((ooc: Set during Romania Registration Plot in the timeline; ie, early November.))

There was an explanation for this, of course.

Calley Swartz strode proudly down the Mansion halls. A group of middle school girls watched as, head held high, he descended the grand staircase. Before he’d even reached the bottom, they’d broken into uncontrollable giggles. He gave them a blue eyed wink, and respectfully touched the hilt of his sword as he strolled on past.

The explanation: this was the only thing in the charity closet that had fit him. And it had, after all, been Halloween rather recently.

The situation: Calley was Prince Charming. A fine young gentleman to be, on a cool November afternoon. He strolled out the Mansion’s front doors, and took a moment to pause dramatically as he surveyed the lawn.

He’d come here to track down Katrina—it had been rather awhile since he’d seen her. Or at least, she seemed to think so: he'd spotted some weathered missing fliers in Central Park, featuring two of his cat forms. That, friends, meant he was in trouble. Thankfully for his guilt, she seemed to be gone: her scent was a few days old, just about everywhere. Ghost was gone, too. So were Cold Steel, and a good chunk of the X-Men. Even the Mansion’s gardener seemed to be missing—there was a group of younger students raking the lawn, instead. Field trip? Probably a pretty boring field trip, if it was safe to bring kids as young as Katrina along. He hoped she had fun (and didn’t think he was dead).

“Good day, fair peasants,” he greeted with a toothy grin and a tip of his crown, going over to the group of rakers. “May I partake of your manual labor?”

So it was that Prince Charming came to be gallantly raking the leaves in front of the Mansion’s gates, his white cape billowing elegantly behind him in the Autumn wind.

As her mother's car pulled up, Henrietta stared out the passenger window and sighed. She turned to her mother and glanced at her. They sat staring at each other for a minute. Her mother's expression was unreadable. Henrietta could tell that her mother was getting sick of the sighing and dramatics all the same. I don't want her to be mad at me when she leaves. She's already mad that I'm a..a mutant.

"Well," Henrietta finally broke the awkward silence. "I guess this is it. We probably won't see each other for a while and-" Out of the corner of her eye, something fluttering caught her attention. "Uh, mom?"

Henri's mother raised an eyebrow. "Yes, what is it?" She looked out the window that Henrietta was looking out and she furrowed her brows, trying to tell exactly what they were looking at. "Kids raking? Believe it or not, Henrietta May, many people help out with chores. Even if you don't."

Still looking out the window, she pointed at one of the people raking. "He's dressed up or something...Is that a cape?." She stopped and tilted her head. Just then a horrific thought occured to her, what if it was a uniform?!. "Oh no! I can't stay here! They dress wierd. What if they make me wear funny stuff too!?" Her mother then focused on the boy too. "Well, maybe it has to do with his power?" Henri rolled her eyes. "His mutation is that he has no idea of what to wear in public? I'm sure that's EXACTLY why he's dressed that way." She had a very sarcastic tone, but she couldn't stop it from leaving her lips.

After enough coaxing from her mom, Henrietta finally got out of the car. Her mother did as well, and then they hugged. When the hugging had ceased, her mother popped the trunk. "Time to get your things, sweetie." Henri grabbed all her bags and set them on the ground. Not too long after, her mother pulled out of the drive and left her standing there alone and scared.

Henri stared at the school after watching her mom pull away. Now what? She sat down on one of her suitcases and stared at the ground. The grass was turning brown and wasn't too appealing to look at. She put her hands over her face and propped her arms up on her knees. Mom couldn't wait to get out of here. She can't stand that all those people saw me use my power by accident. Her only child is a freak. Realizing moping would do no good, she lifted her head back up and stared at the huge building where she was suppose to stay. "It's SOOO big."

Once upon a time, Calley kept raking as a woman parked outside the gates. Whether she even shut off her car’s engine was debatable: bags were left behind, a girl dumped. The car was put back in gear. The girl was left behind to sit atop her worldly possessions, and contemplate the grass: perhaps she found sympathy for her own situation in its dying visage. Then her gaze rose.

>> "It's SOOO big."

She did utter. Any prince would be hard pressed ignore such eloquence.

Calley leaned on his rake handle. “Would you care to come in, my lady,” he grinned out through the shut gates, “or are you quite comfortable where you are?”

First, Henrietta heard a voice and then she saw the person it came from. The boy with the cape, she thought. "Uh..." For a minute, she had no idea what to say or do. Finally her brain started to help her form sentences. "In? Um, yes. In would be nice. I'm sure I could handle sitting here longer, but I'm not sure I want to. Illinois would be kind of a long walk back too." As she spoke, she looked at the boy's face, instead of avoiding eye contact. Usually Henrietta would be more nervous, but being dumped somewhere unfamiliar by her mother, who seemed to not care at all, gave her some courage.

"But...One thing. Do I have to wear a cape too? I don't think I could pull it off. Also, I don't own much that'll go with it." Henrietta felt herself smile a little, but then worried that she had offended the stranger. "Not that capes are bad, just not what I usually wear." She was trying to backtrack. Maybe instead of backwards in a conversation, I should go forward. "Uh, I'm Henrietta Braun. I think my mom contacted someone here, but I can't be sure. Is it okay to ask what your name is?"

She was stunned by his sheer presence. That happened a lot with the ladies, and Calley. Usually in a manner akin to this.

>> "Uh... In? Um, yes. In would be nice. I'm sure I could handle sitting here longer, but I'm not sure I want to. Illinois would be kind of a long walk back too."

“That, my lady, depends entirely upon how fast you walk.” He gave a regal nod of agreement with himself: his crown twinkled in the sunlight at the move. So: probably not a super-speedster or a teleporter, then. Or anything else that covered distances quickly.

>> "But...One thing. Do I have to wear a cape too? I don't think I could pull it off. Also, I don't own much that'll go with it. ...Not that capes are bad, just not what I usually wear."

“Of course not. How silly would that be?” The Italian teenager waved his hand: pish-posh. “You’ll have to work your way up to the cape. We start students out at Cinderella attire, typically: pre-coronation, of course. If you place well in the entrance exams—or your parents fund a new wing on the Mansion—you might get bumped up to French Maid.” A solemn nod, for serious business.

>> "Uh, I'm Henrietta Braun. I think my mom contacted someone here, but I can't be sure. Is it okay to ask what your name is?"

“Well, you don’t really have the rank yet...” The nineteen year old mulled, as he moved towards the gate. A quick punch of the combo into the keypad sent the gate swinging open. He wasn’t clear on whether all students were supposed to know that code or not—in any case, it was pretty easy for a sparrow to watch any of the official Mansion greeters type it in. “But I suppose you can. We, of course, are his majesty, Calley Swartz the First. Would you like to implore us for our help in moving your suitcases into the foyer? We can see about gettin’ you a room, after that. Should be pretty easy, if your mom called ahead.” And fairly easy, even if she hadn’t. Calley himself had a few different rooms here, depending on how you counted things.

Henrietta smiled at Calley. "Nice to meet you, your majesty." She curtsied and laughed. Henri was nervous, but knew that her first impression on people could be anything, since no one really knew her. She was so used to trying to fit in, but after finding out that she was a mutant, she realized she really didn't fit in after all. At least not back home. A random thought occurred to her all of a sudden. "Want to know something weird and kind of ironic? Ironic considering you're dressed like a fairytale prince or something. My friends back home called me Rapunzel, because of my hair being so long. Which is also ironic, I suppose." She thought about explaining her meaning but decided to change the subject.

Looking down at her bags, she realized that she probably would need his help. She glanced up at him and felt a little embarrassed. "Um, yeah. I think I may need to implore you for help. Seeing all this luggage makes me feel a little high maintenance." Henrietta had never thought of herself as such. Her mother told her to pack everything she think she may need, which was a decent amount considering the need for more than 3 or 4 outfits. Like she doesn't want to be bothered with bringing me more things if I need them or something. Though she knew that Springfield was a fairly long distance, part of Henrietta took it personally.

>> "Nice to meet you, your majesty."

She curtsied; he returned the gesture, with a cape-sweeping bow. “My pleasure, Lady…?” An unsubtle wish for her name.

>> "Want to know something weird and kind of ironic? Ironic considering you're dressed like a fairytale prince or something. My friends back home called me Rapunzel, because of my hair being so long. Which is also ironic, I suppose."

He grinned at that, curving his neck to admire the hair in question. “Rapunzel, eh? I think you’re a few meters short, for that one. Or a nice set of hair extensions. We’ll have to see about making that part of your uniform.”

>> "Um, yeah. I think I may need to implore you for help. Seeing all this luggage makes me feel a little high maintenance."

Calley gallantly (and in a manner somewhat bad for security) propped the gates open with the head of his rake, and stepped out to help. He shouldered a bag, grabbed up another one, and started towards the front doors. “Shall we?” He called, over his shoulder. He didn’t comment on the sheer amount of luggage she had with her; it was rather her whole life in there, probably: all in all, it wasn’t that much.

>>He returned the gesture, with a cape-sweeping bow. “My pleasure, Lady…?”

She smiled. "My name's Henrietta Braun." Calley mentioned using hair extensions as part of her uniform. Henrietta laughed and shook her head to make her hair move slightly. When it did, the sunlight caught hints of natural auburn highlights. "It may not look like a lot, but it took me forever to grow out. My mom was pretty determined to get it snipped off. As you can see, it didn't quite work out that way."

Henrietta lifted up the remaining bag and walked through the gates the young man had opened. I'm glad he's not scary or anything. I bet a lot of these mutants' powers are a lot cooler than moving head-hair. Mental Note To Self: I should probably say "head-hair" when talking about my power from now on. When realizing she was spacing out, she began to walk after him.

She followed about 5 feet behind him towards a large set of doors. The building was quite beautiful and Henrietta caught herself admiring, what she called in her head, it's 'bigness'. After thinking about it for a minute, Henri wasn't really sure if 'bigness' was a word. But since it never left her mouth, she guessed that it didn't make her seem stupid. "So, Calley. How long have you been staying here, if you don't mind me asking?"

“Henrietta?” Calley repeated, bumping into the door with his rear. Opening: fail. He set down a bag, and tried that again with his hand. Theeeere we go. The door let into a wide hall; across from them, the grand central staircase lead up to the second floor. “Nice. You don’t hear that often.”

>> "So, Calley. How long have you been staying here, if you don't mind me asking?"

He grabbed the bag up again, and aimed a grin back over his shoulder. “About a year and a half, with a few months of holes. My stay here looks a lot like Swiss cheese. Coincidentally, this has lead to a conspiracy among my teachers to devalue my grades.” He’d forgotten to use the royal ‘we’. Drat our forgetfulness.

“What about you? Are you here for classes, training, or just the free room?” Not to point out that her mother had kinda dropped her and hit the gas, or anything. At least she’d gotten a ride here—most people ended up wandering in like stray dogs. Not, of course, to be confused with stray cats.

Calley tilted his head towards the stairs. “We can find you the paperwork up there, I dare say.”

Calley set down the luggage and opened the large door, after a failed attempt to use his hindquarters. Henrietta smiled a little when he complimented her name. "Thanks. I like it too. My mother named me after her grandmother. That just shows you how old it really is, I guess."

>>“What about you? Are you here for classes, training, or just the free room?”

"Actually," Henrietta said, "a combination of all three, really." She looked down at the ground. "A place to stay is probably the thing I want most. I'm guessing you saw my mother's version of a good-bye." She shrugged and glanced up at Calley again. Henri smiled slightly. "She's treated me like that since she found out that I'm not the same as her. It's been really tense around my house since I exposed my power to a full salon of women."

>>“We can find you the paperwork up there, I dare say.”

"Really? That would be great." She was about to ask if he could show her the way there but suddenly Henri was a little disappointed in herself. Henrietta felt a pang of guilt for using so much of the young man's time. "I really appreciate all your help. If you could point me the way there, I'm sure I'll be able to find it. You seemed to be busy before you spotted me. I don't want to be a bother or anything." After looking at the huge inside of the school, she hoped he would still help her anyway.

>> "Actually, a combination of all three, really. A place to stay is probably the thing I want most. I'm guessing you saw my mother's version of a good-bye. She's treated me like that since she found out that I'm not the same as her. It's been really tense around my house since I exposed my power to a full salon of women."

“A salon?” Calley repeated. That was a new one. “What are your powers?” As for her back story, and the looking at the ground, and the looking back up again with a self-deprecating shrug and a fake smile—he didn’t mention them. Not much a boy can do to make a girl feel better about her unofficial disownment and shining new status as That Daughter Never Talked About at Family Reunions. Especially not when he’s a complete stranger. Especially especially not when his level of social finesse included wearing Halloween costumes from the hobo closet.

>> "Really? That would be great. I really appreciate all your help. If you could point me the way there, I'm sure I'll be able to find it. You seemed to be busy before you spotted me. I don't want to be a bother or anything."

Calley grinned. Was she trying to be strong and independent? That was awesome. Good for her. “It’s just right down the hall—see the office there? I’ll just kidnap your bags back outside with me, and get back to raking. I do love the kidnapping. And the raking.” Heh. She was several helping hands short of full independence. First, they needed to nab her a room.

When Calley asked about her power, Henrietta smiled and her hair flew out into different directions. She made it all go one way, then another. Next she tugged at a necklace she was wearing with a small portion of her hair. "Hair manipulation. Just my head hair." It seemed right to throw the 'head' part in. She was afraid of awkward questions that could come up. "Oh, there's also this." She took a hold of her hair and attempted to rip some out. "The women at the salon were the first people to see just how strong my hair is."

>>“It’s just right down the hall—see the office there? I’ll just kidnap your bags back outside with me, and get back to raking. I do love the kidnapping. And the raking.”

Henrietta sensed some sarcasm and raised an eyebrow. "If you do like raking that much, I'd at least like to take my bags." She smiled and held out her hands. Part of her felt that she wanted to do things for herself, but at the same time, she knew she wanted help. She most definitely wanted friends too.

Ooo, hairy.

>> "Hair manipulation. Just my head hair."

Ooo, clarification. Calley blinked for a second; got the joke; grinned, then tried to politely hide the grin.

“That is fun. I feel like we need to take you to a dark New York alley carrying a designer purse, and post the video on YouTube. Can you even picture the look on your mugger’s face when your hair attacks him?” Heh.

>> "If you do like raking that much, I'd at least like to take my bags."

“Pfft.” The proper reply to outstretched hands. “You forget the ‘I like kidnapping, too’ part.” He shrugged his shoulder, getting the bag strap more comfortable. “Aww, well. If you insist...” With a truly princely sigh, Calley led the way to the greeter’s office. Locked? Locked. No big deal, though—they had all the forms on the door outside, and unused rooms tended to be unlocked. Calley grabbed a New Resident folder, and handed it off.

“That’s everything you’ll need—registration forms, class sign ups, map of the building, all that good stuff. Just fill and out and turn it in the next time that door is open. In the mean time, you can pretty much follow your nose and the swarms of ravenous children to find the dinning room. And in the mean mean time,” he nodded his head towards the girl’s wing, “we can grab you a room. You won’t actually get the key until we track down a greeter, but people are pretty good about not stealing things.” Or, rather, lots of people wouldn’t be stopped by a mere door lock, anyway.

((ooc: You can do both the form-turning-in and the key-grabbing off screen; go ahead and count yourself as an official mansion resident. )