Darren Argo was officially transferring to Xavier’s Sister School, a boarding school and home for mutants. He had no idea what to expect, and he spent the entire car ride to the school fidgeting and playing around with his newfound mutation while his fathers chattered in the front seats of the car. He stretched his fingers and bent his hands backwards with ease, and was continually amazed at what he could do. The teenager wasn’t sure how he felt about his mutation, seeing how much hate it had garnered from his peers. He didn’t quite hate it, he didn’t think…and one little boy had described it as “cool.” Hm. It was kind of lame by Superman standards.

When the family finally arrived, they quickly unloaded the car after parking. Darren hadn’t packed very heavy, just a few bags and a larger box, and it was pretty easy to carry them all amongst the three of them. The boy was stuck with the weighty box, of course.

He stared at the huge building looming behind the tall iron gates. His fathers had neglected to mention to him that the school was a literal mansion, and he had been caught completely by surprised. It was decidedly…awesome.

“Well, this place certainly is impressive,” Blake commented, bringing over the last of the bags. He beckoned for his son to follow, snapping him out of his trance. The Argo’s promptly trotted past the gate, up the pathway, and through the main doors. The whole while, Darren was still reeling over the sheer size of the school, and thought he did not regret transferring one bit.

In the foyer, the two men were asked to fill out paperwork in the main office. They glanced at their son, to see if he’d be alright by himself.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll see you after my tour,” Darren said, giving his dads a reassuring smile.

Cal and Blake were whisked away, and the teenage boy was left by his lonesome, waiting for his mansion guide to come and take him away.

Had anyone even actually contacted a guide? Huh? Usually, that was Gawain's job. Gawain. But, surely he was busy with something or someone else. Surely, he was too involved with that other thing to come help some cute boy by the entrance all alone, in need of a tour. Surely, he wouldn't mind if someone took over for him. Surely. She'd been given the tour by him at least once. She could probably manage.

Amelia sighed to herself, and lifted one leg off the other in the comfortable chair she'd dragged out into the foyer. She plucked the bookmark from behind the front cover, and slid it into place in the graphic novel (or manga, of you wanted to be specific) that she'd borrowed from a good friend. She closed the volume about the pint-sized teenage detective neatly, and tucked it under her arm as she rose. Then, she strode across the foyer to join the guy.

What? He had to be at least around her age. Not that she was looking. But. He was kind of cute. Some other girl might eventually be in need of a hookup at some point. The least she could do was make his acquaintance so as to better aid that girl, once she realized who that girl was.

"Hey," she said. She smiled politely at the cutie, all alone without his parents. "You in need of the tour?" Shifting the manga a bit, she managed to extend a free hand for a shake. "My name's Amelia. What's yours?"

Darren hadn’t really paid attention to the various students lying around the foyer and in the living room beyond it, so he nearly jumped when a female voice greeted him. He turned around to see a teenage girl addressing him, and instantly blushed. She was cute.

>> "You in need of the tour? My name's Amelia. What's yours?"

He hesitantly took her hand and gave an awkward shake, probably holding on for too long. “I-I’m Darren. Are you my g-guide?” She looked a little too young to be working for the school, but looks could be deceiving. Maybe she was an age-shifter! Or maybe she had some disease that prevented aging?

…or, more likely, maybe Xavier’s took student volunteers for tours.

Nervous. Awkward. Blushing.

D'aw.

Was she his guide?

"I'm filling in for him," she said. It was not lying. It was technically the truth. "You ready to go?"

>> "I'm filling in for him."

Well, that didn't sound very official. Darren didn't much care to question it, though. The girl seemed nice enough, even if the way she looked at him was making him blush even more. Seriously, the blushing. Why did his guide have to be a pretty girl? At this point, the other students in the vicinity were noticing him and Amelia, making him more self-conscious.

>> "You ready to go?"

"Y-yeah," he stammered, wanting to get away from the eyes. He shook his head as if to shake away the awkward and timidly followed the girl to wherever she led him.

"Um, so what were you reading?" Small talk.

"Comic book about a teenage detective who was too nosy for his own good," She replied casually. A glance back at cute Darren. "He dug into something, got himself turned pint-sized, but still solves crimes." She smirked. "It's pretty cool." Yeah. Sounded cool.

As they passed a room in the hall, she pointed it out. "That's the music room." She said. Because the door said 'music room.' She hadn't been in it at all, but she could figure these things out. "There are more scattered down the hall. And in a bit, we'll get to the library."

Libraries were good places to start tours. Especially since she was like Belle when it came to the mansion's three-story number.

Gina was hanging out in one such music room when Ami happened to walk by. She was hanging-out in there with some of the more musically-inclined Xavier's students, while she sat by, pretended to do homework, and enjoyed the music and company of some of the other students. The room had fallen into an unusual calm, the students conversing amongst themselves, when a familiar voice touched Ginas' ears.

>> "That's the music room. There are more scattered down th-"

Ami? Ami did tours? Gina hummed faintly, smiling. Well, either way, she had to say hello, so she might as well investigate while she was at it...

"Guys, be right back-- a friend of mine just walked by, I have to say hello."

"Fat surprise!" one of her classmates laughed as Gina got to her feet and jogged out of the room. Gina replied by sticking out her tongue, and then she was off, pursuing the retreating forms of Ami and some unfamiliar guy.

"Ami!" Gina called out, announcing herself when she was close enough to be clearly heard, "Hey, Ami, wait up!"

Despite her short legs, she quickly caught up with them, and slowed to a walk when she did. Ami was accompanied by a rather cute guy, who bore the rather lost look of a new kid.

"Hi guys," Gina greeted simply, her gaze flicking from the boy to Ami, smiling, "How's it going?"

Gina was nosy, so shoot her-- she was pretty sure Ami wouldn't mind her tagging along.

>> "Comic book about a teenage detective who was too nosy for his own good. He dug into something, got himself turned pint-sized, but still solves crimes. It's pretty cool."

It did sound cool. It sounded like something Darren would definitely be interested in, especially if it had to do with crime-solving and sleuthing. “W-hat’s it c-called?” he asked, stuttering on an all-time high. He couldn’t help it, he was completely out of his comfort zone.

He looked around the corridors as they passed by students walking to and fro. The place had a nice atmosphere. The boy nodded when Ami pointed out the music room. Not particularly a place he’d be interested in, but good to know nonetheless. Students busily chattered away inside, laughing and having a good time.

>> "Hey, Ami, wait up! Hi guys.”

A girl came out of the music room and called out to Ami, running up to the guide and the guide-ee. She was petite and had bat-like wings and a long tail. That was what Darren immediately noticed about her, anyway, as well as the gray coloring of her skin. The next, and more important, aspect he noticed was her soft face.

Dang it, another cute girl?! He was just not going to catch a break. Cue additional blushing, stammering, and sweatier palms.

He thought he might faint from all the heat pent up in his face. “…h-hello,” he said in a tiny voice. Darren waited for introductions to be made, as he sure as hell wasn’t going to begin them.

>>“W-hat’s it c-called?”

"Detective Conan," Amelia replied.

More touring, more touring, they were nearly to the library, and then--

Gina showed up.

"Hey Gina!" She turned towards the gargoyle girl, all smiles. "Darren, this is Gina. Gina," she turned towards Darren... and instantly noticed the blushing. Ah. So he blushed in front of every girl he saw, did he? Or maybe he simply thought Gina was adorable. She noted this for future reference, without missing a beat. "This is Darren." She gestured towards the boy.

He sheepishly greeted the girl.

"We were just on our way to the library. Want to tag along? Giving him the guided tour."

Gina smiled as the boy's face quickly flushed a deep pink, and a shy "hello" was stammered out. Aw. Gina didn't read too far into it, though she did look down at herself to make sure she was decent. Yup, nothing but a gargoyle-girl. She reciprocated his greeting with a more assured, "Hi."

>> "Hey Gina! Darren, this is Gina. Gina, this is Darren."

"Nice to meet you, Darren," Gina said cordially, nodding to Darren, "Welcome to Xavier's. I hope you like it here."

Gina kept it simple, because she didn't want to scare off the cute new guy. He already seemed to be on the verge of overheating.

>> "We were just on our way to the library. Want to tag along? Giving him the guided tour."

"I'd love to," Gina agreed, before looking towards Darren and asking, "If that's cool with you?"

Darren filed away Detective Conan in his memory. If he had a pen he would’ve written the title down on his hand, but alas he had none. Perhaps he would ask Ami more about it later.

Speaking of Ami, she was very swift in the introductions, indicating that the grinning gargoyle girl’s name was Gina. The two were obviously friends.

>> "Nice to meet you, Darren. Welcome to Xavier's. I hope you like it here."

He cleared his throat before replying, and straightened his shoulders a bit, “N-nice to m-meet you too.” The teenager thought he might already like it at the mansion. As acutely shy as they made him, two girls seemed very sweet and sociable, and he was fortunate to have met the potential friends so quickly on his first day.

>> "We were just on our way to the library. Want to tag along? Giving him the guided tour."
>> “I'd love to. If that's cool with you?”

Of course! he wanted to say, but instead he stumbled out an indistinct, “S-sure,” nodding to reiterate his answer. “S-so…what years are you guys?” he asked, starting to relax a little, the shock of the two pretty gals fading away, “I’m a sophomore.”

Awww, and the stuttering. Shy guy. Adorable. Amelia tried not to adopt a catlike face. The kind best described by colon 3.

Shy kid asked a question, and Amelia replied. "Junior." Casually.

She didn't quite know Gina's grade.

>> “N-nice to m-meet you too.”

Gina smiled faintly as the formalities were exchanged. At least he was polite, if nothing else. And, when granted permission to tag along, Gina couldn't help merself. She grinned a little wider and trotted closer to Ami, so that she was halfway between the two. Gina liked tagging along for tours.

>> “S-so…what years are you guys? I’m a sophomore.”

> "Junior."

No way, this guy was a sophomore?! That would explain the young face...

"Ah, I'm a sophomore, too!" Gina gasped, "No way, that's awesome-" As is they were already friends or something, "-Do you know your classes yet, or do you figure classes out after the tour?"

When she made this inquiry, her smiling gaze went to Darren first, but if Darren didn't know, she looked towards Ami, too. Gina was the social sort, so if anything, she could find him a niche of friends, somewhere.

Ami replied nonchalantly, while Gina was quite excited when she answered the question. Darren recoiled a bit, both surprised and amused at her reaction. He listened to the girl chatter with widened eyes.

>> "-Do you know your classes yet, or do you figure classes out after the tour?"

“I-I think I find out, uh, a-after the tour. I-I dunno, my dads are getting all of my transcript stuff settled right n-now.” He did agree it was awesome they were the same age, although he’d never manage to say it out loud. He settled with a grin, and an excited tingle began to grow at the pit of his diaphragm.

As his mood shifted from bewildered to eager, he thought that things could go really well at the boarding school. That he could really start over and make a good life there. As long as he didn't make any blunders or blurt anything embarrassing out, he could be making two good friends at the moment, too. His swung his gangly arms as he trotted behind Ami, completely unprepared for the sight he was about to see. The mansion's library.

After the tour... yeah. That made the most sense. Was Gina looking to her as if she knew? She had never played tour guide for the mansion before.

Crap.

Hopefully, there wasn't something major she was omitting because Gawain was a stupidhead and wasn't there to do his damn job.

To distract them all from her lack of full tour guide knowledge, Amelia stopped and turned, spreading her arms Vanna White style to proclaim. "I give you. The library." Of course, she wasn't giving it to them Beast style. She didn't own it. But she certainly wanted to share the love.