As they walked towards the street David was in awe of his surroundings, what an amazing place. He had never seen a college like this before. The grounds were huge, an the imposing mansion must be one hell of a place. "Yeah, and your dorms must be pretty nice to" He said as he watched the man punch a code to get in.

(Continued from here)

“Uh huh,” Shin replied, seemingly unenthused. “Follow me.” He sure was asking the guy to follow him a lot… turning, he ushered David on into the mansion. Stopping in the center of the front hall, he set down his boxes and spread his arms like a tour guide.

“And here we are in the school of all schools, the great—”

A group of students led by a teacher speaking in a mix of foreign languages interrupted his gesture. Their leader was 6’1” and lanky, with dark skin, and darker eyes. His hair was black like the night, pulled back in a braid. All about him was the air of ‘something out of place’, like a traveler from a far-off land… perhaps a wandering band of…?

“Tres bien!” He exclaimed, turning to one of his students who had responded to him in perfect French. The girl he’d spoken to blushed furiously from the praise, sending the lights in the room into a flicker. The power fixed itself, and the rest of the scene played out cheerily as Shin gawked with nary a word.

That’s cheerily, as in ‘cheerfully eerily’? For the unprepared mind, it was sure something! As Shin turned to face David with a sheepish look on his face, these same thoughts fluttered through his mind like a monochromatic butterfly. They finally landed on the flower of ‘oops’.

“Surprise?” He squeaked weakly as the group of students turned their attention to David and him. Chi Hay the language teacher clapped his hands understandingly, motioning for the two of them to come over and be welcomed. Shin’s jaw locked in a faux grin as he turned to David, at a loss for words.

David entered and marveled at the beautiful room, the inside trumped the outside, which was truly a great feat. He watched as a new group of students came walking in, seemingly a class moving through. "hm, the college has classes for younger students." He though casually as he continued to look around, his focus fell back onto the students as the girls blush actually interfered with the power.

David was shocked, he stood there staring, letting the boxes fall from his hands to the floor. His attention slowly moved back to Shin, searching for the words to say. "You -" He started to say but stopped himself. Could this really be the place he had been looking for, could this complete stranger, someone David had been talking to for the past hour, be a mutant? David watched Shin, unsure of what to say to break the silence. "Is this place...?" He asked trailing off.

“You got me,” Shin admitted tactlessly with a shrug of his arms. “I’m a mutant. So are those kids over there, and heck, this entire school. I… hope that won’t be a problem?” Shin scratched his cheek. The teacher walked over, crossing his arms against the black muscle shirt on his chest. He raised a speculative eyebrow at David.

“He is who?”

The students behind him all buzzed in hushed whispers, craning their necks or covering their mouths. Two guys chuckled to themselves, reminding Shin of some American cartoon by Mike Judge.

David paced around the room, looking around, the same stunned look pasted on his face. He eventually made his way back in front of Shin. "Problem?" he said quietly. A smile quickly sprung across his face "This is no problem at all." He yelled excitedly. "You're the group I've been looking for, or at least one of the groups, unbelievable!" He just couldn't wipe the smile from his space " Man, this makes things much easier, thank you so much." He said running towards Shin, ready to give him a high five.

“Um,” Shin laughed, drifting under the ‘high five’ to feign concern over the box. Apparently, that was the most important thing here right now, at this moment. The box. “Oh dear…” He picked it up, shaking it. Something inside the box rattled like broken glass. Shin looked up at David, really happy for him, but still...the box...

“Well that’s good! I’m glad you’ve found what you were looking for, and I’ll tell you why.” He stood up to walk forward and set the box in David’s hands with a smile. “Now you owe me.” He patted the box once to let the message sink in.

"..." The teacher stared at him disapprovingly. Shin arced an eye.

"What, I'm kidding! Welcome to the mansion, David. But seriously, about that box...."

David watched as Shin went after his box "Oops." David thought watching him inspect it. His mind was going as he waited for the verdict on it "aww I hope nothing's broken." Shin shook the box, and David heard the glass.

"Aww geez, i'm sorry about that." He said, his tone of voice showing that he really did care. David was happy Shin wasn't too angry about what happened, and hopefully starting off on the wrong foot wouldn't hurt too much. "Thanks for the welcoming, and don't worry about that box."

“No worries,” Shin picked up the other boxes. “We can talk about that stuff later. Did you want to be shown around the school, since you’re here?” He craned his neck, looking around, and then nodded to the teacher.

Cho Hay offered his hand, smiling at David. “As a teacher here, I’d like to welcome you. I hope you’ll find this world of knowledge most enlightening.” Shin shook his head at the corny line. “Ah yes,” Cho Hay turned to his students. “Free study while I handle this. Go to your rooms and read chapter 13 in your text. Shoo shoo. Vamanos.”

The children skittered off.

"Oh uhh no thanks I think I can find my way around, that's part of the fun of a new place." He said as he started to look for a good jumping off point. "And thankssir, I'm sure I will." He said politely to the teacher. He started to peak over at Shins' broken stuff, trying not t obe noticed, this way maybe he could replace it and surprise Shin. He would make sure they got off on a better foot next time, but for now he wanted to check out the mansion.

“Ah. I see,” Cho Hay replied, pleasantly let down. “Well then, I shall be off.” He turned and walked off in the direction the students had moments before. Shin shook his head. That Cho Hay sure was a character.

“So you’ll be showing yourself around? Alright. I don’t much harm in that. If you see a guy with brown hair who goes by ‘Sam’, or another with silver eyes that goes by ‘Shawn’ be sure to say hi. They’ll get you set up with the paperwork for residency. I think I’ll go deal with these now…” Shin picked up the boxes, leaving the broken one where he’d put it. “You can keep the one you dropped. It was just a Ming vase. Not valuable at all, nope.” He strode off smugly, leaving David to wonder the truth behind the lie. Ming vase, or a plate? Which was it? Who cared. The cliffhanger would last a lifetime.

Shin walked off, leaving David to explore the mansion for himself.

((OOC note: Thread end.))