Suds in the Bucket

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau stared at the mess in the laundry room, not quite believing it. He'd heard the noise as he'd come down from the dorm, people mumbling and talking about something. Most of them had dispersed, talking amongst themselves. There was someone who was poking around in the leftovers, and Beau was soon shooing them away, waving his hand and remembering when he had to shoo coons away from the trash back home. Which left Beau standing in a mess of what looked like a girl's laundry. A girl with "fancy" tastes too, since there were about four pairs of gloves in varying fashions and colors. Most of the clothing looked "cute" or "fashionable," not that Beau was a great judge of such things. He did have a younger sister, and he'd had his experiences with girl's clothes, usually admiring the bodies that wore them, but he wasn't an expert.

Still, he couldn't just let this stuff sit here. He'd heard the rumors, that the girl had gone nuts and attacked another girl or something. Some said it was her girlfriend, others claimed the girl was some kinda rabid succubus. Beau didn't care. Wasn't his business what it was about. What he saw now was that someone needed some help, that something bad had happened, probably due to some mutant power craziness. So he bent down and began picking up the laundry, sorting it as best he could.

Beau did stop as he realized that he was technically touching some delicates that belonged to a girl he'd never met. It wasn't like he was going to steal them or nothing, but he wasn't sure how that would look. He could also see a few things of detergent and stuff... so she probably needed them washed.

"Oh hell, how the heck am I supposed to know how to wash a bra?" said Beau, holding said garment and looking around as if the answer lay in the machines or something.

[Jessica Xilx]

Someone had reported to staff of some kind of mess down in the dorm. Xilx decided to check it out and so left the staff lounge to do so. While she was sure the mess itself would be cleaned up their were other details she needed to find out. Students fighting, she shook her one in distaste, their was no need for it. Letting her hair down from it's tight bun she looked up at the sunlight, happy it was getting warmer, slowly but it was.

SHe walked into the dorm and the students gathered gave her all the knowledge she needed on where the epicenter of it all was. SHe talked with a few students and got come rather conflicting accounts that sounded more gossip then anything. With a sigh she walked closer to the mess, their was clothing everywhere, some of it was torn.

"I would try soap and water if it's your's" she said with a smile and a gentile laugh. "Any idea what happened Mr...Larouc was it? I have asked a few people but the answers were conflicting" she explained taking a more serious tone now. SHe knew him from class though had never interacted with him outside of it. "You don't actually need to do their laundry you know, picking it up and gathering it for her would be good of you as it is, but if you want to help, i can show you how to wash delicates like that" she said with a smile.

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau actually noticed Ms. Xilx's arrival before she spoke. She got within range, and Beau could feel the new appendage springing up on his wrist. He paused to look down at it, though his confusion at its sudden appearance fortunately only lasted a few seconds. He recognized the voice and turned to see the pretty blonde teacher. A year or so ago, Beau would've had a fierce crush on the woman. Now he just had to struggle a bit to remember his manners: she was, after all, a teacher.

"No ma'am, tain't mine," he said, setting the garment down. "I don't rightly know I can say what happened, seein' as I tweren't here for it," he looked around, taking a deep breath before focusing back on the teacher, "but people keep sayin' that a girl stunned another girl in here or somethin'. Musta been doin' her laundry," he looked around for a bit, letting out a breath before rubbing the back of his head. "an' I have helped my mother with laundry, Ms. Xi--zss, oh hell," he scuffed his foot, "Ms. Xi. I jus', uh, well, I reckon the girl was shook up b the whole thing, so I figured I might as well go ahead an' least do this for her."

He paused, looked around, and let out another deep breath. "But I do admit I ain't got no clue what to do with all the delicates. My mother wouldn't 'xactly let me get near hers, an' about the time my little sister got to that point, she wasn't wantin' me 'round," he chuckled at that, reaching over to tap the nearby table. His fingers beat out a little tune, his nerves working through music and rhythm, as they so often did.

[Jessica Xilx]

She had been hoping he had been there to see something. From the conflicting stories and now this, it seemed she would not be getting closer to who did what to who anytime soon. Still she could do something and help the poor kid out, determined as he was to help, despite it not being his issue. She admired that in the kid, even when she had offered him a way out of doing it. "well if you hear anything tell one of the staff, that kind of behavior could be dangerous" she said believing Laroux.

From her wrists came the two blood red tendrils, each of which picked up a bra from the ground and guided them to her hand. They could not grab like a hand but she could get them under an object or in case of most clothing within. It was funny how quick she had gotten use to the seven foot tendrills moving in her arm. "Well since your determined to help i'll help you out with that. she said but stopped with a smile.

"Mrs. Xi is fine, and she likely was shaken up. It's good of you to help though, is all of this her's?" she said looking around. She had no idea how much laundry the girl had been doing or if she spilled someone less in the process. "Sort the delicate's from anything else." she instructed gathering some pieces herself.

"It's not to hard, just a few different setting's" she said. It was not to hard and since Beau seemed ready to learns he was willing to teach.

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau nodded, knowing that he'd definitely let the staff know if he heard anything besides rumors. He certainly wasn't going to spread any more of those than he had too. Plus, Beau figured that this poor girl had probably suffered enough without his contributing to the whole mess.

He did jump as two tendrils snaked out and took the bra. He had to stare for a bit. That was new, the whole tendril thing; it also explained why his wrists felt a little weird. No way was Beau going to try something like that though. He had enough trouble controlling a little more standard powers. He didn't want to end up whipping someone with long tendril things. At least Beau managed to take the whole long tendril thing in stride.

"I'm thinkin' it's all hers," said Beau, looking around. "Ain't a whole lot of it for a girl. Not that I'm an expert on girls' clothin' or anythin'," well, at least not on this level. Beau did hang out with girls often enough to notice that they usually had more than the three or four outfits he saw scattered here. There was definitely more "delicates" than anything else. As soon as Ms. Xi told him to pick them up, Beau went to work, bending down and scooping them up. He couldn't help but take note of the size though, figuring that the girl must've been on the slimmer side.

"Right, ma'am, I'm sure it's easy enough. I thought I saw some kinda bag or somethin'," he looked around, then grabbed a little silken bag, holding it up, "I think you're supposed ta put somethin' in that? I ain't really sure..." he was holding a little silk bag in one hand and a pair of underwear in another, looking so completely out of his element that it was downright hilarious.

[Jessica Xilx]

SHe smiled as he jumped from seeing her tendril emerge. "The tendrils real function is Mutant detection" she said which was mostly true they could see humans to but Mutants stood out more to her. Maybe it just because she was used to being around Mutants like herself. Bringing her free tentacle in front of her, she made the last foot of it retract revealing a blueish mass of nerves, she closed it a moment later before sending out a pulse.

The mess was not that bad and with the chance of finding answers dwindling quickly helping was the right thing to do. "You put bra's in it, it keep's them from getting messed up, though you normally see netted bags" she said whoever the girl was liked the finer things he guessed.

She smiled at Beau and walked over to the washer, slowly showed Beau the settings to hit. "The bag prevents the bra clasps from catching on things and breaking." she explained further trying to take as much pity on the kid as she could. He really did seem nice enough and if more kid's were like him, including herself at that age, school would be a way better place for many kids.

She smiled to herself imagining someone like the gym teacher running in on this. Still some of his classmates should have helped him, their had been more then enough girls around.

[Beau LaRoux]

Mutant detecting tendrils? Well, Beau supposed that he'd heard of stranger things. It did seem like most people got powers that were just plain weird. He almost wished there were more people with, say, super strength or the ability to fly or something. He definitely would've preferred to fly instead of having stuff stick out of his wrist; not that Beau normally got to get that high. He just nodded for now, taking what the teacher had to say in stride.

Said nodding continued as Ms. Xi explained the functions of the various mysterious items. Beau listened, even following suit with putting some of the bras into said bag. The girl definitely had good taste in clothing, though Beau wasn't about to admit to knowing that much about underthings, and he certainly wasn't going to reveal how he would've gotten such information. Though he hadn't exactly gotten much further than this (not that there was much further to go).

"Seems like whoever makes clothes likes to make them harder for you ladies, ma'am," said Beau, chuckling as he tried to separate clothing. The detergent had fallen over, but the cap had mostly stayed on. It was name brand and smelled quite pretty, not that Beau was lingering overmuch at smelling anything. "Kinda makes me glad that I'm a guy. Ain't gotta worry so much 'bout stuff like clasps an' all," he gestured at his own clothing, chuckling as he sorted through more laundry. At least the girl didn't seem to have any risque clothing, thank God. Beau didn't know what he'd do if he ran across a lacy thong or something.

[Jessica Xilx]

"it would seem that way but that in part is society and it's influence as well as nature. Society has deemed us the pretty one's so to speak and that takes a bit of work and complications." she said not really sure how to explain it to the kid. It was a conversation she had not imagined happening and certainly one her teaching collage had never prepared her for.

"Yea guy's clothing is easier" she agreed or at least it certainly seemed so from her perspective. She had watched guy freinds buy things and never try them on on, sure they would fit simply because it said their size. Woman's clothing in her experience was rarely that simple as fashion tended to make even simple things complex and trendy statements.

SHe helped Beau sort some more of the laundry not seeing much more of it. "Did you know in most species the male is the pretty one? The pretty green necked ducks are males and the plain brown ones are females" she explained not terribly sure if the kid cared much but feeling she should say something while they did this.

[Beau LaRoux]

"Always struck me that girls were the pretty ones overall, ma'am," said Beau, smiling. That explanation did make the whole pretty clothing thing make more sense. Though Beau didn't necessarily think that you had to dress like this in order to look that good; he'd seen girls in jeans and the like that were just as attractive as the more froo-froo sort. Then again, he had to pause as he held up some of the skirts, noticing that this girl certainly preferred them over most other options.

Guys' clothing was definitely easier. Beau had to nod along in agreement to that, even as he did a little more collecting and sorting. Wasn't much more to do; the girl barely had enough outfits to last her a week, and that was if she got creative with bits and pieces. Beau shorted what he could, but if they had been able to throw all this in one load, it wouldn't have stressed the machine much, if at all. He'd gathered them when Ms. Xi made her comment, and he chuckled.

"Maybe God figured that it would be more fun if the male humans hadta chase after the female ones then," he replied, looking over at the teacher. He still held a bit of clothing, and he looked down, then up at the teacher. "Uh, I reckon we can actually start with the whole washin' thing. seems like she had some nice soap an' stuff,' he nodded at the detergents and stuff, again noting their brands. Definitely better than what he used, and a few more of them. He figured they had explanations on their labels though; that's usually how it worked after all.

[Jessica Xilx]

"You may be right and yea we can likely start this" she said as they got the last of the clothing in. SHe glanced at the detergent, whoever it was was likely had some cash. it was an expensive one and one she avoided for that reason. Reading the label she found it worked pretty much like any other and poured it putting it on the clothing before shutting the top and showing Beau what she was hitting.

"well we got time before we have to worry about the dryer" she said with a shrug. Almost an hour actually, she was unsure Beau would stay around for that but he seemed the type to do so. SHe assumed whoever the girl was had another basket of clothing somewhere in her room or maybe she had taken it with her. Their was not really enough there for to long and the quality of the items suggested the girl would likely have plenty of clothing.

SHe took a seat and noted how the laundry room was still basically empty other then the two of them. Pulling out her phone she connected to the school's internet. They ahd time to kill one way or another.

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau waited while Miss Xi read the detergent label and figured that out. He knew how to work it well enough; he'd been here for three years after all, but he definitely didn't want to interfere if there was going to be some sort of special thing you had to do for girls' clothing. Besides the bag and such, there didn't seem to be anything, and Miss Xi handled it all well.

Which left them with time, as the teacher pointed out. Beau settled in, moving to sit against another set of washers and dryers. He looked over at the teacher, thinking about striking up a conversation. Sure, he wasn't that close to Miss Xi; hadn't really had much chance to talk to the lady before now, but that didn't mean they couldn't chat. She had already gotten out her phone though, and Beau knew better than to interrupt a woman when she was on her phone.

Still, he wasn't going to leave till they'd finished the job; just wouldn't sit right with him, even if he believed that Miss Xi would certainly go through with it. So instead, he leaned back, drumming his fingers against the dryer. After about a minute or so of that, he began humming to himself, unable to keep the tune fully buried within. It was a jaunty one, one that he'd performed fairly often, and Beau matched the beat perfectly. He was tempted to start singing under his breath too, but he wasn't sure he'd get away with that; some people didn't even like his humming, let alone going a step further...

[Jessica Xilx]

SHe really had no idea what to talk to the kid about and topics formed and faded in her mind quickly. Looking up from her phone and the room it looked like they might have been in the same boat. Tilting her head she considered a few questions, but she had no knowledge of the kid outside of school work and class.

Leaning back she looked around the room. "SO umm got any plans for when you graduate from this place? she asked curiously finally finding a question that might work. She hoped so or it would be a long wash. Still he was a kid in her eyes who was willing to do far more then required.

"I went to the English school growing up, so im somewhat new to the US and the school" she said. The English school was nice and different from BA but she Liked BA as well and BA held one less ghost from her past then she wanted to consider. "Not to different from here really" she said still trying to make small talk.

[Beau LaRoux]

The question pulled Beau from his music making, or, to be more specific, from the humming part of it. He kept beating for a bit, smiling. "Plannin' on makin' a career of music, actually," he said, nodding, "'course, that ain't till I get through college an' all. Made a deal with my parents," though Beau thought it a smart move too, which leaked into his words. Why not have a fallback plan, or at least a decent education? Especially seeing as Bellefonte was willing to fit a lot of the bill and had some weight behind it.

He learned a little about Miss Xi too. "You don't sound that English," he said, meaning it as a compliment. Realizing it might have been a bit of a faux paux, he chuckled. "I mean, you fit in well. But I always heard that they were a little more uptight over there. You musta been in the states a while, right?" He wasn't sure what to make of a British teacher. Did she teach English too? Because that would just be amusing. Beau glanced over at the washing machine, watching the load spin until he realized he was effectively staring at someone's private clothing, which meant moving his gaze back to the teacher.

Be easier to talk that way anyway.

[Jessica Xilx]

"That's a good idea, I hope you do make it, but it is very hard to do so and a back up plan is always a good idea" she said agreeing with the plan entirely, even if she had not followed the advice herself. She had no idea what she would have done had she not become a teacher.

"Might be because im from the states, my dad was on the diplomat team to England, so we were there because of that" she said explaining it though she did realize she lacked much of an English accent. She thought maybe it was because her family had grown up in the states.

"Their is some truth to that, but i think it has a lot more to do with what were all use to" she said having heard that said before and she could see it to a degree herself but she thought she might have been a bit immune to it. "I grew up near embassies from various countries as well" she explained having grown up where england had their embassies gathered.

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau nodded. He'd heard all that before, or some variation of it. Hence why he was willing enough to go through  college and all. Well, that plus the fact that he had the whole mutant power thing that he still wasn't completely sure he could control. Beau just figured that he'd find a local studio and get something recorded, work both ends of things; should work alright for him in the long run.

For now though, he focused on learning more about Miss Xi. From the states? Beau was about to ask when she continued, and he soon found himself nodding. So she learned to talk from American folks and was just surrounded by Brits; that made sense. Grown used to it and all.

"Musta been kinda neat then, surrounded by all those different--" Beau began, only to pause as the washer buzzed, "folks," he finished when it sounded. He hopped from his perch, moving to open up the dryer, still looking over at the washing and all. "I'm guessin' that you jus' move it over? Anythin' special we're supposed to be doin' here? I've seen some people with those dryer sheets or whatever..." he turned to look, wondering if whomever owned these clothes had anything like that. He eventually located something that promised results like dry-cleaning and held it up for Miss Xi to examine, figuring she'd know infinitely more about it than he.