Hazel
The training area kind of scares Nicholas. Some part of her still clings to normality - the idea that she could suppress instead of control - but she knows better at this point. And so now she's here. Her eyes search her surroundings, but she's halfway into her thoughts and not really registering anything. 

Silently, for the tenth time today, she wonders how she ended up here. This was a facility for delinquents, yeah? She wasn't a delinquent. She had gotten into a single fight. Maybe her third or fourth one ever. She didn't even technically leave any damage. And now she was in some weird alternative school in Sweden. Cool.

She says nothing as she wanders. Just looks at the training area, observing, lost in thought.
Mary
- *Ding!* 

Fennel has explored most of Newton's Cradle by this point. It seems like quite a sprawling building, but once you're inside, it's really not as big as the intimidating outside implies. Still, there was one place Fennel had avoided - the basement. They'd been told the basics of it, that there was some kind of gym down there and you'd have to use the elevator, but that was it.

They hadn't seen the need until now, but they were bored, so they decided to check it out.

The elevator comes to a stop on the basement floor, and the heavy metal doors slide open. Fennel steps out and looks around.

The place is huge. Incredibly so. Not many indoor spaces can claim this kind of size, particularly not underground. It's a little hard to believe, in fact, but Fennel is quick to wrap their mind around that kind of thing.

It's mostly empty - apparently people aren't too stoked about running around doing hard work just after dinner - but there's one person there, wandering aimlessly.

Fennel decides to yell to them. "Hey! You looking for some'n?"
Hazel
Nick is startled out of her thoughts - she jumps, turns, tries not to yelp, fails, and then takes a breath, trying to compose herself. "Oh - uh - hi. Uh - no, I'm not." Another deep breath. "Just looking around." Her voice sounds much more composed the second time around. "Exploring, y'know." 

She takes quick inventory of the other person - a bit shorter than her, curly hair, green eyes. Standing an awkward distance away. Nicholas walks towards them a bit, so the gap isn't so large. 

Should she say hi? She should say hi. "Hi. I'm Nick," She says, trying to recover how awkward and embarrassing the beginning of that conversation was.
Mary
Fennel, unfazed by Nick's discomfort, approaches them in return. They wind up standing close enough for Fennel to offer Nick a hand to shake. "Fennel," They respond. "Nice to meet you, Nick."

"And, well, same, really. Just looking around. Figured it'd kill some time, y'know. But I don't think I'd ever really need to use this place - do you?"
Hazel
She takes their hand, shakes it lightly - Nick's hands are soft, small for her size. "I don't think so, no. Not much to *Train* That requires gymnasium equipment." She puts air quotes around *Train*. 

Now that she's recovered from her startle, her voice is much more even, but she still talks at a pace faster than most non-startled people. She settles a false eye contact on Fennel's nose. There. That's better. Normal conversation.
Mary
"*Train,*" Fennel repeats, mimicking the air quotes. "What do you think people *Train* In here? Flying, maybe?" Fennel could tell Nick was more than a little uncomfortable, but couldn't really think far enough to realize that *Conversation* Was the reason for that.

"I figure that might be why this place is so big." They looked up. "What is that, four stories?"
Hazel
"Flying, running. Augmenter class shit," She guesses, following Fennel's gaze upward. "There's gotta be more stuff up there." She counts the floors quietly for a second. "Three stories, I think."

"So, if you don't fly, what *Do* You do?" Nick asks. She's tired of small talk. And she hasn't really talked to anyone about having powers yet, so...
Mary
"Yeah, or you could see how far you can throw a fireball, I guess." Fennel's power works on people. They have difficulty making it make sense to use a training room. Still, it seems like a good facility, for those who would need it. "But I'm not sure there's more stuff up there, Nick, it's empty space. Not easy to store something."

"Me?" Fennel pauses at the question. It's kind of personal to them, but they figure since they're in a place where having powers is the norm, they may just have to get used to saying. 

"I fuck with people's heads."
Hazel
Finally, someone she could understand. "Same," She says. "Illusions and shit. Or like... Hallucinations, I guess. Depending on who you ask. Kinda the same thing."

She's silent for a second, and then: "I think hallucinations have a degree of unreality to them I can't replicate."
Mary
"Mmm..." Fennel thinks for a moment. "No, hallucinations and illusions are different. Everyone can see an illusion. It's a magic trick, or a funky pattern, or something like that. It's a real thing that tricks the eye into seeing something that's wrong. But a hallucination is made up whole-cloth. Only the person who's hallucinating will see the hallucination."

They pause. "So I make people hallucinate, and... You make illusions appear?"
Hazel
"I guess." She shrugs, smiles. "We're kinda similar, then. Like... Our powers are in the same power family, I guess." She kicks a boot a against the gym floor lightly. She doesn't seem distracted, just occupying herself. She couldn't get distracted if she tried - this was the first interesting conversation she had had in weeks. 

"And... Yeah. Seeing things, feeling things... Y'know."
Mary
The phrase *Power family* Strikes a chord with Fennel, and before they can realize it's happening, they're spilling things they thought they'd never say.

"Power family... I used to have something like that." They cast a glance at the elevator, hoping to be alone. "They found me when I was lost and alone, and they let me come with them, even though I didn't have any powers back then. They were weird, but... Nice. They were nice. I feel like they 'got me' in a way no one's ever really done before or since."

Fennel sighs. "I miss them."
Hazel
Nicholas looks back at Fennel from her absent floor-kicking, her eyes catching their's for just a second. She nods. "I think we're all a bit weird. Comes with the powers, yeah?" She fidgets with her hands as she speaks - it's clear that this girl is basically completely unable to stand still. 

"And being misunderstood comes with being weird, so... It's kinda a chain reaction, I s'pose."
Mary
Fennel let out a brief chuckle. "Yeah. I talked about one of them, Ronne, on that intranet chat thing once, and they freaked out. I guess even when everyone's a misfit, there are still misfits." They absent-mindedly fiddle with their earrings while they talk, watching Nicholas restlessly fidget.

"I had people back then. But then they just... Vanished, one day. Don't know why."

...

"Have you ever had anyone like that?"
Hazel
She thinks for a second, running a thumb over picked-at cuticles. "...Sort of?" She says, finally. "I mean, I didn't even know I was parahuman until a month ago." 

"Never really been one for friends." That wasn't necessarily true, but that was easier than explaining the whole concept to someone she had just met. She didn't really know why she was talking to Fennel this much. Probably had something to do with the trauma of the past few weeks and Fennel's similarities to herself. The first person who maybe kind of understood what was going on.
Mary
Fennel picked at Nicholas' state of mind for a brief moment, getting just enough information to know what they'd need to know and changing nothing otherwise. They placed a hand on their hip. "Honey, you're in a foreign country, you don't know anyone, and you have to live here. You're gonna need to make some friends. The loneliness is gonna crush ya sooner rather than later if you just keep saying you aren't one for friends, ya know."

Fennel knows well enough what it's like to not have anyone.
Hazel
Nick is vaguely aware of a weird feeling in her chest, and blinks rapidly to push it aside. More important things right now. "I'm finding friends," She says, defensively. Realizing her tone, she stops and takes a deep breath before she continues. "Sorry. What I mean is that I'm... A bit busy figuring out what the hell this new situation is. Y'know? Then it can be friend time." She begins to pick at a cuticle, stops.

"Priorities and all that."
Mary
"Right," Fennel mumbles, "I didn't ask you how long you've even been here, did I? My mistake. Just make sure you make some friends before you start feeling like you should've already found some, that's a self-affirming loop you don't wanna end up in."

They take a step back and look around. The training area itself is cavernous, but they do manage to find a little storage area where they assume a bunch of training equipment and such would be kept. They point at it. "I'm gonna go check out what they have in that storage closet over there. Thanks for the chat!"
Hazel
Nicholas nods, thinking about what Fennel just said. "Yeah. I'll see you around," She says. "Place is a lot smaller than I thought at first anyways." She smiles, and begins to head towards the far end of the room, exploring the things even though she can already see them.