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”Yep.” Quin said in confirmation of what it was like when the thunder was close, “It’s like…if you’ve ever been close to heavy base, how it just kind of rumbles through…” she said, then couldn’t help but grin a bit when Will said he could amp her up too. Of course it made sense that if he could dampen someone’s senses he could also do the opposite.

“That would be really cool.” she said, thinking that the experience was already kind of intense and wondering what it would be like if the feeling was amplified.

Will preferred the lemon and Quin felt silly for even suggesting the peppermint. Of course peppermint would be a lot for someone with heightened senses. Despite the fact he’d told her to go ahead if she wanted, Quin set the peppermint aside and scooped the lemon balm into both of the diffusers and put them into the mugs before adding the now boiling water to steep. ”Honey?” she asked as she thought about what Will had said.

”It must be a lot to think about all of that all the time.” she said.

It turned out that Will had just been trying to make small talk and Quin smiled a bit sheepishly, “It’s okay, sorry to keep finding ways to insert it into the conversation. Some people have a tendency to get really weird once they know.” she said by way of explanation. “So I have a tendency to get a bit in my head about it all and over explain”

To that end, Will thought that things were lopsided as far as information was concerned and as Quin removed the diffusers and brought the mug over to Will she thought about all the questions that had come up throughout the day. A lot of them seemed rude to just come out and ask at this point, so Quin tried to choose something simple to start.

“Tell me more about your powers.” she said, “I know you can dull things, and you just said you could amp them up. You may have said more in the church but I can’t remember.”

The elevator doors opened and Will quipped at how long it had been since they’d seen one another. Quin couldn’t help but laugh, it shouldn’t have been nearly as funny as it was, but that was the kind of day it had been.

Into the elevator Will moved, and Quin moved back to the fingerprint scanner to send the elevator back up towards her floor.

It didn’t take long until they were moving into the apartment and Will noticed the view almost immediately. Quin couldn’t blame him, it had been the first thing that she’d noticed too.

“I couldn’t stay in my old apartment.” she said softly, walking towards the window, “I don’t know who did it, but someone set this place up for me. I don’t think I moved from here the entire first night.”

It was true. Quin had just stood there, then eventually sat, looking out over the city and trying to figure things out.

”It’s wild in a thunderstorm.” she added, much more lightly as she walked into the kitchen.

”Anyway, I hope you don’t mind pepperoni.” she said, working at opening the box so she could get the pizza in the oven. “You want a drink? I’ve got water, fizzy water, juice, tea…vodka?” the last was a joke. Maybe.

Will could think he was updating her name all good and proper in his phone all he wanted, but Quin knew that she absolutely had the upper hand there and wasn’t likely to give an inch of ground.

The elevator ride up to her floor was completely uneventful, something that Quin had taken for granted at least a hundred times before today. She was sore, and she was tired and Will’s reminder that his powers were still working on her made Quin realize that she was likely to get much more sore and much more tired before this was all done and over with.

Hoping that Will didn’t doze off before she’d had a chance to get herself all clean first-aided, Quin wasted no time once she was in her apartment and headed to take that shower.

The water stung at first, courtesy of all the little cuts and shrapnel wounds from the rock guy and Quin could see a large and solid bruise already starting to form over her right side where she’d taken the brunt of that flying rock after it had shattered her shield. That was something she was going to have to work on, she thought as she washed and rinsed her hair. It had been far too easy to break what she had made and Quin realized she was probably lucky she hadn’t been hurt worse.

Still, she was going to hurt like hell in the morning and after she’d gotten out of the shower and dried off she took Will’s advice and took a bit more than the recommended dose of ibuprofen. The cut on her face wasn’t all that bad and Quin took a few minutes to brush the snarls and tangles out of her hair before deciding to leave it down to dry.

Pulling on loose sweats and a tank top, Quin grabbed a zip-up hoodie and headed out to the kitchen to start pre-heating the oven.

That done, she walked to the windows and looked down at the city. Here and there she could see the telltale blue and red off police lights, but nothing really looked all that different from what it had when she’d left this morning to find somewhere to study.

It was funny how looks could be deceiving.

Will explained that he hadn’t even really known that Haven existed before this and Quin nodded, ”They do a lot of community outreach work to help mutants, but most people don’t see community outreach and picture a place like this.”

As for a place to stay, Will looked exhausted, and Quin could only imagine she looked at least as bad. Even if she thought hard, Quin couldn’t think of a time when she’d used her powers so extensively or often in her life and it had taken its toll.

The elevator arrived and Will and Quin moved inside. The doors shut, the elevator started moving and Will spoke. I’ve only ever really peeked in, but I feel like the dorms are a bunk set-up and if they’re using the gyms and classrooms it’ll be a cot. The offer was sincere. Least I can do. I’ve also got food.”

Still, they could see what there was to offer.

The doors opened and Quin stepped out of the elevator and waited for Will to follow. ”Let me see…” she said, looking at the card for a number, finding it, and moving down the hall.

Eventually they found the room and it was indeed a dorm with a couple of bunks, but it was impossible to tell at the moment whether or not anyone else was going to be staying there. If Quin had to guess she’d have said yes with the fact that they were using the classrooms and gym as well, but who knew. There was however some folded t-shirts and pants similar to the ones the security guys had been wearing folded on one of the beds.

”Looks like they rolled out the red carpet.” she said. ”And you’re lucky, it’s apparently a dress down day so there’s no need for a suit.”

”Showers are down that way by the gym, card should get you in.” She paused for a minute, ”If you’re hungry or there’s a bunch of Michael’s security goons taking up space, just text, I think I’ve got just about enough energy to toss a couple frozen pizzas in the oven.”

”Hopefully that drink goes better than the last one you offered in return for services rendered.” Quin joked when Will said he owed Michael a drink.

Michael, it turned, out hadn’t eaten anything since morning and that just wouldn’t do with a long day or night of ass-kicking on the docket, so Quin nodded, ”I’ll tell the front desk to bring something quick out for you.” That would surely be faster than running up to her apartment and raiding the pantry. “There’s probably some apocalypse closet full of food that I didn’t know about hidden somewhere. They’ll figure it out.”

Apparently driving a tank meant that you got door service when you went somewhere, even in Manhattan. As they stopped, Quin noticed armed security outside the doors. “Never seen that before…” she said as Michael rolled down her window and was immediately recognized by the guards.

Quin opened the door and climbed out of the truck (literally climbed) as Michael asked about how things were holding. Apparently there had been trouble but Haven had not only been prepared for the threat, they’d taken in people who needed somewhere safe to go off the street. Now that was what Quin liked to hear. “Thank you Michael…I definitely owe you one too.” she said as she moved towards the building.

Turning to Will as she grabbed the door handle, Quin gave him a tight little smile, ”If you weren’t already completely freaked out, get ready” she said, assuming Will hadn’t been inside Haven before.

The lobby was…impressive. Quin assumed it had been designed so, to ensure that people were intimidated the second they walked in. It was marble and fancy and all the things that you’d expect a building in this part of the city to be.

Quin made her way across the lobby, making sure Will was following because there was a lot more going on than usual and the security presence outside was echoed inside the building and they were all wearing the logo that had been on the card Michael had given Quin that day at the self-defense class. Who exactly was Michael anyway? If things hadn’t been such an absolutely disaster that day, Quin might have been significantly more freaked out than she already was.

Making her way to the concierge desk…because of course they were still there…Quin said, “Michael Hunter is outside in her tank and she asked for some food to be sent out. Also, this is Will, Michael called ahead to see about a room?”

The plan seemed more like loose guidelines than an actual plan of any kind, but Quin supposed that Michael could have been holding things back. It would have been smart to handle it that way considering the fact that she was talking to two people who weren’t involved in the operation in any way, shape, or form.

Still, Michael was trying to contain the chaos and look for Akh at the same time? Suddenly the redhead felt a bit guilty for pulling her away from the more important business at hand. Still…she’d needed to get home one way or another and this was the safest and fastest way.

Michael also mentioned that she was working with some Mystics to hunt the Mystic and that probably made sense.

Will had the same idea as Quin and she was about to compliment him on his good sense when Michael went and suggested that Will hole up at Haven. Quin had had the thought several times that it was likely the most secure place in the city and it wasn’t the worst idea if someone actually wanted to be safe.

”She’s probably right…” Quin said, glancing over at Will, ”They’ve got all sorts of places for people to stay.” It was true, ”I’m sure Michael easily has the pull to get you a spot at least until the worst of this blows over.”