After a long flight from Brazil, and a hectic time at the airport, with all the post holiday travel hassle, Arielle found herself in the back of a New York City Taxi. She had a look of awe and wonder on her face as she saw the scenery while riding through the city. She had heard of the holidays songs mentioning winter wonderlands and dashing through the snow, but she had never actually seen snow. The closest thing to it was the frost blanketing the plants during the winters in Rio. She hated the idea of the cold at first, but when she really thought about it she would finally get to do things like ice skating, and building a snow man, the things she never got to do as a kid because of Brazil’s climate.

“We’re here.” The taxi cab driver announced pulling up in front of the Xavier Institute. Arielle smiled looking at the mansion. It was quite a nice estate, just like she had expected. She assumed there must have been a lot of tenants from the size of the property. Which she didn’t mind since she enjoyed being around people.

”Here you go,” Arielle smiled taking some money from her purse and handing it to the taxi driver. “Thank you so much, and have a good new year. May everything you wish to happen this year come true.”

“Thank you. Thank you very much.” The driver spoke as a smile had crossed his face for the first time in weeks. Most of his passengers were rude and disrespectful, but this young lady had put a little warmth in his heart with her kind words. “You know what, since it’s your first time in the country and all, it’s on the house.” He smiled handing her back the money.

”I can’t. It’s yours. You’ve earned it,” Arielle chuckled a bit. “At least take half. I don’t think your boss would be to happy if you were giving out free rides.”

“That’s true,” the driver laughed, taking only half of the fare she owed him and handing her back the rest. Digging in his jacket pocket, he handed her a card for the company he worked for. “If you ever need a ride somewhere, just call. Ask for Adam.”

”Thank you kind sir” Arielle gratefully accepted the card and placing it into her purse. She had heard that most new Yorkers were complete jerks, but this taxi guy was a sweet one. She proceeded to climb out of the taxi. She shivered a bit as the cold air hit her skin and a slight breeze flowed through her currently died brown hair. “Nippy,” she said, adjusting her white jacket.

”Ah, let me help you with your bags…” the driver stepped out of the car and removed 3 bags of luggage from the trunk and 3 from the back seat. “A lot of stuff you got here.” He laughed.

”Yeah, one bag of my make-up/hair supplies, two bags of shoes and the rest are just clothing.” She laughed nervously. “Would have brought more, but I couldn’t. I’m just glad this place is furnished…at least I hope so.” She paused for a moment. “And don’t worry. I can handle the bags myself.” She smiled.

”If you say so.” The driver laughed. “You have yourself a happy new years, Miss…”

”Arielle,” Arielle spoke.

”Miss Arielle. Happy New Years. And remember if you ever need a ride, you have my card.” The driver spoke, climbing back into his card.

”Alright. Thank you.” She waved as he drove away from the mansion, leaving her alone at the gates with her 6 backs of luggage. “Maybe I should have accepted his help with carrying the bags inside. Damn it.” she cursed, kicking up a bit of snow with her black heeled boots.

Despite the snow and the cold weather Sam was outside playing with two of his ice Golems each standing over seven feet tall. Sam threw a punch at one while it stepped back and kicked some snow up in his face. “Cheap move!” Sam called out as he jumped back as the second Golem threw a punch towards the chest missing it by a few inches.

It was nice to have a change of scenery from the Danger Room plus with so few people at the mansion around the holidays it made it that much safer to go all out on the white snow covered grounds.

Once his feet planted themselves in the snow Sam looked over to the gate to see someone at the gate. Lowering his guard Sam turned his head to see the woman with luggage lots of luggage. Sam turned his face back to his ice Golems and said, “Think that’s enough” with a wave of his hand they shattered and fell to the snow around them.

Walking to the Gates Sam waved and called out, “Hey there!” wishing he was wearing more than a pair of basketball shorts for a greeting he arrived at the gates and said, “Welcome” Sam pulled the Gates open and said, “Name’s Sam” extending his hand hoping the woman would be more friendly than a certain person that broke into his room.

Arielle stood outside the gates with her back turned to the mansion, unaware of the action going on behind her. She was still completely in awe with the winter scenery. It was definitely a change from the fun and sun back home.

“Hey there!”

Arielle jumped as the greeting shot into her ear and turned around to see the person speaking.

"Good god, only been here a minute and the sin of temptation is throwing itself at me..." she thought to herself laying eyes on the guy who stood in front of her. Shirtless. And he just had to be attractive. He introduced himself. His name was Sam.

"Hello," Arielle spoke taking his extended hand and shaking it. "I'm Arielle," she gave him her name. She tried to be polite and look into his face, but her eyes continued to be drawn towards his body. Then a thought came into her head, snapping her out of her trance.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what the hell are you doing outside in this weather in nothing but shorts? Not that I'm complaining or anything, I'm just concerned for you. That's how people get sick." she spoke tucking her hair behind her ear. She waited for a reply. In the mean time, her eyes drifted back to his chest.

Sam smiled as he noted her concern. “Well Arielle,” Sam let go of her hand and grinned, “I happen to control ice and the temperature around me.” Letting out a small laugh, “So the weather doesn't really bother me to much.”

Now noticing her gazing at his torso Sam smiled and laughed, “Up here” pointing to his face. Laughing Sam said, “You however seemed to be quite effected by the cold so why don’t we carry this conversation on inside the mansion?”

Pointing his hand towards her luggage Sam said, “Let me get those.” With a wave of his hand three chunks of ice formed near the six bags of luggage hands and legs started to form as three ice golems appeared grabbing the luggage one bag in each hand. “Shall we?” Sam asked as he walked towards the mansion followed by his golems carrying her luggage.

Once inside the mansion Sam had his three golems set the luggage off to the side and had them shatter into an icy dust. “Well,” said Sam as he pulled out the resident information and the rest of the paperwork, “Normally I start by asking questions in the place you would feel most comfortable.” Sam grinned, “So tell me Arielle, where would you feel the most at ease, the living room, the kitchen, the library, or the dining room?” Having no idea where she would pick Sam slightly tilted his head waiting for her response.

"Sorry," Arielle chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head after Sam pointed to his face. Deep down she really wasn't sorry, she just said it to be polite. If all the guys around this placed looked like Sam, she would definitely enjoy herself here at the Institute.

"Ice powers...fascinating," she spoke watching Sam summon his Ice minions to help carry her luggage. "Wish I could do that..." she muttered to herself, following the ice mutant inside the mansion. Once inside she paused to look around. The place was huge and beautifully crafted. She was worried it would be some old run down building, but her worries were at ease now. She turned her attention back to Sam. This time to his face.

“Normally I start by asking questions in the place you would feel most comfortable.” Sam grinned, “So tell me Arielle, where would you feel the most at ease, the living room, the kitchen, the library, or the dining room?”

"Um..." she paused to think on the question, putting a finger to her chin. "The living room I suppose." she made her choice of location. "What kind of questions?" she raised an eyebrow to Sam.

Sam nodded, “Living room it is!” said Sam as he turned and led her down the hallway and into the living room. “Alright why don’t we have a seat and we can get started.” Said Sam as he pointed to a couch and some chairs. Sam pulled up a chair to the coffee table and pulled the pen from the pile of paper work and smiled, “Standard procedure, I greet then help you with the paperwork so you can be an official resident.”

Looking at the paper work and clicking the pen Sam looked at the first question and smiled. Looking up at Arielle, then trailing his eyes down her body Sam let out a small grin and marked the box next to female and then looked back up to her, “why don’t you tell me about yourself and how did you here about this place?”

The last question wasn’t really needed but Sam was always curious about how people hear about this place. It didn’t really matter where she heard about it, she was here and that was all that mattered. After her brief description Sam was going to ask her about her abilities.

“Standard procedure, I greet then help you with the paperwork so you can be an official resident.”

"I see..." Arielle smiled as she caught Sam glancing down her body. "Great minds do think alike," she laughed, shifting a bit to the side to poke out a little hip. She figured if he was going to look, she could give him a little more to look at. She was only being considerate.

“why don’t you tell me about yourself and how did you here about this place?”


"Ah, this procedure," she smirked, letting out a small sigh as she crossed her legs and began to speak. "Well, if you couldn't tell by my accent, I'm not from this country. My home is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I'm 18 years old, graduated High School this past spring. So yes, I'm legal." she let out a flirtatious giggle and continued.

"Ah, my birthday is Valentine's day. I'm an Aquarius. Very coincidental that I'm a water sign considering my powers. I like having fun. You know, I'm like a river. I just go with the flow. And how did I hear about this place? I heard it from the word of mouth from a few other mutants back home, did some research and decided to give it a go. I just wanna be some where I can truly be myself and be comfortable with the fact that I'm different. And meeting others who are different too. I'm always looking out for new friends to play with..." she smirked to Sam while raising her hand and transforming it into a liquid state.

"I'm hoping you'll be my first." she added flinging a few droplets of water from her fingers and on to the ice man's abs. "From that little display of your powers outside, you seem very...cool..."

Leila dried herself as she got out of the shower. She had spent the majority of her morning sleeping, enjoying the only day she had off from work. She'd be starting School again in a few days, and she had a few shifts to do at the Aquarium too. She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering what to do with her afternoon. She could go shopping, she needed a few new oufits for the New Year. Yes, shopping was good. Leila's eyes shot open as she hastily finished getting dressed.

She was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a navy blue sleevless top. Even if it was freezing out, Leila loved her tanks. She slipped on her silver pendant and loop earings next, wondering how she should do her hair. In the end, a messy pony tail was what she had come up with. She made her way to her bedroom, but when the door slammed closed behind her, she remembered something. "My purse," she said aloud. "It's in the Living Room." she remembered leaving it there between the sofa and side table last night.

She had about two thousand in cash. She left as quickly as she had entered, not even noticing the fish talking to her. She hadn't been able to comunicate with them in a while, but now, when she was in a hurry, she could? It didn't matter, because as she hit the main floor, she could hear voices from the living room. Sam's was most audible as she knew him well. The second, she couldn't put a face too. "I'm hoping you'll be my first." the female was saying, "From that little display of your powers outside, you seem very...cool..."

'First what?'

'What is she talking about?'

Sam's powers? yes, they were cool. But what did the woman mean by first? Leila's boyfriend was in there, and a girl wanted him to be her first...? She bit her lip, shrugging the feeling off. She wasn't one to be jealous, no, she wasn't jealous. She just wanted what was hers back. This... ynknown woman couldn't steal Sam. She took a deep breath, putting on a straight, emotionless face, and walked in the room. The sight she saw was of surprise. Not because the two were doing anything... wrong. Just because Sam was sitting far from her, papers in hand.

She walked across the room and bent down to fetch the purse she'd been here for. "Hi, just getting my purse." she said, and without looking at the girl, she kissed Sam on the cheek, "I haven't seen you in awhile, what do you say we hang out later?" and with that, she made her way towards the door.

Arielle continued her glare at Sam. Blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, ripped body...he was just like the American boys she'd see posing in a Calvin Kline underwear ad. She suppressed her thoughts of turning into water and washing herself over Sam's body and glanced over at the door as another female had entered the room.

"Interesting..." she spoke noting the blonde woman's beauty and eyed Leila curiously as she went over to claim her purse.

"Hi, just getting my purse." she said, and without looking at the girl, she kissed Sam on the cheek, "I haven't seen you in awhile, what do you say we hang out later?" and with that, she made her way towards the door.

Arielle turned away and made a small cough into her fist after witnessing the kiss. Apparently the ice man had already been claimed by the pretty blonde.

'Go figure. I should have known he wasn't single...' she thought to herself. 'All the cute guys are almost always taken..or weren't into women at all.' Arielle straightened back up and looked to the other woman with a friendly smile. Leila may have put a dent in her plans to snatch up Sam for a New Years date, but it was nothing to sulk over. There were plenty of other guys out there. Having a bit of confidence about herself, Arielle knew that if she really wanted Sam, she could get him. However, she had morals when it came to men, and stealing them from other women was a big no no in her book. After all, if a girl ever tried to steal Arielle's man, they'd end up with a broken bottle over their head. She didn't play when it came to her men at all, so she didn't play with the boys who belonged to others.

"Speaking of hanging out..." Arielle spoke up, lifting herself from the couch and walking to Leila as she was heading out.

"I'm new in town and I was wondering if you knew of any hot spots to head for New Years Eve tonight. And places to shop. I wanna get my swerve on and I have to look good while doing it..." the brown skinned woman laughed, offering a friendly hand. "By the way, I'm Arielle."

Sam’s jaw dropped slightly as Arielle spoke, the hip showing the legal comment and the ‘Be my first’ comment. All those led to a very awkward silence from Sam as he thought of how bad this situation could look if a certain someone walked into the room.

‘Shit” thought Sam as he saw Leila walking into the room, ‘really hope she didn’t hear that’ pretending that nothing was said from Arielle Sam winked at Leila as she pulled away from a kiss, “Yeah we should soon… tonight?”

Sam noticed she was already on her way out the door when he smiled. It seemed that Arielle was already making friends. Not knowing Leila’s reaction Sam looked down and started to fill out the paper work while letting Leila and Arielle talk.

Leila first reaction when Arielle came striding her way was anger. But as she started speaking, she eased up a little bit. "I know a few decent places." she said, but her attention was mostly towards Sam, as she watched him sign the papers so Arielle was an Offical Mansion resident. "There's this place downtown that has good clothes." she added. not exactly sure what to think of this woman yet.

She had tried to steal Sam afterall.

"Leila," she said, shaking the girl's hand. She stridded back towards Sam and, gesturing for Arielle to come along, she sat next to him. "I have an idea," she said. "It's New Year's Eve. How about we make the best of it, and all three of us, we go out somewhere?" she asked. Having had a pretty lousy Holiday, and having to work tomorrow, she might as well let loose tonight and have a little fun.

"Plus," she said aloud. "You should get to know some people, since your new and all. " she added 'And a boyfriend so you won't get to close to mine.! she thought, grinning nothertheless. "So, what do you say?" she said, exited at maybe having something to do tonight.

Arielle smiled hearing Leila's responses, though she could still a bit of hostile energy coming from her. Understandable since she had come on to her man. Arielle shrugged it off. It was just a misunderstanding after all. She didn't know he was taken. She followed Leila back over to the seating area and planted herself back on the couch smiling to the nice little blonde couple.

"I have an idea," Leila said. "It's New Year's Eve. How about we make the best of it, and all three of us, we go out somewhere?" she asked.

"Plus," she said aloud. "You should get to know some people, since your new and all. " she added.

"So, what do you say?"


"Threesome..." Arielle though to herself and laughed, taking her mind out the gutter and smiled. "That sounds like a plan to me. I'd love to hang out with you guys." she responded, leaning back on the couch a bit, placing an elbow on the arm rest.

"And I'm sorry for any misunderstandings that may have happened here. You don't have to worry about me anymore. Just tell your boy toy there to keep his shirt on when the new girls are arriving. He's too damn cute. You're a lucky girl, Leila." Arielle laughed, hoping these people had a sense of humor. She couldn't deal with stiffs.

"I'm looking forward to going shopping so we can have girl talk and you can tell me all the hot spots to pick up cuties like Frosty here." she nodded to Sam and smiled at the new nickname she had given to the man.

After filling out a third of the paper work Leila sat down next to Sam. A smile came across his face, “Yeah that could be cool, best time to meet people is at a party and there are a few going on in the city tonight.”

Sam looked back to the paper work sighed and put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his large chair and put an arm around the back of the chair which soon reached to Leila’s shoulder and stayed there showing her that even though the girl had tried she had failed in getting Sam’s attention. ‘All about the Leila’ thought Sam.

"And I'm sorry for any misunderstandings that may have happened here. You don't have to worry about me anymore. Just tell your boy toy there to keep his shirt on when the new girls are arriving. He's too damn cute. You're a lucky girl, Leila."

Sam just looked from one girl to the other slightly blushing and slightly flexing his muscles. He loved this kind of attention. As long as Leila was there he wouldn’t get in trouble.

"I'm looking forward to going shopping so we can have girl talk and you can tell me all the hot spots to pick up cuties like Frosty here."

The sudden feeling of being a piece of meat came over Sam. ‘they know I am right here right?’ wondered Sam as he looked from one girl to another. “Frosty?” asked Sam as he continued looking from one girl to another. ‘God another nickname?’ asked Sam to himself as he rambled over the names, “Jack, Frost, Slick, Frosty, Snow Man, Popsicle, Snow Cone, Frozone, Ice man…” the names would keep coming if Sam didn’t stop but he just looked to Arielle and smiled.

Leila grinned as Sam's arm reached out behind her. She leaned agaiunst Sam's naked side, feeling the warmth of his body. Then Leila laughed, at Arielle's comment, but also at Sam's sudden red face. "I am lucky aren't I?" she asked her hand tracing Sam's chest. She didn't really mind having Arielle watching this, she liked showing Sam off to the world. And then having the chance to brag at how lucky she was, that was fun too.

Leila looked at Sam, he had been called Frosty. And she started feeling slightly awkward, she could feel his awkwardness too. She looked back at Arielle, "We can go shopping together, but I haven't noticed any guys that are as good-looking as 'Frosty'." she said, her smile widening as she considered all the stores they could go too. Maybe she had finally found a girl that was nearly exactly like her. Boy crazy, shoppaholic, Party animal, and most of all, had a special gift. She really wanted to get off the subject though, sure, she liked making Sam blush, but this was a little too far out.

"Anyway," she said, "How about we talk about something a little less..." but she couldn't find the right word. "A little less, awkard." she finally decided on. "Like for example, which party are we going to put on fire with our awesome dancing?!" she asked, exited now. She remembered the double date Sam, Ali and Nathan and herself had gone to together a while back. That had been great, and now they'd be going on a second one, with a supervisor with them. Fun.

"That's so cute..." Arielle smirked watching Sam's arm wrap around Leila. There was so much conflict in the world these days and it was rare to find that special someone to care for. Watching them actually made her want to find that potential someone to settle down with someday, but that would have to wait until later. It was New Years Eve and she had already decided that she would go wild for at least that evening. Finding a steady piece of arm candy would just be put on her list of resolutions for when the new year actually arrives.

"Anyway," Leila said, "How about we talk about something a little less..." but she couldn't find the right word. "A little less, awkward." she finally decided on. "Like for example, which party are we going to put on fire with our awesome dancing?!" she asked.

"I don't have a clue. Wherever you guys decide. After all, I've only been in town for a couple of hours so I don't know anything." Arielle laughed standing up. "Wherever we go, you can bet, that I'll make a splash." she smirked, turning translucent and melting into a puddle of water. She flowed over from the couch, under Sam's chair, halting once she had reached the other side, behind the couple. Slowly, she gathered herself back together, and reformed back into her solid human form. She gave a wide grin to Leila and Sam after showing off a brief display of her powers.

"So, when are we heading out?" she asked sitting opposite of Leila on the arm rest of Sam's chair. "Also, who's the designated driver? A lady never drinks, she sips...but since this is the last and one of the biggest party days of the year, I might be a little blasted by the end of the night. Wooo!" she laughed waving her arms widely and doing so, lost her balance. "Shit!" she exclaimed falling backwards off of the chair and landing onto the floor on her back with a loud thud.

"Wow...I'm falling and I haven't even had one drink yet. I better bring a first aid kit in my purse. Juuuuuuuuuust in case." she blushed with embarrassment, staring up at the ceiling. "Other than that, I know it's gonna be fun. Hurray for the USA!" she cheered pumping a fist into the air.