Elli plopped on her bunk, face first, exhausted. She groaned deeply into her pillow. The rest of "gym class" with Samuel and Wolf had gone as well as expected. She'd cringed through Samuel's "Demonstration" beating up on Wolf, and then when he expected her to take her turn, she'd failed miserably, had left both men snickering at her feeble attempts to even land a punch once they switched from a stationary to moving target, and bruised up her knuckles to boot.

"I'm definitely not superhero material." She whispered to her aching hand.

The door swung open, and a cheerful Star and Hailey swooped in.

"How's it going?" Star chirped, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Elli let out another dissatisfied groan in response.

"Cheer up." Hailey perched on the bed beside her, gingerly taking her injured hand. "Nobody expected you to punch Wolf through a wall."

"Most of us wind up more banged up than the 'punching bag' the first day. You must've held back."

"I didn't." Elli murmured miserably.

"Oh dear." Hailey clucked, and Star laughed.

"Don't laugh." Hailey shook her head at the brunette. "Not everyone has your penchant for athleticism."

A sharp, tingling sensation began to crawl up Elli's hand from where Hailey was holding it. She whipped her head up from the pillow.

"Shh—easy, I'm just mending your hand. Don't freak out."

Elli stared in amazement as the creeping discoloration faded and the ache of her hand subsided.

"Sam's order's I'm not to do anything else, though, sorry." The healer gazed back at her sympathetically. "You'll just have to shower away the soreness and get a good night's sleep."

"It's okay." Elli smiled to reassure Hailey. "No pain, no gain, right?"

"Hmmmm." Hailey frowned back. "Well, I'll see you at dinner."

The petit girl bid them farewell and left. Star escorted Elli to the showers, and Elli took some time, really scrubbing her hair and contemplating the situation she found herself in. A day ago, she was working on her interdisciplinary studies degree while she was figuring out what she wanted out of life. Today, she knew Quantum existed. Tonight, she'd learn just how much of an 'N.N.' she was. The thought filled her with equal parts excitement and dread.

As she finished up her shower and toweled off, her thoughts turned back to the meeting earlier where she'd learned that Trevor had a twin brother, and got a glimpse of Reach. Those revelations raised more questions than answers and made her realize she really didn't know Trevor at all. As a college professor, he'd been witty, funny, nerdy, and charming. Did that still hold true for this new Trevor who could read people's minds and had a brother working for Top Secret government thugs?

"Only one way to find out." A gravelly female voice made her jump as she got out of the shower.

Magenta stood a few feet away, wrapped in an identical white towel, her auburn hair dripping wet.

"Sorry." The girl nodded, grabbing another towel from the built-in on the wall. "I couldn't help but tune in. You're so loud."

"Tune in?" Elli crossed her arms over her chest defensively as Magenta wrapped up her hair.

"Yeah," the teen considered her for a moment. "As an empath, it's not as easy for me to ignore people as it is for some psychics. I can't read your thoughts, but I get an imprint of what's going on, especially with high emotional states. You're just leaking puppy love."

Elli coughed, embarrassed as she brushed past the girl to where her clean clothes were waiting on a bench by the showers.

"It's not puppy love."

"A crass blend of warm fuzzies, desire, and curiosity topped with a dollop of anxiety. Can only mean you're crushing on someone hard."

Elli fought not to blush.

"Not to offend you, newbie, I just call it as I see it. I won't even ask who it is. I'll figure it out soon enough, anyway." Magenta shrugged as she breezed into another section.

Flustered, Elli jammed on her clothes and made her way to the cafeteria where other members were assembling around the same table set up from the morning.

Trevor's eyes brightened as she approached. "Elli! How was the first day?"

She forced a smile and replied "Fine."

She sat down in the same spot she'd picked in the morning, and the hair on her arm stood as Samuel sat down next to her. He smelled of soap and something outdoorsy, like pine. She cut a glance over to see that his hair was wet, streaked with comb marks and he'd changed into a gray t-shirt and sweats. The gloves had finally come off. As if he could feel her gaze, he turned to look at her, but she quickly glanced back to Trevor and began elaborating about her day.

Dinner started shortly after, and unlike breakfast, Elli tried to keep up with the conversations flowing around her. Star was doing her best to include Elli with discussing some current fashion trends with Armon. It didn't interest Elli too much, but it was a welcome distraction as she ate. Once or twice she accidently met Magenta's eyes and looked away quickly. It only made matters worse that her last session of the day was going to be with the empath. She'd have nowhere to hide one on one.

Elli glanced at Wolf, who smiled around a chicken leg at her. Magenta's icy gaze softened, and she laughed. Surprised by the sound, Wolf glanced down at the teen. She shook her head, gently laying her hand on his arm. His larger one fell over it eclipsing hers in his palm, and they shared a glance bordering on romantic. Elli quickly looked away, refocusing on something Star was saying as her heart thrummed in her ears. What was that? Magenta and Wolf couldn't be... the mechanics alone were worrisome to contemplate.

"You okay String Bean?" the question dragged her back into the moment, and she realized she'd dropped out of the conversation as Star had turned to snarl something at Ferris.

"F-Fine." She couldn't quite bring herself to meet Samuel's gaze. "Just tired, I guess."

He nodded. "Meta training will be easier on you. Then you can go to bed if you want."

"Actually—" Trevor cut in. "I was hoping you might meet me in Rec room one once your training's done-- if you're up to it. I'd like to chat."

"We're only doing an intro session," Magenta interjected. "Probably a half hour at most, so no worries. She should have plenty of time."

Elli considered Magenta warily, who smirked back. Damn, she was good. For not being a mind reader, Magenta seemed to know exactly what was going on. Whether that was a good thing or a liability, Elli didn't know her well enough to know yet.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Samuel grumbled on her other side, almost too quiet to hear.

What did that mean? She took a swig of her water. "Sure, if someone can take me there, that sounds great, Trevor."

His smile made her heart dance a little jig. "No problem, I look forward to it."