Things were actually...good. Celeste had a hard time believing it but things were going fairly well at the mansion. She was making friends, doing well in classes, being more social, she was even learning to talk more. She had to thank Doc Prof and Praxi immensely for his assistance in helping her speech development. After spending so long with unused vocal chords, it was no wonder she had such trouble. But things were different now and she in no way wanted things to go back to the way they were.

Standing in line at the reference desk of the mansion library, Celeste was already looking like a completely different person than she did when she first appeared at the mansion’s doors. She still held on to her old habits, going to far as to only wear the clothes that her oppressors deem her to wear. But that was a far cry from who she was now.

Dressed in black leggings, rainbow striped socks, and a loose, off-the-shoulder, neon yellow top with a red tank underneath, she honestly thought she was quite fashionable. Yes it had earned her a few looks here and there but for the most part she figured they were looking anyways, why not dress in something comfortable?

Or, as she has heard others say, retro.

When her turn came, Celeste stepped up to the counter with a wide smile. Her neon pink hair bobbed softly with each movement of her head. Eyes the color of starlight wide and engaging as she spoke with the librarian. Since her time here she had started to make more and more use of the library. Learning so much everyday helped with her vocabulary.

The librarian handed her a sheet of paper, a list of book suggestions she should tackle next. A halo of planetoids around her head nodded along with her head as she gave her thanks. ”Many thanks to you…” she said slowly and with purpose through her now heavily accented voice. ”I am...no…will...go looking for the books.”

Stepping away, the galaxy-skinned mutant turned, her eyes plastered onto the sheet in her hands. The swirls of nebulas and stars that raced slowly across her body glowed in colors of sweet softness as she walked. When she spotted the range of shelves she was supposed to be looking in, she rounded the corner, her eyes darting back to the sheet, and that was why she wasn’t paying attention.

Thump.

Celeste jumped, the body of another appearing directly in front of her before she could clock it. She let out a small yelp, her eyes widening, the list of books clutched to her chest. When she regained her composure, she let out a shaky smile.

”A-Apologies…” she started. ”Not...watching my steps. Are you well?”

The library was often an escape. Even for Himari it provided a quiet sort of solitude. Though in her case it rarely had anything to do with the books and far more to do with the quiet. Her sister had no doubt gone off sticking her whiskers in all manner of interesting books and not feeling particularly explorative today Himari simply had gone into one of the most distant aisles of books, though not the last one after she discovered a pair of students engaged in very personal anatomy studies, and found a nice shelf to lean back against to take a nap. Given her own spreading reputation for a total disregard towards anything academic it was also the perfect place to hide.

Not that she had anything personal against books in particular. Just most were in English which she wasn't particularly good at reading and writing in. A vast amount also contained nothing of interest to her usual hyper-focused set of interests. That left the perpetual subdued tones the library one of the best places she had found on the Mansion grounds for a nap. At least until the wonderful abyss was interrupted.

She felt someone run into her solid body and violet eyes snapped open and muscles tensing briefly, ready for a fight until the.. walking galaxy spoke. Himari failed to fully suppress a shiver as she spotted a particularly dark patch of skin as she was reminded of her own powers. After the appraising up down her smile snapped into place on her face as she shrugged. "All good." She responded in her own heavily accented English, it was mostly faked of course, but she didn't trust anyone in the school enough to reveal that fact. It was easier to learn all sorts of interesting tidbits when people didn't think you understood what they were saying. 

Himari made it a point not to stare since her own appearance typically drew eyes to her and knew how it felt. After a moment of consideration that her current hiding spot was ruined she stepped away from the shelves she was leaning on and stretched grandly, body shifting back into proper alignment with a series of pops and clicks and the girl looked ready to run an Olympian marathon. "You oks?" Or course given the giant stature of everyone outside Japan land was forced to look up at the woman to track her eyes. Inwardly chuckling at the fact that most people that ran into her usually felt it in the end, but with far more knuckles involved. 

Stooping a moment to pick up the backpack and long tube-like art case at her feet and sling them over her back with a solid thump and taking a moment to adjust her uniform. True it was from her old school that she hadn't attended much, but it provided a level of familiarity that was welcome since she had come to America. "Need somethin'?" Glancing towards the paper in her hands. Maybe she was apart of one of the mansion groups looking for members or a survey. Ugh. Or even worse some sort of hall monitor tasked with tracking her absentee self for class. A slightly more scrutinizing gaze placed on the nebulas woman. Body tensing and ready to bolt.    

Celeste was immediately apologetic. Her head lowered, her eyes downcast. In that moment she was back on Atlantis, trying to show her remorse for her mistake. Such mistakes could be punishable by a multitude of unsavory things, including whippings, chains, or public displays of humiliation -- or even worse. They were things she didn’t want to experience or even think about. And though she wasn’t in Atlantis anymore, they were fears that still lingered and would be hard to shake away.

When she finally remembered her surroundings, Celeste lifted her eyes and found herself staring at a fellow mutant. A young teen, around her own age, had been sitting on the ground. Her pink hair immediately caught the living galaxy’s starlit eyes. Pretty color. Unnatural, of course, but pretty.

She refocused on the young girl who confirmed that she was fine and inquired of her own status. Celeste looked down upon her own body, rotating her arms and turning her ankles. After a second, she nodded her head, offering her a relieved smile. ”I am well,” she said in her measured tone. ”No hurt. Just startle.”

She took a few cautious steps back, her twinkling eyes looking between the girl as she stood up and the bookshelves that were directly behind her. Her fingers continued to clutch the paper she had in hand, bringing it up to read it but for some reason unable to focus long enough to decipher. Softly she chewed on her bottom lip, tilting to look at the books before her attention was drawn back.

Did she need something. She certainly did. She needed books, but where to find them and how to decipher the librarian’s written instructions were lost upon her. Normally the librarian got the books for her as she had yet to master the classification system. She was lucky she made it this far on her own.

She showed the slip of paper to the pink-haired mutants. ”Books. I seek books. Librarian gave this…” she showed her the paper. ”But...unsure of where they are.” She paused, took a breath and offered another soft smile. ”Can...help?”

It took the short warrior a moment to think back through her sleep fuzzy brain to realise the fellow mutant had been pretty deferential about the entire incident. A situation that reminded her too much of a visiting cousin the family estate. Maybe even a bit awkward at having bumped into and almost tripping over someone audacious enough to sleep in a library. Suppressing another sigh she forced herself to relax. Who was she kidding, nothing interesting ever happened in libraries.

Turning her attention more fully on her awakener she giggled a bit at the self check she did. It was rather endearing somehow. As Celest spoke more she realized English was probably not the galaxy girl's first language either. That complicated things as Himari would rather avoid a misunderstanding with two poorly speaking individuals. Happy she was unhurt Himari replied with a brief even brighter smile. "Good." It was always hard to tell with mutants just how fragile they might be.

As she continued to watch Celeste's face and body language turn trepidation and worrying at her lip Himari giggled warmly and a soft "Kawaii." Slipped from her lips followed quickly by a blush that presented itself entirely too well on her pale features. Oops she hadn't meant to say that out loud at all! The more she tried to get rid of the blush she felt burning on her face the worse it seemed to get. Oh kami was she making the other girl nervous?

Books? Ah good books. Books were boring and non threatening to poor self abasing Japanese girls. Not her favorite subject, but today they turned saviour from her own sudden and unexpected inner turmoil. Her own English sharpened up considerably  as she decided to try and salvage the situation with her inadvertent knowledge of the typical library filing system. Thanks nerdy sister! "It would be my honor to help. Just don't tell anyone I helped you with library stuff.. or that my English is actually good." Making sure her words weren't slow perse, but precise and easy to follow. Looking about a moment for any potential people who could overhear her not sounding like a really bad English speaking Japanese person reeling off movie quotes.

Ensuring she smiled brightly back at Celeste she bowed some then touched a hand to her chest. "I am Himari. You?" Ensuring introductions was key to being polite and she didn't want to bother explaining how Japanese names worked quite that moment. "The filing system should be similar to the Japanese one. I am not good with reading English, but the important part is the numbers." Moving to stand at Celeste's side so she could point them out. Her eyes glazing right off the English letters to the numbers. A finger  touching on her chin as she thought back to what her brain regarded as discarded information to all the trips her sister made her do to libraries. "First one is section.. don't remember how each one is divided, but I am pretty sure there are 9 or 10. Then if I remember correctly each number after that divides it to be more and more specific." Pointing out the matching similarities between where she was at and the nearby books. "So if we just follow these along we should get to your first book eventually." Shyly shrugging and smiling as she didn't feel like that was much help at all. 

"Ummm do you want me to tag along until we find them all? I am sure the both of us can figure it out." Speaking with a confidence she didn't feel at the moment. She just wanted the pretty girl to say yes so she could hang out with her more. She was the least likely guid in the entire school to be navigating a library. Himari wasn't sure to be grateful the galaxy woman hadn't heard of her and her reputation or not.

There was still a lot that Celeste needed to learn about living on the surface world. Yes, a lot of time passed since she arrived but, to be fair, a good portion of that was spent hiding in her room, scuttling from corner to corner, stealing snacks and finding isolated spots where she could hide until she felt comfortable enough to return to her room. She survived like a rat, slinking from shadow to shadow, just willing to see what the next day would bring.

But now, things were so different. Yes she was still nervous, yes she didn’t know a lot, but at least now she was willing to try. She had friends and people she could turn to, and now she wasn’t so afraid of meeting other people. Other people were...interesting.

The pink-haired girl, for example. Celeste found her intriguing, to say the least. She was pleasing to the eye, something that the Atlantean was not afraid to admit anymore. But as she observed her, she could also see that this girl was kind and offering to help. After ensuring that she was okay, Celeste admitted what she was looking for and inquired if assistance could be offered.

With the caveat that her help not be revealed, Celeste hid a smile behind the papers she held, and nodded her head. ”Secret. Yes. I shall keep.” With another confirming nod, she followed the other through the stacks of books.

They had only traveled a short while before introductions were offered. The pink-haired delivered her name and Celeste committed it to memory.

”Himari. Nice to meet.” she replied. ”Caelistis,” she referred to herself, then stopped and scoffed. ”No. Wait. Old name. Um,” she prodded her own chest. ”CEL-ESTE. New name. Better.”

There were times where Celeste still reverted back to her original name. There was nothing wrong with that anymore but she associated that name with slavery and abuse from the Altantean royalty. That was not something she wanted to be remembered as anymore. But Celeste. That was a suggestion by Mama T, and one that she was happy to accept.

Eventually they found the bookshelves they were looking for and, with Himari’s help, Celeste understood a bit better what the sling of letters upon the sheet met. They were coordinates, cycling down to the exact book that she was looking for. There was a similar system in the library in Atlantis, but she had been forbidden to go on her own. The only time she was there was as a token from the king in order to appease the librarian. That, like many nights, was something Celeste would rather not recall.

”Much clearer. Thank you.” She bowed again, offering the girl a warm smile before she bit her bottom lip softly and gently moved past her.

Her eyes roamed the spines of the books, until she was able to track down the one she sought. As she pulled it from the shelf, Himari inquired if she wanted further assistance, at least until she found the rest of her books. Turning back to her, Celeste blue-white, starlight eyes watched her closely before another smile adorned her face. The stars in her cheeks shifted from a soft, glowing white into a warm, flushed pinked as she nodded her head.

”Ugh...y-yes…” she said, standing back down on the flats of her feet. ”Acceptable. Enjoy company.”

When Celeste said she was going to keep her little library intervention a secret her appreciation jumped up a few notches. Which based on her look sand demeanor already put her above the rest of the people in the mansion but a noticeable amount. With everything proceeding so wonderfully it was impossible to keep a genuine broad smile on her face. Any attempts to shove the dusting of rose off her cheeks forgotten as they slowly got to know one another better. It was an honest show of her current feelings so why hide it?

As Himari lead the way she fell into her usual confident steps, walking with a hint of restrained enthusiasm, but still retaining her dancer's grace. The backpack on her frame obviously heavy by the way it sagged and bit into her shirt and the art case sidled next to it was almost as long as she was tall. Her long pink braid popping out from beneath the backpack betraying it's long length. 

Pausing as Celeste stopped to introduce herself with two names, matching pink eyebrows rising with obvious curious interest at the little internal exchange, but not willing to comment on it. Instead smiling even bigger to deliver a, "A beautiful name for a beautiful person." Almost regretting it as soon as she said it. Turning away slightly to hide her growing embarrassment and insecurity. Grandfather said to just say what one thought in these situations and she wasn't entirely sure it was working at all curse him!

Breaking her own internal monologue long enough to watch the girl approach and stepped back to watch her pass and search the shelves. She couldn't help it, Himari looked over the galaxy woman as she was distracted with pinpointing her exact book. Just a quick up down was allowed right? Oh Kami she was getting flustered and swimming out in some very uncharted waters. Pounding the tenets of bushido into her head for good measure to steel herself for the next few moments. A visible breath released as Celeste accepted her further company. Squeezing her hands tightly to keep from breaking the sacred sanctity of mellowed voices in a library.

A much more muted 'Wonderful." Escaping her lips then she would have preferred, grinning ear to ear and no doubt looking a bit manic. Not that she cared. "I enjoy your company too." Moving comfortably beside her new companion to peek at the list. "I am unable to read the titles what are these all about?" Obviously curious as to her interests and what she was reading even if it wasn't her thing per se. The space between the shelves giving them both just enough room to walk mostly side by side as they proceeded to the next target. Eyes glazing over the numbers until they reached the next one and then up the shelves. Placed just above their reach. "I got this one."

She squirreled her body down a bit then jumped into the air a ways, her power snapping into place to give her a sharp black outline as she froze in mid air, plucking the book out of its resting place she released it and landed on the floor with a dull thud, that brilliant grin of her in full effect a she handed it over. "There you go." 

It was nice to make friends. Celeste didn’t always seem open to the possibility when she first arrived here at the mansion, but as the days and weeks rolled on, she began to understand that the people here could be trusted -- at least to a certain degree. While trust was a rare commodity for the galaxy-swirling mutant, she was more open to the possibility now that she was learning the dynamics of the school and those who worked within.

And, at a glance, Himari seemed like a person who could be trusted. Awkwardly she smiled as she offered her name to her fellow mutant. For a moment she reverted to her old name but she quickly caught herself. She preferred Celeste. It was close enough to her old name that she wouldn’t feel completely unlike herself, but far enough away that she didn’t have to think about those bad days.

It was her taking control of her life and her identity, finally.

The galaxies in her cheeks colored at Himari’s compliment. Of course it wasn’t the first time she had heard such lines, even when coming to the school. A few of the students were intrigued by her presence in the school, others by her ethereal beauty. She still remembered the confusion she felt when that poor student handed her a flower and told her she was pretty.

Practically burned him alive with how offended she was by his advances.

But, she was getting better at taking compliments, obviously. There was no burning or flash frozen space when it came to Himari. Instead the galaxy girl merely bit her lip and looked away, pretending to look at her sheet of paper again. There were more books to find. However she wasn’t going to let Himari’s complement go without response.

”T-Thank you…” she said softly. After a moment of thought she responded with. ”Hi-mar-i…” she sounded it out. ”Name is…unusual to me...but...I like.” She nodded gratefully.

But books. They were on the hunt for books. Himari apparently couldn’t read their contents and wanted to know what they were about. Celeste smiled softly as she held up her sheet of paper. There was a globe printed on it and the words “WORLD HISTORY” written around it.

”History,” she said softly and then gestured to herself. ”From Atlantis. Lots I must learn up here.”

As she explained, Himari sought the next of her books -- which required a high shelf. Celeste would have been happy to find a librarian to fetch it for them but the pink-haired mutant had other plans. In a display of power she easily plucked the book from it’s spot on the shelf and hopped back down to hand it off to her. Surprised, Celeste took the book from her with a look of shock but also endearment.

Again she smiled, tucking the book with the others under her arm. ”Impressive...feat…” she said and gestured to the jump.

Things seemed to be going well with her new friend. Not that she had much previous experience to gauge such things on. It just felt.. right and nice.. and a whole thesaurus worth of other words that made her feel kind of warm and fuzzy. Why was talking to people so awkward? She wasn't going to let that deter her however! Only forward was her course. The galactic girl was hard to read maybe she was just shy?

"I am glad you enjoy it. It is the symbols for sun and love put together in my language." Sharing the little tidbit since she wasn't sure she had with anyone. Celeste also seemed like the sort to enjoy the little morsel of not entirely useless knowledge. She was also having a very hard time not smiling the whole time. Purple eyes scrutinizing the piece of paper as she held it up and drew her head back slowly as if it would somehow become clear if it wasn't so close until she gave up with a shrug and a grin. 

"Atlantis? Huh, I owe my grandpa some money the next time I see him. I'm from Japan and even then there is quite a bit I don't know about the world and its history. You look like you will have it all figured out pretty quick though." Gesturing to her growing collection of books. Not that Himari had any real drive to learn either, instead she added. "I know tons about Japanese history and my family history though. If you're ever interested I could tell you all about it?" Bouncing a bit excitedly on the balls of her feet. Turning on her toes as they moved in search of the next book as much to hide her growing blush as any other reason.

"Some things are easier for some than others.. t-thanks though." Puffing up a bit out of pride as they meandered through the stacks to collect more of her treasure list of books. Stopping as they found the next one she idly played with the end of her long braid. "So, umm... I was wondering if.. you wanted to grab something to eat after we drops your books off at your room?" Why was all the oxygen suddenly gone? How was her heart beating so fast if there WAS no oxygen? UGH why can't I look her in the eyes! Inner turmoil growing exponentially in the eternity like pause as she awaited the starlights answer.

Celeste smiled. She wasn’t shy about her smile anymore. She used to always try to hide it. Giving a smile in Atlantis, especially in her position, was paramount of leading to a boatload of trouble. So it was just easier to learn to not smile. But living on the surface, making new friends, meeting new and caring people, with enough time, even Celeste was able to express her smile again. And it felt good.

Himari made her smile.

She smirked a little at the explanation of her new friend’s name. Sun and love. The thought made her blush a little. What were the chances she would meet a lovely girl with a name meaning “Sun”? She would have to think on the percentages later, but for now she just focused on collecting her books.

Of course she wouldn’t go the entire time without sharing more information about herself. In her observations on socializing throughout the school, she began to pick up some of the more subtle nuances. It was important for swap information about one another, to get to know a person you don’t know in different ways. For Celeste it was simple -- where she was from. That was a good place to start.

Her headed tilted oddly as she peered at Himari. ”Money?” she asked innocently. ”I...will remind. Curious as to why?” She asked. But at the prospect of learning more information about the world, she smiled brightly. ”Japan. Yes. Have read. Interesting and would love to know more.”

Drifting through the aisles behind Himari, the galaxy-swirling mutant continued to peer about the tall bookshelves, but not in any way neglecting the pretty, pink-haired mutant ahead of her. Often she found her eyes following her, tracing the lines of her shape and committing it to memory before turning her gaze away and to that same sheet of paper.

Bluish, starlit eyes roamed the page, tracking down the next book, however they lifted when Himiari turned and asked her a question. One that, to Celeste, sounded quite acceptable without really realizing any of the implications it could have. So...she nodded.

”Oh. Yes.” she nodded with a smile. ”That I would like.” It was nearing lunch time wasn’t it? Food was certainly good, especially with a pretty companion to share it with.

Despite the general rule of constrained noise in the library she found herself giggling. Maybe her English wasn't as good as she thought. "Nothing serious, I just bet my grandfather he was teasing me when he said Atlantis was real. Guess I was wrong." Giving a small, but powerful shrug that shifted the contents of her backpack a bit without disturbing her bright smile. "You will have to tell me all about Atlantis and I can do the same about Japan. I lived on one of the southern islands, guess in English it would be more rural? We had some land and I enjoyed spending my time in the forests and mountains." Continuing their little exchange with growing detail.

Normally libraries were an extreme source of boredom. Today however it was about as far from boredom as she could get without throwing a party and pissing off everyone, but her impromptu companion. Internally the band was playing as Celeste accepted her offer to eat together and she clutched both her fists to her chest to contain any outburst. Managing a louder then speaking tone "Awesome." With a heavily implied exclamation mark.  

Did that mean they were already friends? Maybe more?! Himari had no clue and couldn't wait to find out! As she turned about in search for the rest of the books there was a notable extra spring in her step almost a little skip in her normally self assured gait. "How many more books do we have to hunt down? You always check out this many at once?" An inquisitive eyebrow chasing the comment over her shoulder. It gave her more excuses to look over Celeste after all!

Hugging her books to her ample chest, Celeste smiled with her starlit eyes and nodded her head. She didn’t often like to talk about Atlantis but if someone wanted to know, she was willing to tell them the details that weren’t horrible. She wouldn’t talk about her time in the palace, but she would tell Himari of the churning waters, the schools of fish, and the undersea gardens that she visited many times in the past. Those were good memories she could cling onto and share.

”Yes,” she nodded. ”That is deal. I speak of Atlantis, you, Japan. I look forward.”

Another shy smile and Celeste pulled strands of hair behind her ear and following the signs on the shelves to reach the next and last book.

To be honest she was glad that she was almost done and invited to lunch. The hunger was beginning to grow in her belly and she had been craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for quite some time now. It had quickly become one of her favorite things to have on the surface, as there was no such thing in Atlantis. The texture, the sweetness, the stickiness, it certainly made for a meal that she could never forget.

And to share that with a new friend? That was the best of both worlds for her.

In many ways, Celeste was glad she came to the surface. Not only did it mean freedom from persecution in Atlantis, it also meant a chance for her to learn and exist in a state that she hadn’t before. She could learn, she could make friends, maybe even find love and family one day. The surface was a world of possibilities and one of those, of course, was a P-B-and-J sandwich.

Rounded the corner into another shelf, Celeste turned her pale eyes up to scan the bookshelves. Himari had asked how many more books there were to hunt down. And before she could get to her next question, Celeste continued down the aisle until her eyes locked onto the correct series of numbers and letters she needed.

With a victorious smile she pulled the book from the shelf and turned to Himari with a grin. ”Last one.” She nodded. ”Not all the time. Catching up now.” She smiled. ”No learn in Atlantis. Eager to learn here.”

It was difficult to put the new experience in something other then fighting terms. Martial skill was her passion closely matched for her love of the outdoors. So when further discussion was enabled Himari considered it a victory for further communication. For once she felt like maybe she should have tried harder to seek out friends in school who were understanding of her situation instead of mocked and viewed with fear, because of her personal choices and that of her sister being a creature of evil legend. Instead she had thrown up walls and become a vastly independent person to the point of being nearly antisocial. Now the walls were slowly breaking down and she found herself lost in a vast, but wonderful wilderness with no idea how she got there. It was a vast relief Celeste was easy to talk to! She would have to continue using her feelings to navigate as they served her well in the past.

"Me too! I will tell you all the best stories I promise." A bit of an outburst, but quiet enough to not be overheard. It would take ages to impart all she knew about her third favorite subject!

Stepping aside as Celeste soused out the location of her final book. Her heart swelling with happiness as she added to her friends independance. Himari herself always feeling.. hemmed in by dependency on anyone for anything, excepting of course her wonderful sister. 

Her own grand grin had diminished a bit in the waiting and flared brilliantly once again seeing her companions matching grin. "Perfect." Eyebrows contorting some at the mention of being unable to learn. Quietly remembering something her Grandfather said about paying attention to what wasn't said as much as what was. What had prevented her from learning in Atlantis? Or had a different name now she came to think of it. It certainly didn't seem like something to pry about the first day. Instead she filed it away to focus on happier thoughts!

"Not a big book person to be honest. I enjoy more physical activities like hunting, fishing.. outdoors activities you know?" Not quite willing to tell Celeste she enjoyed fighting too or at least striving to be the best. Some people reacted.. strangely in the U.S. to such  things for all their love of action movies and warrior culture martial arts were a bit outside the communal thought.

After a thought she added a bit bashfully, "Would you like me to carry some for you?" Trying to carefully phrase it so it wouldn't seem like Celeste needed the help carrying them, but offering to help do so. This conversation stuff was difficult when it mattered!

As they left the rows of books Himari slept back into silence and smiled over at Celeste when she could as well as falling in beside her when the spaces were open enough. Clearly relieved as they left the library and headed towards the dormitories to drop off the collection of books. Eyes alert for any potential trouble that might come to her or her new friend.     

Celeste was finding the surface world more interesting by the day. The people she met, the friends she was making, all of it was really turning the Atlantean’s experience around. Where before she was scared and untrusting, now she was open and more accepting. The staff could certainly count Celeste as one of their more successful stories. Or, at least they would once she managed to find a life skill and head out into the world herself.

If that ever happened.

A small blush of shyness colored her cheeks, causing her to hug her books to her ample chest. Would she ever have what it takes to start her own life? It wasn’t impossible. A few of the Atlantean refugees had come to Xavier’s, learned, and have begun to filter out into the world. But her? Would she ever be comfortable doing that?

Celeste shook the thoughts away. She wasn’t going to think about that now. there was still plenty for her to do here so she was going to focus on that instead. And speaking of…

”Physical...activity. Yes, yes,” Celeste nodded. ”Am aware. A boy. Scott...Spring? Plays the football. Asked me once to watch him play with his team.” She shrugged her shoulders. ”I found...boring. No explain rules. Just kept flexing.” She sighed. ”But outside is nice. Very pretty.”

The sports in Atlantis were different. Based on ancient Greek games, the majority of the time only the men played. Celeste never had been able to participate in them, as that wasn’t her job. Her job was to sit or stand in silence with whomever she was escorting for the day. While she preferred that to actually entertaining palace guests, Celeste still found it to be mind numbingly boring. Much like watching Scotty Springs flex.

Celeste moved to keep from bumping into a table and nearly tumbled her collection of books onto the ground. After readjusting, she looked at Himari and smirked. An offer of help was given and though normally her pride would keep her from accepting, in this case she knew when help was needed. She nodded her head and handed the pretty pink-haired girl a couple of the books to lessen her load.

”Thank you. Much help.”

It didn’t take much longer for them to make it out of the library. The line at the front desk wasn’t long and after handing off the books to be stamped and checked out under her name, both Celeste and Himari managed to collect them and wander off down the halls of the school, heading towards Celeste’s dormitory. When they finally arrived, with no incidents, Celeste stepped up to her door and managed to pull her key from her pocket.

”Ughh…” she thought for a second. ”...is mess. Apologies.”

The swirled of celestial clouds pinkened as she unlocked her door and stepped inside, allowing Himari entry.

The room itself was..interesting to say the least. A kaleidoscope of colors and decor, the room itself had posters and photographs of various things. Some were bands or comic books, other were pictures of sunsets or a blurry image of something that couldn’t be made out. It seemed that when given the freedom to decorate and express herself, Celeste didn’t stop to think of any theme in particular, if she liked it, it went on the walls or on a shelf.

To be fair, the room wasn’t really that messy. Some discarded clothing, an undergarment or two, and a few stacks of books, but other than that, everything was sort of in an understandable place. Celeste expertly maneuvered around her room, stopping at her writing desk where she placed the books down and gestured for Himari to do the same.

”Please. Here. Many thank yous.” she nodded and then gestured around. ”This my room. You like?”

Well Himari didn;t know of any Scott Spring, of course he seemed like the sort of person she'd have to beat up and who really asked bullies their names. What a meathead! "Ah, football isn't all that entertaining to me either. More of a participator anyway. Though my sister sometimes watches me fi- dance. I'd only flex if you asked." She teased to completely divert attention away from her slip in an even more embarrassing manner. Crap! That hopefully the swirling mass of  night sky hadn't noticed her slip! Somehow managing to blame Scott Springs for the whole incident the big muscle head that he was. If he hadn't already met a punch of hers already she would have to introduce him!

Once she had a few of the books in her hands the drag of weight was reassuring feeling amidst all the new strange ones raging within her. The former also being far more expertly handled then the latter. Managing another easy smile as Celeste offered her thanks and nodded in return. "Most welcome." She slipped out in more accented English as they approached the more occupied common areas. As with all things bureaucraticit felt like everything took ages to sort out all the details of Celeste checking out her assembly of books when in reality things were done in a short amount of time. 

Like most epiphanies of relevance, a thought occurred to her in a most unwelcome and sudden way. In what had started as a cheery walk in companionable silence towards the dormitories slowly turned into a steadily growing nervousness building in the pit of her stomach. Realizing she had never actually been to anyone's room or even a house of someone that wasn't related! Growing up had been a series of isolations, first because of social standing due to the family she belonged to, then as a mutant and morphing until it was simply because of the choices she made as an individual to be herself. She was hardly equipped to dealing with the anxiety of making a friend let alone visiting the room of one she could tell she had a huge crush on already.

Suddenly Celeste spoke again and as if waking from a dream they had arrived already, about a century too soon by Himari's reckoning. "It's fine I am sure." She demurred by some miraculous miracle of etiquette to be polite resurfacing from her youth. The portal opened and her confident steps carried her right to the threshold and she stopped entranced by the beautiful randomness of striking color of the walls somehow it felt right for Celeste's room to be decorated the way it was. As her gaze travelled lower drawn by some damnable instinct her eyes landed on a pair of panties and felt her face go flush with heat. The logical party of her brain stating rather blandly she owned and was wearing her own pair as the emotional side screamed about them being the galaxy girls. Staring for half a second, which was far longer then she needed to have the sight etched into her brain without her permission.

It wasn't until Celeste spoke again she crossed the threshold. She had a job to do after all! Pride and willpower giving strength to her wooden movements, almost all traces of her former graceful movements gone. Easing up to the desk and pausing a moment as if to say goodbye to the comforting, reassuring weight in her hands. Anxiety reaching a fever pitch of proportions she hadn't dealt with since childhood. Turning to face Celeste to bow politely. "It is wonderful." Which was completely true to her overwhelmed feelings. Right before Celeste's eyes she suddenly changed.

One moment she bent forward and said her gracious words and the next as she stood back up fox ears had sprouted on her head, the hair continuing to match her wonderful pink shade, a bushy fox tail sprouted unceremoniously from her tailbone, and as her eyes returned to the swirling galaxy of beauty her pupils had elongated vertically somewhat. The dramatic transformation easily missable if one blinked. Just as unmissable to Himari wa show her perception of the world shifted. Everything seemed so much sharper and intense clueing her in immediately to what had just happened. A look of horror briefly appearing on her face out of embarrassment, mostly for herself. She hadn't spontaneously transformed since a kid! "yip!"

A heartbeat later and faster than a human could have managed she was at the door. Two heartbeats of frozen inaction later the door was suddenly closed, and another after that she was up against the closest wall with her pack jabbed into her back and her long flowing tail covering her face as she clung to it with her arms. "S-s-s" Before giving up, English being far too hard right this second!

Some of the staff in the past have told Celeste that her room and it’s decor was headache-inducing. Honestly she didn’t know what that meant. If their head hurt, they could go see DocProf. He was a kind man who was able to heal all ailments. The cause of the pain couldn’t be her room either. Whenever Celeste looked upon it, it looked just find and she felt no different from it. It was a point that was further proven when Himari also confirmed that the room was just as wonderful as she thought it was.

"Many thanks," she says in response. "I like. It is me."

It was one of those new things that Celeste was learning. It was only to claim possession. In Atlantis, house slaves weren't permitted such freedoms. That meant she had rights and palace gorgons had no rights. She was little more than an ornament, not a living being.

But things were different now. The mansion taught her she could learn at get leisure, eat whatever she wanted, and own whatever she pleased (in reason). These were luxuries that Celeste now fully took advantage of and showed to whomever she chose. Today she chose Himari.

Her star lit eyes turned back to the pink haired girl and found herself surprised. She didn't know what was happening. One second Himari was looking around, enjoying the decor, and the next she'd suddenly seemed panicked. Her head tilted oddly, she slowly walked up to her embarrassed friend.

"Himari?" she asked calmly. It was only then that she noted the large ears and the big bushy tail she held in front of her face.

Fox. That was what she was reminded of. She had never seen one in Atlantis but on one of the many movie nights she started attending, someone put in "The Hound and the Fox". She found the little red talking animal the cutest. And it seemed there really was a cute fox mutant standing in her room.

She leaned in and peered closely at Himari. She reached hands up and gently placed them Himari's but made no attempt to pull them away. She just held them.

"I am sorry. You... embarrassed?" She asked carefully. Her smile twinkled with starlight as she gently warmed her hands over Himari's "It is...okay. I like. But...you can hide here until go away...if you want? I say nothing."