<hr/><div class="floatleft">(http://data.whicdn.com/images/4614250/large.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Salem Summers | "Cyclops"<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Near the main entrance<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>Sept 7th, around 3:00pm<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Bobby Coles, and Abigail Kreuger, & OPEN<br/><strong>Content:</strong>Conversing with Abigail while Bobby listens. Salem is nervous, she's getting along with Abi and she's afraid to mess it up.<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>jeans, black flats, leather riding jacket, white blouse, visor<br/><strong> THE MAP:</strong>Map of Xavier's mansion (http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/3/33/X-Men_Annual_Vol_2_1_Inside_The_Xmansion.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100117204841) See Sun Wukong for any clarifications or confusions regarding this image and the game's mansion.<br/><hr/>Salem hadn’t so much expected anybody to stick around with her. It wasn’t that… no one ever stuck around to hang out with Salem. It’s that only one person ever really talked to Salem when it wasn’t for professional reasons or something similar. She blamed herself for this social exclusion. All of Salem’s social behavior was dictated by some kind of forward progress. She was either learning, or meeting with ambassadors, or giving tours, being a TA for Alleyne, taking flight instructions from Logan, and so on. Very rarely did she sit down and just talk, or stand and talk.<br/><br/>She was in her own space against the railing, just sort of thinking about boys and her loneliness. Her eyes sank behind her visor. She lived in a shell that she couldn’t escape from. She never thought that Abigail and Bobby would stick around. Everyone else scattered off to their rooms.<br/><br/>So, she was gone when Abi started speaking, her head flashed in Abi’s direction a bit too quickly. She had been scared actually, but didn’t show it much further than the rapid shift of attention. A smile immediately crossed her lips.<em>‘Ooh.’</em>Her mind blanked and it was difficult to listen. She was astonished at the idea of Abi talking to her at all, let alone apologizing. Salem didn’t turn as Abi spoke, so she didn’t know that Bobby was leaning up against the wall behind them. Salem did turn her shoulders and nodded to Abigail subtly. She had little ways of communicating non-verbally that she’d learned over the last few years to make up for being unable to make eye contact. The nod and the slight smile said what eyes usually say,<em>‘yes, I’m here to listen, go ahead.’</em><br/><br/>Salem giggled a bit when Abi mentioned that Salem didn’t lash out like she could have lashed out.<strong>“I suppose I could’ve been more strict, yeah. I understand. We can all be pretty bitchy sometimes.”</strong>Salem adjusted her sleeve without thinking about it.<strong>“It’s hard adjusting to new places.”</strong><br/><br/>Salem found herself comfortable almost right away with Abi, the new girl was asking about how long Salem had been there, but there were a few thoughts cycling around Cyclops’ brain. Still unaware that Bobby had stayed behind, she gave herself a moment to think before she answered the question.<br/><br/><strong>“I think we come from a similar place. I’m not sure what your past is like, but I know what you mean, ‘reverting to what you know best.’ It took me a long time to stop treating everyone like they hated me here.”</strong>Salem smiled at Abigail.<strong>“I’ve been here for six years, about. Like my entire life, it feels like.”</strong>Her jokes weren’t good. Still, she gave some effort.<strong>“It’s actually pretty controlled around here. It’s no prison, that’s for sure. If you wanted to run away, no one would shoot you down.”</strong>She smiled, thinking that she had been a bit clever. All of Salem’s jokes were based off of reality, and rarely was any of them actually a joke.<strong>“I haven’t accidentally fired off a beam in a few years. Control of our powers comes first here.”</strong>She didn’t want to sugarcoat the truth though.<strong>“Of course, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops. There’s a lot of pain here. Our kind”</strong>-<em>‘that felt weird to say’</em>-<strong>“has been sort of persecuted lately. The tension is in the air a lot, and the students here have some pretty traumatic pasts.”</strong><br/><br/><strong>“Nothing serious ever happens though. Someone’s always awake though, there are a few students that actually don’t sleep. Never a dull moment, that’s for sure.”</strong><br/><br/>Salem wasn’t making a decision to ignore Bobby. She was enjoying the conversation with Abigail as she waited for everyone to get back. It was a great chance to bond with another person, which Salem didn’t get often, a small break in the professional tour to be social. So she seized it.<strong>“Tell me about where you came from. If you don’t mind talking about it.” </strong>Salem put both of her hands on the rail again and revelled in the sight of the staircase below her, the distant sound of students talking and laughing in the dorms and in the halls on the 1st floor. She really did feel at home here.<strong>“I’d like to know.”</strong>She was an honest girl, a pretty girl, and smart with a pension for the dramatic. it was a shame that she was so lonely.<br/><br/>She looked calm, unwavering, and slightly detached. The truth was different behind the visor. This little talk was going so well, she was actually getting worked up about it. She’d never made a good first impression before, not really, nothing like this. The pain was far from evident on her face, or her voice. She seemed collected and reserved. But, the tears welling in her eyes were real. She just didn’t know where they were coming from. She wasn’t about to weep or spill the tears, but her body was responding to the anxiety of maybe making a new friend.