It was sunny out, bright and clean. Crisp clear air... happy people out and about. The perfect sort of day to take a walk and clear ones head.

...She stayed inside.

Sloth peered curiously over her shoulder, pink tongue flicking this way and that as he licked the air and got accustomed to the new place. The library... A room that Andrea had never ventured into before today. She had figured that she would never need to. But... then Sloth had started clinging to things, and the others had gotten grumpy.... and she was pretty sure Lust had taken to one of the other residents, but she couldn't gather any proof. Little orange eyes just tended to follow one fellow in particular, and she got hissed at whenever she tried to investigate.

Heaving a small, tired sigh Andrea slapped her current book closed and rubbed at her eyes behind her sunglasses. Four hours of leafing though pages, boring... highly uninteresting pages... and she had found nothing. She had found a few books that dealt with mutations, the science behind them and theories surrounding them... They were interesting, but nothing that could help her with her situation. After those failed attempts, she had turned to books on snakes. She learned about serpent tempers, activities, behaviors, and eating habits... mating habits too. (though it didn't explain snake like googly eyes)

Nothing mentioned snakes having habits of possessiveness or clingy natures. The large white snakes newly developed habit of claiming anything and everything he could wrap himself around. It was aggravating... to say the least. Standing from her chair, she snatched up the five books scattered across the table. It was time to hit the shelves again... she knew there was a book floating around somewhere about different types of snake venom, and she was more than a little interested. Sloth shifted across her shoulders, sending her momentarily off balance. His weight had caused her to topple over more than once since he had popped out of her head... and she was only now getting used to having him constantly settled around her shoulders.

The other serpents dangled around her head, tucked gently into two large braids on either side of her head. They were none to happy about it too... She had been bitten a dozen times already since adopting the hairdo earlier that morning. Ira hissed into her ear, deciding that right exactly then was the best time to remind Andrea of his great dislike of the braids. The black serpent lunged, sinking fangs into the side of her neck, and she fully toppled over in surprise, with a yelp of pain. Her handful of books went flying, and she dragged half a self down with her into a neat little pile on the floor.

Many people considered books to be outdated in this digital age. Why spend the time flipping through dusty pages when all the answers could be reached with a few key strokes? At the Sanctuary, there were more than a few mutants physically incapable of using a computer. Lori may not have wide fingers or thermal vision, but the computers were just as off limits to her.

Oh, if she remained perfectly calm and held her breath while the blue moon was rising over a double rainbow, she could use a computer without her power ruining something. The Order Leader just wasn't about to pay for yet another piece of equipment broken. She did that enough with everyone else who lived at the Sanctuary.

So, when the blond needed answers, to the library she went!

Today's topics included Brain Mapping, Bio-Electrical Signal Processing, Brain Waves and You and just for funzies Mr & Mrs Fantastical: The Comic Anthology. Lori enjoyed how all the fake super heroes' problems could get punched in the face. The Sanctuary library held an impressive array of comics.

She had her reading glasses balanced perfectly at the tip of her nose, her chair tilted at the perfect balance between boredom and disaster when it happened.

CRASH. WHUMP. THUD.

The snake-haired girl's disaster was far reaching, books flying and, worst of all in Lori's opinion, a simple nudge against a sturdy library table that was supporting Lori's perfect balance.

Sliii—THWAP!

Lori's comic anthology flew up out of her hands when she tipped backward and the fluttering pages landed squarely on her surprised face. Somehow, the balance had fully shifted toward disaster. Fate had been denied for too long.

"Need some help?" Lori's question came out more like a growl than a willing question. Though when she peeled the book off of her face to inspect the one responsible, Lori's peev-o-meter tipped more toward intrigued. "I don't think we've met."

Caught in a struggle between righting herself and prying a vicious snake from her throat, Andrea almost didn't hear the woman's voice. She hadn't even realized that someone else was so close by... With a book draped over her leg, she held Ira at bay and muttered a soft threat under her breath that promised a tighter, more effective hair braid if the serpents didn't knock it off.

And fast! Looking every bit disheveled, Andrea stole a glance at the woman who she had inadvertently knocked over. "Ah... oh, sorry!" Scrambling to her feet, she set about picking her fallen books up. The last was on the table the woman had been reading at, she shuffled over sheepishly, setting her books down on the flat surface. "..I do not think we have... I am Andrea. Would... would you like help up?"

With a hissing, snapping snake head in one gloved hand, the Greek thought over her offer and decided it was pretty stupid. Who would willingly accept help from such a sight? The other snakes offered hisses in reply to her thought, struggling against their hair bonds. Andrea quickly tried to fix the situation by forcefully tucking Ira into the length of the braid, before tossing it over her shoulder.

She tried not to wince as the snake latched onto her shoulder blade with his teeth. "Are you alright?" She didn't recognize the woman, but then again she had pretty much adopted the habits of a phantom since coming to the sanctuary... so she had met very few people. With her snake problem temporarily solved, she offered a gloved hand to the woman and attempted to seem less awkward and more friendly.

Sloth, from his position curled around her shoulders, fixed his beady eyes on the woman and licked the air slowly. He wasn't yet sure if she was of interest to him, though she smelled pleasant enough.

Lori didn't need the hand up, but she accepted it anyway. The girl wore gloves, she noticed when their hands met. Gloves and sunglasses weren't all that unusual indoors for the Sanctuary but combine that with hair that kept trying to eat her… Well, Lori couldn't stay mad at her for long.

Though what she wouldn't give for some skin contact! Did each snake think? They seemed to move without the girl's consent, which would explain the whole randomly falling over thing.

Lori whistled a long low tone that expressed how very impressed Lori was by the show. "You look like you have your hands full already. Would you like some help calming your hair?" Yes, that was calming, not combing. Sometimes it was fun to be a mutant.

"I'm Lori, by the way. Lori Faust." She probably wouldn't put it together that Lori who ran the Sanctuary was the Lori in the library. Few mutants did and that suited Lori just fine. She liked to be on the front lines just as much as she liked pulling the strings.

After helping the woman up, she shifted back to a safe distance and blinked at the woman from behind her glasses. Help with her snakes? Thinking back, she realized that everyone who had ever offered her help had...well.. actually managed to help. She had learned possible ways of surviving without her glasses, and had enjoyed a meal without sight!

Her smile returned, bright and cheery- if a little timid. Ira wriggled viciously, yanking his teeth free from her skin and she winced again. That would leave a mark, most definitely. "It is nice to meet you Lori... sorry again for.. uh, you know." Her snakes stilled for a moment, focusing if they could at the woman who was causing their owner to be flustered. Something was up... Andrea glanced down at Sloth, who glanced up at her. She was sure if it could, he would have been squinting at her.

With her own curiosity spike, her snakes weren't too slow to follow. Sloth's large body shifted, as he attempted to claim her arm... for the eighth time, and Lust shot Lori his best puppy eyes as his tongue snapped through the air like a whip. The Greek winced, wiggling her fingers to keep feeling in them, and shot the blonde woman a sheepish grin.

"...Help would be appreciated.." Hopefully before another snake got it into his head that she was a fang cushion... or Lust labeled the woman as his newest object of affection. She really didn't want Vana getting jealous and starting a snake fight in the middle of the library...

How best to help to help the snake headed girl? Hmm. Lori put her hands up to… show that they were empty? To placate any snakes that might get the wrong impression? To start a broadway jazz-hands dance move? Any of those were possibilities when Lori stepped slowly closer.

"I'm going to touch you and I'm not sure if it will sting or not." How connected were those snakes to Andrea's brain? Surely they couldn't hear each other's thoughts or feel each other's pain if they were biting her and causing her such trouble.

"Which one of you is the biter?" She was now, of course, addressing the snakes. "If you like biting people, why don't you try biting me instead?" Lori held up her hand as an offering to any snake takers and tried to steady her nerves. Snakes didn't bother her. Not really. But somehow it made things worse to know that pain might be coming, but she couldn't possibly predict where it would come from or when.

Lori was no martyr. She just knew that fangs were made of dense material like bone and the denser the material, the better a conductor it would be. If a snake was willing to sink its fangs into her, it had better be willing to take enough volts to power a car.

Would Andy be mad at Lori if one of her snakes died this way? Only one way to find out for sure...

"I'm going to touch you and I'm not sure if it will sting or not."

Andrea nodded, curiosity seeping into every aspect of her expression. She had to admit, she was growing steadily more interested in what the woman could could- if anything at all. She wasn't really concerned about pain... the fangs that had been planted in her shoulder blade moments earlier hurt more than a sting. Hell, nothing could be worse than the pain of the darned things coming into existence, right?

"Which one of you is the biter? If you like biting people, why don't you try biting me instead?"

Lust tugged at the braid that held him captive, while Sloth watched the woman quietly. His head tilted, one beady eye trained on the blond woman. The other snakes wriggled uneasily, agitated from being cooped up in her hair as well as from the feminine hand that was held out in their direction. Sloths tongue flicked out, while the others struggled, and shifted around Andrea's shoulders so that he could support himself as he reached out to inspect the offered hand.

Was it a food offering? Did that mean he had permission to bite? He angled a little questioning glance toward the girl he was anchored to. She usually stopped him from touching people, and she definitely never let him eat people. Which was one of the reasons he had taken to ignoring the antics of his smaller siblings. She kind of deserved it... for getting in the way of his dinner.

Andrea watched quietly, a little nervous about Sloth eyeballing her, before the white snake turned and continued out toward the hand. His nose brushed fingers, then a palm. She could feel his mass of muscles around her shoulders tensing. He nuzzled the hand, inspecting it in a snake like way... and the Greek raised her own to gently touch the snakes body... if he was going to bite, she wanted to have a purchase with which to drag him back.

The big one came for her. It bumped her hand like a dog seeking pets. Well. That wasn't all bad. Lori slid her hand along the smooth scales of the white snake. "Is it... weird when people pet your snakes?" She didn't want to be rude, but it was actually kind of cool. Things must never be dull or lonely for Andrea.

"You're not the one I saw biting Ms. Andrea." She couldn't really tell the smaller ones apart, but— "I would have remembered if it were you. I only want to teach a lesson to the Andrea biter." Lori grinned at the slow moving snake. "If that's alright with you, of course."

She was talking to hair snakes. Talking to snakes would seem silly enough, but these snakes were like... coming out of someone's skull. 'I love my job.'

Andrea smiled, keeping her eyes locked on the big snakes mouth. "I... do not usually let people touch them. They have a tendency to act up..." In truth, it was the first time she had ever seen someone pet sloth. Most either avoided her, or she avoided them. She blinked at the sensation.. like poking at a numb body part. It did feel strange...

All eyes turned on Ira, and the snake hissed and tried to blend in with her hair. He would have succeeded if it weren't for his brightly colored eyes. She felt the wiggling in her hair still a little, as the serpents became curious to see what the lady wanted with their most aggressive brother. Lust struggled to join Sloth in being petted, but was unfortunately not as long as his great white sibling.

Said white snake didn't like being shafted for another, and Andrea raised a hand to draw him back to her before he tried to take the woman captive. She really didn't want to be stuck to anything, or anyone for that matter. Ira didn't find the situation all that amusing, and in a snake like tone he hissed out his anger again. He was coiling in her hair, shifting the strands aside to gain more room. Andrea shifted uneasily, but figured that her braid would be enough to keep him contained.

She was wrong, of course. She had little time to stop him as the snake launched himself forward, intent on snipping at the intruding woman with his teeth. He'd show her... that closing in on his territory was a bad idea!

They say only one thing is quicker than a snake bite: lightning. And Lori was practically made of it.

As soon as one snake started to distinguish itself, Lori's hand lunged. The snake lunged too and they met somewhere in the middle with small fingers wrapping around a slender, muscled snake with brilliant eyes.

"Bad move."

Lori always imagined the power inside of her like a tightly curled fist. If she loosened her grip on that fist, some power came leaking out. If she let so much as a single finger loose, more volts than a taser coursed through her body seeking the path of least resistance to get out.

You can imagine what finger she imagined raising for this naughty snake.

Her only fear, and she thought of this far later than she liked to admit, was that a snake attached to someone's skull might be a good enough conductor to transfer some of that energy skull side. Some people's mutation's were just so complicated.

One snake struck out, and all of them paid for it. Andrea included. She yelped like a kicked dog and twitched like she had stuck a fork in an electrical socket. Sloth squeezed around her neck to tight that she was sure here head was going to pop off like a dandelion flower in the hands of some ruthless child, and toppled backwards as stiff as a plank.

Gorgon met floor and she let out an "Ooof", twitched once more for good measure while blinking up at the ceiling. She found herself wondering if she had lit up like a Christmas tree, all green and red and bones showing, like in the cartoons. She also wondered if that was what hugging an electric eel felt like, and what exactly had just happened. Option number one was of course that Lori was a Mutant. Option number two? That Lori had built up some serious static by nefariously shuffling about the carpeted areas of the sanctuary in giant wool socks. Whatever the reason, Andrea was left relatively speechless.

"...Woah." She blinked up at the woman, supported by an elbow, and scratched at her tingling scalp. She felt oddly refreshed! Her snakes on the other hand, were oddly - or perhaps rightly- out like lights. She picked one up, then let it flop back limply against her shoulder. "Huh... it worked." Grinning sheepishly, she scratched at her scalp again and properly introduced herself to the helpful woman. "...I am Andrea, by the way... It is a pleasure to meet you Lori, slayer of snakes."

"Are they dead?" She really hadn't meant to kill them, though Andrea didn't sound all too torn up about it. "I wasn't sure if the shock would carry through them to you. Sorry." Lori said that she was sorry like a child might tell a sibling sorry. Like she said it more for the social obligation rather than with any real concept of the meaning.

The snakes were all quite limp now. It was somehow unnerving. Snakes usually moved with a boneless grace and to see them jiggle with the bob of Andrea's head made Lori's tummy churn.

"Hand up?" Andrea was already introducing herself so after helping, Lori changed their contact into a handshake. Andrea had already introduced herself, but Lori decided to give her the benefit of the doubt considering the fact that she had just shocked the hooey out of her.

"Want a hand re-braiding? I can do a french braid. It's kinda like a rule to learn that skill when you play soccer." She shrugged. Braiding hair was probably the absolute girliest skill that Lori had.

Tingling scalps felt weird, she decided. Like mint shampoo. She blinked and prodded at one of the snakes at Lori's question. It twitched. "I don't think they are dead... I can still feel them." Grinning, she moved from prodding to scratching at her head again. "Just sleeping or something, I guess." She briefly wondered what snakes could dream about, before focusing on the hand offered to her.

"Ah..o-oh.. yeah, thank you." She felt a little dizzy upon standing, and couldn't quite remember what she had been doing before meeting Lori. Oh! Right. Books. Research.... on snakes. She was relatively glad they were out cold now, but felt she'd have to find a less painful, violent way to put them to sleep on her own. The idea of tasing herself whenever they got out of hand was a little funny, but sad. She glanced at the hanging braids on her shoulders upon hearing Lori's offer, and blanched. Her hair had poofed from getting shocked... she was suddenly reminded of when Juka had bubbled her.

At least it wasn't super wiggly this time, too. "That would be appreciated... but I would hate to burden you with such a task... Surely you were doing something before I interrupted you?" Her cheeks tinted ever so slightly brown, and she fumbled with the bottom of one braid. The last time someone had helped her with her hair, it had been her mother. When she was six.

The Order Leader breathed again when one of the twitched. "Knocked out or paralyzed. Electricity can do that." She shrugged as if Andrea wouldn't understand.

In asnwer to the green girl's question, "Just a little light reading." Lori motioned back to her stack of books about brain mapping and electrical signals in the human body. "And research." She added as an after thought when she grabbed up the splayed open Mr. and Mrs. Fantastical Anthology.

"Practical application would be better, but wouldn't you guess? Nobody wants me futzing around in the brain for funzies? How's a girl gonna lean?" The blonde put the comic anthology back on the table and righted her chair before motioning to it, clearly intending for Andrea to take her seat so that she could stand behind her and braid.

"Sit. It won't take but a second. Maybe they won't wake up before. Big one will probably come around first, anyway." Assuming the girl went quietly, Lori could finger comb out those snakes and hair and get her put back together before she left the library. Lori's stack of books sat within easy reach.

"Alright, if you insist.."

After glancing at the chair a few times, she followed her orders and sat, fingers twiddling in her lap. It was going to be a little weird.. but she was also kind of excited. The mention of research brought her eyes over to the little pile of books the woman had been reading. Things on brain activity and what not, a whole level of science above where Andrea comfortably sat. She eyed her own books too, mutation based, and wrinkled her nose. "...It wasn't all that bad.. a little shocking, but nothing I would be fearful of repeating." She had eaten glass before, after all... a little shock didn't scare her all that much. She did wonder if her snakes would wake up with a healthy does of fear, or respect, for the blonde woman though.

"Were you reading these for research on your mutation as well? I was drawn here for that reason..." She picked up one of the books, a comic of some sort, and gave it a quizzical look over. Sloth remained motionless, draped over her shoulder like a heavy stuffed snake, and the others hung limply- mixed in her braids here and there. "What are you trying to learn, Lori?" She wanted to turn in her chair and blink at the woman, curious as ever and a little distracted, but forces herself to remain still to make it easier for the woman to mess with her hair.

"..I was looking up possible explanations for my... um.. mutations."