[OP: "Come on"--Letters to Cleo]

They all rushed down the stairs.

What they found was not good.

Baby had, taking the corner too fast, crashed into someone who was just coming out of the back hallway.

The short man with long sideburns whom he'd just hit was pointing long claws at his throat that were coming out of his fist.

"Talk," he said now. "You're not from around here, I can tell."

Baby gaped at him in astonishment.

"Wait, wait!" Rumi jumped over the railing instead of taking the last 5 steps and landed next to him.

The man looked up at her and growled. "More of 'em..."

"Logan." A tall woman with white hair and a white costume as well, came striding out of the hall, like a queen to her throne room. "These are Raven and Morph's students, clearly. There are 8 of them, see?"

Logan, apparently, looked up and sniffed. "Oh...well, they do have the smell."

"Excuse me?" Romance was offended.

Logan retracted his claws. "Fine, but don't sneak up on a feller like that, shrimp."

"It's Baby," Baby said saltily.

"A baby what?" Logan said.

"He means that is his name," the woman said.

"I'm going to guess...Storm," Jinu said, coming down the stairs. "They said you were both out, so..."

"You are right." Storm had a strange accent that made her sound more stately when she spoke. "Also known as Ororo. Which of them are you?"

"My name is Jinu." Jinu bowed politely to her. "Sorry about Baby. He...wasn't looking where he was going." With a frown.

"How was I suppose to know he would be right here?" Baby grumbled. He got up. "So you're Wolverine, right?"

"That's what I'm called," Logan said, taking out a cigar and lighting it.

"You smoke?" Rumi looked horrified.

"So?" Logan said.

"But that's bad for you," Rumi said.

"Rumi!" Mira cried, which was quite the role reversal.

"Uh...sorry," Rumi said, apologetically. "Celine was very strict about that. I guess I had a knee jerk reaction."

"Logan is able to smoke without any consequences," Storm said. "So you needn't worry yourselves about it. May I know all of your names?"

"Uh, sure, you may." Zoey thought that was funny. "I'm Zoey."

"Mira," Mira stated.

The others introduced themselves quickly.

"Some weird names ya got there," Logan said dryly. "They come with you, or did you adopt 'em?"

"They are our idol names," Abby said. "And we don't know our real names... Well, guess I know mine now, but it isn't really like my name yet... Abby is fine."

"You must be the mutant one," Storm said to Rumi. "I heard about you."

"Uh, yeah." Rumi tugged her braid over her shoulder nervously. "Everyone keeps saying that... My father wasn't...uh, human fully, I guess... It's confusing. Or he was cursed..."

"It is all right," Storm said grandly. "Here we are all different. I've been called a witch myself for my great power over the weather. I also was worshiped once as a goddess, so I understand not knowing your true nature. However, I think my home is here. Forgive us for startling you. I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Oh, don't bother about it," Logan dismissed the incident. "None of you kids are planning to cause trouble, are you?"

"I'm...400 years old," Jinu said.

"Congratulations, I'm nearly 200 myself," Long said casually. "You don't look your age, Grandpa."

The other boys all stared to laugh.

"Didn't even take two minutes for him to call you that." Abby was dying.

"I'm sorry, was that 200 year thing a joke?" Zoey asked.

"It's true," Storm said. "Though we don't know his exact age, but he is quite old."

"Like Raven, you don't age, I guess," Jinu said.

"She ages faster than I do," Logan said. "But she doesn't show it much. Also, she don't heal as fast as I do. I could kill her--she couldn't kill me, basically. But that's something I don't bother thinkin' about these days."

That sentence seemed...weird.

"Yes, Raven is no longer an enemy," Storm said, which also sounded strange. "I even like her, by turns. Though, she is a difficult woman to understand, at times."

"I think you're too forgivin'," Logan said.

"Fortunately for you," Storm said, with a smile.

"Hm." He didn't argue.

"Are you two friends, or...?" Zoey asked.

"Actually, we're married," Storm said. "Just for about a year, now."

"Oh, congratulations." Zoey glanced at them.  "And you're so pretty, too. Like, what is your skincare routine?"

"I can't say I have one," Storm said. "My village didn't really engage in such things often."

"But everyone should," Zoey said.

"Forgive them, Storm." Raven came into the room. "In Korea they are obsessed with beauty products and routines. Don't take offense to it. I got the same reaction when I said I didn't moisturize. As if I need to with scales."

"I didn't know that," Zoey said.

"Raven? Where have you been?" Mira asked.

"Talking to Shine. Why?" Raven said. "Was there a problem?"

"Wolverine almost skewered Baby," Jinu said.

"I knew that would happen at some point, but I'm surprised it was so soon," Raven said. 

"Kid jumped me," Logan said. "Not my fault. He's lucky I at least held back."

"So this is the one you say Mira is the most like," Baby said, seeing his chance now. "I see it, honestly. The blades, the temper..."

"Huh?" Logan said.

"Just a joke Morph likes to make," Raven said. "He thinks Mira is like you."

"He did say that," Logan reflected. "This skinny little girl, huh? She doesn't look that tough to me."

Mira got mad. "Say that to my Gok-do!" she said warmly.

"Don't see none," Logan said.

"Well--I haven't summoned it here actually." Mira realized that she should have tried that before she talked so big.

"Try it," Raven said.

Mira tried, but nothing happened.

"Crap..." she said, not liking this at all.

"Oh, crud, that sucks," Zoey said. "I wanted to show off my blades. What if we need them, too?"

"Guess that there's no demons, so...no need for our weapons..." Rumi said oddly. "But I feel... kind of weird without it."

"Logan!" Morph came in right then. "Buddy!"

"Morph." Logan grinned. "You're a sight for sore eyes. Was startin' to think these people had you locked up in that tower of theirs like it was the Tower o' London."

"Nope, just busy," Morph said. "But I have missed you. No one in that world laughs at my jokes at all."

"Hey, I laugh sometimes," Zoey said.

"You pity laugh half the time, Zoey," Morph said. "And Storm, good to see you."

"Likewise," Storm said. "I look forward to hearing all about your adventures. Did you check in with Shine and Wally?"

"Oh...yeah," Morph said, wincing.

"What happened?" Logan asked.

"Let's say they weren't too happy with us," Morph said.

"What do you mean?" Rumi said in concern. "What's wrong? Did we do something wrong?"

"You did nothing," Raven said. "We have made...errors. They were not satisfied with our progress report. But, they said they would help us, and they have a plan for how to do so, so it was overall a productive conversation."

"Wait, they think you screwed up?" Jinu asked. "And can I ask them in detail for it?"

"Oh, shut up," Raven said. "You wait--they want to interview all of you also."

"Wait, what?" Mira said. "Why?"

"To get an idea of what all of us need help with," Morph said, "since they've never met any of you. No need to be so worried about it Mira. They're professionals."

Mira was not comforted.

"Mira is just worried that they will do something to her," Baby said. "They're tricky, right? Maybe they'll manipulate her into something."

"I wouldn't put it past them to do so," Raven said. "But for what purpose?"

"Who knows?" Baby said vaguely.

"I think you should be more worried than Mira," Morph said to him. "You haven't been the most cooperative."

"Oh, they can interview me if they want, but I'm not gonna tell them anything," Baby said. "I didn't want this anyway. I just didn't want to stay at the tower alone."

"You'll change your mind about that," Raven said, with a sly smile. "I am sure of it. Only a matter of time."

"No, I won't," Baby said.

"This one is a brat," Logan said.

"He's a lot," Morph said. "But he seems to like being that way. Who are we to stop him?"

"I hope you don't actually mean you won't cooperate with the help," Storm said. "Because Shine and Wally cleared their whole week for this, even pushed back some things they had with The Way. And you know that Emma and the other Scott are going to visit us also, which means more trouble for them. I hope you thank them for their help." With a frosty glance at Baby.

He just made a face.

"Don't push Storm's buttons," Morph warned him. "She is one of the scariest people here, next to Shine. In fact, she might be the most scary. Even Logan is scared of her."

"Logan is scared of Rogue as well," Raven said. 

"I ain't!" Logan said, but it was not true. "Just respect women who are strong enough to drop a house on someone."

"I respect that also," Abby said. "But not sure that Shine is really the scariest woman in this house."

"No, she is," Storm said. "However, it's nothing you need to worry about. Though, I wouldn't want to be on the enemy's side around her."

"But...you can control the weather," Rumi said. "Right? Why would you be afraid of a normal, human woman?"

"It's not about power," Storm said. "But let's not talk about it. We don't want to upset you. And I think you will enjoy your time here with them. I enjoy their teaching very much myself. I was their first student here, actually. And we still work together often."

"Oh, hey, Storm." Wally came downstairs carrying a baby. "And Logan, how did the fire go?"

"Put it out quickly and caught the creeps who started it," Logan said.

"Someone started a fire on purpose?" Zoey said in horror.

"Yeah, some arsonists, but they met my claws," Logan said with a grin.

"He didn't kill them," Wally said, seeing the girls' look. "Just...talked to them, you know? With pointy things."

"Thankfully, no one died," Storm said. "And we were just meeting Morph and Raven's students."

"Nice kids, right?" Wally said. "And you also should meet Grace."

Grace was awake now and eyeing them all.

She had her mom's dark green-ish brown eyes and browner hair, but her face was a bit more like Wally's, at least for a baby.

She smiled at them.

"She loves people," Wally said. "Just like her dad. Good thing, too, since we always have her around a lot of them. Say hi, Gracie."

Grace smiled again and gurgled.

"Aww..." Zoey had heart eyes. "She's so cute."

"She's got the good genes, that's for sure," Wally said.

"Every parent thinks that," Raven said.

"But it's true in her case. She is adorable," Morph said. "Hey, say hi to Uncle Morph, Grace." He tickled her.

Grace giggled.

"Ready to go, Wally?" Shine came into the room. "Oh, hi, Gracie." She took her. "Did she have a good nap?"

"She seems pretty well rested," Wally said.

"How is motherhood treating you now?" Raven asked.

"Much easier than it was months ago," Shine said. "Though I'm still tired a lot. Luckily, I can just give her to everyone, and she's fine with it. Imagine if she hated strangers?"

"I can't imagine any child of yours would hate strangers," Morph said.

"Eh, if she takes after me when I was a little kid, maybe," Shine said. "I used to be quite shy."

"That's hard to picture," Jinu commented.

They all looked at him.

"Jinu," Rumi said.

"No, he's fine," Shine said. "Just...wow, you already think that, huh? Must have been too boisterous."

"I think he meant you were nice," Wally said.

"So what did you chew Raven and Morph out for?" Baby asked, seeing his chance to cause more problems.

"I'm sure my students' talk with me is none of your business," Shine said, suddenly very cold. "Whatever we said, but who said we chewed them out?"

"They acted like you did," Romance said.

"All we said was we made errors," Morph said. "And we're working on it."

"Your faces said it was worse than that," Jinu said.

"I hope we didn't get them in trouble," Zoey worried. "Did something seem wrong?"

"No, you're fine," Shine said.

"They said you wanted to interview us." Mira was on her guard. "Why? What did we do?"

"Nothing," Shine said, turning herself to hold Grace more to one side. "It's more of an evaluation. We need to know where you all are at, is all, and talking to you ourselves will be faster than the letters and second hand information."

"But what do you need to evaluate?" Mira pressed. "How good we are at our job?"

"I'm sure you're amazing at your job," Shine said without any hesitation. "We need to know about what Raven and Morph have taught you, what you've absorbed, etc."

"Mira, is there a problem?" Wally noticed her hostility. "Do you not want to talk to us?"

Silence.

"Well," Baby said, "Mira is afraid of you."

No one had time to stop him from saying it, though everyone, even Mystery, glared at him.

Raven and Morph cast Mira a strange look.

Mira wanted to sink through the floor.

However, Shine and Wally only exchanged a look.

"Okay," Shine said after a moment, and she didn't even sound offended. "Mira doesn't have to do it then."

"Wait, we can just opt out?" Baby said.

"Are you afraid of us?" Shine asked.

"No," Baby said.

"Then no," Shine said smoothly and with a look that he didn't quite like. "But we're not doing this till tomorrow anyway. All of you, enjoy your stay with the X-men. We need to get home. Oh, if any of you have notes, it would be helpful to have it written down. Did you ever use those journals I sent you?"

"We did, actually," Jinu said.

"Good man. If there's anything you feel comfortable sharing, I'll leave it to your discretion." Shine nodded. "We'll see you to tomorrow."

She cast Baby one more look, like she was scanning him for bugs. "I look forward to talking."

That sounded like a threat when she directed it at him like that.

They went out the door.

"That was very rude," Storm said.

"I..." Mira began.

"I meant you." Storm frowned at Baby. "I'm sure they didn't do anything to warrant your saying that to them."

"I don't really care about it," Baby said.

"But is that an excuse to make it worse fer everyone else?" Logan said. "I don't like ya already, kid."

"Logan, let's not start," Morph said. "We'll talk to him. Come on." He grabbed Baby by his shoulder.

"What? Where are we going?" Baby said.

"To another room." Morph took him away.

"Did you really say that, or is he just being his usual self?" Raven asked Mira.

"I never said those words," Mira said stiffly. "He wanted to mess with me."

Raven was not stupid enough to not think that Mira might still feel that wa. If Baby said it, he had a reason.

"I guess it's fine, since they didn't care," she said.

"I wouldn't say they didn't care," Logan said. "I know them well enough by now to know they'd be bothered, but they wouldn't push it, not them. Still, ya should make yer students do it."

"If they agree to let her not do it, I won't change it," Raven said. "Doubt I could anyway. We don't control their actions, Wolverine. We've been acting as consultants. It's not the same as with the X-men."

"I'm glad they didn't get angry though." Zoey let out a sigh. "See, Mira? They're nice."

"Nice?" Mira said. "I think Baby just insured I made a bad first impression...that brat..." She clenched a fist. "Now what do I do?"

"Just let them know that he didn't speak for you," Rumi said. "I'm sure they'd understand... They've...clocked him already, I think."

"But you want to talk to them, right?" Zoey said. "I mean, all of us should do it, Mira, if we want answers."

"I wasn't gonna refuse to talk," Mira said uneasily. "I don't want them asking a bunch of personal questions about me, though. Or any of us. We don't even know these people."

"You know you can just refuse to answer if they ask one you don't like," Raven said. "They would understand. They keep their own secrets often enough on missions."

"I guess that makes it better," Mira hedged. "But evaluating us on what you're teaching us? I mean, I wouldn't know how to explain it. Most of it was just...guessing."

"Yes, I'd be worried about you telling them that, but they already know, so I guess it cannot get worse." Raven sighed. 

"But you didn't get in trouble, right?" Rumi said.

"Oh, Shine didn't want to say it to Baby, but, yes, we did." Raven crossed her arms. "However, it won't matter much. It's not like they'll punish us. They just want us to correct ourselves. This will be a long week, I have a feeling."

"I...I didn't think we were causing you problems," Rumi said, guiltily.

"No, it was our own lack of understanding," Raven said flatly. "That was all. There's no way you could have known what we were supposed to do."

"What were you supposed to do?" Jinu asked.

Raven eyed him. "I think I'll just let them explain it. I'm tired already from the jump."

She walked away.

"Hm, I've never seen Raven speak so," Storm said.

"She's usually crabby enough," Logan said.

"No, I mean with any sense of responsibility for something," Storm said. "Or any attempt to reassure anyone... It must be that this has been good for her. I look forward to seeing more of it."

* * *

The only other noteworthy thing that happened that day was that the K-pop stars also met a few other X-men.

Hank came back from his job and gave them quite a start, but he was amiable, and they soon got over their surprise at his appearance.

They also met a girl named Kitty Pryde, who passed through a wall into the dining room, but she introduced herself proudly as an early college student/X-man in training.

She was a little shy around the boys, probably because they were all so good looking.

And at dinner, they also saw a guy named Colossus, or Pietro, and his sister Illyanna, who was friends with Kitty and Jubilee.

Some of the Morlocks started to enter the dining room, but when they saw the strangers, they left right away, only stopping to take food off the counter, which no one stopped them from doing.

Scott was not any nicer to them at dinner, but he didn't say anything openly rude either.

The rest of the X-men weren't quite sure how to treat their guests. They asked them a few polite questions about their lives, but, since the world of K-pop wasn't remotely close to anything they'd ever experienced, it couldn't be said the answers helped them much.

Amongst themselves, they discussed the current news around mutants. It sounded about as bleak as Raven and Morph had described, though they also said that the movement the X-men were leading, with Shine and Wally, was still gaining ground.

The K-pop stars felt a little left out of the conversation, though they knew this was to be expected when they had nothing in common with these people.

Rumi was more interesting to them, since she was a "mutant", and they asked her about her origin story.

She didn't see a reason not to tell it; none of them would care about the implications, likely...and none of them appeared to.

Kurt even said he could relate to her story with Celine.

Of course, the jokes the X-men made that she was lucky not to have been nearly killed right off didn't exactly make Rumi feel better, and it did confirm that Morph and Raven had not exaggerated how dark the lives of mutants were here.

The others, who were not treated this way, had not much to add to the conversation.

When the boys were asked to explain who they were, they weren't sure what to say...but there was no way around it.

And...saying they used to work for the devil...well, it got them some odd looks from Kitty, who was a religious person, though not Christian.

Illyanna, who was the youngest of the teens there, stared at them in astonishment.

Thankfully, Professor X bailed them out by changing the subject after that.

They all then excused themselves early to get away and up to their rooms to think about everything.

They did talk in the hallway before going to bed.

"This is going to be a weird week," Romance said. "I think they like Rumi okay, but the rest of us, I'm not so sure."

"I felt a little weird about it," Rumi said. "It's nice that they don't mind the patterns or the...part about who my dad was...what he was, but I feel like they think it's more like them than it really is. Though, they all do understand the hiding it part."

"But it's like a whole house of Rumis," Zoey said. "All of them know what it's like to feel different, so you're not alone in it. That's kinda nice, right?"

"I guess," Rumi mused.

"I didn't feel like they were that interested in anyone else, though," Abby said. "Oh well, I guess you can't win 'em all."

"For real, that Colossus guy was hot," Zoey said. "I mean, not as hot as..." She paused. "But still. Dang. The mutant guys are good looking. Didn't get what his power was though."

"They didn't seem to want to tell it to us," Jinu said. "Maybe they're more embarrassed by their powers? I almost forgot most of them had powers, but with Hank there and Kurt, it was hard to forget."

"Mira, you thought he was hot, right?" Zoey was still hung up on this subject.

"Oh, sure," Mira said vaguely. "I'm really tired...must be the lag. Can we just go to bed already?"

"Yeah, I agree," Rumi yawned. "My head is foggy. Most of today seems like a blur. Maybe that's what they meant by more easily confused... Thankfully, we get to start tomorrow on progress, so..."

"Always work with you," Baby whined.

"How did that conversation you had with Morph go?" Rumi remembered.

Morph had told Baby that if he kept saying things to Shine and Wally that were disrespectful, he'd have to deal with the X-men, and they wouldn't be as nice as Morph would.

That threat had not impressed Baby that much, but he had toned down his sassiness over dinner just in case, since he didn't know what all of them were capable of.

"Nothing happened," he said aloud.

Rumi frowned, but of course, she knew he wouldn't tell her anything else.

* * *

Second Day:

The night passed peacefully enough.

The girls wanted to sleep in, as they usually did when they got the chance, but they got woken by the sound of the X-men students clambering down the hallway.

They were still kind of bleary eyed once they stumbled out of the room, dressed in their casual clothes.

The guys were all up, since they still slept very light since becoming human again.

Unfortunately, some of the kids had stopped to stare at them.

"I think they're scared of us," Mystery observed, stating the obvious as usual.

"No, really?" Baby said. "What are they so afraid of? We didn't do anything to them."

"Maybe they're afraid of humans?" Abby said. "They told us that."

The kids, who were green and somewhat like fish or lizards in appearance, or else they just looked utterly inhuman in a way that was hard to describe, were staring at them still and backing up.

"Huh," Zoey muttered. "They're so different."

"I couldn't get that close a look at dinner," Rumi said. "They looked green, but they are so much less human looking... I see why people here think they are...you know... It must be rough."

"They don't seem to want to move," Jinu worried. "Should we just go downstairs?"

"I don't think that will help," Abby said. "Then they won't come downstairs. Maybe just let them pass us?... Well, could just talk to them. They're not animals, you know."

"I don't want to freak them out more," Jinu said.

"But standing there staring at them isn't gonna freak them out?" Abby scoffed at him. "At least try to be less broody, Jinu. No wonder they're scared of you."

"What? Hey!" Jinu said.

"Hello," Abby addressed the kids.

They backed up more.

"You all can go by." Abby pointed at the stairs. "We'll just stand here...or...just go back in our rooms, I guess, if you want."

Silence.

Finally, one of them, who was a bit older, said, "Leech not sure who you are... Mystique and Morph's friends?"

"Yes, that's who we are," Abby said. "And your name is...Leech?"

"Yes," Leech said.

Pause.

"Great name," Baby said.

Romance elbowed him. "Says the guy named after an infancy."

"Are you afraid of us because we're human?" Abby asked the kids.

They nodded.

"Well, does it help to know we're not even fully human...uh, well, totally...?" Abby said. "At least, we weren't... We're kind of mutated also, now. So you don't have to worry about us. Besides, Raven will shoot us if we do anything to anyone here."

"Abby!" Jinu didn't think that would help.

But it surprisingly did.

Leech kind of chuckled a little. "That sounds like Mystique..."

He then finally walked by them as if he'd just crossed a lion's path.

Well, their name was Saja, so technically, he had.

The other kids took encouragement from this and slowly walked past them as well. One of them had her stuffed animal with her.

"You know, they're kinda cute, in a strange way," Abby said.

"I didn't think that would work." Romance was somewhat impressed. "Are you actually good with kids, Abby?"

"Dunno, I don't remember ever hanging around kids before," Abby said.

"At least you talked to them at all," Jinu said. "I'm not good with kids, though."

"I remember that the one little girl liked you," Rumi spoke up.

"Oh, gosh, did you see that whole thing?" Romance said. "Why didn't you help? They all like you, Rumi."

"I mean, didn't seem like you really needed help, and what was I supposed to say? They think we're humans also," Rumi said. "Which...we are...but I thought mutants were humans."

"They seem to draw a line between mutant humans and regular humans," Jinu said.

"Maybe they were scared because Mira was staring at them the whole time," Baby said.

"I wasn't," Mira said. "And what is with you all of the sudden, Toddler Man? You want me to beat you up?"

"That'll disprove my point," Baby said.

He walked away.

"He's worse since we got here," Jinu said. "Starting to think the only way he deals with stress is by making everyone else even more stressed."

"That would be accurate, yes," Romance sighed.

They headed downstairs.

They found Shine and Wally were already there, and Morph and Raven were with them.

"Good morning." Wally waved.

Shine was talking to Rogue. "And her bottle is in the fridge, of course."

"Sugar, I've watched her at least a dozen times already. What're you worried about?" Rogue said.

"I know, I know, sorry," Shine said. "She's just...she's my baby, okay? I still hate leaving her with anyone else."

"But y'all will be right upstairs," Rogue said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll just holler at ya."

"Thanks," Shine said.

Rogue then picked up Grace, who was in the high chair eating her breakfast. "We're gonna have fun today, Gracie. Auntie Rogue's gonna take good care of you."

She flew away.

"Do you all like cereal?" Jean asked them. "Or...oatmeal? We also have toast."

"Toast is good," Zoey said. "And eggs."

"Coming right up. How do you like them?" Jean asked.

"Wow, love the princess treatment here," Zoey said.

"When do we get started?" Rumi asked Shine once they had sat down.

"I can see you're eager, so I guess right after breakfast, if you like," Shine said. "And you can go first, since you clearly want to."

Rumi did.

 "And Wally and I split the 8 of you, so, he's taking the boys, except for Baby, and I'm with you girls," Shine said.

"And me?" Baby said.

"I'll talk to you as well," Shine said. "I volunteered." With a smile.

"Oh, he's in trouble now," Morph muttered. "Good luck with her, Baby."

"I'm not intimidated by you," Baby said coolly. "Mira is the one who should be worried... Oh, right, she's not doing it."

"Actually," Mira said, with a glare at him, "I wanted to say that I'm fine with it. Baby spoke for me yesterday, and before I got the chance to correct him, you left."

Pause.

"Well, I thought that was it," Shine said. "But you still don't have to if you don't want to."

"Why would I not if the others are?" Mira said. "Don't you need my input?"

"Well, I do, to put it bluntly, but we could get around it if you really didn't want to talk," Shine said. "If you say you want to again, I'll take your word for it."

Mira was still nervous but didn't want to show it.

"I'm fine with it," she insisted, but tersely.

"Okay then, you can go last," Shine said. "Then Rumi and Zoey can say how easy I go on them. I'll give you a booster, if you like, one shot."

"Huh?" Zoey glanced up.

"I'm kidding," Shine said. "Just wanted to see what you would do. And nothing sounds as bad compared to that, right?" With a smile.

"Say, Jinu, we could get your shots done while you're here," Morph said. "Hank has them in his lab. We started doing it for the kids, since most of them don't get them out in the wild."

"Even better, he doesn't need to have a medical record here to get it," Raven said. "This trip might work out after all."

"Uh..." Jinu said.

"I'm sure Hank would help you with that," Shine said. "Just ask him if he's free any time this week."

Breakfast went by quickly after that.

Once they were done, Shine got up. "We can use the study," she said. "Rumi, follow me. And really, this won't be painful, I promise...unless you're afraid of sharing."

"She is," Baby said.

Shine cast him a look. "Well, your turn will be after Mira's, so start thinking about what you'll tell me. Make it worth my while."

She left.

"Watch, I won't tell her a thing," Baby said.

"Your mistake if you don't," Raven said. "But she will get her answers one way or the other, trust me. Sit there and stare at her for all I care. She'll read you like a book."

"You keep saying that, but she doesn't seem so perceptive so far," Baby said.

Morph leaned to the side. "You think so? I'll bet you that Shine already has conclusions about all of you just since yesterday,and they will be 100% spot on. She'll tell you while she's talking to you, probably, and freak you all out. Wally is easier to talk to, I think. At least he has to work at it."

"Thanks, Morph," Wally said. "Who wants to go first? It'll be a nice chat."

"I'll go first if you want." Jinu felt, as leader, he  should set an example.

"Great, let's go." Wally took off and then came back again. "Sorry, gotta stop doing that."

They left.

"So what do we do while we wait?" Zoey asked.

"We could hang out in the game room," Morph said. "Do you like pool? We have other games now, too, I think."

So he did take them down there.

It was very "retro" for them, but they had nothing else to do, so they gave the games a try.

Zoey impressed Gambit and Wolverine, who were in there at the time, by throwing darts with perfect accuracy even with her head turned away, so at least she had that.

Mira could have done this also but felt less like showing off at the moment. She was moody.

* * *

"Now, there's no need to be worried about this." Shine sat in a comfy chair in front of the lit fireplace, which made the room look more like a British mystery novel than like anything Rumi had ever seen before. "I just want to know your impressions of Morph and Raven so far, and what you remember of what they told you about things. And your observations about the Honmoon. Not in any particular order. Just talk from memory."

She opened her notebook.

"Uh...'kay... Should I start with when they arrived? Or what's going on with my...patterns?" Rumi said.

"Anything you like. I would like to talk about the patterns also, but they can wait."

"Okay, though I don't know much about them. They started appearing when I was a kid," Rumi said.

"Oh, I've wondered this for a while, but, were you born with them?" Shine asked. "Because my guess is you didn't show them till you were at least 3 or 4."

"I...uh, actually that's right." Rumi was stunned. "But I never told Raven or Morph that. How did you...?"

"My guess was based on the idea of shame. Most children don't experience it till they are at least 2, but they usually can't understand it beyond they did something wrong at that age, usually...with a few exceptions... You probably couldn't understand your parents' thing till you were older, and I'd guess either you were that age and they showed up once she told you who your dad was, or I would guess that she told you your mom had you and then...well, passed on, and then they showed up, and she told you your dad was a demon... Which is it?"

"The second one," Rumi said. "You should have seen the look on her face when they first showed up."

"I can imagine, trust me," Shine said. She folded her hands. "I'm sorry...and I won't ask you to talk about it if it's painful for you. I just want to know how it works. It'll help me understand your world better."

"I'm fine with it now," Rumi said.

"No, you aren't," Shine said.

Rumi blinked. "What?"

"But that's okay. You will get there." Shine waved. "Just go on. We have all day, right?"

[This should be interesting.]