“I do forgive you Iris. You are my friend.”

Iris had mixed reactions to that statement. First and foremost, relief. Right on its heels came worry and uncertainty. What if it happened again? What if Nika was in danger again, or any of her friends, and Iris lost her nerve again? Or worse, tried to help and went berserk?

She felt a presence nearby, and looked up to see a young man approaching. He set a pad on the ground next to the two girls. She wiped away her tears, and sniffled, before looking at the writing.

"Hey, whats going on? My names Iesland, and I'm new here. Do you think there is anything I could do to help her??"

Iris smiled. <"How sweet,"> she thought to herself. Even though she'd only stayed at the Mansion for a sort time before, everyone's ability to look past mutations to the person inside, and still show kindness, heartened her. Determination pushed her uncertainty out of the way. She had to look after her friends; she owed them that much.

To Ielsand, she shook her head. "No, we're okay. We just haven't seen each other in a long, long time. Thank you though."

A thought suddenly occurred to her; if Iesland was writing notes, was it because he couldn't talk, or couldn't hear? She pointed to her own ear with her free hand.

"Can you hear?" She hoped he could, or could at least read lips, because she didn't know sign language.

Iesland smiled in response to Iris's smile and picked up his pad.

"No, we're okay. We just haven't seen each other in a long, long time. Thank you though."

Iesland could tell that wasn't the entire story. It was probably something to do with the registration act. That affected everybody.

"I can hear quite well," he wrote, "I just can't speak. I have no tongue." Iesland didn't know if he should have said that. That had put many people off in first meetings, and he certainly didn't want to have to leave the mansion.

"I can hear quite well. I just can't speak. I have no tongue."

Iris grimaced. "Oh, wow, that's awful! I'm sorry."

Since Nika seemed to be all right now, Iris got to her feet, and held out her hand to help the girl up. Inwardly she vowed to find a way to make things right again, with everyone but especially Nika.

She smiled at Iesland. "Sorry for the undignified welcome. Do you live here, too? I haven't exactly been around for a while. I'm not sure who's who anymore...."

"Oh, wow, that's awful! I'm sorry."

Iesland smiled inwardly and wrote "Why is it that everyone insists on being sorry for something that was not their fault?"

"Sorry for the undignified welcome. Do you live here, too? I haven't exactly been around for a while. I'm not sure who's who anymore..."

At that Iesland laughed, a short bray of mirth. "Undignified? Trust me, I've seen worse. And there's nothing undignified about helping a friend. I don't live here now, I only just arrived. In fact, I was sort of hoping you could help me out with finding a place to stay... I don't want to impose or anything though..." Iesland paused in his writing, not really knowing how to explain in words why he came.

"Ooh, a giant sleepover, sounds like fun. And we can stay up late swapping stories and gossip. That's alright. Camping out wont be to bad. At least there wont be any guards or anything keeping us prisoner like on or last little camping adventure."

"Amen," Neena agreed heartily. Then Streak mentioned something else quietly.

"After the camps I'm assuming, or at least hoping, that y'all are looking for more X-Men. I was hoping y coming back I could join and hopefully prevent something like that raid from happening again."

She smiled, and reached out to lightly squeeze his arm. "Let's hope there won't be a repeat anytime soon," she replied in the same low tone. "Once things are fixed up a bit, we'll talk about it more. We could definitely use the help." She winked and turned back toward the rest of the group.

Eventually the smell of food began to fill the air. Neena scanned those gathered to get a general idea of numbers. Her eyes landed on a trio on the outskirts of the group. Nika she recognized immediately, and the girl appeared to have been crying. The young man with the four arms stood nearby, talking to a blond woman Neena didn't recognize. She approached the trio with her usual smile.

"Hey there, kiddos. Are you hungry? Food's here finally." She held out her hand to the young lady. "Hi there! Don't think I've met you yet. Name's Neena. I teach here." She turned to the young man and winked conspiratally. "Keep an eye on her," she indicated Nika, her eyes dancing with amusement. "She likes to pounce people."

Then she ducked slightly, anticipating a swipe from the catgirl, grinning widely.

"Let's hope there won't be a repeat anytime soon," she replied in the same low tone. "Once things are fixed up a bit, we'll talk about it more. We could definitely use the help." She winked and turned back toward the rest of the group.

Streak understood what the wink was about and as she walked away he wondered what she would want to know and what she would want to see him do. He looked back at the rest of the people who were gathering around the food and decided to enjoy everyones company and mingle with the new people.

(OOC: Okay all, let's wrap things up so we flash forward to a new and improved Mansion. Consider the thread closed, and those of you who wish can finish up and/or move to a side thread.)