“That’s putting it quite mildly,” Elizabeth agreed with a quick nod of her head. Oh yes, learning she was a mutant by getting temporarily locked out of her body with no idea if it was even possible to return, torn apart by grief and shock? The perma-smile shrank a bit.

Mischief flashed in her eyes as thankfully her embedded conversation chance snagged Jinka. Liz did not like dwelling on depressing topics any more than the next person, but she felt a policy of honesty and transparency was important for young mutants, especially new mutants who were also new to the school. At least insofar as it came to mutations. After all, part of why Liz lived and taught at the mansion was to be an example for other mutants, who might’ve undergone some of the same things she had.

“I did indeed,” she confirmed, winking once again at the lad. “Parrots tend to be fairly intelligent, mine particularly so. They’re capable of a lot of things.” She could almost see the wheels turning in Jinka’s head. She held up her hands in forestallment. “And no, before you ask, I don’t know where he gets his shanks from. I suspect he has a dealer, but I wouldn’t put it past him to craft them himself.” She tapped the side of her head. “I try to stay out of his noggin as much as possible - it’s better for everyone that way.”

Another wink, this one far more teasing.

Jinka felt his sympathy take the front wheel and his dimples left when Elizabeth's smile dimmed. It couldn't have been a pleasant memory to reflect on, even if it happened years ago. Something so jarring would likely drive him to insanity. Fighting to maintain a smile only spoke to the strength the woman before him held beneath such a carefree exterior. If the school could help her smile after something like that, then certainly they could help him, right? he thought so, or at least hoped so blindly. He opened his mouth to speak, but noticed the shift in conversation to the lighter side.

On the list of exotic pets, a parrot ranked pretty lowly on Jinka's tier list. Of course the aspect of violence bumped Nico up a few spaces, but it was good to know she wasn't fueling it. The bird was just wild beyond even animal standards."I used to have a dog when I was little, but he ran away. I could never read his mind, but I definitely tried at some point. I probably would've fainted if I ever got a response." He chuckled warmly in his seat, "I've always wondered if the voices in their heads matched their appearance."

"Probably a dumb question because normal birds don't stab people, but is Nico just a normal bird? Like, does he go around plotting the downfall of humanity, or am I just throwing the baby out with the bathwater?" His head tilted to the side slightly and his brows rose as he pumped the brakes on his train of thought. If he didn't stop it, he'd start asking if mutations popped up in animals and if there were snakes that could actually charm people or pigs that could truly fly. It happened to him often; he'd learn something and hit the ground running with speculations.

Elizabeth laughed. “Oh my, if animals had voices I don’t know if that would make things better or worse!” she said. “On one hand, they’d be more likely to clearly express their wants, needs, and intentions, but on the other hand, they’d be doing it all the time! I’m not sure I’d ever get anything done!” She stuck out her tongue briefly and deftly placed the tiny saws in their box in a drawer.

Liz clucked her tongue and frowned in thought. “You know, I’ve never really asked him,” she said after a moment. She shrugged. “Oh well, everyone needs a hobby, I guess.” She hid a grin. It was always fun talking about her animals. It helped how they played up their own stories so well. Anyone who ever made eye contact with Nico almost always believed all her exaggerated or totally fabricated stories about him.

“Nico has a voice when he chooses, but my German Shepherd doesn’t,” she said. “Although he’s currently waiting upstairs in my room for me to come and take him for a walk. He’s been a good boy all day and needs to stretch his legs.” Which reminded her. Where was Doc? It was so weird being in the infirmary without seeing him or at least a note.

"Very interesting hobby he's got for himself." Jinka said. He was surprised people were allowed to keep pets at the mansion. That... was actually kind of cool. Hearing about pets was always a treat, though it always made him want to meet them. Jinka definitely wanted to meet all of the animals that roamed the halls of the school, especially Elizabeth's, at some point. The boy's dimples returned when she laughed.

At the mention of a German Shepherd, Jinka got a little excited. It completely glossed over his question about animal voices. "What's his name?" He asked in a high-pitched tone, his excitement audibly peaking. There was something about dogs that he just loved deep within in being. Dog walking would be a dream job for him. "I feel him there. This guy needs to stretch his legs, too." He aimed a thumb at himself and kicked his good leg up to the point where he could touch the tip of his shoe with his hand. It had been so long since he'd done a proper stretch the idea of doing it made him happy, even if he knew he'd be very sore after. He retained most of his flexibility since his last competition, but he doubted he'd be able to pull out a scorpion as easily as before without some practice.

“His name is Zorro,” Elizabeth said, rolling the Rs expertly. She grabbed the small pile of forceps on her tray and moved them to the proper location. Her smile naturally brightened - talking about her pets was a guaranteed way of accomplishing that. “Named after the swashbuckler, of course. I mean, technically it means fox, and the character was named that on purpose, but hey, it works.” She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion, even though Jinka probably couldn’t see them anyway.

At that point the doors to the infirmary swooshed open and a man in a lab coat came in. He held a folder in his hands and was reading it intently, not even noticing that there were other occupants in the room until he’d gone about ten or twelve feet.

“Hello, Doc!” Liz said merrily and she got on her tippy toes to put away something else.

The man stopped and looked up, blinking owlishly for a moment as he refocused on the world around him. He smiled. “Ah, Elizabeth. Good afternoon. Finally finished the dissection lab, yes?”

“Sure did!” she said, treating the doc with another blinding smile. “Just putting away the borrowed tools now.” She jerked a thumb over at Jinka. “By the way, you’ve got a patient. This is Jinka, he’s a new student.”

Doc nodded, seeing where Liz was going. “Yes, yes. Thank you, Elizabeth,” he said before turning to Jinka. “Jinka, is it? You can call Doc, or Doc Prof. Most everyone around here does. What seems to be the issue?” he asked politely and warmly.

Jinka perked up a little as another person entered the room. The lab coat told him the man was the doctor they'd been talking about a few moments ago. After about a second or so he realized Doc was unaware of their presence. Luckily, Liz said something. As his attention switched over to the boy, Jinka rose his hand to give a small wave, chirping,"Hello." The energy that previously charged his words had evened out enough to speak normally. His smile softened as his excitement shifted to another subject.

When asked, the boy rocked his leg on the heel of his cast. "I broke my ankle," He admitted sheepishly, gaze drifting away from him to the leg, "Sports accidents, ya know? It's always the gamble you take doing something dangerous for fun." Jinka looked back to the Doc, "But I'm sure you've dealt with worse here, especially with so many mutants around here." Again, it felt weird to think he was a part of the category. He expected to feel different after having his biology display itself in such a way, but nothing changed except the guilt that lingered over him whenever he looked at his leg.

Elizabeth couldn’t help but overhear everything as she worked to finish putting away everything she had borrowed. Not that she was going out of her way to not eavesdrop, of course, but it wasn’t exactly like this was a state secret or anything. She hummed a little ditty as she stacked and clinked and replaced the last of the tools.

Doc smiled at the kid. “True,” he admitted. “But it’s still refreshing to see something on the lighter end of the injury scale. Less of a headache for all those involved.” Sports injuries weren’t commonly seen around the mansion, so it was actually somewhat of a relief to have something so...typical.

“I’m going to take a closer look,” Doc said. He set his clipboard and papers on a nearby table and approached Jinka. “I’m going to lay my hand on you and go into a trance. That will let me see the exact nature of your injury and how best to heal it.” It was always good to warn people what to expect, especially when they’d never met him before. “May I?” he said, before touching the kid.

Jinka felt a sense of ease overcome him with Doc's words. His confidence made it easy to go along with the process, nodding as he explained how he would do his thing. "Of course." He said, relaxing a bit as the man's hand touched him. Questions raked his brain as he waited, the first being what the Doc's powers were. It added to the vastly widening horizon of mutant abilities he was considering could be possible. Could someone cook a chicken by staring at it? Probably, but if it were that specific he'd be freaked out. The cogs were visibly turning in his head again, this time in hyperdrive.

The speedster blinked his eyes rapidly once he realized he spaced out. His attention drifted back to the doctor, watching as he started his procedures.

The healing didn’t take long. Liz watched it out of the corner of her eyes. She’d seen the doctor at work before, of course, but it was still fascinating to see him actively utilizing his power. The light his hands emitted as he laid them on Jinka, the sensations that would come from it. She’d been fortunate to have never needed his services severely, usually just scrapes or scratches from her training or adventures with Sam. Still, it was a fascinating process.

“All done,” Doc said with a smile, rubbing his hands together as if to turn off his power or something. “How do you feel?”

Elizabeth returned the metal tray to its appropriate spot (making only some minor clattering sounds along the way) before coming back over to Jinka and the Doc. “Isn’t the doc amazing?” she said with a wide smile. “By the way, Doc. I replaced all the instruments I borrowed. Thanks again for letting me use them!”

Jinka's eyes widened like saucers once he realized there was light emmiting from the doctor's hands. He could feel a tingle in his foot, and soon it ran up his entire leg before the feeling left with the touch. The boy's toes wiggled, testing himself out. When the null pain that normally came didn't, Jinka lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh my god," He slowly pushed himself to his feet, teetering slightly on the rounded bottom of the cast as he put some of his weight on the ankle, "Oh my god..." He leaned to the side a bit, knocking his crutches to the floor.

He lifted the foot up and looked to Elizabeth with a smile, soon shifitng its energy to the man, "I don't think I can thank you enough! I thought I'd be on crutches for another month, at least. You really are a miracle worker." The speedster woddled awkwardly toward the doctor and embraced him. It had been a while since he'd been this euphoric, so the boy was visibly shaking with joy. There were some many things he wanted to do now that he was able to move around.

Elizabeth returned Jinka’s smile with fierce joy. She allowed it to surge through her and outward, causing any nearby animals, however small, to suddenly feel like the world made sense and everything was going to be amazing!

Doc chuckled good-naturedly as he was hugged. He absently patted Jinka’s back a couple of times. “My pleasure,” he said with a smile. “Now we can just see what we can do about getting your cast off. Assuming you want it removed of course.” He winked at Jinka. Who wouldn’t want a plaster sock taken off?

“How’s it feel?” Liz said, indicating Jinka’s leg with an open hand. She couldn’t know the specifics of what Doc had done, but she’d seen various instances where even after a healing things still hurt or needed repairing on their own. Sometimes the person was perfectly whole and hale. And other times it was practically magic, the person suffering no side effects or continual effects. Besides, she was a scientist. She was innately nosy.

Jinka pulled away from the doctor and stabilized himself a bit, balancing on the cast enough to apply some pressure to the foot once more. He was relieved to be able to rest his weight on both feet again, though the cast had become more awkward than ever now that it wasn't necessary. The boy pulled down his bunched up windbreaker and gave the man a nod, "Yes, please. Saw it off if you have to." One of the first things on his mobility agenda was reaffirming his tumbling. He still had hope to see the mat again, and he wanted all of his skills primed and ready when he did. Now that he was in the States, he could try to join one of the large gyms that always took the globes home at Worlds.

He turned to Elizabeth and lifted his other leg to fully balance on the cast for a few seconds. The boy's expression didn't show a hint of pain. "Feels like I never broke it, honestly. It's as good as gold." Jinka said, standing semi-normally again. That fact felt weird to say aloud, but he had quickly grown to expect that. If he wanted to find out what he could do, he would have to warm up to the possibilities. Another task on his mental "to-do" list was learning about some of the mutants around campus. There was bound to be someone who could relate to him, and at the very least he'd get to see what the mansion's student body was made of.

Doc smiled again at Jinka. Naturally the boy wanted the cast gone. “Of course.” He glanced over at Liz. “Elizabeth? Would you mind getting the cast saw for me? It’s in the drawer underneath the scalpels.”

Liz was already nodding. “Sure thing, Doc,” she said and whirled away to the far wall and all of its drawers. She opened one or two drawarers first, trying to remember where the scalpels had been (when she’d put them up she had more or less been exploring the drawers first and matching her borrowed tools to whatever had already been in the drawers). Second later she found the right drawer and from there she was able to locate the saw.

She trotted back over to Doc and Jinka and offered the doctor the saw. “Here you go,” she said, taking the end of the power going and walking around the bed to plug the saw in.

“Thank you my dear,” Doc said as he carefully knelt down by Jinka’s foot and began sawing through the cast.

When he was finished, Liz quickly took the saw and helped him back to his feet. “Good work, Doc.”

Jinka was somewhat joking when he asked them to saw it off, but he wasn't going to complain-- as long as they got it off. He held still as the doctor began to cut through the cast, soon liberating his leg from it's tight embrace. Once it was done the boy slid it off and rolled his ankle testingly. "Freaky..." he muttered, planting his foot on the ground. He shuddered, finally able to feel the cool tiles with his skin.

He giggled a little, toes wiggling as he took comfort in his returned mobility and warmed the flooring beneath. There truly wasn't much he could think of in terms of repayment short of another miracle."Now I get to hobble around here with one shoe on until I find my bags," Jinka realized aloud, looking up to Liz and Doc, "Where... exactly would I find them, anyway?" When he thought about it, he realized he'd still yet to navigate most of the place he'd find new shelter in; that, and he didn't see where his stuff was taken. There were many things he had to do to properly establish himself in his new environment, but he figured his first order of business would be putting on his other shoe.

As Elizabeth took the cast over to the trash receptacle, holding her breath the entire time, Doc briefly covered some basic instructions for recovering after such an injury. It was a lot shorter than most doctors gave, since his power was highly regenerative, but it wouldn’t hurt to take things a little easier for the next day or so.

Liz returned to the bed, feeling a bit of pride and excitement as watching Jinka take some of his first steps in the mansion with that particular foot. It reminded her of a bird leaving the nest, which is essentially what he was. Young, uncertain, and entering unfamiliar ground.

Case in point, he didn’t know where his bags were.

Liz blinked at Doc then back at Jinka. “Um, wherever you put your bags?” she said a bit uncertainly. He’d said he was a student, hadn’t he? “Did you not bring luggage or anything with you when you got here?” she asked. “If not, I guess you could always just go barefoot until they arrive - we do keep clean floors around here.”