Lorna and Matt meet the newest resident of Xavier's, Jessica Jones. Then Matt gives her a little tour.




"So, I found this recipe for cheese pull apart bread," Matt said, handing the paper with the recipe on it to Lorna as they waited for the new girl to arrive. The professor had caught them in the kitchen discussing recipes and had asked them to meet her at the door. They didn't have a lot of information other than her name, but he had apparently arranged it, so they waited. Being the welcoming committee was always a fun thing. Well, it was better than demons and such anyways. "What do you think?"

"Cheese pull apart bread you say?" Lorna took the paper from him and looked at it. "I think I have everything on this list. Shouldn't we pair it with something? Maybe something Italian?" The green haired woman looked at her watch, "The professor didn't give us a time did he? Not that I am in a rush, just mouths to feed in a few hours."

Matt had printed the recipe on his braille printer and the regular one so he had a copy too, "It looks easy enough," he agreed. The only part he wasn't 100% certain about was cutting the bread into such little pieces without cutting it all the way through, "And yeah. Maybe something with marinara? And meatballs," that sounded like it went well together. "I was thinking it was more of a snacky thing than a main dish thing."

"I'll put that on the menu." Lorna said as a car pulled up to the front of the manor. "Oh she is here."

Jessica stepped out of the car in front of Xavier's. Her eyes widened a bit at the sight of the place, but she quickly quashed it down. She wasn't here to be impressed. She was here to start the new chapter of her life. She thanked and paid the driver before she closed the back door of the car. She had mentally griped a little about the price, but it was better than flying at a hundred miles an hour in jeans.

She brushed a chocolate lock of brown hair out of her face and turned to walk toward the front door. She purposefully moved slowly and her dull brown eyes locked onto two figures standing in the doorway of the mansion before her. They appeared to be discussing something, but Jessica was too far to eavesdrop and find out what. Guess she'd have to be a normal person and ask.

The first of the figure's was a young man who appeared to be around her age, maybe a little younger. It was the second figure that really caught her eye though. She was beautiful, at least Jessica thought so. But it wasn't her beauty that caught Jessica's eye. Rather, it was her hair. It was a vibrant green, and stood out jarringly from her surroundings. Jessica mentally filed that one under "things to ask" in her head. She'd seen strange hair colors in her day, she'd dyed her own hair pink when she was younger, but she couldn't help but think the woman's was natural. She decided to pick up the pace. 'Come on Jessica, no need to be fucking afraid of these people. If that Xavier guy and some of the stuff I've heard over in Mutant Town is to be believed, then they're both mutants just like you. That's something you have in common. Go with it.' She thought to herself. God she should have had a drink before she'd come. Oh well, too late now.

Matt had heard the cab well before it actually pulled up, but he had ignored it in favor of the conversation with Lorna. Having enhanced senses meant learning to pick and choose what to pay attention to and when. "Hey, welcome to Xavier's," Matt said when she got closer. No sense in yelling at the girl, "Need a hand with your stuff?" Since he was meeting a new person, he wore sunglasses over his eyes, covering his unnatural looking milky blue iris' that indicated he was blind. No sense in weirding the girl out first thing. He didn't have his cane with him though, he never carried it around the school anymore, not even for 'just in case.'

Lorna smiled at the new girl, "I am Lorna Dane, one of the teachers at the School, including the master chef here. This here is Matt Murlock, former student, current resident and my padawan. Welcome to the Madhouse Miss Jones."

Jessica didn't know why she was so surprised by the warm welcome. She supposed that she'd fell into the old high school mentality, where people size you up as soon as you meet them. Back then, Jessica had come up short, and she was determined not to do the same now.

'God damn nerves. Clouding my fucking judgement. Geezus.' She thought before she turned to the young man, apparently named Matt, and held out her hand. 'See there you go, you can be fucking polite.' She thought.

"No thanks, uhh...Matt was it? One of the benefits of being super strong is that other people don't have to handle your luggage." She explained. She turned her head toward the green haired woman next. "Gotta say, that's an impressive title Ms. Dane. I can't cook for shit. Still, I suppose I should thank both of you for putting yourselves on the line and being my welcoming committee. So thanks." She finished. She wondered just what these people could do. She'd always thought of her own mutation as something typical, something boring. Still, knowing that Lorna was a cook didn't give her much to go on. Matt was wearing sunglasses. 'Maybe he shoots planet cracking eye beams out from behind them or something. Guess I'll have to find out.' She thought as she waited for their reaction.

"Pleasedtameetcha," Matt replied, shaking her hand with a firm grip. The New Yorker in him was evident in the way the greeting was smushed into all one word. He was from Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan, Westchester was an hour and a world away from his old neighborhood. "Oh, good. I'm pretty good for lugging, but definitely not my specialty," not when there were super-strong people around anyways. "Anyways, c'mon in and get the 10-cent tour."

Jessica stared at Matt for a moment while she tried to place the slight accent that he seemed to have She was a New Yorker herself and she knew that she had heard that accent growing up. Her face broke out into a smile.

"You're from Hell's Kitchen, right? I'm from Midtown myself. And a ten cent tour? I'm strapped for cash, so it's perfect." She replied with a wink. She gathered a firmer grip on her luggage and easily hefted off of the ground. She threw her head back to shake the few locks of stray hair from her face and waited to be shown inside.

"Originally, yep," Matt agreed. New York was one of the few places in America where neighborhoods could have their own slight accents instead of the entire city or region. "Lived there until I did the foster thing, then ended up here. Now they can't get rid of me," which was just fine with him. "You in school then or what?"

"Believe me we tried." Lorna smirked before bumping into Matt to let him know she was kidding. "Why don't we show Miss Jones around? If you have any questions on where things are just let us know."

"I did the group home thing myself." Jessica admitted, all while smiling a bit at Lorna's jab toward Matt. The group home life hadn't been the best times of her life, but it had gotten her adopted by the best people she could have possibly asked for. "I'm not in school. I'm kind of...apprenticing to be a P.I." She continued, before she turned to Lorna and nodded. "And thanks. Showing me around would be fucking great. Better than looking like an idiot when I get lost." She finished. She reached her arm back and drew a small notebook with a dark blue cover and a small pencil jammed through the spiral at the top. She removed the pencil and clutched it in her fingers. She'd always had this...desire to find things out and to learn more about things around her. That's why she took notes on just about anything that she thought might be important. And seeing how this Mansion was full of mutants, there had to be quite a bit worth learning.

Lorna smiled before turning towards the front door, "Right this way. The mansion is pretty big so don't feel bad if you do get lost for the first couple of days. Everyone does. We should drop off your suitcase off at your new room before the tour. Probably better than lugging it around."

"Oh, I did the group home thing," Matt understood how much that sucked, "then got sent here," better to skip past what came between the two, "Here's better. There are maps of the school and campus and ask that too, getting lost is practically required," he'd gotten lost plenty at first, even with his braille map.

Jessica nodded to both of her companions.

"Dropping off my luggage sounds great. As for getting lost, I'm just going to take that as a challenge to be one of the people who doesn't get lost around here." She replied with a smirk and a wink. Jessica couldn't help it, she liked to be a just a little adversarial at all times. She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear before she gestured forward with her suitcase. "Well, with all of that out of the way, I guess it's tour time." She finished.

"You're with Namor," Matt informed her. That was almost at the other end of the hall from him, "Good luck with the not getting lost idea. Your powers come with built in GPS?" It was a possibility. They headed up to the grad wing to drop off her things.

Jessica couldn't help but snort a little at the joke. This Matt guy was kinda funny.

"Fuck no, I wish. Seriously, it's hard enough flying as fast as I do without having to worry about where you're going. I usually just take a cab." She replied with a little smile. She made sure to ready her notebook before she opened her mouth again. "So you say I'm sharing with this Namor guy. Not to sound bitchy, or prejudiced, or whatever the fuck but what kind of name is Namor? I mean, it's not like 'Jessica' is such an original name, but I've never heard of anything like that. More to the point, what's he like? He's not like one of those 'let's all hug it out cuz we're all people and should get along' kind of people is he? I mean, I don't really DO that whole thing, you know?" She asked. She swore her mouth must have some sort of hidden motor, one that never shut off. Ever. 'Get it together girl, could you sound any more like you've got a serious case of motor mouth? Fuck.' She thought as she looked over at Lorna. The vibrant haired young woman had been pretty silent the whole trip, but Jessica still didn't want to look like a total spaz in front of her. She'd always felt sort of insecure around other women. Especially the pretty ones. Matt? He was a guy and she'd always gotten along with them. Plus, he was younger than her and, well, that meant she wasn't going to try as hard to impress him. "Also, I know this fucking out of nowhere, but what do you guys do?Your mutations, I mean. I'm like the walking 'flying brick' cliche, but I have this strange feeling that what you guys do is pretty cool. Please tell me I'm right. I like being that." She added, all while mentally facepalming. And the motor mouth affliction lives on.

Lorna stopped and turned towards Jessica, "Namor is the cousin of the current King and Queen of Attlian. Whom we happen to be on good relations with here at the mansion. Yes, you will find people with strange names here, strange colour hair, even strange colour skin. You will find Miss Jones, that there are a lot of people here that come here because they have no where else to go, or they need help with their powers. We try to make everyone feel welcome." Normally Lorna wouldn't be so hard on the new girl but she had heard of Namor's temper and was trying to spare her from something worse. Plus, the last thing Lorna wanted was Jessica to upset the wrong person. Lorna turned again and started to walk up the stairs to Jessica's assigned room. "You are right, we all have pretty cool powers here."

Oh, good, he didn't have to explain Namor. Matt's relationship with the royal was...up and down at best. They seemed to be getting along better now, but it was a rocky start for a while. "Not mine," Matt grinned, "Mine are lame. Take my word on it since you can't see them," he added, teasing. His powers couldn't be seen even when he was using them. Now, the side effects of his powers were kinda cool and more easily seen, but still. He slid his hand down the wall lightly as they walked, then stopped at the door for her suite, fingers reading the braille under the room number easily, "This one's yours."

Jessica felt her stomach do a flip, both at Lorna's tone of voice and the sight of the doorway to her newfound life in front of her. She probably would've had a freak out at the front door, but she'd been distracted by her fellow mutants. She cleared her throat and spoke up, reeling thoroughly chastised.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get all "uppity bitch" on you guys. I'm a bit...prickly, but I know what it's like to feel small because of the things people say and things people...do. This isn't an excuse and its definitely not a plea for pity. Its just a bit of context, that's all." She explained. "Now, let's do this." She said, a bit more enthusiastic.

"It is fine. I just felt like I should warn you rather than someone else going really off on you. Namor is a nice enough guy from when I met him. Then again I am the one that feeds him." Lorna chuckled as everyone was nice to the person who feeds them. "I don't know him well enough only from what I have heard, Matt might know more." Lorna opened the door after using the key and held it open with her powers. "Here is your key. I am assuming the closed room means that is taken. So you can use the other one." The suite was rather large with bedrooms on either side of the center common area complete with a kitchenette. "There is one bathroom per suite." She pointed to the door where the bathroom was.

"So yeah, this is it," Matt gestured to the suite vaguely, "Pretty basic, but you and Namor can decorate or whatever," He hadn't bothered much, but he'd picked up a faux statue figurine at the museum back in June. It was a start. Jessica accepted the key from Lorna and clutched it in her fist and stepped past her and through the door.

"Hmmm, he sounds like he might the slightest bit prickly too. I can work with that. As for decorating, I don't have a fucking decorative bone in my body. Still, maybe Mr. Royalty can come up with something. Guess I'll just go drop this off quick." Jessica replied, trying her best to respond to both of her companions at once. She wondered just what this Namor was really like and, frankly, what the hell "Attilan" was. She'd never heard of such a thing in her life. Didn't mean much, since she was pants at geography. She walked into the suite and tred quietly. She didn't want to meet her new roommate just yet. She slipped into the mostly empty room and quickly set her suitcase down to the right of the door. She'd have to fill the room with the rest of her things from home later. Before she stepped back out of the room, she took a deep breath. Things were going alright so far, if a little rocky, but she was learning and that was always exciting. She scribbled the word "Attilan" in her notebook for future reference before she stepped back out into the main part of the suite to rejoin Lorna and Matt.

Lorna pulled out her phone and froze, "Matt emergency down in the kitchen. I'll be right back. Make sure she is settled."

"It better not be more potatoes or chess pieces! Let me know if you need anything," Matt replied, then turned to Jessica, "So. What next?"

Jessica watched Lorna go. 'Chess pieces? What the hell is he talking about?' Jessica thought before she shrugged mentally. She just figured that it was more of the weird shit that came from living in a house full of mutants. She thought about what they should do next. She'd seen only a little bit of the Mansion so far, but she couldn't really think of anything in particular that she'd want to see. "Well...I think I'd like it if you show me some of your favorite places around this mansion. Or, y'know, places of 'great import or whatever.' I mean, god knows you don't want to be there when I unpack my suitcase. Nothing makes a new friendship awkward like unpacking undergarments together, y'know? Besides, you'll find that I'm not a picky girl. You've got to have some cool stuff to show me around here, right?" The brunette continued. She honestly figured that this mansion was pretty similar to the one that most people imagined when they heard the word. A library, a kitchen, bedrooms, ballroom, gym. All the good shit.

"It's not like I pay any attention to your underwear," Matt replied with a shrug. Well, that was half true. He cared in the sense that he was 19 and she was a girl. And he would love to touch them and all that. His general libido aside though, he couldn't see them as she actually unpacked so that wasn't an issue. "But sure. How about the gym? That's awesome," he liked it anyways. "And there's plenty on the way there, too. So anyways. I've been here since I was 15. If you've got any questions, I probably have answers."

Jessica smiled at Matt's words. She didn't think he'd actually pay attention to her undergarments, not really. "Sometimes a lady just likes to review her underwear collection alone, y'know?" She joked as she decided to be really cheesy and elbow him good naturally. She considered Matt's comment about the gym, but decided it was high time to take a real look at him. She generally liked her men older, but she could tell that Matt was fit. "The gym sounds awesome. Adrenaline, sweat, all that good stuff." She teased. "Though I trust someone as fucking ripped as you knows all about that." She added with a wink. "And as for the questions, I'm sure I'll have plenty." She added, gripping the pad in her hand tightly. "Lead on Mr. Murdock, I'm in your hands." She finished.

"What you do with your underwear is your business," Matt stated firmly, a grin on his face "but I'm glad you wear it. Makes taking it off later more fun," not that he had any experience with that, but he couldn't resist the temptation with a set up like she'd offered! He did spend a lot of time there or at the aerial gym in the city. It helped when he had cravings, though those happened a lot less frequently than they used to and he was better at managing everything regardless. Now, it was more habit than anything else. "Eh, I grew up in a gym practically, it's a familiar place. My dad was a boxer before he died. I used to do my homework and stuff ringside."

Jessica snorted at Matt's words. He was a challenge in the sarcasm and wit department. She liked that.

"Damn right it is. Though, gotta say you're a little bit less of a gentleman than I thought." She said with a put on sigh, before she grinned and winked. "Nah, I can live with that. What's life without being a little out the box?" She asked. "So your old man was a boxer huh? That must've been...interesting. I mean, my 'rents own a cafe. So do you box then? Maybe you should teach me. I mean, I hit like a Mack truck, but I'm about as graceful as one too, I swear." She continued. "But don't worry, I won't like make you into heavy pulp orange juice or anything. Eight years with powers gives you at least a little restraint." She finished.

"I can teach you to throw a punch if you need," Matt agreed. He worked with Frank on self defense too. "I can box, but..." he shrugged, "it was my dad's thing. He didn't want me following like him, you know? I do gymnastics, aerial art stuff. That's more my thing," but he knew plenty about self defense and offense given his X-Men training. Pushing the door open to the gym, he waved a hand across the space, "So this is one of the gyms. The one for gymnastics and stuff. There's another with basketball courts and all that, plus there's another outside. And there's a whole weight room, too," no one else was in there at the moment, but Matt assumed the lights were on. "How'd you end up in the system then?"

"The group home system you mean?" She asked. "My parents, brother, and I were on our way back from a vacation in New Jersey. You know, nothing special. Then...my brother and I started to argue. Probably about something trivial. My dad turned to tell us to quiet down. We distracted him, and we ended up in the highway pileup to end all highway pileups. Everyone involved, my parents and brother included, died. Except me. My powers must have kicked in during the accident, or at least a little while before. My body was tough. Sure, I was bruised and a little bloody, but otherwise fine. My mind, though, wasn't so tough. Slipped into a coma for a year. When I woke up, they sent me off to a home. The Jones' adopted me later, and that was it." She explained.

"Foster care, yeah," Matt agreed, thinking it odd that she didn't quite get the reference. Everyone knew "the system." It was ubiquitous and sucktastic. He listened carefully, nodding along. That sucked, but then, a lot of people had stories like that, especially in foster care. "Least you got adopted and all that," Matt commented when she finished, "Most older kids don't have that option, especially if you're a mutant or have a disability or whatever," he'd had both, though he hadn't known that he was a mutant at the time. She had to have known given it all.

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky. Didn't really think so at the time, but then I was really mad at the world. Guess you're never really in the 'right' state of mind when you're a teenager, if there even is such a thing. So, since it's sharing time, you willing to divulge something about the Mysterious Mister Murdock? I'm not gonna bitch at you if you don't want. I've got a subject switch with your name on it if you want." She answered as warmly as possible. She didn't really do sharing very well, but she felt as though Matt was someone she could identify with, at least on some level.

Smirking, Matt toed his sneakers off, shoved his sunglasses in his pocket and chalked his hands from a nearby bin, then launched himself down the gym, jumping on the springboard and grabbing the high bar. He wasn't supposed to do any of this without a spotter, but whatever. He liked showing off. Flipping, twisting and turning, he made good use of his momentum and his audience. Finally dismounting and landing hard though without much of a stumble, he grinned unrepentant, "Now, you're all observant and writing things in your notebook," he was winded, but only barely, "what's not quite right, right now?"

Jessica's dull brown eyes were blown wide in surprise. She'd underestimated Matt, clearly. There was no way that she, even with her ability to fly, would be able to move like that. She'd noticed Matt's shades earlier, but she'd thought that, if anything, it was a style choice. The truth, however, hit her like a ton of bricks.

"You're...blind? How...? Is it your powers? Do they help you out somehow? Or are you just that good?" She asked. She'd been right. Matt had a mutation that was different and, honestly, probably much cooler than her own, typical one. She readied her pencil with a grin, eager to learn more.

"What gave it away?" he asked, more amused than bothered by the quick realization. It was a good thing to know so he could work on preventing it. "Lots of mutants have oddities, my eyes aren't that weird on their own," a milky, clouded blue, but his eyes were naturally blue. The milkiness of them came from the chemicals that had blinded him, not his powers. "And I am that good. And I have powers. But my powers don't make me super awesome at gymnastics, they just put me on an even playing field. I still have to practice and train."

"I guess it was the glasses. I don't usually look for that sort of thing, you know? I gotta say, though, that stuff you just did? Very impressive. I can't even fly through the air as gracefully, trust me. So, if I show you mine, will you tell me about yours? Your powers, I mean." Jessica replied. She pocketed her notebook and slowly accessed her power, floating up off of the ground and into the air. She turned slightly as she floated until she was upside down, her face about a foot from Matt's. Her hair dangled down to the ground, and she gave Matt a wide grin.

"Ah," the glasses. That was sometimes a huge clue for people. Others, not as much. It depended a lot on the person. Matt didn't bother to slip them back on since he rarely wore them around the school. His eyes tended to bother people until they got used to them, but this was his home so people could just deal with it. In public, he always wore them. "You saw them," he grinned, tapping her nose with a finger. "They're just not easy to see. I have enhanced senses. When I first game to the school, I wouldn't've had any idea you were floating right now. But I learned to use my hearing so that it's almost like seeing. No colours."

"Really? That's so cool! Is it like radar? Like, am I a 'blip' on your senses? What about your other senses? Like taste and touch? What are those like for you? Also, have you ever been flying? I know a lot of people probably think it's all about the visual. That it's what you see that makes it special. But, I've got to be honest, it's more about what you feel when you're up there. The rush of the wind and the feeling of freedom. I mean, I know we just met and all, but I could show you what it's like sometime. If you're interested. I may not be the most graceful flyer, but I promise I won't drop you." She replied, voice moving a mile a minute as she righted herself and brought her body back down toward the ground.

"Sonar," Matt corrected. It was a common misconception, most people didn't know the difference anyways, "And you are. Moreso your face since it's right in front of me," and since he was talking, the sound hit her face moreso than anywhere else since the gym didn't allow for much reverb. "And they're enhanced, too. I've been flying. There used to be a guy here that had wings and he took me, it's kinda cool," he wasn't a fan of flying in planes so much, but he could handle that."C'mon, I'll show you something else then."

"A guy with wings you say? Cool. I'd love to see whatever you're going to show me next. Just out of curiosity, if you're senses are so sharp, how do they not overwhelm the fuck out of you? Is that part of your mutation too?" She asked.

Damn, she was a sharp one. "They can, especially at first before I had control like I do now," Matt answered with a shrug, "I used to take medication to help with it, which didn't really help, but anyways. My room here is set up for me, not just because I'm blind, but to help calm my senses, too. If it gets bad I usually hole up in there for a day or so. Focus helps though, actually. Like the gymnastics. I got into it as a kid, but got back into it to help with control," there. And no weird overshare. Good Matt.

Jessica nodded, understanding. She hoped she wasn't pressuring Matt into sharing more than he was comfortable with. She'd told people to fuck off for asking too much about her in the past. Besides, she knew there was a fine line between "curiosity" and "nosey." "That's cool that they provide for you like that. I mean, it's kinda like 'duh, school for mutants' but I guess I never really thought it through. It's also nice to know that someone besides me struggled with their powers. I mean, I didn't meet any other 'out' mutants until I was older. When I was younger, I'd break shit all that time. Pulled the door right off my dad's car once. Don't even get me started on the amount of buildings I smashed by flying into them." She added with a smile and a slight laugh.

"That's why there's this school. So people can get the control and training and stuff they need to better manage their powers," his weren't dangerous to others, but without getting control of them he had been a danger to himself. "How did you figure out you could fly then?"

Jessica flushed and crossed her arms over her chest nervously. "After my parents died, I spent that year in a coma. Then I got sent to the home. All the kids, me included, were a little messed up to say the least. Anyway, the other kids used to make fun of me for being a 'coma girl,' those fuckers. Plus, potential parents, even the foster ones, weren't really interested in some Plain Jane girl with a mouth like a sailor. I'd finally had enough and I just sort of up and left. I ran and ran and ran and, eventually, found that I was running on air. It was cool at first, until I crashed down onto a metal dumpster about a block later. Good thing my mutation wasn't just flying. The dumpster ended up being more smashed up than I was. Police got me a few minutes later." She explained, her cheeks still bright red. "It wasn't until a while afterwards that I actually learned how to do it at will." She added.

That was one way to do it, "That's kinda cool though. Not the teasing and people not caring, but the running on air bit. Kinda puts a new spin on things," Matt led Jessica outside to show her the basketball court, pool and other awesome things.