During the days leading up to the dance one could have cut the tension on the school rounds. People were preparing for the big event the best they could - and Lily did her share of the preparations. She helped kids pick out dresses, and helped the staff design the decor, and all in all, she had a great time. School parties were usually fun, she loved dancing and dressing up, and she even had a date. What could be more perfect than that?
Lily was waiting for said date by the entrance of the dance hall. She was wearing a silver and black dress, and even though her hair was still too short for anything special to be done with it, she did spend a lot of time with make-up, and jewelry. She smiled as she waved to people she knew, and watched the students gather. Shawn would soon be there too. She could sense it.
Mansion residents were in for a great night.

Just as Amber was trying to see if the older girl was all right, an Asian boy walked up to them, showing off a pair of shoes that, apparently, the blue skinned individual was supposed to be wearing. He looked rather disapproving of the fact that she was not wearing the shows and, had Amber actually known the man, she might have given him a piece of her mind. After all, that wasn't how you treated someone who obviously wasn't well. However, the mutant girl accepted and put on the shows, suddenly becoming taller with their addition, and Amber opted not to say anything. For now.

"I'm Amber and you d-don't l-look fine to me," Amber answered hesitantly. Some might say that she looked a little sickly as well, but she wasn't the one who had been leaning on the wall for support and her own voice, stuttering and unsure though it was, still came out strong and normal. The other girl's voice, on the other hand, was rather weak and she looked like she could pass out at any moment. Not that Amber was an expert on such things, but she was at least passably observant. "M-maybe you should sit down."

Looking around for a place to sit, Amber also took note of the people who had been slowly filing into the dance room. Most were strangers, as expected, but she did happen to note the appearance of a rather odd and familiar raccoon girl in an even odder dress. In fact, it was probably the most odd outfit that Amber had yet spotted on anyone at the dance, and that was saying something considering the group of students. Maybe when her current charge was sitting and taken care of she would go and greet the raccoon properly. She couldn't have been the horrible thief she first imagined if she was here at the dance.

>>“Hey. Good to see you again. We really need to talk again sometime.”

"That we do." Gawain smiled at the girl, she looked every bit as cheerful and excited as Twyla was. "Good to have you back, Henri."

>>“Gawain, Twyla…This is my boyfriend, Van. Van, this is my best friend Twyla and her significant other, Gawain/Maya. It depends on the day.”

Van? Hadn't he heard that name before? Gawain could feel Twyla physically tense up when she heard it. The mirrorwalker winced too, not because of the boy but because of the gender shifting being mentioned. He was still not used to people throwing around the fact just like that...
Still. Rewind. Twyla's hand found his. Henri had a boyfriend.

Gawain looked at Van, trying to decide if he was going to (or was allowed to) like the guy. Extending his free hand, he decided to be ploite.

"Nice to meet you, Van." he glanced at Henri with a half smirk then back at him "You can call me Gawain."

It was rather funny that Etta picked up on the whole energy drink thing--luckily he smelled of sugar and not the...other thing he’d chugged before he showed up at the little shindig. Thus far he hadn’t really drank in front of his girlfriend but somehow he guessed that sweet little Etta wouldn’t be into some of the partying he preferred. Oh, and he was at a school function and he was pretty sure (but he couldn’t quite remember) that alcohol was on the List of No-Nos when it came to these sorts of things--but don’t quote him on that.

His arm was taken and he was basically dragged like a rag doll or an unruly puppy through the entire school and then downstairs to where the part-ay was at--which seemed a weird place for a dance, but who was he to judge? The young man was too jittery to be nervous, his entire body was shaking slightly and he could almost feel the copious amounts of sugar thrumming through his veins. The healthy way to deal with such an intimidating situation would have been to go to the dance and face his fears without the help of his dad’s finest or the Monster but the fun way was to see the world was through a buzzing haze. Van’s gray eyes were wide as he took in his surroundings, staring first at the decorations and then as people as they pas--picking up speed, Etta was excited about something and she was taking him for the ride.

And then his leash...er...arm was dropped and the brunette girl was hugging some blond with pink highlights. He racked his brains for a moment. She’s the famous Twyla...I think. Standing near the hug was someone that had to be Twyla’s boyfriend--she had one, right? It was so hard to keep people that you’d never met before straight. As the girls embraced and made high-pitched-chirping noises Van checked out, tapped his feet to the rhythm of the song he’d never heard and stared dazedly at the lights above them. This isn’t gonna be awkward at all...

We need you, Captain Van! Back to base, quickly!

He was being introduced--they were being introduced--there were introductions to be had. Hah! He was right, they were going out and she was who he thought she was. The only anomaly was that Etta had said a boy’s name and a girl’s name to introduce...that didn’t make any sense. His eyes narrowed in confusion for a second and then ol’ Blondie was talking and based on the forced tone--she wasn’t too keen on him. Well! I never!...La di da to you too Miss...er...Twyla... The young mutant successfully resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at the girl that was supposedly his girlfriend’s best friend. Oh, I’m sure it’s nice to meet me--now I’m within poison dart range.

Other Guy picked up where his lady dropped off, although his tone wasn’t nearly so full of meany-ness when he claimed it was nice to meet him and held out his hand. Maybe Etta had misspoken before? He said his name was Gawain--not two names...or whatever. In any case, Van’s hands (he liked to use two to shake) snaked out after a moment and clutched Gawain the Other Guy’s in a very vigorously friendly shake. “So interesting to meet the two of you. Charmed I’m sure. Lovely evening, although I wish it would rain.” He looked from girl and boy and then back to boy. “And you can call me Fred, Van is my slave name.” The smile that had stretched across his face was wide and smirky and there was a glint to his eyes that might have been the sugar or might had been his good humor caused by the sugar, it was hard to say. After another good shake he dropped Gawain’s hand and both of his began swinging slightly at his sides as he rocked back and forth on his heels. He didn’t know what to do but standing still wasn’t an option at this point.

Sam continued to smile as the blood reached to Jenny’s face and he let out a small laugh, ”That’s your name thought isn’t it?” Sam said knowing full well that she preferred to go by fade which was also her code name one he used during meetings for the teams and missions, they however weren’t doing either one at the moment so why not use their given names instead of code ones. It made everything more personal in his opinion and getting personal with people you were on a team with built trust something he thought every team should need.

It looked like she was hesitating for a second but slowly she placed her hand in his and they made their way out to the dance floor. Passing a few students with Jenny’s hand in his he gave them a look and they smiled slightly before they started to snicker. ”That’s alright,” Sam said with a smile, he had experience more so than most in the mansion he was required to dance a lot when he was in T.A.T. it was perfect way to infiltrate one place or another after all. Russian business tycoon’s eccentric Venezuelan drug lords one thing after another and being able to dance made it all the easier to infiltrate.

”I have a little experience,” Sam shook his head slightly to her placing both hands on his shoulders, ”Cute, but let’s try something a bit more mature?” Sam said as he smiled and raised one hand up for Jenny to take before he placed the other hand around the small of her back.

Looking over to the DJ and giving a slight nod he cued the first ‘slow’ dance of the night, one of the many perks to being the one that created the ‘Dance’. Looking back to his dance partner he smiled and waited for Jenny to take his hand before he started to dance. The lights became slightly dimmer as the smaller Christmas looking lights got a bit brighter, even the mirrored ball reflected some light on the dance floor.

(OOC: Cue the first “Slow” dance of the night)

After the disaster of letting Juka dress him, he was certain that he wanted his attire for the evening to be more conservative, more to his tastes. Picking out an outfit wasn’t terribly difficult for Kai, seeing as he really only had a few changes of clothing, and most of them were pretty casual. The dressiest/ nicest looking shirt he had was still plaid, but it had a nice collar and he could wear a plain white t-shirt under it. He did decide to spring for the leather pants, since Shin had convinced him to buy them. You only live once, he thought as he squeezed into them. And, heck, it is a party. The key here was low stress, low maintenance.

Kai glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He still looked kind of like he was straight off the farm. Maybe there was something that he could do with his hair? Something that would look a little bit more… tough. To accomplish this goal, however, he’d need hair gel.

“Well I don’t have any,” he muttered. His roommate was currently absent, but he probably wouldn’t mind if Kai searched for this magic elixir among his things.

Fifteen minutes later, Kai had found an abandoned and forgotten looking bottle in a corner under a pile of clothing and other stuff. He opened the cap and sniffed it. It seemed okay. Perfectly harmless… So he dumped a generous portion on his hands and worked it into his hair. It was a bit of an experiment, pulling a chunk here and twisting some there, to try to get the perfect spiked look. He glanced at the clock once his do was perfected and was surprised at the lateness of the hour. How could he have taken so long to get ready?

Kai rushed out of the room, passing his roommate in the hallway. “Hey man!” He called to him, “I left your hair gel on your dresser!” Carrick looked mildly, well, panicked and didn’t reply right away. Probably nervous about taking Liz. Not that Kai wasn’t nervous about going to the dance with Amber, but it did take a little of the pressure off seeing as she had asked him.

He entered the dance by pushing the door wider than necessary, imaging how the colored lights would shine on him and make his grand entrance just that much more grand. He even slowed down his walk a little, taking long, slow strides through the door for the perfect effect… but then the door started closing on him and he had to push it open again and slide quickly through to avoid being crushed.

Kai bobbed his head to the heavy base beat and looked around for Amber. He wondered off hand what she would be wearing tonight and where he would find her. Unfortunately, he didn’t spot her immediately, and decided that the best plan was to wade his way around the room, looking for her. What if she’s not here yet? Or decided not to come? A sudden pocket of fear hit his stomach. He tried to stay calm, tried not to push through the thick mass of people on the dance floor, but he was suddenly claustrophobic. Must… get to… the outside! He thought desperately. He attempted to make a beeline for the nearest wall.

Rachel was having a grand old time! The DJ had started playing a song she'd never heard before by the Ramones.

OI OH! LETS GO! OI OH! LETS GO! OI OH! LETS GO!

Rachel began to dance faster and faster and faster and fasterfasterfasterFASTERFASTER!

WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP (#3)

Rachel let out a whoop our pure joy. Those who have heard the sounds a raccoon makes when it's happy know that it is one of the happiest sounding noises in the entire world. Underneath her mirrored goggles, her beady raccoon eyes started to get damp. She hadn't been this happy in years, ever since before she'd been kicked out of her house for her mutation and forced to live on the streets of New York.

OI OH! LETS GOOOOO![/b]

The song ended, and Rachel did a backflip, cheering! She had found her new favorite band.

The music then began to get slower. Rachel's ears twitched as she looked around, seeing people starting to slow dance. Rachel frowned, and scampered to the nearest wall to get out of the way of the couples dancing. However, as she did, she spotted someone very interesting. It was a boy. Obviously.

sniffsniffsniff

He was dressed kinda oddly, but he smelled gooooood! Likes trees and bushes and leafs and bark! She loved trees. Chittering happily, she zoomed over and beamed at him..

"Hello! I'm Rachel!" She grinned, but then suddenly stopped. What was she doing? She'd never asked anyone to dance before. Besides, she was the girl! Wasn't she supposed to get asked? It was all very confusing. Still, Kai (not that she knew his name (>)_(<)) looked friendly, so she just stood there, shyly twirling her tail around a finger, staring at Kai through her mirrored goggles, her cardboard dress still remarkably in perfect condition.

Emil sat in silence not expecting anyone to bother her while she watched/moped in her little corner. In tuth she shouldn't feel so down! She didn't even know she was going to go until the last moment really. Luckily she had a spare dress in her closet from her travels, it was from Germany and made of silk Emil really liked it. Blinking the shadowmancer watched as a guy and a strange energetic girl went to a a nearby wall- scouting to the side away from them she decided not to bother them, besides Emil didn't want to ruin their fun after all!

It seemed Twyla was just as thrilled to see Henri as Henri was to see Twyla. Of course they were best friends, so that should’ve been expected. She looked at the blond again for a moment before her another quick hug. “It’s so good to see you. You look so cute!” She backed up and took in her outfit. “How was dance camp, by the way? Did you make new friends?” Henrietta smiled excitedly at the other girl and clasped her hands together as she waited for an answer.

The excitement died down a little when the smile on Twyla’s face became strained. The brunette had been right about her friend not liking Van. The edges of her mouth turned down slightly. “Uh..” She glanced to look at Van. She was wondering if he had noticed. It seemed like he may not have, since he still had a good-natured smile on his face. Then again, Van was the type of guy to get humor out of almost anything. That was one of the things Henrietta admired about him. That, and he was pretty hot. She smirked. She, Henrietta Braun, had a hot boyfriend.

Henrietta smiled apologetically to Mirror. She hadn’t meant to just blurt out his changing like that, but Van hadn’t seemed to get it. He was a little hyper, so the secret seemed safe. She really had missed talking to Maya/Gawain. She/he was nice and was good at making Henri smile. The brunette was glad that Twyla and Mirror were together. They seemed good for each other and Mirror would always protect and keep Twyla out of trouble when Henri wasn’t around to keep an eye on her.

“Nice to meet you, Locke,” Katrina gave a little curtsy, since she was wearing a dress and all.

She listened and smiled as he talked. San Francisco was a long long ways away from New York. It sounded like the kind of distance one might want to put between one's self and one's family after they disowned you or something.

“I hope you like New York,” she gracefully shifted away from questions about San Francisco, just in case. “If you stay long enough interesting things are bound to happen. Like, if you'd been here at Christmas, you could have seen the clay Cthulhu that attacked Central Park. Or the year before that, there was a mutant versus battle right on the mansion lawn over a silly pair of golden doors. That didn't turn out so well, but there are some good adventures, too.”

She tried to think of some that actually had good endings. “Like the time I was turned into a kitten by accident,” and then accidentally helped burn down part of the Sanctuary. She left that part out, though.

OOC: Returning from Peaceful Punch

The dance floor was an interesting place. The wall by the punch bowl had been fare more peaceful, that was for sure, and the full impact of all the emotions settled into the blond as Shin pointed out that she looked even better than the bedazzling pants. Kealey smiled genuinely and responded with a soft and equally genuine, ”Thank you.” It was easy to do when she could tell he was telling the truth.

Once they’d reached the middle of the room, it had seemed for a moment that Shin was as confused about how to start the whole slow dancing thing as Kealey had been just a moment before. Luckily, he took the initiative and Kealey listened as he spoke. Shin was confident, and it helped with pretty much everything as he looked her in the eyes and explained. Her other arm mimed the first once Shin released her hand and quickly enough they were dancing.

”Hopefully we don’t have to experiment with the toe-stepping thing.” she pointed out, more and more comfortable by the moment as she followed Shin’s lead and they took the middle of the floor. Following the music was easy, Kealey just felt it, almost like she did with the emotions. Following Shin’s lead was slightly more difficult, but she got the hang of it quickly and soon settled into the comfortable rhythm of the song.

Slow dancing, Kealey decided a few minutes later, was very nice. Especially with Shin. She smiled even more, looking up the short distance to make eye contact again, ”I’m glad Sam decided we should get to dress up and dance too. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten to go to a dance, and I can’t imagine having a better time, or date.” she said sincerely, keeping her careful yet comfortable chaperon distance, ”Thanks for asking me.”

The lights were brightest here, and Kealey could see the reflection of the beading on her dress sparkling on Shin’s vest. It was distracting, as were more and more of the emotions of the people surrounding them. The students were still happy, still nervous, and more and more they were comfortable. For the most part. That tiny fraction that was left over was outrageously uncomfortable, unsure of themselves, and generally not having the best time. Kealey did what she could to ignore those feelings, though, she was having far too much fun dancing. She took a moment to take in more of the dresses and male clothing ensembles.

They were short still, almost every single one, but most of them were lovely. There were classic cocktail dresses, avant garde looks, and even things that would have looked more at home on a runway or magazine. Kids these days sure knew how to fancy themselves up, to the point where even those familiar to Kealey looked like almost completely different people.

There were just so many of them though. It was starting to get just the tiniest bit of overwhelming.

Concentrate Kealey chided herself, looking at Shin a bit more intensely as she did her best to focus simply on his emotions. She found them quite quickly, the familiar warm happy glow she’d come to recognize. The others faded into the background, somewhat, and Kealey was pleased. They were still there, buzzing in the background like an irritating fly or mosquito. Kealey mentally swatted at them, nothing was going to mess up her evening.

It was quite obvious that Fade didn't quite understand the ins and outs of dancing. She had never been to a dance or never even danced with anyone. Any other kind of dancing was the ones from the music videos and she dared only do that kind of dancing in private. Fade had put her hands where they would go if she were eight dancing with her daddy who had picked her up because she couldn't reach. Sam took the liberty of repositioning himself, waiting for her to follow. With another supressed blush, she took his hand andn looked to the one still on his shoulder. Where was that bugger supposed to go?

"Um....so where do I put this one?" she said, wiggling her thumb on his shoulder so he knew exactly which hand she was talking about. Though he should be able to piece it together. How would a woman dance? They usually followed the men, right? Or was that in the Tangle? Tango? Mango? Mangled Tango?! Dances... they were not Fade's forte. "Where did you learn?" she asked, pinning him for a secret ballroom dancer. Somehow she couldn't see Sam having the secret ability to break dance, though that would be the coolest suprise in the world! (maybe not the world)

The lights dimmed down, which was the best alternative to Fade's blushing. Now that the lights were down, it was a bit harder to see that she had pink cheeks. Though if Sam was a great temperature meter mutant, he could sense all the heat in the redhead's face, though she really hoped just the lights dimming would be enough. With the lights dimmed down so much, it made her feel more comfortable, like being visibly invisible, it hid any flaws she was worried about and almost made everyone glow. It was like a dance of the fireflies and it just so happened to fill that empty space reserved for a girl's first dance in her emotional scrapbook of memories. Tonight was fun and she was beginning to relax.

Cthulu?

Locke gave a nervous look around the Danger Room, expecting to see bulging walls, tentacles, and eyes staring at him. His memories of this room were not all that great, and having the thing that had trapped him inside a wall mentioned brought those horrors right to the front of his mind. “Did the people who fight that make a program called Lovecraft here?” he asked weakly. About the only redeeming thing about that would have been that the Cthulu was made of clay. “Clay isn’t so bad. It’s too heavy and tired to do things on its own. It needs someone to help it.” It probably would sound weird given that they had not talked about their mutations at all. “I do stuff with dirt and stuff.”

But he had to stare at her briefly when she said being turned into a cat was a good adventure. “I thought that turning into something that can’t even open its food would be sort of, y’know… bad. Or do you mean good like..” This was hard. Good could mean positive, as in being turned into a cat was an opportunity one should take if given the chance, or it could mean good as in not dull or particularly dangerous. “Like… a way to spend a day with no regrets?”

=Please Pm me for starting a converstaion in a different thread=
Ah yes. So many people were milling around, the dance was finally starting. And all along there had been, in some distant corner of the danger room, sitting a silent figure clad in a suit. Black. No stripes. Just pure black. Shadowy as night. Not the most modern, nor the most elegant model it was, that had been combines with a black shirt and black gloves. Even the tie was black. The only difference between the different items was a slight change in patterns, that were the result of the somewhat mismatched arrangement of clothing, but in itself presented an entirely coherent picture of someone without a huge lot of money and much taste for colors.

Of course he was blending in with the shadows. Which had been his personal reason for picking this attire. Aside from the fact that it made him look a little gloomy and out-of-place. It provided just the little bit of social distance that was required of one of the Mansions staff at a school dance. He could most certainly not avoid it. Being there that was. It was a good opportunity to see many different faces. Some of which he might have missed otherwise. It was also a good opportunity to listen in to conversations (not that he expected much to be said in these surroundings) and more importantly maybe observe some social quirks of the attendees.

Martin was there, in his corner, unmoved by both music and dancing, by social involvement and social coherence. He was just outside of every circle, by a step distanced from some – teachers dancing with girls intimately got a short but piercing glance here – some by far more than a lifetime. He was there and not there. Not fifteen any more. And he had not been for quite a while now. Just watching with those eyes of his he was. The blue ones that held so much ice for some, for none this evening he hoped, in his non-assured way. This was a gathering and at these, everything was possible.

He was just hiding himself behind his mask as usual. That friendly smile for some of the people that though knew him as a passing acquaintance. And those few students who had managed to incur themselves his ire, they got a thinner smile tonight. Just the one that said “I'm watching you, don't break the rules.” As a reminder. He was not dangerous. He was just a staff member in the shadows. Who might find his disapproval tonight?

It was a dance! A wonderful school dance with people that knew people, love in the air and to top it all off plenty of food! This was why Ruby Lupin was so darn confused that her big sister decided not to come; Emerald never turned down the chance for free food. Ruby figured that something had to be wrong with her or maybe her big sister was still pinning over that Ilari guy that she had a crush on. Not that her older sister would ever admit she had a crush on the boy, every time Ruby attempted to get her to fess up the wolf girl would blush, get irritated and run off somewhere.

None the less, Ruby believed that her sister should do what she wanted so if her big sister wanted to stay in her room and sulk Ruby would let her do it. While the youngest Lupin would have preferred her eldest sibling to come to the dance and be happy, she would let her do as she wished. So the youngest of the Lupin’s, fifteen to be exact, decided to go to the dance herself in all its glory and splendor. She had prettied herself up for the occasion wearing a nice green summer dress, held up by straps, perfect for the occasion in her opinion. She kept her hair down, but managed to fix her straight brown locks so they would look nice and shiny.

Besides, Ruby always thought she looked weird with her hair up anyways, made her ears stick out to much and the large fox ears sticking out of her head did that plenty well on their own. She wore some nice green shoes to go with her dress though, one with a small heel, because if it was any bigger Ruby would no doubt tumble to the floor face first.

Once arriving at the dance Ruby’s eyes scanned around for people she knew or people she hadn’t seen in a while. Lots of people had been gone lately and it made Ruby sad to see some of the people she had just met come and so much. At least most of the school will be at this dance Ruby thought more for a moment before a sigh escaped her lips. Except for Emmy, Oh darn it Emmy! Why can’t you see that you look pretty and not like a wolf in girls clothing? I just don’t understand it!

This was when young Ruby Lupin’s eyes landed on a group of people she did recognize. Well Almost all of them, the guy with Miss Henri was new, but judging by the way he was holding her hand he must have been her boyfriend. This was a development Ruby had not heard about, then again, she hadn’t been talking to the group lately or eavesdropping or listening in on the mansion’s newest gossip. Ruby also saw Mr. Gawain and Twyla who she hadn’t seen since she had left for dance camp.

Needless, To say the least the little girl was excited. Though, maybe she wasn’t so little anymore for Ruby had grown up a little, now at five-foot two, a nice change from her previous size of four eleven. Her hair was longer to and her body was growing more so of that into a young woman, even though she still looked fairly young.

The youngest Lupin cheerfully skipped up to the group with the biggest grin on her face that could just light up a whole room, tail swishing back and forth and ears fully perked. Ruby always looked so sweet she could most likely give person diabetes by just looking at her or just by hearing her talk.

“Hiya Miss Twyla, Mr. Gawain, Miss Henri and Mr.…Person I don’t know the name of but I will soon, how are all of you?” Ruby asked, seemingly oblivious to the slight tension among the group members. She was ether oblivious to it or trying to make it evaporate, a habit of the youngest Lupin sister. “Some of you I haven’t seen in a long time and I am gonna be mad if I don’ get a hug.”

Who wouldn’t want a hug from the adorable fox girl? Besides hugs fix everything right? Even awkward moments!