Date: April 20
Time: 3:30 pm

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Rogue jogged calmly down most of the length of the driveway to the mansion. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and it bounced almost happily behind her. She inhaled steadily through her nose and forced it out through her mouth in an effort to keep her pace. There was a soft grinding noise as her feet gripped the pavement and propelled her forward but the striped mutant couldn’t hear it over the ear buds inserted into her ear canals. It was just some good old fashioned rock and roll with familiar lyrics and a tempo that would take her mind off the idea of running. Rogue was actually using the music as a focal point. She was practicing focusing her control while she was distracted. It was something she needed to work on. The power absorber had seen that in the Danger Room when she had absorbed Jean’s memories and powers. She had been practicing ever since. Currently she was as cool as the underside of the pillow.

There was a little side road that curved away from the main path and Rogue followed this. She jogged under a canopy of trees. A light smile came across her face. The day was beautiful and Spring was beginning to bud. Soon enough, folks would be suffering from allergy attacks but it was all due in the natural course of things. The sun was in the sky longer and who couldn’t be happy about that? There was a flash of yellow, a flash of blonde. Rogue stopped dead in her tracks and jerked her head to the side. A figure flitted along the tree line with a mane of blonde hair and a pane of white. “Violey?” Rogue asked pulling one ear bud out and looking around. The southern belle clenched her eyes shut and then looked again. There was no one there. She had just been seeing things. Again. Rogue gave a worried glance to the tree line again and then resumed a normal jog toward the training grounds.

The trees then gave way to the expansive training ground set in from the edge of the mansion property. There was a small building with some training supplies as well as some sports equipment that was free to use but for their purpose, they wouldn’t need it. Rogue had organized a small training session with a couple of the students, Icarus and Mercury. They could have gone to the Danger Room but the weather was just too good to pass up. Rogue shed her earphones and put them on a bench at the edge of the field. Rogue stripped of her thin hooded sweatshirt and her soft sweat pants to reveal the training uniform she wore underneath. The power absorber put her hands on her hips as she cast a look around. It was good to get the lay of the land and see what kind of advantages she could use. She was performing a sort of experiment herself and hoped it wouldn’t be the death of her. The southern belle was taking it slow with baby steps but she had to be sure to maintain control.

Now all Rogue had to wait for was for Icarus and Mercury to arrive. She looked to the edge of the woods and saw the pair coming forward. The striped mutant waved her arm beaconing to the young mutants. “Good to see ya’ll! Isn’t it just beautiful today?” she asked pushing the memory of the specter X-Factor member from her mind.

To be honest, when Rogue had approached her, Mercury had been a bit confused. As it turned out, during her six month hiatus from the school, the southern belle had joined them. The redhead didn’t know much about Rogue’s past, other than the fact that she had been with the Brotherhood. Wary at first, once the other mutant had approached her, Cessily decided that it had no bearing on this. Rogue seemed nice, fun, and bad decisions in the past had no bearing on the present. So the offer to help train had been greeted gladly, as she hadn’t really gotten the chance to train much since she had gotten back.

So the offer to train outside, teaming up against Rogue, was accepted. The X-Men outfit that had been kept in a locker in the lower levels for far too long was brought back out. The snug black material fitted into a vest that was secured by a zipper up the front, and hook eyelets keeping it secured. Her arms were bare, the silver skin shining, and the black capri pants were loose at her calves, giving her a full range of motion. For a moment, her body stretched and rippled, before settling comfortably into the suit it was so unused to. Mercury kept her feet bare, and the vibrant red hair was pulled into a tight French braid, starting at the crown and falling down her back.

Trotting out of the mansion, shielding her silver eyes with one hand to glance across the grounds. It was beautiful – perfect for the chance to stretch and really give herself a work out. Breaking into a slow run, she skipped the trail, jumping right through the bushes and weaving until she came to the opening. Stretching out her legs, warming up the metal limbs, and she saw Rogue waving, lifting a silvery arm and waving back. Grinning as she skipped up, twisting her torso and stretching some more once she reached the other woman.

“It’s gorgeous out – perfect for a workout. Anything I should know before we get started?” Cess couldn’t think of anything important – allergies, maybe? She honestly wasn’t certain of Rogue’s powers would work on her, but she was sure they’d find out. After all, Cessily’s uniform was certainly skin baring, and her main form of weaponry was made out of her own body. When Rogue had approached her, they had run through a quick description of their powers together, so Mercury would have an idea of what was going on.

Unlike a Danger Room simulation, Cessily wasn’t aiming to ‘win’ anything with this training. As far as she knew, this was simply a workout for both powers and body, an attempt to help Rogue learn more control. The redhead certainly knew plenty about control. And how hard it was to learn.

Rogue smiled as Cessily came closer. Cessily had a great personality from what Rogue could gather. She was pretty well liked and seemed very optimistic about things. Rogue understood there was some trouble or grief rather, between her and her family due to being a mutant. That was just par for the course for most mutants. Xavier’s school was the perfect place for people like that. You could fit in among people that were just like you and be accepted. Sure it still hurt to be rejected by those that you had trusted and thought could rely on for anything. Rogue supposed though you could look at it another way. By going to Xavier’s, it could be as if they were hiding from the world. It was easier to hide than to face your problems. Whatever the case, Rogue didn’t think that Cessily was hiding from anything. Sure, she may have taken advantage of an image inducer for field trips but several students had done that. That allowed them to come and go freely.

Rogue was glad that Cessily had arrived in her uniform. When she had run the Danger Room simulations the striped mutant had made all the students dress out in the appropriate suits. It was professional and while she was in charge, it was best to follow the rules. Rogue had a lot to prove and wanted to run a tight ship. Cessily’s uniform allowed for a lot of skin exposure. Her entire body was the weapon. Mercury could mold and form into various shapes and it helped to have a uniform that allowed for that. That was a matter of concern for Rogue. She was well aware of her own body and actions all the time. She had been cursed with her powers and isolation and had quickly learned to preemptively reduce the risk of skin-to-skin contact.

“So. This is going to be pretty simple. Not everything happens in the Danger Room. It is a good tool but a lot of the times what you might face is a fight face to face,” Rogue said. “You know we get into some crazy situations but what good is training if you can’t deal with someone in your face, right?”

Rogue stretched her arms up over her head as she talked. Then she spread them wide to the sides and then hugged across her chest. She was getting anxious about training. The Southern Belle had borrowed some power in order to give her young ward a little experience. If Rogue relied on her own powers and tried to sap Mercury’s powers, she could weaken the girl. That could be a bit of training in itself but Rogue didn’t want to rely on that. Briefly she thought about offering a training session where she could imprint the students’ powers and fight each of them with their own skill set. It was an idea at least.

“Ah figured we’d just spar for a little. Feel free to get creative, cause Ah like to improve,” Rogue said. “Any questions, sugah?”

For the most part, Cessily didn’t know much about Rogue. Other than snippets of her past, her powers, and that she seemed pretty cool. And despite the fact that Rogue was older, was a fully fledged X-Man, and in charge of things, Cessily liked her. If anything, it seemed like Rogue wanted to prove herself worthy of being an X-Men. It made sense, considering her past. Power-wise, they had something in common – their bodies were the weapon. In Rogue’s case, her skin was dangerous. In Cessily’s, she could shape herself into a weapon. Fighting someone who couldn’t be touched was going to pose a bit of a dilemma, but it would be a welcome challenge.

Tugging her uniform slightly to be a bit more comfortable, she listened as Rogue talked, nodding her understanding. While the Danger Room was always good for learning, sometimes being outdoors, where things weren’t controlled, was better exercise. Rolling her shoulders, she went through the motions of stretching her arms, as if she were human. It was pointless, but still, the normalcy of the motion was comforting.

“Creative, huh? Last time someone said that, I ended up in a naked puddle of metal.” The redhead grinned jokingly at Rogue, before shaking her head. “Nope, no questions here.” A bright smile on her face, she saluted Rogue teasingly, before settling onto the balls of her feet, countenance a bit more concentrating now. It had been a while since she’d truly stretched her powers to the fullest, and her silver skin rippled down her body a few times, for a moment hardening into spiked across her body, before rolling down. Within a few moments, a gathering of silver stretched her hand into the shape of a comically large hammer, and she swung it experimentally towards Rogue.

A bit more comfortable now, she sidestepped lightly, before lifting one leg in a strong kick, aiming for Rogue’s midsection. This time, she didn’t check her speed or her strength, because what good would a training session be if you were constantly pulling your hits. Cessily made sure to aim for the parts of Rogue that were carefully covered by the uniform, keeping her hits away from the face, where the risk of contact was more likely. For the time being, she didn’t shape any weapons, using her hands and feet in their normal shape instead.

As Rogue spoke, Cessily adjusted her uniform. The black leather armor revealed a lot of the silver mutant’s skin which was important for her seeing as her entire body could be a weapon. The red head nodded along with what Rogue was saying and explaining, she seemed to get the idea and understand. Rogue was still moderately new to the whole prospect of helping out with the students and she hoped she could make herself clear and understood. She wanted to walk the line of gaining the young X-Men’s respect but that didn’t mean that being a friend to them had to be mutually exclusive. In the Danger Room Rogue had made it clear that if you wanted to be an X-Man you had to act like one.

Rogue grinned. Cessily must’ve had a hard experience the last time she used her powers in a training scenario. “Any crash you can walk away from, right?” she offered with a nod.

The metallic girl gave Rogue a teasing salute and settled into a stance more suited for fighting. Her face knit with concentration and a ripple shivered across the shiny surface. Spikes rose up and then recessed back into Mercury’s body and her hand enlarged into a hammer-like shape. Cessily took swipe at Rogue, it wasn’t even close but more for testing her limits and getting a feel for the weight of the hammer attached to her arm. Mercury then launched into her attack. She punched and kick, trying to land blows against Rogue. They were directly mostly at her truck. That was a very good tactic since that provided the largest area and largest chance for a hit.

Rogue jerked backward, curving her back to draw her stomach away from the attacks. It was then that she released a bit of the concentration she was holding. She had strained to keep a borrowed power in check and decided then was as good a time as any to spring a surprise on her young sparring partner. It had been relatively easy since Cessily had been calm until that point. Mercury’s level of aggression was rising and Rogue could feel it. She had borrowed the power of the young student, Meggan for the afternoon. She had powers based on empathy and the urge to fight was radiating off of the silver girl and with the borrowed powers those emotions glowed like a neon sign. Then another facet of Meggan’s powers activated.

Rogue’s body began to change. In response to the urge to fight fur sprouted across her body in a wave that rippled similar to wind blowing through long grass. Quickly Rogue was covered in fine chestnut fur that matched her hair. Her face protruded slightly and her teeth shifted and sharpened into fangs. There was a slight pain in her fingertips. Her nails extended into claws and met a little resistance against the tips of her gloves. As she dodged Cessily’s attacks, those claws pierced through the tips of the gloves. In the back of her mind Rogue thought Hell, Ah just ruined my uniform!

Rogue wasn’t sure why she took the lupine form in response to the fight. If anything she should have formed armor plates. That only made sense but why…? Was Kyle floating around in her mind? Did she have wolves on the brain? The Southern Belle dropped down into a crouch below one of Mercury’s kicks. “You’re not pullin’ punches. Ah’m glad. The world wouldn’t expect you to,” Rogue said. “Never give less than the best, sugah.”

Rogue was trying to be inspirational as well as instructional but the best way to test yourself was to present challenges. Rogue sprang upward in a counter attack. She slashed out with her new claws and bared her brand new fangs. The power absorber was feeding off of the aggression but she had to be careful. Rogue wasn’t going to go easy on the student but she wasn’t going to try to kill her either. She had to be careful because absorbing Meggan was just like absorbing anyone else. She could get lost in the personality and the power set.

From what Cessily had been told, both by Rogue and the grapevine, the southern belle was getting used to the idea of being a trainer. Of working with kids, some of whom didn’t have full control over their powers. The redhead supposed that this was almost like training each other – Cess for her powers, Rogue for her teaching skills. The brunette explained herself well, and had a sense of humor, judging by her response. “So they tell me,” Mercury replied with a grin, shrugging a shoulder in slight embarrassment. The sad fact was, with her tendency to liquefy, she’d had quite a few incidents that involved a lack of clothes.

Rogue seemed to be settling into the fight just as Mercury was getting into it, pulling away from the kick with impressive flexibility, and Cessily pulled back to recover her balance. Silver gaze locked on her opponent, her eyes widened as Rogue suddenly…Rippled, much like Cess had done earlier. Only, instead of spikes, fur popped out of Rogue’s skin, much to Cessily’s surprise. Although fascinated, she quickly realized that Rogue had obviously absorbed someone else’s powers, and this was likely a ploy to get the redhead to lose concentration.

The lupine form was a bit unusual, and of course the first thing that popped into her mind was Rahne, at least until she focused on the other woman again. As Rogue crouched and spoke, the silver skinned girl grinned brightly. “If you hold back in training, how will you know what you’re really capable of, is how I see it. There’s no point to training if you don’t do your best.” She replied in an excited voice, not out of breath, since she didn’t actually need to breathe. As the southerner leapt back up, Cessily flowed out of the way of the claws, her stomach melting inwards, and her body bending to the side, legs following her torso.

While aware of the fact that claws and fangs would do barely any damage to her shiny skin, she still wanted to avoid the contact. Cessily sidestepped, balanced lightly on the balls of her bare feet, before shaping her arm into a bat, and ramming it towards Rogue’s midsection. Dropping quickly, she swept her foot out, hoping to catch the brunette at the ankles and knock her off balance. She was wary enough to not get too close, knowing that it was possible Rogue had other surprises stashed away for the fight.

Mercury explained that she felt if she held back in training that there was no way to know if she was trying her best and really testing her mettle. She didn’t see a point in just half-ass trying and Rogue agreed whole-heartedly. She had trained through her life with her powers and other skills she picked up along the way. With Mystique, Rogue had trained with her powers as well as tasks and objectives that didn’t rely on her mutant abilities. The power absorber could hotwire a car and do a decent job at picking a lock, even if she was a bit rusty. As a girl she had shot some cans off the fence line but under the tutelage of the shape shifter and her terrorist exploits, Rogue had improved her shot drastically. The striped mutant thought that if you weren’t trying your damned you weren’t trying hard enough; and there was no reset button in real life.

Cessily seemed excited. The thrill of the adrenaline was getting to her. Then again if she was composed of mercury did she have adrenal glands and an endocrine system? She dodged and pivoted and shifted. A t one point the silver mutant pulled her torso inward, taking full advantage of her liquid body, to dodge a slash from Rogue’s claws. Cessily was doing a good job at controlling her body. Every inch seemed to react to her thought and will. Rogue was feeding off of the excitement coming from Mercury. She might have been made of liquid metal but she was still giving off human emotions. That excitement mixed with the aggression was driving Rogue. Rogue felt like a puppy ready to play. She was ready to give as good as she got from the silver mutant.

Mercury sidestepped and reshaped her arm into a long cylindrical shape. She drove it toward Rogue’s stomach and then dropped quickly. That feint worked out well. Rogue tucked her stomach backward to avoid the attack but Cessily hit the deck and swiped at the power absorbers ankles with her own foot. The powerful limb of solidified metal collided with her feet and swept them out from underneath. Rogue’s eyes widened for a second and she dropped to her side, catching herself with her elbow and forearm. The power absorber’s head jerked around to glare at Cessily. It was a good hit and Rogue knew that deep down. It was a good strategy to feint in that way, and then attack in a different direction. The empathic power that Rogue had absorbed was making her hair stand on edge. The striped mutant sucked in a breath and then sprang back into action.

Rogue jumped into the air and pulled her feet up as high as they could go to avoid another attack. At the apex of her jump she kicked out with her boot. The claws on her toes had grown out as well but either they were not strong enough to break through or the boot was too resilient to let the nails pierce through. At that point, Rogue was so eager to drive the heel of her boot into Cessily. The drive to fight and the excited had come from Cessily and Rogue had picked it up empathically and then accelerated her own desire to fight. It looped back and fed into a vicious cycle. “We’re fightin’ for our lives everyday, sugah,” Rogue said as she landed and pivoted around to bring her claws around to bear.

Everything was feeling great to Rogue. There wasn’t really a threat of harm in this training situation but she couldn’t help but feel the thrill of battle. Rogue leaped forward and downward. She sprang off of her hands and flipped over in a somersault to then head feet first at Mercury.

There had been a time when Cessily had been unable to control her powers. At first, she had been stuck as a puddle of liquid metal – during the manifestation of her powers, it had been nearly impossible for her to hold a solid form for longer than a few seconds. Through weeks of constant practice, at which time she learned about not needing to eat or breathe, she had learned to recreate her human body. But it had only been at Xavier’s that she really gained control over the rather viscous form. That normal human shape was natural now, although she could make herself taller or shorter if she wished. Shaping her hands or limbs into other objects, that came later, but her control was enough that she didn’t need to concentrate as hard as before to keep the shapes.

Although her muscles were liquid, she still felt like her body was warming up, feeling each section of herself shift and move and contract in a physical response to her thoughts. While she didn’t get that warm sensation of musculature being moved, it was just as good. Stretching into the feint and dropping, her leg stretching further than normal as she swept Rogue’s legs out from under her, retracting it into a crouch. The southern girl turned to glare at Cessily, and the redhead actually grinned in amusement, balanced lightly on the balls of her bare feet.

The sudden jump almost startled her, causing the silver girl to straighten back a bit, not stepping back far enough to avoid the boot flying through the air. Instead, she softened her body, arm lifting, and the boot slid right through Cessily’s arm, across her throat, and right back out. Her molecules shifted a bit, pulling back from the boot as it sank across, so Rogue got her boot back clean. A deep gouge was just as silver as the rest of her, on her arm and throat, and within a few seconds, the displaced metal filled the area back in. Shaking out her arm and head, she grinned.

“Speak for yourself; I’m a go-with-the-flow kinda girl,” Cessily giggles, her arms rippling like a river for a moment, as Rogue launched herself towards the redhead. Cess reacted instantly, and her rippling form suddenly dropped, liquefying and streaking across the grass under Rogue’s airborne body, clothes carefully gripped by the liquid, and she reconstructed herself behind Rogue, taking a longer time than usual, to make sure her limbs all came out the correct holes in the clothes. To make up for her lack of motion, her hand formed a blunt blade, swinging towards Rogue without much intention of hitting. Once she was positive her clothing was secure, she grinned again, lifting a long leg in a high kick, bladed arm stretching above her leg.

Rogue’s reflexes were heightened thanks to Meggan’s empathic shifting abilities. The feral form she had shifted too was doing a good job of sparring with Mercury. Rogue enjoyed the versatility of the power set. If the power absorber had time she would try to think of the different forms that could be attained based on the emotions of others. If she was in the presence of someone she fancied, would she take on traits that they found attractive? It was good thing that she didn’t have the power set permanently around the school. With all the hormonal teenage boys around she would probably be stuck in the form of some blonde Double-D airhead.

As Rogue kicked out with her heel she connected with Mercury. She didn’t strike a solid form but a semi-liquid mass. It was like dragging her foot through muddy water only Cessily was able to keep any of her body from being dragged away by the boot. Cessily pulled all of the traces of her body back into herself and maintained her mass. It was impressive. The shift from fully solid to a liquid was instantaneous, and then back again showed that Mercury had practiced a lot with her abilities. A furrow had formed where the boot smashed through but it quickly filled in taking mass from other parts of her body. It was a very good trick.

As Rogue lunged out again, Mercury dropped to the ground and formed a puddle. The pool slid across the grass and reformed behind Rogue. The Southern Belle spilled across the grass with her intended target having shifted. She braced the best she could. Her gloves were already ripped from the claws protruding through. As she slid, the seams on one glove ripped even more and peeled away against the ground. Rogue spun and turned just in time to see the silver girl bear down with a bladed arm and a heavy kick.

Rogue tensed and leaped to the side to avoid the strike. She then leaped again on her powerful wolf –like legs reaching out with her exposed hand. “Surprise, sugah,” Rogue said as she wrapped her clawed hand around Cessily’s upper arm. “Ah’m not playin’ nice anymore.”

It had taken quite a bit of concentration to retain her shape, although reacting to the kick hadn’t been very difficult. Retaining her clothes upon reshaping after puddling had been a bit more intricate. It had been a while since she’d attempted such a feat, and was actually quite proud of having pulled it off. Refilling the indentations left by Rogue’s boot had happened more naturally, as her body instinctively filled in the missing area. Her flowing form had taken quite a bit of getting used to, but now she was quite comfortable in her sleek metal skin. Sure, she would’ve loved to have been normal, but then again, she had met some incredible people since leaving home.

As Rogue moved right over the suddenly liquid form of Mercury, she watched distractedly as she reformed, carefully popping limbs out of her clothing. Fortunately, Rogue needed to brace against the fall, which gave Cessily the time she needed to reorient to being on two legs. The southerner slid across the grass, and Mercury waited only a few moments before launching into the attack again. She tried to spin as Rogue leapt aside, especially once she saw that ripped glove, the skin notoriously bare against the fabric. Attempting to backpedal, she was unable to back up fast enough, and Rogue’s hand closed over her arm.

Mercury winced preemptively when Rogue spoke, and for a heartbeat, she was frozen in place, anticipating some kind of pain or weird sensation. Then her instincts kicked back in, and Cessily reacted in self preservation. Turning, she gripped Rogue’s arm, and dropped to her knees, trying to leverage Rogue’s body over her shoulder and throw her to the ground.

Of course, now Cessily’s interest was piqued. Her arm stretched out, and for a moment, her silver finger pressed against Rogue’s cheek curiously. And when nothing happened then either, she pulled back, staring at Rogue in astonishment. “Stick with nice, ‘cause apparently you can’t do mean, Rogue…” Cessily’s voice was both startled and teasing, trying to make a joke out of it. Because surely it had been a fluke. Maybe Rogue hadn’t held on long enough. She didn’t want to think about the possible ramifications of Rogue’s powers not working…Cess already knew that powers that only affect biological lifeforms didn’t work on her…That was the only explanation she could think of.

Cessily’s silver face was stern with her concentration. She was focused on the battle at hand. It was just a training exercise but the intent was to give all she had, as if her life depended on it. Her fluid body took a good portion of her will to control and she had amazing control of it at that. How quickly had it become second nature for Cessily to shift from a fluid to a solid? She would have to divide her attention to respond to the attacks and control her body as well but Mercury had been performing well so far. Mercury reformed her body and extended her limbs through the appropriate portions of her uniform and readied herself.

When Rogue sprang back into action she had decided to stop pulling any punches. Her hand was exposed and she clamped down on Cessily’s arm. As the power absorber held on for her abilities to take effect and take a sample of Mercury’s powers the world seemed to stop and they froze in place for a moment. As the playback returned to normal speed Mercury grabbed a hold as well as she turned to flip Rogue over. Rogue landed unceremoniously on her back.

Simply put, she was stunned as she looked up at Mercury. She was expecting an onslaught of memories from the silver girl but none came. Rogue did not turn into a mass of liquid metal. That had never happened since she had worked with Blindspot and that was such a long time ago. Could it have been because Cessily was composed of metal and not flesh? Mercury expended her finger out and pressed it against Rogue’s cheek. The striped mutant flinched but there was no transfer of memories or abilities.

Rogue sat up a little uneasily after being tossed. With her bare hand she reached out and touched Mercury’s bare arm. Again, there was no effect. Slowly, a smile spread across Rogue’s face. “Ah can touch you. Ah can touch you!” she with excitement growing in her voice. “You’re not flesh and bone and Ah can touch you!” she added not thinking anything of the words she was letting out.

Sure, Mercury wasn’t a normal person with nice normal skin and she only represented the amount of heat in the ambient atmosphere but Rogue could touch her!

Concentrating on fighting, after so many years of practice in the danger room, in situations where she had to forcibly retain her human shape, wasn’t all that difficult. Moving while liquid, solid, or semi-formed had become natural for the metallic polymorph, and she rarely had to concentrate too hard. The main source of her intensity was so that she could remain clothed. Because any story that started out with ‘And then I was naked and Rogue can touch me’ is bound to be deadly. Judging by the reaction, and the ease with which the touch-based mutant was thrown, Rogue was even more startled by this turn of events than Cessily was.

The redhead’s silver skin reflected Rogue’s stunned look, and the metal girl craned over a bit, looking at the southerner worriedly. Obviously, Rogue wasn’t used to this. Cessily noticed the flinch, and withdrew, giving Rogue room as the woman sat up, seemingly deep in thought. The hand on her arm made her blink, but she didn’t move away, tilting her head sideways curiously. Surely there would be some sort of response…The exclamation nearly startled Cessily more than being able to be touched, and the metal girl almost toppled over.

At least until she heard what Rogue was saying. The absorbing mutant didn’t mean anything by it, that much was clear…But it still hurt. Her smile faded, and Cess took a step back, away from the excited woman, arms wrapping around her torso in a self-hug. The motions of acting human suddenly seemed so difficult to keep up – but she forced herself to keep her chest moving, as if breathing, to keep blinking, she even made the motion of swallowing. All of it, useless, organic things to do…But necessary to keep up the appearances. After a moment, she felt she owed Rogue an explanation.

“Your powers…Probably only work on…Organic life forms.” Her voice was quiet, shyer than usual, and the redhead shifted uncomfortably, frowning. “Since I’m comprised entirely of metal…I’m not organic.” Her words hinted at the fact that she wasn’t truly ‘alive’, but she refused to actually admit it. Instead, she skirted around, gaze flicking away from the excited southerner, staring at the trees pointedly.

The urge to fight had quickly left the pair of mutants. They had gone beyond the battle exercise and into uncharted territory as far as Rogue was concerned. It was an amazing revelation and it could open new boundaries for the swamp rat. For her whole life Rogue had been cut off from the rest of humanity but she could touch Cessily Kincaid. Cessily explained that she wasn’t made of flesh and bone like most people; she was metal and totally inorganic. Perhaps Rogue’s powers only worked on organic beings. That was an interesting prospect and Rogue was getting excited

This excitement bled over into the borrowed powers she had acquired. Meggan’s empathic shape shifting was still lingering to a degree. Cessily gave her explaination that she was no not organic and then looked off way toward the tree line. The feeling was very strong and it managed to undercut the striped mutant’s excitement. Rogue began to think about what she had said and the degree she had been elated that Cessily hadn’t been made of flesh for her to touch. These emotions fed together into the shifting powers Rogue possessed. In the reflection of Cessily’s silver body, Rogue could see the changes she was undergoing.

It was very subtle to begin with and Rogue thought it was just the distortion of the reflection on Cessily’s curved surface. The power absorber’s face became rounder and she felt her eyes growing larger and wider. They looked sad and mournful as her mouth shrank slightly and pursed into a small frown that she struggled to contain. Rogue concentrated to stop the change before she became some kind of anime inspired caricature. She tried to force the change to reverse but it was a struggle with the strong emotions coming off of Cessily. Rogue regretted being so happy about her revelation and hoped the powers would fade soon enough so she would not look ridiculous when she was trying to have a serious moment.

“Ah’m sorry, sugah,” Rogue said. “Guess Ah wasn’t thinkin’ about what Ah was saying. Look, just because you’re metal doesn’t mean you’re any less of a person than anyone else here. Check me out.”

Rogue motioned to her distorted body. “With Meggan’s mojo Ah change according to the emotions of others around me. The way Ah see it, having emotions makes you just as human as anyone else. You’re just a little different on the outside but you’ve got plenty of good things inside you.”

Considering the facts, Cessily knew that she probably was one of the luckiest mutants. She was immune to toxins, illness, anything that affected carbon-based life forms. She knew that, logically, she was still supposedly better off that mutants like Rogue, or Wither, who couldn’t touch other life forms – other than her, that is. It wasn’t her appearance that bothered her. Hell, it wasn’t even the fact that she was a mutant. No, what bothered her was the fact that, thanks to her mutation, she literally wasn’t categorized as ‘human’ or ‘mutant’. She didn’t have blood, she didn’t need to breathe, or eat…To all points and purposes, she was a walking piece of sentient metal.

The redhead realized quickly that Rogue had caught on to her sudden mood swing – great, now, not only was she not human, but she was being a total downer during Rogue’s excitement. Her dissatisfaction for life shifted into complete confusion once she looked up, silver eyes widening as she took in the small changes in Rogue’s appearance. It was the big, wide eyes that told Cessily whose power this was – Meggan. She knew that look. After fighting back a smile for a moment, she met Rogue’s gaze, shrugging at what the older woman said.

“I know. But sometimes I miss the sensation of being…Human. Of hearing a heartbeat.” A crooked smile lifted one corner of her lips. “Since I don’t have blood, I don’t have blood pressure. I don’t need to breathe, or eat…By any normal standards, I’m not alive.” It slipped out. She hadn’t meant to say it, and once it escaped, she slapped a hand over her mouth, wincing.

“Uh…Please don’t tell anyone that,” She muttered, referring to the things she had just mentioned about her lack of needing to do normal, everyday things. Even now, she kept up the appearances of breathing. “No one…I mean, some of the teachers do, and Dr. McCoy, but, uh, no one else really knows about all that. I just…Wanna be treated normally, you know?” She didn’t need to eat, but she still liked being asked to go get a burger. She didn’t need to drink, but she still liked it when people asked if she wanted a soda. Cessily figured Rogue might understand about her desire to seem normal.

Rogue fully believed what she said. Cessily had emotions so as far as Rogue was concerned the red head was as human as anyone else. Or mutant in this case. Rogue might have been too caught up in her own excitement to notice Cessily’s mood had it not been for Meggan’s powers. Part of Rogue’s personal mission in helping train the students was to bond with them and help understand themselves. It would have been a complete loss but Rogue had gotten lucky. Everyone needed an encouraging word every so often. It was essential to make every student know they were needed and belonged. Even among the outcasts it was easy to feel, well, like an outcast.

Mercury gave a little shrug. She explained that she missed the sensations that went along with being human. Being completely made of metal had its downsides and if you took a second to think about it it was a bit obvious that Cessily didn’t have a heart or any other organ inside her body. That was something insignificant and largely taken for granted by most of the work. Your heart beat inside your chest and you didn’t have to tell it to, it became background noise. That was what the red head had been missing. She was revealing that she might not be alive at all, since there was no need for breath, blood or food.

As soon as the words passed Cessily’s silver lips she regretted it. Rogue knew the feeling. Sometimes things like that just spilled out. When you were feeling passionate or were in the heat of the moment your secrets were your worst enemy. Then again, it could mean that Mercury felt a connection with Rogue. Her walls were coming down a little and a bond of trust was developing between them. “Don’t worry, sugah. Ah won’t tell anyone. Ah get what you mean by wanting to be treated the same. With my powers there is no shortage of the old side eyeball in my direction.”

Rogue stood up and offered her hand to Cessily. There was no fear or hesitation in the action. Rogue could touch her friend safely. “That was a good session. What d’you say we head back?”

For all that her condition wasn’t alive, Cessily knew that she was still pretty well off. After all, for all the downsides of not being alive anymore, Cessily was not hated. In fact, she maintained the popularity she’d had in her old school. She had always been blessed with plenty of friends, most likely due to her outgoing, happy personality. Cess loved meeting new people, loved making friends…And despite the first few weeks at the mansion, of being completely uncertain of herself, the redhead had quickly recovered. She was lucky to have retained her friendliness, and even luckier that she was now capable of getting close to people such as Rogue.

Even if she lost that feeling of being human, surely she was blessed that she could now get close to those who couldn’t touch anyone else. Maybe she was really just exceptionally lucky, being immune to so many things. Anyone else, having been grabbed by Rogue during this session, skin to skin, would be on the ground, having lost. Instead, Cessily had managed to startle Rogue, and the session had ended with a revelation for Rogue. As Rogue insisted that she wouldn’t tell, the redhead smiled.

“Thanks. I get enough funny looks just looking like this, I don’t need people to start thinking they’re gonna hurt my feelings if they ask me to go get a burger.” Such a thing would be idiotic for them to think, which was why she kept up the façade of eating and drinking. Although, at one point, she had jokingly mentioned going on a diet, which earned her a few confused looks. Rogue stood up, and Cessily grasped her hand without hesitation, jumping back up to her feet.

“Sounds good to me. And hey, some good news – if you ever need a hug, you know you can come to me without worry.” The redhead grinned brightly before releasing the southern gal’s hand and dusting a hand over her pants. “Which is good, because I really doubt you’d want my whiny voice in your head, tormenting you with cheers I learned in middle school.” Her grin widened teasingly, before following Rogue back to the school.