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Why did Amethyst have to do that? She was frustrating but ultimately tolerable, but Praxi thought that was because she was away from the problems of Atlantis. By bringing in more Atlantean nobility, would Amethyst regress back to the terrible person she probably was in the palace?

Praxi tried to be reasonable. Amethyst was her own person and these were her friends. She had the right to invite them to the Mansion. Maybe they would be a better example of “good” nobles than she was giving them credit for. Though Amethyst’s desire to shoo her and Carrick away inspired doubt.

The goo girl would leave, but Carrick caught her off guard with an assumption she had to laugh at. ”No, not quite. That’s… not really how Atlantis worked.” Surface-dwellers really underestimated how bad things were out in the ocean.

Carrick was… interesting. He seemed unphased by anything, even joking that Amethyst was the worst. That, she did find humorous. Unfortunately, the call of Amethyst’s name from a high-pitched voice approaching reminded Praxi that she should have left before it was too late.

The royal friends flocked to Amethyst, wrapping her in hugs. Privileged Atlantean culture was very touchy, from what Praxi remembered. “It’s wonderful to see you. The travel to this place was ghastly; I do not know how you’ve survived in a garish city like this for so long. Truly a trooper.”

Ignoring anyone but Amethyst initially, Carrick’s greeting and questions drew their attention and a flat look of disapproval. “Oh, do the servants here not know proper decorum? What a strange place where gorgons interfere in the affairs demi-gods…”

Another woman laughed, noticing Praxi and eyeing her with disgust. “Clearly they aren’t trained well here. Look at that thing. Clearly not a worker. Go, run off to your gutter, gorgon,” she tutted dismissively.

Praxi boiled, moving closer. ”I’m a she, not an it, and you can’t tell me where to go.”

Another royal scoffed. “Excuse you, please remember your place.”

Before she could get another word out, Praxi shot back, ”This is my place. I live here. You’re the outsider here, remember?” Her dark eyespots fixed defiantly; she would not let a so-called demi-god think they had power here. Not over her, not anymore.

Praxi was working up her courage. She had bravado, but she needed real courage. She was pretty sure she wanted to be an X-Man. She was also sure she wanted to make friends and be part of this surface world she was carefully appreciating from a distance. Xavier kept reminding her that people were generally good, and she had to remind herself of that, but it was hard; some people made that hard.

The Princess—Amethyst could be a jerk, but the more Praxi was around her, the more it seemed like she was figuring out her own place in a world outside of their bubble. She could be bad, but Praxi was willing to concede she was not the worst. She helped Praxi get Kelyfi back to the Mansion, and while Praxi was not about to say they were friends, she gave the slime girl hope that not even an Atlantean royal was without hope.

Gliding around the campus, enjoying what she was being told would be one of the last good days of warm weather in New York for the year, Praxi noticed the familiar appearance of the royal brat next to a less familiar young man. She had to give it to Amethyst; the girl knew how to be popular.

Taking her normal, humanlike form to avoid surprising Amethyst, (who hated talking to her as a puddle,) Praxi approached. ”Good day! Looks like you’ve put in a lot of work here, which isn’t like you.” It was an observation, not a slight. There was quite a setup in the courtyard, which made her suspicious. ”Unless you tricked this man to setting up a tent for you for… reasons? What are you up to, anyway?”

There was something annoying about being around good people. They made you want to be good, or maybe they reminded you that you could be good. Xavier was annoyingly infectious in his altruism and it left Eupraxia wondering if she might be meant to keep up the work she did when she was an Atlantean street rat trying to survive.

"Okay golden boy. Or... I mean, your hair is golden, I assume, based on the shade of, er, green." Moving on, failblob. "Maybe saving people gave me a sense of purpose. And maybe I should treating humans like the enemy..."

Xavier was enthused by the prospect of her joining him as a trainee, and he made no effort to contain his praise for Eupraxia's abilities. Something about him complimenting her made her vibrate nervously, her swirling greens darkening. "Oh, um, thank you. I appreciate that. And you are impressive. Your powers," she corrected stiffly. "Maybe when all is said and done, I'll be there to have your back when you go do something goofy and reckless and heroic." She got the vibe he would give her opportunities to do just that if they were going to be the X-Men's newest trainee pair.

Xavier understood her power; it was something she took advantage of in Atlantis. Guards did not know how to deal with her unique abilities, which encouraged her to get involved when guards harassed kids on the streets.

Maybe Eupraxia was jaded, but she struggled with the notion of nobility for the sake of it. Maybe what she did in Atlantis could be argued as noble, but she saw it as survival. The gorgons were her people, and she was in a position to protect them. If she did not do it, those kids would suffer.

Xavier thought like that, but he was not saving "his people." Or he was, but they were all his people. Mutants, physically mutated, humans. Maybe some of them would be bad. He did not seem to care. In fact, he flipped the question around to Praxi, making her think about what she wanted. "I've... never had to think about that. Most of my life was spent avoiding capture and saving other street kids from getting captured. I... guess I always liked that. Knowing I kept those kids from the Necropolis." Or the terrible things that happened to Celeste. "That always felt like the best way to use my powers. I never thought of using them to save people who weren't... like me." Gods, that sounded awful when she said it like that.

Maybe she had to be willing to involve her beliefs in this new world she was part of now. "Hey Xavier... um... how did you end up as a trainee? You know. Hypothetically, if I was interested, maybe, you know?" Near the end, her mumbling became harder to distinguish, because was she seriously considering this?

After the initial surprise of her goo ball shape conceding to the blonde Adonis, he stuck close by, trying to offer help or assistance while she collected enough globules of herself to regain a mostly humanoid form. She was considerably shorter than she was moments earlier, which made Xavier dwarf her, but at least she was not just a defeated bubble.

For someone who defeated her, Xavier was being way too sympathetic. Demigods were never merciful, but she had to accept this well-intentioned musclehead was not a demigod. He was just an enthusiastic young man whose mutation was invisible and who was (annoyingly) undeniably handsome. Maybe she was no better than Amethyst with her assumptions.

Praxi's head swished from side to side. "No, I'm okay. I almost never really feel pain, as you'd know it at least." If she was reduced to her core, that could lead to some agony, but no sense in sharing her weaknesses. She did not trust Xavier that much. "I can just pick up my pieces and if you had really reduced me to... well, if I was too exploded, I would just sort of... go to sleep. And my body would slowly regenerate." Her form had many drawbacks, but she saw that as compensation for being virtually invulnerable.

"It is a cool power you have," she admitted. "I guess there'd be a lot you could do with it. So... well, why be an X-Man of all things? Is saving humans really the thing you'd want to do most?" He could probably be a rich athlete. He would have been praised in Atlantis. If he just wanted praise, why do something that was a greater risk and often for people who did not care about him?

Xavier made no sense. He was so aloof and positive. Did he take anything seriously? Was he not some superhero in the making? That carefree energy and his stupid perfect smile were just so… augh! She should find him more annoying, but she was annoyed because she did not find him as annoying as he clearly was.

Naturally, as the metaphorical dust settled, (they should have really brought dust into the gym for added effect,) Xavier stood as her opposite, alone on the battlefield. Bracing her ball, she anticipated him to make some goofy comment.

She should not have. He was fast. Praxi had the misfortune of needing some setup. She pulled her body back, trying to move as quickly as she could manage to set up her slingshot. The red orb was pulled back, and just before she could release the weapon with full force--

A ball came screaming in and struck her stretched out form. The problem she failed to foresee: she was too stretched. The ball struck her and her body burst into stray slime bits, leaving her red ball to lob harmlessly into the air a few feet until it dribbled on the ground.

What was left of Praxi’s core was little more than enough for her to make a small, beachball-sized ball of goop, retaining her dark green core and two dark green eyes glaring at her vanquisher. The tiny ball deflated a little. ”I… have been bested. Teacher, I am sorry. I think I need some time to collect myself before our next game.” Literally, considering puddles of Praxi dotted the playing field.

Other students talked about dancing. They were curious about how different it was growing up in Atlantis, and Praxi tried not to be a total downer by going into painful details. They asked about things she did and did not have, and when a few of them found out she had not danced before, they were shocked. Some joked about making her try it, but Praxi never expected anyone to follow through.

They always talked about how much fun it was to dance with someone, and now Praxi understood what they meant. It was a tingle throughout her body, like an electric spark was bouncing between her and Celeste.

There was so much to distract Praxi, it took her a moment to understood what Celeste’s weak voice meant with her question. She glanced down and noticed the hands hovering close. ”Oh. Um, yes. That’s fine. I don’t have anything that… yes, please go ahead.” She was going to mention not having hangups about touch, but that seemed insensitive.

As they moved to the music, Praxi felt herself gravitating closer like the galaxy girl had her own pull (ironically.) Her front almost got close enough to press Celeste’s “front” without the slime girl realizing the proximity. It was only when the song ended that she recognized how close she was and felt her insides swirling.

Cautiously, with the end of the song, she pulled away. ”This was nice, Celeste. Really nice. And I should get going to,” what did she even have to do today? ”A thing. But… maybe we can do this again? Or… keep doing it. Friday dancing?” By the next Friday, she would feel less awkward about this, right? Or maybe the Friday after that. It would be normal by then, and she did want to dance with Celeste again. Today was just… well, it was an overwhelming one for her for a few reasons.