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Day Two...
Natasha was still on her mission in Brazil, so that left Steve to start the initial training with Astrid. Everyone was a bit surprised when she was the first one up, though she hadn't slept much. She never did. She took her "nap" and was up again at four in the morning for yoga. After that, she had made her way to the gym and beat around the punching bag for a while, though she was half-assing it and more so just hitting it softly to the point that it didn't even really move much. When six o'clock had rolled around, she rooted around in the kitchen for some food and couldn't find anything that she'd ever want to ingest and had managed to procure a car so that she could go grocery shopping. She enjoyed being back out at the farmers market and was reluctant to leave even though she looked forward to making a meal. It was seven when she got back and there were signs that others were already awake as well, though she proceeded with making the meal. She had her earbuds shoved in her ears as she danced around in her pajamas, having rolled up her sleeves so that she didn't get them too messy. She was caught up in the music, in the middle of a samba, when she felt eyes on her. Her back had been to the dining room the whole time so she hadn't noticed the gathering of the others. Her face turned bright red and a faint shimmering red light came from her though it disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"What was that?" Tony's face held a puzzled expression as he sat at the table with a knife in one hand and a fork in the other. Astrid feigned ignorance and gave her own
puzzled expression. "What was what? The dance? It's called samba. You should try." She recovered quickly and gave a polite smile before moving to serve everyone, "You were glowing." Tony persisted, looking to the others as if asking them to back him up. "Well, I did get a lot of rest, so thanks for noticing." Astrid beamed a smile, continuing to feign ignorance as she piled everyone's plates. "What's all this?" Clint looked eagerly at the food as though he hadn't eaten in months and Astrid was glad of the subject change. "Steak omelets. You've got your basic egg omelet but it's stuffed with sauteed portobello mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and cilantro. There's also hash browns and steak stuffed in there. And then there's some toast and blueberries and strawberries. With choice of milk, orange juice, or freshly brewed coffee." Clint was ravenous as he dug in, complimenting the food in between bites. But Tony wasn't letting the issue go. He stared at her intently to the point she was getting uncomfortable. As she rounded the table to serve his food, he squinted as though doing so might make her glow again. Instead, what he caught was the sight of her arms, as she hadn't rolled her sleeves back down.
"What the hell are those?" He grabbed her by the wrist and further shoved up her sleeve to reveal a number of various scars, some of them showing prominently under her tattoo. "Nothing!" She yanked her arm back and continued serving the food, saving her own plate for last. There was an awkward silence as they ate and Astrid could feel the gazes burning into her. "Do you cut yourself? You don't seem like the depressed type." Tony watched her carefully, Bruce turning to look at him. "Everyone's entitled to their secrets, Tony. Not everyone is as open as you are. Leave her alone." His voice was calm as he tried to mediate the situation. Tony simply rolled his eyes and went back to his food, muttering under his breath about there being no secrets between the Avengers. Though Clint simply lifted a brow. Astrid sat and ate quietly, staring at her plate for so long and so hard that her vision got blurry while she retreated into her thoughts. She knew she'd have to tell them. If she was really going to go through with this, they were going to find out anyways. She was only making it worse for herself if she didn't say anything. She previously hadn't been sure if Steve knew what mutants were - Mutants tended not to make themselves known it wasn't really public knowledge. Though he didn't seem fazed by it yesterday when she told him that she was one.
"So, how'd you get super strength?"
She was pulled from her thoughts when Tony spoke up again, much to the annoyance of the others. Before anyone else could tell him to leave her alone, she straightened her posture and provided an answer. "I'm mutant. And...something else." That was enough to make their jaws drop. There were rumors of them existing, so the two other apprentices were a bit mind blown to actually be sitting in front of one. Tony and Bruce seemed to be studying her while Clint didn't seem as fazed (much like Cap hadn't), and Thor just looked confused. "What do you mean? You do not look mutated to me." He looked at her closer, squinting his eyes as if looking for some flaw. She sighed and scooted her chair back some, relaxing her shoulders. "Some of us look it and some of us don't. Mutants are what humans call us.
Technically speaking, we are homo sapien superior. The next step in human evolution." Thor nodded as though he understood, though Astrid wasn't sure if he did. Then again, she (nor any of the others) understood how technologically advanced his world was. "So... You
were glowing?" Tony gave her a look as if daring her to say no.
There seemed to be a collective intake of breath when she exhaled and gave off a light as though every molecule of her being, from her hair to her flesh to her nails, seemed to have had a light turned on inside. "I can do a lot more than you know..."
