Xaviers!

Colette however did not know whom this green woman was, given that she'd only seen her once before and she'd been sporting a completely different look then. She was understandably taken aback when this woman, who seemed to know Basil somehow, said such a thing to her. She stepped back and drew her arms up to her chest with a pained expression.

"P-pardon? Have I somezing to offend?"

"What?" Shari looks at her, confused. "Offend who to the how?"

She was making fun of me love, not you." He blurted out to try to help Shari save face. His expression looked nervous to the point of nauseous.

Colette wore a hurt and puzzled look on her face. "No, zis is not true Basil. Why would you lie to me?" The girl was looking more upset but managed to settle herself, at least externally.

"Madam, whatever I have done in ze past to warrant zis insult... I apologize. Good day." And with that she turned on her heel toward the dorms.

"I... bwuh... wha? What insult?" she manages when Colette is already several steps away. "Hey! What insult!?" she shouts after her as she hops off of the railing to jog after her.

Basil figured he should probably come too though he sighed as he did so, placing ciggy two in his mouth. He was going to let Shari sort this one out for the moment. Mostly because them talking over one another wasn't going to solve anything and him groveling was only going to make it look more like he was lying.

It took a little jog for Shari to catch up to Colette, whose body language might suggest she was trying to avoid a confrontation, and yet she still stopped and turned around as the other woman approached.

"What insult? Madam, do you know any woman who would take being described as 'slimy' as a compliment? Whezer or not it is accurate? Were I obese, should I not take offense at being called a... lard-bottom? It is bad enough zat one has to hear such language from ze mouz's of prejudiced bigots who look down upon us as living filz and presume us all terrorists? I would have zought zat as all of us had experienced zis foul treatment zat we would not wish to inflict zese slurs upon each ozer."

It wasn't really Shari's fault. She'd just inadvertently touched a very sensitive nerve with the pink girl on a day when she was on edge.

Shari looks increasingly confused as Colette is talking. Not that she's not aware of discrimination against mutants, quite the opposite, but what precisely constitutes a slur she's not entirely following.

"How is it not a compliment? You know how boring most humans look? Even here. Look at this bloker, half the time he's so boring he's transparent." she jokes, despite the fact that this is obviously the wrong time for being funny. "You look great. You don't even have any bones! That's amazing!"

Basil decided not to argue the boring thing, because this conversation wasn't about him. Not anymore anyways.

He remained silent for the moment to let the ladies work it out, though he'd have words for Colette later.

Colette's look of hurt turned to confusion. "A-amazing? It... really is not. I must sleep in a plastic bin or else I will soak ze mattress. I would like very much to be a boring human."

"Okay, people are butts, but be totally honest, does it feel good to sleep in something that provides the perfect support cause you just kinda conform right to it?"

"I... had not really zought about zis. Zough you must admit zat zis would make cuddling anozer somewhat difficult, no?

"I... I must apologize madam. For my outburst. It is clear to me now zat you meant no offense, and my treatment of you was most unkind."

"S'cool. And I don't really wanna get into what jiggles your jibblies, but what you need is somebody who's... adventurous."

"Oh, I zink I have someone who is fairly adventurous already." Colette's cheeks flushed a darker shade of pink, and the orb floating inside of her head quivered a bit.

"Niiiice." Shari laughs. "See? It's all fine. Who's the lucky guy, gal or sentient energy cloud?"

Colette subtly nodded her head in Basil's direction.

The invisible boy had since went invisible, but the arch his cigarette made along with the sweep of his sleeve suggested a slow, casual wave.

"Aah, I see." she smirks. "Good for you two!"

"Zank you." Colette said bashfully.

"Oh, zis is awkward, isn't it? In all of ze... drama, I never bozered wiz introductions. My name is Colette." The girl offered her slender hand, the colour shifting from a translucent pink to a lighter shade as it became opaque.

"I still don't know your name myself." Basil pointed out politely to the new student.

"Oops. My bad. I'm Shari." she says, taking Colette's hand and letting her skin change color to match, starting with her hand and rippling up her arm.

Colette shook Shari's hand then gasped. "Oh no, I'm infectious!"

Shari chuckles. "Nah, I can change my skin but I can't lose my bones. Not like you anyway. It's kind of impressive you don't collapse into a puddle."

"Zat is so fascinating!" Oh how quickly moods can shift. Perhaps meeting someone who seemed to be generally positive about their abilities was a welcome change for Colette.

"Oh, well I have been practicing. Surface tension, I believe it is called. And ze clozing helps." Indeed, her stockings went all the way under her skirt and her sweater was definitely form-fitting. Other than her neck and head only her hands were exposed.

Basil put out his cigarette.

"I'll let you ladies chat." He stated casually as if nothing was wrong. He turned to leave, and waved over his shoulder at them.

"Dunno how it works for you, but for me it's all in the... flow?" she says as if she's not sure that's the right word. "Works better when you're cool with what's happening. Like... if I wanna grow a tail I gotta be alright with being someone who's got a tail. Or antennae or whatever."

"I have never attempted a tail... well, ozer zan zis sort." Colette gestured to her "hair" before waving back to Basil with a smile. "I had enough difficulty making myself look like a person, I never zought to try anyzing else."

"Ah but you can't change your general..." she seems to search for a different word since Colette apparently doesn't like the word 'slime'. "Jigglyness, yeah? And when you aim for 'person' do you look at these boring schlups for reference?" she gestures at, well since Basil left there's nobody else in the immediate vicinity so she just gestures at widely at her surroundings.

"Well, I can... what is ze word, condense? Yes, Zat I can do. Zat makes me more dry and firm, such as when I shook your hand." Indeed, there hadn't been a drop of moisture left behind during the brief embrace.

"To tell ze truz, I have never attempted to mimic anozer. Zis -" Colette gestured around her face with the palm of her hand. "Is who I feel I am. Zough my hair and dimensions I am more... curious wiz? How would one say zis?" She thought about it for a moment before tilting her head and gazing over Shari.

"Can you imitate zose boring slurps? Or is your zing more... abstract?"

"You bet. Easier when I get a better look at them, but my people have... put a lot of thought into just that. Not sure if I can be British enough to really pull it off though." she says as her features slowly turn into those of Basil. At the same time her posture becomes a bit more straight, her expression detached boredom. It's not a perfect imitation, but considering Basil spends most of his time invisible it's pretty good. "Pip pip cheerios, guvnah." It would probably work better if she stopped talking though. The sound is right but the over the top British accent is not.

"Your people? You are... American?" Colette asked curiously as she watched Shari take on a much more familiar form with a bit of wonderment.

"Oh my, you are so talented!" She beamed, covering her mouth at the stereotypical dialogue. "But you do him a disservice Shari. Basil may be very British sometimes, but never ZAT British. So not quite as good as ze real zing." Just a little teasing.

"Just... cause I'm not really trying." she says, a bit flustered, though she gets over it fast. "And yes, the Americans have put a lot of thought into imitating people. They're all shapeshifters, the lot of them." she chuckles vaguely.

"Oh, you are not trying? Zen you did not mimic everyzing? Zis is good. Zen you do not know a certain somezing about my boyfriend zat I have not yet discovered."

"I could take an educated guess but then I'd have to think about his crotch and i'ma give that one a pass." she says, making a face as her facial features slowly reassemble herself into her baseine green self.

Colette giggled softly, she usually wasn't this bad. "Zat is alright, one Basil is enough anyway. And I like you better zis way, green is a very pretty colour on you."

"Really brings out my eyes." she says as said eyes vacate their sockets and move on to sit at the end of stalks coming out of her forehead like antennae.

Colette watched the transformation in wonder. She had spent her whole life trying to make herself look more human, the idea of making herself look inhuman on purpose had never occurred to her. She attempted to mimic the look but only succeeded in making two hair "tendrils" stand up atop her head while the area of her face that was her eyes became smooth and featureless. It really made her look all the more like a slug or snail. It wasn't too long before she reverted back to her original form, closed eyelids forming before blinking open as though she'd been asleep.

"I do not zink I have ever met someone who can alter zemselves who is also as... confident in zemselves as you are Shari. You must be an inspiration for ze ozer students for certain."

"I am pretty amazing..." she smirks slightly. "I dunno about inspiration though. I mean... I just grew up like this. Everyone around me could do it. Easy to be confident when everyone thinks this is normal. Hell, to me it's weird that people don't constantly change it up. That everyone here associates so much of who they and everyone else are by how they look. Ah crap, that's why you thought I was insulting you..." she only now seems to really realize.

Colette reached out and gently patted Shari on the shoulder. "It is alright, I know now what it is zat you meant by your words. I am sorry zat my reaction led to you coming to zis realization."

"Well, I still blame humans." she chuckles.