There was something beautiful about the library at the Mansion. Maybe it was the way the sun filtered in, lighting up the little dust motes as they floated through the air, or the way the books smelled. Kealey didn’t know, but she really did have a deep seeded love for the place. Maybe, she mused, it was the hours and hours and hours of work she’d put into the place to make it the well-oiled machine it was now. That was the reason she was here, when she could have been at home. Home, that sure had a nice ring to it. A ring that it hadn’t had until recently. Still, there was work to be kept up with at the Mansion, and her little worker bees could only do so much, no matter how well trained they were.

Things at home were working out nicely, and it seemed like showing up every now and then to make sure everything was smooth at the Mansion was going to be enough. That helped matters considerably, and as she continued cataloging a new shipment of books that had been delivered the past week, Kealey smiled, the weather was nice, and the students who had stayed at the Mansion for the summer seemed to be in generally high spirits. Yes. Today was a productive day.

At least until her stomach growled…

A check of the computer’s clock told the blond that she’d been there much longer than she’d originally expected and that she’d have normally had lunch quite some time ago! Chiding herself mentally, the blond closed things down for the moment and started making her way to the kitchens, she hadn’t brought anything to eat, and it was still nice to go somewhere you knew would be well stocked. Shopping at the apartment had been sporadic so far, and it was not unusually to see one of its inhabitants running out for this or that or something that had originally been forgotten.

Making her way through the final hall, Kealey entered the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge. A sandwich sounded delightful and the blond hummed as she gathered ingredients: turkey, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonase, spicy mustard, and bacon soon stood assembled on the island and Kealey went to the cabinets to find bread.

Yeah…lunch was a great idea.

It was time for another mansion visit! Lydia had amassed a handful of companions at the school for mutants, some students and some not, and decided it would be nice to see them again, or meet some of the other residents there. The people there seemed nothing but nice, although some of the younger kids could be annoying, not like those at the Sanctuary. No, some of the inhabitants there were not very nice, some downright creepy or sinister, and she didn’t like hanging around them. It made her want to leave the place sometimes, but Lydia knew she didn’t quite have anywhere else to go.

She couldn’t go back to LA, she was too old for the foster care system, and her (ex)friends there were probably still very much pissed at her. She doubted she was close enough to any of her new friends to move into their homes, and it wasn’t like she had a job or the qualifications for one, to pay for things like rent. Adult things she had never learned how to handle.

So the girl took field trips to the mansion. There were cool people, comfortable couches, and a very open kitchen full of various goodies. The kitchen at the Sanctuary was still recovering from the fire earlier that month, so she didn’t have anything to raid, and subsequently no snacks to munch on. All she had was whatever they managed to serve in the dining hall, which was usually less-than-appetizing. That was why the minute Lyd got past the large iron gates at the mansion she made a beeline for the kitchen.

The room was void of life except one blonde woman rummaging through the refrigerator. She pulled out many things, ingredients for a sandwich it looked like, and set them on the counter. Lydia looked on with longing, a turkey sandwich suddenly sounding very enticing.

“Hi,” she said brightly, “Do ya mind if I make a sandwich too?”

A new voice sounded in the kitchen and Kealey’s head shot up, a startled little ”Oh!” escaping her as she realized that she wasn’t alone. That was another thing about The Mansion. It threw her powers off. So many emotions in one place that were so strong, so often made it hard to discern one from another.

Recovering from her surprise, Kealey smiled. ”Go right ahead. “ she said, gesturing to the materials she’d set up on the counter. ” I’d be in a world of trouble if I made a sandwich big enough to need all of this….” but still…something was missing.

”Cheese!” she exclaimed, head disappearing back into the fridge for a moment, then emerging victorious.

”Here we go.” she said, adding it to the assembled ingredients. Mission accomplished, Kealey studied the new comer, it was not someone Kealey knew. With the way students and boarders came and went, that was not a strange occurrence, so the blond followed protocol.

”I’m Kealey. I don’t think we’ve met.” she said, working at the little twist-tie on the bread so the sandwich making could really start.

>> “Oh! Go right ahead. I’d be in a world of trouble if I made a sandwich big enough to need all of this….”

Lydia grinned. The blonde strange was as friendly as she’d hoped. “I hear you. Glad I can help,” she replied, moving over to the cabinet full of plates. She was starting to really memorize the layout of the kitchen. She was pretty confident of the locations of the plates, bowls, and utensils, and the cupboard full of dry snacks. In fact, a granola bar or something didn’t sound too bad at the moment.

She went over to the cupboard and started searching through it, when the blonde shouted about, well, cheese. It startled Lyd so much she nearly dropped the bar she was holding in her hand. She whipped around, expecting to see some sort of cheese-related disaster, but found nothing of the sort. The woman had simply been searching for cheese. The teenager gave a little chuckle and waltzed back to the counter.

>> “I’m Kealey. I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No I don’t believe we have. I’m Lydia. I, uh, don’t exactly live here. I just came to visit some friends when my tummy started grumbling. The Sanctuary doesn’t exactly serve the tastiest foods.” She shrugged, hoping it wouldn’t be too weird that even though she wasn’t a mansion student or resident, she was using its kitchen. And if Kealey had ever been to the Sanctuary before, she’d know what she meant. “So are you a teacher here, or do you just live here?” She asked as she started unscrewing the jars of mayo and mustard.

Kealey nodded her head to show that she was paying attention as she went to work cutting a tomato into pieces appropriate for a sandwich. Lydia introduced herself, and Kealey committed the name to memory. The girl seemed friendly enough, and in the Mansion there was no such thing as too many friends. Lydia admitted that she didn’t actually live in the Mansion and Kealey just nodded her head some more. Obviously someone had let her inside, and there was plenty of food to go around.

The blonde’s interest piqued, however, when the girl pointed out that she was living at the Sanctuary. That was interesting, and for a moment Kealey reminisced about her own experiences there. Maybe they’d share stories.

First, she’d answer questions.

”Well, you’re not alone. I don’t actually live here anymore either, just recently moved out.” she answered honestly, pushing the left side of her hair behind her ear, ” I’m the librarian here though…among other things.”

The tomato was cut, lettuce was peeled, bread and bacon were ready, and Kealey went to work putting the sandwich together. All that was left were condiments. And questions of her own

” I heard you mention the Sanctuary. I have a few friends there.” Kealey told the truth…just not the whole truth. Not yet.

Lydia watched as Kealey sliced up the tomatoes, and looked down at her hands. She supposed she should be doing something, although she had no idea how to cut vegetables…or fruit? Tomatoes were actually fruit, right? Something about its seeds or something. But she was going on a brain tangent. She shook her head, trying to knock out the distracting thoughts, and refocused her attention on her kitchen cohort, and the creation of her sandwich. She started to spread the condiments on the slices of bread.

>> “Well, you’re not alone. I don’t actually live here anymore either, just recently moved out. I’m the librarian here though…among other things.”

She looked Kealey up and down, and tried to gauge the woman’s age. She looked young, obviously not as young as Lydia, but not too far past twenty. Old enough to live on her own, basically. “It must be nice to live on your own, independently.” The girl could imagine it getting a little lonely once in a while, but if Kealey was a regular at the mansion, had a job there even, then it couldn’t be too bad.

She was a bit tempted to ask what “among other things” exactly meant, but she held her curiosity back. She didn’t want to pry, didn’t want to be nosy. She’d made that mistake quite a few times too many already.

>> “I heard you mention the Sanctuary. I have a few friends there.”

“Oh really? That’s cool. Like who?” The Sanctuary was a large place, but Lydia thought she knew most of its regular residents. She’d been there for more than half a year, so while she wasn’t exactly an oldie, she wasn’t a newbie either. She really wasn’t too surprised that Kealey had met some of the Sanctuary occupants. The mutant world was small, even though the city of New York was quite large. Six degrees of separation was easy-peasy for mutants.

Kealey smiled when Lydia intoned how nice it must be to live independently. ”Not entirely independent.” she said, the slightly giddy tone of her voice impossible to hide. ” My boyfriend came with me.” she tilted her head, considering for a moment, ”There were too many people here for my abilities. It made sense.” Not that she felt like she needed to make excuses or explain anything…she wanted to.

As to her friends, ”Lori is a friend of mine…so are a few of the Abyss brothers.” the blond’s cheeks pinked at that…she’d always ended up in the most interesting situations with those boys. ”The Sanctuary helped me out once when something very bad happened to me. “ she said, then looked around the kitchen.

”This was just a better fit…in the end.” Kealey said, nodding her head slowly. This was where Shin had brought her after Roland…this was where she’d felt safe, and laughed, and so many things. Yeah. This had been a better fit.

”Do you like it there?” she asked, then went back to the sandwich. Man, it was going to be good.

>> “Not entirely independent. My boyfriend came with me.”

Ah, but of course. Kealey was far from an unattractive woman, so it was no shock to Lydia that she had a significant other. It was actually pretty adorable, the way she said it. She sounded so happy. The teenager smiled in response, and continued with the sandwich-making.

>> “There were too many people here for my abilities. It made sense.”

Oh? Her abilities? It was pretty much a given that the blonde was a mutant, seeing as she used to live and worked at a school for mutants, but the amount of people affected her mutation? “What can you do, exactly?” Whatever it was, Lydia was sure it was interesting. She found nearly all mutant powers interesting, and she was sure she’d never tire of learning about them. There was just such a variety. And not to mention, people like adapteds were appearing too. They weren’t mutants, of course, but they were related.

>> “Lori is a friend of mine…so are a few of the Abyss brothers. The Sanctuary helped me out once when something very bad happened to me.”

“Ah, I know Lori!” She exclaimed, excited that they had that connection. Once again, six degrees of separation, the game was a joke for mutants. “I met her at the gym, actually. She’s, uh, surprising.” Lyd wasn’t sure how to describe the woman, and decided to leave it at that. Hopefully Kealey would get the gist of what she was trying to say.

She nodded in sympathy and understanding when the blonde mentioned bad happenings. The Sanctuary was like that. It took in all sorts (well, as long as they were mutants), and there was always a few in trouble who sought out the golden doors for protection.

>> “This was just a better fit…in the end.”

Kealey’s words stirred up Lydia’s thoughts of moving again. The Sanctuary was a nice place, but it was a little too dark for her sometimes. Some of her housemates just scared her, and the bloody rumors swirling around did nothing to ease her mind. Not mention the big red guy who guarded a certain resident’s room every night. He certainly did not look nice.

>> ”Do you like it there?”

But there were good things about the place as well. For one, free board and free food, even if the latter wasn’t always a good thing. And not all of the occupants were creepy and frightening. Some of them were very cool and kind, and one in particular was very cute. A sigh escaped the teenager’s lips. “Honestly? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. But I don’t really know of any alternatives.”

What could she do? Kealey tilted her head to the side, studying the other girl in the kitchen. It wasn’t that the blond disliked talking about her powers, they just had a tendency to make people uncomfortable from time to time. This conversation was going well…but Kealey could tell there was something almost fragile about the interaction.

” Emotions.” she said simply, dropping her eyes back to her sandwich and putting the finishing touches in before closing the two halfs. ”I feel them. All of them, all the time.” A lopsided grin spread across Kealey’s face and she shrugged, ”So you can see why a school full of hormonal teenagers got tiring.”

That was the easy question to answer, and the blond had to laugh at Lydia’s response to the fact that they both knew Lori. Lori was….surprising, verbal ellipse and all. Kealey nodded.

”That she is. Bought me my very first chocotini. The rest…is history.” and boy was it. Sordid, dirty…history. Lori was still living at the Sanctuary…Kealey made a mental note to see about contacting the other woman. It sure had been a while…and a lot of water had passed under a lot of bridges.

Kealey took a bite of her sandwich while Lydia explained her feelings towards the Sanctuary. Kealey had heard rumors too, and she listened while she chewed. No other options?

”Take a room here. Shin and I lived here for ages. Money isn’t an object, and the kitchen is open 24/7. Sure there’s kids running around sometimes, but they usually stay out of the adult wing. Besides….” The blonde turned and rummaged in the fridge till she found a Coke, then opened it and took a drink.

”All the adult rooms have their own bathroom.”

>> “Emotions. I feel them. All of them, all the time. So you can see why a school full of hormonal teenagers got tiring.”

Oh wow, emotions! Lydia smiled even wider, running the mutation through her head. “So you’re like an empath? Very interesting, although I’ll have to apologize for being a hormonal teenager then.” She wondered what it must feel like, to feel the emotions of others. Obviously it wasn’t all fun and games, as indicated by Kealey’s words, but it was something she wished she could experience anyway. Her own ability always seemed to pale in comparison to the ones of those she met.

The girl chuckled, in between bites of her completed sandwich, at the blonde’s recounting of her time with Lori. It sounded…apt, for the woman. And it made her want to have a follow-up meeting with her. Especially with the recent information she had required about a certain organization. Lydia had questions.

>> “Take a room here. Shin and I lived here for ages. Money isn’t an object, and the kitchen is open 24/7. Sure there’s kids running around sometimes, but they usually stay out of the adult wing. Besides….All the adult rooms have their own bathroom.”

Live at the mansion…well, it certainly did have a nice ring to it. Mansion. Huh. Lyd had never thought she’d even consider moving into such a place. Not to mention, the building doubled as a school. Something she’d never thought she’d willingly move close to, much less move into. It sounded nice, and from what she’d seen, the rooms and such were all clean and comfortable-looking. It was an inviting idea.

But for once, she knew better.

“I can’t. This place isn’t the right fit for me. The people here…they’re all too good. I’d get into way too much trouble, I think. At the Sanctuary, at least they’re used to that.” From what she’d seen with Agnes and Andrew, she was sure her night activities would be frowned on. Sure she sometimes felt claustrophobic behind the golden doors, but she was sure she’d feel even more trapped behind the looming gates. And did she even count as an adult?

Lydia cleared her throat, the air around her suddenly feeling a bit awkward. “So, I take it Shin’s your man?”

Kealey shrugged at the apology Lydia gave and smiled around the sandwich, which was rapidly disappearing, ” Don’t apologize, trust me you’re not even a drop in the proverbial bucket.” Bucket…heh. She’d have to tell Shin about her inadvertent Homestuck reference later. And ah, the girl knew what an empath was, ”And yeah, exactly like an empath. It’s difficult, but I’m learning and getting better at it.”

At her suggestion of living in The Mansion, Lydia thought for a few moments, and Kealely watched her emotions. As sometimes happened, the blond couldn’t exactly put a name to what the other girl was feeling, but Kealey nodded her head in understanding when she spoke in understanding, but not agreement.

”You’re overestimating the overall moral compass of this place.” Kealey said, ”People are people wherever they are…and in a building full of teenagers and temporary residents, there’s never any lack of excitement.” Kealey thought of Gina, and Calley, and any number of others. ”You’d fit in just fine.”

As to Shin and his status, ”Yup.” she said, taking another bite. ”He’s great.”

>> “Don’t apologize, trust me you’re not even a drop in the proverbial bucket. And yeah, exactly like an empath. It’s difficult, but I’m learning and getting better at it.”

Lydia was a bit surprised that Kealey didn’t ask her what her mutation was. She wasn’t doing the usual, “show me yours if I show you mine” game that mutants played. Oh well, the teenager would share anyway. Even if her ability wasn’t necessarily useful, it was still sort of flashy. “Yeah, I’ve been training with my power too. I can change my skin, you see, into different textures and such, like paper and rock. My control's still a bit tricky.”

>> “You’re overestimating the overall moral compass of this place. People are people wherever they are…and in a building full of teenagers and temporary residents, there’s never any lack of excitement. You’d fit in just fine.”

Excitement. But was Kealey’s idea of excitement was the same as hers? She didn’t want to turn off a potential new friend by regaling tales of certain not-quite-legal adventures, like her recent one with Agnes, but that was the sort of thing she meant when she said she wouldn’t fit in. “I dunno. I mean, it sort of has been something I’ve thought about every once in a while, but I’ve just finally felt settled at the Sancts, you know?” Lydia shrugged and munched on her granola bar.

She giggled at Kealey’s comment about her boyfriend. Was it now time for girl talk? Because that was always fun, and they were in a kitchen stock full of goodies perfect for girl talk. “How long have you two been together?” Lyd assumed it was a while if they were moving in together.

Lydia explained her mutation, and a small part of Kealey couldn’t help but imagine how useful a power that would be on the X-Men team. She mentally chided herself and grinned, ”I wish I could do something that interesting.” she said, ”Mostly I just wander around like an airhead and have horrible mood swings.” There were other aspects, but Kealey didn’t feel like getting into the whole ‘I control emotions’ thing. If knowing she was an empath was strange for people…knowing she could actually mess with emotions really bugged them.

Kealey could still feel the disbelief when she explained that the Mansion wasn’t necessarily the moral high ground the younger woman made it out to be. The blond was curious, what exactly did Lydia like to do that made her so sure she wouldn’t fit in? The girl seemed so nice…and they were getting along so well. So Kealey did the only thing she could, she dropped the subject.

She grinned as Lydia kept speaking and ate a couple more bites of sandwich, chewing as she thought about the answer to the question she’d been asked.

”Almost a year.” she said, then shook her head, ”Wow, time flies…We'd known each other quite a while longer...but wow, a year.” Kealey committed the fact to memory. She and Shin weren't big anniversary people...but the timing deserved to be acknowledged.

The blonde’s comment about her mutation brought another smile to Lydia’s face. It was nice to be complimented, even if she didn’t really agree. “I think your mutation is very cool, Kealey. Don’t sell yourself short.” It probably made her a great people person, being able to gauge the feelings of others in that deeper way.

Kealey dropped the subject of moving, and the girl couldn’t help but give a silent sigh of relief. Especially since the next topic was indeed about the woman and her boyfriend, which was infinitely more fun to talk about.

“Almost a year? Wow,” she replied, her eyes widening. One year was a really long time. But she supposed Kealey was at the age for that sort of long-term relationship, for that sort of maturity. Lyd suddenly realized how young she was. She realized the larger age gap she probably had with the woman. It was strange, how they had been having such a pleasant conversation. It wasn’t boring adult talk, and she hadn’t felt too young or immature. Until that moment, she had just felt perfectly normal. Huh.

“Do you think he’s the one?” She asked tentatively, her mouth wavering between a smile and a frown. It sounded like such a childish question once she said it, but she was curious. She’d never had or seen that sort of experience.

Kealey nodded her head when Lydia pointed out that a year was a long time. It kind of was…but it felt like only yesterday Kealey had ran down these hallways, desperate to find Shin and make sure that she hadn’t ruined everything with her silly self doubt. Wow, a whole year almost.

Another question from the girl brought Kealey’s head up in mild surprise. The genuine curiosity and strange intensity of the query made her really consider her answer for a moment, sandwich forgotten for the time being.

Was he the one? There was so much evidence to suggest that this was the case, and they had just moved in together. Didn’t that mean something really serious? Along with the vacation to meet his parents, the declarations of undying love…and a million other things…it sure seemed that way.

“I love him, and he loves me.” she said, finally. ”And that’s really all that matters in the grand scheme of things, isn't it? Is he the one for me? I think so, absolutely.”

A smile spread across the blonde’s features and she giggled a bit, ”When I met his mom in Japan…she thought we were already engaged. Kept calling me his fiancé and telling me how many kids I have to have.”

Kealey paused for a moment, suddenly sheepish for talking so much about herself, "What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"