>> “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.”

"Oh, okay," Gina hummed, nodding her head, "I was just going to see if I knew anyone in any of your classes-" which was a distinct possibility, seeing as Gina knew plenty of people, "-Help make connections or something."

That'd have to wait until later, though. Gina had previously been keeping in-step with Ami, but stepped back as they neared the library so that Darren could get a better view. Ami gestured broadly towards the doors of the library, with a loud,

>> "I give you. The library."

Gina grinned, pocketting her hands-- she loved the library and knew it like the back of her hand, to the point where the grandeur was nothing more than a familiar old friend. She'd leave the first impressions to Darren. He'd see how cool the library was.

The library was heee-uge! Darren’s eyebrows nearly jumped to his hairline when he saw the expansive area, crammed with books and students. It made his old school’s library look so wimpy. Heck, it was fair competition for the city’s numerous libraries. The teenager wasn’t exactly a bookworm, but he enjoyed reading when he had the time, having a particular liking for crime and supernatural novels. The mansion’s library was a potential gold mine.

“W-wow…” was all he managed to say at first, his mouth agape with amazement. He wondered if Ami would be taking him through the whole three stories. He certainly wanted to explore the space more, but he understood if they had to move on.

As he took a step into the library, he noticed a black speck in his peripheral, on the floor near him. Instantly, he knew what it was. “Agh!” he yelped, frantically jumping away from his most hated enemy: the spider. And not just any spider…this one was…growing? It was growing! It was a monster spider! Cue shrill shriek.

----------------------------------------------------------

Greg Vance was not a monster. He was a mutant. A mutant spider-shifter, who concurrently had the ability to change his size in his spider form. Greg was offended by the frightened reaction, taking particular pride in his spider form. So when he noticed the fear in the new kid’s eyes, he decided to give him a good scare. The sissy scream was quite satisfying.

Regaining the book from her armpit, Amelia plopped down in a chair with it while Darren did his 'reaction thing'. Yeah. She let him and Gina do that for a bit. They seemed to be hitting it off. A small smirk touched on her lips at the thought.

Darren reacted quite amusingly, too. And then, he jumped ten feet into the air.

An eyebrow lifted. A question was poised on her lips. 'Did this boy really just cringe away from a little old spider?'

Maybe he hadn't cringed. Maybe he hadn't literally jumped 10 feet. But in Amelia's mind, it was close enough.

"Gina," Amelia said. "I've changed my mind. Do you want to handle taking him on the tour?"

Girlish screams from boys afraid of spiders were so uncool. Wimp.

Darren was amazed by the library, which was to be expected. Even if you tried to avoid reading at all costs, the library was an impressive sight to behold. After all, there were three floors solid of books. Such things were generally unheard of when it came to high schools. Then came something unexpected-- a yelp of alarm and flailing. Gina watched as Darren danced away from an unseen enemy, and Gina stepped through the doorway. Ami flopped into a chair in resignation, Gina moved in to investigate.

A spider, a little black one was on the floor.

"Oh, it's just a spider," Gina trailed. And then, the spider began to grow. That meant only one thing. Mutant. Gina intervened with a quick, "Don't smash'm, don't smash'm."

She picked the spider up without so much as a second though, cupping both of her hands beneath it. It was big, and still growing, but Gina wasn't the type of girl to get anxious about bugs. She had three brothers. She couldn't be. But, Gina was also equipped with the knowledge that there was a spider-shifting mutant, but his name failed her.

"Oi," Gina said in a stern yet humored tone, "No scaring the new kids. He could've stepped on you, you know?"

The spider nodded its head to the side, as if to shrug. Gina chuckled and set the spider down on a tabletop.

>> "Gina, I've changed my mind. Do you want to handle taking him on the tour?"

Changed her mind? Gina arched an eyebrow at Ami, inclining her head in her direction? Could tour guides do that? Just change their mind and bail-out in the middle of the tour? There had to be some rules against that-

It could be seen in Gina's facial expression as things "clicked" in her head. Ami wasn't really a tour guide, was she?

"Sure, I wouldn't mind," Gina said with a shrug. How hard could improvising a tour be? She decided to start with turning the spider incident into a lesson. Gina turned to Darren, pocketting her thumbs as she explained, "Perhaps the most important rule of Xavier's is that, if something isn't acting in a normal or natural way, chances are that a mutant has had something to do with it... take the growing spider, for instance-" said growing spider was blocked from view, courtesy of Ginas' wings, "-He's probably a spider-shifter who's just messing with you. So... use caution in choosing which spiders you step on, okay?"

Gina tossed Darren a wink, to show him that she wasn't angry or anything. It was just something that new kids needed to learn.

(ooc: Okay that Gina picked up the spider, Dia?)

Ouch. Ami’s reaction had been…well, ouch. Despite Darren’s current distraction, his pride was still wounded. He knew he was a wimp, but it still hurt when others realized it…

He had no intentions of doing so (really, he had been intent on running away, arms flying behind him), but Gina warned him not to squish the terrifying creature. And then! She picked the black spider up! With her bare hands! Darren nearly gasped with shock. And then he felt even wimpier, and his shoulders sagged at the implication. The gargoyle girl was way braver than him, and was probably not impressed with his reaction.

>> “Oi. No scaring the new kids. He could've stepped on you, you know?”

Was she…was she talking to the spider? Darren tilted his head to the side and thought the scene very strange, even stranger when the still-growing arachnid shook its still-growing head, a very human gesture. Oh. He understood now.

Spider mutant. Duh. Boy did he feel awkward.

Gina set the little mutant down and Ami spoke up, still sitting in an armchair. He didn’t know what she meant with changing her mind, but it appeared Gina did. He was confused. Was Gina also a tour guide? He thought she was just his original guide’s friend, friendlily tagging along. But the winged girl took on the role with no apparent qualms, and turned back to Darren, thankfully blocking the spider mutant from view with her wings.

>> "Perhaps the most important rule of Xavier's is that, if something isn't acting in a normal or natural way, chances are that a mutant has had something to do with it... take the growing spider, for instance—he's probably a spider-shifter who's just messing with you. So... use caution in choosing which spiders you step on, okay?"

Her words were followed by a wink.The teenager nearly choked. Eyes wide, he nodded, blushing and sheepish. “I-I understand,” he forced out, heat creeping all the way down his neck. How did the girl do that so nonchalantly!?!

He tried to distract himself from the one-eyed blink with her words, and thought of how fortunate he was that she was not angry at him. Really, he had made a stupid blunder. It was by some higher power’s grace he was not being shunned or further embarrassed. So...what's next?

Amelia turned a page. And hid another smirk.

So much blushing right over there and awkward teenage interaction. In this sort of situation, she would simply be a third wheel. And so, she let them sort it out.

For now, she'd just sit this one out.

(( OOC: Skip me until you need me. Then, let me know. *Will read the cute interactions* ))

Darren froze-up, blatantly embarrassed, but Gina maintained a benevolent, if not wry smirk as he floundered. This boy was a Nervous Nelly. It was kind-of funny.

>> “I-I understand.”

“Good,” Gina said in a mock-serious tone, looking towards Ami. Ami was hiding a similar smirk behind the pages of a book which she was pretending to read. Even though “tour guide” rights had been overturned to the younger girl, she still needed some form of guidance, or at least an outline of what had to be done. If Ami could provide such vital information.

“I suppose we’ll continue onward, then,” Gina announced to Darren, before shifting her attention to Ami, “Ami, where haven’t you gone yet?”