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| Christmaskah; Julian, Ethan, Fia, Hisako | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 13 2015, 04:57 AM (260 Views) | |
| Pyrrhic | Dec 13 2015, 04:57 AM Post #1 |
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Time: Various Date: December 18th-20th Christmas was often viewed as a busy time of the year, but for Ros things had always seemed like the time to relax. It might have just been because December was usually filled with mountains of snow in Syracuse. Fall was always a short season in his home town, so by the time Christmas rolled around there was enough snow on the ground, or cold enough weather that snow days were common. Unless you were foolish enough to go into Destiny you weren't going to get swarmed by other shoppers. There was plenty to do other than going to the one mall that was slowly crushing all the others. One of the local parks was home to some of the best hills for riding down a sled on, and it was entirely free to anyone. Maybe it was also the fact that Ros's parents did not celebrate Christmas that allowed him to feel at ease. There was also something to be said about being in your hometown with your family at Christmas time. Not that Ros was going to be in Syracuse on Christmas. He would be back at the school. This year he even missed out on Hanukkah. But things had changed at the school for Ros ever since he took on the Dreadnaught simulation. He couldn't just be a normal student learning how to live with his powers anymore, he needed to learn how to be heroic with them. At least he would not be the only one of his friends there. Julian would be sticking around the school, Ros wasn't sure why, and he wasn't going to ask. Fia would be around then too, other than when she was going to dinner with her father. Last year he had been at the school only because he needed some serious work with his powers. Ros had spoken with his parents, and then with his teachers, and again with his parents. There were many phone calls that had to be made for what the teen had planned. Once things had been cleared though Ros had offered to his friends the chance to come spend "Christmaskah" with him and his parents. It was going to be past Hanukkah's date, but before Christmas. He had been hoping for a ton of snow that they could have fun with, but it was an unseasonably warm winter. On the ride up Ros had been riding shotgun so that he could give directions to where his parents house was. It wasn't a very long drive, but his back was a little stiff from the ride anyways. When he climbed out of the car Ros stretched his arms over his head and leaned back. There was an audible crack and the stiffness he had felt melted away. To the others it might feel a little chilly here in Syracuse, but he was fine with just the hoodie that he had on. It was time to unload their luggage, and be reminded once more about the rules that they were to follow. No going out by themselves, listen to their chaperons (the Sampsons), be responsible. All that sort of thing. "So welcome to Syracuse. Mi casa es tu casa. Ethan and I will be crashing in my room." Just because he was friends with Julian now did not mean that there was no room for practical jokes. If anything it seemed that the better a friend you were to someone, the more you had to find ways of throwing them off their game. Ros gestured to Julian to step over to the side, as if there was some sort of secret he needed to tell him. "Listen, my parents weren't exactly thrilled to hear you were coming. I told them a lot about how you would pick on me before and I doubt that they believe me when I say that you've changed with that. It looks like you're going to be on the couch in the living room... and it isn't a fold out." This was a bald face lie. Ros hadn't told his parents anything negative about Julian, not really. He just had mentioned that there was another person that he hung out with sometimes because of mutual friends. Julian had been painted as nothing more than a casual acquaintance at first, and only in the past few months did he start talking about the guy as a friend. Julian would be welcomed into the Sampson household with as warm a welcome as the rest of Ros's friends, and there was no couch that he'd be forced to sleep on. All the guys would be in Ros's bedroom. The idea was to make Julian sweat just a little bit before he caught on to the joke that Ros was setting him up for. |
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| Ethan Shepard | Dec 20 2015, 07:22 PM Post #2 |
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Glancing out the car windows at the distinct lack of snow in the middle of winter, Ethan shifted in his seat as he focused on the road. When Ros had initially proposed it, the prospect of a trip up to Syracuse with all (okay, not all, but some) of his friends really caught Ethan's attention. He hadn't really been anywhere without some sort of supervision, and while he was far from a sheltered child, the prospect still seemed interesting. Just a group of teenagers going out together on a trip up north. Now, okay, not everywhere he was had a parental figure looming over him. Back home he had, surprise, his parents. At the school he had the entirety of the school staff, but while they definitely cared, he wasn't sure if you could call them parents. They certainly didn't coddle anybody. And it wasn't like their trip up to Syracuse would be unsupervised either. Ros's parents would be up there. But still, it was a nice trip with friends, and he was going to make the most of it, especially now that he didn't have to constantly worry about starting a fire in the living room. The drive up itself wasn't too bad either. They'd let Julian take the wheel for the first leg of the trip, but once they stopped for gas Ethan "subtlety" suggested that he drive up the rest of the way, mainly through the statement, "Here, I'll drive." Creative, I know, but Ethan was a little big weary of Julian's driving. It's not that he didn't trust his roommate, but he seemed to be the kind of person who would be used to driving high-end cars. You know, the ones that go really, really fast and make breakneck turns and stops. Now, there was no question that Julian would be able to tell that this wasn't one of those speed demons, but that didn't mean he wouldn't keep some of his old habits: i.e driving erratically. But Julian was a really nice guy. He'd never done anything mean to Ethan, that's for sure. So Ethan was sure he'd agree to let him go up the second leg of the drive. Ethan trusted him, so he knew that he could do it on his own, but splitting the driving time 50/50 seemed good for both of them. Ethan driving would refresh his driving skills and give Julian a chance to rest. Everybody wins. One Ethan was behind the wheel it was just a lot of checking over his shoulder to change lanes and playing music so he wouldn't get too tired. But even if he didn't have that, he had Ros giving him directions the entire way up, so that certainly kept him focused. There were certainly a lot of "Are you sure?'s and "I think we passed that exit's. But eventually they found their way, and with only one wrong turn made. That's pretty good for a city whose layout you know nothing about. Pulling up at their destination, Ethan stepped out of the car and immediately stretched his back and arms out, looking around. "I'm beginning to get the distinct impression that a "White Christmas" isn't too common in a lot of places," he exhaled, making a little joke. It was definitely chilly, but Ethan didn't really have to worry about being cold. One upside to his powers was that the energy he put out was warm, and that could keep him heated from the inside. So while he did have the normal jacket and long-sleeve shirt on, he didn't really need it. Opening up the trunk, Ethan grabbed his and Julian's bag, tugging them out of the car. It was pretty amazing Ethan had managed to convince Julian down to bringing only one bag, so he was fine with bringing it up. "Eh, don't worry dude," Ethan smiled at Julian as he carried the bags past them and up to the doorstep. "I'm sure you'll grow on them in no time." |
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| Julian Keller | Dec 23 2015, 02:24 PM Post #3 |
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Advanced Telekinesis
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Julian didn't care what anyone else said, it was cold damn it. The native California boy was not used to this. For him, a stiff breeze off the ocean in December was jacket weather. This was full on, down parka temperatures. He let everyone else's comments about "unseasonably warm" or "mild winter" just roll off his back as he stood packed into his leather jacket, shivering. He wrapped a scarf around is head, up to his nose, and at a gas station he purchased a pair of gloves. Julian was already struggling to keep a good attitude so when Ethan offered to drive the rest of the way, the telekinetic didn't argue. He sat in the back seat, huddled up trying to keep warm. After the third time of asking them to turn up the heat, they had begun to flatly refuse. A brief TK battle over the temperature controls ensued, but Julian was out voted, or over ruled or whatever you wanted to call it. He would have been able to do it secretly if his power didn't always glow green. He spent the rest of the trek trying to will his toes to stop being ice cubes. Very few people at Xavier's knew about Julian being disowned by his parents. In fact other than the faculty and staff, he told only Fia and Ethan. A lot of the others wondered why he wasn't going home to his huge mansion in Beverly Hills to see his outrageously wealthy parents for Christmas. He knew Ros was curious, but his fellow immortal was nice enough not to push him for an explanation. Julian agreed to this trip partly because he wanted to see another young mutant interact with his parents, see how someone else lived. He sometimes wondered, if his parents had only been middle class would they have cared so much that their son was a mutant? When Ros talked about his parents, it seemed like they loved him no matter what. Julian would never know what that was like. He wanted to see it in action. They finally pulled up to the place where Ros's parents lived. This was where they would be spending the weekend. Julian opened the car door to a rush of cold air, and immediately began to shiver. How were the other two boys not doing the same? If Fia were here, she could have stopped the wind for him. He looked at the house. It was.... quaint, which is the word he was using to mean small, but well kept. Or perhaps Julian was just used to having a lot of space. His holidays past were filled with elaborate parties in lavishly decorated, expensive places. He spent much of the weekends leading up to Christmas in tuxedos by evening, and doing eccentric day trips on people's yachts and skiing in Alpine by day. Instead, here he stood buried in a scarf and a three dollar pair of gloves, looking at a very "quaint" house. Ethan got the bags, and Ros called Julian aside. "Listen, my parents weren't exactly thrilled to hear you were coming. I told them a lot about how you would pick on me before and I doubt that they believe me when I say that you've changed with that. It looks like you're going to be on the couch in the living room... and it isn't a fold out." Of course. What else would make this weekend any more perfect than a healthy dose of awkward tension. Ros might have mentioned this before, and Julian would have stayed back at the school. Maybe it he could still fly home. Mr. Summers wouldn't mind covering up a green glowing boy shooting across the sky, as long as it prevented Julian from killing Ros this weekend! This was going to be a nightmare, but all Julian could muster enough energy to say was "Swell". Of course by that time, Ros had already stepped away and Julian was talking largely to himself. "I'm sure you'll grow on them in no time." Ethan offered in what Julian was sure was an attempt at supportive banter. He appreciated the effort but unfortunately all he had in way of a response was a disgruntled scowl. How long did he have to continue paying the price for how he treated Ros? It's not like he hasn't apologized for it fifty times already. Julian would have to dig down and unearth at least one more apology it would seem. He followed the other boys to the front door. |
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| Pyrrhic | Dec 28 2015, 07:00 AM Post #4 |
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"Blame El Nino," Ros said when Ethan commented about the lack of snow. Ros was not too worried about the profound lack of snow in Syracuse at the moment. His parents remembered one year where there was a giant blizzard when El Nino had been keeping the rest of the winter a snowless mess of rain and mud. A couple of hours up north there was two feet of snow. The white stuff just had not fallen in the valley yet. You wouldn't know it looking at Julian though. He was bundled up like they were going to Alaska and still was shivering. Ros wanted to tell the guy that he was only cold because he had been sweating under that jacket and the chilled air made him feel even colder. Somehow he doubted that Julian would believe him on that. Maybe Julian got a little bit of snow in California, but he sure did not act like it. The front door opened up and an elderly man with a walking cane stepped out. It wasn't the sort of can that Carl from Up used, but rather a simple rod with a brass handle. Ros's dad sometimes threw his back out at work, especially if there was a bad truck day and Ros wasn't there to help, but his hips were good and the cane was used more to put less strain on his back than to keep from falling. For a couple that were old enough to be Ros's grandparents, Gary and his wife Elena were in great health. At the sight of his dad Ros's smile broke out even bigger and he lifted his bag with a bit more ease. His constant concern ever since the trial was what would happen to his parents while he was at school. Seeing them looking the way that he remembered helped to ease some of the worry. "Ros you have got to stop growing, you're giving me a crick in my neck," Gary said as he came over and hugged Ros. Puberty had been nice to Ros concerning height, much nicer than it had been to his adoptive parents. In recent years the Sampsons had begun the shrinking process that affects all senior citizens while Ros had grown like a weed. After the son was hugged Gary offered his open arms to Ethan. "It's good to have you here. The drive wasn't too bad was it? Marc, my opener, was late last week because a deer hit his car. Without the snow those bucks are waltzing around like Downtown is the Adirondacks." Ros snorted at this, but it wasn't the comment that tickled his funny bone. It was that his dad, not knowing which one of the other guys was which, had gone first to welcome the one that supposedly he liked better. The joke would have been over much too quickly if Julian had gotten the hug instead of the hand that was being offered for a shake. Ethan was loaded down with more luggage than Julian, shaking pathetically at the cold was, and thus got the warmer welcome because he had no hand to spare. Gary turned around and headed back up the little path to the front porch with a noticeble spring in his step. From inside the house came increasingly louder bird screeches. Blue, the sun conure, had sensed that something was different in the Sampson household that morning and the sound of Ros as he opened up the front door brought the bird a great deal of excitement. He had a play cage inside the living room so that he could spend time with the family as they watched television, but the cage's doors were shut for the moment. Elena stood by the cage, trying to shush the conure. Other than the bird that was half angry, half thrilled, it was a typical living room. Comfortable couch across from a television (not a flat screen, not yet at least), a recliner that just barely counted as matching well worn. There was an electric fireplace, which had the flames going but not producing any heat at the moment. Of course there were multiple bookcases, all crammed full of books. It was a family of readers after all. A few knick-knacks were tucked into small areas. Most of the pictures of the family were with a preteen Ros, nothing with the three with Ros under the age of ten. What few pictures there were of just Ros were no professional things, just drugstore printed copies of him with a changing cast of background characters. In one photo he was a toddler underneath a picnic table, as a nun was bent over trying to get him out. The same nun popped up in another picture, one hand holding onto her veil as a six year old Ros, a blur in the picture, was running with a kite string holder taking up half of his face in the shot. Even if the photo was a bad one of the young version of Ros it was framed like it was a school photo. Ros gave his mom a peck on the cheek and took out Blue. The bird quieted almost instantly, bobbing up and down on Ros's finger like a toy. Elena gave a sigh of relief and rubbed her aching ears. She gave the other boys a smile and tried to take the bags from Ethan. She didn't try to hug them or shake their hands the way that her husband had. Her job required more strict regulations on contact than Gary's, who was his own boss and made his own rules. "Good to see you. Now which one of you is Ethan and which one is Julian. You'll have to forgive me for not knowing. Ros likes to keep us in the dark about this sort of thing. Getting him to tell us anything about his girlfriend is like trying to wash a cat." "I tell you when there's something that you need to know Mom. If I'm about to propose or anything like that you'll be the first to know, but for now there's nothing big you should know about," Ros said with an eye roll. He was respectful to his parents, and if he had wanted to stay at a friend's house he did provide the basic facts that his parents should know. Said friend's full name, where they lived, what number he could be reached at. But Ethan and Julian were more than just friends. They were people he lived with, just down the hall from him. His peers from his old school were more of strangers to him, and most of them he'd been going to school with ever since kindergarten. |
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| Ethan Shepard | Jan 10 2016, 10:58 AM Post #5 |
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"Blame El Nino," Ros said, and he wasn't wrong. Ethan knew that the New York usually had tons of snow. He still remembered watching that huge blizzard that went through the area a couple years ago. Or was it a blizzard? Maybe just a snowstorm? But then are a blizzard and a snowstorm the same thing? And he felt like it was more than just New York, he was sure Washington DC was covered in snow too. As a matter of fact, was it even a couple of years ago? Maybe three? Three sounded right... but so did two. Stop it, Ethan thought to himself. He was getting off track, having started to simply stare at nothing after he had grabbed the bags. Right now. "Yea, I know man, I'm just... I dunno, making a comment. I know it's supposed to be freezing here during the winter. Back in Seattle it rarely snowed. I mean, we'd get specs and traces of it here and there, but nothing like what I'd see of the East Coast," he huffed, hefting a duffel bag, over his shoulder. He hoped they wouldn't find the fact Ethan had two bags odd, as compared to them both only having one. He'd just needed somewhere to put their Christmas gifts in, and he wasn't going to be here on the big day. What better a time to give gifts than with a heartwarming family reunion among friends? A birthday, but that's aside the point. "But hey, if you want to make sure I believe you you could bring us up here next year when there's a lot of snow, but I'd imagine we'd get that at the Institute," he smiled as he walked up the driveway with their bags, passing his offhand comment to Julian in the promise. Poor guy. If Ethan didn't have a bag over his shoulders he'd offer him his jacket. He wasn't doing it right now since he was fine with this weather, but honestly, Ethan usually just heated himself up using his powers. In the past, when he kept energy in, it was just a bit of a side effect. He holds energy back, and before he expels it he gets a little warmer. But ever since 'The Upgrade', he'd taken to using it to heat himself up offhandedly. It didn't take much energy anyway. He didn't always do this; only if it started to get a bit too cold for his liking. Chilly was fine. He wasn't sure if Julian knew he could do that, but he certainly seemed like he wanted that power right about now. Ethan could just take off his jacket, give it to him, and start heating himself up. But Julian might find that condescending, not that he could at that moment anyway. Ethan approached the front door, looking back at the two. "I can't imagine how nice it is in California right now," he smiled offhandedly, thinking about the wonderful weather that they must be having down in San Diego as an elderly man opened the front door. Ethan smiled as the man said hello Ros then turned to him. Ethan didn't really have an arm to greet him with, but he was welcomed to their home all the same. "No, no, the drive wasn't bad at all, I only made a couple of wrong turns. Nothing to be concerned over," he responded with a laugh. Following Gary inside, Ethan could only focus on one thing in the house: birds. That was a loud bird. It's not like he didn't birds, they were perfectly fine. It was just a bit hard to focus if they were screeching. Maybe you just got used to that. Ethan shrugged and looked around the foyer as he entered the home, catching glances of a few of Ros's baby pictures. Aw, those are nice, Ethan thought, turning to Elena as she approached him. Ethan smiled respectfully with a small shake of his head as she tried to grab the bags from him. "Oh, no thank you, it's fine. I've got it, don't worry," he quickly said as she started to greet them. "Oh, I'm Ethan and Julian is back the-" he started to point back before part of what Ros's mother had said clicked in his mind. You'll have to forgive me for not knowing. Ros likes to keep us in the dark about this sort of thing. Getting him to tell us anything about his girlfriend is like trying to wash a cat." "Wait, did you and Hiasko start dating?" He asked, turning to his friend with a confused look. When did that happen? |
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| Julian Keller | Jan 24 2016, 09:00 AM Post #6 |
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Advanced Telekinesis
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For a moment, Julian wondered who the old man was. A grandfather? Then he remembered that Ros's parents were older. "Oh great, the Dad's a hugger." Julian thought, as the man hugged Ethan. Well, if he had to endure a hug, he supposed he could do that. It was definitely not something Julian would have preferred, but if he must. Julian approached the man, to find a hand being put out to him. Julian stood confused for a second, but shook the hand before social grace would deem it awkward. Why didn't he get a hug? He didn't want it, but now he was kind of upset. Clearly, Ros's parents were still upset. He wondered if Ros had told them about the Dreadnought, and how he had Ros's back. It was shaping up to be a terrible start to what would probably be an uncomfortable couple of days. Next time Ros suggested a visit to his parents, Julian was going to spit in his eye. Inside the house was new for Julian. The house seemed so... small. Maybe it was the loud birds. Julian was used to wide open space. He spent his whole life in a mansion and then moved into Xavier's which was also, you guessed it, a mansion. This house, though normal sized he assumed, by most standards, was not something he had experienced. Something else new, were all the pictures around of Ros at various ages. There was exactly one picture of Julian on the walls of Keller manor. It was in the portrait he shared with the rest of the family, above the fireplace. It's probably been retaken and replaced by a Julian-less version by now. He couldn't believe it, but he was actually a little jealous of Ros at that moment. The Mom wasn't much better. She didn't even seem to want to touch Julian. He was in it now. Mentally, he started preparing his heart felt apology to the parents of his soon to be ex-friend. He as so engrossed in figuring out what to say, he almost missed Ros's Mom mentioned a girlfriend. ALMOST. It dragged him right back to reality. "Wait, did you and Hiasko start dating?" Ethan took the word's right out of Julian's mouth. "It's about time! The tension between you two has been palpable. I'm sure she made the first move because you are such a...." Julian's eyes suddenly got wide. The shock of Ros's pseudo announcement totally made Julian forget that Ros's parents were still there. "...total gentleman and very respectful.... of Hiasko's feelings." Julian tried to salvage what he could, with mixed results. Now that they were in out of the cold, he was feeling excessively hot. "I'm just gonna.... " He shut up, and went to stand behind Ethan. He pretended to be terribly interested in a picture of Ros as a young kid. |
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| Pyrrhic | Feb 2 2016, 02:35 AM Post #7 |
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Ros sighed heavily when both Ethan and Julian started questioning his relationship with Hisako. He expected that Julian would poke his nose into something that was very much none of his business, if only because he had been so pleased to find out that Ros had a crush on anyone that Julian had tormented Ros about it. Such behavior had lessened since the Dreadnaught. Many things had changed since then. So much in fact that Ros still was trying to process it all and was not willing quite yet to talk about it with anyone. He wasn't about to go blabbing about his relationship status with Hisako, but everyone in the room was looking at him with interest. "Things are going smoothly. That's all you need to know." A pointed look was given to them all, including his mom who simply chuckled to herself and took the luggage from Ethan, pointing out that he didn't know where Ros's room was and thus wouldn't know where he was suppose to take them. Ros's father, glanced at Julian, still in the thick winter coat and grabbed some pillows off the couch and put them in front of the electric fireplace. He grabbed the remote and turned the heating aspect of it. Ros had told them that Julian was from California, but it was hard for him to understand just how Julian could be shivering so much when it was the mildest winter in years. Ros was hanging up his jacket now. "Don't tell Elena this but I wouldn't mind if Ros was a little bit less gentleman like. He misses out on some things. Now Julian, take off your coat and stay awhile. I know it's not a wood burning one, but the fireplace will warm you up." The joke on Julian was probably broken at this point but Ros still snorted back a laugh. He gave Julian a gentle nudge on the shoulder and took a seat on the couch. There were a number of things that they could do for fun while here in Syracuse, and Ros had some places in his hometown that he wanted to show off to his friends. For now though he was content to sit down on the couch and just enjoy being home. He did get to visit his parents every now and then, but it was slightly strange to be a guest of sorts in the house that he had finally felt was a home. Was this what it would be like if he decided to go to college? Ros looked about the familiar living room as Blue nestled down in the curve of his neck, nibbling on the fleshy bit of his ear. "Is my tree still in the basement?" he asked. Gary nodded his head. He and his wife were Jewish but weren't orthodox. There were some dishes that they kept in the cupboards for kosher dishes when they had company that were orthodox. When they had adopted Ros they were aware that he had been raised Christian, the nuns who occasionally showed up in the pictures pre-adoption that they had been given. They had never tried to convert Ros to their religion, but included him in their holidays and even tried to encourage Ros in his holidays. He had a plastic Christmas tree that he set up in his room each year, and it wasn't uncommon for him to get ornaments for it as Hanukkah presents. "She went to town at Hobby Lobby last January, so there are plenty of ornaments for you to put on it. Oh, and before I forget Julian, Ros told me that Fia liked that necklace Elena made. She likes to make jewelry to get out of having to do homework. He said she had earrings that she liked from you, but if you want to give her something else let Elena know," Gary said. He turned his attention now to Ethan. Ros had mentioned that one of his friends reminded him of himself with their mutation, and Gary was pretty sure that it was Ethan. As far as presents suggested for Ethan clothes were the primary thing. Not because Ethan did not have interests, but because his powers had destroyed clothes in the past. |
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8:51 AM Jul 11