Log: Inspire and Vague WHO: Priya Bhatia (INSPIRE) and Bebe Gallais (VAGUE). WHERE/WHEN: The girls dorms, afternoon. WHAT: Priya has a ~haunting~ experience. (Gordon wrote that just fyi)
BEBE: She couldn't get Hogwarts out of her head. She wasn't even a massive Harry Potter fan but it was all she could think about right now. Okay, sure, she hadn't snatched a flying envelope out of the air or arrived here via steam train but all the same, this felt exactly like she'd always imagined it. It was like being plucked from the day-to-day tedium of normal life and dropped into a new world, one with magic bubbling from every shadow. Not that most people would regard the environment Bebe Gallais hailed from to be run of the mill either, but it had nothing on this. On her way up to the front entrance, she'd seen a man flying. Flying! Wings beating, wind in his hair, not a care in the world, not a shred of self-consciousness. It was beautiful. And that, she thought, was the world she lived in now. One of magical, fantastical beauty.
Bebe wasn't a pessimist so it didn't occur to her to wonder how long it would be before life disabused her of such romantic notions. Maybe it never would!
If she was honest, she'd sat through the meeting with the headmaster in a starry-eyed trance and hadn't taken in a word he'd said. It was probably for the best that she'd been shooed away while her father (the biological one, that is, she'd said goodbye to Papa back in Paris because he had shows this week) gathered further information which he would at least attempt to get her to listen to before he caught the flight back home. At least this way she could find her new room, hopefully meet her new roommate, and maybe start being introduced to other girls from their hallway. That all sounded much more exciting than listening to what Mr. Rankin had to say, even if he was heartstoppingly handsome and part of her had wanted to listen to him talk all day long. As thrilled as she was by the whole concept of a school for superpowered kids, what she was most excited about was the people. Boarding school had always appealed to her. She'd be able to make so many friends here. That was the plan.
But first she had to find her room, something which she'd assumed would be easy since all the numbers were displayed on the doors and it wasn't as if they were in a random order or anything. But nope, she'd taken a wrong turn down one of these foreboding hallways and now she wasn't sure how to get back to where she started. Didn't matter though, it just gave her more of an opportunity to nose around. A bright, fascinated smile sat upon her see-through lips as she wandered the halls, welcome packet clutched invisibly against her chest, staring at the sights as if she'd never seen doors or ceilings before. As she turned a corner, Bebe came to a stop, letting out a sigh of contentment. Life had been... not great for a while. The world wasn't ready for invisible girls. But this was a fresh start, a fresh start in wonderland. She couldn't help dancing on cloud nine. With unguarded joy, she closed her eyes and twirled on the spot, the hem of her transparent dress rippling around transparent legs.
PRIYA: The mood was not shared across the board for the other students of Xavierâs. Classes had begun again after a lovely winter break, but most importantly for Priya Bhatia was the situation with Indio Hendrix. Indi was awake now, and while that gave the girl a good deal of relief it didnât change the fact that this could potentially happen again and again unless she dealt with this wish of a previous owner. She felt responsible in some way, not because she viewed Indi as property or a slave as the owner of his amulet, but because she was the one that found him, had let him out, had befriended him and⌠subsequently made it possible that people could take advantage of him. Like this ongoing wish of his previous master. Like the Skrull that masqueraded as Irina Clayton. And while it was true that this wasnât her fault or something she had to deal with, she was going to. That was that. Priya wasnât about to let someone mess with Indi.
Priya stepped out of the doorway from her own dorm with her face glued to her phone, fingers working away typing some message to Ari or perhaps Indi himself without watching where she was going. Not entirely; she was very practiced at this so she didnât tend to have any issues with navigation despite the lack of attention she was paying.
Except she scarcely got three feet out the door when her head snapped up, the hair on the back of her neck rising. The sharp, acute feeling of someone being in her personal space had triggered along with a breeze. Scrutinizing the area, her eyes settled on — was that what she thought it was? âWhat now, oh my god, will things never stop here?â she declared, hands going to her hips while still clutching her phone. Her features morphed into the unmistakable signs of frustrated displeasure. No ghost was going to ruin her day anymore. She had far too much to do, and didnât have the patience for this kind of bullshit anymore.âWell?â
BEBE: Usually, Bebe would have heard that door opening, those footsteps clicking against the floorboards, even the tap of nails against the screen of a phone maybe. She was nothing if not alert when it came to other people, especially if she happened to be alone because in such situations, she would pretty much always be seeking out the company of someone else. Anyone else, frankly. Being on her own was not Bebe's favoured state. She could probably be forgiven for a little out of character obliviousness this time though. It wasn't every day a person found herself in such wondrous surroundings, in such a glamorous place as New York, with mutants behind every wall. After so many months of feeling suppressed, Bebe was free. She was lost in the glory of liberation.
But when a voice spoke up, hard and frustrated, she jumped, startled. That got her attention. Twisting on the spot, her eyes fell upon a girl she didn't know (well, of course, it would've been a bit strange if she'd come all this way and bumped into someone she did know) and a bright smile instantly appeared on her transparent lips. A new person! Roughly her age! Pretty! A potential friend! This was exactly what she'd hoped for, that on her wanderings through this new school's storied halls she'd randomly bump into some other students and strike up some kind of rapport. Starting as she meant to go on.
The stranger's tone was an issue though. This girl didn't strike her as someone looking to welcome the newcomer with wide open arms. Bebe was good at English, virtually fluent, but it still took her brain a second to catch up and translate what was being said. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. In French. Oops. For the moment though, she hadn't yet noticed she was babbling in another language. "I didn't mean to startle you, it's just that I only just got here and I'm kinda dizzy right now, this place is so--" Bebe clamped her mouth shut, suddenly realising what she'd done. A teacher had once told her that the true sign of being fluent in another language was when you thought in that language, so she'd been determined to do just that from the moment she arrived. She;d even practiced on the plane. The last thing she wanted was something as silly as her language to be a barrier! But, drunk on Xavier's as she was, she'd forgotten about that resolution, her thoughts a spillage of French, and so the words falling from her lips had matched those in her head. It probably wouldn't take long for her to get used to speaking English all the time, a day or two at most, but it was already too late. "Oh!" she exclaimed again, hands jumping to her mouth as her error dawned on her. She flapped one of those hands at her face as if to cool herself down before she attempted this again. She needed a moment to collect herself.
PRIYA: Unfortunately for Bebe, Priya wasnât really a fan of the supernatural. Not after the zombies and how the culprit for that had haunted her under the guise of something he very much wasnât. Add that to the fact her mood was on edge with everything happening with Indi, and it was a recipe for disaster. Bebe hadnât done a single thing wrong, but that was besides the point. Nor could Priya see Bebeâs apologetic facial reaction, or read any of her gestures. The transparency left only the edges somewhat visible. Like a ghost. What else could it be? So no, Bebe, she wasnât looking to welcome you with open arms suffice to say. In fact, Priya felt her reaction was fairly pleasant all things considered.
âWell?â she repeated again, foot in a nice shoe tapping on the floor as she waited for this spectral spirit to explain itself. Maybe she ought to have been afraid or frightened, especially knowing what happen around Xavierâs on a frequent basis, but she wasnât in the mood for this. Radiating vibes of âdo not get in my wayâ was her typical these days -- had been since Indi returned to Xavierâs injured -- and this was no exception.
It only made things worse when Bebe attempted explanation in her native French.
Priyaâs frown intensified at the sudden rush of another language. Sheâd caught Raph saying a few words here and there given their mutual friends, but it wasnât enough for her to instantly recognize. Heck, it might have been so weird spectral speak for all she knew. Okay, she knew that it was probably French. It didnât make it less annoying, however. A loud, throaty âugh!â escaped her lips as she rolled her eyes dramatically. Without bothering to wait around she spun on her heel, and marched away. She brought up her phone, fingers typing rapidly as she left to head for anywhere else that wasnât here with a weird French ghost.
BEBE: She really wasn't supernatural! She was just a regular girl who happened to be see-through and appeared exactly the way someone might expect a ghost to look, that was all. One might think it would have occurred to her before this encounter that a misunderstanding along these lines might arise, especially if she chose to explain herself by employing a foreign tongue, but Bebe spent most of her time concerning herself with living a normal life rather then attempting to make adjustments for the abnormality of her physical state. She hadn't really adapted to the realities of what she'd become. Which, she realised now, may have been an error.
"Don't go!" she called out. In blasted French. Again. Literally, what was wrong with her??
A frustrated growl rumbled from her chest and she found herself looking up at the ceiling. Her shoulders sagged in defeat. Shaking her head at herself, she turned and began trudging the way she came. Maybe, just maybe, it might be wise for her to stop haunting the hallways and just find her new rooms instead. She made a note in her mind in block capitals to speak English when she met her roommate. Perhaps she could avoid being exorcised if she did.