, but then hardened into a resolute expression. “I find some humans scary,” she said levelly, looking straight into Luna’s eyes. “I find some mutants scary. People as a whole are good, though.” There was no doubt about that in Elizabeth’s mind. Even after all of her own experiences.

She smiled brightly. “But I think we’re gonna need hot chocolate for that conversation. We can head off to look whenever you think you’re dry enough. Or if you want to get changed into some dry clothes you can just meet me in the kitchens. Up to you.”

"It was, i wore two flea collors and we had to have the house fumigated. The combine for the eggs took hours as well" she explained. With five foot of fluffy tail and her own five foot body she had a lot of area to cover. She had considered cutting or shaving it but her mom had reminded her that even shaved she would still have the tail, ears, claws and muzzle. Her mom had told her she looked great in fur.

She considered mentioning that she had not been aloud much time online or on news sites. Youtube had been a big no by her mom she had never quite figured out. She was glad Liz did not want her guessing her age because Luna knew her own approximate judgement on that was not well tuned. She did laugh back however rather enjoying her time with this teacher.

Liz's next words were in part why Luna admitted to her fear of humans. The mansion had all the food she could want and she did know this, however she had in large part been trying to overcome her own fears on the trip, reasoning that even close to the mansion most people who would be there were human. She had been right on that terrifyingly so. She had been scared but forced herself to go.

Luna asking about weather liz found Humans scary took the lighthearted fun mood and set it aflame. She caught the frown, and her tail lowerd a few inches in response. She kept direct eye contact with Liz when she looked into her eyes but was glad to break it as well. Her mine flooded with possible disaster scenarios and mental fantasies where she never asked the question and they simply went on got food.

Back in reality, she believed what Liz was telling her, she knew that their were good and bad people in any group. Why then did the sight of a Human or someone who she thought might be Human inspire such fear in her? "I know your right and not all people are bad but um I'll go get changed, ill be right back" she said glad to have an even temporary escape from the situation.

She took off at a quick pace, her clawed feet causing an echoing clicking as she moved. She made it to her room, letting out several colorful words, maybe louder then she should have and hoped those in the surrounding rooms had gone out or were still asleep. Not able to really calm herself as she changed she tossed in a hairdryer and and brush to further dry herself and not quite look like the 80's band mentioned by Liz.

Now in a fresh T shirt and a knee length skirt she took a look at herself and figured it worked well enough. She considered staying in her room but quickly dismissed the idea as she knew Liz was her teacher and lived in the same place. Which made avoiding her for eternity tough. It took nearly fifteen minutes for her to change and get her fur somewhat decent but she did make her way to the kitchen, glad for the sparseness of people at the early hour. She took a seat carefully maneuvering her tail so it hung off the side, making her sit at a bit of an angle on the chair. "Did you find the hot chocolate? she ventured trying to delay the now inevitable conversation they had to have.

The girl went skittering off deeper in the mansion and Liz took the opportunity to have a good, long yawn. It was still pretty early, after all, and she maybe hadn’t gotten all the sleep she’d normally have preferred. She was lucky to have been able to suppress it for the whole conversation.

Liz figured she had about five to ten minutes before Luna showed up at the kitchen, if she even did. Liz wouldn’t blame her if she decided to not come and hang out with the older person who just so happened to also be a teacher. But in case she actually did show, Liz decided to start strolling away to the intended destination, making a mental note to try and find a mop to clean up the water.

By the time Luna showed up, Liz had been able to find the cocoa mix and more. “Sure did!” she said with a wide smile. “Found marshmallows too! The multi-colored kind!” Because those were by far the best kind. Liz brought over the box of cocoa packets and the bag of marshmallows to where Luna was. The stash hadn’t changed much from where she’d remembered it, in one of the out-of-the-way cupboards that only really nosy students or students who actually cooked once in a while would find.

“I’ll get the mugs. You mind grabbing some milk? I’m not a fan of just hot water as a base.”

Luna made her way to get the milk, finding it after a few moments. The Mansion fridges were large and she knew it was likely hard to hide anything in them despite that. But Liz had found some somewhere and marshmallows as well. "Those sound good to" she said. She was certainly a fan of marsh mellows as well though she could not recall having rainbow ones before. She set the milk down next to the other stuff.

She helped where needed or asked. "Oh, my mom restricted me from the internet and limited what tv i could watch after i got out of the coma. Kept me from talking with my old best friends as well" she said matter of fact, she had known that her mom could not enforce such restrictions now but had been cautious about such things as they seemed vast and unwieldy.

"Was adjusting to being a mutant hard for you?" she asked casually trying to make light conversation and delay the inevitable. Most had a story involving their powers after all so in general it was a good inroad she felt. She felt like she had adjusted easily after a bit of trouble at first herself, but keeping to herself so long had made it so she not had to encounter much of what many mutants inevitably did.

Liz rifled through several cabinets until she found one with various glasses and cups. She snagged a couple of mugs, snickered at them, and nudged the cabinet door shut as she returned to the table. She placed the mugs on the table and pushed them toward the girl. “Okay, you get first pick of the mugs,” she smiled. One said “#1 Dad” and the other simply had a glorious mustache on the front.

Liz grabbed the remaining mug and checked the milk’s expiration date. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the kitchen staff, she just wanted to make certain. It was good. “Alright, I think we’re in business,” she said as she snagged a pack of cocoa and ripped it open. “Go wild with the marshmallows!”

Liz only momentarily paused in her preparation of her beverage. “Coma?” she said, her ears perking up. “Why were you in a coma, if you don’t mind me asking?” Luna had said it so casually so it probably wasn’t a big thing, but “coma” was one of those words that triggered Liz’ attention, especially when a kid was talking about themselves. The rest of what Luna had said about restrictions could wait to be unpacked later.

“No, it wasn’t that bad adjusting,” Liz said as she reached for the milk to begin pouring it into the mix. She tapped herself on the temple. “Course it helped that my powers are all psychic. Nothing too obvious to make people even take a second look at me. Controlling those powers was another thing entirely!” She laughed, only slightly self-deprecatingly. She hadn’t walked the path that many of her fellow students had, being tormented and abused simply because of her looks. Her own experiences had been just as painful though, even if the scars were only on the inside.

She smiled back and took the mustached one, she could relate to facial hair, despite the differences. After seeing Liz check the date on the milk and finding out it was all right she two ripped open a bag of coa coa using one long nail to puncture the hole and tear open the top to empty it into the cup before adding the milk. She was just adding the milk when the question came and she almost spilled the container and but avoided it just in time.

"It's why I'm here really' she said nervously, and she gazed at the coa coa a moment before she looked back at Liz. "My parents and i had just moved, i was starting a new school and on the third day while my class was in hulls, an Anti Mutant group broke in. We were all terrified but only i grew fur which meant when they found us they went right to me. He struck me on the back of the head with the gun and i woke up a year later." she said putting some marsh mellows in her coa coa almost as an after thought as she took a drink. "I tried to ask what happened but my best..old best friend i mean only would say a women sheathed in pink saved her and just cried when i asked more she went on, a visible shiver running through her.

"After i awoke, things were different. I tried to go to public school and do other normal things but when i knew their were humans or did not know they were mutants, fear would....does rise up inside me. Every part of me demands i run, that i get away as quickly as possible, and hide. Mutants don't trigger it at all." she said finishing her account of her powers and why at least as much as she understood it had the fear she did and why she had not been in public school for so long. She felt large amounts of shame at her fear.

"I can imagine powers from the mind would be tough to control." she said thinking about it for the first time. Part of her rather shelterd life had meant she had not encountered many mutants before coming to the Mansion. "Not having control must seem so scary and frustrating though. I bet it still felt like everyone was looking when things happened" at least thats how she would have felt in the situation,

Liz listened intently, but silently as the girl began speaking, holding back her thoughts from appearing on her face to any great extent. She wasn’t a counselor, no, and her powers couldn’t touch a person, but she was an adult and a teacher and human herself. And someone who cared. Even if the story was an echo of one she’d heard so much before, it was still enough to make her heart break just a little bit more.

“That’s terrible,” she said in a hushed tone. She didn’t say anything immediately after that. She didn’t want to just immediately throw platitudes and empty expressions on the girl, but she did want to acknowledge her. And empathize. She took her cocoa-milk to the microwave and put it in for a minute.

“I came here myself when I was about your age,” she began slowly. “Anti-mutant sentiment wasn’t a driving cause, but not long after arriving I was held hostage by a group of armed robbers. At the movies. And that was just the first of several encounters where I ended up completely helpless and at the mercy of others. Got to a point where I never left the grounds unless I had someone to protect me.” And those had been definite dark points in her life.

When the microwave went off, Liz retrieved her beverage. She snagged a spoon from a nearby drawer and knocked it shut with her hip as she stirred her concoction together. “Yeah, that’s a downside to mind powers. All it takes is a stray thought and BAM. Things happen.” She smiled. That was another thing that she’d fought hard to deal with. “I feel what animals feel and can make them feel what I want them to feel. But when you're a hormonal teenager frightened beyond belief, that can start a feedback loop you wouldn’t believe. Usually did make people look at me ‘cause I was the girl suddenly screaming and running for my life for no discernible cause.” Yeah, that hadn’t been a happy time.

She nodded in agreement. She knew her mom was trying to protect her from what happoned she just never quite understood why that was needed. She still saw it sometimes in her dreams. Still, she was glad when the conversation moved swiftly on, though she could tell the story would not be a happy one from Liz.

When Liz mentioned the hostage situation and the robbers she stroked part of her tail lightly with her claws. The womens words making her think a bit back to her last human experience. What got her attention was it had happened multiple times, to Liz who seemed so sunny and bright. "I know just how that feels" she said sincerely able to relate to Liz's story quite easily. The nightmares the woman must have had. Sometimes seeing the hope in Humans was hard and made her wnat to give in.

She took her turn at the microwave warming her coa coa. "So you have to keep control all the time?" she asked thinking that her own power basically required nothing from her. The idea of feeling what every animal around her felt seemed overwhelming to Luna which made Liz seem ever stronger in Luna's eyes.

She wanted to say she was not the type who would have stared. She knew herself better then that and even knew she likely would have felt bad for it after to. Still a part of her felt lucky not to have to deal with all that. Luna could hide very easily. She had more then once considered staying on Mansion grounds until she died. Liz however from what Luna could understand and with the pets she knew were here would never have had such a safety net. The grounds were safe from Humans sure but Animals were all over. She heard the microwave go off and carefully removed her cup and picked up a spoon.

She could relate to the people staring because running and/or screaming in terror for seemingly no reason to them. She had done that a number of times herself. "That does seem really hard. All that attention would make it hard to regain that control" she considerd what Liz had told her. "Are things better now then when you were a student like me?" she asked curiously, trying to coyly gauge the progress on humans seeing them as more then monsters.