Many Meetings [Shade]

[Estelle Flores]

It was getting late, and Estelle was still doing homework. So much homework. She tapped her pencil on the edge of the table, sighing loudly. It was always math. Always math. Estelle bit the edge of her pencil eraser, frowning as the numbers on the worksheet wiggled themselves into something that looked like hieroglyphics. Or Sanskrit. Sanskrit would be cooler, in Estelle’s personal opinion. She’d migrated out of her own room in an attempt to escape the distractions therein; like the new book that she was only halfway through with. Or the internet. Both would result in the absolute neglect of her math homework in favor of something far more enjoyable.

“Oh come on, Flores.” Estelle muttered to herself, “Focus. It’s just numbers.” She huffed out a peeved sigh and ran a hand through her hair. This was ludicrous. She flipped open her planner to see if she had maybe any other homework she could do to save herself from the math. In fact, there was a half-finished biology worksheet about protein synthesis. Oh good. Protein synthesis. Estelle rubbed her eyes irritably, “Uggghhhh.” She let her groan draw out as she flopped forward on her desk, her head resting on her forearm.

Glancing up, she caught sight of someone walking from one of the rooms. She turned around, eager for any distraction. “Hi,” Estelle smiled, waving slightly. She looked surprised when she saw the darker girl; she hadn’t had a chance to talk to the other girl yet. She seemed a little aloof. “I’m Estelle. I live in the room next door. I’m sorry, I totally forgot your name.”

[shade]

Shade was a night person. It didn't have much to do with her new dark vision, though that was actually fairly handy. She simply preferred the quiet of night to the day; it had always been that way for her. In her room, she tossed a ball up in the air and caught it, fingers swift, scarred, and as black as black could be. Soon enough, the exercise in coordination bored her, prompting her brain to suggest doing her homework. As that had never been a part of her life plan, she pushed that notion aside and stood up. Outside lurked people, but she wasn't antisocial. Merely mistrustful, especially of people who lived in her dorm. Traveling with crazy homeless teenagers did that to you.

Opening the door, Shade emerged from her room, which she hadn't bothered to light, and noted that one of the three girls in her room, all of whom she didn't know, was sitting in their common area. She tried to slip passed, but she was greeted by a cheery voice, freezing and slowly blinking her eyes. Her expression twitched, then went blank.

"It's Sam, but you can call me Shade;" the girl of ebony skin replied, voice cool. She selected her words with care, avoiding emphasizing the first clause but making it clear that she preferred to go by Shade. She made no mention of Samantha Copper. At the worst, she was Sam. "It's, er, nice to meetcha, Estelle." Her manners were a bit lacking, but she was making an effort. Not much of one, as she didn't have much else to say, but at least a bit of one. Getting murdered by her mutant roommates was definitely not a part of her dismally underdeveloped plan. Trust wasn't easy, so friendship wasn't likely to occur, but coexistence was possible. Not assured, but definitely quite possible.

[Estelle Flores]

“Shade.” Estelle repeated, smiling amiably, “Got it. That’s a cool nickname. I take it the name’s in direct relationship with you power?” She gestured at Shade’s general dark appearance. She could figure that the other girl’s powers had something to do with light and dark manipulation. Or shadow control. Either way, it was very cool. “That’s pretty awesome. Can I ask what your power is? If you don’t mind.” Estelle could tell that Shade was not altogether comfortable with people, so she didn’t want to make the darker girl feel pressured.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Estelle responded warmly, “I was just trying to muscle through my homework. You wouldn’t happen to have a head for numbers, would you?” She gave the other girl a wry look, “Right now, I might as well be looking at a foreign language.” She huffed a sigh, staring glumly at her paper. “School, am I right?”

Estelle caught herself, “Oh, I’m sorry, if you were going somewhere, or doing something, don’t let me bother you. You can just tell me to be quiet if you’ve got places to be. I’ll totally understand.” She smiled, totally unperturbed by the other girl’s generally cautious and unapproachable attitude. Estelle never really took it upon herself to judge; if Shade wanted to talk to her, she would, and it was Estelle’s job to make the ebony-skinned girl feel comfortable talking if she wanted. It was only polite. And besides, she was interested in learning about this girl and her abilities. She seemed very interesting.

[shade]

Shade would have done the line about assuming making an ass out of you and me, but that was probably the most idiotic and annoying line on the face of the planet, so she silently murdered in her mind and moved to better pieces of conversation. Considering she had few pieces of conversation to use, they weren't really much better. "It's actually an old nickname. It just sort of fits even better now;" she admitted with a shrug. So long as she didn't go into the deep, dark secrets and stories behind her alias, there was no harm explaining it.

'I'm not much good at math;" Shade said with a halfhearted smile. It wasn't very comfortable or apologetic, but it was kind in a crooked sort of way. She briefly considered fleeing to safety, but she didn't have any place to go. Being rude required some sort of sense behind it. Pleasantries escaped her, but if they were having a conversation, she'd stick around. It was one of her roommates, a single living entity she had handle if she wanted to avoid dire consequences.

"I can control shadows and shift and stuff. Got dark vision too. All that sort of stuff." An answer seemed as good as anything to say. She figured Estelle had been there longer, so she probably new more about freaks like her. She wasn't exactly sure how to explain her powers, though she was definitely getting better with them. Once she started figuring them out, they came easily with a bit of practice. "What can you do?" Gathering information on the metaphorical enemy wouldn't hurt. In fact, it would rather make the conversation worth it.

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle let the girl’s vague answer about her nickname slide; she could tell that Shade didn’t want to talk much about her past, and Estelle more than understood that point. Goodness knows she wasn’t comfortable sharing a whole lot with other people about her past. “Well, that works.” Estelle smiled.

Estelle sighed, brushing hair out of her face, “Yeah, me neither. Numbers are like… the most baffling things. I have to work twice as hard at them than anything else. English makes much more sense to me. I mean, give me an analytic paper on Hamlet or a pig to dissect, and we’re good. Math problems… not so much.” She grinned at the other girl. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to run all over the conversation. I think I just get excited or something.” She looked a little sheepish, “Do you have a favorite subject in school?”

“Ooh, shadow manipulation.” Estelle breathed, fascinated. Other people’s powers always seemed so beautiful to her. “That’s amazing. And you can shift too? Wow. I didn’t know the metagene could manifest itself in that way, but I guess it makes sense.” She looked at the girl, full of academic excitement, “Do you have light sensitivity as well? I mean…” She blushed, “I’m so sorry, tell me if I’m making you uncomfortable. I just… I’m really interested in what other people can do. It’s fascinating to me.”

“Oh.” Estelle’s smile faltered a little when the conversation turned to herself and her powers. “Uh. I have metallikinesis. You know… the ability to control metals.” She shrugged, “Apparently, if I get good enough, I can control finite amounts of metal in… anything pretty much.” She didn’t share the extent of her powers; she didn’t want to freak anyone out. Goodness knows it freaked her out.

[shade]

The question about school made Shade give a small shrug. "No, not really. I don't read much or anything." That was the underestimate of the century. A small lie, a little falsification, it was all the same in her book. She didn't do it because she was embarrassed. If someone wanted to take her intelligence up with her, they could talk to her fist. She did it because she got the distinct impression that if she said anything, Estelle would try to help. It was sweet, but not at all what the umbrakinetic wanted from the talkative girl.

The question on her powers required a bit of thought, but it was easier to answer. She knew her powers; she was starting to get them figured out. "No, I'm not light sensitive. I'm just colorblind now. And the skin is new;" Shade responded, indicating a jet black hand with a nod of her head. Her tone was sour behind a facade of neutrality. Her changed appearance wasn't something she adored, though her beetle black eyes were good for staring people down. "And I can just shift into shadow. It really isn't much different than manipulating shadow itself." The shadows around the room were blessedly quiet; they only twitched on a few occasions as she spoke.

"Controlling metals would be cool;" Shade added, perfectly honest in that respect. She liked her powers, as much as she could, but controlling metals seemed cool to her. She didn't want telepathy, or enhanced perception like James, or anything like that. Physical things worked best for her. They made the most sense. She could shift, fight, and burn. In the corners, the shadows flickered. She quiet them, hearing their wordless whispers. No need to accidentally scare her apparently very tolerant and friendly roommate.

[Estelle Flores]

“That’s cool. Some people don’t like to.” Estelle shrugged easily, keeping up an amiable grin, “Just like how some people don’t really do math much. Or have any artistic ability.” She pointed to herself, grinning self-depreciatingly. “So what do you like to do? Sports? Art? I can do gymnastics, but it’s nothing special.” She shrugged with a smile.

“Really?” Estelle leaned closer to the darker girl, “The skin…? Is it an over-activity in the pineal gland to over-produce melanin or…?” She trailed off, suddenly and violently aware of how one: dorky she sounded, and two: how analytical she was being about Shade’s powers. Which was very rude. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I was examining you, you know? I was just… really interested…” Estelle gave the girl an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

“It’s… all right.” Estelle hedged, not wanting to seem rude. “It takes some getting used to, since the risks concerning other people are really high. You know… hurting people and all that.” Her hands twisted together absently in her lap. Shadow manipulation and shifting sounded like a really interesting, really personal power. One that wasn’t too likely to hurt people. Mostly. Either way, she severely doubted Shade could kill someone with her powers. But then again, what did she know? All Estelle wanted was some other power that was less… scary.