Xaviers!

A taxicab pulled up to the gates of Xaviers University, and a bundle of energy fell out.

Rose Dashwood picked herself up off the ground and started re-gathering all the things she was carrying -- her suitcase, a duffel bag, several loose sketchbooks and papers, the like. Blowing her hair out of her eyes, she looked up at the imposing facade of Braddock Manor and the open grounds of campus.

"Better late than never, I suppose," she said, dusting herself off.

((open))

Another car pulled up to the school just behind Rose's taxi. It was sleek, black, and had diplomatic plates. A door opened and a young man exited without bags dressed in some kind of dress uniform and a suitable long winter coat. He looked out at the campus for a moment before closing the car door behind him.

"So this is Xavier's," Aiden said sounding unimpressed.

"And what have you done," Rose chimed in, off-key. "Another, uh, school over; a new one just begun.

You're another newbie, then?" she asked, shifting her papers around in her arms to free up a hand.

There was a longer than normal hesitation from Aiden as he considered the hand being offered. He took Rose's offered hand with a disinterested expression like somebody going through the motions of.politeness but meaning none of it.

"New to here, yes" Aiden said his accent somewhat British.

"Well, of course I meant new to here," she laughed. "I didn't mean to imply you just poofed into existence when you opened the car door. Unless, that's like your gift? Which, if it is, is definitely worth celebrating and acknowledging; I just thought that would be somewhat unlikely," she smiled, her own posh accent coming through clearly.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at Rose's... energy.

"Blinking into existence would be an odd ability," Aiden said, "And would seem to only be useful the one time."

"Oh, you see, now that depends. Maybe you could blink in and out of existence, and thus experience a wider period of time. Or blink into existence on a different plane or an alternate dimension. Plenty of possible uses, depending on it manifested itself. Just have to think outside the box, there!"

"But does your existence ever cease if you are continuous between moments?" Aiden asked staring at Rose like they'd grown a second head.

"Ah, don't think so fourth dimensionally! You might bounce from moment to moment, so from any objective perspective, nope! You're just gone, *poof*!" she said, a cloud of red dust popping out of her bag as she demonstrated the *poof*.

Aiden took a step back from the cloud of red dust. In part because it was unexpected and in part because he really didn't want his uniform stained by whatever the red dust was. He didn't drop into a fighting stance, but his body language showed he was... tense.

"Descartes would disagree," Aiden said succinctly. "But I would also say it's outside my purview."

"And what is your purview, mister...?" she trailed off.

"The delivery of your things will happen this evening. Will there be anything else, Praetor?" The driver asked Aiden obviously not wanting to wait until their conversation was over before getting back to other duties.

"No, you are dismissed," Aiden responded before looking back at Rose. "My name is Aiden Mitchell and my purview is Genosha's interests."

With that the driver went back into the car and left Aiden and Rose there at the gate.

"Genosha!" she gasped. "Oh, I loved my trip to Genosha. It was absolutely won-derful. A little piece of utopia on Earth."

"Lord Magneto's guidance has provided us with quite the sanctuary," Aiden smiled. "Many choose to never leave and even not considering people I can see why. The world seems an awful dreary place."

"There are bright spots -- splurts of color among the grey. You just have to know where to look for them, and foster them, and help them grow."

"That's why I was sent here," Aiden said, "To this bright spot of color in a sea of grey."

He didn't sound like he entirely believed the second part

"Ah, I'd be remiss to forget to ask your name."

"Dashwood. Rose Dashwood. It's a pleasure and an honor, I'm sure."

"At the very least entertaining," Aiden said. "Pleasantries are an integral part of Genoshan society."

"Is that just a cultural thing, or does it reflect something integral to us that isn't reflected in human culture?" she asked, as they started entering the grounds.

"Humans infrequently have arguments that lead to buildings coming down around them," Aiden said, "It results in a society that has been called... rigid by outsiders."

"One man's rigid is another man's orderly, and there's something to be said for order, and respect," she nodded.

"Order and respect are carved into the bases of several statues in Genosha," Aiden smiled. "Though frequently preceded by Duty and Courage."

"Oh, I love statues. Are those the big marble ones down in Hammer Bay, or something else?"

"The same," Aiden said, "There are other smaller ones around the city.:

"Arist or art appreciator?"

"There's a difference?" she smiled. "It's all intertwined, isn't it?"

"An artist then," Aiden smirked.

"A budding artist. Attempted artistry," she clarified, laughing. "We're all learning, though."

"Sounds like a crime when you call it attempted artistry," Aiden said, "But yes always learning."

"If you saw some of the attempts at painting at my old school," she confided, "you'd see that some of them should be charged with crimes against aesthetics."

Aiden laughed softly.

"And painting is your specialty?" Aiden asked.

"It is. Portraits, mostly, though certainly not exclusively. Trying to develop a few new styles with thanks to my gifts."

"You'd be much in demand with the other major families on Genosha then," Aiden said, "You abilities help you with your painting?"

"Yes; I can control paint. It helps me make sure I get some pretty fine lines and blendings that are difficult to do manually."

"That's an interesting ability," Aiden said, "Do you generate your own paint?"

"I can, though I generally use more mundane paints for the bulk of the work. Allows me to focus more on composition."

"I see," Aiden said, "You can always save money not needing to buy paint. Avoid the starving artist cliche."

"Yes, I suppose that's true," she said, a bit quickly. "Always best to be thinking about that sort of thing, I suppose."

"Quite," Aiden said, "Unless you have a wealthy patron or however it is that artists stay in paint and canvas."

"Ah, if only this were the 18th century once again. Now, I think you just get a Patreon."

"Ah, suppose it's whatever works best," Aiden said trying not to let Rose onto that he had no idea what a Patreon was.