It was a day that should be like any other day in New York, New York. The pigeons were warbling, the air was smoggy, crime rates were crime rates, and Broadway was fabulous. So why was this day different? It wasn’t. Not really anyways. Xavia was back, though, and it was good to be home, for sure. She’d spent the last week or so just relaxing in New Hampshire, and then another day or two to decompress from post vacation blues, still kinda thinking about her dad and the funeral, which had only happened recently. She knew that she needed to get back home eventually though, and so she left her family behind, taking her third of the profits from the greenhouse, and because her mom was thinking about selling, she insisted she keep the deed because she just couldn’t let it go.

So now here she was, owner of two properties, comfortably financed, and about to launch herself into her music career in both Broadway and recordings. Unfortunately for the latter, she had no songs of her own and she wanted to do original stuff. Now what?

The leather clad plant mutant sat atop her Harley, and was heading down the road, weaving between cars when the traffic was not clogged. Oh, how she loved her bike, it was so much quicker than driving a car in this city, and much more convenient than wandering about on foot. She was headed to the Mansion, intent on forking over a healthy donation to invest in the future of gifted kids. Once upon a time, she had been too snooty to even think about helping one of “those” people out.

It took a bit to remember where she was going, but she eventually arrived at the place she needed to be. She slowed the bike to a stop and kicked the stand down, shutting off the ignition and pocketing her keys. Leather pants creaked as she swung her leg over and dismounted, and then moved to take off her helmet. Her hair is shaken out and her aviator glasses are removed and one ear piece was stuck into the pocket of her crop jacket. Booted feet crunched as she walked toward the entry of the edifice.

Upon her entry, memories of her first time here were flooding her brain. If it hadn’t been for the boy with the animals, she probably would have been driftwood. She also remembered accidentally poisoning the blonde girl. She was sure a lot of people had been mad at her, but at the time, she wasn’t in a good state of mind.

The woman glanced around, and she sighed a little. One thing she didn’t know was how to navigate the halls. So when the first person came along that she could ask, she would ask where she could find the headmaster. She was hoping that the donation would not only ease her mind for those she never thanked, but it would give another generation of mutants a chance to learn how to use their gifts properly… That was something she didn’t have, a formal education about her gift.

For now, though, she wandered the area near the entry way, gazing at random things in general, the checkbook burning an invisible hole in her pocket.

Summer was renowned for warping a person's ability to notice the passage of time, but that usually applied to students who had grown too far apart from writing dates on papers. If it was a permissible excuse for teachers as well, Nate would still be pushing the limits.

Nate managed to not notice how much time had passed since he had started a eight-foot by fifteen-foot piece of artwork in his "office." For all those who would have been keeping track, it was roughly thirty-four hours. In that time, Nate had remembered one meal and one half-hour nap. He was painting the mansion with students and staff in the foreground, and his mental power was going into recalling faces and names, (before he remembered the intranet database,) not into self-preservation.

Nate took a step back to review what was now an almost-finished piece. Pleased with himself thus far, his body finally decided to send the warning signs for sleep and hunger that it had been putting on hold. All at once, Nate realized just how imperfect his condition had become.

It was time to go home, definitely. Nate opened his office door, and from the hallway came the scent of roses wafting into the room that had been saturated with the scent of paints. Nate poked his head out of the room to spot the source: a blond woman in leather. It was certainly not exactly what he was expecting, but that was par for the course at a mutant school. "Um, can I help you?" he asked in his Southern accent, stepping out of the office so she could get a better look at him and vice versa. He did not exactly look like the consummate professional with a black sleeveless shirt and various spots of dried paint on skin or fabric, but he was not sure if any of the other staffers were around. (Or if the school was even in business hours.)

She turned at the sound of the male’s voice; her eyes finding the source rather quickly because he obviously wasn’t a student. Xavia had started just slightly when his voice rang out, but only because she was caught up in the thought of the past. Her head cleared quickly, though, and the songstress stepped forward and offered a well manicured hand, “My name is Xavia,” which she pronounced as Sah-vee-ah, “I have come by to talk to headmaster.” Her accent, although not as thick as it could be, was obviously Eastern European.

Her mouth curled up in a half smile, though it didn’t completely warm up her eyes. There was a grim quality to her gaze at the moment. “If headmaster is not here, I need to speak to someone who can take donation.” She gave a soft nod and awaited his reply.

Indeed, the closer he got to her, the more he might be able to smell the scent of her natural perfume. It wasn’t synthetic smelling, that much was quite up front. People would be sneezing around her a lot if she were to wear such disgusting scents upon her. No, this was the smell of real flora. She did not seem to not even notice if he smelled it, she didn’t really smell it much because she was used to her own aroma.

Her hair was hanging loose today, the blonde locks reaching shoulder length about now, as she was letting it grow out. If or when he shook her hand, she’d retract when necessary and unzip the crop jacket, revealing t-shirt that said “Tree Hugger.” It was funny because she wore leather at the moment, and though he didn’t know this, she was a vegetarian.

She took in his image, the stormy color of his eyes, his shaggy hair, etc. Xavia took in the way in which he dressed, and then lifted her gaze back to his face again, her own expression somewhat neutral at that point in time. It wasn’t the kind of gaze that screamed of flirtation, it was merely of one gathering information; the gaze of the first impression.

And then she spoke again, “I want to give thanks to these people who helped me when I was in trouble.”

Nate took the hand of the interestingly-named visitor. "It's a pleasure, Xavia. I'm Nate, one of the teachers here."

Nate assessed the woman, as was his nature. Her accent was not American-- more likely, she was from Eastern Europe. She was not young, but still looking ahead to her midlife; his guess was late twenties, close to his own age. She wore a tree-hugger shirt with a leather jacket, but the jacket was more likely a garment with a purpose; a bike jacket? Even her scent was a dead giveaway. The scent of roses was not perfume, and there was nowhere for her to carry flowers on her in her outfit. It was definitely part of a mutation.

She was there to find the headmaster and submit a donation. If Nate were still conning, she would have been the perfect mark: rich and pretty.

Her reasoning brought a smile to Nate's face. "Yeah, the mansion is really good for that." In his own time of need, Xavier's gave him the help to straighten out and get his life on track. He understood where Xavia was coming from.

Nate adjusted his glasses, thinking about who to direct her to. "Well, the headmaster has taken a leave of absence, but Sam should be able to help. I'm not sure if he's around, but I can take you to his office if you'd like." He would take the donation himself, but it would probably be much more acceptable for an administrator to be handling money.

Her handshake was not a tight one, but nor was it lax. Up close, she had to tilt her head back only slightly. He was tall compared to her, but she wasn’t so short that she would get a crick in her neck. The woman nodded softly as he spoke, smiling at his own assessment. “I had only been once before… But my life was saved.” With a soft shrug, one shoulder lifted and her jacket creaked gently.

She couldn’t tell if he had the gift or not, but hers was probably a bit more evident. She no longer tried to hide it though, after having let herself think she was a freak for too long, she was letting herself feel comfortable in her own skin. But neither did she flaunt her gift. There were still those in this world who would try to do something unsavory to her if she would flaunt it openly.

“Anyway, nice to meet you,” she said softly, “If he isn’t here, I wouldn’t mind to see what I invest into. Would you mind to show me around? I mean, you do not have to if you are busy, but I would see this place with a teacher.” It may have seemed like she was flirting, but if he paid enough attention to her body language and not just the natural purr of her accent, she was asking a legit question. She did not lay a hand on his arm or shimmy up to him, and nor did she bat her eyelashes and pout her lips.

She was genuinely interested in taking a tour. After all, she was donating a rather large sum of money… 1/3 of what she had inherited from her father’s death money wise was going to the school, approximately $100k. She also wanted to talk about other things, like possibly erecting a small greenhouse somewhere on the grounds to give students a positive outlet and get their minds off of things like violence. The latter would involve her donating seedlings from her own company.

Xavia gave a real smile at the thought, her face transforming into an almost glowing look. This was going to be wonderful, not just for her, but for the kids. Yes, she thought, her father would have wanted something like this.

If Xavia was flirting with him, she had picked a terrible time to do it. Nate was conscious, but he was not going to pick up on the tone of her voice or her body language; he was hearing what she said at a level of basic understanding.

Nate considered apologizing and explaining that he was not in the condition to give Xavia a tour, but when he started to apologize, it came out as, "Sure, I'd love to," which was a prime example of Nate's vocal chords clearly going rogue.

Nate looked around; the offices were not exactly an "exciting" area to take a tour of, so he would propose some new destinations. "Where would you like to start? We've got it all, or darn close. Classrooms, living areas, outdoor facilities, and even a lovely garden area cared for by one of the students." He added the Agnes's gardens last, assuming they would have the strongest draw. "Feel free to choose your adventure, so to speak."

Her eyes lit up and so did her whole face when he mentioned the garden, her accent even got thicker and her voice came out a little high pitched. “I vould love to see garden first, but vhy ve don’t start in classrooms, ya?” And then she cleared her throat a little and laughed at herself for getting so excited. Her voice returned to its norm, and she looked completely relaxed by this point. “But if you do not have time, we can plan for another day, ya?”

She did glance around at that point, and started to meander for a moment, not going more than a few yards. Her voice raised only slightly, she probably didn’t need to speak up too much because hallways in schools usually echoed a little, “I will be donating regardless, Sir.” And that would be the most blatant sign she wasn’t flirting, she was still very politely formal with Nate. When she turned, she went on to explain, “I want younger people to have better knowledge than I at their gifts. It is very important that they receive full benefit of what my donation can bring them. You see, my poppa left me money when he passed just recently, and a business to run. It is in his honor that I bring to children this joy because he loved children so. I chose this place because I certainly would not be alive to have been able to see him before he passed…”

Her breath hitched a little, but she remained in good spirits, lifting a hand to push a strand or two of the bleached blonde behind an ear and out of her face, “Pardon my babbling, I get very…” She trailed off for a pregnant moment, and then chuckled at herself again for forgetting the English, “Excited to help.” And with that, she wandered back toward him, stopping before being in his personal space, a polite distance away. If there were any plants within the area, they would be perking up slightly at this point, seem a little brighter, blossoms a little more plump, but most notably, their scent would be more noticeable. Mind you, these were subtle changes and temporary. It was also an unconscious thing on her part at this point. If it wasn’t clear before, it was clear now that she was indeed one of the gifted, and plants were part of it.

Xavia once again offered Nate an out if it was a bad time to lead a two-person tour, and Nate considered returning to his apartment for a long rest. He covered his mouth with his hand, stifling his yawn. ”Naw, I can handle giving one generous donor a tour of the grounds.” As long as Nate kept moving, he would avoid the hazard of passing out on his feet.

She was probably right to leave the garden for last; it would be on the way out, and it would be a nice finale to the Xavier tour. He walked alongside her as she gave more of an insight to how she obtained her money and why she was so keen on helping the institute. Her apology left him smirking. ”You can babble all you’d like; it’s nice to see someone who cares.”

It was a short walk from the offices to the classrooms. Nate gestured to the hallway; ”These are the bulk of our classrooms, used for mutation-related classes as well as more conventional schooling.” He pushed open the door to his classroom, knowing he never locked it anyway. ”Probably not as exciting as some of the others, but this is my room where I teach the finer points of art.” The room was as neat as it ever was, with the exception of Nate’s projects scattered about on easels.

When Xavia crossed the doorframe, Nate noticed the flower in a glass vase on his nearby desk blossoming, becoming more vibrant and full. ”I knew it,” he said with a grin. ”You’re a plant controller, aren’t you?”

Xavia gave a soft shrug when the tired man decided not to take her offer for coming back another time, but she supposed that was alright if he was up to it. So she followed with interest, of course, peering about in open curiosity. “Ah, wonderful,” she said when they made it to the classroom, and then blinked as he brought up the fact that the plant responded to her.

She then looked to the flower he’d noticed, and she smiled a little. “Ah, yes. I suppose I am.” She moved closer to the flower and gently touched the pedals, but wasn’t particularly doing much like showing off because there was no reason to, she was merely touching the bloom as if it was made of spun sugar. She did lean in and smell the fragrant blossom, then straightened her form.

When she turned and looked at him, it was with a genuine and relaxed smile, it always made her happy to be around flora, it reminded her of home. “I didn’t know until I was already an adult, but it makes sense that it happened to me. I am always around plants…” She turned and looked at him again. “I don’t want to keep you by babbling about my gift, how about we move on?” It wasn’t that she was particularly in a hurry, she just didn’t want to cause any problems. Besides, they could talk and walk at the same time, no?

Whether they moved on or not, she decided it was probably a better idea to talk about the gift. She actually pulled out a small note pad and began to jot some things down, taking notes on a few things here and there like the condition of the building itself, it had relevance because she was wanting to use the information to indicate what to use some of the money for from this first donation, as there were to be more made in the future. “What would you as a staff member like to see improved?” she asked, looking up to him, “As I am going to be donating a rather large sum, I wish to be… Eh… specific on what a portion of it is to be used for, you see?”

Nate rested on the edge of his desk, watching Xavia as she delicately touched the petals of the flower, which seemed graced by her presence. He listened politely to Xavia's mutant origins, almost surprised when she apologized for it. "Don't worry yourself, darlin; I actually love hearing about how mutants discovered themselves." He was not opposed to the idea of walking and talking however, since it was more likely to get him into his bed.

He moved off of the desk and towards the door, continuing his train of thought. "I discovered my powers as a kid, but I only met other mutants when I came to New York last year." He opened the door for her, and they were off.

While Nate was deciding their next destination, Xavia asked his professional opinion for the donation burning a hole in her pocket. It took him a moment of thought before he could answer. "Hm, good question. The classrooms are nice, and the housing is impressive." The Mansion was so complete, it was hard to think of problems to fix. "The grounds have plenty to occupy the kids, but I'm sure something new would be appreciated."

The only thing that really came to mind that had to be an economical issue in the mansion was the student body. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to have some of it go to the emergency funds for the next time a kid blows a hole through a wall or burns a dorm room down..." he mused out loud.

As they walked and talked, she took notes, and eventually, she stopped and stared for a moment down the hallway. Then she turned to him and canted her head, “Well, if the school itself is in good shape, how about you take me to the Garden?” When he complied, she followed, eyeballing the place on their way out.

Once outside, she breathed in the fresh air with a smile, the very grass beneath her feet joyous at her return, it seemed, for it seemed springier and more lively to walk upon. Once they reached the garden, the flora closest to her began to perk up and she gave a happy chuckle, touching them as if they could react like animals or humans. Well, they could to her, anyways.

“Ah, now this is the place to be…” she drawled, her manner changing a bit to more at ease than he may have seen her. “Beautiful.” She crouched down and put her face real close to a cluster of flowers, inhaling their scent. It was then that she sort of got lost in her own little world, which she tended to do whether there were other people around her or not.

And then she caught sight of a flower she hadn’t seen before, gravitating toward that and purring in absolute fascination. Crouching down, she leaned in and rubber her cheek against the blossoms, her hands delving in to caress the stems and leaves of the plants. She closed her eyes and inhaled, and the scent around her went from roses to that of the flower. Xavia did something that might seem daft to others, and even licked the blossom. When she was done, she pulled back some, looking at the shape and color, everything. If he was watching, he would see her lift her palm skyward, and begin to sprout the same plant in her hand.

The pair made it to the garden, and Xavia seemed to truly light up in the presence of all the plants who seemed to rejoice and bask as she smiled upon them. Centuries ago, she could have easily passed herself off as a goddess of the harvest or something like that. (Heck, if Mahadevi was being worshiped present-day, maybe all Xavia had to do was hop a plane to India.)

Xavia crouched down, and from what Nate could see, she was not "observing" the flower; it was more like she was getting to know it on an intimate level. He grinned to himself; she was entertaining with her handful of very unique quirks.

Not sure whether Xavia even remembered she was brought there by someone, Nate bent over so he was looking just over her shoulder. To make sure he was not totally forgotten, he spoke. "It is quite beautiful, no?"

“Mhmm…” she replied, kind of in a daze at the moment. “What are they?” She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t even think about her answer. 3. 2. 1. – “Oh!” She snapped out of it and the plant in her palm withered away and fell to the ground. She backed into him, her head possibly hitting his, and she kind of put some distance between them. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, had ever seen this part of her gift. They kind of caught her in a moment that she usually kept private, and she had been startled to accidentally let him in.

She bolted.

It was apparent that, indeed, Xavia had forgotten about Nate's presence. The plant that had been in her palm, (which he could have sworn grew directly from her skin,) withered away.

The woman jumped back, the back of her head colliding with Nate's jaw. For a brief moment, Nate was dazed as Xavia tried to run off.

Still trying to regain his bearings, Nate shouted, "No wait, it's fine!" He took a step in her direction and extended his hand in an effort to grab her and keep her from running off.

His fingers looped around her wrist after his arm had stretched almost a foot to reach her.

Nate looked at the arm and realized Xavia's reaction must have triggered Nate's fight or flight response, and as a result he was shifting again. His entire arm and shoulder was already converted, and in a matter of seconds, his entire body was comprised of shadow mass.

Still holding on to Xavia's wrist with his extended arm, the other one rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of a way to make the situation not worse. "Um, sorry. This happens sometimes?" He tried to chuckle, but it was hard when he was spending most of his energy praying she did not run away from the shadow-man.

She felt his hand clasp around her wrist, and bit her lip. It took her a moment to turn and look at him, and when she did, she wasn’t frightened in the least by his mutation. No, she had been Jupiter’s lover, and he was a scary man. There was no fear in her eyes in regards to Nate’s mutation.

“It’s… It’s okay…” she said, cheeks going to a lovely shade of pink against her olive skin tone. “Um… I am sorry too. I… Never do what I just did in front of anyone.”

She did, however, cant her head and relax, kind of fascinated with his gift by that point. Heh. Her mouth quirked a little, and she gave him another once over.