There was a stillness to the room when she woke up that was ... unusual. Rogue knew at least a little of that could be attributed to Kitty's absence, but the rest of it seemed almost external.

Curious, she eased out of bed. Wrapping a robe around herself, she moved across the room to the big window, and drew the curtains. The glaring whiteness was blinding, and she looked away, squinting.

She let the curtains fall closed, choosing instead to peek between them, rather than let them fall all the way open. The mansion's grounds were blanketed in white.

While she wasn't a total stranger to snow (there had been that jaunt up to Canada), she was unaccustomed to waking up to it. It wasn't a common occurrance, where she was from.

A fingertip ran curiously over the cold glass, and she admired a few snowflakes hanging there, before they melted away as the heat from the house radiated outward, warming the glass' exterior.

I'm like a snowflake. The thought was almost idle, but she thought it was a good comparison. Unique. Uncommon. Untouchable.

Untouchable. She drew her hands away from the glass, gazing down at them. It wasn't just her hands, though. Her whole body was untouchable.

She sighed, and lifted her eyes as a shout caught her attention. The younger students, the ones that didn't have homes to go to over break, were darting out of the house, across the lawn, disturbing the stillness, breaking the pristine landscape.

Rogue smiled as she watched them. Winter was nice, especially here. For at least a few months, she could pretend to be normal. No one questioned gloves in a New England winter. No one gave her funny looks for wearing scarves. Winter, here, was one of the few times she didn't have to worry, when it was less obvious she was different, even from them.

Summer, of course, was a different story. But summer was a few months away, still. Shaking her head, she moved away from the window, to go get dressed. Maybe she'd join the kids outside, and play, and be unafraid. For a little while.