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Lu and Clarice
The Lu's and Clarice notice a few things missing from their room, and a mystery unfolds. A mystery that only the finest of Xavier's underclassmen-slash-amateur-sleuths are capable of solving.
For most of the last hour, Clarice had been all but tossing the interior of the room she shared with Lu--rummaging through the closet, searching under the bed, and rifling through every drawer on her side of the room. Her brilliant green eyes were full of puzzlement, but after all that time with no results to show for it, she gave up for the moment and tossed herself backward onto her bed with a huff.
She glanced over at her roommate from behind magenta locks that had been thrown into disarray during her fruitless search. "Lu," she ventured, "You didn' happen to see a great big sea shell layin' roun' the room anywhere lately, did you?"
"Not lately?" Lu answered, looking up from her homework and swinging her chair around to look at Clarice. "I remember you showing it to me after I moved in, but I haven't seen it around for a while. Did you put it somewhere so it wouldn't get broken?"
"I don' think so," Clarice replied dubiously. "But it ain' like it could just get up and walk away, right? But I wouldn' put it away somewhere I couldn' find it again, either way."
Lu frowned. "Do you think someone took it?"
"What? No!" Clarice protested, sounding scandalized as she sat up in her bed. "I mean ... I don't think anybody at the school would do anythin' like that. But I wouldn' have just lost it, either. It's a keepsake from home, k'know?"
"I know - which is why I'm sure none of me did anything with it." Lu smiled crookedly and got to her feet. "Did you look behind the bed? That's where I always find stuff I've lost, though I've got to admit, it didn't work with my new earrings."
"Not the ones set with the topaz an' amethyst?" Clarice said, shocked into sitting upright. "You just got those. And they were so cute! Did you even get a chance to try 'em on yet?" Probably a lot easier to lose than a big shell, though; she'd misplaced more than her fair share, over the last several months. Shaking her head, the lavender-skinned girl followed her roommate's advice and attempted--somewhat awkwardly, due to her position on the bed--to attempt to peek into the narrow space between the mattress and the wall.
"Yeah, those, and no, I hadn't even worn them yet." Lu frowned. "Or at least, I don't think I have? Sis is always losing stuff and not admitting it, so I can't be 100% sure." She came over and plopped down on the floor to look under Clarice's bed.
"Yeah, but," Clarice offered, head now halfway jammed into the narrow juncture between mattress and headboard, "don' your memories all, I dunno, reintegrate when you come back together? So if she was the last one to have it, you'd have some kinda recollection?" Lu's powers were ... confusing, in a lot of ways, but she'd made a point of trying to understand them as well as she could.
And still no sign of that damned shell.
"Usually? But not always." Lu crawled back out from under the bed and sat down, cross legged. "Purple me has a knack for keeping stuff to herself that she doesn't want the rest of me to know." She smiled crookedly. "I mean, we all do it sometimes? But she has a real knack. Nothing under the bed except dust bunnies."
"Dammit," Clarice cursed, then sat up again. "Let's talk to Purple. I'll figure out what happened to my shell later, but we're not gonna lose two things between the both of us in one afternoon."
"I think she's down in the gym trying not to be obvious about watching the guys work out?" Lu guessed. "I can text her, though. Or we can just go down there."
"I got it," Clarice said, then blink-ed away in a whirl of pink energy. When she blink-ed back into place, Purple was beside her--and probably looking fairly confused.
"Have you seen our new earrings?" Neutral demanded, figuring she'd take advantage of Purple being unnerved. "Or Clarice's shell?"
"You blinked me out of the gym to ask me that?" Purple countered, her eyebrows climbing. "I haven't seen the earrings since we put them in the jewelry box, and Clarice's shell is right," she turned towards where Clarice usually kept it, and frowned. "Okay, it's not. What's going on?"
"At least now I know I ain' gone crazy," Clarice muttered, then met Purple's eyes. "Wha's goin' is we can' find our stuff, an' can' come up with any reason why it shouldn' be exactly where we left it. Except for one, but I don' think either of us is really lovin' on the idea." She'd always felt so safe here, it have never even entered her mind that her few possessions might need the security of a locked door when they were all absent. The thought was deeply unsettling, after all this time.
"You mean you figure someone stole them," Purple said, figuring it was better to just put it out there than talk around it. "I mean, I've got to admit, I don't always lock the door, but I never really figured we had to."
"Me, neither," Clarice agreed, slouching into her mattress. "An' as much as I hate to even think it, what other explanation is there? I'll even settle for somethin' crazy that could only happen at mutant high."
"Random holes opening in the space/time continuum?" Neutral Lu supplied with a crooked attempt at a smile. "I don't think it's all that likely, though." She leaned back on her arms. "Do you think we should tell the Professor? I mean, what if it's not just us?"
That prospect made Clarice look even more uncomfortable. "I dunno," she said, looking down at her hands. "I don' wanna get nobody into no trouble, ay'? I mean, there's plenty kids here who've had ... not-standard childhoods, an' thing. If someone did carry our things, maybe it was 'cause they didn' know any better? There's gotta be somethin' else we could try first."
Purple smirked. "Well, we could hire Xavier's Own Detective Squad," she joked.
Neutral looked at her, then at Clarice. "It's not a bad idea," she pointed out. "I mean, at least it'd encourage them? And if they find the stuff, so much the better, right?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have another set of eyes looking out for our things," Clarice agreed slowly. "I've got some money saved up from my stipend. An' yeah, it pro'bly would be good encouragement for the gals, ay'? Don' think it could hurt anythin' to try."
"They can't be charging all that much," Lu pointed out. "I mean, they're like fourteen, I think. But I'll split it with you." Or pay all of it, when the time came, if she could get away with it without hurting Clarice's feelings.
"What the hell, then?" Clarice replied with a shrug and a slight upward curve of her lips. "Like I say, it can' hurt nothin'. Either of you remember how to get in touch with 'em?"
The two Lu's exchanged glances, and both shrugged. "They posted their ad on the forums," Neutral pointed out.
"Or, y'know, they live down the hall," Purple added. "It's not like it'd be hard to find them."
"I'll leave 'em a message on the forums," Clarice suggested after a moment. "If they in, we can always blink down the road and talk specifics."
"Works for me," Neutral Lu agreed, and Purple nodded her consent.
"That is sound like a plan, then." Luminous green eyes turned back toward Purple. "You wanna lift back to the gym so you can finish your boy-watchin'?"
"Nah. I'm tired, and all the good looking ones already left." Purple sighed, then looked over at Neutral. "You hungry?"
"I could eat," Neutral replied after a moment's consideration. "Clarice?"
"Always," the lavender-skinned girl grinned. "You wan' me carry us, or do you gals prefer to take the scenic route, this time?"
"Let's walk," Neutral suggested as she looked over at Purple, nodded, and where there had been two Lu's only one remained. "Who knows, maybe we'll run into the resident detectives on the way."
For most of the last hour, Clarice had been all but tossing the interior of the room she shared with Lu--rummaging through the closet, searching under the bed, and rifling through every drawer on her side of the room. Her brilliant green eyes were full of puzzlement, but after all that time with no results to show for it, she gave up for the moment and tossed herself backward onto her bed with a huff.
She glanced over at her roommate from behind magenta locks that had been thrown into disarray during her fruitless search. "Lu," she ventured, "You didn' happen to see a great big sea shell layin' roun' the room anywhere lately, did you?"
"Not lately?" Lu answered, looking up from her homework and swinging her chair around to look at Clarice. "I remember you showing it to me after I moved in, but I haven't seen it around for a while. Did you put it somewhere so it wouldn't get broken?"
"I don' think so," Clarice replied dubiously. "But it ain' like it could just get up and walk away, right? But I wouldn' put it away somewhere I couldn' find it again, either way."
Lu frowned. "Do you think someone took it?"
"What? No!" Clarice protested, sounding scandalized as she sat up in her bed. "I mean ... I don't think anybody at the school would do anythin' like that. But I wouldn' have just lost it, either. It's a keepsake from home, k'know?"
"I know - which is why I'm sure none of me did anything with it." Lu smiled crookedly and got to her feet. "Did you look behind the bed? That's where I always find stuff I've lost, though I've got to admit, it didn't work with my new earrings."
"Not the ones set with the topaz an' amethyst?" Clarice said, shocked into sitting upright. "You just got those. And they were so cute! Did you even get a chance to try 'em on yet?" Probably a lot easier to lose than a big shell, though; she'd misplaced more than her fair share, over the last several months. Shaking her head, the lavender-skinned girl followed her roommate's advice and attempted--somewhat awkwardly, due to her position on the bed--to attempt to peek into the narrow space between the mattress and the wall.
"Yeah, those, and no, I hadn't even worn them yet." Lu frowned. "Or at least, I don't think I have? Sis is always losing stuff and not admitting it, so I can't be 100% sure." She came over and plopped down on the floor to look under Clarice's bed.
"Yeah, but," Clarice offered, head now halfway jammed into the narrow juncture between mattress and headboard, "don' your memories all, I dunno, reintegrate when you come back together? So if she was the last one to have it, you'd have some kinda recollection?" Lu's powers were ... confusing, in a lot of ways, but she'd made a point of trying to understand them as well as she could.
And still no sign of that damned shell.
"Usually? But not always." Lu crawled back out from under the bed and sat down, cross legged. "Purple me has a knack for keeping stuff to herself that she doesn't want the rest of me to know." She smiled crookedly. "I mean, we all do it sometimes? But she has a real knack. Nothing under the bed except dust bunnies."
"Dammit," Clarice cursed, then sat up again. "Let's talk to Purple. I'll figure out what happened to my shell later, but we're not gonna lose two things between the both of us in one afternoon."
"I think she's down in the gym trying not to be obvious about watching the guys work out?" Lu guessed. "I can text her, though. Or we can just go down there."
"I got it," Clarice said, then blink-ed away in a whirl of pink energy. When she blink-ed back into place, Purple was beside her--and probably looking fairly confused.
"Have you seen our new earrings?" Neutral demanded, figuring she'd take advantage of Purple being unnerved. "Or Clarice's shell?"
"You blinked me out of the gym to ask me that?" Purple countered, her eyebrows climbing. "I haven't seen the earrings since we put them in the jewelry box, and Clarice's shell is right," she turned towards where Clarice usually kept it, and frowned. "Okay, it's not. What's going on?"
"At least now I know I ain' gone crazy," Clarice muttered, then met Purple's eyes. "Wha's goin' is we can' find our stuff, an' can' come up with any reason why it shouldn' be exactly where we left it. Except for one, but I don' think either of us is really lovin' on the idea." She'd always felt so safe here, it have never even entered her mind that her few possessions might need the security of a locked door when they were all absent. The thought was deeply unsettling, after all this time.
"You mean you figure someone stole them," Purple said, figuring it was better to just put it out there than talk around it. "I mean, I've got to admit, I don't always lock the door, but I never really figured we had to."
"Me, neither," Clarice agreed, slouching into her mattress. "An' as much as I hate to even think it, what other explanation is there? I'll even settle for somethin' crazy that could only happen at mutant high."
"Random holes opening in the space/time continuum?" Neutral Lu supplied with a crooked attempt at a smile. "I don't think it's all that likely, though." She leaned back on her arms. "Do you think we should tell the Professor? I mean, what if it's not just us?"
That prospect made Clarice look even more uncomfortable. "I dunno," she said, looking down at her hands. "I don' wanna get nobody into no trouble, ay'? I mean, there's plenty kids here who've had ... not-standard childhoods, an' thing. If someone did carry our things, maybe it was 'cause they didn' know any better? There's gotta be somethin' else we could try first."
Purple smirked. "Well, we could hire Xavier's Own Detective Squad," she joked.
Neutral looked at her, then at Clarice. "It's not a bad idea," she pointed out. "I mean, at least it'd encourage them? And if they find the stuff, so much the better, right?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have another set of eyes looking out for our things," Clarice agreed slowly. "I've got some money saved up from my stipend. An' yeah, it pro'bly would be good encouragement for the gals, ay'? Don' think it could hurt anythin' to try."
"They can't be charging all that much," Lu pointed out. "I mean, they're like fourteen, I think. But I'll split it with you." Or pay all of it, when the time came, if she could get away with it without hurting Clarice's feelings.
"What the hell, then?" Clarice replied with a shrug and a slight upward curve of her lips. "Like I say, it can' hurt nothin'. Either of you remember how to get in touch with 'em?"
The two Lu's exchanged glances, and both shrugged. "They posted their ad on the forums," Neutral pointed out.
"Or, y'know, they live down the hall," Purple added. "It's not like it'd be hard to find them."
"I'll leave 'em a message on the forums," Clarice suggested after a moment. "If they in, we can always blink down the road and talk specifics."
"Works for me," Neutral Lu agreed, and Purple nodded her consent.
"That is sound like a plan, then." Luminous green eyes turned back toward Purple. "You wanna lift back to the gym so you can finish your boy-watchin'?"
"Nah. I'm tired, and all the good looking ones already left." Purple sighed, then looked over at Neutral. "You hungry?"
"I could eat," Neutral replied after a moment's consideration. "Clarice?"
"Always," the lavender-skinned girl grinned. "You wan' me carry us, or do you gals prefer to take the scenic route, this time?"
"Let's walk," Neutral suggested as she looked over at Purple, nodded, and where there had been two Lu's only one remained. "Who knows, maybe we'll run into the resident detectives on the way."
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I love this so much, you know that right?
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