Xaviers!

Tereza steps closer, moving to rest her hand on Will's shoulder. "I'm fine with what I see, Will. Even when I don't understand, I'm still confident it's you. And you're what I care about."

Will jerked back as Tereza touched his shoulder, stumbling to the ground as he did so.

For a moment, Tereza's hand and arm would tingle, the same sensation she would get when she was wolfing out. It went away when Will cut free, but her fingernails were a good inch and a half longer than they had been before she reached out to touch him to begin with.

"I appreciate the gesture," Will said, catching his breath from the floor. "And I really do care about you, as well. When this is all well and done, I'll gladly take your hand on my shoulder; a lack of physical contact is killing me at the moment.

But I'm pretty sure if I came back to the dorm room with you shifted into something you're not, Sam would in fact murder me. Murder me to death."

"Fair enough, but then I'd have to murder her in return, so probably best to avoid that," she says, regarding her nails. "I'll have to break out the clippers when I get back to the room."

"It's not really Halloween dorm without a dozen murders, though, right?" Will said, making a clear effort to joke again.

"Either that or college students having sex in inappropriate places," Tereza says, returning Will's effort to joke.

"Sometimes at the same time, if the latest batch of films are to be believed."

"Of course, Vivienne will now be upset with me for mentioning what we get up to on our Thursday nights," she says with a shrug and an 'is she serious or not' grin.

"So, you're suggesting I shouldn't hide in your room on Thursday nights for a glimpse of pagan debauchery."

"You could, but you'd be disappointed. Because my room is an appropriate place. We were talking about inappropriate places."

"I'll have to sneak along one Thursday night just so you won't be quite so mysterious," Will teased.

"A woman's got to have the occasional mystery for people to unravel."

"Sounds like the tagline for the dorm room. Some sort of House of Mystery."

"It's a balancing act. Have to avoid having so much mystery that we become some sort of dimensional anomaly."

"What, you mean, like a shimmering surface that appears to be a mirror from the frontside, but has untold and impossible depths if you step inside?

Yeah, that'd be a real problem. We should try to avoid that."

"Well, I was thinking more avoiding become one of those interdimensional haunted houses. I'm assuming those must exist somewhere."

"That's the thing about interdimensional shenanigans. Everything exists somewhere."

"Well, Sam's already run into another version of me and we've bumped into another version of her, neither of those were pleasant."

"Yeah, other versions of yourself can be a real pain," Will deadpanned again.

"Seriously, though, it's creepy to see someone who's you but...isn't. Is wrong in someways. I've met a couple, and...urgh," he added, shuddering.

"Hopefully I don't run into more me's, but who knows what Russia's going to do, considering my sister and I were attempts to recreate our mother."

"Well, if there's an army of Yous out there, you've been assembling your own little squad to back you up."

"I don't know that I can take credit for that."

"I mean you can. Whether or not credit is deserved is something you'll have to take up with your Phantom Queen," Will teased.

"I think I'll just let her have it, credit, blame, or otherwise," she says with a half-chuckle.

"Ah, the 'human shield' approach to divinity. A wise choice," Will said, mock seriously.

"Is it a shield if you're not going to hide behind it?"

"Oh, for sure, yes," Will said. "I mean, you don't need a shield if you're not out in the fight, right?"

"I suppose not. And I suppose her problems on that particular playing field are hers."

"These one of those occasional mysteries I need to unravel?"

She ponders for a bit, "No, no. Just something that occurred to me. Not even sure what to make of it yet myself."

"Need a sounding board, or is this something that's got to percolate in your brain for a while?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I think it needs to percolate. I'm entirely too skilled at sticking my foot in my mouth where she's concerned."

"Well, you know where to find me when you need an ear. Or any other body parts that may come in handy."

"I do indeed. Thanks, Will."