SORRY, I SPILLED, open

[CESSILY KINCAID]

The young, metal skinned mutant had just finished a rather satisfying work out session in the basement of the mansion. Just because she was made of metal and could probably mold herself into whatever shape she wished, didn’t mean that Cessily Kincaid would slack off. She had been used to daily exercise for years and it was one of those normal type of activities she enjoyed. Well, as normal as a workout session in a mutant mansion could be, after all, they all that superhuman abilities of one sort or another. That was one thing she always liked to rely upon: that they were all freaks together. Cessily wasn’t sure she could have made it through the last few years without that fact. She was barely making it now if she really wanted to stop and think about it, which she didn’t. Cessily got along just fine without thinking about the fact that her life had been completely turned upside down by this genetic defect of hers.

Refocusing her attention on better thoughts with a shake of her head, making her red-gold ponytail swing behind her, she bounced and hummed patiently as the elevator took her up to the main floors. She was dressed in her usual work out clothing: a pair of gym shorts with her old school colors on them: purple and gold (and whoever picked out those colors certainly didn’t have good fashion in mind) and a purple tank top that showed off an inch or two of silver skin. When the doors slid open, Cessily slipped through the group of four students waiting for it, tucking a little into herself as she did so, and ducking her head. Around her friends, Cessily could be the most boisterous and open girl, but around people she wasn’t all that familiar with? She just sort of retreated into herself. The young mutant wasn’t all that comfortable in her skin still and who knew what was going through those other people’s minds? Not that she worried about that, oh, no. Never.

Wandering through the halls, Cessily let her feet take her toward the kitchen where she knew she’d find a bottle of water. Being that she was made of metal now, the red head didn’t really need water to survive, but Cessily wasn’t one hundred percent sure on that theory and had no plans to test it out. Besides, she loved eating and drinking like the other, more normal kids at school. If she stopped eating and drinking? That would just be weird. Even the thought of it made her shake her head at the insanity of it all. She’d keep eating and drinking just in case her body did need all that fuel.

She strolled into the kitchen, which was surprisingly empty. So empty, that Cessily just stood there for a moment in a state of shock. No kids running in and out, or digging into the shelves and frig. There wasn’t even that many dishes in the skin to be cleaned. Man, did she wish she had dishes today. Knowing her luck, she’d be scrubbing when everyone decided to use dishes. It would be the day that the pile would reach the bottom of the top cabinets and it would be all caked on pasta like stuff that she’d have to sit there and scrub off and even contemplate tossing into the trash; but she wouldn’t and then she’d just be standing there, scrubbing while she listened to the others in the tv room laughing. Life was cruel that way, look at the hand it had already dealt her. she was already given the short end of the stick in a lot of ways.

Coming out of her state of shock of the emptiness of the kitchen, Cessily actually went in and remedied that. Absently, she opened up the cupboard that had a few snack items in it, like Cheez-Its, stared at it a long time trying to decide if she wanted to eat anything and just ended up closing it empty handed. She’d just worked out, no need to regain all those calories so quickly. So, she finally reached the frig and swung it open, sticking her head inside. The red head pushed aside a few carbonated items, a carton of milk, a few sports drinks and found the bottled water in the back. Ah, that was what she was looking for; good ol’ H2O. Humming a little tune, she snatched up the bottom and extracted herself from the cold refrigerator. She unscrewed the top and was putting the bottle to her lips when she turned around and nearly collided with another person. Cessily kinda choked on her water and spilled a little from the bottle. Her pupil-less eyes widened. ”Oh, um. Sorry? You scared me there.” The metal girl stuttered an apology.

[JEAN GREY]

Jean sighed as she dropped her book bag on the floor of her room right at the feet of her bed. Making her way around the bed, she then fell face first into the mattress and let out a soft sigh of contentment. She had spent all day at NYU since it was the normal day of classes for herself and Kitty. The two spent their mornings in classes and their afternoon in the library studying. The two had just pulled into the garage a few minutes earlier then trudged their way up to their rooms. Jean was more then happy to be home but that didn't mean she was going to really get a chance to relax. It was only eight thirty so she wanted to get in at least a half hour of cardio or something before she called it a night. Of course she had to change out of her school clothes but first that required forcing herself to get up out of bed.

It took her about five minutes, but Jean finally pushed herself up out of bed and began to undress. It didn't take her long to completely get rid of her jeans, boots and blouse, then a few minutes later she was wearing a pair of black stretch yoga pants and a pale green tank top. On her feet were a pair of white running shoes and as she walked out of her room she grabbed a white scrunchie. As Jean made her way down the hall, she slipped her hand into the scrunchie then began to pull her hair back into a ponytail. Before she made her way down to the gym, Jean wanted to grab a bottled water from the fridge. After a quick run on the treadmill Jean would head back to her room, shower, then climb into bed. She didn't have classes the following day but that didn't mean she would be able to relax. Her classes were on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday were dedicated to helping the younger mutants train.

As Jean stepped into the kitchen, she smiled at the sight of the open door. The metallic colored skin gave away who was was holding the door open and sure enough when the door closed, Cessily came into view. Jean was about to greet her when a split second later the younger mutant was crashing into her. Instinctively Jean reached out to help steady Cessily and as the younger mutant choked on her water Jean felt a bit guilty. Maybe she should have greeted Cessily when she first walked into the room. At least then the other girl would have known Jean was in the room and wouldn't have choked on her water like that.

"No reason to apologize. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." Jean said with a smile before she made her way around Cessily and reached for the handle of the fridge. Giving it a firm yank, Jean pulled open the door then reached in for a water bottle. With a bottle in hand she closed the door then turned to look at Cessily. "You okay? I mean it sounded like you were choking on some water there."