Xaviers!

The grounds are coated in a good two inches of snow that came down during the night. It's a little early maybe, but not too out of the ordinary. Although the fact that it doesn't extent out very far past the grounds of the University is a little odd. But to the creature running around outside that matters very little at the moment. It's kind of quadruped, with a thick fur and a head somewhere between cat and monkey, the size of a very large dog. It keeps dashing through the snow, occasionally tucking itself into a ball and tumbling down an incline before jumping up again and bouncing back in a different direction. As it plays around in the snow it makes odd, yet cheerful honking sounds.

((open))

"Oh my!" Rose said, coming across the snow-bound creature.

She sat down to observe the strange thing.

"Hi!" the creature squeak-honks at Rose, rolling to a stop nearby and looking at her with a tilted head.

"Well, aren't YOU just adorable! What are you?"

"I'm a Tobraxian snowbeast. Well... right now anyway!" the creature barks with a young woman's voice.

"I've never heard of such a thing. And what do you mean by right now?"

"I'm a shapeshifter!"

"Oh, that's really great! How many shapes can you shift into?"

"Pretty much whatever I can picture well enough. This one took a while to put together cause the insides are all different. Bones and such."

"That is really, really, cool. Would you mind posing for me for a moment?"

"Sure!" the creature grins and puffs itself up in front of Rose.

Rose somewhat frantically started pulling some tools out of her omni-present bag, swirling some paints to hover in midair next to her as she pulled out and unfolded a telescoping easel.

Because who doesn't carry around an easel at all times? Honestly.

Shari had expected Rose to snap a picture with her phone. Or a camera. Not paints swirling in mid-air and a full-blown easel.

"Wow, you just carry that around with you?"

"I'm an artist. I paint! You never know when inspiration is going to strike," she said, hurriedly setting everything up. She went so fast, in fact, that she slipped and fell on the icy surface.

"Whoa, hey, you okay?" Shari asks, hopping closer to Rose to see if she's hurt.

"Yes! Yes!

ow

Yes! It's all good! Just excited!

ow.

And maybe a bit clumsy," she said, brushing herself off. "Just...give me a minute."

Shari hops a little closer and holds out a furry arm for Rose to steady herself. "That's why you need the right feet for this kinda weather." the creature laughs.

"I'll keep that in mind," she laughed, taking hold of Shari's arm. "And it's so soft!"

"Tobraxian snowbeasts are often hunted for their furs." Shari nods.

"Well, that's sort of sad. Lambs are probably better, then; you can get their wool without hurting them.

Well, maybe this painting can be some kind of...inter...galactic...anti-hunting ad!" she smiled, swirling the paints in midair as she sat down. "Give me a good, sad looking pose."

"Oh they're quite vicious when they're fully grown." she says but still puts on a wide-eyed, pitiful expression. "Bringing one down is quite the accomplishment."

"Still! You have to care for the special ones," she said, as she began to paint.

As she worked, there was a slight tingling in the back of Shari's mind. Hard to put a finger, precisely, on what was going on there. Rose continued to talk as she worked the paint, much faster than you'd expect a normal painter to work. The fact that she could apply paint much more quickly and move it around with her powers helped significantly; no waiting for things to dry or to mix. From time to time she peaked around the corner of her easel to get a better view, as she quickly worked her painting magic.

Shari's not the most patient person, so it's probably good that Rose is fast, because after a couple minutes Shari's already getting fidgety and tries to lean and catch a glimpse of the painting in progress.

It's good! It's...really good, actually. Shari's not much of an Earth art critic, presumably, but it's a very recognizable likeness of herself.

The background is, presumably, not accurate -- either to the actual quad or the planet where the shape comes from. It was very icey and frozen, with a mountain range in the distance towering over the landscape.

"What do you think?"

"Wow, that's pretty good! You're one hell of an artist!" Or so Shari assumes anyway. She has no idea about art, but it looks like her and that's miles beyond what she could do, so it must be good.

"Thank you! I'm hoping to convince everyone around to pose. I'm doing a big project, trying to get people to see mutants as regular people and not just monsters."

"That's cool. Maybe I shoulda posed as something a bit more human then?"

"Oh, no, it's fine. This can just be for fun," she smiled. "Would you like it?"

"I don't really care. I'm me no matter what I look like. It's... important to other people though, I feel. People are touchy about this kinda thing and I can't really blame them."

"Oh, people should be accepting of this sort of thing! After all, our powers are what make us special."

"Weeeell... but what if I'm not a mutant?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know, like... other things out there. Some of which might have made an enemy out of humans and mutants alike." she says and slowly seems to be shedding mass as the fur deflates, finally collapsing into a young girl with green skin and points ears.

"But...if you're not a mutant, why are you here?" she asked, confused.

"That's kind of a long story... I'm trying to help, I guess. My people got a long history of being assholes and I think they suck."

"But...this is a school for mutants."

"Well, yeah. But they let me stay cause I helped them."

"But...hrm. OK, I see..."

"What's wrong?" Shari asks, tilting her head.

"It's just...surprising. To find someone like you here. I'm sure it's all fine, though! No worries!"