Alina groaned at her third attempt at a batch of cookies. Yet again they had appeared out of the oven in a state of blackened crispiness. She was surprised that the smoke alarms hadn't gone off, considering all the smoke that was being emitted. It seemed strange that something so simple could be so difficult! What was she doing wrong?

Alina scraped the black chunks off of the pan and placed it in the sink. She then grabbed her glass of milk and sat down at the kitchen table with a glum expression on her face. All she wanted was a cookie? Was that so hard? She wasn't much of a chef, obviously. The only cookies she had ever had were from a shop down several streets, and they weren't that great, but they were better than anything she could produce. She rubbed her head absently. Who in the mansion could teach her how to make cookies?

With nothing to do, and not many acquaintances in the mansion, Elise was left with the tedious task of wandering aimlessly through the mansion. It wasn’t that the mansion wasn’t a nice thing to walk through. It just felt rather pointless to the girl who liked to have purpose in everything she did. Frowning Elise turned a corner, now feeling even more pointless and lost, she was not in a good mood. Turning several more corners and continuing to become more frustrated and a little bit scared, the teen finally spotted the kitchen door up ahead. Sighing with relief, a sudden idea came to mind. She could cook something!

When Elise had finally, officially registered, she had been assured the kitchen was open to her use, something she had quite liked. Baking was something of a stress reliever for her. Plus, who didn’t like food, honestly? Having not only a plan to do something and something that would hopefully introduce her to new people, the tall teen strolled into the kitchen with a large smile on her face… only to pause at the door at the sight of a dejected looking girl at the table, and was that smoke rising from the sink?

Looking over the kitchen with a look of surprise an, “Oh goodness,” couldn’t help but escape her lips. Taking a few steps deeper into the kitchen, Elise craned her neck so that she could see what was in the sink. It was definitely something burnt. Feeling some sympathy, it always took Elise a try or two before she got a recipe down pat, Elise looked over at the other girl with a smile. “Do you want some help in baking something?” she asked in a kind-hearted manner.

Amber had finished with her classes for the day and just wasn't very tired. Normally that was about her cue to go to go and sleep for a few hours, but it just wasn't happening. No, she wanted to actually do something for a change and not something that pertained to studying or practice. Not that she had any problems with studying, it was just that that's all she seemed to be doing lately and she needed a bit of a break.

After several minutes of aimless wandering, Amber decided that maybe the kitchen would be a good place to start. At the very least she might be able to find herself some kind of snack (hopefully something sweet and home baked) and maybe she might also find someone to talk to. Even though she had been going to school at the Mansion for weeks now, she still didn't know very many people. Even knowing she was a mutant among many other mutants, apparently she still wasn't very approachable.

There were two people in the kitchen when Amber arrived, one she recognized and one she didn't. "Elise? H-hello." She remembered the girl from when she had been practicing her violin at the library and she had seemed pretty nice then. She then turned to the other girl, this one a complete stranger. "H-hello. You d-don't mind my being here, do you?"

Ted wasn't to busy today that he couldn't stop in the kitchen for a quick snack. In fact a snack sounded just like something the doctor would order. He didn't have any classes for the rest of the day, or any place that needed his attention desperately. So a slight detour from course was acceptable. He didn't seem to think about the possibility of there being other people in there when he waltzed in.

Surprisingly enough there were three people in there already, not to mention all the smoke. Apparently someone was trying to cook something without much success. Teddy couldn't blame, whoever it was burning the cookies, because he wasn't much of a cooker himself. He wasn't bad at it, he just never felt like spending a whole lot of time trying to cook. Since he'd gotten here he'd been focused on his new found powers. But there was only so much he could do by himself and since he hadn't met many people he thought this would be a good opportunity. "Hi there." he said as he got out a cup and poured himself some orange juice.

Alina looked up to discover that she was no longer alone. Three new people were roaming the kitchen, which didn't surprise her too much. It was communal, after all. She was surprised that people hadn't come sooner at the first whiff of smoke. She sighed and stared glumly at her glass again before realizing that she was being greeted.

>> “Oh goodness. Do you want some help in baking something?” << One of the girls asked.

Another walked in and spoke to the first girl, >>"Elise? H-hello."<< She turned to Alina then and said, >>"H-hello. You d-don't mind my being here, do you?"<<

Astonished at all the new people that had arrived, Alina could only shake her head.

>>"Hi there." << The boy said, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

Alina was feeling very tired at this point, having already made three batches of “fail-cookies” and warmed up the whole kitchen. Her three hearts were working extra hard at the moment. She smiled weakly and said, to know one in particular,

“Hi there, my name is Alina. Could one of you be so kind as to help me make some cookies? Chocolate chip, of course! I'm afraid I'm not an expert in this matter.” She laughed timidly at herself. “What are all of your names?” Her fingers brushed the rim of the glass and she could taste the milk residue on her fingertips. She was excited to meet new people, especially mutants like herself. She was extremely curious to find out what all their powers were, but thought it would be particularly rude to ask. She was trying to make friends, not scare them off. She hoped she wouldn't ink on them...

“Amber? Oh, hey…” Elise said, a light blush rising up her cheeks. Their original meeting had not been her smoothest. “Well, I followed your advice,” she added with a big smile and a turning out of her hands to show she was talking about the mansion. A shrug lifted her shoulders just as the boy walked in. “Hi,“ she said in reply automatically. With a blink, the girl reconsidered the room. Apparently it was quite popular. She probably shouldn’t be surprised due to the number of teenagers at the mansion, but it still managed to be a bit of a shock. She had been expecting a gradual trickle in as the smell of baked goods permeated the hallway, not really many before hand.

Shaking off those thoughts, she turned her attention beck to the girl that had been there before all of them. “Cookies? Perfect, I’d love to help. They are the perfect, group baked good. You don’t have to worry about cutting and plates with them,” she said a broad smile and a flitting of her hands to show how much she really did agree. With that apparently settled in Elise’s mind, she quickly began amassing the necessary ingredients at the table where Alina was seated. “I’m Elise, by the way,” she said dumping a sack of flower amongst several other items.

“Do either of you want to join in on the fun or are you going to wait till the baking is over to dig in?” she asked turning to face the other two with a wink. Elise was obviously getting moderately excited about the entire venture. If there was something Elise found more relaxing than baking on her own, it was baking with other people. The laughing, the shared mistakes, the tasting, one just couldn’t go wrong there.

Amber wasn't used to being around so many people all at once, especially not so many people that she didn't know. In the past she would have gotten very quiet and lurked in a corner, but in recent months she had begun gaining confidence. It was a wonder what actually having a caring family could do to one's self esteem, not to mention the discovery that one was a super cool mutant with powers and everything.

Amber might not have known exactly what to say to everyone, but at least she didn't feel like curling up and becoming invisible any longer. What could these people possibly do to her anyway? Besides, she was a mutant and (she assumed anyway since they were at the Mansion) that they were mutants as well. Mutants were supposed to stick together and her experiences at the Mansion had been nothing but posative so far. In fact, aside from the horrible worm man, she had yet to meet any mutant that was anything but nice to her.

"I know a l-little about baking," Amber answered with only a slight hesitance. Just because her social skills were improving didn't mean they magically flipped 180 degrees overnight. "I c-could probably help if you wanted. I'm no master chef b-but..." She trailed off not quite sure where to go with the thought.

Oh cookies! So that’s what they’re doing here. Ted was just here for a drink but he could certainly find a reason to stick around for some cookies. Thankfully he hadn’t missed the introducing of people. He hated walking in on things where everyone had already met each other but him. The young teen placed the juice back in the fridge and took a sip as the one called Amber finished speaking. Once she was done he chimed in. “I’m Ted, by the way. I don’t really know how to cook but I do love to partake in the after math of cooking.” It was true that he wasn’t exactly someone worthy of a cooking show but honestly how could a boy turn down the invitation to mingle with a group of girls.

Cooking wasn’t exactly something that was expected from guys. But hey, he still didn’t know many people here, although the number of people he knew was growing all the time, Ted couldn’t turn down the chance to meet more of them. in fact, so far everyone that he’d met has had some really cool and unique powers that he thought were really cool. And now here he was with three new people, with he assumed very cool powers… and cookies. Could you ask for anything better? I don’t think so. “I can sure help if you want. But I’m not much of a cook.”

Alina smiled thankfully at Elise, her rescuer. She wanted more than anything to meet people and make friends at her new home, and if she had to destroy three batches of cookies to bring people together, than so be it. At least now she could laugh about it and share her experiences with someone.

“I really appreciate your help,” she directed at Elise, who was already bustling for ingredients. Turning to the other, more shy girl, Amber, she said, “I would love it if you would join in! I'm obviously no master chef either.” She looked pointedly at the sink where traces of smoke still lingered and laughed at herself.

Already she was on her way to getting to know more people. To Ted, she replied teasingly, “You can definitely help with the aftermath, we need someone to test them to make sure they're not poisoned or anything.” She laughed again. “I'm kidding. I'm sure Elise will make sure these cookies are nothing but the best. Here,” she said, jumping up and offering him her seat. “you can take a seat and supervise if you want.”

She turned back to Amber again after seeing Elise still running around for ingredients. “So, Amber isn't it? When did you come to the mansion?” she offered, attempting to strike up a conversation while they baked.

Elise mentally went down the list of ingredients, checking to see if they were on the table. Butter? Check. Sugar? Check. Brown sugar? Check. Eggs? Check. Vanilla? Nope. Elise shuffled through the drawers until she found the correct bottle and placed it in the pile with the other ingredients. Check. Flour? Check. Baking soda? Check. Salt? Check. Chocolate chips? Check. Everything was there and ready to go.

“Perfect,” she said with a big smile after everyone answered. “Let us begin!” She quickly set the oven for 375 degrees Fahrenheit, before finding a bowl and mixer. She placed both items on the table, and ran off to wash the eggs and her hands. Microwaving the two sticks of butter for only a few seconds, she then dumped them in the bowl. “Who wants to mix, pour, or line the pans?” she asked glancing back up at the other teens while trying out the hand mixer, in a way that made the instrument look mildly like a power tool.

Elise seemed to be taking control of the details of the cooking so, while she prepared, Amber sat back and listened to everyone speak. It was a great opportunity to get to meet some new people and she wasn't exactly going to complain about the prospect of getting some home made cookies either. She hadn't done any baking at all since Abyss had adopted her.

"Four p-people trying to cook would probably b-be too many even for a kitchen this size anyway," Amber informed Ted with a smile. Baking was one of those things in which one could only have so many people assisting before the lack of space became an issue. Even though the Mansion kitchen was huge compared to most kitchens, there was still a practical limit.

"I s-started going to the Mansion a few weeks ago," Amber answered Alina. "Although I d-don't actually live here." Most, she had come to realize, weren't like her. Most of the students also actually lived at the Mansion.

Ted had already volunteered to be the supervisor of this little baking project and that seemed to sit well with everyone else too. "Ya someones got to protect y'all from the dangerous cookie poisoner that's been rumored to be running amuck 'round these parts." the young boy said with a smile.

He took a seat at the table and watched as Elise stated to run around collecting ingredients and things to put said ingredients in. It seemed that just about that time Amber thought his plan was a good idea. She to volunteered to stay out of the way. "I couldn't agree more Amber things would be way to chaotic if we all tried to cook." Teddy said returning her smile. He hadn't sen any of them around before so none of them could have been here much longer than him. It seemed like if you were here long enough then you were known by practically everyone no matter how new to the school you were.

Elise seemed to be very skilled in the art of baking. Nothing seemed to affect the speed she was going at. As Ted continued to sip his drink he stayed quiet. He wasn't going to interject with something that they didn't ask his opinion on. It was interesting to listen to their conversations anyways. It didn't matter if he was involved or not because he could pay attention well enough even if he wasn't directly involved

Alina nodded in understanding with Amber. “I can relate,” she said. “I only started going here a few days ago.” Elise seemed to have gathered all the necessary ingredients, so Alina thought it was time to offer her services seeing as the other two in the kitchen were content to watch. That was fine by her.

“Okay Elise, tell me what to do.” Alina said. “I can stir and I love to crack the eggs.” She hadn't really said anything to Ted yet, so she decided to try some conversation.

“So Ted, what's your story?” She asked. “When did you arrive at the mansion?” She turned to Elise. “Same question. When did you get here?”

There, that's more like it. Some friendly chitchat and cookie baking. Alina hoped she wasn't being to pushy or anything. Some people didn't like her questions, even though she didn't mean anything by them. She just wanted to get to know people better. She can't really straight up ask people really personal stuff right away. You have to start with idle chat and then it evolves from there.

“Honestly, I got here two days ago,” Elise said holding out the bowl to the other girl. “After looking at the place several times and talking to a couple of people, I decided it was the right place,” she said with a shrug, looking over at the other students to see how they would respond. They all probably came to the place due to different circumstances. Seeing their faces she thought about her experiences so far in the mansion and finally discovered why it seemed so crowded. This was probably the largest group of students she had been amongst since she had joined.

“If you want, you can dump the ingredients in while I stir,” Elise replied at Alina’s earlier question, putting the butter back on the table, “Do you want to dump those in, while I mix them until they form ‘stiff peaks’?” Her hand hands quickly moved to bring the other ingredients closer to where they were. There was no need to have people running about.

The image that played through Amber's head at the idea of so many people in the kitchen all trying to cook, some of which probably should stay out of the kitchen for safety reasons, was rather amusing and her cheeks reddened as she let out a little giggle. Did she always have to act funny while in a crowd? Sometimes it seemed like she would never get proper normal social interactions.

"How d-do you like it here?" Amber asked, trying to recover from her embarrassed laugh. People didn't just laugh at thoughts in their head, not normal people. Wasn't that a sign that you were crazy or something? Maybe she'd get lucky and no one would notice, but someone she doubted it. The best she could hope for was no one commenting on it because such comments were almost inevitably cruel in nature, at least in her experience.

"S-so many new people. At least I'm n-not the only one." Amber tried to smile. It was a bit of a relief, actually, knowing there were others that were still settling in. "Maybe we'll have s-some classes together."